Sebastian approached her carefully, respectfully, and, with the utmost gentleness he could muster, lifted her into his arms.
She was light, surprisingly light, as if her bones were hollow.
And, as he lifted her, he felt something else.
His hand, wrapping around her waist to support her, grazed the bare skin of her lower back.
Carefully, taking extreme precautions not to touch her more than absolutely necessary, he wrapped his shirt around the young woman, covering her as best he could. The fabric, too small for her body, barely covered the essentials, leaving much of her legs and arms exposed.
But, at least, she wasn't completely naked anymore.
Sebastian took a step back, relieved and disturbed at the same time. He ran a hand across his forehead, wiping away the cold sweat that coated it.
He felt dirty, ashamed, confused.
And, above all, lost.
It was then that a flash of light caught his attention.
The orb.
The crimson orb, floating in the air, without any visible support.
The orb that, now, shone with an unusual intensity, pulsing softly with blue and gold flashes, as if it were alive.
Sebastian felt an attraction to the orb, a fascination mixed with apprehension. It was as if the orb was calling to him, as if it contained the answers he sought, as if it were the key to his lost memory.
But, at the same time, something inside him, a survival instinct, told him to stay away. That the orb was dangerous.
He approached slowly, cautiously, dragging his injured leg, with the young woman still in his arms, feeling the dead weight of her inert body. He wouldn't let her go, something, deep down, prevented him.
As he drew closer, the sensation of cold emanating from the girl diminished, replaced by a gentle warmth, pleasant, that seemed to emanate from the orb itself. The smell of ozone and ice intensified, now mixed with a sweet, floral, almost intoxicating aroma.
Sebastian, ignoring the contradiction of his senses, ignoring the silent warning screaming inside him, was about to extend a hand towards the orb.
He had to touch it.
He had to know.
He had to… remember.
But, before his fingers could brush the smooth, polished surface of the orb, something happened.
The girl moved.
A slight, subtle, almost imperceptible movement.
A tremor in her eyelids.
A gasping breath.
And, then, her eyes opened.
Eyes of an intense, brilliant emerald green, that looked directly at Sebastian.
But they didn't see him.
Or, at least, they didn't seem to see him.
Her gaze was unfocused, lost, as if she were seeing something else, something beyond tangible reality.
And, at that instant, the orb reacted.
The red light intensified, and the image of the hologram appeared, floating in the air, in front of the orb.
Strange symbols. Unknown characters. A language that Sebastian didn't recognize.
The young woman, without taking her eyes off the hologram, moved a finger, pointing to one of the symbols.
A symbol that Sebastian, despite not understanding it, felt was important.
And, then, the voice.
A female voice, but robotic, inhuman, devoid of all emotion, resonated in the chamber.
"[Welcome, Dungeon Master]".
Sebastian flinched, but he didn't move. The young woman in his arms, surprisingly, wasn't startled. She just looked at the hologram, with an expression of… confusion? Recognition?
Dungeon Master?, Sebastian thought, his mind struggling to process the information, to understand what was happening. What does that mean?.
The voice, ignoring Sebastian's confusion, continued.
"You don't have to call me by any name. I am your system assistant…"
The voice, methodical, impersonal, began to explain the functioning of a system, a system of "Dungeon Coins", which allowed one to acquire and upgrade different elements within an "underground domain".
But it didn't do it all at once.
The information was revealed as the young woman, with clumsy and intuitive movements, touched different sections of the hologram.
When her fingers brushed the image of a grotesque monster – a mix of spider and human face, similar to the ones that had attacked before, but larger, stronger, more terrifying – the voice said:
"Here you can acquire creatures to defend your dungeon…"
Sebastian, listening to the description, felt a shiver run down his spine. Defend? From whom?
When the young woman touched the image of a dark corridor with spikes and a swinging blade, the voice said:
"Here you can acquire traps to protect your dungeon…"
Sebastian remembered the metallic click that had preceded the attack of the skeletons and golems. A trap? Were there more traps in the dungeon?
When the young woman touched the image of a golden chest, the voice said:
"Here you can acquire treasures to reward adventurers… or to lure them to their doom…"
Sebastian thought of the orb. Was that a treasure? A treasure… or a trap?
When the young woman touched the image of a series of various objects, the voice said:
"Here you can acquire useful items for the management of your dungeon…"
Sebastian recognized some of the plants that appeared in the potions section. Moonflower, Shadow Nettle… Plants that he knew, plants that he had used…
For what?.
The information, fragmented, incomplete, contradictory, overwhelmed him.
Dungeon Coins? Monsters? Traps? Treasures? "Dungeon Master"?.
None of it made sense.
None of it fit with what little he remembered of his life.
He looked around, at the chamber with its blackened stone walls, at the remains of the previous battle, at the floating orb, at the shining hologram. He looked at the woman, at the young woman who, apparently, was the key to this whole mystery.