Chương 17: [LD-1] 16. Abducted

XVI Abducted I'd never been a fan of roller coasters. It wasn't the bubbling sensation in your stomach that I didn't like, but the way they rocked you in every direction at once just to give you a sense of speed and chaos. This was twenty times worse than any ride I'd ever been in. I repeatedly bumped into the floor and skirted against the walls when he made a sharp turn.

'I'm going to die.' The pain blooming in my head could no longer be described as a headache. My whole body was limp—it'd stopped listening to me after the second time I hit my head on the ground. At least my eyes still moved. I glanced behind us. There was no sign of the cafeteria. Worst of all was that I heard yells coming from all around us. If we ran into just about any monster right now…

"Ki…ba," I forced out.

"We're…going to get killed. Stop…" One ear in and out the other. Yet hope was not lost. Kiba leapt over a thick root, but misjudged. His foot got caught, and he lost his balance. The ground hurled toward us.

'Fuck.' He was going to land on top of me— A sudden twirl turned us over, and I fell on his chest. The landing still kicked the air out of me.

'Did he—' I coughed '—did he do that on purpose?' He must've. I forced my heavy eyelids open. Kiba had stopped moving and was staring at the ceiling. Rivers of blood streamed down his arm. All that erratic running had worsened the bleeding a lot. Now he was on his last legs. That said, the grip he had on my midsection hadn't weakened. The contrary, in fact. With great difficulty, I tried to fill up my lungs again and regulate my breathing. It was so difficult that I ended up groaning.

The sound drew the white fang's attention away from the ceiling. His gaze paused on my face. A moment, wherein his heartbeat thundered through his chest, entered my ribcage and drummed against my own. Then the instant passed and he drug us to our feet. My chin fell.

"Kiba… please… we can still head back." We could. But we were in the middle of nowhere. Ahead of us, the hallway stretched dozens of feet toward the horizon, the radiance from the moss lighting the warped forest floor. The goblin shouts had stopped. No cicadas or other life whispered or hummed their songs. It was too quiet. Any other day and place, and the silence would've been calming. Out here, it just made me feel more exposed. The white fang shared my opinion.

By pure chance, we'd landed in front of a classroom entrance that was free enough of vines for Kiba to squeeze us inside. I mentally updated my description of the room after we entered. It was more storage closet than classroom. Despite that, it was empty except for a few pieces of equipment and shelves. There were no vines for another Vine Ambusher to use as camouflage either. That didn't mean it was safe, so I kept my senses peeled. Kiba stopped in the entrance and surveyed the space.

I raised a wobbly hand and pointed to a spot free of upturned furniture. He didn't require anymore coaxing than that, headed for it, and plopped onto his butt. Which meant I plopped on my butt, too. We were sitting cheek to cheek because of how he was holding me. His gaze found me again, and a lump went down my throat.

'He tried to eat me.' The entire flight through the halls replayed in my mind. My airway tightened.' Isn't that reminiscent of how a predator would carry back its prey to its lair?' The very instant that realisation hit, the nails on his claw pushed through my clothes into my stomach. With growing dread, I went over all my options… I was out of mana. Kil was dead. My muscles were spent; there was absolutely nothing for me to do but accept what was coming. But that wasn't quite my style.

I placed a tiny hand on his paw.

"Kiba…I know you're hurt, but you don't have to do this. How about we…just go to sleep? I'm sure a nap will revitalise you." What the fuck was I even saying? There wasn't a chance in hell those wounds were going to heal by themselves. Which was why I wasn't surprised when he didn't even blink at my words and dragged me closer.

'Well, I had a nice run.' I wasn't sure what the speed run record was for dying after being reincarnated, but I was sure a single day placed me up the imaginary ranking list. I pressed my eyelids shut—I didn't want to see how I was going to get my throat ripped out—and waited. When my head touched a soft underground, I peeked. We were lying on the floor, not unlike we'd done moments before, with my head placed on his chest. Kiba had his eyes closed, and there was a rhythmic beat to his breathing.

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'He's sleeping.' But he still had me in his grip. Carefully, very carefully, I grabbed one of his nails and pulled to see how much leeway there was— A growl made me freeze. I glanced up to find him glaring into me. The red in his eyes had dimmed. It was no longer the colour of blood, but it was still there.

"Okay, alright," I whispered.

"I'll just…stay where I am." He held my gaze another moment before going back to sleep. Though I could've waited until he was truly down and under to try again, the events of the day caught up to the second wind that'd entered my veins and clawed its hooks deep inside my guts. The spell of tiredness weighed my eyelids down like an anchor.

'At least his chest is soft.' Must be all that fur. Those were my last thoughts before the dark recesses of sleep claimed my consciousness. I don't remember waking up, but the first feeling I had was every damned muscle being sore. The back of my head pounded like a drum. My thighs spasmed every few seconds like they were being shocked. Funnily enough, my neck was the only muscle that was feeling quite alright. Kiba was still sleeping. To be honest, saying he was out cold was the better descriptor.

He was literally drooling.

"Glad you're resting well," I muttered. Could've done that back at the damned cafeteria, but sure. After confirming that his arm was still transformed and wrapped around me, I once again tried to peel his nails off despite the vehement protest of my arm muscles. This time, his fingers came off without waking him up. I only loosened his hold enough for me to slip from between his grip and rolled onto the cold floor.

"Thank the Gods." I wouldn't have known what to do if he decided I still wasn't going anywhere. I took a moment to catch my breath, then sat up. With the sudden return of my freedom, I couldn't help but study my abductor.

'What had that been all about, anyway?' He went completely feral.

'Was it because he took too much damage?' He had tanked quite a few hits from the brute after Douglas went down. Or maybe it was just a caveat of his class. Not all classes were made equally. Still, if his caveat was that he turned on his allies after taking too much damage…no guild was ever going to accept him. I doubted he'd even be let into a shadow realm at all.

"Not my problem," I shook my head. I was just glad he didn't kill me. My whispers bounced off the many pieces of furniture in the room. The quiet returned after they faded. What should I do? I wasn't particularly worried that he'd wake up and attack me again—if he was going to, he would've done so already. Moreover, leaving by myself now was a good way to be caught alone in the tunnels and get killed.

'Guess I can prepare for when he wakes up?' Just because I didn't think he was no longer threat didn't mean I should stay defenceless. But for that, I would need mana. Mana: 20/120 A sigh escaped me. I'd recovered a measly ten points while I was sleeping. That was nothing in a fight. I turned to my system messages. [Goblin Runt - lvl. 4] x 2 slain. Bonus EXP is awarded for killing a creature above your level. [Goblin Runt - lvl. 5] x 1 slain. Bonus EXP is awarded for killing a creature above your level.

[Goblin Archer - lvl. 6] x 4 slain. Bonus EXP is awarded for killing a creature above your level. [Orc Brute - lvl. 15] x 1 slain. Bonus EXP is awarded for killing a creature above your level.

'Huh, so I gain experience for all of them.' Because we were in a party? My guess was that I got more for the monsters I killed myself. New ability learned! [Arm of Quranq (common)]. Skill upgraded! [Arm of Quranq (common)] → [Arm of Quranq (Uncommon)]'Uncommon…' The skill had upgraded by itself? What did the description say… Arm of Quranq - Uncommon: Summon the arm of an infantile Quranq to aid you. A tendril erupts from a place you can see and deals necrotic damage to whoever it touches.

That was a change from before. My gaze narrowed. Infant. That must be referring to the monster I saw.

'How was that an infant though?' It was the biggest creature I'd ever seen! I shook my head again. Whatever. I was too tired to question the universe. My hands were resting on my thighs, so I felt them spasm. I let my head drop.

"I want my bed." I would fucking pay someone to get me my pillows right now.

"I need to level," I also announced to the world. Doing so would also recover some of my mana, which recovered quicker when I was meditating…but everything was a drag.

'Why don't I just lie back down?' my brain asked.

'Just take a nap then we'll meditate.' …

'Shut up, lazy me.' I squeezed my thighs, dragged my legs from underneath me, and pushed myself into the lotus. It took a while before I got my mind clear enough to meditate, but I did eventually. Reaper - lvl. 5 -> Reaper - lvl. 7. 6 free stat points gained.

Name: Joy Grimm Level 7 Nox [Reaper] Rank: Neophyte Magic Domain: Death (Special) Class Weapon: Cull the Deathblade (F - 15/10000) Death Core: Dormant Death Fragments: 12/1000 Mana: 40/140 Skills: Ancient Bone Shell (C-1), Deathbolt (C-2), Arm of Quranq (U-1), Reaper's Condolence (L-1) STR: 8 DEX: 8 INT: 14 CON: 7 WIS: 14 Faith: 20 Free Points: 0 Two points in both intelligence and wisdom, then the last two split into strength and dexterity, bringing my physical stats to the same level.

A sense of vitality had returned to my body during my meditation. My mana was still low, but I'd at least be able to swing Cull around once or twice. Exiting the lotus, my attention fell on Kiba.

"You're really out of it, huh?" He hadn't moved a damn muscle, though more than half an hour must've passed already. I considered waking him up, but decided against it. I'd inspect the room first. If he wasn't awake after that, I'd wake him. Because this place was essentially a storage room, I was hopeful that I'd find something. This place couldn't be a hellhole and not have any riches to plunder. So I kicked over a few boxes and toppled a few empty shelves to check underneath. Nothing revealed itself to me.

However, right before I started cursing the dungeon for being a broke shithole, I caught a golden gleam under a cluster of toppled chairs. [Loot Box (Common)] I smiled.

'There it is.' The ornate chest basically smiled back at me. Unclasping the locks revealed a set of six vials. Blue, red, and yellow ones—two of each.

"Mana, health, and stamina?" The game terms I was vaguely aware of weren't an exact match with the stats we had in this world, but it should translate. I downed the mana potion without hesitation and sighed like I'd taken a swig from a bottle of cold water after a day of hard running. Mana: 110/140"Wow," I whistled. Sixty points wasn't nothing.

"These other potions will come in handy—" Fabric moved, and I spun to the side. Kiba's transformed hand touched his temple. Then he dug his nails into his forehead. The size and sharpness of his nails made him double-check the state of his arm.

"Again?" he cursed.

"I really need to control that better."

"You took the words out of my mouth." He blinked and turned towards me. Holding the chest under one arm, I placed my hand on my other hip.

"You care to explain what all of that was about?" He frowned.

"What what was…" pupils dilated as the memories returned.

"Ah."

"Yes, 'Ah,'" I mocked. I kept the image of Cull at the front of my mind and made sure my mana was flowing. For his sake, he better have a good explanation.