Chương 56: A Small Misunderstanding

A dungeon's first floor boss fight is always immediately accessible. Later on there are things that are required to open the door. But at least this first time, I do not have to worry about such things. I quickly make a small camp, eat a meal, and drink some water. Being topped off is important, as this is going to be quite a hard fight. I am reasonably sure I can win, I haven't even been using most of my tricks thus far. Still, I must keep a careful eye on my resources during the fight.

If I run out, that could very easily spell my death. My stats are doing pretty good though, so I am not that worried about conserving resources. Plus I have been dumping my unallocated points into endurance, as I have noticed that I am using a bit more since I learned how to use stamina properly. It is a bit counterintuitive, but my ease of using stamina has resulted in me simply using more. As I no longer have to force it, I can just hit harder and faster.

Though only marginally, and the monsters are also getting stronger too. I sigh as I nibble on some bread. All this thinking is nice and all, but I am about ready to go smash the skull of a nice big monster in.

"Yip yip!" Luma says, hopping off my lap and heading over to poke her nose against the door. With a totally superfluous groan, I stand up.

"Yes yes, combat time. Now come on." I hold out my hand and Luma jumps up, and then I pull her into the phylactery. I have noticed it's far easier to do when directly touching, which leads to yet more unanswered questions. Stepping up to the door, I raise my hand to the interface to click the 'start battle button.' However, the instant before I can, the world around me explodes into purplish fire. Not hesitating, I activate Steel Form for the first time.

It feels a bit strange, as my skin quite literally turns to metal. I feel a lot heavier, but definitely way tougher too. Which is good, as whatever attack that was seems like it missed the first time. As I turn around to see my attacker, I barely get a glimpse of a tall figure in heavy purple armor. The same one that I had a bit of a misunderstanding with before we entered the dungeon. I am given no time to consider this information, however, as their second attack is not going to miss.

To block, I raise my armguards and anchor my feet properly. It feels like my entire body is set alight as the fireball collides with my arms. But I can tell it is solely heat, and is barely even touching my health. Though my arms are rapidly heating up, and I can feel my armguards melting under the power of the attack. So, I activate the repairing function of my chestplate. Mana surges through my body as my armguards absorb the spell bit by bit.

The entire thing only lasts mere moments, but it feels like hours as I teeter on the edge of being incinerated by a fireball. But I successfully manage to absorb enough of the attack, and deflect it off to the side. A rumble shakes the cavern as I try to gain my bearings. I summon Luxmore and turn to face off against my opponent, but suddenly they appear right next to me. My legs are knocked out from underneath me and a sharp pain shoots through my arms, spreading to the rest of my body.

I drop Luxmore and it goes flying off to the side. The pain quickly grows in intensity until I am screaming as I writhe on the ground. The pain fades enough to where I can feel them clamp something down around my arms. They make me feel a lot weaker. Some sort of magic dampening restraints? How interesting and clever… if only they weren't being used to restrain and likely torture me to death. YIP YIP! Luma shouts in my mind, quickly echoed by many words of concern from Dovey.

Even if I could let them out, I think it would be more dangerous for them. The figure picks me up with a single arm and throws me against the wall, hard enough for several of my ribs to crack. Though the pain is basically nothing compared to what I just experienced. I can barely see through the blood and tears in my eyes, but they approach me as I lay crumpled up against the wall. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Who sent you?" Their voice is deafening and utterly terrifying.

"Are you with the cult? A Malicist? Or perhaps Lady Astrea? What were you planning to do with me? Kidnap me and whisk me away, I bet. Sell me off to the highest bidder perhaps?" A small flap on their mouthguard opens up briefly so that they can spit on me. Despite my state, I manage to find words.

"I do not know what you mean."

"Bullshit." They say and kick me in the gut.

"You can talk, or I can pull out the fun toys to make you talk. Actually, please don't talk, I have a few new ones to test out." I am no expert in torture techniques or devices, and I would very much like to keep it that way. Using all of the effort I can, I throw myself to the side and try to crawl away. I barely make it a meter before I receive another kick.

"Nuh uh, you aren't escaping me, mister. I am going to milk you for every drop of information you have!" Defeated, I try one last time at reason.

"I swear upon the goddess herself that I have no damn clue who you are!" The exertion of shouting causes me to cough up more blood, staining my armor even more with the stuff. Dammit, that is going to be so hard to clean. Oh wait, it doesn't matter, I am going to die. Huh, dying is nice in a way. For instance, I don't have to worry about cleaning up my corpse. I do feel sad that I never got to make a cute bow for Luma though. Oh well, ain't nothing I can do about it now.

I close my eyes and await whatever torture this horrible person has in store for me. Several seconds pass, yet nothing happens. A bit confused, I open my eyes again to see the figure on the opposite side of the cavern. They are squatting down, seemingly holding their face in their hands. I focus a bit, and I can just barely hear them mumbling various things along the lines of, "Dammit Ari, you fucked up again. Attacking a random person that had no ill intentions. Idiot. Dumbass. Worthless…"

It takes me a second to notice, but all traces of hostility and danger have left the air. Though my restraints are still active, I somehow relax a bit, not feeling in danger anymore. As it would seem, this was all just a misunderstanding. Some might say it is but a small misunderstanding. While others might say it is a really fucking major one. I cough up a bit more blood and the horrific noise seems to draw their attention away from the self-deprication spiral.

They–Ari, apparently– turn around slowly and glance over at me, and I can practically see the realization in Ari's mind. Ari appears next to me and leans down to place a healing potion at my lips. I drink it down without even considering it could be poison. For even if it was, it would be better than slowly dying. Though it is actually a healing potion, a pretty damn potent one at that. Instantly I feel my body start to fix itself, my health almost instantly shooting up to max.

"So uh," Ari says, "sorry? You see, uh, people have been chasing me and stuff. And like, you know. A girl has to look out for herself and whatnot. Danger lurks around every corner in this god forsaken world. So uh, really sorry about the whole uh, beating the shit out of you. Uh, do you like cookies? People always say mine are quite good. But wait, not in an egotistical sort of way. Like, I actually have had quite a lot of feedback, and even refined the recipe a whole bunch.

Magic makes shopping super simple you know-" She absurdly stops and then a bag of what seems to be cookies appears in her hand. She hands the bag to me. I sigh, well she doesn't seem evil… and honestly I kinda feel that whole 'everything wants to kill you' thing. Also the fact that her voice is clearly being modified to sound all terrifying is a bit funny. I would laugh, if not for my ribs still being sore. I go to grab the cookies, only to realize my arms are still locked in the manacles.

"Could you perhaps get these off?" She jumps at my words.

"Ooh of course! Right, idiot I am. I truly am very sorry, sir. I will take uh, full responsibility! If you want to turn me in, I will come willingly." She flicks her wrist and the manacles disappear, and then with a smile I grab the cookies.

"Hmm, I don't think that will be quite necessary." I say, reaching in to grab a cookie. Nearly dying is quite famishing, after all. I bite into the cookie and suddenly my mouth explodes with more flavor than I could've imagined being possible. They are delicious, to understate it to an absurd degree. I can barely stop myself from just inhaling the whole bag in five seconds flat. Though I do manage to retain some sense of propriety, and it takes me a whole ten seconds. Looking up at the woman, I smile again.

"I would be willing to ignore this whole ordeal. But on one condition." She leans in a bit, "Anything."

"Ima need more of those cookies. They truly are delicious." Am I about to forgive her for beating the shit out of me for a few cookies? Perhaps. There is also the fact that she seems quite strong, and having strong people in some sort of debt to me could be useful. Especially if they can make such delicious cookies.