Knock, knock.
As the witch stood by the window, busy smoking her pipe and watching the scene outside, a sudden knock echoed through her room. She turned toward the door and opened it, revealing Tiana in a blue dress. The princess stepped inside, and Sabrina greeted her with her usual respect before asking in surprise:
"Your Highness, why didn't you stop the Gaziel Break?"
"Because I'm going back," Tiana replied coldly.
"What?! Even with those two spies?!" Sabrina asked, astonished.
"Yes. I will head to Pascal fiefdom again and celebrate my birthday there. No one will stop me... but I have a plan," Tiana said, her eyes sharp.
"I will write a letter and send it to my father. I will ask him to send me some of the heroes summoned from another world to guard me."
"Really?! Do you think he'll agree?" the witch responded.
"I've lived for twenty years, and throughout that time, my father has never refused a request of mine," the princess answered confidently.
"But the heroes are busy fighting the demons, Your Highness," Sabrina pointed out.
"It's fine... The important thing is that once I finish writing the letter, I'll give it to you. Then, send it to my father with that owl of yours," Tiana said as she exited the room.
"As you command, Princess," Sabrina muttered, bowing.
◆ ◆ ◆
Inhale... exhale... Yes, I can feel it. It flows smoothly inside my heart, and the more I focus on it, the more it spreads to places beyond just my heart. I can feel it in the blood of my shoulder, in my chest—it moves like water, traveling through my body. I need to concentrate more so I can release it from my body. But to do that, I must first focus on channeling it to my hand... Focus, focus, focus, focus...
I've managed to direct it from my shoulder down to my arm. Yes, I can feel it moving through my hand. But I have to keep it in my palm so I can release it. The amount is too small... Can I really do this? For a moment, I felt the magic leave my palm, so I opened my eyes to see it. That's when I realized I had made a huge mistake—I could no longer feel the magic.
Fuck! Hah... This is my life now. I'm training to release magic, but doing it in just a week feels impossible. And I can't become physically strong either. That means I have to escape without anyone seeing me—a stealthy escape. And that's going to be even harder than learning magic... I'm lost again. Despair starts creeping in, and I feel myself letting go of the rope that could lead me down the right path...
"Laos! Evol, some servants, and I are going into the ruins. Are you coming?" Petal called out as he approached with Evol and two servants with round, bear ears.
"Yeah, let's go," I answered.
Exploring the ruins wasn't a bad idea. It would help me forget my problems, at least for a while. Even though I'm incredibly weak—so weak I'd lose to a slime—ugh, if only I had a weapon, I could easily defeat them. I need a sword. Yes, if I could just get my hands on a sword, I'd cut through those slimes without any trouble.
"We're planning to take down the boss of the first floor—the Slime King," Petal said.
"Oh! Man, I really need a sword," I muttered as I ducked to avoid a tree branch that nearly smacked me in the face.
"You can ask the guards for one," one of the servants I didn't know suggested.
"Would they really give me a sword?!" I asked in surprise.
"Yes."
"Alright, I'll see."
After some time walking, we finally arrived at the ruins. They were as breathtaking as ever, with some guards stationed nearby. We descended a long slope, climbed over some rocks, and eventually reached the top, where the ruins lay. The guards stood near the entrance, chatting amongst themselves. Had they just come out, or were they planning to enter?
"Ask them for a sword," the bear-eared servant urged.
"Petal, please, you go ask them," I said, embarrassed by the idea of requesting a weapon from the guards.
"Me?! Are you crazy?! Go ask them yourself. You're a hero from another world—they'll be too intimidated to refuse. Meanwhile, I'm just a servant," he scoffed before heading toward the entrance of the ruins, leaving me behind.
Oh, god. I can't do this. No way am I asking for a sword. Impossible. I rejected the idea and decided to enter without one.
"Alright, fine. I'll go in without a sword," I declared.
"Dude?!" Evol exclaimed loudly.
He then walked up to the guards and asked them for a sword. After a short conversation, they agreed and handed him one of their blades. Things are always so simple... but I just get too embarrassed. Fuck, what can I do? I'm just a fucking introvert. I can't bring myself to make requests like that to people I don't know... It's a habit I really hate. When will I ever get rid of it?!
"Here," Evol said, handing me the sword.
"Thanks," I replied.
With that, we entered the ruins. The place was eerily quiet, with no slimes in sight. I gripped my sword—it was a bit long, with a steel blade and a leather-wrapped hilt. At least it suited me. With this, I could cut through slimes.
We walked for a long while until a group of slimes finally appeared.
Petal lunged at them with a rusty knife, slashing away. I followed suit with my sword. I swung at one, successfully slicing it in half, but then I quickly retreated as more slimes moved to attack. The two bear-eared servants crushed the slimes with their bare hands, and Evol joined in as well—he didn't even use magic.
"Alright, let's keep going," Petal said as he pulled a wooden torch from the wall. Evol ignited it with his fire magic, and we continued onward.
The further we went, the darker it became, but our path remained lit by the torch. As we advanced, slimes suddenly started dropping from the ceiling. Looks like we disturbed their sleep. Evol chanted "Fairos" and launched a fireball, burning three of them to ashes. Petal and the others rushed forward, and I followed closely behind.
I lifted my sword high and brought it down hard on a slime that was trying to escape... but what?! It didn't die! It was cut slightly, but not split in two. Still, it couldn't move. So, I stomped on it until it became a squishy mess, completely losing its strength. Then, I turned back to help the others with my sword... I think I'm doing pretty well with this! Should I learn swordsmanship and become a swordsman?! Man, I'm actually good at this!
After wiping out the slimes, we pressed forward. Suddenly, Petal stopped and started feeling the ground. The floor had traces of slime leading to a lower area beneath this floor. After a moment of silence, he finally stood up and said:
"The boss is down there. Get ready!"
The moment Petal said that, a terrifying excitement spread through my body... along with a lot of fear. Yes—this feeling... it's like reaching the boss room in a JRPG but not having any potions, and one of your party members is at half HP.
Everyone agreed to move forward, and we stepped onto the staircase, descending one step at a time in total silence, one after another.
The room below was in ruins, with fallen rocks, broken wooden crates, shattered glass bottles scattered around, and patches of moss growing everywhere. It was a small, square room. In the corner, behind one of the rocks, was a slightly larger-than-average slime.
It wasn't moving. It looked just like the other slimes on this floor—blue and massive. It was really creepy. But... it didn't have a crown on its head. Why the hell did they call it a king in the first place?!
"Give me a rock," Petal whispered.
After that, one of the servants picked up a rather large rock and handed it to Petal, who left the torch with Evol before grabbing the rock with both hands. He then moved forward slowly, lifted the rock high, and hurled it at the Slime King with great force. The impact of the throw pierced through the slime and embedded itself inside its body.
Petal then grabbed his knife and shouted:
"This rock will slow it down, but watch out for the poison it spits!!"
Poison?! What the fuck??!!!!! Isn't this just a stupid slime like the others, but bigger? At that moment, fear gripped me, and I couldn't imagine myself holding a sword against this monster. Petal dashed forward and began stabbing it rapidly. In the blink of an eye, he leaped back with quick backflips. The slime then spat out some poisonous liquid, but… wait… they were just small droplets, and it could only spit them about two feet away. Phew, I was worried for nothing. Alright, this got me fired up again...
Suddenly, the Slime King leaped high, aiming for Petal, but Evol swiftly punched it, reinforcing his fist with fire magic. The impact sent the slime crashing into the wall before it fell to the ground, spitting out those ridiculous little poison droplets again. Feeling a rush of excitement, I charged forward and stabbed it with my sword, creating a large hole in its body. Yet, it was still moving.
"Man, even with that huge rock inside it, it can still jump that high," one of the bear-eared servants muttered, clenching his fists. Wait, is he seriously planning to fight this thing barehanded?!
"What should we do to defeat it?!" I shouted as I stepped back with my sword.
"Crush it!" one of the two servants yelled as he slammed his fist onto the ground. Oh god, is this some kind of spell?
"Rockius!!!"
As he chanted that name, a long crack spread from his fist, snaking through the ground until it reached the Slime King. A rocky pillar then erupted from the ground, piercing straight through the slime. Gradually, the Slime King lost its strength, turning into a gelatinous, weak mess before completely losing its solidity... Hoooooly shiit!!
"Wow!" I muttered as I watched the Slime King melt away.
"Farell, since when have you been training for this?!" Petal asked.
"Every day… looks like it leveled up!" Farell replied, scratching his bear ears.
Once the Slime King was dead, I started looking around the room… Yes, yes, this feeling is amazing. I just experienced what I used to play in JRPGs—this is… this is dungeon crawling!! Damn, I love this world!! When I looked at the others, I saw happy faces. Everyone was smiling, looking at each other… So this is the joy people feel when they succeed in their raid… This is awesome!
"Good work… Alright, let's head back and take a bath," Evol said as he stepped forward to climb the stairs.
"Laos, you were pretty good. Looks like you're suited for the sword," Petal commented.
"I'm not suited for it, and I have no experience using it. But it's an easy weapon, and I can handle it, especially since it's a light sword," I replied.
"You have no experience in anything. Man, what's even your purpose?" Petal scoffed as he climbed the stairs.
My purpose? Oh, that question brings back some bad memories. For a moment, a slight sadness crept into my chest. What is my purpose? Here, my purpose is to greet people, but aside from that, what was my purpose on Earth? … So that's why I'm an NPC? How pathetic.
"Well, I'm an NPC, and my class is one that has no purpose," I answered.
"By the way, how many floors are in these ruins?" I asked, trying to change the subject because thinking about my purpose made me a little sad.
"Five, but servants and even guards are forbidden from entering the fifth floor. Only those granted permission by Gaziel can enter," Evol replied, holding up the torch.
"Why is that?" I asked, imagining what could be inside the fifth floor.
"Maybe there's a strong monster," Evol guessed.
After walking for a while, we finally exited the ruins. The sun was about to set—it was a beautiful evening. I truly enjoyed myself. I gazed at the sky and stepped away from the dark entrance of the ruins. After that, we returned to the palace, walking and chatting among the trees that separated it from the ruins. Then, we returned the sword to its owner… It was a wonderful day… the second-best day I've had in this world.
◆ ◆ ◆
"That was an amazing adventure!" I muttered as I closed the window. The darkness had settled in, so I lay down on the bed, praying to the goddess Lunariss to protect me from that nightmare that keeps me from sleeping… Please, I don't want to stay awake—it's hard as a hell. I stretched out on the bed and waited for Maris to arrive. I had asked her to stay with me until I fell asleep...
By the way, Maris is the only person I ask embarrassing things from, but I don't care. It's complicated—it's like my brain sees Maris as a wife. Those fucking bastards… I wish one of them would just die… especially Sebastian, Tom, and Kevin. I hate them so much! Fuuuuckkk, how did they get good classes while I didn't… Not that they were useful either. Not just them, not just me—none of us had any real use. We were just a bunch of high school teenagers!
"Laos."
Oh, it's Maris. She's finally here! She closed the door and stepped forward. Her long hair, those small cow ears, and those cute little horns… She was wearing a buttoned-up shirt, but it was unbuttoned, making her boobs stand out… Maris, you're truly stunning… I love every part of you.
She hesitated slightly before finally sitting on the bed. I gently touched her soft shoulders with my hand. Suddenly, she grabbed my head and buried it in her boobs… Such a wonderful warmth. This… This is the real reason I'm living in this world.
She lay down while holding my head, causing me to lie down as well. Then, she began gently stroking me, slowly and softly. I couldn't resist, so I started licking her boobs... but as time passed, sleep crept in, and my eyes closed. At this moment, I lost the sensation of Maris' boobs and drifted into slumber, fading into the darkness.
When I opened my eyes, I found myself in an endless sea. Then, waves crashed against me, over and over, until a massive wave appeared... so enormous and terrifying. I ran, trying to escape, but it was impossible. So, I surrendered to the gigantic wave, and in a terrifying instant, I drowned... My breath— I couldn't breathe. I couldn't do anything. All I could do was watch as the blackness consumed my vision, little by little... I... I... I'm suffocating!!
"Laos, Laos," a feminine voice called out, close to me— yet there was no one here. Just me, drowning in an infinite sea.
"Laos!"
"Hah! Hah!" I gasped for air, waking up in a panic...
"Was it that nightmare again?" Maris asked, looking at my exhausted face.
"Hah... hah... Yes, yes, it's that nightmare again," I replied, sitting up on the bed.
"Maris, it seems that having you stay with me didn't work. You can go... I just bothered you, didn't I?" I asked, feeling utterly frustrated. Fuuuuckkk, Fuck, I didn't sleep again!!!
"Don't say that. I'm here to support you, Laos... You were someone who treated me kindly ever since you arrived at this palace... so everything I do is just repaying that kindness," she said, her beautiful face glowing.
I couldn't resist on, so I grabbed her and threw her on the bed. I stared into her eyes, caressed her boobs, and said as I pulled down my pants:
"I'll be tough this time..."