“Truly extraordinary,” Mister Ruiz said, examining yet another piece of history. He’d put on a pair of fancy gloves before touching anything, though Kevin wasn’t sure it had been necessary. None of the documents were made of paper, or anything else pliable for that matter. They were all sheets of metal, with the words stamped into them. “This is a genius way to preserve knowledge, I must say.”
“Can you read it?” Kevin asked.
“Not in the slightest,” Mister Ruiz admitted, completely unperturbed by that setback. “I’ll have to contact a linguist to assist me, but I’m sure it will be only a matter of time before we crack the language!”
Alternatively, Kevin could probably find an expert on the other side, but Mister Ruiz would likely shoot down removing any scrap of knowledge from his grasp. So, Kevin left him to it and started to walk the stacks, looking for anything that might stand out. Given how excited the man was, Kevin was fairly confident he could get something past him.
Boris and Nikolai on the other hand…
They would be the true hurdle, vigilant as they were. Both were keeping an eye on him, even if it was only in the periphery. Their boss was including them too much in his excitement, which would make it the best chance he had at smuggling something out. As he walked, he paused at one particular shelf which held something he hadn’t expected to see.
A leather-bound journal.
Kevin snapped it up and had it stashed in his pouch as quickly as he could. He kept walking, then paused at another section, not that he saw anything of interest. Just more scrolls and sheets of stamped metal. Nothing else stood out as he made another lap, then took a seat on the ground by the door and just sat there.
After a while, Ruiz sent for the students to join in, and they descended upon the site with fervor. Kevin couldn’t help but watch them, from the girl that had caught his eye during the tour, to the glasses guy that was eating breakfast when they had departed. He wasn’t sure if it was his new instincts, but something had shifted in the room with their arrival, putting him further on edge. He made sure to examine each of them, turning up unleveled humans each time.
Kevin waited for what felt like hours before letting out a heavy sigh. “Mister Ruiz, can I go home? It’s getting late.”
“Hmm?” Mister Ruiz muttered, glancing up. “Oh, I suppose so. Boris, make sure he didn’t take anything then let him head off.”
“Sure thing boss,” Boris said, coming over to him. Boris gave him a quick and rough pat down, then nodded. “No large scrolls or sheets of metal. Go home.”
“Thank you,” Kevin said, then hurried off before they thought better of it.
Rather than head straight home, however, he detoured towards the main shrine and hurried inside. It was roped off now, but he didn’t let that stop him as he arrived at the dais that held the portal. It flared to life and he didn’t hesitate to hurry through.
It was daytime outside, with birds chirping brightly. One of the large bees fluttered past him, but seemed unconcerned by his arrival. Already the air felt better, as if he hadn’t realized what was missing. Mana, thick and pure as the oxygen itself. He took a deep breath, and decided he would stay for a bit and recover some of his reserves.
Stepping out into the gardens, he looked about, but didn’t see any sign of Neth-amii. Her home had smoke rising, which was as good a sign as any. Kevin made sure to knock first, just to avoid any unfortunate incidents.
“Bria?” Neth-amii asked, poking her head out. Once again her chest filled with warmth at the sound of that name. “You’re back early.”
“Oh good, I was worried that it might have been weeks or something,” she said, tension bleeding away. “Got a bit of a problem, but first,” she took the book from his pouch and handed it over. “We found a library on my island full of documents. This was all I could get.”
The book was accepted with care, and the woman opened it slowly. “It is in the same language as what was in the dungeon.”
“I thought so,” Bria said. “I don’t know why these doors are opening for me, but it’s happening there too. Worse, the man that I got the pendant from is threatening me and my family if I don’t help him find a way to this side.”
Neth-amii remained silent at that, then stood and came right up to Bria before wrapping her in a hug. “I am so sorry you’re having to face that. Can you not just fight to protect them?”
“I’ve never hurt another person before,” Bria whispered. “He’s got two guys with him that are killers, and they have guns.”
“Guns?”
Right, she wouldn’t know what those are. “Uh, they use an explosion to throw bits of metal at really high speeds. They can punch through steel armor with ease.”
“Piercing magic then,” Neth-amii said. “Or similar enough to be indifferent. You say they are devices and not innate magic?”
Bria nodded.
“Then simply disarm them and you should be fine,” Neth-amii said with a shrug. “Granted, killing them would protect you, but I can see why you would rather not.”
“Have you killed anyone before?” Bria asked, her voice barely audible.
Neth-amii held her for a moment, then took a deep breath. “A few bandits tried to claim the shrine years ago, I helped fight them off. I killed two personally. My mentor managed three others before the rest fled back into the woods.”
Somehow she had known Neth-amii had killed other people, but hearing it said so casually did toss a bit of cold water over their growing friendship. It was different with Boris and Nikolai; they weren’t actual friends. Just friendly. It was different with Neth-amii, even with how little time they had known one another.
“Does it bother you that I’ve had to kill others?” Neth-amii asked, her voice full of kindness.
Looking up into her eyes, Bria didn’t feel as though a killer was looking back. Only empathy was reflected, and Bria found herself lost in it. She let herself relax and leaned into the embrace. The mention of bandits did concern her, however. If there truly were roving thieves like in games, how long would it be until she had to take a life?
Too soon, especially if Mister Ruiz pushed matters too far. If the choice was between her family and the lives of that man and his minions, Bria knew who she would pick. She also knew that saying it in her mind and actually doing it were completely different matters. Better to keep from rocking the boat too much for now and grow her personal power instead.
Two more days before she would be officially leaving on a journey with Neth-amii, and she still had some preparations to make.
“Oh,” Bria said, pulling back. “Mom gave me this dagger. Apparently it was taken from one of the former guardians back when.”
Bria unsheathed it slowly, then turned the handle for Neth-amii to take. Her friend was careful to not make any sudden moves as she accepted it, and then took a moment to examine the engravings.
“An enchanted dagger, most interesting,” Neth-amii said, turning the blade over. “It is not particularly impressive in any way other than seeing the enchantments still functional after hundreds of years in a world devoid of mana.”
“Kinda like the Magitech robot thing, then,” Bria said, accepting the blade back.
Neth-amii looked up sharply. “What’s that about Magitech?”
“Fought the one guarding that library,” Bria said. “Nearly ran out of mana too, so if it’s okay, I’m gonna slip back here after checking in with my parents to recover a bit.”
“No, I get it,” Neth-amii said. “I’ll make sure your bedroll is ready.”
A smile overtook Bria’s face even as the full exhaustion of the day hit her. “It’s night back home, so I shouldn’t be too long on returning.”
“Do you want me to cook? I’ve got fresh venison smoking right now.”
Fresh meat sounded good, so Bria nodded. “Ah, almost forgot. What’s the common currencies used over here? Mister Ruiz wanted to know and I kinda promised to find out for him.”
“Monster cores mostly,” Neth-amii said. “That’s why I was collecting them.”
Perfect! That meant he couldn’t just use his wealth to gain influence once he made it across. He would probably still find something he could use, but it wouldn’t be as simple as just bringing a pile of gold coins with him.
It also meant that she wouldn’t be as well funded as possible for their coming trip, unless Neth-amii was secretly loaded. Actually, that was a distinct possibility given her living atop a replenishing dungeon full of monsters that were easy to kill even for someone at level one. Maybe getting gear in the city wouldn’t be such a bother after all.
Reluctantly, Bria returned through the portal, taking a moment to make sure that nobody was waiting for her. Hopefully Mister Ruiz was too engrossed in his research that he wouldn’t be coming out of the shrine for a while. Home was silent, though there was a note left on the table for her.
“Leftover mac in the fridge, huh?”
Sure enough, there was some boxed mac and cheese sitting in an old sour cream container. She grabbed it and tossed it into the microwave before adding a note that she was going to sleep on the other side to recover from Mister Ruiz’s excursion. Bria didn’t want to outright say that she had gotten into another fight, but the implication would be there regardless.
Two cans of cola joined the mac, and Bria quickly left for the pyramid once again. She didn’t see anyone out, but something told her that there were eyes watching. Neither Boris or Nikolai were very circumspect, which left everyone else on the island…
Who was she kidding, it had to be one of the students. No doubt Mister Ruiz asked them to watch her or something. So, when she reached the entrance of the pyramid, she rushed forward with every bit of enhanced speed that came with her stats and crossed over before anyone would have the chance to catch up.
The transition from night to day was just as sudden as the last time, and Bria found herself squinting at the bright light coming through the doorway. Still, she had food and drinks, and a friend to share them with. Granted, reheated boxed mac was kinda the worst when it came to dinner options, but she wasn’t one to complain.
Plus, seeing Neth-amii’s reaction to it would probably be pretty funny.
“I’m back,” Bria declared, setting her little haul down on a table.
Unfortunately, Neth-amii wasn’t inside at the moment. Well, she was probably still working on that deer that she mentioned smoking. Bria stepped back out of the building and looked around for signs of smoke. She didn’t need to look far and made her way over. Neth-amii was there, but unfortunately she wasn’t alone.
“I told you, I have little interest in such things,” Neth-amii spat.
She was standing just across from a man in heavy armor that glistened in the sun despite being black as pitch. He had the stereotypical chiseled jawline and well trimmed facial hair that Bria came to expect from a trashy romance book cover. Not that she had seen many of them, but her mom did keep a minor collection.
“We both know that isn’t true,” the man said. Even his voice was deep and almost pleasant in its timber. “Your hand was promised to me by your father, and even this flight of fancy of yours won’t keep us apart.”
In answer, several orbs of light manifested around Neth-amii. Those were the same orbs that had been used against the Shadow Demon. Yet, despite the power on display, the man laughed openly as if it wasn’t a threat.
Bria hadn’t been noticed yet, and so she crept closer.
[Stalwart Paladin Lv. 17]
Well, that meant that this was the ‘strongest’ living person that Neth-amii knew of. Already Bria was trying to figure out a way to protect her friend from the menace. She would need more levels for that, which meant fighting monsters.
“And who is this?” the man asked. Bria nearly jumped when she realized that he had finally noticed her. “Are you starting a collection of cuties for me? How sweet of you my little flower.”
“Excuse you?” Bria said, bristling at the implications.
“Am I not allowed to admire a lovely woman?” he said, grinning in a way that probably should have appeared charming, but only served to churn Bria’s stomach. Also, there it was again, with people from this world just assuming that she was a woman. “You’re not quite as lovely as my little flower, but you’re radiant all the same.”
Oh, oh God. He was hitting on her, wasn’t he? But, she was a guy! Plus, he looked to be at least a decade older than either of them which was just gross.
“Why are you here, Ri-durak?”
The man grinned pleasantly, though it came across as false. “To try and convince you to come back to civilization with me, why else? Such unbecoming surroundings ill suits a flower of your beauty.”
Clearly there was a history there, but what could Bria reasonably do about it? This man was at a much higher level than her, and even Neth-amii was a few levels short of challenging him.
“My answer is the same as it was before,” Neth-amii said, her tone brokering no argument. Yet, he seemed completely unbothered by the steel in her voice. “Leave. I’m sure your little king is worried about his brave captain being gone for so long.”
“Very well,” he said with a laugh. “I’ll await your answer back in Brookvale. And be sure to bring this lovely little lily with you. I’m sure we can find a strapping man that would be more than happy to take care of her.”
Thankfully, he took that line to make his exit, vanishing down the path leading into the woods. Neth-amii breathed a sigh of relief, and Bria found herself mirroring it. Just what was it with people thinking they could just do things and get away with it?
So much for getting a break by coming to the other side.