“Then let's go.” Loviki walked toward the living room without the slightest hesitation, helping Flora pack up their things to leave. If they could find Louise, Chen Mian would definitely be thrilled.
The three of them packed up everything in the treehouse.
Flora put the seeds and a few useful notebooks into her backpack. She then placed a small bag of frost-pistil honey candy and a dried frost-pistil flower she had bought in Wigtan on the windowsill, weighing them down with a stone.
“Let's go, Mr. Chen Mian! Let's find Louise.” She took a step back, her lips curving into a slight smile.
This time, they walked much faster than before.
Chen Mian nodded slightly. After learning about the connection between Louise and Keyins, he was actually less worried that something bad had happened to Louise.
As a Mythic Rank powerhouse, even if the Life Witch had truly abandoned everything she once had, she wouldn't have left herself without a backup plan. A mere criminal organization couldn't possibly kill her.
But Louise, who had reincarnated from Keyins in some way, had already appeared in the world outside the dungeon. Her purpose in living a second life should have been achieved. Would Keyins really still appear on the seventh floor now? Perhaps she was still there. Many in the Adventurer's Guild had witnessed a “ghost” on the fifth floor. Maybe Louise had indeed met with an accident back then, and the backup plan left by Keyins had recalled her to the dungeon?
If Louise was still alive... what state would she be in now?
Or rather... was she Louise, or was she Keyins? Compared to the Life Witch, Louise's memories were far too brief. Would the Louise he found be Louise, or just Keyins with an extra set of short-lived memories?
That could only be revealed when he finally met her. Regardless, her consciousness originated from the same source... as long as she was alive, that was enough.
“Mr. Chen Mian,” Flora's voice came from behind. “Are you worried?”
“No, she's definitely alive.” Chen Mian shook his head. “Let's go.”
“Okay!”
The entrance to the fifth floor was a massive cave at the end of the fourth floor's sea of trees. Outside the cave, a few adventurers were still lingering.
“You three, if you want to enter the fifth floor, you'd better be prepared,” a fox-eared demi-human girl sitting by a tent looked up and warned.
“Excuse me, what is it like inside the fifth floor?” Loviki stopped and looked at the demi-human girl to ask.
“It's incredibly dark, but you can't just use any light source inside. There are many light-sensitive magical beasts, so lighting up will easily make you a target. On top of that, your mana perception will be heavily suppressed. You absolutely shouldn't go in unless you're at least Gold Rank. Even if you don't get attacked by magical beasts, you'll get lost inside because you won't be able to tell your directions,” the demi-human girl said with a solemn expression.
“Have you been inside?”
“No, it's too dangerous in there, and there aren't many resources—just some worthless ores. Most adventurers who go in come out empty-handed; many only go to try their luck at finding the entrance to the next floor of the dungeon.” The demi-human girl sighed. “It's honestly better to search for resources on the fourth floor. Except for the frost whisperers, most of the plants here aren't lethal. If you can harvest some rare fruits, you can sell them for a lot of money.”
“Thanks!” Loviki took out two glowing peaches from her backpack and tossed them to her. They had picked these along the way. Since they had taken a different route from everyone else, they had seen quite a few of these peaches on their journey.
Keyins had called them “fluorescent peaches” in her log, having bred them solely because she found it too difficult to locate fruit to pick at night. Their glow was due to a self-circulation of mana. However, because the glow consumed very little mana, these peaches contained a vast amount of concentrated mana, which could boost one's mana when eaten.
“For me?” The fox-eared demi-human girl stared in a daze at the glowing peaches in Loviki's hand.
“Yeah, an information fee.”
“Is it really okay!?” the demi-human girl said in pleasant surprise.
“Yes, they're for you.”
“Thank you!” Even if she didn't eat these two peaches, she could sell them for a hefty price.
“You're welcome.” Loviki waved her hand and turned to continue toward the cave. The three of them stepped inside.
The fox-eared demi-human girl stared blankly at the peaches in her hands, carefully placing them into her backpack and hugging it tightly to her chest.
It was pitch-black inside the cave, without even a single magic lamp in sight. It was so dark that they couldn't even see their own hands. As they walked deeper, the cave opened up, becoming increasingly spacious.
Chen Mian took Flora and Loviki by their hands.
The two of them were only startled for a moment before squeezing his hands in return. It was far too dark here; if they didn't hold hands, it would be easy to get separated. The only light in the cave was the faint glimmer filtering in from the entrance.
It was thanks to that tiny bit of light that the entering adventurers could tell which way they were going.
“It's so quiet in here, and most of my mana perception is being blocked.” Loviki tightened her grip on Chen Mian's hand, her voice tinged with nervousness. “And I feel like there's something watching us from all around.”
“Yes, my perception range has shrunk significantly as well, and there is indeed the aura of magical beasts nearby,” Flora replied softly.
“So, do ghosts really appear in here?” As she spoke, Loviki leaned a bit closer to Chen Mian.
“Although some people have spotted them, I don't think they're ghosts,” Chen Mian answered seriously.
As they went deeper into the cavern, the light from the entrance vanished completely.
Chen Mian could feel Flora's fingers tightening slightly, while Loviki's palm was growing a bit sweaty.
“It's even darker than I imagined.” Loviki kept her voice very low, yet it still produced a faint echo in the empty cavern. “There's absolutely no light, and our perception is being compressed. There's something wrong with this cave—it swallows up any mana we release.”
“Yes, as soon as the released mana touches the stone walls, it gets absorbed. Keyins probably warned us to wait until we were strong enough to enter precisely because of this. Encountering high-level magical beasts here would be far more dangerous than outside,” Flora replied softly in the darkness.
As the two of them were speaking, Chen Mian suddenly stopped. “There are magical beasts ahead, and quite a few of them.”
“Where?” Loviki also stopped, looking toward Chen Mian in the pitch-black darkness, but she couldn't see a thing.
“Wait for me here for a moment.”
“Huh?” Before Loviki could react, Chen Mian had already let go of her hand.
Accompanied by the sound of his footsteps, Chen Mian walked off into the darkness on his own, leaving the space around them feeling empty.
Loviki reached out and gripped her rapier.
Once Chen Mian left, the sensation of being watched grew even stronger. Every second in the darkness seemed to stretch on indefinitely.
“Those things are getting closer,” Flora's voice grew serious.
Right then, their hands were held once again, allowing Loviki to finally relax slightly.
“All done,” Chen Mian's voice came from beside them. “We can keep going.”
Loviki stood frozen, utterly dazed. “What did you go do?”
“Cleared out some of the magical beasts. Otherwise, they would have blocked our way,” Chen Mian said, a hint of amusement in his voice. “Loviki, you seem very tense. Are you afraid of the dark?”
“I-I'm not afraid,” Loviki stammered, her voice of protest much quieter now. “Is there really something that's been staring at us this whole time?”
“Yeah, just some spiders, snakes, bats, lizards, and things like that. Their levels aren't high, so you'd be able to handle them even if they attacked,” Chen Mian said, glancing around.
The moment the words left his mouth, he felt the grip on both of his hands tighten even further.
Did that have the opposite effect?
“Don't worry, I won't let any of those things get near you. Just follow me.”
“Okay,” Flora softly agreed.
“I hate spiders and snakes...” Loviki's voice sounded tight. As she finished speaking, she leaned even closer to Chen Mian.
Rate on N.U.
