However, things were not as peaceful as he had imagined.
When Li Xiuman looked up, he found a figure standing beside him. He had no idea how long they had been there.
Under the light of his staff, they were silently standing beside him, reading 《An In-Depth Explanation of Tier 1 Elemental Magic》 along with him.
“Clack, clack, clack!!”
Li Xiuman was startled into making his raw skeleton voice.
He grabbed his staff leaning against the wall and leaped back, putting some distance between himself and the person beside him.
And this person was none other than...
The purple Heavy Warrior who had cut off Pound's horn.
“...Sorry, did I startle you?”
After a brief silence, she spoke.
“N-No, you didn't.”
Li Xiuman shook his head.
Li Xiuman only wanted to leave this place as fast as possible.
Who cared what kind of dangers lurked here? Staying next to this person was the greatest danger of all.
He would rather fly back up and fight to the death with the lizardman king on the fifteenth floor than stay with this human tyrannosaur.
If his identity as a skeleton were exposed, this woman would probably dismantle him a dozen times over.
Holding up his staff, he groped his way in one direction.
That person quietly followed him.
“...”
He turned and headed to the left, and that person silently followed him to the left as well.
“...”
Damn it, was he being targeted?
He stopped, and the figure behind him stopped too.
Turning around, he saw her wiping her sword, pretending as though nothing had happened.
“Is there something you need?”
“My magic tool broke. I'm just borrowing some light.”
She replied.
“What about your missionary companion?”
“He wasn't a companion. And he's probably dead.”
How can someone with a body temperature of thirty-six degrees Celsius speak such chilling words?
“I have a magic tool for light. Do you want it?”
Li Xiuman pulled a light magic tool from his bag and offered it to Ilu.
“...Thank you so much.”
Ilu took the magic tool and pressed the button.
There was only a sharp “crack.”
And the magic tool shattered into a handful of pieces in her palm.
“...You certainly have a powerful grip, lady.”
Li Xiuman opened his mouth, but that was all he could manage to say.
He looked at that hand. It could probably crush his head just as easily.
“So, can I hire you?”
“No, I am...”
“See if this money is enough.”
She opened her coin pouch.
“Hiss—”
“If you don't mind.”
Li Xiuman decided to bow to capital.
This pouch of gold coins was probably enough for an ordinary person to live on for the rest of their life.
Truthfully, he had wanted to refuse.
But if he refused a reward of so many gold coins, it would look highly suspicious, as if he were trying to hide something.
“Wonderful. My name is Ilu Mantield.”
“I will keep you safe. Don't worry.”
She took off her helmet, letting her cascade of dreamlike purple hair fall.
What left the deepest impression, however, was her eyes—they shone like brilliant amethysts. Set against her purple eyelashes, they looked almost too ethereal to belong to a human.
Her flawless, fair face looked as though it were crafted from the finest porcelain.
On her right ear, she wore a sapphire stud that gleamed with magical light. It was clearly a high-quality magic tool.
Her face was so beautiful it seemed inhuman.
It wasn't that no human could be more beautiful, but rather that her beauty felt altogether unearthly.
“You should probably put your helmet back on.”
Li Xiuman forced his gaze away from her face and spoke.
“Why?”
“You're too beautiful. Looking at you makes me feel self-conscious.”
“...”
No woman dislikes being complimented on her looks, Li Xiuman recalled.
Sure enough, the person beside him seemed a bit happier, though she didn't put her helmet back on.
Neither of them spoke after that.
Li Xiuman resigned himself to playing the role of a living lightbulb, turning left and right under Ilu's guidance.
Meanwhile, Ilu held a drawing board, mapping out their surroundings.
From what Li Xiuman could see, her work was very precise and clear.
After who knew how long, Ilu's voice rang out.
“We've explored enough for now. Let's take a break.”
“Alright.”
Checking the map she had drawn, Ilu guided Li Xiuman into a cave.
There, they started a campfire.
“Um, do you know where we are? It seems none of the floors in this dungeon look like this.”
Sitting around the fire, Li Xiuman asked in confusion.
“You don't know? Then how did you end up here?”
It was Ilu's turn to be surprised.
“I fell in while being chased by a Unique Variant lizardman king on the fifteenth floor.”
Li Xiuman answered honestly. After all, there was no need to hide this.
“I really don't know whether to call you lucky or unlucky.”
“This is a hidden special labyrinth.”
Ilu answered his question without pressing further. She continued roasting some meat she had recently hunted, sprinkling seasonings over it.
Then, she handed a skewer to Li Xiuman.
“...I'm not very hungry.”
“Alright.”
Ilu wolfed down the roasted meat with a hearty appetite, completely devoid of any self-consciousness about her appearance.
Watching her eat, Li Xiuman felt a long-forgotten sensation of hunger.
Once she finished eating, she casually wiped her mouth with her cloak and pulled out a cup.
“Do you have any water?”
“Oh, yes.”
Li Xiuman reached out. A stream of water condensed out of thin air and flowed into Ilu's cup.
Neither of them spoke after that.
Having eaten and drunk her fill, Ilu stood up and began taking off her heavy armor.
Li Xiuman consciously looked away.
Once she had shed her armor, Ilu began cleaning and maintaining it.
Li Xiuman did sneak a glance at her body beneath the armor, mostly out of curiosity.
Besides, she was fully clothed underneath her armor, so it would actually be stranger if he overreacted and went out of his way to avoid looking.
She stood over 1.7 meters tall, with exceptionally long legs packed with lean, toned muscle.
He couldn't tell when she was wearing her armor, but her figure was surprisingly well-proportioned and curvaceous.
Li Xiuman silently apologized for previously imagining her as a muscular Barbie.
Sitting cross-legged on the ground, she narrowed her eyes and patiently focused on maintaining her armor by the light of the campfire.
Li Xiuman walked over to the side and stabbed his staff into the ground. The magic stone at its tip immediately shone with a much brighter light.
“Ah, thanks.”
Ilu looked up, offering a grateful smile.
Li Xiuman nodded in response, then returned to the stone wall, leaning against it to rest and recover his energy.
By the time they resumed their exploration, Ilu had put her armor back on.
The Li Xiuman-brand lightbulb was back online.
They continued exploring from where they had left off.
“Don't drift too far away. It might be dangerous today.”
Seeing Li Xiuman keeping his distance, Ilu suddenly yanked him closer.
Li Xiuman felt an immense, overwhelming force.
He felt as though it wasn't a human pulling him, but a giant dragon hooking him over with its claw.
The respect in his gaze toward Ilu deepened by several notches.
“Roar!!!”
A bone tiger lunged out from a corner. Before Li Xiuman could even react, it was already right in front of him.
An overwhelming pressure crashed over him. There was no doubt that he would die instantly.
But in the next second, a hand encased in purple armor grabbed the bone tiger by the neck.
“Snap.”
Its neck was effortlessly snapped.
“Don't worry. I'll protect you.”
Ilu turned to Li Xiuman and said.
Damn, she was so badass.
If I were a girl, I'd probably have fallen for her by now.
Rate on N.U.
