BXBX NOVEL Chapter 89 Return III
"So.. how did we end up in a dungeon?" Dustin asked after letting out a little sigh.
Seeing as people wouldn't usually run into a dungeon to hide, as that was where the danger would be, Dustin was quite curious to know their situation. The girl did hear Dustin's question, but still didn't answer right away as she turned her head towards Dustin who was still looking forward at the opposite walls surprisingly, he is starting to feel a bit better now, at that point.
The look on the girl's face however was one of confusion as she later answered, "this isn't a dungeon, it's a cave. Also, there are no dungeons around this place either." She said, as she finished talking. The girl had a firm voice, and her body structure tells that she would be a strong woman if she didn't, well... Dustin wasn't really sure of what the problem was for now. Back to what the girl just said, it meant he had been dropped probably in the forest they came from at first when they got to Na'ash. He looked around their surrounding for a while before turning to the girl to ask a question he really needed an answer to.
"Do you have something for a fire?"
The wasted a few seconds before answering, "no."
'Didn't expect much still.' The girl looked a bit shy, though her voice didn't completely show it, so Dustin was happy she even saved him. If this was a cave, then it meant he might find what he was looking for. "Thank you for saving me, really. I might have actually been eaten if you didn't help." Dustin said to show his gratitude. The girl only nodded but kept quiet. "So, how far are we from the entrance of the cave?" Dustin asked.
.
Dustin quickly figured out that the reason he felt so weak and as though he was about to die wasn't because of hunger. Hunger was part of it, but it was only the secondary reason. The main reason was because his magical energy was dangerously low. However, now that he had replenished some of it, he had started feeling like a human again. 'If then, eating some demon meat will do the trick.' Of course, Dustin couldn't eat the raw flesh before another human, as that might lead to something else in the future, so he needed an excuse.
Dustin got up to ease himself, and during that break pulled out a chunk of meat and feasted on it. This regained him some energy, but still not enough completely. There was no need to rush things either way, so he ate another and left it like that. Apart from him, the girl also needed food, so he was planning on going to hunt for some food and collect materials for a small fire. He only did all this because the girl had actually risked her own life to help him, which he knew was not common in Na'ash, as the slightest mistake could mean certain death. He didn't feel any real sense of empathy or something for her, but it was more to pay back the kindness shown to him.
He left the cave they were in, and just like the girl had explained, most of the monsters within the cave were not particularly strong, but dangerous ones also roamed those parts, so running into them was partially based on ones luck maybe. Dustin himself avoided any confrontation with the monsters and when he got out of the cave, hurried to complete his objective before returning. Just a hundred metres or so away from the cave entrance, Dustin was able to sight the mountain that acted as a sort of demarcation between the forest and town, so with that he was able to confirm that they were pretty close to the town.
Dustin had pulled the beast he killed into his inventory and returned back into the cave, and also after a long time, he had received experience points. Just like when he was leaving the cave, he acted cautiously as he navigated his way through towards the place where he left the girl. They ended up pretty deep into it after all.
To say the least, the girl was as surprised as Dustin thought she would be, as he could see it in her eyes and face when he came back dragging the dead body of a beast twice his size. She didn't say or ask anything until Dustin came before her and sat down cross legged. Her eyes switched between Dustin and the beast behind him, but before she said anything, Dustin knew what was in her mind and spoke first.
"I couldn't find anything smaller." Of course, that didn't exactly answer the question she had in her mind, it was also a suitable answer in a way.
While out, Dustin also made sure to collect some dry wood and other things, and before long he made a fire and set up some kind of grilling stand (or is it roasting stand? That thing that meat is hung off of to roast) and with it they prepared food for that moment and the night.
Their stay in the cave was beneficial to Dustin actually, as he used that opportunity to get some basic information from the girl down. The most shocking one, and maybe the most expected was how much time had passed since he went to the other realm where Eir was.
'Damn, to know that it has been seven years already since that day..' "Heh.."
Apart from the news of how long it had been and some other basic and simple things, Dustin wasn't very fortunate as the girl didn't seem to be too knowledgeable about the current happenings around. Dustin was quite taken aback, if it was close to that, by the girl's lack of knowledge of what was going on around her, but when she explained the situation he immediately understood. As it would seem, almost all the people who came to Na'ash from earth, or as they were known in this world, adventurers, had left the town. It wasn't very surprising as Dustin always knew something like this would happen, but there was no problem.
As the day went by and night came, both of them rested for the day and the next morning, they set off back to the town together. The least Dustin could do was make sure the person who saved his life gets back safely, and after that he would know what to do next. He had thought of what to do, but maybe, 'I should visit my house first. It probably would be very dusty by now.'
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