"What?! You are level 21 already?!" Misha exclaimed with a surprised look on her face.
"Yeah…" Aria pointed her fingers at the small monsters and said, "They give 100 EXP."
She pointed her finger at the medium-sized monsters and said, "They give 200-500 EXP."
Then, she pointed her finger at the small demons and said, "They give 100-500."
"The demons with small horns give 500 EXP. And the demons with medium-sized horns give 1000 EXP. Some other monsters and demons give random EXP. And honestly, I don't have time to see and confirm which monster gives how much EXP. But All the flying monsters and demons give around 1000 EXP," Aurora stated.
"And here I thought I wouldn't be leveling again since we decided to spend our life like NPCs."
"If Zach was here, he would have said 'Time for dinner' or something along those lines," Misha remarked.
"An you guys back me up for a second? I need to assign my stats points," Aurora said in a low voice.
"Sure. These monsters seem to be more interested in destroying builds anyway."
Aurora assigned her stats points and made sure to keep them equal. But she prioritized AGILITY and ATK since they were the most important, then the DEF.
Aurora wanted to use the armor Zach had given her during the time when they cleared the tower, but that would have decreased her AGILITY and made her slow.
"Let's go!" Aurora shouted as they all dashed at the monsters and the demons.
However, Aurora made sure to stay in the area and not go far from the gazebo as the NPCs were taking shelter there.
Aurora was exhausted after one more hour of fighting and killing the monsters and demons.
She had been fighting for more than 6 hours, so naturally, her body would be worn out by now. It was even more exhausting in the dungeon expedition.
Aurora plunged her sword into the ground and dropped to her knees.
She glanced around and thought, 'There is no end to them. They just keep coming.'
Aurora felt hopeless and helpless.
'I want to see Zach.'
Being in such a state reminded Aurora of her tragic experience on the 34th floor of the beginner's realm dungeon, where she lost her two maids.
'That's where I had gotten my sword skill— Lyda strike. I don't know how I got it or what I did to get it, but it truly helped me. Otherwise, I would have died on that floor along with my maids, and I would have never met Zach.'
"That's scary if I think about it. I never realized up until now that my life was empty before I met Zach."
'I don't know how I got out of the dungeon. I remember using that skill before I passed out in the dungeon. And the next time I opened my eyes, I was outside the dungeon, under the shade of the tree with the moon and stars in the sky.'
'I have no idea what happened after I passed out. Or how I got outside the dungeon. But I remember hearing a voice.'
'It was a sweet, ethereal voice. I felt as though it was calling to me. As though it wanted to talk to me. I also felt like I had a nice dream when I woke up under the tree. I tried to remember it many times, but I couldn't.'
'And right now… I am feeling the same…'
Aurora closed her eyes and muttered, "Where are you?"
[Open your eyes, my child,] an ethereal voice spoke.
Aurora opened her eyes and saw a woman wearing pure black clothes and a white veil on her head.
She was facing her back to Aurora, so Aurora couldn't see her face.
"Who are you…?" Aurora asked with a puzzled look on her face. She glanced around and muttered, "What is this place?"
Everything around her was white; white floor, white sky, white side. It was a never-ending sight of a while, as though she was in a white space.
Because of that, the woman in the black dress was looking so appealing that Aurora couldn't take her eyes off her.
The woman turned around and looked at Aurora with her ember eyes.
[This is our first time meeting, huh?] the woman said with a smile on her face.
The woman's hair was orange but a little faded. Her skin was pale, and there were cracks all over her body, even passing through her eyes.
She also had a broken horn on her forehead. She looked as though her body had broken into pieces and then placed together.
Aurora stepped back in fear and asked, "Who are you?"
The woman scoffed softly and said, "You had the same reaction when I talked to you through my voice."
"I don't remember ever meeting you!" Aurora yelled. "And send me back. My body is defenseless!"
[Don't worry, my child. Time passes differently here, so even if I send you back a minute later, or a thousand years later, no time would have passed in the game.]
[And I don't blame you for not remembering me. You were in a dire state at that time. I had to take control of your body to leave the dungeon,] the woman said in a calm voice.
"Why did you call me here?" Aurora asked with a judging look on her face.
[Arara… you are the one who called out to me.]
"Well…" Aurora averted her gaze and said, "I thought you were calling me. And… I didn't know I would come to a place like this. What is this place anyway?"
[Hmm. I don't know what this place is called. But you can think of it as a limbo dimension. No laws of the realm or reality matters here. There is no flow of time or any sign of life.]
The woman walked forward to Aurora, but Aurora jumped backward.
[Don't be scared of me. My body hurts a lot when I move it, so can you walk over to me?] the woman asked with a gentle smile on her face
"Look. I don't know what's going on or who you are. But I won't come near you or let you come near me unless you tell me something about yourself," Aurora asserted with a cautious look on her face.
SIGH!
The woman looked into Aurora's eyes and uttered, [My name is Lyda, and I am Zach's master.]
***
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