I wake up feeling good again today. I even forget for a moment that I’m in a dungeon.
“We’ll eat and then keep moving, but what about the spirits?”
That question suddenly pops into my mind, so I ask Chris, and she says they’re staying. But apparently they’re also strongly asserting that they want to eat too.
Honestly, it’s probably going to take less than two hours to walk to the staircase. We could’ve continued walking and gotten there yesterday, but we were so surprised by this sight, that we couldn’t do it. More importantly, Chris wasn’t feeling well.
I quickly cook some meat and make soup, and after we’re done eating, it’s time to leave.
Apparently Chris is saying goodbye to them, and says they’re saying goodbye to me too.
…Is telling me they hope I cook for them again really a way to say goodbye? Let’s not think about it too much.
“Are you feeling better, Chris?”
“Yes, I’m sorry for worrying you.”
Chris apologizes to me and Sera, and tells us about those other spirits.
She doesn’t know too much about them, but they’re sleeping, and waiting for the day when they can get out there again.
I tell her I didn’t feel any magic energy, and she says that apparently that’s how it is.
It’s not like I know anything about the ecology of spirits anyway, so I just have to trust what she says.
We eventually reach the staircase to the tenth floor as planned. There’s a small landing area along the way, with a device to teleport us.
“We’re done registering, so let’s go back for now.”
“Yes, it’s important to see how things are.”
I say, and Sera agrees. It’s only been two days, but maybe there have been changes to Hikari and Rurika’s condition.
We’re about to go back with this faint hope in mind, when I realize Chris didn’t respond. And when I turn to her, I’m surprised to see her walking down the stairs.
“Chris? We’re going back first.”
She doesn’t respond to me.
“Chris, we’re going back.”
She ignores Sera too, and keeps walking down the stairs.
I quickly move out, and reach out to stop her, but she disappears into the tenth floor just before I do.
Sera and I look at each other, and cross that same boundary line to go after her.
We’re in such a hurry, that I lose my balance and almost fall face first. But I manage to stop myself with one hand on the ground.
I don’t have time to take a breather before I look for Chris, while at the same time checking our surroundings with Presence Detection.
Chris was right in front of us, and I’m not picking anything on Presence Detection except us.
But the moment I raise my head, my attention is taken by a very tall tree. And apparently the same goes for Sera.
I can hear her gulping next to me. But Chris on the other hand, is still moving.
“What’s wrong, Chris?”
Yells Sera, and she grabs her shoulder. Chris finally stops, and turns to Sera.
It’s like her eyes aren’t focusing, but they get their light back gradually.
“…? What is the matter, Sera?”
“…Are you all right, Chris?”
“What do you mean? I’m fine… Where are we?”
She eventually realizes where we are, and her expression looks utterly confused.
“This is the tenth floor.”
I respond, and she looks even more confused, with her small mouth wide open.
“Tenth floor? Of the dungeon?”
“Yes. You suddenly started walking just as we were heading back, so we followed you here to the tenth floor.”
“I did? I feel like something was calling me… No good, I can’t remember.”
Did something take over her consciousness or something?
I use both Appraisal and Magic Energy Detection on her, but there’s no change to her status. Her status just shows 【——】 when I use Appraisal.
“What now, Sora?”
“What do you mean, Sera?”
“Are we going back, or investigating?”
The stairs are right there.
I call for Map, and I’m surprised when I check the size of the tenth floor. I don’t even have to enlarge it to see the whole thing.
Basically, it’s less than five hundred meters to the wall with the big tree. It’s smaller than the first floor.
And looking at it more closely, I see there isn’t another staircase to the next floor. If Map is right, this is the last floor.
“Sora, can we go to that big tree?”
“…It doesn’t seem particularly dangerous, but…”
I don’t feel anything through Presence Detection or Magic Energy Detection. Actually, the second one is reacting. And it’s coming from that big tree, but it’s so weak, that it seems strange that it’s coming from a tree that big.
Well, it’s not like I have experience with trees giving off magic energy, but it does feel frail considering its size…
“It really did feel like something was calling me. But we can go back and prepare better if you two think we should stop.”
Sera and I look at each other, and it feels like she’s saying it’s up to me. Not at all like she’s laying the responsibility on me.
“This floor isn’t very big, so we can go check, if you’re curious. But we need to be careful.”
They nod, so we form a line with me at the front and Sera in the back, and head towards the big tree.
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Thanks for the treat.
Could be a world tree, i guess we’ll find out, also thanks for the update. 👍😎