Chapter 9: Flower Garden of Invitation
Chapter 9: Flower Garden of Invitation
ELIAS was excitedly putting their things in order when he called out to Aki who was getting dressed behind a tall boulder. “Aki, are you almost done changing?”
“Yes! Sorry for the wait.” Clad in the now dry skirt suit Leo had summoned for her, Aki jogged out from the shadows. She stopped directly beside Elias and looked adoringly into his eyes from under her long lashes.
Elias scratched his flushing cheeks. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but…I feel curiously possessive of Aki when I think of her as my girlfriend.
This is a new feeling for me after spending my whole life religiously holding to the idea that the Hero can’t show favoritism. Or put another way, that the Hero couldn’t love any one special person.
But now I’m struggling with how to control these feelings so that I won’t burden Aki by acting on impulse.
“Figuring out how much to hold back is hard…”
“Hold what back?” Aki asked, slightly inclining her head.
Shoot! I said it out loud!
Realizing his slipup, Elias shook his head and tried to get by with a “It’s nothing.”
Aki wasn’t satisfied with that response—she put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow at him. “Oh, come now, don’t tell me you are still trying to run away from expressing how you really feel? That’s one of your worst habits, Elias! You should at least tell your g-girlfriend what’s on your mind!”
Blushing crimson, she leaned close to him, clenching her fists in front of her chest as she usually did whenever she became passionate about something. The way she tried her hardest to convey her love for him was insanely adorable.
Trying to control my feelings around her is like trying not to breathe. Aahh, I can’t hold back, after all.
Elias gently captured Aki’s wrists and pulled her slowly toward him. When she fell against his chest, he wrapped his arms around her back and hugged her close. “I love you, Aki.”
“I l-love—stop it! Elias, we won’t get anywhere if we keep this up! Let’s go already!” She effortlessly pushed his chest away, interlocked her fingers with his, yanked him to his feet, and started dragging him along.
Am I going to end up dominated by her like this? I’m actually pretty okay with that.
Elias had always been in the role of leader—he had little experience being led. Lovingly watching her petite back marching ahead of him, he silently wished: I hope I can be with her like this forever.
***
“IS it just me or is it getting chillier?”
“It’s definitely become colder with the mist. Visibility is getting worse too. Don’t stray too far from me, Aki.”
“I won’t,” Aki replied, the chill zapping some of the pep from her voice.
Elias put his arm around her shoulder, closing the small gap between them as they walked.
Since setting out, they had walked further into the inner depths of the underground cavern, but aside from the occasional water droplet hitting the ground, it was dead silent and drearily dark. Elias’s lantern illuminated the slippery wet rock walls, which reflected the light with a ghostly halo ring.
The deeper they went the icier the air became, and worst of all, a thin veil of mist curled around their legs. Their clothing grew damp and clung to their bodies, stealing away their body heat as the relentlessly frigid air touched it.
We’re in danger of freezing if we stay in this environment too long. Things would be different if he could use Fire magic like Leo, but the Hero regrettably had no talent for magic. I wonder what Leo’s doing right now… Has he finished infusing the mirror with enough magic to use the transference spell?
We have to finish this Quest off and get back fast, or else Leo and Johann will worry. Elias naturally picked up the speed with Aki.
Eventually the narrow, straight path they were on turned around a corner. Going around this sharp bend would put them back on track with the main route likely followed by the others several levels above. Relieved, Elias walked toward the corner and was about to step into the wider passage when his ears caught the sound of something slippery dragging along the ground.
“…Elias? What’s wrong?” Aki stopped and looked anxiously to him.
“Quiet,” he whispered, pressing his index finger to his lips.
The dragging noise was growing louder by the second. It sounded like someone was bouncing a ball of goo on the ground and trying to yank it back off. Elias drew Aki closer with his right arm and put their backs flat against the rock wall, hiding their presence from whatever was fast approaching.
“…I’m positive that’s the sound of monsters. I don’t sense any other Adventurers in this dungeon—we are the primary target for the monsters lurking here. Aki, can you check your notebook for me?” Elias asked in a quiet voice.
Aki pulled the notebook from her pocket and laid it on her palm. It flipped open to a double page map displaying three red lights traveling on the main passage around the corner. Though the monsters were moving at a snail’s pace, they were undeniably on a direct path to them.
Their slow movement speed means they’re an adhesion class monster, Elias concluded based on the information available, and thanked Aki, gesturing for her to close the notebook.
“Three enemies, huh? Well, I should be able to manage those numbers on my own,” Elias remarked casually.
“You should be able to?” Aki didn’t hide the surprise in her voice. “Are they that strong?”
“Nah, they aren’t strong per se. Adhesion class monsters tend to fall under the same shape and classification as slimes, but that’s the hardest type to fight with a sword. I’m stuck using the Holy Sword because of limitations placed on the Hero, so I’m not well-suited to taking them on.” Elias glanced down at his sword and added, “Leo and Louis’s spells work best.”
Aki tapped her index finger against her chin as if trying to draw on some past memory. “Slimes are those round, colorful blobs, right?”
“Right. I’m surprised you knew that.”
“Slimes come up in a lot of movies and games in my world. We don’t actually have any real monsters, so they’re written as fictional creatures.”
“Movies? Games? I’m not too familiar with those, but when you put it like that, it seems like our worlds have a lot in common. It’s like the worlds were conceived in a similar way. Perhaps there’s more connecting them than we realize.”
Elias shook his head to stop his thoughts from wandering down an unnecessary path. Now wasn’t the time to be contemplating deep things—he needed to figure out how to cut a path through the slimes.
With his back flat against the wall, Elias poked his head around the corner until the slimes were within view. Just as Aki’s notebook warned, monsters formed from living, wicked jelly wriggled and bounced their way closer, leaving a slimy trail behind them.
“Aki, we don’t have much time, so I’ll make this quick. Slimes are a type of adhesive monster in a jelly state with the special ability to divide their bodies into more slimes. Their numbers increase every time you cut them. There’s no way to obliterate them without fire magic. Thing is, you and I are both physical damage dealers, so our best bet is to stun them long enough to flee.”
“O-Okay… Basically, don’t cut them up unless we want them to multiply,” Aki repeated, her face growing pale. Elias gravely nodded.
Physical damage dealers were incapable of inflicting the death blow to slimes without a Mage in their party. In their situation, running was tantamount to winning.
“Here’s my strategy…” Keeping half his concentration on the unique squicky sound of the approaching slimes, Elias turned his head toward Aki. “I’m going to charge straight through while carrying you. We can’t defeat the slimes, so our best bet is to run right past them.”
“Seriously?!” Aki whipped her head back and forth. “I can run by myself! I don’t want to be a burden to you!”
“You’re not a burden at all. I’d prefer that to freaking out about you possibly tripping and falling behind me,” Elias stated in all seriousness.
Aki angrily puffed out her cheeks. “Wh-What the heck?! You’re horrible for assuming I’d trip and fall! Hey! Whoa!”
Elias scooped the miffed Aki into his left arm and drew the Holy Sword with his right. Aki’s even lighter than I thought… Has she lost weight after being forced to live in a new world? She always acts happy, but this proves the fatigue is getting to her. I hope I can let her rest a bit after this Quest. Getting through the predicament in front of us comes first, though!
“Aki, hold on to my neck so you don’t fall. Here we go!” Aki securely in his arm, Elias pushed off from the wall and bolted around the corner. He charged into the pile of slimes faster than a loosed arrow.
Detecting Elias and Aki, the slimes rolled toward them in an avalanche of colorful goo.
“Yuck! Elias, the slimes are rolling toward us!”
“It’s okay! Don’t speak or you might bite your tongue!”
After glancing briefly at Aki, who said nothing more, Elias charged into the slimes without slowing and lashed out at the nearest one with the Holy Sword. Sliced in half, two goopy chunks hit the ground, forming two more bouncing blue slimes.
Not stopping to look, Elias stepped hard on his front foot, launching himself nimbly into the air as if an invisible wind pushed beneath his feet. Cleanly landing on the other side of the slimes, he ran nonstop down the passageway.
No point in wasting stamina against an unbeatable enemy. Slimes lacked the speed to catch up to Elias, so cutting a path through them and charging ahead was the best plan of action.
Confirming Aki was all right while she clung to his neck with her eyes squeezed shut, Elias headed for the dungeon depths, putting an even greater distance between them and their slimy foe.
***
“OKAY, I think we’re good.”
After sprinting into the back of the cave without much thought, Elias stopped at a hollowed out piece of rock and confirmed that no slimes were directly behind them.
The long passage they had been running through didn’t have a modicum of light or sound.
…I don’t detect the slimes anywhere near us. We completely shook them off our trail. Elias exhaled and lowered Aki to the ground. She staggered once before steadying herself.
“Thank you, Elias. I wonder if they are still following us…”
“We should be fine. I put a good distance between us. The slimes shouldn’t be able to sense our body heat anymore.”
“Glad to know that…” she sighed.
Elias led her by the hand while keeping a vigilant eye on their surroundings. After pushing blindly forward inside the never-changing, poorly lit, damp passage, they finally saw light break through the darkness ahead. Possibly from a clearing.
Elias and Aki looked at each other, laced their fingers, and passed through the exit obscured by blinding light. Their eyes instantly adjusted to the breathtakingly beautiful scenery.
Waiting beyond the dark passage was an open clearing with a domed cave ceiling more than several dozen buildings tall. Blue glowing lilies bloomed in profusion across the wide space. Balls of shimmering pollen danced around the space like fireflies. It was like a magical garden straight out of a fairy tale.
The lush flowers surrounded a large underground lake in the center of the clearing, their blue light reflecting off the water’s surface like countless stars in the sky.
It looks like an ancient garden… Awe of their beauty may have stopped Elias in his tracks, but an altogether different reason prevented him from taking the next step. It was unnatural for flowers to bloom profusely deep underground. Most of all, the spooky beauty of it led him to believe strong magic was at play.
These ruins have an abnormal water element level. Could this clearing be the cause for that? An underground lake…water attribute… Racking his brain, Elias surveyed their surroundings with a wary eye.
“So pretty…” Aki muttered breathlessly.
“…I didn’t think there was such a huge lake below the ruins. That temple may have been built because of this lake,” Elias observed as he took in the unearthly scenery beside her.
“Maybe they built the temple to protect or worship the lake?”
“Or they built it to seal in a powerful monster.”
“I hope not…” Aki shuddered. He hoped not as well.
The garden’s ethereal beauty was enough to send shivers down his spine, but the unknown factors surrounding it were spine-tingling in their own right.
I don’t know why, but something in my gut is telling me to run… I don’t think it’s wise to proceed.
But staying still and doing nothing would slowly zap them of energy as the chill scraped away at their stamina. They could stay put until Mina and Louis showed up, but he had no guarantee they would make it this far any time soon. If at all.
Which means we have to trudge on alone…
Coming to that conclusion, Elias grabbed Aki’s hand to reassure her. “…This place doesn’t feel right. Whatever you do, don’t leave my side.”
The flowers swayed and rubbed against each other despite the lack of wind. The cavern shook with their rustling as if it were a living creature, arousing fear deep in the pit of his belly. Even the blue light of the flowers shifted from a tranquil illumination to the bewitching lure of a jack-o'-lantern inviting the unwitting to their death.
Elias drew the Holy Sword from its sheath with his right hand and took his first step into the flower field with Aki’s hand firmly locked in his left. His foot crushing the ground below sounded awfully loud in his ears.
I hope I’m just being overly sensitive… Elias pressed his lips together to fight against the overwhelming alarm clawing at his chest.