"Hey! That tickles!"
"Just stand straight for a damn second!"
I was standing in the same dim shadowy place with my T-shirt up and 'only my-waist-reaching-Loli' questionably close to my stomach… and belt.
So much so that, if a FED walked by, he'd first shoot me in the head and then cuff my dead body with a hazmat suit on.
Lili was examining the scars on my stomach.
"Lili! Something is rising, and it's no hero… or maybe it's! In a way…"
"Wha-You pervert!" My Loli shrieked as she hoped back. But not before stomping my foot, 'kick-starting' my one-legged dance while I sang, "Ow-Ow-Ow…"
"How many pain killer did you take, again?"
"Just enough feel alive again…"
"Look, what you took, are not only pain-killers but also the cheapest drugs available in the market… 2 are more than enough to draw a Level-1 in," Lili explained with her hands on her waist, her eyes not leaving mine.
Cold sweat had drenched my back long before she finished her little explanation. I so did not like where this was going, "You mean… the bad kind of drugs?"
"Yes, the bad kind," She said, before spinning back to prep her enormous bag.
[I need to get her mind off the pain-killers… She'll kill me if told her, I took 3.]
But it wasn't even two steps before she snapped back like a startled cat, "Master Argus, please tell me you've done this… Rune stuff before. It's not the pain-killer speaking."
My eyes instantly lit up like torches while my lips curved in glee, I had found the opportunity before I even started looking for it.
"Of course, I've done this before! Here look!" I said, before willing the upgrade interface out.
In the middle of the darkroom shone a brilliant golden-blue haze before a grayish-blue holographic upgrade interface popped out the Outsider's Mark.
Although Lili couldn't read a damn word because everything was written in English and the language spoken here is different, a language I somehow knew like the back of my hand, despite that, Lili's round eyes opened wide as she gaped at the simple yet stylish interface.
"What is that?!?"
Closing the interface a second later, just in case someone strolled in, I explained, "Consider this my own personal Falna designed to upgrade or unlock new Magic… Similar to the Exp here- the Elexia, the currency it needs for upgrades and unlocks are Runes. So, you see… That's why I was so stuck-up on them. A new Magic will at least give me peace of mind if nothing else."
Lili before me was… surprisingly calm by the end of it. She nodded her understanding with a neutral look on her face before turning towards her bag.
[She seems to have reached a point where she wouldn't even bat an eye even if I suddenly grew two heads or somethin…] I thought before going for my own thing.
Connecting with my storage, I felt- The Corvo's blade, A Gladius, Cross-Bow Handgun, The Karambit, 5 Mana-Potions, A Stamina-Potion, and my paperwork and stuff. The two Short Combat-Axes I looted from that guy needed to be carried on person. My storage was completely stuffed now.
With a thought, I took out the sea-blue item this entire operation relied upon, The Stamina-Potion.
I just got me tum-tum recovered from a bloody mess. 5 deep gashes from the Kobold and a through-the-body stab from that guy.
So, technically, I had just recovered from 7 deep wounds on the place, only a few hours ago.
Not even taking the trauma into account, I have still lost enough blood to be bedridden for at least a while. And I would be, if not for the charm like effect Healing-Potions have on me.
And let's not forget the 3 pain-killers. Maybe they are the reasons I'm numb enough to walk and talk.
But fighting was still a whole different matter.
That's where Stamina-Potion comes into play.
It should give me enough juice to tide through this op, and following the previous effects of the potions, It might even take me beyond… plus ultra.
So, with that in mind, I popped the lid off the sea-blue potion, embracing the herbal fragrance it brought with it before gulping it down in one go.
A few seconds later, a heat similar to 'getting-drunk' spread out from my stomach, soon enveloping my entire body.
It was like being wrapped inside a soft-warm blanket on a December night.
Then followed gentle yet active energy. I felt like I can run miles with a single breath.
My body wiggled in the warm, fuzzy, and exciting heat now coursing through my body while redness returned to my face.
-Kritink!
The sound of the empty vial hitting the floor echoed in the silent darkness while I turned around to get the short Combat-Axes.
That's when my Loli shrieked as if a grinning 'ugly bastard' just popped in front of her.
"You drank the whole thing?!?"
Turning to her, my innocent head tilted right, "Yeah, what about it?"
Lili's hands instantly flung up in surrender, with eyes about to spit fire, she went like, "For the love of God! Can you please stop trying to kill yourself for like… 5 minutes?"
Sprinting at me, she then took my hand and asked in horror, "How are you feeling? Like b-bursting… or stuffed-full?"
"What?! Of course no! Quite the contrary, I feel rather energized! As if, I wouldn't be able to sleep even if you hugged me to it…"
Not believing a single word, Lili made crouch down before taking a deep breath and relaxing her shoulder.
With a palm on my forehead, she said,
"Thank goodness! Your temperature is high… but only as high as a mild fever."
Backing away a few steps she then said in seriousness,
"Listen and always remember… What you took, Master Argus was a Grade-1 enhancement type potion which is also a potion above your grade.
There have been many reports of adventurers downright exploding from taking enhancement type potions way above their grade.
These enhancement potions, Master Argus, are a double-edged sword. The highly concentrated energy does more harm than good to users with a weak body.
But… it seems your body is unnaturally good at digesting such things.
And as well as I know you, I refuse to believe that you only took a single pain-killer, which by the way, is more than enough to vegetate a Non-Leveler like you. And on top of that, you also drank a full vial of Grade-1 enhancement type potion. So, by all means, and processes, Master Argus, you... should be dead.
So, please be honest with me… are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere? Anywhere at all?"
The wistful smile on my face stiffened, it was only then, did I realize… boy, I fucked up big time.
"I'm dandier than ever, Loli. I promise… don't feel like dying anymore." I answered, and I wasn't kidding… I was feeling good.
There was a little flinch in her body by the time I finished my sentence. Taking a deep breath, she nodded and said while walking back to her bag for the third time,
"Very well… but we will still visit a doctor just in case,"
She then turned her head back to me for the fourth and asked a question.
A question that had been itching at the back of my head for a while now, but I just wasn't willing to doubt.
With eyes flickering in emotion I couldn't comprehend, she asked, "Master Argus… you're human, right?"
Chuckling aloud, I immediately replied, "Of course, I am!"
Nodding softly, she turned around for the last time, but not before murmuring, "I hope so too…"
.
.
.
*2nd Floor*
I was following behind Lili with her Cross-Bow in my hands.
The layout of the second floor was the same as the 1st, just a lot darker, quiet, and humid. It was only thanks to Dark Visio that I could see what 15 meters ahead is.
A bead of sweat rolled down my cheek as my alert eyes scanned the terrain repeatedly.
Every breath I drew drummed my ears like a typhoon, every step we took resounded like gunshots.
It was all so quiet I could even hear my heart beating.
The only other noises were the distant snarls and growls, ensuring there are monsters here.
It wasn't even 50 meters when we came across the first monster living on the 2nd floor.
A Kobold.
My heart near exploded the moment I noticed it.
Every pore of my body opened, drenching me in a cold sweat in a matter of seconds.
Even under the effects of 3 pain-killers, my wounds came alive the moment my eyes landed on its sharp claws as the monster gashed the floor in boredom.
My heart pounded faster and faster with each screeching scratch the monster made on the floor.
My breathing raged through my gritted teeth as I instinctively raised the cross-bow, just about to pull the trigger.
But the little sense of rationality my raging emotions couldn't overwhelm turned my head towards Lili.
Rather than the monster, her eyes were on me. A smile curved Lili's lips as she nodded before turning to the Kobold, weapons drawn.
Her smiling approval somewhat stopped the tremble in my arms as I took a deep breath and aimed down iron-sights.
The target was the throat and hopefully the Cervical Spine.
Aligning the iron-sights, I pressed my cheek against the 'cheek-pad' and breathed through my mouth in order to prevent the recoil from damaging my throat, then pulled the trigger.
-SWISH! CLUCK!
The bolt raged out like a lightning bolt before plunging itself right into the monster's throat, splattering blood out of the other side of the neck.
The monster couldn't even scream its unbridled agony, all it could do was clutch it's neck, and wither in blood and pain.
Eyes so ferocious a second ago were now begging for death, which Lili granted with a stab in its skull.
.
.
During the entire trip, I shot 15 Kobolds and a few Goblins from a safe distance, relaxing my trauma to a certain degree.
And now, we were only 50 meters away from the Runes and in front of a massive entrance of a room.
The entrance before us was big enough to let a truck pass by. Collective snarls and growls of a number of monsters were waving out of the ominous entrance, clenching my scars along with my hopes.
Taking a deep breath, I gathered all my courage before 'Blinking' beside it for a peek inside.
What I saw crushed the little hope I had left to still go for the Runes.
The entire area of 15 meters my Dark Vision covered was filled with orange silhouettes of Goblins and Kobolds.
And the flickering candle finally whipped off the moment I turned towards Lili and saw the horror in her eyes.
[I guess it was not meant to be…]
/ I have a plan, but… Lili's life will be on the line. /
[Don't fuck with me… Lili won't be a decoy! Not happening!]
/Then maybe… stealth your way in? /
[That's a viable option… but Lili won't agree. Let me ask the headcount first.]
Turning to Lili, I pointed out the exact direction I was seeing the Runes, before mouthing the headcount.
Gesturing me to come closer, she then whispered, "Master Argus… I counted 9 Kobolds and 34 Goblins…. And you pointed at a small crack in a wall by the end of the room, just big enough to fit you in."
My eyes closed in resignation the moment I heard her. 9 Kobolds and 34 Goblins were way out of our league. Lili may have a Falna but her status was meager at best. The risk was too much to take.
"We can't take the numbers, Lili. Let's get out of here… I'm scrubbing this." I whispered back before turning around to leave. After what happened before, it'd be really foolish of me to even think about pulling this off.
"Wait, Master Argus… I have a plan."