CHAPTER 134: EXPLORING A DUNGEON FOR THE FIRST TIME [3]

Using my fingers, I formed the shape of a square and brought it before my right eye.

The floor was flat and made of black wood, providing a smooth touch and stable surface unlike the stone platforms.

"Perfect."

The cave was covered perfectly by black wood, providing durable walls and a good ceiling without any holes, with only the cave entrance not covered by wood.

"Perfect."

Then the most important part.

This type of tree seemed to be absorbing all the heat to strengthen its wood. In other words, this place wasn’t hot!

"PERFECT!"

With a satisfied smile, I lay down on the cold, wooden floor and let out a sigh.

"I missed the cold surface..."

Who could have thought that a Tier-3 dungeon might show such a threat by only its environment?

I wasn’t exaggerating. I could feel that I’d have died if I stayed outside for only an hour. And that was while wearing 2 coldness artifacts!

If I learned something from that, it’d be that I wasn’t prepared enough. Who knows when I would need to enter an unknown dungeon? And I wasn’t interested in dying because of a fucking environment!

"What now?"

Selene asked, sitting beside me and hugging her knees.

Immediately, my gaze fell on Glutton. He was lying on the floor, wings expanded and eyes closed.

I grinned as a plan formed in my head.

"Glutton, my dear precious Glutton, did you rest well?"

Glutton opened his eyes instantly and glared at me with narrowed eyes.

"Kra."

[What the fuck you mean? I just sat down. It’s not even a minute!]

Ignoring his yelling, I continued:

"I don’t see any exhaustion in you. I think you rested enough. It’s your time to do something useful."

"Kra?!"

[....Don’t dare!]

I cleared my throat and pointed at the exit of the cave.

"Go outside and locate as many monsters as you can. Remember their locations, numbers, appearance and any suspicions."

[....What about you?]

Instead of responding, I took 2 bottles of water out of my storage and gave one to Selene.

We had to rest well after fighting those golems. If something decided to attack us suddenly, then it was better to fight it in my best condition.

Glutton glared at me for a long moment before finally leaving the cave.

[I’ll take half the mana cores.]

’Tsk, okay.’

As I clicked by tongue and accepted inwardly, I began to think about Isaac.

’Should I sleep and wait for him or stay awake?’

I felt like whatever decision I chose wouldn’t matter. Both decisions didn’t seem that good.

I still didn’t forget that they were keeping an eye on Aria if what Isaac said was right. How else would they know something too personal as her dream?

’I think I have no other choice...’

I’ll sleep and wait for Isaac to show me the ’truth’ whatever it was, finding an excuse to make Selene stay awake just in case. Then I’d wait for Saturday to solve Aria’s matter.

Maybe the people I could trust the most here were the vampires, therefore I decided to tell them about Aria and see if they could help.

I hated that I was in a situation where I had to ask for help from people I didn’t know so well... but I had no other choice.

I was... so weak.

And I had to change this as fast as possible.

•••

[Liora’s Pov]

"I... am... freezing..."

For the tenth time today, Arthur complained, rubbing his hands together to produce some heat.

"Art, can’t you just burn the entire place?" Elara asked, white mists coming out of her mouth whenever she spoke, hugging Arthur’s wing to warm herself, "I’d rather drown in hot water than freeze in this place!"

I sighed as I decided:

"Let’s rest for 5 more minutes. I’ll make a small shelter again."

Elara’s and Arthur’s eyes lit up instantly, a wide smile tugging at their faces as they thanked me.

"You are the best!"

"Glad that we have you here."

"...."

I shook my head and began to make a small, durable snow shelter.

Once I finished it, we immediately sat inside, hiding from the cold winds that were freezing us.

The shelter was so small that our shoulders were touching each other — Arthur’s wings especially were covering both of me and Elara — but it was warm enough.

And for the best part...

"Now it’s my turn."

...Arthur took a few sticks out of his storage and used his affinity to fire them, causing a warm heat to push the coldness away from our bodies.

"Haa... I’ve never been more comfortable~"

At Elara’s words, I nodded without a change in expression. I lay back against Arthur’s wings, feeling the soft, warm feathers, and looked at the outside through a hole in the shelter.

That was the dungeon I chose and rented yesterday. It was a dungeon with an extremely cold, windy environment that was making even the act of opening my eyes hard.

My body had resistance to coldness, Arthur’s body was anything but weak against coldness and Elara’s buffs were too great against it.

Yet, here we were, struggling under this environment.

All I could see outside was snow and white wind. I couldn’t know if there was a monster lurking outside because I could barely see.

’If only he was here...’

My mind couldn’t help but form an image of a purple-eyed man.

I read that space users tend to have something called spatial awareness, which could have been so useful now.

And even if he didn’t, he was an archer, so his sight was supposed to be incredible.

’There is no use in thinking about him.’

I shook my head and spoke.

"I think that’s enough for now. Let’s move before anything goes wrong."

"Wait, I didn’t rest enough!"

I ignored Elara and removed the shelter away, feeling the cold wind returning to push me.

"Argh, I really hate this! I regret listening to you two. I should have stayed in my workshop."

Elara complained while hugging Arthur’s wing again, wrapping it around herself like a blanket.

"...."

’He won’t mind... right?’

I questioned myself, looking at his other wing with glowed eyes.

I slowly stood too close to him and began to use his wing as a blanket.

"W-I..."

Other than his face that turned red and some strange things he muttered, he didn’t seem to mind.

’I know you are embarrassed because a girl is touching you, but I have no other choice, sorry.’

*BAM!*

All of a sudden, we heard a sound too loud beside us.

In an instant, I cast an illusion veil surrounding us and looked at what caused this.

*BAM!*

My body froze, not because of cold, but shock.

’It’s-It’s a boss.’

It was a huge giant made of ice and snow. Standing 20 meters tall and causing the land to tremble by only its steps.

*BAM!*

He was moving away, obviously clueless about us. We waited for a few minutes, and eventually, he disappeared from our sight.

"I’m not sure if I can win against it. If I did, the price could be heavy."

Arthur muttered, looking at the giant’s direction thoughtfully.

He was considering fighting that monster alone even in this environment. He was much stronger and more confident than me, and I hated that.

I could definitely win if I used everything I had, but that wasn’t the type of power I wanted to rely on.

’....I have to change quickly, especially after what happened yesterday.’