BONUS Chapter 2/6
Back in Vulcan's Cave.
Evie closed the message box and turned all notifications to silent. She had made up her mind to try her Luck in the unknown than return to Scar's group and be their dog.
Evie released a big sigh, and Ren stifled a laugh beside her.
"Have you made a decision?"
Evie knew what Ren was talking about, and she nodded while saying in a monotone voice that hid her real feelings of excitement. "Yeah . . . I want to be like you. But to do that, I got to have something that will set me apart from the other Blue Mages."
Ren smiled. "Yes. That's exactly right."
Evie looked over at him. "I will go to Illusion Forrest as you said, and hopefully . . . I'll get something unique to my class."
". . ." You will. Ren wanted to say but decided against it. According to his information in the past, Evie came into that Forrest and came out as the Illusion Queen.
Whatever she did in there, he had faith in her that she could do it again in this lifetime.
Ren had little information regarding Illusion Forrest since his guild in the past had only one or two Blue Mages, going into Illusion Forrest wasn't a priority. So that was all the help he could do for her.
"Oh, and another thing," Ren sent something to Evie, and the latter's eyes rounded upon seeing it.
"Black . . . Ribbon?"
"I heard that you need a great deal of Luck to venture into Illusion Forrest. I'm not giving you that, though. I'm lending it to you . . . With interest, of course. Give it back to me when you no longer need it together with the interest." He winked though Evie couldn't see him doing so.
". . ." Evie couldn't say anything for a moment. She wanted to ask how Ren knew so much but decided against it.
"Thank you," she told him instead, and her cold face blossomed into a warm smile.
The two stared at each other. Even if Evie couldn't see Ren's face, she knew that he was looking at her and this put a blush on her cheeks though her face remained impassive.
". . ." Ren blinked before he looked away and cleared his throat while Evie stretched and rubbed her neck at the side.
While the two awkward people didn't know how to continue the conversation, Alecia and Rafaela were busy inspecting their loot.
"Should we open this now, or should we go back first and open it together with the others?" Alecia wanted to open the chests so badly that her fingers itched.
"We'll go back, of course. Do you want Silvia to have a go with our hair?" Rafaela warned.
"Of course NO! That girl's nails are sharper than Trixie's pointy jaw."
Alecia hooped to her feet and jumped her way to the exit. "What are we waiting for? Let's get out from this dump and teleport to them."
Rafaela and Alecia was near the exit when the two turned back and waved their hands at Ren and Evie.
"You two, we'll leave without you!"
"Let's go." Ren took his first step towards the exit when Pii suddenly pulled his cloak over to where Vulcan was a moment ago.
"What's wrong?" Evie asked when Ren stopped.
"You go ahead. I have to look at something first." Ren went after Pii when the little creature stopped at the location where Vulcan was before it exploded.
"What is it?" Ren asked when Pii kept rubbing its snout against the ground.
There was a tiny crack on the dried magma bedding. It must have fractured when Vulcan exploded a while ago.
But before Ren could further inspect the rocky floor, the ground quaked and gave way with him at the center.
Pii!
Ren's heart raced at the sudden turn of events, and he thought that he fell onto the abyss below only to realize that Evie had managed to get hold of his arm in that short amount of time.
"Evie!" Ren didn't know what was worse, seeing Evie try to pull him up or seeing the ground cracked from where she slumped.
"Let go!" Ren shouted when all sorts of crackling sounds erupted around her. But Evie seemed deaf to all the noises and blind to the danger as she still didn't let go of his hand. In fact, she held it tight with both arms.
Idiot!
What good would it do if they both fell below and probably in a pool of lava?
CrRaAcK!
The ground crumbled around Evie, and the two of them fell into the darkness below.
Ren pulled Evie into her chest while he shielded her head with his hand from the rocks and debris that came falling together with them before he flipped his body, back facing downwards in an attempt to protect the girl in his arms.
Ren knew that this was all just a game. That they wouldn't die even if their head were smashed with a boulder or if his body slammed hard on a rock from a hundred feet fall . . . but since this world was so realistic, Ren just unconsciously did all that without even thinking about it.
"Ren! Evie!"
The last thing that Ren and Evie heard was the panicked voice of Rafaela and Alecia before they were swallowed below.
BaAaAmM!
Ren felt his back hit a hard rock, and he unknowingly released a light groan when the tingle radiated from his back and scattered throughout his body.
– 147
A notification of HP reduction flashed on Ren's screen the moment that he opened his eyes. The amount of damage falling from that height was enormous; if it were another, they would surely die upon contact with the ground.
"Ren . . . are you okay?"
Ren shifted his eyes at Evie, who was sprawling on his chest. Evie might be petite and short compared to Silvia, but her bosoms were like Rosie's. And a messy robe couldn't contain her asset while some of her cleavage slipped past the hem of her robe.
Her appearance was ethereal while her white hair fell on her face, skin flush and lips red, totally giving off that after-shower vibe.
Without thinking, Ren covered his nose and looked to the other side. "Get off me."
"Oh . . . sorry." Evie didn't suspect a thing since she couldn't see how red Ren was.
She immediately pulled herself up and said to Ren, who was picking himself from the ground.
"I have a Health Potion."
"No need. I can take care of myself." Ren drank a [Health Potion] and recovered some HP just in case they unexpectedly encountered something. He then looked over at the crumbled ceiling above them.
"Ren, Evie, are you okay?!" Rafaela asked.
Ren and Evie could see the shadow of Rafaela and Alecia's faces amidst the dim light high above from where they stood.
"Yeah!" Ren replied.
"We should find a rope or something." Alecia gazed left and right.
"Could they just log out or teleport or something?" Rafaela panicked when she didn't know what to do. Ren and Evie could be stuck down there.
"Huh? We're still in the Boss's room, dimwit. They can't just log out or teleport."
"What do you mean, dimwit? I'm the smartest from all of us."
"See? This is why you're often times called stuck up because you can't see beyond yourself. It's always about you. And for the record, Pamela is the smartest from all of us."
While the two bickered, Ren and Evie looked at their surroundings.
The room they fell into was small, but it was brighter because of the waterfall of lava coming from all sides, flowing onto the ground like a stream until it converged at the center like a lake. At their side was a gleaming [Red Chest], while at the center was an altar, and floating on that altar was a glowing red rock.
"The Heart of Vulcan," Ren muttered in shock.
