Mana Manipulation Level Up! It is now Level 3.

  You have gained +2 INT from your skill.

  You have gained +1 SPI from your skill.

  …..

  

  Lightning Mastery Level Up! It is now Level 3.

  You have gained +2 INT from your skill.

  You have gained +1 SPI from your skill.

  …..

  

  Pain Resistance Level Up! It is now Level 6.

  You have gained +2 VIT (x2) from your skill.

  You have gained +1 END ( x2) from your skill.

  …..

  

  Meditation Level Up! It is now Level 8.

  You have gained +1 INT from your skill.

  Even with all the skills leveling like this, no joy could be found in her heart. If anything, trying to enjoy these upgrades would be a sin for what occurred.

  Her eyes keep glazing over at the notifications, like it was some sort of consolation prize for losing out on what truly mattered the most. Her heart just wasn’t in it, and her mind was at a loss.

  She could still hear the screaming long after it was all over. She could still feel the fear and terror Amber went through before deciding to end it all, to get away from her.

  She kept replaying the scene over and over, trying to figure out what went wrong. But all she could feel was guilt and shame for her actions. If she had just done better, she could have prevented this.

  It would’ve been cruel after everything she’s been through, but Mikella should have used physical force to stop her. She figured that at her state, even just one action could take her out. Then again, perhaps that would’ve been easier to handle than letting Amber end her own life.

  Her body felt cold, even after her arm had been recovered to full. Even when she could feel every digit of her hand, it felt numb, almost as though it refused to work. Her spirit just wasn’t in it.

  She craned her neck to the sky, noticing that it was getting darker. How long has she been like this?

  Turning to the side, she noticed Zeke sitting by her, his head down and his eyes closed. He wasn’t sleeping, at least not at first glance. If anything, he seemed to be in deep thought while staying beside her.

  As for herself, like a petulant child, she was hugging her knees and her head was lowered. She guessed it must have been at least an hour or so since she’s been like this.

  After Amber died, Mikella kept crying onto Zeke’s chest, unable to let go. It took a solid few minutes of her bawling her eyes out before she finally stopped and managed to take control of herself.

  Well, partially. Her physical side was just fine. Her internal energies, however, were at a constant flux.

  Ever since she lost herself in her Class Madness so long ago, she considered her energies as a part of herself as well as having its own will. She actually preferred to struggle to control her energy rather than completely controlling it. It helped her handle the extreme bouts of power she had, capable of breaking Zeke’s barrier once upon a time.

  Now, her energies were confused, unable to go through their own jumble of channels without her permission, and so far, she hasn’t given anything to them.

  So they were stumbling about, not doing anything of importance. Due to that, her body wasn’t working properly, and if she were to fight right now–she would just be a burden.

  Still, once the Tempest Winds noticed her state, they decided to leave them be and went on to investigate the surrounding areas. They figured if Zeke was there, Mikella would be just fine.

  And in a sense, it was fine. Still, she wanted nothing more than to burrow her head into the ground and never see daylight again. She might as well, considering Amber can’t do that anymore.

  She was glad that Zeke hadn't said anything about that. He was always awkward when it came to things like this. Still, he would always offer support when he could. But this time it was different.

  What else can they say about failing to save someone that was so weaker than they were, yet managed to get away from their grasp?

  Just when her thoughts were ready to spiral down that despairing rabbit hole again, she heard footsteps approaching them. It was Kote at the front, along with Saang and Hamil staying behind him.

  Zeke looked up, noticing their grimaces. “What’s wrong? Did you find something?”

  “...We did,” Kote said. His voice was somewhat heavy in tone. “And I think it may explain a few things too. But…”

  Saang and Hamil looked away, unable to intervene. It was already strange as it is, but to see even the abrasive Saang look so hesitant…

  Mikella raised her head to meet with Kote’s eyes, noticing that a bit of light was returning to her.

  “I think you two should see this for yourselves,” Kote finally said. “I think we may have found another survivor… or part of him.”

  …..

  The disturbing message left the otherworlders in a slight dread as they followed the experienced adventurers toward an area a few dozen meters away from their current location. Strangely, the monsters that would normally surround them were utterly vacant from the area. It was as though the air shifted entirely to be against the monsters, the strangely sweet yet botched scent in the air reminding everyone that the atmosphere changed.

  When they finally approached said area, Mikella realized that the clear grassland was surrounded by strange rocky pillars, seven in total placed around a circle in large intervals. The pillars in question had some form of runes, something that instantly caught Zeke’s interest.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  The runes were completely ancient, and were filled with so much meaning and power that it boggled Zeke’s mind. This was on the level of a master Runist, something that even Cloud can’t replicate. As for what it did, it was obvious–it pushed the other monsters away from the area, making this a so-called ‘safe zone’ for anyone in this dungeon.

  And this was clearly where Amber was staying the whole time. Within the confines of this safe zone, there was what looked like a campsite at the center. Though to call it that would be an insult to true camps as it was just a barebones cloth put on large timber wood that looked like they were scraped from trees with force.

  There was a heavy stench in the air as the surroundings around the half-assed tent was riddled with garbage of unknown variety. There was what looked like food, though it was clearly half-cooked flesh of the monsters that somehow managed to still exist. There was rotting meat on the side, though whether it was due time or some skill like the sloths was unknown.

  This looked like a horrid survivor’s camp, and it was clearly in disrepair as this practically told everything to Mikella what Amber went through. But Kote approached the half-assed tent, gesturing to the two.

  “Try to stay calm.”

  Kote’s chilling words rang through their heads as he flapped the opening of the tent, revealing what was inside. The two instantly retched at the sight, their eyes wide and their mouths ready to open and hurl from the inside.

  What was inside was clearly a man–half of him, at least. His body was arrayed laying on his back, his face resting upwards with an open maw. He looked like a giant man, but it was clear that half of his body was in tatters, flesh and all. Bones could be seen from the man, either from missing flesh or that it was forcefully pulled out. If this dungeon was natural, there would be flies covering its body and maggots trying to crawl inside. At the very least, the smell of the body proved that a while has passed since his death.

  And blood… the blood was everywhere. It was as though the man was massacred on the inside without relent. It was a horrid scene to watch, nearly making both otherworlders try to hold on to whatever food they ate the last. They had stronger stomachs, but their minds were still too fresh to see this gruesome scene. It wasn’t even something policemen on the job can handle. How can anyone?

  But that was the least horrid thing to see before Kote spoke up.

  “I checked the body, and I realized that the cause of his death wasn’t due to a monster. His body showed that there were hints of teeth that ripped up his skin and flesh, and terrible knife work on the tougher meat. It’s clear that this wasn’t the work of a monster, or at least from the monsters we faced before.”

  “W-Wha…” Mikella swallowed, her mind forcing her to stop heaving to keep questioning. “What are you saying?”

  “A-Are you saying that…” Zeke took a moment, his eyes widening in realization. “That the girl was responsible for this?”

  Mikella looked back at him in shock, but then, everything started to make sense. Amber’s clearly withered body, the terrified look in her eyes, the clear signs of panic despite seeing other people for the first time.

  As if putting the final nail in the coffin, Kote answered.

  “Most likely the girl had no choice but to cannibalize the man for sustenance. The situation here made it possible that the woman had to resort to this when they ran out of food. As to whether she was the one that did this, or that she carried the body here to eat is something I can’t figure out.”

  The look on Kote’s face, though whatever exposure he had with his mask, showed that he really didn’t want to figure it out either way. The other two, for instance, tried not to look at the mutilated corpse in the tent. Despite everything they saw so far, this was pretty much the worst event they witnessed.

  Meanwhile, Mikella knelt to the ground, her mind at a whirl. She tried to look back through her memories, of all the habits Amber displayed before she ended her own life.

  “She… she thought she was going to get punished by us,” Mikella revealed, her voice low but firm. “That’s why she ran. That’s why she killed herself, because she couldn’t handle what she did.”

  Zeke’s comforting hand rested on Mikella’s back. It was a good feeling as her inner turmoil lessened softly. While the guilt still weighed in her mind, knowing that despite everything she still could’ve done better, it was a somewhat bearable reason why Amber did what she did.

  Not everyone has the strength to handle this sort of situation. Worst case scenario, it wasn’t unnatural to believe that the two that were stuck here would be hostile towards each other. Still, she can’t imagine what sort of situation they put themselves in to make this the end result.

  “I was hoping for some sort of journal or diary that might explain what’s going on, but no dice,” Hamil shook his head. “This is all up to the imagination now. Still, what’s done is done… there’s nothing we can do.”

  “How long was he dead?” Zeke had to ask. “Did you figure it out?”

  “Around a week, at least. Maybe more,” Kote shrugged lightly. “I’m not really knowledgeable about this. I’m mostly suited to finding out about a monster's death, not a human.”

  “I see,” Zeke nodded. “Thank you.”

  “Did you, uh,” Saang suddenly spoke up. Her hand was constantly brushing her short brown hair as she looked at the two. “Did you two… know them? Personally, I mean?”

  “No,” Zeke answered instead, and that got Mikella to affirm with a shake of her head. “We have no clue who they were. For all we could know, they might have come from different countries all together. Still… They were from our world. Look at what the guy’s wearing.”

  Mikella did that indeed, realizing that the corpse’s clothes, however tattered they were, were revealed to be from some military organization. There was a clear sign of a badge that Mikella honestly didn’t care where it came from. At the least, it looked like he came from the navy.

  “He’s a military veteran,” Mikella realized. “And yet he ended up like this…”

  “So how the hell did we survive?” Zeke said, almost bitterly. “And we even had a child on hand too…”

  Suddenly the two stood up in a panic, their eyes widening.

  “Did you guys see a kid or someone along those lines?” Mikella asked. “Is there a third person involved?”

  “No,” Hamil said, thankfully his tone returned to that of his professional standing. “We searched everywhere, and we found no trace of any kids around here. Just the two that we spotted.”

  “Oh… oh thank god,” Mikella said, her chest feeling as though she had been on a rollercoaster of emotions. “There’s some mercy at least.”

  “Anyways,” Hamil said, approaching the two. “I know that you two are still a bit off. So how about we take a moment to rest in this area. We’ll clean up here and… give him and the girl a proper burial, if you want us to.”

  “Let us help,” Zeke said adamantly. “We need to do this for them, at least. We might not have known them, but they were… they were still our people.”

  Zeke said almost confusingly, but once he said it, there was a clear firm tone, a resolution he put himself through. Mikella nodded, standing up straighter.

  Even if she failed to save Amber, that doesn’t mean her mission is a failure. The tower still needs to be cleared, and there were more towers to be found. That also meant that the otherworlders stuck there might still be alive.

  And next time, she will save them, no matter what she has to do. In her mind, this world gave her a second chance to live the life she truly wanted to live. So she will show the otherworlders that this world can be safe, and that they can survive. They just need to work a little harder than normal to achieve it.

  And she knew Zeke would stay by her side to do it. He looked back at her, his eyes showing nothing but clear resolve, same as her.

  Still, her heart quivered at the memory of Amber’s demise. But rather than let it fester and weaken her, it will instead bolster and empower her. She will only use it to remind her that no matter how scared they are, it was better to be alive than not.

  She will show them that path, no matter what it takes.

  The party quickly and respectfully pulled down everything, using whatever skills and magic they have to clear the sense of death in the area. As for the man’s body, Zeke and Mikella carefully dug up the ground underneath with the help of the party, and set it down. They also made another hole, even without a body to put in, for Amber’s sake as well.

  They weren’t able to know the name of the man, so instead Hamil helped make a small gravestone using the same acidic stone he summoned earlier. Zeke used his runes to make it usable and writable, and the two otherworlders wrote on that gravestone of who belonged there.

  They only wrote a simple phrase. They knew that the dungeon would just disappear and cause everything to vanish into the void, but they didn’t care. The two otherworlders that died here deserved this much, at least.

  ‘Gone from this world, but never from our memories.’