Joe's heart thundered as a cold sweat washed over him. His eyes remained dilated, with his mind lost and confused. The Dungeon Item in his grasp disappeared into fragments of light, retreating to his inventory without his notice. As the poison expanded and continued to taint Shelly's skin, a few questions plagued Joe's mind “How could she have gotten poisoned?” Joe asked, his voice a little shaky and still in disbelief. He glanced at Bella and Franklin who towered and flanked his kneeling form. “She was using her skill, so what the hell happened?” Joe's voice suddenly erupted after not receiving an answer to his previous question.

  When he looked up at Bella, he found someone who didn't look like she even heard his question. Her eyes were wide as she looked at Shelly's shuddering form. She had twitching lips but no words come out. She just stood there, rooted to the spot.

  Joe was forced to turn to Franklin. The old man looked just as perplexed but when he cleared his throat to speak, Joe did not look away.

  “I can't be sure since I'm not a healer but I think I know what could've happened.” Franklin said, in his raspy voice.

  Joe was quiet, waiting on him to elaborate.

  “The girl must've been missing a Blank Herb.” Frankin said, loking down on Joe with a stoic expression.

  “What's that?” Joe asked, calmer this time around.

  Franklin turned to face Shelly before speaking. “Its a poison container. After a healer cleanses poison from others, they transfer that poison to the Blank Herb. The plant absorbs it and ensures that everyone is safe. If the healer does not have a Blank Herb, the poison has nowhere to go, so they must absorb it themselves.”

  Joe wanted to comment but Franklin continued.

  “Potion stores price Blank Herbs at unreasonably high prices due to their usefulness. This leaves adventures to settle for antidotes. With antidotes healers can flush out any poison they intake. Due to their class, for a healer antidotes are 3x more potent. So as long as they have an antidote, healers can wash away any poison they are forced to absorb. Of course this applies to weaker adventures, the stronger ones have a high tolerance and can deal with poison much more easily.” Franklin's eyes narrowed as he paused. After a few seconds, he continued. “The girl must've posssed neither of these two items, surprising considering she's a princess of the Hira Family.”

  Joe thought back to the Black Forest where he met Shelly for the first time. He also looked back at their time in Perina. Joe came to one conclusion, Shelly must've ran out of supplies before they reached Perina. And with Dorothy's potion store being destroyed by that bastard Stan, she essentially had no way to restock. Even in death, that asshole was proving to be a pain in the ass.

  “Its her fault.” Bella spoke, her voice.interrupting Joe's thoughts. Joe turned to her and found the princess with balled fists and trembling arms. “She knew this would happen. Its her fault for being so stupid.”

  Joe's eyes widened, as a scowl quickly formed on his face. He shot up to his feet and forcefully yanked the princess around to face him, he firmly gripped her dress with both hands, stretching the fabric to its limit. His eyes seething with rage bored into the princess's. “She saved your life!” Joe shouted, spittle flying from his lips. “If it wasn't for Shelly we'd be dead! All of us! Apologize for what you've just said! Apologize right now!”

  The princess didn't push back despite Joe's rough handling, her eyes were cold as they stared at Joe. “I told her not to use her skill on me, yet she did it anyway. She's an idiot. An idiot.”

  Joe's grip tightned, he wanted nothing more but to pummel her to oblivion. But she wasn't worth it, Shelly was more important right now. So he just shoved the princess to the ground. She landed hard, as Joe glared at her with an unapologetic expression before turning around.

  [You're In Luck Joe, Your Friend Can Still Be Saved]

  Joe suddenly froze when he heard Syr's voice. “How? How can I save her.”

  [Dungeon Item: The Fruit Of Life]

  ? Description: A Precious Fruit Harbored By A Dangerous Creature.

  ? Effect: The Fruit Can Cure Poison From One’s Body. But It May Be Ineffective If The Poison's Potency Surpasses Its Own Healing Capabilities.

  ? Boost: +50 To Your Defense Attribute When Combating The Effects Of Poison.

  Joe's eyes grew. “What the hell man! Why didn't you show me this sooner?”

  [Your Posion Resistance Skill Is Still Only Lvl 1. It's Not Strong Enough To Ward Off Strong Toxins Just Yet. To Help It Grow And Increase Your Tolerance, You Need To Have An Antidote On Standby. This Dungeon Item Is That Antidote. I Figured It'd Be Better If You Saved It For Later]

  “Fuck you Syr!” Joe cursed internally. “I don't need you taking decisions on my behalf. Shelly was going to die! I'm the one who decides when and how to use my items. In fact I don't need you hiding item descriptions from me, the minute I come across an Item I need you to tell me what it is, right then and there. You got that?”

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  [I Was Thinking About Your Future. I Was Only Trying To Help, Forgive Me If I Did Something Wrong.]

  “Just give me the item.” Joe had no interest in conversing with Syr any further.

  To his credit Syr followed the order as a blue glow settled around Joe's hands. Its presence was brief as it disappeared only seconds later. What remained was the large round orb that Joe only now just learned was a fruit. Joe took a step closer to Shelly and went down on his knees, he grabbed Shelly by the back of the head as he slowly lifted her up. Her wet eyes seemed to just barely open, and when she tried to speak, Joe shook his head.

  “Just take a bite out of this okay?” He moved the pulsating white fruit closer to her lips.

  Shelly had enough strength to open her mouth and take a bite. The piece she bit off wasn't much and barely left a dent on the orb. But she didn't need to take another one. After Shelly nipped fruit, the remaining 90% crumbled and withered away.

  Joe's heart almost stopped as he thought his only hope of saving Shelly just vanished before his eyes. But that wasn't the case. As it turned out, one bite was all that Shelly needed.

  Joe placed down Shelly's head gently, he got to his feet and took a few steps back. A white light smothered Shelly's form, it was bright, forcing Joe to squint before covering his eyes after he found out squinting wasn't going to be enough.

  Fortunately for Joe's vision the light only lasted a few seconds. It dimmed before vanishing like it never came. Joe's guard relaxed as he brought down his hand from his face. He took a closer look at Shelly and saw her mana signature burst into life. The purple color that marred her skin vanished without a trace, and she slowly stirred back to life.

  Joe knelt next her as her eyes slowly opened, she pulled herself to sit upright as one hand gripped her skull. It took a second before she turned her head to look at Joe.

  When their eyes met, Joe's face was brimming with joy, he had a wide grin pasted on his face. “Welcome back.” He finally said, after a second.

  Shelly was about to say something when Joe flicked her on the head with his right index finger. “What were you thinking you idiot? You could've died?” Joe's face turned serious, the grin from a moment ago no longer visible.

  Shelly rubbed her discolored forehead, “if I didn’t do what I did, we’d all have died. It’s better me than everyone else. I’m the healer—it’s my job to keep everyone alive.”

  Joe was slightly taken aback by that response. “Don't be crazy. Our party just got registered, I need you alive.”

  Shelly just gave him a half smile, “I'm ok now, so everything is fine.”

  Joe wanted to argue with her but settled for a sigh. He realized that none of his words were getting through to her. He got up and extended his hand before helping Shelly to her feet. Shelly had to use his shoulder for balance as her body was still recovering. After she was steady, Joe allowed her to stand on her own.

  “Let's go Franklin! We don't need to stay around Shelly and this commoner longer than we need to.” Bella said, already storming ahead.

  Joe would be lying if he said he wasn't triggered. The princess didn't even thank them after he and Shelly both saved her sorry ass. “Man what a bitch.” Joe muttered under his breath.

  Joe and Shelly followed twelve meters behind her. Franklin was walking with them when he decided to say something. “You guys will have to excuse the princess's behavior, she's going through a lot right now.”

  Joe glanced at the old man as he continued to speak.

  “The princess has a powerful skill, a skill no one in the Amber Family possess. That's why her flames are different from everybody else, but with that power also comes a great burden. The princess is unable to fully her control her own flames, this makes them dangerous not only to her but those around her.”

  Joe had witnessed this lack of control first hand, If he wasn't there, the princess would be a charred corpse by now.

  “If things keep going this way I fear the princess's flames will one day consume her.” Franklin released a heavy sigh. “The princess's Golden Bracelets are high common mana tools which makes them incredibly powerful, those bracelets have been holding her skills at bay up to this point, but it won't be long before they give in and her flames are unleashed.”

  Joe was quiet as Franklin spoke, he wasn't really touched by any of old man's words. But he felt like he understood the princess just a little bit.

  “The princess needs a new item that can help her control her power. Which is why we have decided to participate in The Hunt this year.”

  Joe's eyes widened, “you're going to the hunt?”

  “Yes. One of the treasures that will be up for grabs this year are the Void Bracelets. I've heard rumors that these bracelets are at least high uncommon mana tools. If we get them, the princess may still have a chance.”

  “We're also going to The Hunt, let's stick together until we get there. If the Infernal Cave Dungeon is as dangerous as Shelly says, you'll need our help if you want to make it out in one piece.”

  Franklin seemed to ponder Joe's words for a moment.

  “If it wasn't for Shelly and I, you guys would be dead.” Joe added, pushing the old man towards the obvious decision.

  “You make a good point, I guess we can stick together untill we reach the capital.”

  Joe smiled, happy that the old man was reasonable. He was mainly doing this for him, more than the princess. The old man even though was an enemy, didn't strike him as that bad of a guy

  Bella turned back, “What are you doing Franklin? Let's go!” She shouted, after finding the old man 15m away.

  She decided to wait after hearing the old man trying to shout something from a distance. She couldn't hear him clearly and would rather he got closer. But she wasn't happy to find the two individuals tagging alongside him.

  Once Franklin reached her, he explained Joe's idea of all four of them conquering the Infernal Cave Dungeon together. The princess scowled at the news, clearly not pleased. But when Franklin persuaded her, she eventually gave in.

  “You guys better not get in my way.” The princess said, addressing Joe and Shelly.

  Joe could not belive her audacious statement considering she'd be dead without them, but he just sighed, letting jet words slide.

  ….

  It didn't take long before they exited the Forest of Nightmares. They were met with 3 routes, left, right and straight. The decision was obvious because a cave was located just straight ahead. When Joe glanced to the heavens it seemed like another day had passed. The sun that was out while still hot, was clearly still the morning sun.

  Bella and Franklin led the way with Joe and Shelly not too far behind. They reached the entrance to the cave. From the outside it looked just like your average cave, surrounded with a healthy amount of greenery. The entrance was slightly bigger than what Joe was used to seeing but that was it. Franklin and Bella entered without hesitation. Shelly and Joe nodded to each other before doing the same.

  Almost immediately after they entered, the cave proved it was anything but ordinary. A flashing red light washed over all four of them. Joe covered his eyes before a strange feeling overwhelmed him. He felt like his body was plummeting from a very high altitude, he removed his blindfold but before he could do anything else, his body smashed into something. Joe's senses dulled, before everything went black.