It seemed that Shuna noticed Will had woken up. She closed the book in her hands and placed it on her lap, looking at Will just as calmly.
However…
Before Shuna saved him, wasn’t there something urgent she needed to tell him?
He propped himself up in bed.
Hmm…
Was it just his imagination? He felt as though after experiencing what Liya had done, his inner magic circuit had become much lighter.
Looking at his own palms, he felt, for the first time in a long time, that he could cast any magic with these hands.
Just as he thought this, his cheek was suddenly poked.
“Hm? You’re awake? I saw you zoning out, not saying a word. Did the witch’s craziness scare you mute?”
He met Shuna’s dark eyes.
She looked at them, and they sparkled.
“I… I just woke up. Give me a moment to process.”
When Will said this, she seemed to let out a sigh of relief.
Will looked down from her face and saw her injured right hand.
The burn marks were very obvious, and not just any burn. He had seen similar marks on Iaar when she underwent high-temperature training. Compared to the controlled high temperatures of the training, the burns on Shuna’s arm seemed more extensive.
Ah… it seems that Liya, whom I personally trained, has indeed made great progress.
“How long… how long was I asleep? What time is it now?”
He asked this because Will felt that the current environment was somehow off.
The temperature and humidity felt different from when they had first entered, during what felt like summer.
Now, the temperature and humidity he felt were no longer like the summer they had experienced upon entry.
“You slept for two weeks.”
“What?!”
Will patted himself all over his body—if he had slept for two weeks, he’d surely be malnourished. Was it because he was now skeletal that he felt lighter?!
But he wasn’t.
His muscles were still there.
He hadn’t lost weight to the point where he could feel his ribs, like during his worst times.
Then, what was it…
“Just kidding. Hahahahaha… I didn’t expect you to actually believe that.”
Shuna was teasing him again!
But she looked so happy that Will felt a little more relaxed.
It proved she didn’t take these minor injuries seriously.
“If you’re talking about how long you were asleep, it’s only been one night since I dragged you out of the dungeon.”
“One night… Are there no signs on my body that suggest I should have died? Like severe rejection, blood vessels about to explode, or me crying out in pain all over?”
Shuna looked at him with an expression that said, “You might be a little crazy.”
“The doctor and the priest they found have examined you. Apart from being excessively… excessively… tired and sleeping deeply, there were no other problems.”
She paused several times before finding what seemed like a suitable word to gloss over it.
Will lowered his head, opening and closing his palms, feeling his magic circuits and his blood.
It was indeed strange. The rejection and effects of the witch’s blood were almost gone. Yet, he could still feel the witch’s blood surging within his body.
What had eliminated the rejection reaction of the witch’s blood in his body?
“However, there’s one thing I didn’t lie about. It’s true that we are indeed two weeks later now.”
She gestured out the window.
Will turned his head.
Then he realized he wasn’t wearing his glasses and couldn’t see anything clearly turning his head.
“Pfft. It seems our Young Master still hasn’t recovered from some of his physiological defects.”
Shuna said this and placed the half-empty spectacle frame on his nose.
This was indeed his pair of glasses, though only half of it remained.
“I saw it on the ground back then. I guess we fought so hard that only half was left. Yamik has an optician. Before we start our next adventure, I’ll get you a new pair. Otherwise, you might not be able to see clearly and accidentally throw a Flame Bullet at me?”
“My… my myopia isn’t that severe. I can still distinguish people within four meters.”
—Although, most of the time, it was by hair color.
Thus, Will once again saw this world clearly—with one eye at a time.
Will leaned closer to the window and looked out.
Indeed.
The passersby walking on the street were all wearing long-sleeved jackets suitable for autumn. And there was no visible steam rising from the street anymore.
It was no longer summer.
When they entered Moonlit Ice Extreme, it was already the tail end of summer. Entak was a place that heated up and cooled down quickly; two weeks could easily see the season shift.
“What happened? Why did I… I only slept for one night, and it became two weeks later?”
“Have you heard of witch artifacts? There’s something called a Chronos Sandglass.”
Will shook his head.
Then, he noticed that the book Shuna was holding was dark red and looked old. It seemed to have the words “Witch” written on it.
Had Shuna immediately started researching after coming out?
“I just found out myself. Our witch teammate… she used some kind of artifact that adjusts the flow of internal and external time. Although, it seems to only work on a certain floor of the dungeon. By the way, this thing is quite expensive. Based on this manual from five or six years ago, the price is about what I make from four or five commissions.”
“Adjusting… time?! Are witch artifacts that versatile?! She could afford it?!”
Shuna skillfully flipped open a page of the book she had both opened and closed, showing Will a glimpse of the sandglass.
“It’s not actually jumping through time, but rather making the perceived time within a certain floor different. For example, one hour outside could be stretched to feel like four or five hours inside. The reverse is also possible.”
Hearing Shuna’s description, Will quickly understood.
No wonder, when he was tied to the chair, swinging between consciousness and unconsciousness, he waited so long for Shuna!
In his memory, he had been continuously drained. If he hadn’t been unable to control his body, he would have surrendered long ago.
So it was because…
His perceived time in that dungeon floor was too long?
For instance, if four or five hours passed inside, only one hour might have passed outside.
But…
“…Then I think Liya would have slowed down the time inside the dungeon more? Why did the outside time go faster after we came out?”
“Unfortunately, we knocked it over while fighting.”
Shuna then flipped the book in her hands upside down.
“Of course, this isn’t the main reason we were inside for two weeks.”
“If the outside time was faster, we should have been rescued sooner. The rescue team couldn’t possibly have needed two weeks to find us, right?”
Will immediately chimed in.
“Exactly. After we got out, I asked around…”
Shuna snapped her fingers.
“—After I forced Clodell to send me to your doorstep, she hid the entrance to Liya’s room. Perhaps they planned it together.”
So that’s how it is.
Liya is amazing!
Not only did she set up this plan to capture him, but she also cut off the rescue route afterward.
No matter how you look at it, this was a plan to completely drain him, turn him into a witch’s little slave, and then leave with him without a trace.
However…
This brings up another new problem…
“Since you, Shuna, only found out about the two-week gap after coming out, then… what was the ‘bad situation’ you wanted to tell me about inside the dungeon?”
Hearing Will ask this, Shuna actually smiled with relief.
“Oh? It seems you were still quite aware back then. You actually remember what I said. My, I thought you were truly drained.”
“…You were speaking too urgently back then. I rarely see you so flustered, Shuna.”
“We’ve only known each other for a few days, and you act like you know me so well.”
Shuna finished her jest and paused before continuing:
“Moonlit Ice Extreme has been cleared.”
“It’s not a big deal… Huh?”
How could this be? A 60-floor dungeon cleared just like that?!
“Calculating it, it was about ten days after we entered, while we were still in the dungeon. Coincidentally, I only found out after coming out. It seems that when Entak experienced a drop in temperature, the clearing of Moonlit Ice Extreme was put on the fast track. Oh, and the team that cleared it was the Radiant Knights, whom we’ve met before. What do you think? Isn’t that ironic?”
“…”
“You’re not saying anything? What? Do you need a moment to digest this news?”
“Y-yes.”
Actually, considering the current early autumn with cooling temperatures, Will could probably guess what had happened.
But this was information from the future, from the original work, so he still avoided mentioning it.
Within the next year, with the push and remodeling efforts of the Hysterm Family, dungeons would gradually become symbols of entertainment and commerce, much like the ice sculptures in the first ten floors of Moonlit Ice Extreme.
Through this, the Hysterm Family also slowly cultivated a group of powerful and disciplined adventuring teams, akin to “armies.” The Radiant Knights were one such team.
At that time, dungeons that had lost their commercial value would be cleared by the Hysterm Family’s strongest “armies,” much like “fired employees” being dealt with. This was a common occurrence.
They both controlled the dungeons they desired and gradually cultivated loyal adventuring teams.
So, a year before the current time, these signs were already present.
Summer had passed, and the heat had subsided.
Will looked out the window at the street, which already had a hint of early autumn bleakness.
Therefore, a dungeon as cold as Moonlit Ice Extreme, used for cooling off, was no longer necessary.
It felt like a CEO’s statement—”Winter is coming, it’s time for Moonlit Ice Extreme to go bankrupt.”
Since the current situation was understood, the next step was to think…
“Hey, hey, hey?”
Shuna’s hand waved in front of his face.
“Why are you so rational right after waking up, analyzing all these developments so objectively?”
“…Isn’t this a very ‘Will’ thing to do? I understand, Shuna means you want me to rest first?”
“No. I want to say…”
Shuna’s expression suddenly became very subtle, a mixture of anticipation and perhaps reluctance.
“What are you planning to do?”
Shuna smiled slightly, pausing before uttering the next sentence:
“—About Liya.”
