Chapter 352: A Familiar Coin
Two days later.
In the Combat Meeting Room of the Rocking Cage—
“So, even with the Witch’s Flame, we couldn’t break that thing!”
“Try again? After all, we didn’t even help the Witch, we didn’t give her any support!”
“That’s because you guys are too weak.”
“We’re weak? You clearly didn’t even activate your shield!”
“Alright, alright, stop arguing. If we change our operational method again…”
“Arguing over such trivial matters is truly boring.”
Liya wasn’t even sitting at their meeting table. She had placed a chair outside the table, near the fireplace, and was sitting there with her arms crossed, listening to them with one ear while looking at the notebook in her hands.
Tucked into the notebook was the ‘Quest’ Will had given her.
[Quest 513: A magic that can break the ice wall of a high-level Snow Woman. (Note: Perhaps it should start with ancient magic related to the Candle of First Creation? But too much of this magic is lost, I don’t know if it can be found.)]
The future Will had written for her wasn’t just the quest to complete the ‘Candle of First Creation’, which was already the lifelong pursuit of her… or rather, all flame-attribute magic Witch researchers.
There was also…
For some reason, he was particularly persistent about defeating the Snow Woman.
Perhaps in the future he saw, she and a certain ‘Snow Woman’, who seemed incredibly powerful, were fated nemeses whose lives were intertwined? Only by defeating that fated monster could she supposedly fulfill her heart’s desire and successfully overcome her tribulation.
“It seems… it wasn’t going smoothly.”
The voices of her current teammates—the tools she used to reach the Snow Woman’s layer—grew fainter in Liya’s ears as she became immersed in her own world.
She could feel a slight, cold sting in her right arm; it was from being grazed by an ice spear shot by the Snow Woman.
Of course…
More importantly…
Even though she had left the Witch’s lair, even though she was facing the most powerful enemy, even though she had ignited her fighting spirit and reached a dangerous moment where she herself was injured…
“Still the same deathly stillness…”
She opened her hand, lit a small flame, and slowly closed her palm, extinguishing it. For her, this was the most common way to feel her magic circuit—by slightly using a low-level magic.
She couldn’t feel any extra ‘passion’ within the circuit. The only thing that even slightly stirred her…
Was this quest written on the note.
She felt a flicker of motivation only when she thought about breaking through that wall.
She looked up at the ‘S Rank’ team she was currently part of.
Truly, not even a fraction of the former ‘Shining Star’. No discipline, no organization, no cooperation. Despite being a team of seven or eight people, they didn’t even have planned positions or formations upon entering the dungeon.
The adventurers who boasted of being ‘S’ or ‘A’ rank were merely so in name; their actual abilities were quite pathetic.
Even stranger…
“Now, calculating it, the points we gain from clearing this dungeon have no cost-effectiveness at all!”
“Moreover, winter is over, isn’t it? With ice-element dungeons as the core, there are no merchants selling winter clothing who are willing to sponsor us anymore.”
“Don’t bring that up. As long as we can go from the first page of the Ranking List to the second, it’s worth it!”
Had she been in the Witch’s lair for too long? She felt that the current Adventurer’s Guild was not only incredibly ‘boring’ but also filled with an indescribable sense of restlessness.
In the debriefing meeting after a failed dungeon clear, they weren’t discussing where they went wrong, or how to improve based on the BOSS…
They were discussing how to maximize profits—not within the dungeon, but outside.
Even she, a mere ‘support’ who had accepted a commission, was unfortunately factored into their cost-effectiveness.
“Sigh…”
Liya closed the notebook.
She found herself unable to “endure” it any longer.
After coming out of the Witch’s lair, leaving the relatively ‘pure’ group of Witches, and having to deal with adventurers, she realized that she didn’t just need Will.
She also couldn’t stand…
All the trivial matters outside of Will’s written quests…
Devoting every second to each task he gave her, feeling the slow restart of her magic circuit, was the only thing that made her feel slightly more comfortable.
She remembered the craving and addiction she felt when she first encountered Blood Mint Essential Oil; it was similar to how she felt now.
If she didn’t inject Blood Mint Essential Oil for a while, she felt a ‘void’, as if something had been lost.
She was the same now…
Constantly craving to experience that feeling again, she continuously completed the tasks Will gave her, even without a “purpose” or “pursuit”.
“Wait, where… where are you going? Although you’re support, our operational plan is…”
“Call me when you’ve sorted out your internal conflicts. Oh, and to put it bluntly, even with me, you absolutely cannot clear The End of Ice Abyss like this.”
Liya’s words were as sharp-tongued as ever.
However…
Compared to her previous mere bickering, her current words included very direct ‘suggestions’, each hitting the nail on the head.
She picked up the hat by the door, put it on, opened the door, and walked out onto the street.
Witches didn’t pay much attention to the flow of time, nor seasons. However…
Liya looked at the crowded commercial street. Where there were dungeons, the Adventurer’s Guild would attract investment, leading many merchants to set up shop there. Both adventurers who made a living from it and nobles with a bit of money who came to experience the dungeon gathered here.
Hollanda Town was a city located north of Entak, and nestled within the mountains. It was naturally a bit ‘colder’ than cities further north.
Because of the ‘popularity’ at night, she could feel that the cold winter, where people hid indoors behind closed doors at night, seemed to have passed.
This also meant that Will’s death had occurred at least three months ago.
“Never mind, although I don’t like crowded places, this is the closest route.”
As someone who could get plenty of paying jobs inside dungeons, Liya was unwilling to mingle with the smelly adventurers. She had always resided in the finest luxury suites of the best inns in town.
Then…
Feeling her cold magic circuit being worn down by the boring, lengthy, and noisy meeting.
Craving to return to her room quickly, to open research papers page by page, and to complete that ‘quest’ the next time she entered the dungeon…
As she walked into the crowd…
*Bang.*
Her arm was lightly bumped.
It was on the same side that had been grazed by the ice blade earlier.
“You don’t look where you’re going. There were people here…”
For Liya, being bumped into in a crowded street was a common occurrence.
Even with her large hat, she was rather short, so she was often bumped by heedless people in the crowd.
But…
“Wait, this feeling… what are you carrying… how can it be…”
Why?
In that instant, she felt as if she couldn’t perceive anyone else. The red of her eyes suddenly lit up, accompanied by the pink color of love in her eyes.
Her brain hadn’t registered anything, but her body had reacted first.
Her entire blood was boiling, and her magic circuit, within her blood, began to cry out in excitement for the first time in a long time.
Why did that man, who had just passed by and was wearing all black clothes, merely brush against her, and her magic circuit…
Ignited in an instant?
Even when she first encountered Blood Mint Essential Oil, she hadn’t felt this burning sensation just from being touched by someone.
Wait…
The first time she encountered Blood Mint Essential Oil?
Liya stood on the street, somewhat dazed. Then, as if remembering something, she reached into her pocket.
That person had used a very powerful magic to mask his presence, so much so that she hadn’t noticed him even at such close range and had been bumped hard.
But…
He definitely didn’t use the presence-masking magic just to bump into her. He… it seemed like he placed something in her pocket during that bump…
Liya’s fingers fumbled in the pocket of her robe.
Her magic robe had an outer pocket, but since both the inside and outside were black, it wasn’t very noticeable. If… if someone wasn’t particularly familiar with her, they might not even…
She felt it.
The moment she touched it, her heart began to pound wildly.
Opening her hand, she saw what was placed in her palm…
It was a coin with the image of a Witch wearing a large hat.
A Witch Coin.
Witches often used them as catalysts nowadays. However, since the batch she had stored previously had been used up so quickly, she hadn’t used one in a long time.
But it was…
A replica.
Undoubtedly a replica…
“No, could it be… could it be that…”
Her feet began to run down the street, before her conscious mind could even process it.
“Move, everyone get out of the way!”
The blood in her body was boiling, burning, and craving and anticipating something…
She pushed through the crowd, following the pure physical reaction the coin had triggered.
“Familiar… too familiar…”
“This feeling…”
“It’s the same feeling as those three years ago…”
Liya clutched the coin tighter.
By the time she realized it, she had left the town of Hollanda and was in the woods on the outskirts.
Dense fog enveloped the forest.
Nighttime mountain forests often had such fog, but…
Holding the coin, Liya walked forward step by step…
In the mist, she saw…
Two doors.
Like the dungeon horror stories she used to play with Will in the dungeon.
Placed before her.
