Chapter 57: A Dilemma

POV Eliza

I spent the next few days training my mind resistance, even though it got pretty boring. But I would need it. However, I was more careful than before after my encounter with the group of adventurers and initially always attracted a maximum of 1 butterfly and 2 caterpillars. I killed the caterpillars from a distance to isolate the butterfly. It was somewhat tolerable for the first two days, but as soon as my mind resistance reached a certain level, I couldn't get into the spell loop anymore. I already knew that the monsters' spell wasn't 100% guaranteed to work. So it was only a matter of time before I finally came to my senses before I was successfully enchanted again.

By the end of the third day, my mind resistance increased to 3000, the level at which the confusion stopped more quickly before I could be re-enchanted. Since you could only have the same status effect once at a time and only the strongest one was active, from that point on I was virtually invincible to the butterflies of floor 6. The butterflies did occasionally make a ranged attack, but it was so rare that I was able to regenerate the damage in time before I was hit again. Now I started to become braver. Or should I mader? I moved across the plain and gathered 3 butterflies, later 4 and then 5. But always without caterpillars. I destroyed them again beforehand. Then I waited and let the monsters cast spells on me. I even briefly considered whether I should take a book with me, but since I couldn't read in my confused state, I abandoned the idea. It took me 4 more days to increase my mind resistance to 6000. Now the confusion spell no longer affected me at all. Just out of curiosity, I continued testing for the rest of the day to see if I could build up resistance when the spell no longer affected me. I didn't know whether the spell still hit me, but the effect was no longer activated. If the spell still hit, my resistance should actually increase further, but it didn't, so I gave up the experiment. The mind resistance value did not rise above 6000. From then on I ignored the first 10 floors and went deeper into the dungeon again.

I had noticeable success in my progree because I also ignored the slimes from floor 11. They were a much greater danger than their brethrens from level 1, because they now had a magic attack. This meant that when they hit, they would summon a bolt of their respective element. But since they could still only be defeated by magic, I had no interest in competing with them. I then turned to the floor with the venomous spiders, because the floor of the beetles was overrun with adventurers. I invested my next EXP in regeneration so that I reached level 10 here. Then I was able to stop the damage from the spiders if a maximum of 2 attacked me at the same time and I took a break in between. I was then only limited by the low penetrating power of my dagger and the limitation of my MP. As a reward, I disassembled the spiders' corpses. The poison bags were an ingredient in some alchemical potions and were therefore worth good money. But from now on there were also magic cores that you could loot. In theory, there was a magic core in every monster in this dungeon, but the one on the first 10 levels was so small and insignificant that it wasn't worth recovering. It wasn't until floor 11 that they reached a size that made them worth money. But I had no idea what purpose they were needed for.

I took all the magic stones I found, but not all the poison bags. I knew that Sana would lectured me again, so I only took enough bagswith me so that I wouldn't cause too much attention. When I came to the guild that afternoon and handed Sana the poison bags, she looked at me with wide eyes. I could already feel the raised finger and the lecture she was about to give me, and I stopped her just as she was taking a breath.

“Sana, before you scold me, listen to me first. You don't have to worry about me. I've been able to improve so much recently. I'm now over level 20 and can defeat the spiders if I fight them one at a time. With my high Evade value and the armor I wear, I only take minimal damage and I can easily heal it with the water healing spell. I was also able to get my poison resistance to a level that protected me from most of the poison. I even used one of the steles to improve my poison resistance to advanced. So you see, these monsters can no longer pose a threat to me.” <Eliza>

“…you are incredible, Eliza. If that's true, I really don't have to worry. But that doesn’t mean you should get cocky.” <Sana>

"I know. Just because the monsters on this floor are no longer dangerous does not apply to the other floors. I'll be careful. I'm lucky that I notice the monsters in front of them. My life is dear to me, believe me.” <Eliza>

“If you say so, but I’m still worried. Not many adventurers go solo, and even fewer survive. Don't you want to find a new group? In addition to the quest board, there is also a board for searching for members.” <Sana>

"No thanks. I am completely satisfied with the young wolves. It's just winter and then they come back. Hmmm.” <Eliza>

"What is? You’re suddenly so silent.” <Sana>

"Oh nothing. I just thought of something I need to do urgently.” <Eliza>

“If anything happens, you’re welcome to come to me. I like to listen to you. You look a little pale all of a sudden.” <Sana>

“No, no, everything is fine. I’ll be fine.” <Eliza>

“If you say that, I won’t ask any more questions. Let’s count what you have with you. Okay, that's 8 poison sacs. Do you also have the magic cores? Yes this is good. At this rate, you'll soon have enough money to get through the winter." <Sana>

"That is my goal. Plus, I don’t want to stop learning over the winter. I still need money for that too. But I remain cautious. A promise is a promise.” <Eliza>

Sana gave me the money for the monster parts. The amount was significantly more than anything I had earned before. So I could even save money if I continued like this. I then rushed into the red deer and collapsed onto my bed. The Young Wolves. Lynn and the others, I had completely forgotten about them in my madness to improve my resistance. We wanted to meet in the spring, but in the spring I was also supposed to go to the capital to see the heroes. Deciding which of the two alternatives to choose was difficult. I had grown fond of Lynn and the others in the short months and had a happy time with them. I particularly grew fond of Lynn and her quirks. But my survival depended on the heroes. I never got the chance to join their group again and experience their progress firsthand. They also had almost unlimited resources that I didn't have. The heart said Lynn, the head said heroes. I realized I couldn't decide at this point.

To distract myself from the decision, I went more into the dungeon. Now that the 13th floor had become relatively easy with increased poison resistance, I took full advantage of it. I spent a lot of time on this floor with the spiders. As always, it was avoided by most adventurers. If I went to the floor below in the future, I would meet them all again.

Furthermore I spent every other day with Lirella and Weyn. The memory of the good times with the young wolves showed me how much I needed security and Lirella gave me that. Most mornings I got fresh pastries and visited the two of them at their homes. As long as Lirella had students there, I looked after Weyn and when Lirella was free, I learned from her. She still had so much to tell and teach you, especially because she had the same class as me and had also upgraded it. I offered to go shopping for the two of them or to help around the house. Lirella was happy to accept both because it meant she had more time for her students and Weyn was also supervised. In the evenings she either cooked alone or with me. So I even learned something new in this area. Above all, I benefited greatly from her experience of living in this world, because Narran was still mostly unknown to me.

One evening as I was walking back to the red deer, it was already late and therefore dark, I heard a rumbling in an alley. My first instinct was not to pursue it because I was alone and I didn't know what to expect. But my intuition urged me to check. So I carefully entered the alley and looked around. Thanks to my night vision, I could see very well and didn't need any light. I didn't see anything at first, but heard a quiet moan. I followed the moans and saw a figure lying half buried under a box. Apparently she had stumbled against the box and it had fallen on top. I came closer and took a closer look at the figure. The first thing I noticed was how small she was. That had to be a child. Next was her ears, which reminded me of a cat. A beastkin. What was a beastkin doing here alone in Tyros?

Then I heard voices and saw torchlight at the other end of the alley.

“Quick, hurry up. She must be here somewhere. Go look for her. She can’t get away from us.” Rude Man

So that's how it was. Memories and feelings of my time as a slave came back to me. I immediately made a decision. Whoever the pursuers were, this beastkin was not allowed to get into their grasp. I reached for the figure and noticed how light her was. Even I could pick her up easily. Since the cat ears could become a problem, I removed my coat and placed it around her shoulders and head. Then I lifted her up in a princess carry. I noticed the torchlight getting closer and sneaked out of the alley with her. Luckily there was no one on the street at the time and so I got to the red deer's backyard undetected. There was no light inside at that time, but everyone who booked a room was allowed into the building through a side door. I sneaked to the side door and carefully unlocked it. Then I entered the building and immediately closed the door again.

On the way up to my room I moved very quietly and slowly so as not to draw anyone's attention. I arrived in my room undetected and laid the bodyon my bed. She moaned softly, so I checked her for injuries. The bodywas a girl about 6-8 years old and very thin. She had some bloody spots, most of which had dried. To eased her pain I cast a water healing spell on her. Her breathing immediately seemed calmer. Well, that had already worked. Then I took the jug of water and washed her face and her sores with a clean cloth. I wiped the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand and unconsciously some of the bloody sweat got into my mouth. I noticed a metallic taste, but immediately forgot about it. Instead, I wondered what I should do with her now.