Chapter 76: C76 – Scared

After the system prompts appeared, Dirk and Ava saw an altar rise from the ground.

It was just like last time, the same white marble altar with exquisite engravings and two golden bowls. Dirk and Ava walked over to the bowls, their steps labored and each one taking significant physical and mental effort.

"Another ring would be nice, one for you. Then we can both carry things."

Dirk mumbled as they walked, his body working in overdrive to heal him. Ava let out a small smile through the horrible pain in her head. She wasn't actually sure if she cared about the rewards. She only wanted to pass out. She was even starting to feel nauseous. 

The two looked at each bowl. 

In the left bowl, there was a single ring. Dirk recognized it rather quickly. It was another pocket ring formed of black metal. He grabbed it and put it in Ava's hand. 

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. It's better if it's with you. I think it's your reward anyway."

"Really?"

Ava was confused. Suddenly, the two looked over at the other bowl. 

Inside the right bowl, the two could see small violet sparks fly about. These sparks jumped out of a single marble in the center of the bowl. 

"A mana crystal?"

"No, I think it's a pill."

Ava chimed in as she looked at the marble. It looked similar to a mana crystal, but there were differences that she noticed. 

"I learned about these in alchemy class. Instead of liquid concoctions, you can make high concentration pills that can later be diffused into a liquid and absorbed. I've never actually made one, but this definitely looks like a pill."

"Oh. So it's a lightning pill."

"But these rewards are supposed to be tailored to us. Do you have the lightning specialization?"

Ava looked up at Dirk. Seeing him nod, she was a bit surprised. She knew he had the metal specialization for his earth attribute, but now it turned out he could wield lightning. To think he actually had two specializations. 

"I haven't developed my fire magic yet, so I've never wielded any lightning spells. These rewards are rather lucky. I happen to need lightning stuff right now, and we needed another pocket ring for you. Very nice."

Dirk nodded approvingly as he took the lightning pill. After throwing it into his ring, he looked over at where the king was. 

As they hunted throughout the dungeon, Dirk and Ava hadn't taken any of the elemental cores because they were way too big. But the core of the king was much stronger than normal. Not only that, it was mostly intact. Dirk assumed it would sell for a good sum of money. 

The only problem was that the mana crystal was still inside of the core. Ava thought for a second as they approached the core. 

"Hey, let's just take the whole thing for now. I'll put it in my ring. Maybe we can sell both at the academy."

"That works for me."

Dirk readily agreed. He didn't exactly feel like putting in the effort to break the core open right now. 

As Ava bent down, she placed her hand over the core. The next moment, it disappeared into the pocket ring. It wasn't hard for anyone to learn how to operate a ring. 

With that, Dirk and Ava retrieved what they came to this dungeon for. However, they didn't leave the king's chambers right away. Dirk knew that both of them were very weak, and he wasn't comfortable with presenting himself in front of people. If anyone got any unsavory ideas, he would have a hard time protecting himself and Ava. 

"Let's go rest for a bit."

Dirk spoke softly before walking with Ava to one of the walls of the chambers. After taking out some blankets, he laid them on some soft but dry mud. After laying down a pillow, he helped Ava lay down. 

"Can we stay here?"

"As long as those doors don't open, nobody will know that we're done. Go ahead and go to sleep."

"What about you? You need rest too."

"...I guess I can also sleep."

After thinking for a second, Dirk let out a light breath and laid down as well. Ava smiled before getting comfortable. 

The two didn't speak anymore, just letting themselves succumb to their deep fatigue. Only, before Dirk fell asleep, he gave an order to his AI.

'Alert me of any movement and wake me in 16 hours.'

[Affirmative.]

With that, Dirk closed his eyes. His breath became shallow as his heart rate slowed. At the same time, the mana in the vicinity would be pulled into Dirk's lungs with every inhale and pushed out with every exhale. This was his new Mana Lungs skill at work, working passively even when he went unconscious. 

.........

.....

*Beep Beep Beep!*

"Mm..."

As he slept soundly, Dirk was awoken by the familiar sound of an alarm. This sound was reassuring, letting Dirk know that there was no danger or movement to be worried about. 

Upon waking, he slightly smiled. His mind felt clear and sharp, and his mana pool had already regenerated to max capacity. His body was also healed up well, only some small internal wounds lingering. Those water balls he was thrown around by hit hard, but with his new Earth Guard spell, he was able to mitigate a lot of the damage. He was glad he picked the spell. 

Looking over, Dirk saw that Ava was still sleeping. At some point she had tossed around as well and ended up sprawled out across the blankets, her arm and leg over Dirk's body. He pushed her limbs off of him before standing. 

He looked at the door to the king's chambers. Since the king was always being fought by someone, Dirk had figured that someone would come down and check on their status, thus trying to open the doors. But it looked like nobody could just enter as they pleased. This was good information that pleased him. In the future, they could recover safely after any king battles by just sticking within the chambers. 

Now that Dirk was recovered, he wasn't worried about leaving. Even if someone wanted to try and rob them, they would have to kill him in order to do that, which would not be easy with his strength. 

After gazing at the doors, he looked back at Ava. Since she was still sleeping, he decided to let her wake naturally. That would ensure the best recovery. However, there were only another 3 hours left before the king's hall reset. Dirk didn't know what would happen, but he didn't want to be here when it did. 

Luckily, Ava woke after only 2 more hours. After spending around 10 minutes waking up, the two packed everything and went to leave. 

Together, they pushed open the doors to the hall. They then walked down the hall and picked up the cores that had been left behind from the other elementals. Since Ava had a pocket ring now, they could carry more items. The cores of low Tier 4's were valuable. 

After that, the two walked through the black dungeon portal, emerging back within the main dungeon. It was here though that they were greeted with the sight of a small crowd. Seeing so many people in front of him, Dirk traced his knife sheath with his fingertips. 

"It's you! So you two are alive. That's rather amazing."

Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out. The mage that greeted them before came walking over. 

"Good job defeating the king. He's tough, huh? We've had more experienced groups larger than three come in and still get killed. I guess you two are stronger than you look."

"...There is a bit over an hour left on the reset. We'll be leaving now."

After listening to the mage, Dirk spoke straightforwardly. After that, he beckoned Ava over. She smiled wryly before waving at the mage, following Dirk. 

Seeing that, the mage didn't push anything and just waved back. After that, the next group up to fight began the wait. 

Dirk didn't waste any time leaving the haven and entering the wider dungeon. It was here that he and Ava increased their speed, bounding through the dark and humid forest. In only four hours they crossed the entire dungeon, passing the still crowded haven by the entrance. 

Walking past the crowd, Dirk and Ava left the dungeon, stepping through the portal. After emerging, they were greeted with a dark night sky and eerily quiet town. 

"Hopefully we can leave by tomorrow morning. And hopefully we can get back home safely."

Dirk mumbled as he started walking in a certain direction. Ava frowned as she heard him. She didn't forget their multiple encounters with bandits and how there was something going on in the dark that concerned them, or more specifically Dirk. 

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Her mood was dampened as they made their way to a building. This was one of the few building with lights still on. After entering, they were greeted with the sight of a counter and a man sleeping behind it.

"Excuse me."

"Huh?"

After Dirk approached and spoke with a loud tone, the man was awoken. He frowned as he rubbed his eyes, looking at Dirk and Ava. 

"What do you want?"

"A ride to the capital city. Tomorrow morning."

"Hm..."

Letting out a breath, the man grabbed a large book and started flipping through some pages with lists written on it. After a few minutes, he saw something. 

"You're in luck. There's a small caravan heading out in 3 hours just before dawn. Only, it's a bit more expensive. For you two, it'll be 60 gold."

"Done."

With a word, Dirk grabbed a bag out of his pocket ring before pouring out some gold coins on the counter. The man quickly counted before scooping the coins and handing the two a ticket. Dirk had taken a supply of gold with him on this trip so paying for this wasn't difficult. 

With that, the two left the building and sat against the wall of another, waiting for the three hours to pass. 

Then, just before the sun began to peek above the horizon, a small group of people walked into the parking area where all the caravans were located. Seeing this, Dirk stood with Ava and walked over. 

Finding the head merchant, Dirk verified that it was the right caravan. After handing over the ticket, he and Ava jumped into the back of a wagon. This caravan only had two wagons, and alongside the head merchant were two workers. The two workers drove the two wagons while the head merchant rode in the first wagon. 

After the duo were settled in the second wagon, the caravan was quick to take off. The two wagons drove off onto a road, making their way back to the capital city. 

And perhaps because this was a small caravan, the wagons moved quite a bit faster. Dirk was notified just before leaving that the trip would only take two days instead of three. This made him happy, and he and Ava got comfortable with some blankets. 

Meanwhile, as this caravan made its way out of the town, a pair of eyes watched them from atop a building. 

"So he's caught on. Smart. I guess now is the time that I report back. Have fun, you unlucky child. There won't be much more of this soon enough. Hehehe..."

With a sinister laugh, the person behind that pair of eyes disappeared into the darkness. The direction they headed wasn't in Dirk's, but off into the forest around the town.

.........

......

The two day drive back to the capital city passed uneventfully. Dirk and Ava were prepared for something to happen for the entire ride, but when they came to approach the capital city walls, Dirk was surprised. However, he wasn't very happy about this lack of disturbance. He only thought that something else was going on, and he didn't let his guard down. 

After getting back to the city, the two made their way back to the academy. However, upon arriving at the academy gates, Dirk stopped walking. Ava turned around, looking at him confusedly.

"Dirk? What's wrong?"

She asked as she walked back over to him. During the ride, he hadn't been relaxed or happy, sporting a mean look the entire time. This wasn't due to the potential danger, but because he was deliberating something internally. 

Dirk stood there silently for a while, staring off into space. Finally, as if he made a decision, he sighed.

"Let's go."

He spoke before walking. Ava could only follow, and they made their way deep into the academy.

Surprisingly, they didn't make their way home or to turn in their job. Instead, Dirk walked straight to his father's house.

It was the middle of the night when they arrived at the city, so when Dirk knocked on the door to his father's residence, he wasn't immediately answered. It took a while for Ryker himself to show up at the door, and when he saw his son dressed in full armor, he was surprised. 

"Dirk? So you've returned. How was your job?"

"Fine. I need to talk to you and mother."

"Oh?"

Ryker's eyebrows raised, sensing the urgency in Dirk's tone. Without questions, he brought his son and Ava inside, locking the door behind him. 

"Cecilia, come down here."

As Ryker took his son to the kitchen, he called out to his wife. In a few moments, Dirk saw his mother appear in light clothing, something she obviously momentarily threw on. With the moonlight beaming through the windows and Cecilia's slim buy proportioned body, she looked exceptionally beautiful, worthy of being the wife of a Marquess just by her looks. But Dirk didn't care about this. He looked at his mother, conflict written on his face. 

Cecilia could sense her son's tension as she entered the kitchen. Without words, everyone sat down at the table. 

"What's on your mind, son?"

Cecilia gently asked as they sat there. Dirk was silent for a while before raising his head. 

"I have a problem, but I'm not sure if it's something you can help me with. And I hope what I tell you doesn't... upset you."

Dirk spoke hesitantly. Hearing his unease, both his parents were a bit shocked. This was the first time Dirk had ever expressed any sort of worry over their reaction or approval. 

And Dirk truly was worried. He was planning to expose what he had done recently, and he didn't want them to think that he was some abnormal freak. For the first time in his life, he found himself concerned over their view of him. 

He was scared.

"Whatever it is, Dirk, you're safe to speak it here. There's nothing you can say that will change our love for you."

Cecilia assured her son with careful words. Dirk lightly nodded to this before taking a small breath.

"...During the job I took before this recent one with Alec, Ava and I had a confrontation with three robbers who sought to hurt us. I killed all three of them. I was told by the last robber I killed that they had been hired by someone to attack us."

Dirk directly spoke, his words clear for everyone to hear. Ava felt a small chill come over her as she recounted those events, and Dirk's parents were stunned silent. 

Dirk continued after a moment. 

"After Ava and I completed the job alone, we returned, and I was both distracted and unwilling to speak of this event. However, we encountered more of these happenings on the recent trip. The ride to the designated down was three days long. In the middle of the first night, the caravan was ambushed by a group of bandits. I killed 7 of these bandits. After that, the caravan continued, but in the middle of the third day, we were attacked again by a large group of a couple dozen bandits. To defend the caravan, I killed 11.

"However, I also took a bandit hostage. In private, I asked this bandit if they had been hired to attack the caravan. The bandit spoke of a mysterious man who had spoken to their leader only the night before, one he had never seen. I tried to get more information, but before I could, an invisible figure killed the bandit right in front of me from a distance. I was only able to spot a small fluctuation in dark mana that indicated someone was there, but this invisible person's skills were beyond mine and I couldn't track them. After that, nothing else happened, and Ava and I were able to complete our job and return here with no more conflicts."

"..."

Everyone was silent as Dirk finished. Ava clenched her fists under the table, all the things Dirk spoke of playing back in her mind. 

Meanwhile, Cecilia's face was pale, and Ryker had an ugly frown. Nobody spoke for a while.

In Dirk's mind though, this silence was deafening. He had a bad feeling well up within him, and he became a bit fearful. 

Dirk had deliberated greatly on whether or not he would bring this up. Sure he was worried about who was trying to hurt him, but at the same time, he wasn't sure how he would ask for help. What could his parents do? For all he knew, this was coincidental, and there was nothing they could do. And now, he had also told his parents that he had ended 21 lives. Would they think he was some sort of monster? In this world of sword and magic, that was unlikely, but Dirk still had this irrational fear within him. 

He had come to like his parents. They were nice and caring, both giving him freedom and watching out for his wellbeing. Dirk didn't want them to think anything that would distance them from him. To him, telling of everything that had happened was a big risk. Dirk didn't know what he would do if they became disapproving or distant. 

But he had taken the leap anyway. His instincts told him that this issue was bigger than it seemed, and in this world of massive power gaps, Dirk didn't have anything else to fall back on. There were people Dirk couldn't defend himself against, and for the first time ever, he was putting his safety in someone else's hands. He both hated and loved this fact, because he didn't have the power to defend himself, and yet he had someone he could trust and rely on. 

Dirk didn't speak any further, but with each passing second, he became more and more anxious. Finally, his mother stood from her seat, walking over, and wrapping him in a tight hug.

 

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