Chapter 102
Clove’s cold hands on Aurora’s forehead were a sharp reminder that this was no longer her reality. This was a play on Aurora’s memories and she should not be taken in by them.
“I am alright. The last fight just knocked the wind out of me but I’ll recover quickly.”
Initially, Aurora had wanted to ask which floor of the abyss they were at currently.
Knowing the floor might help Aurora jog her memories a little bit. But asking this question would also alert Clove that something is wrong.
As far as Aurora could remember, she never had any memory problems. So this sudden change could prove to be disastrous.
“If you are still tired then you should rest. I will wait around for Rita to come back with our supplies. Oh, you might not know who Rita is since the tower assigned her after you and Quince went to battle.”
“Rest for now. Things will be better once you wake up.”
Rita? Was it her Rita or the one in Aurora’s memories? Only time will be able to tell.
Aurora would have preferred to get up and check for herself but it seemed to not be possible right now.
Clove had a tight hold of security and Aurora did not have enough information to act on her emotions. So she decided to hold back for now.
But once the coast looked clear, Aurora stepped out of her bed and managed to sneak out. It was not difficult with the new skills she had.
Aurora tried to flex her power but she was not able to reach her goddess magic.
She could still feel that abyssal energy moving about in her body but Aurora was sure she would not be able to use that magic anytime soon.
Whatever this trial had done to Aurora, it had been unable to erase her Abyssal energy. Maybe because Aurora’s magic was more powerful than the trail magic.
But even saying that her sealed magic provided Aurora with a big disadvantage.
“System, are you still there?”
Aurora tried to call upon her system for help in such a situation. She had a gut feeling that she would still be able to use her system in such a situation.
Mainly because when Aurora had been cursed before and had her magic sealed up, the system had still been there.
That meant that as long as Aurora still had her magic, the system would follow along.
[Greetings User Aurora. What can the system do for you?]
Aurora breathed a sigh of relief as she looked at the digital screen on top of her wrist. It seemed as if her hypothesis was correct.
That took care of at last one problem for her. Now, Aurora needed to plan the out.
“Fine the location of user Rita for me.”
Aurora was sure that if she was able to use her system, so should Rita. And they could use the system to communicate with each other.
[User Rita found. Marking location on the map. Would the user like to send a message to User Rita?]
If the system was asking such a question then it meant that Rita was in this space as well. But did she have her current memories? Or was she just like Clove and Quince?
Only time will tell but the thought of not having her normal Rita pained Aurora’s heart. She had come to view the other as a dear friend in her new life.
[Aurora: Rita, meet me behind the communal bathroom in the next 5 minutes. We need to talk]
Aurora waited until she got a confirmation that the other side had seen the message before she made a break for the communal bathroom.
She had chosen the busiest time of the day so that she had an excuse to go to the baths even if she was caught.
The noisiness of the people taking bath right now would also reduce the risk of being overheard by someone important.
Aurora was not going to take any chances with this place or the trail.
===========================
“Stupid tower, stupid magic. Why am I back here? I thought I was done with this place after the first-floor trail?”
Rita wanted to break something but she held her anger back. She did not have the time to look around and think in the middle of a fight.
“Leader, look out.”
Rita’s body sensed the incoming attack and acted accordingly. She dodged out of the huge monster tail that slapped down on the earth.
The flying debris caught Rita in her side and caused her to lose her balance.
But her face showed nothing but pure concentration. It was moving on auto-pilot and Rita was just going with the flow.
/My familiars, heed my call.
Come forth, Divine wolf/
Rita knew she did not have such a familiar in her current aisle. But her chant still brought forth a gigantic wolf demon.
The majestic wolf had swirl patterns all over its body and its flame burned the incoming debris away.
It was such a magnificent beast but Rita knew she would not be able to last long with this summon. The magic required to maintain the current condition of the summon was too much for her current body.
“Hurry up and take the beast down. What are you all looking at.”
Rita’s complaint caused the rest of her part to snap into action. But despite their best effort, they were unable to cause any substantial damage to the huge monster in front of them.
It also made sense since most of Rita’s current party had no combat experience. The tower had landed them on her to make her cooperate with them.
“I knew I should have invested in some personal attack magic.”
Rita had wanted to learn but the tower had not allowed her to venture past her role. She had thought to ask Aurora but she had not gotten any time to do so.
“The beast is breaking out of the chains. Hurry up and retreat.”
“Hey, don’t move or we’ll all be in danger.”
Rita wanted to smack the foolish man who had issued the retreat. He was making everything worse for Rita.
If the current structure of the seal was maintained, Rita would be able to hold the beast in place for longer.
But the panicked shout had caused people to start running away. The supply of magic was slowly but surely being cut off.
Such a situation did not help Rita maintain her magical formation and it collapsed.
The monster took this opportunity to attack Rita but her divine summons stopped him cold for a second.
That was all the time Rita got to roll out of the attack before her summon had to be canceled. Rita had used far too much magic on her side.
The huge beast raised his paw to attack Rita and she closed her eyes.
There was no way to know what would happen if Rita died in this trial but it seemed as if she was about to find out.
“And they said you were the best in your generation. What a joke you are.”
Before Rita could feel the heavy blow of the paw, someone cut the beast apart. Rita only saw golden hair before the red covered her and the other person from head to toe.
“You are..”
Rita tried to look inside her mind for this person’s name but nothing came to mind. But the mere fact that he had slain the beast so easily meant he was powerful.
How come such a powerful person does not have a known identity.
“Did you hit your head as well? Stop messing around and take a bath. You’re covered in blood.”
Rita decided she did not like this man. He had an attitude problem which did not sit well with Rita.
But it seemed like she was the only one who had a problem with this man. Everyone else seemed to be alright with fawning over the blond-haired man.
“Wah, Quince is so cool. He killed that monster in one sweep.”
“I wish I was under his command as well. I’ve heard that he does everything himself.”
“He and Lady Clove would make such a divine couple. But I’m glad he is single. Should I go for him?”
The more Rita heard, the more she wanted to gag. This person did not seem all that great to her. But he had also saved Rita’s life so she could not complain.
“Thank you for saving my life. If that is all, then I shall go back now.”
Rita gave a small bow to Quince before she turned away. She did not want to interact with the man more than possible.
Quince did not answer bow and Rita had not expected him to either.
[Aurora: Rita, meet me behind the communal bathroom in the next 5 minutes. We need to talk]
Rita almost tripped as soon as she got that message. Was this her system? This message?
Was Aurora in her with her as well? What was going on here?