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Chapter 18: A Moment of Peace
With her wounds completely recovered, the girl of long, light-blue hair slowly opened her eyes. She had fluffy eyelashes, accentuating her amethyst eyes that glistened like jewels.
"I'm...alive?" She questioned slowly, sitting herself up as she brushed her hair away from her face.
As she came to, the nameless girl suddenly jumped to her feet in a panic upon noticing the two men that were staring at her.
It only took a split-second for her to be on her feet, manifesting a broadsword into her hand and bringing it to Finn's neck.
"Woah, woah! We're not enemies!" Damian pleaded with his hands raised.
Finn leaned back, watching the sharp edge that was closely kept to his throat, adding in, "Yeah, what he said. We helped you out—gave you some ambrosia. You were practically dead."
It took a moment for the nameless person to take in their words before withdrawing her sword completely.
She a finger to her lips as if remembering the taste of the divine ambrosia, "You used that on me...for a stranger? Why would you do that?"
"Isn't that the normal thing to do?" Finn asked.
"Yeah, you would've bled out for sure if we didn't help," Damian added.
There was a confused look from the young woman before she breathed out, sitting on her knees as she lowered her head.
"I'm sorry for how I reacted. You two saved my life. I'm in your debt," she apologized before bringing her gaze up to the assassin. "I'm Charlotte."
"No need to apologize. I get it. I'm Finn, this is Damian," he introduced.
"Nice to meetcha!" Damian enthusiastically said.
Getting a good look at her now, without the blood and such, Finn found that the girl was objectively attractive. From what he could tell, they were the same age, which naturally piqued part of his brain, though he steered his thoughts away from that.
"Wanna tag along with us? It's just been the two of us since this all started," Finn offered.
"Yeah, have you been alone this whole time?" Damian added in.
Charlotte shook her head at the question, "...I didn't start alone. But, I'll take you up on that offer."
"Great," Finn said with a smile.
It was a great feeling to have found another person. Finn could tell it was even more appreciated by Damian, who had grieved his previous failures.
"We were going to try staying in the inn for this place. Is that fine with you?" Finn asked, looking at the girl as he approached the bazaar once more.
"Yeah, that's a good idea," Charlotte answered.
From the going off of what the young woman wore—a snow-white skirt and black leggings along with a militaristic, silver jacket and small cape, it seemed she was more experienced than them.
'That's definitely premium equipment—just anything from this world,' Finn thought.
["Sleuth Status"]
[...Assessing information about [Charlotte]...]
[Name: Charlotte Everhart]
[Age: 21]
[Designated Class: Spellblade]
[Level: 16]
'She's one level higher than me. Damn,' he thought.
They each put forward their share for the price of staying at the inn. As their currency was put forth, the red doors swung open.
"Go through the doorway and down the corridor. The open doors will be your rooms. Enjoy your stay," the fish-headed shopkeeper said.
Though it was a peculiar situation, the prospect of a warm bed and no monsters was alluring.
Finn led the way, looking over at the silken-haired, young woman curiously.
As she seemed to notice his staring, he spoke up, "So, you came down from the next floor to this place, right?"
"I did...It didn't go well, as you can imagine," Charlotte answered with a distraught expression as those fresh memories were stirred.
"It's good you managed to get back, at least. Count your blessings there—as long as you live another day, that's a win," Damian reassured her.
Seeing how badly it had left her, both men could tell the next floor was something awful. There was something on Finn's mind however, pertaining to the nature of the mystical towers that now populated the world.
"You went through the first floor, right? That's obvious. My question is—what was the dungeon like for you?" Finn asked.
As the question was proposed, the three crossed through the red doors, entering a luxurious hallway of quartz flooring and pale walls decorated with scenic paintings.
Charlotte thought about the question for a moment, slightly tilting her head, "The first dungeon...It was a cavern-like area, filled with kobolds. A big, fat one waited at the end—it hoarded some treasure."
"Huh?" Damian let out.
"Completely different from what we went through," Finn said.
"You didn't know?" Charlotte asked.
"Wait, what?" Finn responded.
Charlotte brushed her hair behind her ear while answering, "The Towers are connected. I don't know how many there are, but the part where they connect seems to be the bazaar floors." ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
"I see. These structures really are out of this world," Finn said, placing his hand to his chin. "Wait, in that case—are you from Seattle? That's where we came in from."
"Seattle? Ah...No, I entered from Finland, actually," Charlotte answered.
"Finland?!" Damian reacted.
"That's...far. You don't sound Finnish," Finn said, realizing how close it was to his own name.
Charlotte nodded, "I'm from America too, but I ended up in Finland—wait, you don't know this part, do you?"
The girl came to a stop as the other two did as well, seeming to be coming up on an extremely important detail of the world that they were unaware of.
In the middle of the mystical inn, Finn pressed for an answer, "Know what?"
"Whenever you leave a Tower, it spits you out of a random entrance from another one. That's how I ended up in Finland," Charlotte informed them.
"Ah...So, when we leave again..." Finn said.
"Will we be separated?!" Damian asked worriedly.
Charlotte shook her head, "We should all exit at the same place—wherever that may be though, I'm not sure."
With that revelation to settle into their minds, the three found their rooms down the ever-stretching corridor.
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An agreement was made to meet back after some rest.
'Finally, some relaxation,' Finn thought, closing the door to his room behind him.
As he had hoped, it was a rather luxurious place; the queen-sized bed looked like a cushion out of heaven. He plopped himself down into the mattress without hesitation, letting it take him in as he exhaled.
'This is all so weird. It's even more weird that it's starting to feel...normal. I mean, an inn like this—it all defies logic, doesn't it? Towers interconnected throughout the world...I just wondered where we'll end up,' he considered while gazing up at the ceiling.