Beautiful Forest
Kathleen gazed at the man with a head full of silvery-white hair.
"His name is Lucas Sol, he is the first successor of the Sol family." Sophie spoke again, observing as the young man straightened his attire.
From his space ring, he took out round shaped spectacles and delicately put them on his eyes.
Raising his head, he hesitantly addressed Kathleen.
"Nice to meet you, Miss Kathleen." Lucas greeted formally. After all, despite seeing Sophie's casual demeanor towards Kathleen, he couldn't overlook the fact that Kathleen was an heir to the duchy.
"Pleasure to meet you as well, Young Master Lucas." Kathleen responded in a similar formal fashion, a smile gracing her face.
"Now, how did the two of you find yourselves here?" She inquired.
"Well, breaking into the 50th floor was not that hard for me, given my strength. But things got confusing for me after that, as I couldn't locate the boss rooms. That's when I stumbled upon Lucas. He was under attack by some monsters, so I swooped in and saved him."
"Since Lucas also had some knowledge about this dungeon, he showed me the way as I defeated the monsters. And, hehe—I even advanced up to a 3-Star rank thanks to a rare Potion dropped by a boss. But, we accidentally ended up in a portal that dumped us right here."
"Despite Lucas trying to explain what the heck this place is, I still didn't get it." Sophie rapidly spilled out her experiences in a single breath. The grin on her face never left. After all, she was feeling quite happy seeing Kathleen after almost seven days.
Kathleen and Iris found themselves taken aback that Lucas possessed knowledge about dungeons. After all, it was common knowledge that dungeons were becoming an old thing, with not many places to found them in this world currently.
"So, what's the plan now?" Iris blurted out. She don't want waste time and want to get down to business. She didn't feel any intimidation even she was standing infront the heirs of the powerful families, she had always been that way, never one to feel inferior just because someone hailed from a powerful family.
"We stick together and move forward, we have more success rate like that." Kathleen said. "But first, we need to determine our current location." She added.
"Um, based on what I know, the path forward from here should be behind that door." Lucas chimed in as he extended his finger and pointed at the wall behind Kathleen to illustrate his point. His social skills appeared somewhat lacking as they can tell by the way he was speaking.
The hall they stood was in a square shape, and apart from the door they had entered through, there appeared to be no other entrances or exits in the chamber.
All eyes swiveled towards the wall.
"Lucas, what are you talking about? There
is no exit there." Sophie interjected, her voice tinged with confusion.
"Heh, someone with a brain the size of a walnut don't know about dungeons. Let me demonstrate what he was talking about." Iris smirked, striding forward as her words slipped out.
"Who are you calling walnut brain? You're trying to pick a fight with me, aren't you?" Sophie snapped back, her finger jabbing at Iris's retreating figure.
"Now, calm down. She was joking. Come on, you two, try and get along." Kathleen intervened, placing a comforting hand on Sophie's shoulder. She still couldn't quite understand why the two of them are so opposite to eachother.
Iris reached the wall, taking out a vibrant red crystal from her space ring—it was a spoil from the monster they defeated a moment ago.
Carefully, she put the glowing crystal into a tiny hole embedded in the wall and moved back.
Rumble ~ Rumble ~
A thunderous rumbling resonated through the chamber. The wall split apart, revealing a brand-new entrance before their very eyes.
Kathleen and Sophie weren't exactly taken aback since they had already anticipated this outcome after witnessing Iris's actions.
Without talking much, the three of them moved towards the new entrance. Arriving beside Iris, their curiosity caused them to move forward into the spatial portal.
Emerging from the portal, Kathleen eyes met a vibrant forest. However, it was unlike anything she had ever seen within the dungeon.
Her eyes widened in awe at the breathtaking sight that unfolded before her—a sky brushed with hues of pink and blue, trees resembling Sakura blossoms adorned with a palette of yellow, red, and blue, while butterflies danced gracefully through the air. It was a scene so exquisitely beautiful that Kathleen couldn't help but wonder if she had stumbled into a living painting.
Iris, Lucas, and Sophie joined Kathleen in stepping through the portal, their reactions were similar to Kathleen's. As they marveled at the enchanting view, the portal behind them abruptly vanished, sealing their entry point.
"Whoa, this place is a sight to behold. Can't take my eyes away from this breathtaking scenery." Sophie remarked, taking cautious steps forward.
"Let's keep moving ahead, but stay alert. Just because it's pretty doesn't mean this forest is safe." Kathleen cautioned, before walking forward.
Her gaze fell upon a towering tree in the distance, prompting her to choose it as their destination.
Sophie couldn't get enough of the mesmerizing scenery. She couldn't help but make a mental note that if she ever built her own residence in the future, she would adorn the surroundings just like what she was seeing.
As they journeyed onward, she caught sight of magnificent creatures such as deers, which are far more beautiful than any she had encountered in the Aurora world.
After sometime of traveling, they reached the colossal tree they had set as their destination as they stopped beneath its towering presence.
However, Sophie's attention was drawn to a distant sight—a majestic antlered creature was grazing on grass. Sensing their presence, it swiftly turned its gaze toward them.
But this was no ordinary creature; it was a massive antlered beast, its horns reaching to sky like branches, adorned with twists in the middle. Without warning, the creature lunged forward, its intentions set on launching an attack.
"It's attacking!" Sophie cried out, her mana surging through her veins.
But to her bewilderment, nobody around her reacted or even moved. Simultaneously, the antlered creature began vanishing before her eyes, transforming into shimmering particles of light that flowed toward them.
Her vision blurred as the captivating forest faded from sight, and in an instant, she found herself standing in an unfamiliar place, she was utterly perplexed by her surroundings.
"It seems like I've been cought in an illusion spell." Sophie muttered, her brows furrowing in concentration. "I didn't notice any external influences. Wait, could this illusion have been cast on us the moment we stepped foot into this forest?" she pondered aloud, her voice tinged with wonder.
Crep~ cripp~
A faint sound reached her ears from behind. Looking around, she found herself in the middle of a dense forest, its towering trees stretching into the night sky. An unsettling sensation gripped her heart for some reason, as if she had seen this very place before.
Being on guard, she turned around to see the source of the sound. Yet, what she saw before her eyes left her shocked, triggering a lot of memories in her mind. A woman, leaning against the trunk of a tree, lay on the ground while a pool of crimson blood could be seen beneath her.
"M-Mother!"