Chapter 38: Master's Arrival

With the monster now dead, I lay on the ground beside its body and looked at the ceiling, though, in reality, I was examining my status panel, curious to see what else may have possibly changed after defeating the creature; however, other than gaining five levels, and leveling up some skills, nothing really changed, causing me to feel like I've been scammed.

"Haa, what a cruel world I live in." Muttered Alexander as he dismissed his status panel, and with the help of Trina, he slowly stood back up, still feeling queasy from his lack of mana.

'I'd love to just take a nap, but just because I've defeated that monster doesn't mean I'm now in the clear; we are still inside a dungeon, not to mention the very last floor, which means I still need to travel through four floors if I wish to get to relative safety.' Thought Alexander with a frown while sighing as he slowly approached the opened pathway.

When I neared the pathway surrounded by molten rocks, which had finally managed to cool off, I sensed something heading straight towards me at a fast speed; looking up, to my horror and confusion, I spotted Talis flying directly for my face and as I was too shocked at how she was flying, I didn't react in time, resulting in Talis colliding with my head.

"Alex! I was so worried about you! Are you okay!?" Asked Talis as she wrapped her wings around his face while chirping loudly in concern, though because she had slammed into Alexander, he was in the midst of falling.

'Ouch.' Thought Alexander as he fell on his back, hitting his head while Talis practically stood atop his face.

"Haa, calm down, Talis; other than my depleted mana, I'm fine, so if it isn't too much trouble, could you please get off my face? It's very uncomfortable." Replied Alexander with a light smile, waiting for Talis to get off his face before attempting to stand back up.

Once Talis removed herself from my face, I stood back up, only to look at Talis, specifically her wing, which, while it should've broken, was now healed.

"How did your wing heal, Talis? Do you have some healing ability?" Asked Alexander as he tilted his head to the right slightly, allowing Talis to perch herself atop his left shoulder.

"Nope, but shortly after you went to fight that monster again, I met this green plant lady who was kind enough to heal my wing; now I'm as good as new!" Replied Talis energetically while flapping her wings, though her words only deepened Alexander's confusion.

"Green plant lady? That's weird; the only person who lives in this forest besides me is– Master." Remarked Alexander in confusion before his eyes widened from the sudden revelation, causing him to look at the pathway while unease crept into his heart.

"Fufu, congratulations for guessing correctly, my little disciple." Said Lavender as she emerged from the dark path into the cavern while looking at the terrified Alexander with a smirk.

"That's her; she's the one who healed my wing!" Exclaimed Talis in glee while chirping loudly, though, of course, only Alexander understood her.

"Fufu, what's with that look, Alexander? You're acting like you've just seen something terrifying?" Questioned Lavender with a light smile as she approached Alexander, though while doing so, Talis flew towards her before softly landing atop Lavender's shoulders.

Seeing Talis perch herself atop Master's shoulders, I was slightly surprised, yet my surprise didn't end as the two began interacting with each other as if this wasn't their first time meeting, but instead, they were actually long-time friends; however, while it was quite the unique sight to look at, I had more pressing matters to deal with, such as formulating an explanation for Master before she punishes me for disobeying her orders.

"Um, Master, I know this looks kind of bad, but I can explain." Said Alexander softly while slowly approaching Lavender, as if he were dealing with a dangerous beast.

"Hmm, there is no need for an explanation, Alexander." Replied Lavender as she stopped interacting with Talis and eyed Alexander, causing him to reel back in defeat.

"Haa, what kind of punishment will I receive?" Asked Alexander in a depressed tone while looking to the ground, though his actions caused Lavender to smile in amusement.

"Hmm? Who said anything about punishment?" Remarked Lavender while looking at Alexander in unconcealed mirth.

"Y-You're not going to punish me, Master? Even after I disobeyed your orders and entered the fifth floor?" Stated Alexander with raised eyebrows while skeptically eyeing Lavender.

"You want me to punish you for protecting a stubborn friend from harm's way? I mean, if you so desire, I can punish you-" Said Lavender with a smirk, though Alexander quickly interrupted her.

"NO, no, I'm good, Master; I don't wish to be punished; I'm no masochist. However, how are you even here, and how do you know what transpired?" Said Alexander with a sigh of relief before questioning Lavender, hoping her answers would clear his confusion.

"Well, as you're Master, do you think I haven't placed a monitoring spell on you? Knowing how adventurous you are, I knew one of these days you would get yourself into some serious trouble, so I placed a monitoring spell on you in case I need to come and save my foolish disciple." Replied Lavender with a raised eyebrow while smiling as she neared Alexander before touching his bare chest, which was rather muscular for a twelve-year-old.

When Master suddenly touched my chest, I was slightly confused at what she was doing, but I figured it had something to do with the monitoring spell she was talking about, so I stood there, waiting for something to happen; a few seconds later, Master removed her hand from my chest, yet this time, she was pulling a glowing red leaf from out my chest, and it was rather large to boot.

"This right here is a leaf grown from my body, and by simply placing a tracking spell on this leaf while infusing it into your body without your knowledge, I'll always know where you are. However, as I had placed it directly atop your heart, I'm also able to sense your heartbeat, which allows me to monitor your lifeforce, which was depleting rapidly just a few minutes ago." Added Lavender while holding a large red glowing leaf before she shifted her focus to the right of the cavern, looking at Alexander's waist and below lying on the ground in a puddle of golden blood.

Following Master's line of sight, I spotted half of my body lying in a pool of blood, the half that the monster had forcefully separated from the rest of my body; this entire time, I thought the [Rebirth] skill had caused my two half's to conjoin, yet it seems like I was wrong; instead I must've grown my waist and legs.

'This is a very uncomfortable sight; I should get rid of them.' Thought Alexander as he approached his other half, and just as he was about to cast [Fire Blast] to burn them to ash, he felt a painful sensation in his heart, prompting him to stop his actions.

"Ugh, forgot, I'm still very low on mana." Muttered Alexander as he clutched his chest while holding back the vomit that threatened to escape his mouth.

"Um, Master, could you help burn this, my legs?" Asked Alexander after he no longer felt like he was on the verge of vomiting.

"Hmm, but are you sure you wish to do such a thing? It may be weird and unorthodox, but you could use your body parts as ingredients to craft items, such as an artifact, weapons, or armor, though you're not really in need of a weapon." Remarked Lavender while eyeing Alexander's half-body, though all she got was his blank stare.

"I was just throwing out options. You don't need to give me that kind of look." Added Lavender with a shake of her head as she raised her hand to the air, causing a large orangish ball of fire to form in her hands before she tossed it to Alexander's half-body.

Watching my body slowly turn to ash under Master's powerful spell was a weird feeling, and what was even more bizarre was that the scent of my burning flesh wasn't that bad; however, eventually, my previous body, along with the blood, was transformed into ash.

"So, about using body parts as ingredient materials." Said Alexander while suspiciously eyeing Lavender, who looked the other way, avoiding eye contact.

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"Anyways, thanks for coming, Master; that monster was quite difficult to beat; even after using all my mana in casting my strongest spell, it still didn't die." Remarked Alexander with a smile as he, Lavender, and Talis, perched atop his shoulder, walked through the forest, heading back to their home.

"Of course, I'd come to the rescue; you're my disciple, after all. However, I don't wish to be a buzz-kill on your amazing achievement of defeating a guardian all by yourself, but that dungeon is one of the weaker Common dungeons." Declared Lavender lightly, her words causing Alexander to look at her with widened eyes.

"That was the weaker ones? It took nearly everything I had to beat that monster, and you're telling me it was one of the weaker dungeons!?" Exclaimed Alexander in slight shock, to which Lavender slightly shook her head at his reaction.

"Yes, it is one of the weaker common ranked dungeons, but to be fair, you may be a level 47, but you haven't used a single one of your status points; if you had used them before fighting that guardian, you'd have defeated it incredibly easily." Replied Lavender calmly, causing Alexander to calm down as well.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. Speaking of status points, I need to start allocating them; I don't want to be caught unprepared." Said Alexander while nodding his head.

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Created a discord server, so if anyone wishes to join, it also works this time; I've reset it again, https://discord.gg/bCfBVPXS (Note: this link only lasts for one week)

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Elven Legacy (Chapter 163: Flame of Rebirth) || Hero of Harmony (Chapter 43: Logic & Reason Vs Emotions) || One Piece: Chaos Kong (Chapter 69: Escaped Prey) at [patreon.com/Ozonelayer691]