Awakened Earthling, III

"What did you just say?" I asked her, doubting myself if I heard incorrectly.

"Sigh. Are your ears also not working now? I said, my affinities are wind and water… shit."

She slowly turned around to face me, "Ahaha, I said I like wind and water… Yeah. That's not going to work, is it?"

"It certainly isn't." I frowned at her stupid actions, "So, since when have you been able to use magic? I was suspicious of you ever since you reacted weirdly at the crater." I raised my right eyebrow questioningly.

"Hah… I'm such a klutz at times, aren't I?" She sighed.

"Can you not say stuff like this? It's reminding me of a precious person. You're too similar with her, both physically and mentally it seems…" I trailed off.

"Ah, okay, I'll be more careful. So, about the magic matter… I first used it three or four months ago."

"Three or four?" I scowled at her as I was reminded that I began the academy and met with Selica that time.

"Yes, I was doing physical training in one of my facilities. I was feeling very hot after five sets of deadlifting which made me feel nauseous and dizzy. And then, somehow, I felt these words inside my mind and just thought, "Why not say them?"

"Mhm, and after?" I nodded and urged her to continue.

"I just said 'Water Ball,' and suddenly one was floating on top of my hands, I splashed my face with it, and soon after I heard from a maid that I lost consciousness."

"You probably just ran out of mana." I sighed exasperatedly, "Where were you when you first awakened?" I asked.

"Hmm, I was in Old York when that happened."

Shit, that's the city I used to live in. What is up with all these coincidences ever since appearing in this shitty dungeon? I questioned within my mind and yet didn't take the effort to think about it.

I was tired, too tired to do that.

"I see, that makes sense."

"As for you, what did you mean by reincarnation? Did you by chance die and take over the body of a baby or something?" She asked me this question for the fifth time now.

"Sigh. Exactly how you phrased it. I reincarnated into another world, Crisyes. It is a world where war rages on a daily basis, monsters exist there, and so does magic. There are adventurer's guilds where you register yourself, and with time and experience by completing quests, you raise your rank."

"Eh, you're a chuunibyou, aren't you?" She gave me a weird look, unfazed by my words.

"Are you serious right now? Chuunibyou? Do I seem like the type to go crazy over my thoughts?"

"You kind of do, not gonna lie."

"Wait no, I'm not one! I'm telling you the truth." I let out a breath, "Fire Ball," I muttered out the spell's name and suddenly a blaze of fire came to life as if the air itself was ignited.

"Oh, that certainly worked." She raised both her brows as she drooped her lips.

"It sure did." I bobbed my head up and down numerously.

"It's quite awkward, isn't it?" She faced toward the end of the passageway.

"It is… But yeah, now you know my secret. Let's keep it between us. I'm going to announce tomorrow that I and Sean have also awakened."

"Ah, Sean can use magic too?" She asked, surprised by my statement.

"Yes, he sure can. We can take the instance when we killed the bat-spider mother. He used a transcendental spell to burn her body, even though it's the lowest and weakest variation of that specific fire art." I explained and then remembered to fill her in on something.

"Let's not forget, he's from Crisyes. He doesn't have a clue Earth exists, and so is the same for Luke."

"Transcendental spell… What's that?" She asked, not paying attention to my warning.

It makes sense she lacks knowledge, although I'm exhausted, I'll still explain it to her.

"Do you actually believe me?" I asked just in case.

"To be honest, not really. I still doubt that a thing like reincarnation and another world of swords and sorceries exists. But I'll be open minded and think of it as a possibility considering this dungeon and everything." She voiced her thoughts and I was content for now.

***

After that, I told her in detail about the magic system, transcendental spells, and chant-less spells too.

"Ah, I see. But can you check my potential?"

"Nope, since I didn't awaken you forcefully, I can't check it. The only time I could see it is if the rune acts up on itself or if you move onto a new potential."

"Aww, and yet I wanted to know if I had a high room for growth, too!" She yelled out bitterly.

***

We went back, got in our separate tents, and slept.

Approximately six hours later, I had woken up by the rummaging near my tent.

"Ahem…" I yawned.

"Ghaw–!" And I next gagged by a slimy thing entering my mouth.

"Siren!? Shit…" I instinctually activated my mana cloak while still in contact with it. In the next second, I was dry of any speck of mana in my body.

"Hmph!" I cut through its core which soon disintegrated as it left a mana crystal on the ground.

"Now that was a way to wake up…" I sighed, already feeling drained.

But discipline doesn't care about my feelings, let's get into it, Helis!

I did my morning routine of two hundred sword swings and one hundred push-ups without thinking much of anything, I just mindlessly slashed and pushed.

One hour later, we ate breakfast at the base, packed our stuff, and finally made our way down the floor.

"Why does it feel like ages that we've been on this floor...?" Haruka spoke.

"It certainly feels like a lot of time has been spent here. But it's all right, ever since slaying all those bat-spiders yesterday, I haven't noticed any. I think they may already be extinct on this floor, but there are still a lot of Sirens to be found."

"Sirens?" Ren asked.

"Yes, I decided to call them like that. They are like humanoid slimes that mostly look like women. They seem to have bosom even though it's not really noticeable since you can particularly see through them."

"Oh, I see. Wait, they're naked… right?" Ren Uemura asked again.

"They certainly are," I smirked as I got a look at his face.

"Oof!" He was smacked on the back of his head by Soobin.

"Pervert, what are you thinking of doing to a monster?"

"Huh, nothing, nothing… Ehehehe…" He started laughing weirdly.

It is nice to know we are already this comfortable with each other.

***

We went to the lower part of the second floor by following the map we made while surveying yesterday.

We encountered Sirens every two to three hundred meters which were all staying in groups together.

Though it was kind of sad to kill monsters as cute and innocent as this, it had to be done since they could seal off a person's mana. I am really glad these monsters did not have an intellect, otherwise, it would be really troublesome to deal with.

***

We took a break near a karst lake and washed our bodies there.

Obviously, Ren and Luke peeped at the girls who in return only got swords thrown at them.

***

After one night of camping inside this cavern, killing countless Sirens, we were finally in front of the gate leading to the third floor.

"Are you ready, guys?" I asked with a bit of excitement leaking out.

"It feels like we were born for this, so of course we are!" They yelled out in unison, giving me the power to push against a medieval, wooden door that didn't suit the vibe here.