Chapter 60: My First Expedition into a Central Tower (2)

A thunderous crash echoed from the peak of the snowy mountain, and after the body of a soldier fell, a massive avalanche began.

“Shit… Of course it had to be…” Ebony muttered, then grabbed the Fire Crystal she had used for cooking and, slinging her backpack over one shoulder, ran to pick up the injured soldier who had fallen.

Seeing Ebony carrying both the luggage and the man, Lucian and Daniel decided to carry her shield between the two of them, its weight was too much for one person.

“What do we do? Where do we go?” Daniel asked nervously, watching as a massive wave of snow began rushing down from the summit.

“There was a cave back there, now run, idiots!” the blonde shouted as she charged ahead, hauling everything with her.

Trying to escape, the group reached a small cave, but since Ebony was the toughest of the three, she managed to enter first with the wounded man, her friends weren’t as lucky.

In barely a breath, the snow crashed violently over the path, sweeping away the elf and the arrogant boy.

“EBONY!” Lucian screamed, trying to reach the cave, when she turned around, she saw her companions vanish beneath a white blanket that dragged them away mercilessly, the roaring sound drowning out their screams.

“No! No, no… Damn it!” the blonde girl yelled, dropping the soldier’s body onto the cave floor, watching in horror as the snow sealed the entrance, leaving only darkness.

After some time, silence returned, Ebony activated the Fire Crystal in her hand, it began to glow with a reddish light that illuminated the darkness.

She stood still for a moment, in front of her was the entrance buried in snow, behind her the unknown darkness surrounded by rock.

After a sigh, she stopped hesitating and chose to trust her friends, dropping her backpack and pulling out healing potions along with the bandages she had prepared.

“Those idiots, they’d better take good care of my shield…” Ebony muttered, worry in her eyes as she began examining the soldier she had managed to save.

The man had a thick beard and wrinkled skin, he looked so old it was hard to believe he had climbed to the top of that mountain.

While examining his body, Ebony couldn’t help but narrow her gaze and focus her mind when she noticed something suspicious.

“(This is strange, he only has one fractured rib, and judging by his knuckle-shaped dented armor, I’d guess he was struck by a massive monster… But… His body is too thin and old…)”

Removing his clothes from the waist up, Ebony carefully inspected his skin.

“(Maybe he’s a soldier who stupidly followed the Frost Ape they told us about… But a creature like that could easily kill an NPC his age… It doesn’t make sense, how does he only have a fracture?)”

She rested her fist against her chin as she studied the man, observing the scars covering his arms, but none on his abdomen or chest.

“(I don’t like this… Something smells off… For now, I’d better get information out of him, but I can’t let my guard down, despite his body, I can feel strong magic inside him.)”

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After a couple of hours, the man woke from his stupor and jolted upright, fists raised and eyes sharp, ready to fight.

But in front of him was only Ebony, boiling an old metal kettle with the help of her Fire Crystal.

“You’re finally awake, you sure sleep a lot, old man,” Ebony said, pouring some hot chocolate into a cup and offering it to him.

“What the hell? Who are you?” the man asked, confused, eyeing the blonde suspiciously.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Ebony said, pointing at her clothes, where the Sapphire Port crest was embroidered. “I’m part of the squad sent to clear this level.”

“That… That makes no sense, the squad assigned for the Incursion was supposed to come from the capital, they would’ve taken several days to arrive…” the man muttered, frowning suspiciously.

“That’s true, but Colonel Mercury decided to send a special squad to clear the floors while the final incursion was on its way… After all, it’s better to lighten the load and grab some treasure along the way,” Ebony replied calmly.

“That’s ridiculous… That idiot… Ahh…” The man sighed and scratched his head, trying to think, then accepted the cup of chocolate.

“And where are you from? I don’t remember seeing you at the barracks before.”

Despite the cold, the old man didn’t seem affected by it at all, even though his entire upper body was bare.

“Well, we’re new… We joined recently, like two months ago, but since that elite group for the incursion still hadn’t arrived, we volunteered to go in,” Ebony said, trying to cover her lie.

“What?!” the soldier shouted, spitting his chocolate straight into the blonde’s face. “Two months? But the tower only reset a couple of weeks ago?!”

“What?! You’ve gotta be kidding me! So the inside of the tower has a time gap, if I’d known that I wouldn’t have come in, damn it!” Ebony exclaimed, pretending to be shocked and exaggerating her movements while hiding her annoyance at the chocolate on her face.

The soldier looked at her worriedly. “Tell me, woman, how many floors does the tower have now?”

Ebony tried to recall what they had discussed with the Colonel.

“Right now it had three floors, however, we already cleared two, this is the second to last,” Ebony said, finishing her cup of chocolate.

“WHAT?!” the old man yelled, spitting his drink again. “You already cleared two floors? How long have you been inside?”

“Hey idiot, you’d better stop spitting on me or I’ll break your face…” Ebony snapped as she wiped her face. “We haven’t been here long, just a couple of days, honestly it was easier than I expected.”

“A couple of d-days?…” The old man trembled in shock, his eyes widening. “And… What were the floor bosses?”

“Oh, that… Umm… Heh heh…” Ebony didn’t know what else to make up, but judging by the old man’s reactions, her suspicions were only growing.

“(I’d love to stop lying… But this is strange, he didn’t seem worried about the mission, and he doesn’t seem to get along with the Colonel either… I can’t let my guard down…) Well, on the first floor we found—”

At that moment, a noise from deep within the cave interrupted the conversation, both of them turned their gaze toward the darkness, which slowly began to light up.

“Torches…?” Ebony murmured as small shadows with savage growls began emerging from the rocky depths.

“Get ready, woman, they’re coming… You’d better hide behind me, I’ll handle this,” the man said, preparing his stance for combat.

“Oh my, how brave you are, old man, I’ll leave it to you,” Ebony said with a sigh, following his instructions and playing the role of damsel in distress.

Her expression was confident thanks to her current level and experience, however that look changed when she saw who held the torches.

Small, chubby, blue-skinned humanoids with white hair like old men.

“Frost Goblins!” Ebony shouted in surprise.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep