A bone-chilling cold suddenly shot straight from the crown of his head down to his spine. In a split second, Long vividly felt the coldness of steel tearing through the plastic of his helmet, plunging deep into his skull. Darkness fell, thick and silent.
But then, the pain vanished as quickly as it came.
Long started, realizing it was just a horrific vision that had flashed through his brain in less than a tenth of a second. Before his eyes, reality remained two black shadows diving down like rocks falling from the sky. The distance was too close; their putrid breath was so near there was no room left for a spear swing or a shield block. His entire body seemed frozen on the thin line between hallucination and forming death.
Thud!
A dull, stifled sound rang out like a taut shell being torn apart from the inside. The two falling goblins were slammed hard in the ribs by the blast of air, knocked off their trajectory. They stumbled, lost their center of gravity, then fell with a splat onto the stone floor like two sacks of rotten meat.
Schwing!
Without wasting a second, Long rotated his shoulder, channeling power from his hips straight into the arm gripping the spear shaft. The spear tip hissed in the air, tracing a sharp arc that just glided through, sweet and clean.
In a single breath, the wrinkled neck skin of all three hideous creatures was sliced in two. Blood seeped out in a dark line before the pressure from their last heartbeat pushed it to spray onto the dark dungeon wall.
Long swung his arm hard, dark green blood streaks clinging to the snake skin splashing onto the stone floor, leaving long viscous trails. From behind, rapid footsteps echoed, breaking the thick silence of the dungeon. Long turned his head; Lia's small figure was rushing toward him.
He relaxed his body, opening his arms in preparation for a welcoming hug. However, as soon as she came into view, Lia suddenly twisted her hips, putting her entire weight into a straight punch to his face. A sudden impulse erupted from her small fist, multiplying the pressure as it sank deep into Long's abdomen.
Pow!
The punch made Long double over like a shrimp. He collapsed onto the cold stone floor, his chest spasming violently, his breath blocked at his throat into broken gasps. In the dull pain, he looked up. Lia was standing there, hands on her hips, her delicate eyebrows furrowed in sheer grumpy annoyance. She shouted, her voice trembling with anger:
"Damn it! Who allowed you to act so recklessly, huh? You almost died! Do you think having a bit of strength means you can do whatever you want?"
Finishing her shout, the wrinkles on her face gradually relaxed, revealing a pitifully worried look. Lia bent down, her small hands beginning to quickly touch the snake skin armor, checking every muscle fiber, every scratch on his body. Her voice suddenly dropped, fragile as a breeze:
"Are you hurt anywhere? Your life... is very precious. Don't make me worry like that again, okay?"
Long didn't look up. He lowered his head, his gaze glued to the dark floor, heavy with remorse. After a few seconds of silence, he whispered, his voice deep and muddy:
"I'm sorry. I was too subjective and immature... I won't do it again."
Lia stepped closer, her small hands slipping under the rim of the helmet, lifting it slightly just enough to reveal the lower part of his face. Before Long could orient himself, a soft, sweet sensation lightly touched his lips.
That light peck was like a sudden electric current, running down his spine making Long's entire body go stiff, straightening up.
Not letting him react, Lia decisively pulled the helmet back down. Long was trapped in the cramped space of the plastic shell, his own breath mixing with the sweet aftertaste lingering on his lips making his whole face flush hot, red as if just thrown into a coal furnace. The heart in his chest beat continuously, echoing powerful rhythms drowning out the wind whistling in the dungeon.
Lia's voice rang out from outside the visor, low and full of authority:
"Remember that, no more reckless actions!"
Long nodded slightly, the heat inside the helmet not yet dissipating. He looked at Lia, curiosity evident through his slightly choked voice:
"So you can use magic now, miss? That blast pushing the Goblins earlier, and the impulse when punching me... were all done by you, right?"
Lia blinked, strands of hair fluttering slightly even though there was no wind. She replied nonchalantly:
"Correct. In this place, mana exists densely in the air, completely different from your barren world. Just breathing is enough for me to reabsorb a portion to use spells."
Saying that, her face suddenly fell. Lia hesitated, bringing her small hand to lightly touch her back, where a magnificent pair of spirit wings should have been. She mumbled, confusion clearly showing in her eyes:
"But it's strange... Mana has recovered, yet I still can't find a way to return to my true spirit form."
Long narrowed his eyes, trying to see clearly Lia's face which was gradually showing insecurity through the foggy plastic visor. He cleared his throat, his low voice ringing out:
"Do you know... airplanes?"
Lia turned to look at him, her eyelashes blinking continuously as if searching her memory for a strange concept. Not waiting for her to answer, Long continued:
"In my world, people build airplanes to fly anywhere they want, regardless of whether they have wings or not."
Lia tilted her head, her face full of skepticism mixed with curiosity:
"Like riding a Dragon? But... the Dragon race is very arrogant, they never let anyone climb on their backs."
Long chuckled, the tension in his chest vanishing completely before the girl's naivety. He shook his head explaining:
"Not dragons, it's..."
Before he could finish the sentence, a soft warmth suddenly transmitted from his hand. Lia had grasped his hand tight at some point, using just enough force to pull Long up. She looked up at him, her lips blooming into a smile so sweet it made the gloomy space around seem to brighten:
"Thank you for comforting me."
Lia cast her eyes into the distance, where pitch-black darkness like ink was swallowing everything. She asked softly, her voice tinged with doubt:
"Hey Long, you said you picked up the golden sphere sealing me from the body of a Goblin, right?"
"Yes!" Long replied briefly.
Lia frowned, looking down at the crumpled Goblin corpse at her feet, her voice clearly showing annoyance:
"Look at these guys, they dared to invade all the way here."
She looked up into the indefinite void, her gaze pensive as if flipping through old memory fragments.
"After my Hero party defeated the Demon King... I was injured too heavily. It felt like all the mana circuits in my body had burst apart..."
Saying that, her small body suddenly trembled violently, perhaps because of the dungeon's cold, or the trauma from the battle years ago. Without hesitation, Long took off his outer coat to drape over Lia's shoulders. The warmth and familiar scent from the teenager seemed to soothe her. Lia tightened the coat, continuing:
"Then the whole group agreed to put me in a hibernation sphere to recover slowly. They prepared an impenetrable room deep inside this dungeon, containing the crystal I need to reconstruct my body."
Lia suddenly stomped her foot hard on the stone floor, the sound echoing against the dark tunnel walls. She swore angrily:
"Grand Sage my ass! That bookworm did a half-assed job. Now I don't understand why the dungeon is in such a mess."
She panted, turning to look straight into Long's eyes. Lia's face now had no trace of joking left, she pointed toward the monster corpses just defeated:
"Long! Now this isn't just simply finding the crystal for me anymore. You see, the monsters have crawled right to the cave entrance."
She directed her arm toward the gate leading to Long's house, her voice steely:
"If we just leave it alone, there will be a day these monsters flood into your world. For your very own life, and for the world you are living in... Long, let's conquer this dungeon together!"