Chapter 248: Bit Drink
———Lynda———
<9: 57 am>
“B-Blurggg!” I can hear her threw up again. Maybe I shouldn’t have volunteered to check in on her.
“You okay?” I asked, wondering if she’s still conscious.
“I’m… fine.” She said, her voice sounding quite weak. I was gonna bring up that there is a detox station but I don’t think she has the energy to complain or go there right now.
“Have you ever drunk before? Just curious.” I asked as she walked out of the stall.
“Drunk Dad giving some to me while Mom wasn’t looking, does that count?” She answered. Of course it counts!
“Well. That’s not a particularly unique reason.” I remarked as she walked over to the sink to wash her face. “How much did you drink? I’m actually afraid of you getting liver failure here.”
“I didn’t count.” She bluntly replied after she finished washing and walked out of the restroom.
Both of us quickly returned to the more vibrant venue and back to the area our class had called dibs on.
“Make sure to not eat anything for a while, okay? Drink a lot of water.” I said as both of us sat back down. “Hey, did we miss anything?”
“Not really.” Histon answered. “I don’t think any of us are gonna be eating anything for a few hours unless we go into the dungeon to burn it off. How does that sound?”
“No way. I don’t want to remove my morning meal like her.” I said while pointing at Luik. “Maybe we could do that in a few hours. Right now it’s just suicide ain’t it?”
“Just strengthen your stomach and intestine and you’ll be fine.” He dismissively said. Yeah buddy, as if that actually works. He does know how hard it is to apply strengthening magic to a part of your body that is on autopilot, right?
“...Did you put all your skill points into that?” I asked, feeling incredulous at the implication.
“Mostly. It also helps me when it comes to stronger monster meats. Those things are really spicy and bad for the stomach.” That’s because you were feeling actual pain! Those things are normally quite toxic unless treated or the person eating it has a very efficient mana circulation. You really shouldn’t be eating it unless you really wanna maximize the amount of experience points you got, and even then most of it came from just killing the monster in the first place.
“No wonder your spells are shit.” I said out loud since I was wondering why he has been so adamant on just using his fist and basically no range spells to speak of, not even an extension of his normal attack range.
“I don’t need them! I just need to be strong enough to punch their heads clean off!” He boasted proudly despite my criticism. It seems he is really not in the mood to be mad today.
At least he’s specializing. That’s something most people are way too afraid to do since they’re afraid they can’t cover their bases. Have they not learned from games that jack-of-all-trades tend ot suck ass? The main characters don’t count. They get to have high stats in all areas like the cheat that they are.
“Could’ve at least got a long distance spell. Just one is enough.” Trener said, clearly not liking Histon’s approach to things. It’s hard to take his words too seriously when one is clearly stronger than the other, but I’m not gonna dwell on that any further.
“By the way, Glery. Are you not gonna eat more? You’ve been eating very little.” I pointed out as she simply observed our conversation. She had been extra quiet. The ambiance probably intimidated her quite a bit.
“I’m good.” She said while avoiding eye contact. I like her more when she’s a bit feisty and being in a public place really damper that part of hers.
“Does any of you even have a good long range spell in your kit anyway? Seriously. Trener, when was the last time you even used one instead of letting some of our other classmates do it instead, since they’re much better with it.” Histon pointed out. As things stand we can mostly compensate for the lack of a range spell with a burst of speed to close the gap. We could even jump towards an airborne target and take it out as long as the distance between both parties isn’t too much. Outside of crowd control there isn’t really a need for those types of spells. The inside of the dungeon might be vast, but it’s still supposed to emulate basements and caves, there is a limited amount of space to move in.
“...When was there a bar?” I muttered as I noticed what was clearly a bar counter with neon light embedded into its exterior, and a shelf behind it with all sorts of drinks lined up ready to be mixed and served. I've never been to one before so I’d like to see what it’s like.
The others are still arguing so let’s slip out of here and go see what they have to offer. I don’t really know what it’s like but if I can try it now then that’d be cool.
“Welcome. What do you want on this occasion?” The bartender said as soon as she finished preparing a drink for the person who sat next to me.
“…I want to be surprised.” I said that since I don’t really know much about alcohol.
“Very well…” She said before she started mixing.
“Oh, hey. Didn’t expect to see you here.” The one who sat next to me said. She’s..,
“Evalyn.” I said her name out loud, not really sure of how to greet someone who I don’t interact with too often. Not from my class, for one.
This crazy fox is known for being quite a savage in a battle despite her rather cute and demure appearance. It’s hard to not remember someone with such contrasting traits. Aside from her blue eyes she got the fox color down, and her clothing choice also makes her look like those Japanese shrine maiden as well, the type that definitely doesn’t use something as crude-looking as a chainsaw.
“Is that all I get for a greeting? Didn’t expect you to be so cold hearted!” She complained before taking a sip of her drink.
“Here’s your surprise, customer.” The bartender said before handing me a red drink.
“…So how has your day been?” Since she doesn’t like that reply, how about I shift the topic a little… This drink is strong and it feels spicy?
“Pretty good. I love the ambience of this area specifically. Isn’t it quite fascinating? While the venue isn’t brightly lit, this particular area is particularly dark to emphasize the neon light of its decor.” She pointed out the weird characteristics of this area. Indeed, it’s as if the light area here was lowered somehow. It’s quite odd. Sure there isn’t any light shining upon this area, and this particular place does have a ceiling built not too high up to give the illusion of a closed off area, but there aren’t any walls preventing light from reaching this place.
“There are definitely a lot of things I still don’t know about… You know, the school.” Having one of the greatest mysteries in the modern times literally smack dabbed in your neighborhood is definitely quite a feeling. I don’t know how to describe it outside of frustration and intrigue. There are a bunch of unknown wonders in the world we still don’t understand, but when it’s right in your face you can’t really stop thinking about it and trying to figure it out even if you think it’s a fool’s errand.
“Definitely a headache that’ll last for a long time, that’s for sure.” She said with a light chuckle accompanying that sentence. “There’s an elephant in the room and then there’s an elephant in front of our faces. We literally can’t ignore it.”
“...Say. What have you been doing up to this point? I feel like I haven’t seen you outside of school at all.” She has been conspicuously absent from even dungeon diving, which she clearly likes to do.
“I’ve been training, of course. Some facilities in this school are still open even after the students left for the day.” She answered.
“Really? I guess with the dungeons needing some time on cooldown before more monsters could spawn in, using that as a training ground is a bit of a gamble.” Now that that’s not the case anymore, there’s a much better chance of getting real fighting experience. “You’ve been getting stronger, I’d assume.”
“Obviously. I’ve been doing very well, just so you know.” She said with a smug expression. “But enough talking about fighting and stuff. We all know most people don’t put much focus on that. How has school life been? It felt like the assignments had been light all the way through.”
“It’s been easy and I never really had a problem with it. Is that enough?” I think even less people want to talk about school work. Like what the hell am I supposed to say?
“I see. How have your classmates been? Mine has been slacking in terms of fighting prowess but they’re coasting along with the assignments just fine.” She asked another question right after.
“Same on my end. I guess Histon had been focusing on fighting, and making sure his younger sis didn't get into trouble. You know how it goes, when there’s legitimate danger in the kind of things he does he really doesn’t want his sister involved.” I’m still kinda surprised by how lax the requirement for entering the dungeon is. It’s a simple test and a long list of very boring questions. There probably should’ve been a more rigorous test, since it’s not like you can’t die in there. Sure, most people know to run before they fight something they can’t beat or flee from, and since monsters don’t aggro onto you until you make your move you have plenty of time to assess your chances, but a small lapse in judgement or a wrong turn and it’s over.
“Definitely a conundrum I don’t want to deal with.” She remarked. “...But speaking of conundrums, there have been more incidents popping up. A large scale one not too long ago. You heard of it, right?”
“The city exploding? Of course I do. I’m surprised it’s still happening after the first few weeks of the Eclipse.” You’d think they’d root out all the bad actors by now. How many of those are still around?
“I doubt it’s stopping anytime soon unless someone powerful takes the reins. Clearly, they’re not interested.” I mean, there had been talk of someone creating a city governed by the strong, but I think it was blown up or something? It’s been over half a year since then, if memory serves. Maybe that’s not a good idea, which is why no one else is doing it. They’re stringing people along instead of directly ruling, and that works well here, as we can see.
Unless the mayor was working under their order this whole time and we never realized it.
“...Speaking of that, what do you think about those government takeover? I don’t think there has been any clear development on that front.” It’s not like the city was isolated or anything, so it’s not like people can’t talk about it.
“Nothing. We just gotta wait for the twist.” She replied before taking another sip of her drink. “Is it just me or does it feel like the noise from the main area is weirdly muffled?”
“No, it’s that way for me as well.” Some sort of magic that’s related to making this place darker, presumably. “Seems like a really niche type of magic. Hey, bartender, do you know anything about it?”
“Me? Well. Perhaps I do, but I’m not the one who prepared it, so I’m not the one with the actual details.” She said, maintaining her smile as she went around mixing drinks. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her around these parts. I would’ve remembered someone with a hair color that unique. Somewhere between pink and purple and on the dark pale side of things.
“Guess we’re not going anywhere with that.” I said with a shrug before I took another sip. Is this one super strong? It’s hard to tell since the flavor is clearly more than just strong alcohol. I just can’t quite make it out…