Chapter 55: Cold And Limited Resources
After Erica awoke once again, Zorat calmly filled her in on their current predicament. Citing that they were not in immediate danger but trapped in an enclosed space with no way out.
Erica at first spiraled into panic about their situation, but Zorat’s calming words and presence brought her some relief.
Knowing Caleb had no attack skills of his own, Erica began to attack the wall behind them, hoping the blast would create a hole for them to escape through.
But all her efforts seem to amount to nothing as her arrows just bounce back against the shimmering golden barrier.
It was not just that they were sealed with no way out and no idea which floor of the dungeon they were on; there was also a raging minotaur at the entrance, continuously striking at the barrier, and might just make it inside at any given time and kill them both.
All this, along with the falling temperature, was starting to make Erica panic.
"What do we do, Caleb ?!" She turns to Zorat, breathing heavily after trying with all her might to damage the barrier, all to no avail.
"We just have to wait, Erica. I am sure help is coming..."
"Remember the knight commander was with us, and she’s a paragon-level warrior,"
Zorat said in a calm tone as he slowly sat down by the cave wall. Erica, subconsciously mirroring him, also went down on the cold wall next to him as they watched the raging minautur continue to batter the barrier repeatedly.
"You think he’ll get in ?" Erica asked worriedly.
"No, I don’t. As you can see, he’s been going at it for quite a while now; does this weird barrier look like it will be coming down anytime soon?" Zorat muttered in a calm tone, looking directly into her light-hazel eyes, while Erica nodded as she calmed her fear.
"Now, we don’t know how long we’ll be stuck here for... did you at least bring any supplies ?" Zorat asked Erica, and Erica’s expression immediately turned solemn.
"Damn it. I did ... but..It’s all with Ariana," she muttered dejectedly.
"Hmm... that complicates things a little, but I do have my supplies in my item box... we could make do with those before help arrives," Zorat said as if he was improvising on the spot.
He had calculated that for Erica’s weird, deeply buried desire to be registered as fulfilled...
She needed to be relaxed and maybe see the enclosure as a comfortable experience.
Seeing as his sub-authority ’fulfillment’ hasn’t been activated yet, this ultimately confirms that his assertions are true.
Of all the heroes, Erica is among those least covered in their outfits. And for such an environment, being dressed this scantily can become a recipe for disaster.
Her shirt was a simple brown fabric, with thick leather armor on top, fastened from the chest to the waist with a single spiraling lace rope.
Her cleavages were on full display, with barely enough room to breathe in her combat gear coset.
Below, she wore a leather skirt that reached only her mid-thigh, designed for easy maneuvering in combat. Her legs were long with honey-toned, radiant skin running from her mid thigh, down the ridge of her long combat boots.
Even in such a dreary situation, her curly golden locks were still luscious and resplendent, as if unaware of their current predicament.
"Wow.. it’s getting quite chilly down here..." Zorat mumbled as her rubbed his palms together. Though he had the ability to create a spatial pocket around himself, he wasn’t doing that because he didn’t think there was a need to... yet.
"...I have just one futon and a large sheet of fabric with me here...." Zorat lied. He actually had two futons and four large pieces of fabric.
The rest he brought along in case of an emergency were Erica’s life was actually in danger from the cold. He doesn’t want her to die before he gets his hands on her divine skill.
He could, of course, bring her through one of his vortox portals. But he highly doubted her fragile soul could withstand it. She was only level one and still mortal. She was able to easily skate through the first because it was a passive inscription and heavily diluted.
She might even go insane if she goes through one of Zorat’s vortex portals.
Maybe when she reaches the paragon realm, or maybe even the grandmaster realm, because heroes are always unusually strong for their levels.
"We will have to share a lot of things... intimately....Hope that’s okay?" Zorat said this, looking conflicted.
"No, it’s perfectly fine, Caleb. I am sure Broddy will understand." Erica, already understanding of Caleb’s concerns, responded assuringly.
With that, Zorat began to pull out just enough resources for them both to share ’intimately’ together.
It seems Erica has quite the complicated thought process for a young human woman, because it doesn’t even seem she’s aware that she’s currently living one of her most prominent desires.
But the atmosphere soon began to change when the giant minautur that had been banging on the barrier for the better part of an hour decided he’s had enough, and returned to his patrol duties. Completely ignoring the interlopers.
Erica became visibly more relaxed and began to flow in conversation and laughter with Zorat; her earlier anxiety was completely gone, as if it had never been there to begin with.
It almost seemed like she was enjoying her situation, as if she were on vacation. Eating, drinking, laughing with Zorat, and at some point, they threw up the wide sheets over themselves, with their backs to the wall, to ward off the dwindling temperatures.
Still, Zorat did not receive the message he had been hoping for, so he knew more needed to be done.
Curious about Erica’s constitution, and also because he had not seen the constitution of any of the other heroes yet, a touch of crimson flashed through Zorat’s eyes mide conversation...
Authority Of Mischief... Abyssal Gaze.
.
~~~~~🔥~~~~~
{Name: Erica Montclair}
{Level: 1 }
{HP: 200 / 200 }
{MP: 25 / 25 }
{STR: 8 }
{DEF: 7 }
{SPD: 10 }
{Affinity: Bow}
{Skills: Adept Bow-Arts (A) || Rapid Fire (S) || Precision Hit (SS)}
{Divine Skill: Infinite Penetration}
~~~~~🔥~~~~~
heroes for a reason, I guess.
An affinity for bow...
I’m assuming they all have affinities like this...
So why’s Caleb’s for space then?...
Is there even an affinity for ’item box’? I guess not.
And apparently they, too, can increase their physical stats by training... Look at those stats.....
This young lady is physically stronger than I am right now...
How exciting. hehehe