Chapter 46 Departure (1)
Chapter 46 Departure (1)
"Are you sure this is the place?" June asked a moment after Warden led her into the cavern. A slick and flat brick-like metal device on her arm flickered into bars of light, indicating whatever she was trying to read with it.
"Like I said, it vanished," Warden said.
"The radar is detecting nothing too extreme, with a dungeon gate being here just a day before," she sighed. "The radiation is only above normal. It takes about a month for radiation to come down from a grade-8 dungeon."
He shrugged.
"Let's search around to see if there's any sign of another dungeon spawning here," June said as they came out of the cavern. The white crane waiting outside clucked as they got onto its back. Soon, Sylvie took flight, taking the two of them into the air.
The white crane was big enough to carry two people easily, though her speed decreased a lot. June sat in the front, while Warden made himself comfortable keeping a few inches' distance from her back.
Now, flying was something Warden wouldn't get any time soon, or ever. The feeling of the fresh wind caressing and even slapping him with Sylvie's increasing speed was something only mortals dreamed of. There was freedom in the flight, even though he was riding Sylvie. It was a feeling, a need, that Warden didn't know was there or lacking until he flew on her.
What surprised him was how accommodating June had been as she let him ride her bonded spirit creature. Then again, she had been impatient with all the dungeon business. She woke him up early and demanded that he follow through on the agreement.
They were almost done with that, though she wanted to make sure there were no other dungeons in the vicinity. So they flew purposefully over the wilderness for about a couple of hours, June with her device reading the radiation that every dungeon radiates in the surroundings. She wasn't much for talking when she was working, it seemed.
Warden didn't complain, even though there was nothing for him to do. He simply focused on the calmness he was riding in and meditated.
Eventually, June did find a couple of dungeons, only Grade-9—the lowest-ranked ones. They were too deep in the wilderness to be a threat to the village.
Still, Warden offered, "Should we clear them?"
"We won't be able to enter any Grade-9 dungeon," she said. "Technically, we can barge our way in, but that'll be inadvisable. Our presence will make the fabric of the low-rank dungeon stressed, and it might even collapse on us."
That was all new to him, but from the look in her eyes, it seemed to be common knowledge.
"Don't stress out. We already have a team to take care of them," June said. "I'll leave them the directions on our way back, making sure they don't jerk around with this job."
He exhaled deeply. "Thank you."
"It's my duty," June said curtly. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
"Well, it was the job of that other bunch as well, but look at them," Warden said. "Besides, nobody said you can't take gratitude for doing your duty."
June lifted her brows, as if seeing him in a new light, and nodded.
"So, about the other thing," Warden said, lifting his left palm to indicate the fatemarks. "Can you help me get a good healer, especially a healer of the mind?"
"Mind?" June clasped her palms together. "I knew it. There's something wrong with your head, or how can you have such contrasting personalities at times?"
Warden clicked his tongue at her joke. "You're not really good at it, you know," he said. "Anyway, can you do it?"
"Well, I do know a few excellent healers, and even a good mind mage, but I don't know if they would be helpful to your problem without knowing what it is."
"Suppose someone bangs their head real bad," Warden said, hesitating no more, "and had trouble remembering their past. Can a healer help in remembering stuff?"
Warden had to let out the secret of the bag sometime, so he decided why not now. If he were to take her help in getting a healer, there was a very good chance she would know it eventually. Besides, he wasn't more vulnerable than he was feeling before. His problem wouldn't give others a leeway over him.
June's expression changed instantly as she studied his face. "How bad is it?"
"Pretty bad," he said. "I only got one small flash of a vision of my past, but I seem to remember things if something leads me in that direction. Like I can do many things that I don't have a memory of, like cooking and combat. And then there are moments where I kind of know who I was."
"Do you have any other problems, save for the memory?"
"I don't think so," Warden lied. The other big thing would be the loss of his power. But Warden only thinks he lost it. There was no concrete proof other than the hints on his status page and the extreme tiredness.
"Well, I don't think it'll be hard for you to find your past," she said. "Your abilities are unique, considering you beat Professor Walt without even disadvantageous attributes. Even your aura had a certain authoritative feel to it. Clearly, you were trained by expert masters. There are only a few people in the world that can train in it. They are probably looking for you right at this moment.
"As for your memory, though, I can't say much. My ideas on something like that are vague, and could give you a false promise."
"Thank you," he said. "That settles the deal, then?"
"Sure." June drew her palm to shake her hand this time. "Shake to agree?"
Warden clasped her palm and found them soft for a silver ranker. She was perhaps a mage-type?
"By the way, will you give me a ride to the city?"
According to her students, it takes at least a week conventionally, but with Sylvie, he was pretty sure the time could be alleviated greatly.