Chapter: 149

Jay pointed to the next door with his sword out, gesturing to Mark.

Mark responded with a nod, holding his massive sword sloping downwards, he intended to do a sword lunge at the first sign of danger.

“His sword is definitely not ideal…” he thought.

Jay wanted to lend Mark one of his swords, but remembered that he told Mark that he found it in a dungeon; his story wouldn’t add up if he now had two of them.

Besides, Mark would be able to read the stats and see that it’s crafted from silt-wolf bone, and requires essence to maintain its form.

“…Damn, Mark will just have to use his big sword.” Jay thought.

Mark pushed the door open as he held his sword with one hand. The sword had a slight glow as he held it, the mana he was channelling through it made it as light as a dagger.

Pausing for a moment, Mark peered into the room before slowly walking into it. It was another bedroom.

Mark checked behind the door and under the bed, while Jay nodded in approval.

Kel followed next, while Jay and Anya waited in the hallway as they watched the other two.

After the room was secured, Mark nodded to Kel.

Kel went around to a few objects, reversing time on them – but so far she found no useful information. Time would only reverse on objects inside the orb, so if something wasn’t in it when she started, it wouldn’t appear afterwards.

“So that’s why they’re taking so long…Mark must be patient.” Jay realised they had been waiting for Kel to use her time magic this whole time. It was a particularly slow process as Kel was quite thorough in her investigation.

Jay decided to clear the last two rooms on the top floor by himself, starting with the right room first.

A double bed was inside, with a large cabinet and another hinged window.

Jay did the usual checks – under the bed and behind the door before moving to the cabinet.

Suddenly, Jay’s shield squeezed his arm as he held it in front of the cabinet.

He breathed in a little, but was otherwise calm and ready for whatever was inside the cabinet.

Jay glanced at Anya as he gripped his sword, pointing it at the cabinet with his shield still raised.

First, he kicked the cabinet, causing it to move back a small amount. He hoped to get a reaction from whatever was inside, making it burst out of the cabinet to attack him – yet nothing happened.

“Fine. Have it your way” he thought.

With a sigh, Jay stepped forward to open it, bracing himself for the pain of whatever attack was coming as he stepped forward and opened the door – yet what greeted him melted his heart.

A small girl was shivering in the dark cabinet, clutching a half-filled water bladder with a smiley face on it. She was too scared to yell, all she could do was shiver out of fear as well as from the cold. Along with her brunette hair, tears were now running down her cheeks as she cried silently. Her brown eyes looked up at him, full of fear.

Since Jay wasn’t sure what monsters they were after, he still had his shield and sword raised as he analysed her.

[Naria]