We rushed to my hideout as quickly as possible. Once we reached there, I closed the door behind me and sat on the ground.

"Where does this tunnel lead to," she asked immediately after I closed the door.

"Nowhere. It is a dead end that way," I pointed inwards.

 

"Are you sure there are no splits that lead somewhere else?"

"Yes I'm sure. I've walked back and forth a couple of times. I haven't seen any so far."

She slumped to the ground, leaning on the tunnel walls to sit in an upright position, her legs stretched out.

"Then let me rest for a bit," she said suddenly.

"Eh, okay."

"And don't try anything funny." She said.

Was that a threat? Probably. She got no reason to trust a complete stranger anyway.

And with that she nodded off. Her head lowered and a soft snore could be heard.

Boy that was fast. But I couldn't blame her. She was in a pretty bad condition. She looked worn out. She didn't have any other luggage on her, just the armor she wore and the sword she had in her hand.

The evolution and the latter fights have all been very tiring and my mind needed to rejuvenate. Not to mention my body hasn't completely healed either. I too decided to rest for a while.

A few hours later.

I woke up feeling fresh and as a matter of habit looked over to the tunnel entrance and it was still intact. Feeling relieved, I looked for the woman only to find out that she was not here anymore.

I jumped up from the ground,"Lady are you there?" I asked out loud.

No response. That's bad. Did she leave when I was sleeping? If that's the case then I'm back where I started. No, I can't let that happen. I have to find her. 

And with that I rushed towards the entrance and when I was about to open the door a sound came echoing from the tunnel. I turned to look inside to find the woman coming closer.

"Did you call me?" She asked.

"Yes. Yes I did," I was relieved.

"When I woke up you were still sleeping. So I decided to check the tunnel's safety. It's just like you said, this is a dead tunnel."

"Well glad that's cleared up."

"Hmm yes," she said absent-mindedly as she was examining the walls.

The woman in front of me looked like she was in her twenties, but I wasn't sure, with all the dirt and blood stains on her it was hard to tell. She was of 5'8 (1.72 m) height. She had brown hair which reached half way down her back. From the looks of it she had healed some of her wounds.

After she was done examining, she sat down on a rock and said, "So let me properly introduce myself. I'm Euca."

She said with a gentle smile.

"Nice to meet you Euca. I’m Adrian."

"Yes I know. You told me when we first met."

"I thought you didn't pay attention to that," I said cheekily to which she shrugged.

"So what are you doing inside the labyrinth?" I asked.

"Huh, you are asking me that question?" She said with an amused look on her face.

"Why? What's wrong with my question?" I said, defensively.  

"There is nothing wrong with it, it's just that you don't look like you belong here." She said pointing to my whole body.

"Meaning?"

"You don't have any armor, not any weapon and I've seen beggars wearing better clothes than you. But you don't need any of these if you are really strong but in your case I don't feel any such power."

Ouch. 

"That is true I guess," I said while looking at my own clothes.

"It's alright. I didn't mean to belittle you but it's just my observation. Coming to your question, I'm here to find my brother."

"Did he end up here chasing monsters?" I asked reflexively.

"No. Did you?"

"Yeah." I nodded.

She burst out laughing hearing my answer. I didn't understand what was so funny about that, but clearly it was something that made Euca laugh out for a few minutes.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that," she said while trying to calm down.

"It's just that usually people stay clear of monsters. And here you are chasing them into the labyrinth," she explained.

"Well I didn't simply follow them here," I retorted.

"Really? Then what happened." She quizzed.

Then I explained how monsters tried to attack my father and how I got here and my initial fights with the creatures.

"Oh my. Now I feel like a total asshole for laughing at you," she said in an apologetic tone.

"No harm no foul."

"Still it was wrong of me to assume things on my own. But you are very unlucky. Monsters usually enter our world through outposts but these kinds of occurrences do happen, even though it's very rare." She crossed her legs to sit more comfortably. 

"Outposts?"

"Yes outposts. That's what we call the entrance to labyrinth. You didn't know?"

"My parents were just farmers. So their knowledge was very limited," I said not wanting to dwell on my real origins

.

"Even then it is considered common knowledge. But not knowing is not a crime either," she said.

"Well that's my story,” I said, “ Now tell me about your brother. And why do you have to search for him?" I wanted to move the conversation away from me.

She sighed, sadness evident on her face, "he was on a hunting journey into the labyrinth and was supposed to return two days back."

"But when he didn't return, I asked the local guards to help me in finding him. But they denied saying that their resources were already stretched thin. So I had to come down here myself and it's been two days since," she said in a worried voice.

"I'm sorry about that. But if I may, why did your brother go hunting into the labyrinth?" 

"We need money to treat our mother's illness. And the monster's essence could be sold for a good amount of money in my place."

"I see." I didn't know what this essence was, but asking it would be a bit too much given that she is pretty worried.

"So you will be returning when you find your brother huh?"

"Yes and therefore I'm sorry. I wish I could help you find your way back, but I have to find my brother first. I could ask you to wait for me here, but even I don't know if I'll be able to come back alive." So saying she stood up.

"Well I'll be heading out now. And I hope you find your way back. If you go deeper into the forest you will find two twin tunnels, bigger than this one. Take the left one and you will reach the outpost within no time. That's all I can do for you now.”She said as she walked past me.

On one hand, I finally have some information to get back home and on the other I have somebody who is in my same shoes, only in a worse situation.

She is searching for her brother. She is determined but I doubt she has the strength to defeat the monsters without any place to rest like this one. Without knowing whether he is alive or not it would be close to suicidal for her to venture outside alone. I'm sure even my parents would be doing everything they can to find me.

I sighed.

I guess I know what to do. You'll have to wait a bit longer for me dad and mom.

"Euca, wait." 

She was at the entrance of the tunnel.

"Yes?"

"I'm coming with you. I'll help find your brother."

"Are you serious?" She asked.

"Yes." I reassured her.

"I'm happy with your gesture but I don't think you can help me. I mean just look at you."

Well she has a point there.

"I know I don't look like a fighter but I did survive three days here without any weapons or armor," I said.

"That is true. Well I guess you can come along. But you better equip yourself with something," she said.

"But I don't have any - oh!"

She took out a pair of leather armor and a short sword and tossed it to me.

"Where did this come from?" I asked, amused by the sudden event.

"You are really unaware of the world you live in, kid. I took these out from my dimensional ring." She said, showing me the said ring.

"That's awesome."

"Hahaha, yes it is. Now put those on, we haven't got time to waste." She urged me.

I quickly put on the armor and readied the sword. It was light unlike I thought it would be. I would be able to wield it without much difficulty which was a plus.

"So do you have any idea where your brother might be?" I asked Euca.

"Not really. But I do have a hunch and I'm planning on going there."

"Sure. You lead the way and I'll follow."

With that decided we quickly went into the forest, making sure to close the tunnel's entrance while going out. How I moved through the forest changed drastically from my earlier approach. We didn't hide nor wait for a monster to leave rather we both rushed in, slicing the monsters down from time to time. Euca was especially good with the sword. She cut the monsters, sometimes stabbed, once sliced a Parav in half and did many more with her sword. 

It made me doubt my usefulness in this search. As if understanding my intention she said, "I've been trained in the ways of the sword, just like my brother. And most of these monsters are low level. But that doesn't mean I'm invincible. Each strike is tiring me out and after a few more fights, we'll both have to fight together to kill the monsters. So be prepared."

"I am." I replied.

After killing a few monsters we were confronted with two at a time. Both of which were Wersok. One immediately charged at me cutting me off from Euca. With the armor and sword in my possession I knew I wouldn't be troubled much.

The Wersok was a plain creature. It's main attack was bite and sometimes it body tackled, both of which I could deflect or dodge.

It rushed towards me in an attempt to tackle. I didn't want to dodge and was dying to try out the new sword. I gave it a wild swing which the monster dodged. It had ducked at the last moment to avoid the swing and was able to keep the momentum. The wersok closed the gap easily and unleashed strong punches on me. 

I stand corrected. It can use punches too. The shock pushed me back a bit but it didn't injure me because of the armor.

Good thing I have this.

 

I dashed at the creature this time and swung my sword, this time more in control of the blade. It came down in a small arc and cut deep into the wersok's shoulder. It let out a painful cry and once again tried to punch me. This time I blocked the punch with my sword but the impact sent shock waves through my arms. 

"Damn," I said, " this guy punches hard."

"Yes they do. It probably obtained that skill recently," Euca said.

In the corner of my eyes I could see her standing over the shade of the tree, her sword in its scabbard. 

Damn she killed her opponent already? She is really strong.

The monster charged at me once again with its fangs ready to strike. It leapt onto me and delivered a bite into my thighs. The pain was overwhelming but the fight was already over. 

Once the bite succeeded it gave me precious few moments to retaliate and that was enough to ram my sword through the Wersok.

< You've killed a level 4 Wersok. >

"Not bad kid," Euca said, "But you really didn't have to get bitten just to kill a small fry. This takes time to heal."

"Well in normal circumstances yes. But for me it doesn't," I said to which Euca raised an eyebrow. 

I used my skill on the monster's body. To her utter shock and to my relief, it melted into a goo-like substance which I absorbed. The energy coursed through my body healing my wounds in a matter of minutes.