The girl was still crying. I continued to comfort her. I don't know what the party she was with were like, but seeing a young lady like this bawl her eyes out, doesn't make me feel good.

It doesn't help that just before this I had beaten those Little Devils. Although just barely, the fight was long and hard. I wish that seeing how capable I am would comfort the girl, but it only seems to have upset her.

"I-I'm so sorry for being useless, Mister Automaton. It's my fault you got hurt." -she countinued to sob, stuttering trying to get her words out of her mouth. I did get hurt, but it's honestly not that much. This girl... I have to end this.

"Listen," -I put my hand on her shoulder, gently though, as it was bigger than her head. "We can't stay here for long, so you have to either stop crying and get prepared, or we'll be stuck here and perish. Do you understand me?"

She looked at me, still tears running down her face. As she pondered my words, she seemed to have gotten the point I was making and wiped her face clean of the tears. The girl then looked back at me, her eyes still watery, but with a much more determined look.

"I understand." -she said.

"Good," -I then turned around and went to pick up the sword the Little Devil dropped. As I was doing this, I heard a squelching sound. I turn around to see what the kid is doing, and I see her stabbing one of the Little Devil bodies. At first I thought it was her way of taking out revenge, but then she started cutting the body open. The cuts were rough, but they were precise, it made me wonder how many times did the kid do this? Blood was starting to pool up around the body.

"What are you doing?" -I asked her. She then put her hand in the cup up wound, as if she wanted to find something. She pulled something out of the body of the Little Devil.

"There! Found it." -she said, as she came over to me. She opened her hand, showing me a weird red stone. "...And what is it?" -I replied

"It's a Magic Stone! Every Magic Beast has one. It can be used for lots of stuff, so it's good to get one, especially from a Little Devil." -she said.

"I see." -I said. She then put the stone in her bag. Maybe she carried something that could help us I thought.

"What do you have in your backpack?"

"Oh, right! Let me have a look." -she said. She took off the bag and opened it, starting to rummage through it. She pulled out a variety of things. It was mostly supplies such as food, a tent, a map, and a set of clothes... Wait, these clothes are way bigger than her body.

"What are these clothes?" -I asked her.

"Oh, these?" -she pointed at them. "We found them in a chest on the 2nd floor. They are way too big however, they would need a giant to wear them."

"I see..." - I replied. The clothes do look big, but comparing them to my size, they are still too small for me.

"Well they atleast they are pretty warm," -she said as she put on the glove. The glove was so much bigger than her hand it almost reached her elbow. "Look, It covers my arm pretty well!"

"You do realise that a glove is supposed to cover up your hand, not your arm, right?"

"Hmph, you're no fun!" -she said pouting. "Weird though, my hand is starting to feel cold."

"What?" -I said. A glove that big should be making her feel a lot more warm, not cold. "Take it off, right now."

The girl tried to take off the glove, but was unsuccessful. "It won't come off!" -she said, grunting a bit. I

"Kya!" -she gasped in shock, as the glove started to shift weirdly. I had first thought that the clothes were cursed and were sentient, but after watching it, I realized that wasn't the case. The glove wasn't moving randomly, in fact it was moving in a way so that it could fit in the girl's hand. It was shrinking.

"W-what just happened?" -The girl said, looking at her hand confused.

"Let me take a look at it." -I said taking her hand with the glove on, and focused my Appraisal skill on it.

                                                            =========================================

                                                                                                 Silent Morph Glove 

                                                              <It is a Glove made up of special fibers, which are

                                                                  capable of expanding or compressing in 

                                                                  response to temperature. It is also capable of

                                                              nullifying wearer's presence.>  

                                                           ==========================================

I knew it. If this was trully a dungeon with such creatures as the Little Devils, they certainly would have items such as this. The reason it's so big is that it can reshape it's size, I see. The other clothes are probably the same. The thing that interests me the most however is this other attribute. 'It is also capable of nullifying wearer's presence' is something that seems a bit too much. Looking at the girl, I don't see her any differently, her presence feels the same. Perhaps if she were to wear the whole thing, it would then react?

Thinking that, I had gotten an idea. I looked the girl in the eyes. "Take off the glove."

"Huh? Ok..." -she said, taking off the glove. It had remained the same size as before. She gave me the glove. I had started putting on the glove, despite it's miniature size. As soon as I tried to put it on, the glove became bigger and started to fit my hand. The glove had covered up my hand well enough that I wouldn't be able to tell it was mechanical.

"Hey, pass me the other clothes aswell." -I said, pointing to the pile on the floor.

"Right!" -she said, a bright smile appearing. She might be the type that likes being useful.

As she gave me the clothes, I put them on. The boots were neatly made, and fit my legs perfectly. The cloak had covered up my damaged torso and cracked arms, aswell as the rest of my body. It had reached down to the boots, making sure that my body doesn't get noticed.

"Wow, you look cool Mister Automaton!" -the girl said. Personally I didn't see the appeal of such a getup.

Now was the time to test out my theory I thought. I had started walking around, and my greatest hopes were answered. My footsteps were completely silent, not making a single noise. I didn't think about it, but the sounds my body made were very loud, making sneaking around this supposed dungeon and escaping too dangerous. Now, however, I didn't have that issue.

I finally had an actual plan of escape. First, I needed to ascertain something. "Hey, you said that you found these clothes on the 2nd floor."

"Yeah? What about it?" -the girl replied.

"What floor are we on now?"

"I think we are on the 5th floor."

"Alright," -I said, putting my hand on her shoulder. If I had a face, I would have a big smile on my face. "It's time for us to begin our great escape."

________________________________________________________________________________________________

We had gotten out of the room. I carried the girl on my back. I had the sword I picked up from the Little Devil in hand. All in all, I was ready.

The first thing I see is a hallway that leads to two branching paths, left and right. "Which way do we go?" -I asked the girl.

She looked at the left route for a little bit. She seemed to have had a mournful look on her face. I didn't want to pry, but that must have been where one of her friends died.

"Go through the right path." - she said.

"Alright," -I responded, readying myself. "Let's go."

I ran into the right path. Like I had hoped, even while running the clothes deafened the sound. I wouldn't have to worry about any Little Devils hearing my footsteps and ambushing me, so I analyzed the path as I was running. The pathway was made out of smooth stone, white marble. There were some cracks here and there and it was unkept, evident by the amount of dust piled up, but it was well made. Whoever made these ruins did a good job in designing them.

The pathways themselves were very intricate. They were made with a good chunk of branching into different pathways, it reminded me of a labyrinth, and not old ruins. The pathways looked the same to me, as they had no substantial difference I could tell. Had it not been for this girl telling me the directions, I probably would be stuck here wandering around.

As I went from pathway to pathway, I began to wonder what kind of place this really is. If these are ruins, what were the purpose of these labyrinth like pathways? Wouldn't they need an easier path to navigate? Were the pathways a way to trap any intruders? There were some doors I could see, but they seemed to be seperate rooms. Did they have something similar to me in them? Did they have something else? I did not know, but it didn't matter. All I wanted now was to get out of this place alive.

However, my rush would be cut short, as I came to a crossway. The way forward was a dead end, but I could go left and right. Three pathways to be exact at each side. I didn't want to backtrack, so the way I came from is no good either.

"Hm, do you know which way to go?" -I asked the girl. She began looking around.

"I... don't know" -She said, a frustrated look appearing on her face. I decided that a small break was needed. I took her off my back, and put her down on the floor.

"We'll take a short break. In the meantime, figure out which way we need to go." -I told her.

"Alright..." -She responded. She stood there continuing to look at the pathways. I walked over to the wall, and leaned my back against it. I took this moment to relax my mind, and look at something I noticed.

<Area Sense>

This skill appeared quickly, so I didn't have the time to look at it very well. Not to mention that I was preoccupied with how <Appraisal> worked and my strength, so I didn't check it then. Now that I have, let's see what we have here.

                                =================================================================

                                                                                               Skill:<Area Sense>

                                <This skill allows for the user to detect activity and creatures in a 10 meter radius>                                                                                                                              

                               ==================================================================

'Sense activity and creatures' huh? That is definitely something that will come in handy.

As I dismissed the appraised page, I noticed the kid wasn't where I left her. I looked around a bit, only to notice her leaning against the wall in the same way like me.

"What are you doing." -I asked her. She seemed to have been dozing off, since she jumped a little when I called out to her.

"I-uh, thought if I did this I would figure out the pathway better." -she responded.

"...I see."

We continued to stand there. The girl was focusing on the pathways. I had thought that this girl was weak and innocent, but it seems that even she can detect a serious time when needed.

"Hey, I think I figured it out-" -she said, but I put my hand over her mouth. The reason I did this, is because I could feel something coming close by coming our direction. Could this be <Area Sense>? The kid looked at me shocked, but there was no time, so I picked her up.

The pathway I could feel the presence was coming from the right side, middle one. Knowing this, I run into the pathway left to it, and hide behind the corner. "Why are we hiding?" -the kid whispered.

I continued to stay silent and waited for any sounds. I couldn't feel the presence that well, but I could tell it was getting closer. Lo and behold, footsteps could be heard, alongside the cackling laughter. I peeked out of the corner of the wall and I saw five Little Devils come out of the pathway. They were likely patrolling. Two of the five went into the right pathway on the left side of the room, two of the three left went into the pathway we came from. The last one was looking to go into the middle pathway, but it stopped. It started sniffing. It must have picked up the kid's smell I thought.

It came closer to us. I notioned to the girl to be silent, and I readied my sword. It got closer, and I waited until it got close enough. When it finally got into arm's reach, I jumped out of the pathway and swung my sword at the Devil. It uttered a shocked "Kek!", and tried to dodge, but it was too late. The sword made contact with the Devil's head and it-

*CRACK*

split it's head open, skull cracked. I knew my strength was overwhelming, but this is far more than what I expected. In fact, the sword was so rusty, I expected it to completely break, but it stayed intact. I looked around, hoping that the Devils didn't hear it. Seeing that they didn't, I can finally relax for a bit.

"...Can I say which pathway is the correct one now?" -the girl asked me.

"Alright, which one do you think it is?"

"Well, originally I thought that it would be one of the pathways on the left side, since I did come from that direction. But then I thought, what if that's the trick?" -she began explaining.

"And with the Little Devils coming from the right side..." -I added.

"The real pathway, should be the middle right!" -she pointed at said pathway.

"Nicely done." -I said, patting her on the head, before I put her on my back again. She had a pleasant smile on her face from what I could tell.

"Now then, let's head out." -I said, and began running again, into the middle pathway.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I was able to reach the stairs leading to the 4th floor with the help of the girl. We were able to confidently avoid any Little Devil we encountered. Entering the 4th floor was a success, but it didn't mean that we had succeeded in running away. I had continued to run.

The 4th floor was in some ways, the same as the 5th floor. It had branching pathways, and doors that leaded to other rooms. What was different however, were the walls were much cleaner. They had less cracks on them, and less dusty. I guess that comes with less stronger monsters I assume. Speaking of which, this was what alarmed me the most.

There were no monsters. No Little Devils, nothing. It was completely quiet and desolate. I had thought that I had entered into some kind of trap, but I didn't feel anything. It was bizarre. Not to mention that the atmosphere felt darker, contrasting the look of the walls.

"It sure is dreary compared to the 5th floor..."

"Yeah," -she replied. "The smell is bad too..." -she replied. The smell? I can't feel any smell due to my current body, so having her is a good way to get around that missing sense. Still, she didn't comment on the sense before, what could be hiding behind this smell?

I slow down a bit. Something doesn't seem right here. The atmosphere is completely different compared to before. My running slowly turns into a cautious walk. I don't like this situation.

As I was walking through the pathway, I notice the walls are dirty, covered with ash. I readied my sword, and continued on. I couldn't see the girl, but I could feel that she had been getting nervous. Just what is waiting for us?

The path ahead was leading to a corner. The walls, covered with ash, were completely black, in contrast to the white marble. I slowly walked over to it. I looked behind the corner of the pathway, only to find-

"Miss Aruha!" -the kid cried out loud as she got off of my back. The sight was mortifying, even to an outsider like me. There were five bodies, all burnt up, barely recognizable. The kid ran to one of the bodies, it was the only clothed one, meaning that the rest of the bodies were Little Devils. The one she called Aruha is the least burnt up, a bird it looked like to me. She did this with magic, I am guessing due to the robes. Still, the Little Devils had fire resistance, to be able to do this...

The kid continued to cry over the loss of her friend. The poor girl must have had a tinge of hope someone survived. I couldn't continue watching this.

"Come on, we have to go." -I said, putting my hand on her shoulder. She brushed it aside.

"We can't just leave her here!" -she said, her eyes changing from teary eyed to determined, as she stared at me.

"...And what do you want me to do about it?" -I replied. "I can't carry her body, it limits my movement and actions, and the scorched smell would give our position away."

She looked down on the ground as I talked. I get that to her, this is an important matter. But to me, the most important thing is getting out alive. I can't think about the dead and the living. 

"...What would you do if I hadn't woken you up?" -she said, still looking down at the ground. "Who would take care of you then? How would you find peace?"

"That's not fair..." -I tried to say.

"What's not fair is allowing others to suffer while allowing ourselves the right to comfort." -she said. She looked at the body of her friend. "They say that we stay trapped in our bodies after death if we don't find closure. That's why we need to bury her, or else she can't find peace!"

This girl put me in a bad spot. I know we have to move on, but that look on her face, that determination... It's making me think twice.

"Fine, I'll carry her," -I said. Her face lights up. "But you are going to have to carry this sword in your backpack."

"I will! Thank you!" -she says. I give her the sword and she puts it in the backpack. I look at the body. I make sure to carefully pick her up... Luckily there were no lasting burn marks. I settle her on my arm. I look at the scorched Little Devil bodies. Seeing them go in a pack makes them pretty viscious, but in these long hallways that aren't so wide, their numbers can easily collapse. Also, since my movement is limited, I need a way to stop them. To my regret, I pick up one of the Little Devils bodies.

"Alright, let's go." -I said. The girl climbed back on top of me. We continued our escape, not looking back.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The rest of the 4th floor was pretty much the same as before. Quiet, but now I think it's because the Little Devils went to the 5th floor to look for us. It was relatively tame beyond that. The girl had felt a bit better after encountering one of her fallen comrades. It seems in this world burying the dead is an important matter. One of the things I didn't expect was that alongside her telling me the routes to go, she became chatty.

"Hey, what's it like being an automaton?" -she asked.

"I don't know." -I answer.

"Oh c'mon, you're so big and strong and cool! You should feel at least something." -she said.

Yeah, if I could feel that is I thought. I should answer her with less sarcasm, however.

"I feel, convenient I guess." -I said.

"Aw, you're no fun." -she said. Despite not being able to see her, I could tell she was pouting. Luckily, I wouldn't have to go through this longer, as we finally reach the stairs to the 3rd floor.

"Alright, we've made it even further." -I said. The girl stayed silent however. I didn't ponder it much however, as I went up the stairs.

I wouldn't need to ponder it anyways, as the answer would come to me very quickly.

Before I even reached the top of the stairs, I saw blood. I cautiously moved just enough so I could peek my head out. In the pathway leading to these stairs on the 3rd floor, there was a bloodbath. At least six Little Devils dead, and two bodies which I didn't recognize. I moved up the stairs. I looked at the two bodies. One was a strong tiger, good armor and a sword, albeit broken. The other was a small mouse, her robes white, although they were stained with blood. Next to her was what looked to be a scepter.

"Mister Ashuran, Miss Nie..." -she said. I tried to move closer to them- before hearing a coarse breathing. It came from the tiger.

"S-Sam, is that you?" -The tiger named Ashuran said. Looking closely, he has multiple stab wounds across his chest, not to mention the cuts along his body.

"Mister Ashuran!" -the kid shouted. She got off of my back and ran next to the wounded tiger. "I'm here! I'm so glad to see you!"

"Hehe, I-I'm glad too. Are the rest ok-" -he was going to say, but he saw me holding Aruha. "I'm not here to harm you." -I assure him.

"I-It's fine, I didn't think so, anyway." -he said. "Are you the one who saved Sam?"

Sam... So that's her name. I sort of forgot to ask, but it's good to know.

"Yes, yes I am." -I said.

"T-That's good," -He stammers a bit. "I can relax knowing a good guy is with you, Sam."

He starts coughing violently.

"Mister Ashuran, you need to rest! Here, I'll patch you up! -Sam said.

"N-No need, Sam. Just leave me here and get out of here."

"No way! We won't leave you here, right?" -she said. They both looked at me, expecting an answer. Darn, yet again I am put into a tough situation. Then again...

"Right. Besides, if you've lived this far, you can get out of here."

I've gone far already, I might aswell try and save him. Sam's face brightened up. Ashuran had a confused look on his, but he brightened up again. She pulled out a pack of bandages from her backpack.

"This may hurt a bit, so be still, ok?" -she said.

"O-oof, alright, I will." -Ashuran grunted a bit.

I watched the kid bandage up the tiger. I was thoroughly impressed by how she took care of him. She is definitely not as clueless as I thought. After bandaging him up, the tiger was looking a lot better than before.

"Nicely done kiddo, I feel just like new!" -Ashuran said, as he got up, admittedly a bit slower as he was injured.

I went to pick up the little mouse girl...Nie, was it? I put her on the same arm Aruha was, so I could keep my movements as versatile as possible. Thankfully she was small, so it wasn't hard, although the entire prospect of carrying a dead body was hard for me to process.

"Alright, you two, hop on my back." -I said as I crouched down. Sam got on quickly, but Ashuran hesitated.

"Thank you but I'm perfectly fine just walking-" he started saying, but I had enough of waiting around here.

"You're in no shape to walk, and we need to get out of here quick," -I said. "Just hop on my back and let's get this over with."

The tiger sighed and did as I told. He clutched the cloak I wore. When they both were on my back, I started running yet again.

The 3rd floor was fairly similair to the 4th floor. The key difference however was the atmosphere, albeit quiet, was normal, and there were more cracks on the walls, even holes. Sam continued to tell me where to go, while Ashuran was relatively quiet. I could understand why, since he was fairly injured when we found him.

I continued to run through the pathways, until I heard something. I didn't know where it was coming from, but it sounded like rapid footsteps. I moved slowly, trying to get a better look at the situation.

"Where is this sound coming from?" -Ashuran asked.

"Don't know, but we have to be careful."

I continued to move carefully. I tried to assess where it was coming from, but came up short. It couldn't be from behind us or in front, my <Area Sense> would have picked it up. Which leaves only one option.

"The sounds are coming from the walls."

"Impossible, there is no way there would be tunnels inside the walls. That would be documented by the Guild!" -Ashuran said.

"There are many things impossible here, I doubt a tunnel being made by rats is one of them."

"I-I remember seeing holes in the wall, they were big enough for a Little Devil to go through. I think it's the walls too." -Sam said.

"That settles it then," -I say, as I stop right next to a larger crack in the wall. The sound I heard was gone. I turned my head slightly to see Sam. Her nose was twitching. I then immediately swing my right arm at the crack, making a large hole. What remained was a single Little Devil, completely crushed by my arm. "Got you."

"Woah! Where did that come from?" -Ashuran said, shocked.

"I noticed that the sound was coming from our right side, same side where a crack was. I just used that to my advantage and caught the Devil at the right moment."

"I see," -Ashuran said. "Although, seeing as they have tunnels in the walls and that there was only this one guy following us, I suggest hightailing it outta here!"

"Suggestion heard and realized." -I said. I run yet again.

Not soon after did we hear cackling, as the Little Devils started chasing us. There were now 30 Little Devils, all running along the walls and floor. They were far behind us, but given their speed, they will catch up quick.

"They're getting closer!" -Ashuran said.

"I know, but it's not like I can fight off all of them!"

"The traps! There was an arrow trap on this floor!" -Sam said.

"Where is it?"

"It should be just up ahead."

"Alright. Hold on tight." -I say, then I speed up more. The two are having a hard time staying on my back, but they'll have to endure, as the Little Devils are speeding up aswell.

They were feisty, in only a matter of seconds they closed their distance. I continued to run without looking back, knowing that If I stop for even a second, we are goners. The Devils surprised me however, as one of them immediately attacked when it was an arm's length away. Luckily, given my momentum, I simply kicked back the Devil, not quite killing it, but slowing them down slightly. They would have to be more careful while attacking me.

This chase continued for at least a minute. There were no branching pathways here, giving me less of an option of diverting the Devils attention. They were getting much closer than I would have wished for. If we were to get out of here alive, that trap would be our only way.

"How much further?" -I ask Sam.

"There!" -she said and pointed at a floor tile ahead. Finally!

I continue to run towards that tile. As soon as my foot connects with the tile, the tile reacts and lowers down. Parts of the walls and ceiling opened up, with small holes in the middle of them. Soon after arrows started to shoot out of them. I instinctively raised my arms to protect the two on my back, and tried to position myself so that the ceiling arrows don't hit the two on my back. The scorched Devil body proved useful, as it took in a lot of the arrows. My movement slowed down quite a bit by doing this, but I got what I wanted.

The Little Devils were completely stopped by this. Despite their speed, there were too many arrows coming from both the walls and ceiling. At least three or four of them moving on the walls died by the arrows. By the time I got out of the trap, the distance they closed was gone.

"Alright! That'll show 'em!" -Ashuran celebrated.

I continued to run until they were completely out of view. Shortly after, we found ourselves at the stairs to the 2nd floor.

The 2nd floor I didn't bother looking at too much. The tiger told me there were no traps on the 2nd and 1st floor, so I went full speed ahead. As I ran, the Little Devils were still nowhere to be seen, but I didn't let that stop me. We reached the stairs leading to the 1st floor.

After running up the stairs, I started hearing the Devils roaring and cackling again.

"They finally reached us, huh?" -Ashuran said.

"At least the trap delayed them long enough." -I reply.

I continued to run. About a minute of running, the Little Devils show up. Same as before, they got close to me. Before they could attack however, I threw the scorched Devil in my hand at them.

"Geh!" -the Little Devil which got hit by the body spat out. The Devils all fell over. That gave me some more needed distance.

"Nice idea on carrying the body" -Ashuran said.

"Since I can't carry a weapon while carrying you, might as well use a meat shield." -I replied.

"That's scary..." -Sam said. I didn't pay much mind to it.

We weren't quite able to lose them, but what was more important was what was up ahead. I could see light coming in.

"That's the entrance!" -Sam said excitedly.

That's right, the entrance was right in front of us. The Devils were closing in however. I had to make sure we escape safe and sound.

"Hey kid," -I ask Sam. "Hold on tight to Ashuran."

"Ok." -she replied, and did as I said. I could also feel Ashuran hold on to her.

"Alright, now what?" -asked Ashuran.

I didn't answer, and simply grabbed them with my free hand. Then, I threw them at the entrance.

"Kya!" -Sam screamed. The two were able to fall outside on the grass. By throwing them off of me, I became a little faster than before, and was able to get through the entrance. The Little Devils were not far behind, roughly 50 meters away from us.

"They're still following us?" -Ashuran said.

"They won't in a second." -I replied. The tiger looked at me confused as I set down the two bodies I held. I then set my sights on the roof of the entrance. And hit it with all my might.

*THUD*

The roof of the entrance stayed intact. The Little Devils were getting closer.

*THUD*

I hit it again. There were cracks now forming. The Little Devils were just outside of the entrance.

*THUD*

I hit it, with all of the strength I could muster. At the same time, three Little Devils jumped at me. But, as if luck has graced my feet, the roof started to collapse. The Little Devils were completely crushed under the rubble, and the entrance was blocked off. For a moment, I finally get to relax.

"Woah, that was so cool!"

"...Just what are you?"

...I sighed in myself as I would need to relax, another time