*Drip*

 

Something dripped beyond Red’s darkness.

 

*Drip*

*Splash*

 

It was not the kind of kind of sound that lava could make. The viscosity was too low. Red could almost visualize it. Her body couldn’t move yet. Sensation hadn’t returned either.

 

*Drip*

*Scuttering*

*Splash*

*Panting*

 

But she could hear something hovering above her.

Is that Rockie? Were they always that small? No… I don’t think that’s Rockie at all. Move body. Move! This… has gotta be a monster, right!?

“One more mana potion and I think I can do it. I can’t believe someone really went down here.”

What…? Who is this!? A PERSON!? It’s a girl!? Am I still dreaming? Wait… I can feel something warm enveloping my body!

Excitement coursed through her veins. To think that a person was here! If only she could open her eyes to see just who this person was!

“[Cleanse], [Cure Disease], [Prolonged Restoration], [Minor Healing]. Haaaaaah. So tiring. Phew… I’m all dry on mana potions now.”

An empty potion bottle rolled deeper into the cavern as sensation in Red’s fingertips returned. Judging from the temperature she was neither in the depths of the cavern nor beside the lava pools.

She was back in the regular caverns again, which confused her. Did this person manage to bring them out?

Wait, no time to think about that! This is a person! A real girl! Open your eyes Red! Someone with a voice just as brilliant as yours is speaking to you and you’re just going to lay there and sleep!?

Red was fired up not even a minute into regaining her consciousness. Sensation spread from her fingertips up to her shoulders, and soon, her eyes fluttered open to reveal a pale, blurry figure.

“Oh! Are you waking up now miss?” The person above her spoke with an angelic voice. Through the pale blur Red was able to make out a pair of blue eyes.

“Don’t push yourself too hard. You had a lot of injuries when I found you on the back of a boulder. Imagine my shock when I found out that boulder could move –!?”

“HUMAAAAAAAAN!”

“E-EH!?”

Before the girl knew it, and even before Red’s eyesight properly adjusted, she threw herself up to embrace the first human being since becoming one herself. They tumbled and rolled around the cold cavern floors, dirtying their apparel before finally landing in a shallow pool with a great splash.

“Waaaaaah!? What’s wrong with you all of a sudden!?”

“My first and very own human!” Red straddled the waist of the girl who was at least in her early twenties, if not was twenty on the dot. “I can’t believe it! I really can’t believe I’ve found a human after going through this hell!”

Her youthful appearance made her seem younger but compared to Red she was like a mature adult. This was also reinforced by her healthy development in the chest and hips area.

The hat that hid the woman’s hair was carried away by the water, revealing her splendid white hair that matched the color of her flawless skin.

Much of her body was covered by a huge, draping, pale robe which was tightened around her waist with a belt carrying various liquids and a syringe. An alchemist immediately came to Red’s mind as she beamed down at the girl with a vibrant grin.

“Hey! You are human too, right!?”

“Huh!? I-I am? I mean, I am!” The girl was nearly dragged down to Red’s level of intelligence as she corrected herself, although an imaginary question mark appeared over her head as she wondered why this strange, red-haired girl asked such a question.

“Hehehe~! Finaaaaaally! You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this day! Another person~ Another person~” Red was beyond elated.

The girl imagined dog ears and a wildly wagging tail on the young girl that sat on top of her.

“Another person? Hold on… have you been here for long?” The girl looked up at her empathetically, raising a hand to pat the head of this poor child.

“Mhm. Ever since I was born!”

The girl could only imagine how lonely Red must’ve been down here all alone. To think that such a young child had been abandoned in these caverns.

“You poor thing! It’s ok now! You must’ve been so lonely down here –!”

“Which was about… a few days, I think?”

“… huh?”

The whiplash caused her mind to scramble. Something shattered inside of her too, like her expectations were just betrayed.

“You heard me right! I was born a few days ago! Wooow! You look just like that healing thing that helped us! Could it be that you’re a Corrupted that turned into a human too!?” Red’s face grew increasingly closer to hers with each spoken word as sparkles shone in her eyes.

The white-haired girl could only wryly smile in response.

“T-Too? Corrupted turning into people? Oh no…” The girl suddenly placed a hand onto Red’s forehead as if she had figured out something. “Could it be that you have mental damage? H-Healers of my level can’t do anything about it, sorry. Well… it’s not like Healers can heal the mind in the first place.”

Red eventually hopped off the woman’s waist, but not without making strange noises such as: “Hehehe.” Or, “Human~” After indulging in her childish thoughts, Red lend out a hand to help the girl up.

“Mental damage?” Red tilted her head innocently as the self-proclaimed Healer took her hand. “Is that different from ATT and MAG ATT?”

“Wait, you’re a Blessed too!?”

“I didn’t even sneeze but thank you!”

“No, I mean –!”

Red brought her up onto her feet like it was nothing. It surprised the Healer immensely. She was not heavy by any means, but for a girl like Red – who looked like she was in her mid-teens – was impressive to say the least.

Red monopolized her hand. The simple gesture brought her to smile brightly again. One could only imagine why something so small was seen as everything in the eyes of this red-haired girl.

A warm hand plopped onto Red’s head. It gently brushed against her short hair, patting down the stray cowlicks as pale particles left her body, as did the filth. They were still drenched, but at least they were clean now thanks to the Healer’s powers.

“You don’t like it?”

“B-Brush me more! So this is how it felt for my Rock Bugs.”

“At this rate it feels like I’m patting you rather than brushing you. Never mind that – You said Rock Bug? So that thing really did save you…”

The Healer was at a loss for words. It also seemed that the reason why she was not in the molten chamber was because Rockie had carried her out of there.

“Why, is that not normal? Are Rock Bugs actually evil?” Red spouted out whatever came to mind, her imaginary tail wagging furiously.

“No, nothing like that. How do I put it… Rock Bugs don’t normally do anything. They’re not even supposed to be in this section of the caverns.” The Healer laughed before her face darkened slightly as if gripped by fear. “… Can I ask you something?”

“Yes!?”

“Are you really human?”

“As human as can be!”

Red answered immediately to clear any further suspicion. She stared into the Healer’s eyes with absolute conviction as the Healer ultimately sighed.

“… Pwaaaaah~ Good. I thought I was healing a monster all this time. I wouldn’t even be able to fight back if you were. You gotta be careful too since you’re a Blessed! We can’t tell if something like us or a Corrupted because we can’t check each other’s stats.”

Does that mean I can’t check hers?

Red tried viewing the Healer’s status, and to her surprise –

 

 

– She was able to view this person’s stats regardless of this fact.

Furthermore, the Healer’s stats were abysmal. They were so utterly low that Red had to wonder just how she was able to reach this place.

But before she asked, she wanted to know what happened to Rockie. The Healer also didn’t seem to know as she turned around, only to find that Rockie wasn’t even in the same chamber at all.

“… I bet they’ll come back. Or rather, let’s go looking for them! I can’t believe I’m alive after all that!” Red celebrated, slapping her chest only to wince. The dampness of her apparel had made the slap excruciating.

It made the Healer giggle to herself. She covered her mouth as if embarrassed, and she swiftly apologized when Red tilted her head again.

“S-Sorry. You’re a really funny person. Ahem. Snow. Please call me Snow.” Snow – the Healer – offered her hand to Red again.

“Why?” Red questioned why she wanted to be called snow, instantly the Healer’s mind to scramble.

“Eh? Because that’s my name.”

“Uhuh. Snow because you have white hair, huh? Isn’t that weird?”

The Healer’s face darkened as she began twiddling her fingers.

“I-Is it really that weird?”

“Compared to mine it is!” Red proudly placed both hands on her hips before pounding on her chest this time.

“Surely it’s not Red because of your hair and eyes, haha. No one in their right mind would call themselves –!?”

Suddenly, her hand was clasped by both of Red’s as her crimson eyes sparkled like stars.

“SNOW! Are you perhaps…”

“P-Perhaps?” The Healer gulped uneasily.

“A GENIUS!?”

“… I-I’m sorry?”

“Red. My name’s Red. Of course it’s Red! Like how you’re Snow because of your white hair!”

Red beamed, her voice echoing thoroughly throughout the caverns as the Healer clasped her hands together as if in prayer.

“Dear mother in the celestial heavens, please give me strength to help this one out.” She uttered beneath her breath.

If only she knew what she just who she knew whose fate she had gotten entangled with…

“Now onward to find Rockie! Show me the way miss Snow Healer ma’am lady!”

“Just Snow. Snow is just fine.” The Healer relented, but despite this, she couldn’t help but to find Red’s personality endearing.

 

* * *

 

< Stranger >

Person

< Snow | Lvl: 25 >

 

< Companion >

< Rockie Grey | Lvl : 20 >

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