When Kratia and Prince had escaped the Archmage"s spatial magic and were barely able to recognize their situation, they realized that they were inside of a dungeon they"ve never been in before.
"What exactly is going on..."
"I don"t know either."
Kratia shook her head in response to Prince"s quivering voice. Of course, Kratia knew that Lee Shin Woo had activated the Bone Gate, but she had no intentions of explaining that to Prince. She wasn"t in the mood to anyway.
"That man... did he do this?"
"Nope. ...Since he tried to kill me."
"...What about my junior?"
"..."
"Hey, I asked what happened to my junior!?"
Kratia wanted to retort, "And how the h.e.l.l would I know?", but she held herself back. It seemed like Prince was worried about Lee Shin Woo as well, so she just gave her a small hint.
"He"s probably alright."
"How do you know that!?"
"Because it"s there."
Kratia said, and looked at Rem. Prince"s eyes went wide-open, as she hadn"t noticed Rem until now, and Rem reported mechnically.
[Master is safe.]
"Right?"
"H-How? No, it"s a relief that he"s alright..."
Prince was genuinely relieved. Kratia felt the same, but in a way, she felt a bit disappointed as well. The fact that Lee Shin Woo was able to safely escape from that situation meant that there was something that he hadn"t told her about.
"...But what"s important is that Shin Woo"s alright. Jin is probably ok too."
Lee Shin Woo never had to tell her everything. When she thought about it like that, she thought that she may have asked way too much of Lee Shin Woo before, or that she had improperly measured the distance between them. Perhaps that was inconvenient for him.
"Hoo..."
"He"s safe, so why do you look so down?"
"Relationships are harder to figure out than magic..."
"Where is this coming from!?"
Prince and Kratia had recovered from their initial shock from meeting the Archmage, and when they had managed to barely straighten themselves out, Lee Shin Woo and Jin entered the dungeon they were in.
They had realized this through Rem flapping its wings and flying towards Lee Shin Woo.
"You"re all alright."
[Master!]
"Yeah, it"s a relief that you"re safe as well."
"Junior!?"
"Shin Woo!"
Lee Shin Woo, who had reclaimed Rem, moved the Bone Gate that was in Rem"s inventory back into his own. In the process, he noticed the Bone Gate could now transport three people at a time.
As expected, absorbing bones allowed the temporary activation of the Bone Gate, but it also permanently strengthened it as well. When he thought about it like that, it really wasn"t any different from his other bone equipment.
"It"s actually a relief that I fed it so much..."
"Junior!"
"Because of that, I was able to save Prince as well," he muttered in satisfaction. Then, someone rushed over to him, which turned out to be Prince. Her eyes were br.i.m.m.i.n.g with tears.
"I"m so glad you"re alive. It"s such a relief! Huuuu..."
"Uh... I"m glad you"re safe too, Senior."
In Lee Shin Woo"s original plan, Prince wouldn"t have been saved, but it seemed like she believed that Lee Shin Woo had staked his life on saving her. It was a blow to his conscience, but right now, he needed to come out strong!
"You sent us over here, right? That consumable must"ve been really expensive! I thought you were a good guy before, but it turns out you really are!"
"Ha, haha..."
It seemed like Prince had come to the same conclusion as Feotane Von Seldin. Lee Shin Woo decided not to correct her misunderstanding and laughed with uncertainty. Though her face was a mess, Prince beamed. She was the type of person who cried with a runny nose when she was relieved and touched; he couldn"t say he hated that type of person.
"But it wasn"t free."
"Huh!?"
"I"ll collect on your life debt later. Isn"t that how it works?"
Lee Shin Woo said and grinned. Then, Prince, who had been grabbing onto his arm, loosened her grip on his hand, paled, and stepped back. It seemed like she was making an even larger misunderstanding.
"I-I told you I have someone I like."
"I know. Hahaha."
While Lee Shin Woo teased Prince to no end, Kratia quietly came over and held onto Lee Shin Woo. There was a lot she wanted to ask him, but right now...
"Shin Woo, I"m glad you"re alright."
"Yeah. Thanks, Kratia. Let"s talk later."
"...Ok."
"..."
On one side, there was Prince, and on the other, he was speaking with Kratia. Seeing that, Jin felt extremely uncomfortable.
Jin had died and revived with Lee Shin Woo, but he didn"t really want to be complimented for that. But as a result, Lee Shin Woo was surrounded by women and was being thanked by them, which p.i.s.sed him off!
But no matter how p.i.s.sed he was, or how much he much he sc.r.a.ped the ground with his feet, Lee Shin Woo wouldn"t understand how he was feeling.
"Your horse is ok too. You really are amazing to have escaped with your horse intact."
"You see, I have an escape skill. I received it from G.o.d"s garden."
"At this point, I have no idea how many skills you actually have."
Was it because she had been so terrified and was released from that fear? Prince had momentarily let go of her stubbornness and was genuinely in awe of him. Lee Shin Woo just smiled beamingly. If he was honest with her, she would faint.
For a while, he continued to chat with them, and now that everyone was safe and sound, he said.
"Then let"s split up now."
"..."
"Mm..."
It seemed obvious. They had coincidentally met Prince at the training facility, and now that they had somehow escaped that same facility, there was no reason for them to stay together anymore. However, Prince looked somewhat anxious at his sudden declaration.
"But that guy..."
"He shouldn"t be able to follow us anymore, even if he"s an Archmage who specializes in spatial magic. And if he does come for us, we wouldn"t be able to beat him, even if we were together."
"L-Let"s join up with Lloyd"s group first. You"re at our level now, so if we all travel together, then we have nothing to fear..."
"It wouldn"t be beneficial for our growth if too many heroes banded together. It"s unfortunate, but we should work together next time, Senior. There"ll definitely be a day when we work together again. Like when we face one of the 12 generals."
"Ugh..."
Prince looked as though she never wanted them to part. Well, he could definitely understand why she felt that way. They had barely come out of a situation where they could"ve died at any time, so anyone would feel that way.
However, Lee Shin Woo didn"t have the time to babysit a kid forever. Therefore, he should just flat out refuse and send her away.
"Oh right. A life debt. You said you would collect on my life debt!"
"I"ll collect on it later. If we meet again later."
"Tch!"
In the end, Prince realized that she wouldn"t be able to convince Lee Shin Woo, pouted, and stepped back. She dried her tears and blew her nose on the handkerchief.
"So you"re saying you won"t let me be a part of your group. It makes me feel cheap, so I"m going. I"m not going to play with you guys anymore."
"Brat."
"Let"s meet again someday, Senior. I hope you stay safe till then."
"...Hmph. Make sure you don"t die to idiots! And you too. Next time my magic will be much greater than yours!"
It seemed as though Prince was really p.i.s.sed, as she stomped the ground as she left the dungeon. Even until the end, she was cute. Once they could no longer see her, Jin kicked Lee Shin Woo with his front legs. It was quite the serious. .h.i.t.
"Hey, what"s wrong!?"
"It just p.i.s.sed me off seeing you flirt with a girl at such a crucial time."
"Wait, what? What did I do...!?"
"I agree with Jin."
"Like I said, what did I do?"
Lee Shin Woo was punished by Kratia and Jin for teasing Prince too much. He waited for them to calm down, then explained to Kratia how exactly they had survived.
In exchange for becoming a skeleton, he told her that he was able to revive himself a few times, and Kratia accepted it. She had forgotten because Bone Reinforcement was such a cheat skill, but being an undead was truly a huge penalty.
"It"s an ability that I can"t comprehend..."
"But I think I understand it a little better now."
"Hmm?"
Lee Shin Woo recollected the walking disaster, the Archmage Feotane Von Seldin. Of course, the Archmage"s overwhelming magic, his ability to control s.p.a.ce, or his ability to freeze s.p.a.ce left a lasting impression on him, but there was something he had paid special attention to...
"A Lich"s ability to extract their life force and store it in a safe place. Perhaps..."
Perhaps Invisible Heart was similar?
If it was, then he could understand how Invisible Heart fundamentally worked. However, that power was still beyond Lee Shin Woo"s grasp, but he was certain that that power was deeply linked with him.
It was as if Feotane Von Seldin"s body and container were connected by a powerful magic string!
"My priority should be to not die and keep increasing the maximum limit of Invisible Heart."
Not only did he not understand how a Lich resurrected itself, but he also didn"t know much about the Invisible Heart either. There was a chance that these skills weren"t even closely related at all, but even if they were, he had no guarantee that he would be able to use the skill as he wished.
But if he were to compare himself now with when he first started and couldn"t do anything, his current situation was much better. Humanity"s strength is being able to push themselves again and again, so long as their path is clear.
"Would I be able to help you?"
"I"d really appreciate it if you did. Now"s not the time though."
Lee Shin Woo patted Kratia"s shoulder, who spoke with limpid eyes. For some reason, he felt as though they had gotten even closer and he could trust her even more now.
Perhaps she was thankful that he"d used one of his lives to save her. To be honest, he"d increased the maximum level of Invisible Heart a few times now, so he still had more than 100 lives left!
"Then, shall we return to our base?"
"Ok. If we"re going to be doing anything, then I"d like to rest a little first."
Originally, he hadn"t planned on accompanying Kratia anymore, but he decided to return to his base with her. Even if he acted otherwise, they had faced off against one of the 12 generals who happened to be level 8, so they were all extremely tired.
They needed to rest, if for no other reason than to get to their next destination. Because he had used Invisible Heart, he only needed 10 more stats to get to level 7, so he would level up in a safe location and then act.
"Ah, and I also have to fix the artifact too."
"The artifact? ...You didn"t... Kyaa!"
Kratia hugged Lee Shin Woo excitedly, but Jin kicked her with his hind legs and sent her flying. Lee Shin Woo saw the two snarling at each other, and had no idea whether they had become friends or had become sworn enemies.