Did I die yet?
Blood spilling from the corners of his mouth, Rowan flailed his arms with as much effort as he could to push himself up, breaking the surface.
Inhaling heaps of saltwater, he used Healing Magic to restore his body, idly swimming over to the shore.
His mouth had that strangely flavorful taste of ocean water, as he coughed it out onto the ground.
Soaking wet, his body heavy with the phantom of a forcibly removed pain, Rowan collapsed to the wet sand. Digging his fingers into the earth, trying to readjust his unsteady breaths, there was an unmistakable fear stewing over within him.
Fear.
With just one attack, he'd ended up nearly dying. Of course, with his restorative abilities, he ended up surviving. However, if that blow had instead been delivered to his head, his chances of survival were a plain zero.
As though drawn to pain for compensation, the idea of clawing at his arms as punishment for his foolishness did not seem like a bad one. But, of course, that was illogical, given the current situation.
With fear and trembling, Rowan looked at the monsters who had delivered the blows, as they inched closer and closer to him.
This is… just, the worst…
His hands on his knees, he pushed himself up, rising to his feet. Still unarmed, his ability to fight in close quarters combat was drastically reduced.
Oh, how little he had accomplished, even with his sword. Whether the weapon was enchanted or not was irrelevant—Rowan himself was a weak user, so his sword was weak. Because he lacked strength himself, anything he attempted would be easily made null.
Quite literally, his knees trembled. Even under the sunny day, the sudden submersion in water after being decked with bone-shattering force was enough to instill fear and cold into every inch of his body.
What do I do? I've got a bit of mana, I can afford to use it… Alright, then…!
Extending both arms, Rowan grit his teeth against the B rank monsters ahead. Collecting immense piles of mana within his palms, he steadied himself, and unleashed them forward.
Traveling their distance quickly, the waves of flame engulfed both monsters in a raging inferno. Rowan held steady in his attack, feeling the heat of his mana blanket even himself in a comforting crimson joy.
To which, the monsters protected themselves, taking refuge in their shells, layering their limbs and head within their natural armor which Rowan's fire had little effect against.
Swiftly cutting off the literal line of fire, Rowan gazed upon the distant monsters, who in their shells, began to spin like a hurricane, blowing sand around. As Rowan covered his face and eyes from the onslaught of sand, he felt his once-comfortable heat vanish, the great winds blowing away his fire.
Crud.
Fire Magic seemed to be of no use. His Ice Magic wasn't as tempered as his Fire Magic, and in the sunny climate, it would be even more difficult to use. And as for Water Magic… Well, that was simply embarrassing. He could create water, but unlike fire and ice, that cost a lot more mana than one would expect.
And even with his Ability, working on fumes was a terrible idea.
I'm unarmed, my armor might not even be enchanted, and all three of my combat magic sucks. Well, no. After all, I have precision, don't I?
Precision beats power. Or so it was said.
"Die!"
Winding his arm back and launching it as far as he could, Rowan used a maneuverable ball of fire to strike the turtle's head, even inside their shell. Creating an explosion on the inside, Rowan forced the turtle to stick its head out once more, the burning far more insidiously agonizing inside the tenderness of its shell.
Its head seemed to look around. Once it spotted Rowan, it returned to its shelled form. And, as done previously,
"Shit!"
Launching with immense speed that Rowan did not understand, the monster once more assailed him. This time, from a distance, he was able to react in the first place, leaping to the side with as much force as he could muster in his lower body.
—Yet, it was not enough.
An impact drove itself through his legs, and Rowan heard the sounds of his own breakage, spinning around violently before slamming down onto the beige sea of sand.
The small dusty cloud surrounded his body, as he laid helplessly on the ground. Driven to paralysis by the sharp, intensive pain flowing through his shins, he groaned. Coiling around him, it spread even further, all the while, that snapping sound echoed in his mind.
What an uncouth, detestable noise it had been.
He'd been broken so easily, and unlike before, he did not have the sound of his creaking bones drowned out by an impromptu baptism to serve as comfort.
And so, sitting in silence, the only sound that remained was not anything from the world. All of it stemmed from his head, which persistently haunted him.
Crunching, crunching, crunching.
The sensation of being tossed around by the impact.
Snapping, breaking, shattering.
He had made a grave error, and it had caused him immense pain. His weakness was something to spitefully curse with all his heart.
"Ghk…"
Patching himself back together, Rowan steadily climbed to his feet.
In his eyes, it could not be said that there was resolve. No determination, no grit. His stare was hollow. Yet he stood.
I want… I want someone to help me.
If I could reach out my hand, and if someone could take it… There is nothing that would make me happier.
Hearing his own heartbeat strike his eardrums repeatedly, Rowan once more raised his hands, avoidant of death.
With a face contorted by rage, he was disgusted by his thoughts.
"No, that's… I'm too weak. I don't want to rely on others, I want to be relied on by others! I want to make people happy, I want them to stop being in pain. That's why…"
His expression flaring up with anger, Rowan used a spell previously unknown to him. Taking into account the turtle's resistance to basic attacks, he changed course, and used magic to create a ring.
Or rather, a barrier.
"—That's why I don't want anyone to come to my rescue! The people that are truly in pain should be the ones helped the most!"
Surrounding the monster was a sphere of flame. Yet, rather than seemingly being pure fire, it was actually plasma, forming a "wall" of easily-breakable but ultimately fire-like magic.
Within this barrier, oxygen could not enter. Nor did fire explicitly attack the turtle, instead rising the temperature to incredible highs, attempting to dehydrate the creature to death.
But the turtle did as a turtle does.
It began to burrow into the ground, breaking apart the plasma from the sand that went flying from its massive feet shoving back hordes of sand.
Shit!
Utilizing a maneuverable Fireball, Rowan struck the creature's eye, blowing the weak organ apart and spewing blood into the sandy sea.
The pained turtle thrashed around. Moving, invariably, requires oxygen. And as Rowan forced Fire Magic to flood the contents of the domain, that oxygen was quickly burnt away.
And if it's my own magic…!!
Rowan leapt inside the domain, latching onto the turtle's giant head. Being thrashed around, he barely managed to resolve his grip, nearly flying off at several points.
Despite the innards of the barrier being incredibly hot, as the source of the mana, Rowan had a natural defense against it. Barely circling around to its front, Rowan got a good look at it from the front, spotting its open eye-socket.
I've got no choice!
Forming a ball of hot flame in his hand, Rowan jammed it through the large eye-socket of the turtle. And, with an explosive detonation,
…
"Hah… hah… hah…"
Breathing quite heavily, laying down on the sand, his face gazing upon the azure, cloudless sky, Rowan held a red gem in his palm.
His fingers laced around it, clutching it as though it were the most magnificently cut gem in all the lands.
A mana crystal. I can enchant something with this.
Sitting up inside the small crater the turtle had made from its burrowing, Rowan saw plenty of armor before picking up a metal, frog-looking helmet.
He swallowed them whole, including their armor… though, it looks like their bodies weren't dropped after its death.
Ah… I'm sorry you all got hurt.
Feeling his stomach churn, Rowan picked up a dagger, as it was the only weapon available. With a calm hand, he flipped it around, fidgeting with the blade as he re-entered the shade of the forest.
Those guys… Pleiades, I think they might've called themselves? They hurt these people, and for what? To lock me in here?
When I get out… I don't know if I'll try to hurt them or not. They were probably lying about the offer, but if it was all true, then… I don't know if I'll accept it.
Pushing those feelings out of his chest, Rowan steadily regained his mana, watching as the giant turtle remained on the beach.
With the forest's dense nature, they likely wouldn't fit inside. For that, Rowan was grateful.
Contrary to the beautiful scenery and warm atmosphere, his situation was anything but. After all, it was a general rule that dungeons carried anywhere from five to fifteen monsters, not including the Boss.
Since he only killed one, provided things were at a worst case scenario, he'd still have to deal with fourteen more.
And all I've got to counter that is this mana crystal, some shoddy armor, a pretty good helmet, and a knife.
But, even if it isn't much, I ought to reinforce the worst-case scenario.
Placing the red gem, which was as refined as even the most well-cut diamonds, against the helmet, he utilized yet another aspect of magic endowed to all human beings—enchantment.
Providing a narrowed enchantment of protection against blunt force trauma to the helmet, he protected his head, ensuring the scenario of being immediately knocked unconscious was less likely.
Hearing the crashing waves, and uncomfortable due to the sand, Rowan washed himself off with Water Magic instead of sea water, wishing to remain in the shade.
The longer I spend here, the worse things are. Either Hunters are dispatched, in which case those guys could be waiting to hurt them. Or they'll come in here and try to rescue me.
Just the thought of it made his heart ache.
That's just not right. It's just a big inconvenience.
"Alright!" He shouted, standing up and taking a deep, calm breath. With a smile and an energetic attitude, he boldly declared:
"I'll get this all over with soon!"