Friday, ten o’clock in the morning.
Fyar woke up from his bed with a wide yawn. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and stared at the brown wooden ceiling for a few moments in contemplation.
It’s already Friday. The dungeon is tomorrow, he thought. He got up from his bed, straightened the sheets, then walked toward the bathroom.
After his shower, Fyar prepared his equipment for training and counted his remaining money. One hundred and twenty-five gold coins. Was this the right amount, or is some of it missing? Fyar tried to recall his expenses over the past few days and concluded that some of his money was likely gone. Well, it’s probably only a few coins missing, right? Being angry or sad won’t change anything. Fate is fate, he grumbled internally, resigning himself to the loss of his gold.
Fyar then got dressed. Today, he wore a white shirt outfit that he had bought with Cyhas, layered with his long, black blazer coat. He went downstairs and greeted Laura, who seemed to be daydreaming.
"Good morning, my beautiful Laura," Fyar greeted her cheerfully.
Startled from her daydream, Laura turned her gaze to Fyar and let out a small laugh. "Grilled fish and a hot chocolate, Fyar?" she asked, already knowing his order.
After finishing his breakfast, Fyar hurried to the mountains to begin his training. There, he saw Zaefal already doing push-ups. he immediately made it routine..heh. Well I guess that’s effective for him. No wonder, Fyar thought, watching Zaefal.
"What time did you get here?" Fyar asked.
"Two hours earlier than you," Zaefal replied, continuing his push-ups.
Fyar then did his own warm-up, starting with some light workouts like push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, and running laps around the field.
After that was done, Fyar trained with Zaefal as usual, with a session of hand-to-hand sparring and practicing swordsmanship techniques. Zaefal asked to be taught some of the martial arts he had seen Fyar use, and Fyar, in turn, asked to be taught some of the martial arts from this world.
In the late afternoon, after the training was finished, they both rested by leaning against the trees, enjoying the cool evening breeze. Fyar turned his gaze to Zaefal and asked, "What about the method to restore my sealed power?" Fyar planned to tell Zaefal about his dream if the results were still nil. He was starting to get tired of the green-haired man visiting him in his dreams.
Zaefal shook his head. "No results."
Fyar was silent for a moment, thinking of what words would be plausible enough to tell Zaefal about his dream. After a few seconds of silence, Fyar said, "Do you know about the golden fruit from the southern dungeon?"
"The golden fruit from the Southern Dungeon?" Zaefal nodded. "Yes, I know of it. It’s a fruit that’s difficult to find and only exists in the southern dungeon. It sells for twenty gold coins a piece."
Twenty?! Fyar’s purple eyes sparkled upon hearing the price of the fruit.
Zaefal continued, "Why are you suddenly asking about that? Did you remember something?"
Fyar shook his head and replied, "No, it’s not that. I just had a dream. I dreamt that I would get my power back if I ate a golden fruit from the Southern Dungeon."
Zaefal’s pupils widened when he heard this. He immediately connected it to what the pink-haired woman had told him about giving Fyar magic. Could this be a clue? That woman said one of the future agreements was to give Fyar magic. Could this be a clue from her? Was she the one who sent the dream to Fyar? Zaefal placed a hand on his temple and considered the various possibilities.
After ten seconds of thought, Zaefal sighed and said, "Alright, tomorrow we’ll go to the Southern Dungeon. Even though it’s level fifteen, we should be able to handle it."
He believed me just like that?! Is he an idiot, or am I just that good and natural at lying? Well, I couldn’t exactly say that a weird-haired man visits me every night and tells me to go there. Fyar thought, once again feeling proud of his ability to lie. Besides, Fyar wasn’t entirely lying. He was honest about the clue on how to get his power. He was only lying about the source of the dream.
Fyar tilted his head and asked, "You believe me and agree that quickly?"
Zaefal nodded. "Yes, it could be a clue. Besides, even if it fails, Rasie and I can still manage to reach level thirty. Just consider it a bonus if your power really does return."
Fyar then sighed. "I see. But can we even enter a level fifteen dungeon? Don’t you need four people for a level ten? Plus the level difference is 50%."
Zaefal chuckled. "I’m level twenty-nine, Rasie is too. Illya, after training and leveling up with Rasie, I’m sure is already at level twenty, or twenty-three at the highest." Zaefal patted Fyar’s shoulder and added, "And you, who are considerably strong and can take down level fifteen bandits... well, what is there to worry about?"
"I see... alright then," Fyar replied.
Zaefal then picked up his sword and packed his belongings, saying, "Tonight, we’ll have dinner at the inn with Illya and Rasie while we discuss our respective roles in the dungeon tomorrow. After I’m done washing my sword, we’ll head back to the inn. Rasie and Illya will be waiting for us there."
Fyar nodded, picked up his own sword, and packed his belongings.