Arcana Mob

" A… Please don't kill me. This is just a misunderstanding… I'm not a bad person a…."

The woman figure raised her hand as she shrieked in horror.

It was strange to see someone else here, especially a weak woman like her here.

Yet, for some reason, when he saw this, Aurum couldn't see any trace of hostility at all from the woman, so he decided to sheathe his sword.

In moments like this, uncertainty was your greatest enemy. And if it was Cade with the advice of Lord Grigory he would definitely have struck the woman first before trying to find out what happened.

After all, wouldn't it be better to kill rather than be killed?

But Aurum was different from Cade.

After years of facing hatred and despising glare, he knew which one he could trust or not.

And this time, he put his bet on his instinct as he walked closer to the woman in the hood.

​ ​​"You are not supposed the be here, aren't you.. So why are you here?"

Aurum decided to ask the woman quite openly.

The woman opened her mouth for a while, about to respond. But quickly, she just shook her head. It seemed like there was something that held her back from answering.

"*Sigh* Well then, let me change my question. You are not gonna avoid my question again this time, right?"

The woman seemed to be a bit confused. She put her finger together timidly, but she still stood in front of Aurum as if waiting for his question.

Aurum shifted his gaze to the woman once again, scanning her all over.

Then.. a sigh came out of his mouth.

" *Sigh* I don't know whether I would regret this later.. You… are you familiar with this place?"

"Eh??"

….Anything could happen inside a dungeon.

Aurum knew this fact better than anyone here, actually.

During his childhood, he had been thrown into a Dungeon more than once to survive as it was an attempt to get him to awaken his potential.

And for someone to out of nowhere appear inside a Dungeon looking to be harmless, there's nothing good about it.

Yet he just couldn't brush the feeling that the one in front of him would not possess him any harm.

The woman's eyes widened. She looked at Aurum a few more times, asking whether she heard things wrong.

" You…"

" Haven't I made myself clear? How about you lead the way. After all, traveling alone in an unknown place would not be safe. And I still don't know how someone like you could survive in this place."

Aurum raised one of his eyes, looking a bit annoyed. But even though Aurum's words were crude, they basically meant" "Follow me, I will protect you."

The woman almost shrieks out of disbelief. Her whole life, it was the first time someone had treated her like this.

She at first only came here because she heard some commotion and thought that just like others that had come here before, Aurum would either try to kill her or chase her away.

A smile quickly crept on her face, before with glimmering eyes and cheerful face, she walked in front of Aurum and said:

" Then, follow me! I will be your guide here! By the way, it's not you. I have a name, and my name is Marie."

. . . . . . . .

Later that day…

With Marie as his guide, Aurum's plan could be said to be on the money. He got to explore the Dungeon much faster than anticipated, and along the way, he was able to kill some monsters.

They were looking for monsters that went alone, and as soon as they reached the perimeter of the monster's location, Aurum summoned his Arcane Card.

The Giant tusked board charged and held the monsters, while Aurum dealt the finishing blow.

The Giant tusked boar rank had been growing pretty nicely with all the battles here, and the newly captured Crab also raised a few ranks.

'Oh? Since when did the Giant Tusked Boar reach rank (III)? Did it consume some monster core along the way?'

Aurum's eyes opened wider.

It was common knowledge that from rank (II) and beyond, breaking through rank for an Arcane Card would require a few specific items. And to be able to break through to rank (III) by coincidence, Aurum didn't know whether he should laugh or cry.

Maybe it felt happy after his owner's interested gaze fell on it. The Giant tusked boar, who was only rank (II) a few hours prior, stood close to Aurum and let out a roar of 'Wuuong'. It was looking at Aurum with a face like 'praise me'

He grinned brightly.

"Alright, good job, you are a good boy. Then. Let's go!"

Just like before, Aurum and Marie continued the exploration.

Including the newly ranked-up Giant Tusked Boar, Aurum felt now he should have a chance to finish this Dungeon.

However…

' Would things really be going as he wanted?

In that case, who knows?

Dungeons were always unexpected, and except you knew the plot like Cade, there was nothing sure in this world. But that's not a reason for Aurum to return.

Still in the same Dungeon when the evening came, Aurum who was now traveling with Marie, decided to take a break.

Until now, they have met a few monsters along the way, but all of them were handled easily by Aurum, and now they were making good progress toward the colosseum.

Large chunks of meat were nicely sizzling on top of a campfire.

"Whaaa real roasted meat! It has been a long since I saw one."

"Would you like some?"

"Aigoo, thank you for your hospitality, but it's okay. After all, you are the main vanguard of our party, and you should prioritize yourself."

Not gonna argue with Marie, Aurum expertly sliced the meat that he had brought as supplies and put it on the plate before giving it to Marie.

" ??? "

" Just eat it.."

" Ah…"

Marie's face turned from shock into awkwardness before it eventually turned into a smile as she took the plate from Aurum's hand.

And while looking at Aurum, she murmured secretly.

" You.. why are you so different from the others??"