Chapter 7- Stuck together

After a quick scan of the area, Garett and Ashley determined that there was nothing of interest within the cell Ashley had spawned in.

"When I was spawned into this game, I didn't have any clothes. I stole these from a goblin, who I defeated. Did you spawn in with that gown on?"

Ashley looked down at herself and nodded, quietly. Garett wondered why he had only spawned in without clothes. Perhaps it was because he was a male, or perhaps because Ashley was a ghost. Either way, it was good that he found some before meeting Ashley- and it was definitely a good thing that she wasn't in the same starting situation as he was.

It would have been pretty awkward if he had run into her before facing that goblin- to say the least.

"Does your gown have any sort of equipment effects? The rags I am currently wearing give me a bonus to damage reduction."

Ashley pulled up her stat card by imagining it in her mind, and saw the following message.

[Equipment:]- Ghostly Gown- +1 Damage reduction, +1 Magic damage reduction.

Garett too saw this. It seemed as if now that they were in the same party, they were able to view the same message screen as each other.

The two quickly began to read through each others stats. Because they were both familiar with RPGs and gaming, they had no trouble quickly understanding each other's abilities.

"I'm sorry that I am sort of a useless class... I meant to pick to be a warrior, but this system seemed to disagree with me on that and automatically assigned me what I have."

Garett apologized to Ashley, who looked at his stat card.

Her eyes were filled with intrigue however.

"N-no, that isn't true... It seems like you unlocked some special abilities by choosing one of the lesser chosen classes, and as a result we might be able to become much stronger in the long run if we level you up significantly... speaking of which, is there a leveling system in this world?"

Ashley still spoke with a quiet and scratchy voice, but she seemed to be opening up to Garett ever since finding out that he knew about video games.

"When I defeated a goblin earlier, it told me that my experience was at 2/10. I would assume that we're both at level 1 right now, but the real question is- how far can we be leveled to? And how powerful are the enemies we might face within this world?"

Ashley began to think on these words, but she twisted her head and smiled creepily.

"We'll just have to kill more monsters to find out... hehe.."

Garett agreed, and was starting to become used to the bloodthirsty hidden personality that Ashley had.

The two walked down the hallway while discussing these things.

It could be the case that they were transported into a world where they could become ridiculously overpowered, or it could be the case that they were extremely weak in this world. Based on his first fight, Garett was concerned about the latter being the case.

Even so, now that he was with Ashley, he could somewhat be at ease. She was a mage who could deal high amounts of damage and even debuff the enemies. If they worked together, even though Garett was somewhat weakened, they were not a force to be taken lightly.

All of a sudden, while they were walking, the monotonous style of the walls ceased in a single location. Garett approached the wall with his torch of illusion, and held it close.

They came upon a wall with an alcove cut into it. Above the alcove, there was an engraving which read "Those who are greedy will be punished, while those who give freely will be rewarded."

Garett began to think about this riddle as he placed his hand to his chin.

"Could this mean that it wants us to place money here?", Ashley asked.

Forgetting about the gold he had found earlier, Garett responded.

"Perhaps, however I don't have any currency on me right now. Perhaps there is some other meaning..."

Garett tried to place some of the herbs into the space as offerings, however nothing happened.

As if anything would actually happen. What did he expect? Someone to come down and thank him for the meal?

"Whatever. I don't know why this is here, but there's no point thinking about it. We should be careful of traps up ahead though."

Ashley nodded, and Garett took back the herbs.

The two advanced, with the torch of illusion guiding them.

After just a few steps...

[You did not heed the warnings of the dungeon.]

[A wild slime (Lvl 1) has appeared!]

All of a sudden, as if it had teleported in front of them, without any prior notice, a thick blob of purple oozing liquid showed itself.

The liquid looked like a mucus, and it bubbled on the surface. It screamed 'poisonous' just by its appearance.

[What do you plan to do?]

Time stopped, as it did before, and Garett was asked this question.

Should we run? No. Where would they run to? It was obvious that until they made it out of this dungeon, the two of them would have to fight every monster they encountered. If they didn't, they would simply run back to a dead end and have nowhere to go and nothing to do but fight with their backs against the wall.

Garett relayed these thoughts to Ashley, and she agreed with a silent nod.

"Allow me to attack first...", she said quietly.

Garett agreed, and Ashley began to hold out her hands before casting a [Fireball]. The ball of flame raged at about a 5 cm diameter, contained within her hands. It flew off and hit the slime spot on.

[Rolling for intelligence. Minimum required: 4. Each point after will do 1 damage.]

[D5 rolled. roll: 4. Added 5 intelligence. Requirement has been subtracted. Damage output: 5. Taking natural resistance into account. Damage dealt: 4]

Wild Purple slime:(Lvl 1)  HP: [6/10]

Player: Ashley

Remaining AP: [3/5] Remaining MP: [14/17]

"Wow! That attack didn't do as much as I had hoped, but you have quite a large pool of MP! You could perform that spell quite a lot if we were able to survive for a few turns.", Garett praised.

Almost like a puppy who had received a treat, Ashley smiled almost sweetly. If there wasn't so much bloodthirst in her eyes, it would have been cute.

"Then, I'll attack once more..."

Once again, Ashley fired off a fireball.

[Roll: 1. Calculating Damage.]

Wild Purple Slime: (Lvl 1) HP: [5/10]

Player: Ashley

Remaining AP: [1/5] Remaining MP: [11/17]

The system then asked Garett a question.

[The player, Ashley, no longer has any possible moves. Would you like to end her turn?]

After confirming, Garett's turn began.

"I wont bother analyzing the enemy like I did last time. It merely wasted my time that I could have been attacking with. If I'm right, we don't want to allow this thing to take a turn."

The only useful thing Garett could do right now was attack.

He grabbed the club from his waist, and swung down at the slime. Bits of purple chunks flew about when the club bashed the slime, and the system began to calculate the damage.

[Blunt Damage reduction: 2]

[D5 Roll: 3]

[Strength 2+2 Attack Damage -2 Reduction +3 Roll]

[5 Damage dealt]

Wild Purple Slime: (Lvl 1) HP: [0/10]

However...

As he smashed the slime, its guts flew onto his rags, and some of it seared onto Garett's arm.

With a sizzle, the purple goo began to eat at his flesh. Garett cried out as he felt a boiling pain on his right hand.

"Agh!!"

[You have defeated Wild Purple Slime (Lvl 1)]

[Party XP: 6/10]

[Damage over time from acid effect has been immediately administered. Player: Garett remaining HP: 4/13]

To be administered damage over time, yet have it accelerated so that it happens all at once. It was nothing less than excruciating. It was as if you put off a doctor's visit while having an infection that needed attention, only to let it grow worse and worse until by the time you go see a doctor, its grown so bad that even touching it would cause intense pain.

However, the pain faded after an instant.

Garett's health wasn't doing so well though.

"Let me take the damage next time. I will stand up front.", Ashley offered.

Garett felt conflicted feelings at having the girl who he had decided to protect- and a mage class at that- standing up front and taking damage. However, he didn't have the health to disagree. Any more damage and he could die.

"Alright."

He was in great need of a healer.

"There are still 2 party members- most likely locked up in cells like we were. If we can find a healer, we can let that person handle the task. For now, we should try to avoid useless combat if we can.]

Ashley agreed, and the two moved on.

Garett's body was weak, and he found himself dragging his body along, but he pushed onward. There had to be a light at the end of the tunnel.

And with that, the system pulled up a message.

[Are you sure you wish to leave the area without looting the items?]

...

Sigh.

[Analyze]

Loot found. Acidic slime gel. Has poisonous properties. Can be stored in a bottle. Would you like to store it in your empty bottle? Can be used for crafting.]

Sure.

[Aquired 1 bottle of acidic gel. (10 mL)]

[5 gold found. Would you like to pick it up?]

"Ah shit!"

Garett said this out loud.

Why didn't he think of it earlier?

He should have placed the gold he found inside that alcove.

Ashley looked at him dumbfoundedly, and he explained the situation to her.

"Hmm... it looks like you're kind of an idiot, Garett.", she said softly, in an emotionless tone.

Garett didn't take any offense. She spoke the truth, and he paid the price for his mistake.

"However, I won't allow you to make any more mistakes like that in the future if you share information like your inventory with me.", she lectured.

Garett agreed, and the two both brought up their own inventory screens. After confirming the contents that each of them had, Garett decided to place the money in the alcove to see if something would happen.

Upon laying all 10 gold coins in the alcove, a message popped up.

[You have overcame your greed]

All of a sudden, the two heard a rumbling coming from a nearby wall.

A wall opened up to reveal a secret chamber within the dungeon.

Ashley scrambled over to take a look inside.

"Hey, hold up! We should be caref-"

Ashley smacked into an invisible wall, like a bird hitting a window.

[Please do not stray from the party leader]

[You are not permitted to perform an action without the party leader's consent]

Eh?

The wall she ran into was only 3 meters in front of Garett.

Did the wall stop Ashley from running off simply because Garett did not permit it?

Did he hold that power among the party?

Was there also a restriction that stopped her from leaving his side, or was it simply because he didn't allow her to do so?

Garett had to run an experiment.

"Ashley... I know this is dangerous, but I permit you to go and take a look in the secret room."

Ashley, who had slid down to the floor as if there was a window in front of her, got up once again, and this time, slowly walked forward.

Clunk.

Only to hit the invisible wall again.

[Please do not stray from the party leader]

The two looked at each other, with slightly worried faces.

They both understood the exact implications of this.

"Even though I had just accepted you as a comrade and a person who I have to protect... this is..."

"This is bad, Garett.", Ashley interrupted.

"It seems that were not allowed to leave each other's side. Ever."

----

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

Ashley and Garett had the exact same thoughts as they came to this realization.

They were truly and utterly stuck together, forever.

From one perspective, this could be viewed as almost romantic. A man and a woman, unable to leave each others sides, adventuring and becoming stronger together.

But that would only be the case if this were some sort of fantasy novel.

This wasn't a fantasy novel.

Even if Garett did pledge to protect Ashley, and to stay by her side, he didn't mean it like this. He was sure Ashley felt the same, after seeing her distraught face.

"Well... this... might not be so bad? Maybe? I'm sure we can figure things out if its just the two of us..."

Just the two of us...

...

Shit

Both of their eyes went wide as Garett said this, as they remembered back to the systems messages.

[1/3 Party members found]

There were still 2 more people.

Complete strangers.

"We have to avoid coming into contact with the other two party members at all costs.", Garett proclaimed.

It was dangerous to continue these adventures as a party of 2. They didn't have a healer. Garett was in a bad state. However, what was even more dangerous would be to be forced to work with strangers who had completely unknown personalities.

If these people were disagreeable, then this could create extreme problems in the long run. Especially so now that they would not be able to separate any more than 3 m from each other.

There was one more thing that Garett noticed that gave him a slight amount of peace, and that was...

[You are not permitted to perform an action without the party leader's consent]

This message.

Even if they followed the rules set by the 3 m limit, it seemed that the party members were not allowed to disobey him.

This could be seen as a great advantage, but with great power comes great responsibility.

In order to prevent his teammates from resenting him, he would not be able to freely exercise this right over them. He would only be allowed to use this in situations where there truly was a need to be cautious. Otherwise, he would be seen as a tyrant among the party.

Ashley agreed to Garett's statement.

It was simply too risky to be locked into this contract with random strangers. Ashley and Garett had just met each other, and didn't truly know or understand each other as people.

Just getting along between the two of them could be a challenge.

It was like when a boy and a girl go on a first date. At first, they would both be all proper and upright- minding their words and their posture, and taking care not to say anything to offend or disturb the other person.

However, once two people begin to live with each other, things change rapidly.

Their true selves are shown, and the skeletons in the closet come out.

"If you can't accept me at my worst, you don't deserve me at my best."

This was a saying that Garett despised, but it certainly fit into the situation he was in right now.

He had to be careful, and maintain a good relationship between him and Ashley. If they got into arguments frequently, then a lot of issues would arise.

Communication was the key to avoiding this.

Being able to discuss ones views, and communicate them to the other person clearly so that a calm and civil conversation could occur when making a decision, and so that an outcome can be reached that is agreed upon by both parties.

Garett's life, and Ashley's as well, had suddenly been thrown into a diplomatic scene where mistakes couldn't be tolerated.

With this, Garett was slightly concerned about the "hidden side" that Ashley seemed to sometimes show. Her hatred towards people, and her wish to avoid them at all costs.

Garett understood where it came from, having been betrayed and thrown to the dogs himself by Daniel.

"Ashley. I said this already, but I will say it once more, now that we know that we are stuck together for who knows how long. We will spend our lives doing what is the best for ourselves, and nobody else. Regardless of what happens, our well being comes first. Do you agree?"

Once more, Ashley softly smiled and nodded.

"Let's do this.", she said.

----

"Now then, I think that we should take a look inside that secret chamber. But don't rush in! Be careful. There might be more traps, and we can't afford to spring any more of them right now."

Ashley nodded as Garett used his [Analyze] Ability on the small room.

Inside there was a small stone altar, and above it a sign read [Gifts for the Generous]

It was obvious to both of them that the gifts were meant for those who decided not to be greedy, and to give up money to the alcove in the hallway.

Two items lay on the Altar. An apparatus that had a glass distillery, a boiler, and a test tube rack and potion stand, along with a Maroon hood. The hood was not tattered, but it was slightly dirty and certainly wasn't something that the average girl would consider putting on so readily.

But contrary to expectations, Ashley asked Garett nervously.

"Can I have that?", pointing to the hood.

Garett pondered for a moment, and used [Analyze] on both of the items before responding.

[Ragged hood of lower magic. Magic Damage +1]

[Alchemy Station. Can be used by craftsmen to create potions. Blueprints required for any given potion.]

Garett cursed on the inside at seeing this. He knew how to make a healing potion, and even had some materials to do so, but did not currently have a blueprint.

"You can have the hood", Garett told Ashley, as she happily put it on.

'This girl isn't average... she seems to not care at all about her appearance. I wonder why that is?', Garett thought.

[Player: Ashley has equipped the ragged hood of lower magic]

[Player Garett has stored the Alchemy Apparatus in his inventory. Skill unlocked: Potion Brewing]

With this, the two exited the room and continued down the hallway.

There was only 1 path to go, and Garett hoped and prayed that it wouldn't lead him to the other two party members.

Holding out the torch of illusion, the two trudged forth through the stone cold hallways of the dungeon.