Klarion’s eyes opened to darkness. His head throbbed, a dull ache spreading through his skull as his senses began to return. At first, he wasn’t sure where he was. As his eyes adjusted, he started being able to make out his unfamiliar surroundings. The barest glimmer of a candle at his bedside cast long shadows across the room that came to rest against the walls. No windows, just a single door across from the bed he was lying in, and a neighboring bed on the other side of the room. All at once, the smells hit him. Smells he was well used to from his childhood back on Earth. Faint hints of something like antiseptic, though with something else overlaying it. Something herbal, maybe.
He struggled to piece together the events that had led to his arrival in what, he was assuming, was some version of a hospital room. He remembered the Dungeon — the Pit — and the frantic flight up the stairs with Hatsune. He remembered the last, desperate fight against the lizardmen. He remembered carrying the Leporine the rest of the way, her unconscious form limp and almost lifeless. He remembered a voice… some argument. The last thing he remembered was the night sky and a Sentinel mask.
They had made it out then.
Looking around the room now that his eyes adjusted, he was able to make out a bit more detail. Whitewashed walls stretched outward, their pristine surfaces practically shouting how they were regularly cleaned. The soft, polished wooden floor beneath his bed reflected the faint light of the candle beside his bed, a sharp departure from the grimy, uneven stone of The Pit.
He shifted under the sheets he had been covered with, surprised to find that he didn’t feel any pain or aches in his body, nor even the exhaustion he expected after having survived the Dungron. Instead, he felt what was almost a lightness of some sort, as if he had been treated… or, given the nature of the Academy, healed.
But where was Hatsune?
Klarion’s heart skipped a bit as his eyes immediately locked onto the other bed in the room with him, afraid to find it empty. He breathed out when he saw that the sheets weren’t flat from being made, but instead clumped around his Leporine bodyguard, her face laying across a pillow catching the light of a candle next to her bed. Hatsune was pale, her features softened in the dim light as she lay unconscious, just as she had been when he had carried her out of the Dungeon. But unlike back then, her face looked peaceful. She was dressed in a simple white robe, looking far different from the bloodied and battered she had been in the Dungeon. Her chest rose and fell with a steady rhythm, though he could also see that her hands were wrapped in soft bandages, more likely around her leg out of sight under the blanket.
Seeing she was alright, Klarion let out a frustrated grunt as he lay his head back on the pillow, staring up at the ceiling. A rush of guilt swept through him, sharper than the wounds he had taken back in the Pit. His mind churned with memories of how easily he had trusted Hector, how blindly he had followed him to the Dungeon. The signs had been there — the hints of unease, the manipulating words — but he had brushed them aside, clinging to the belief that Hector was becoming a friend. He remembered what the other scion had said, how Hector was only reluctantly acting against him in order to help his family. While a small part of Klarion was sympathetic, all he could see was Hatsune being kicked over the edge of the railing to fall into The Pit. No, Hatsune had paid the price for his failure to see through Hector’s lies.
The image in his mind shifted to the Leporine slumped against the Dungeon pillar, her lifeblood staining the stone. He had been too trusting, too blind. Everything that happened to her was his fault. His nails dug into his pals as he swallowed, the bitter taste of guilt and regret choking him. He made a vow to himself, that he would never again be that naive. What was that saying again? Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
The silence in the room felt oppressive as he pulled himself back together. He couldn’t let his emotions take hold. Not now. Hatsune needed him to be strong, to stay focused. He had gotten them out of the Dungeon, and they had survived. But he still had to make sure she was safe, that she was getting all the care she needed.
Klarion swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood shakily, testing his balance as the room seemed to sway for a moment. He took a few slow, deliberate steps toward Hatsune’s bed. Standing alongside her sleeping form, he looked down on her delicate face. Up close, he could see that there was a faint flush to her cheeks, a sign that whatever healing had been done was working. He reached out, gently brushing a lock of hair from her forehead, his fingers trembling slightly. Her skin was warm beneath his touch, but it wasn’t the feverish warmth he had half-feared that would be there.
The door to the room creaked open, drawing Klarion’s attention. Turning, he saw a tall woman sweep into the room, her presence immediately commanding yet oddly soothing. Ash-blonde hair was tightly coiled into a bun, not a single hair out of place. Fine laugh lines framed her dark eyes, giving her a look of experience and present, but restrained kindness. Much like her hair, her white uniform was pristine, trimmed with silver embroidery that denoted a rank of some sort. A small pin in the shape of a caduceus of all things was prominently displayed on her chest. The faint scent of lavender trailed her as she crossed the room to him.
“I’m surprised you’re awake, what with how exhausted you were getting out of the Dungeon,” she said softly, her voice gentle and soothing, much like one would expect a nurse to have. “You should really get some sleep. Don’t worry. You’re both safe now.”
Klarion had a good idea where they were, but he needed to ask to be sure. “Where are we?” He looked back down at Hatsune. “Is she… is she going to be alright?”
The nurse smiled, a hint of sympathy in her eyes. “You’re on the first-year non-emergency floor of the Infirmary of the Imperial Academy. A Sentinel found you both collapsed outside the entrance to the first-year Dungeon known as The Pit.” She looked down at Hatsune. “She especially was in rough shape when the Sentinel brought you both in, but the journeyman healer trainee that treated her set her quickly back to rights.”
“So why the bandages then?” If a healer had already seen her, Klarion would have expected no bandages to be needed.
“I did say she was in rough shape,” the nurse said, turning back to Klarion. “The trainee got most of the injuries but made the decision to wrap the remnants of the injuries overnight just to be safe. I’m just sorry we weren’t able to save the others.”If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“Others?” What did the nurse mean by that? He didn’t remember anyone else in the area when he had brought Hatsune out of the Dungeon, let alone anyone who was injured.
“Yes, your party,” she said sympathetically. “Another pair of Sentinels checked up to where the instancing effect of the Dungeon kicked in, but no one else was found. Given how long it has been, they likely died in the Dungeon. I am sorry.”
“Umm…it was just us,” he admitted quietly, glancing down at the sleeping Leporine. “Me and her.”
The nurse’s brow furrowed in disbelief. “Just the two of you?” she said after a moment, her tone shifting to one of concern. “You attempted The Pit with no team? No healer?”
“No, we…” Klarion trailed off. He thought quickly over what had happened, how a group of scions and their bodyguards had essentially forced the both of them into the Dungeon for the monsters down there to dispose of them. No, he couldn’t say anything about that. But he had to say something close to the truth. He continued, hoping she hadn’t picked up on the reason for the long pause, “…accidentally fell down the hole into the Dungeon.”
“You… accidentally fell in?” The nurse’s lips pressed into a thin line as she digested his words. “You were fortunate that you didn’t fall too far then, and that you turned back before going too deep…” She trailed off as she saw something in Klarion’s eyes as he shifted on his feet. “You didn’t turn back, did you?”
Klarion hesitated again, the weight of the truth pressing down on him. He could feel the words clawing at his throat, but he forced them down. He looked back at Hatsune in an attempt to buy an extra few moments to think about what he should say. While he did so, the nurse stepped closer.
“As a member of the Academy Infirmary,” she said slowly, “I am forbidden from sharing any information about my patients or their injuries without permission from the patients themselves, unless said information or their injuries pose an immediate threat to other students or staff. Now, please answer my question.”
“We actually fell a bit further than that,” Klarion admitted. “To the bottom floor of the Dungeon, actually. Practically outside the Boss’s room.”
“Descent configuration, then?”
“Yes,” Klarion confirmed the nurse’s guess on the configuration of the Dungeon. “Hatsune was hurt pretty bad after fighting against some of the monsters.” He let out a breath. “We decided attempting the Boss might represent the more likely path to survival.”
“Of course you did,” the nurse pressed a hand to her eyes. “Describe the Boss and its room to me.”
After Klarion went over a general description of the Boss and the room it was in, clarifying briefly how the chains behaved at the start of the fight, the nurse took a step back, her eyes wide as she absorbed the information.
“A Brute-type Boss in a hostile environment designed to hamper any attackers?” she murmured, half to herself. “Those are some of the most difficult configurations to face for first-years. Even older students with full teams might struggle in such a configuration.” She looked back at Klarion, her eyes searching his face. “And you… you managed it with just the two of you?”
Klarion leaned back slightly, uneasy under her scrutiny. “It wasn’t easy. We almost didn’t make it.”
The nurse shook her head, still struggling to comprehend what he was saying. “How? The Brute-types are notorious for their raw strength and resilience. How did you even bring it down?”
“We found some runes on the pillars near the start of the fight,” Klarion explained. “When we hit them, the chains shifted from attacking us to seizing the Boss, which was dragged back to its platform.”
The nurse’s expression grew more alarmed. “But immobilizing the Boss enrages it. How did you survive once it broke free at full strength?”
Klarion met her gaze evenly. “It didn’t get free.”
“It didn’t… get free?” she repeated slowly, her tone disbelieving.
“I killed it before it could break loose,” Klarion clarified.
The nurse’s hand went to her chest as though to steady herself. “No real damage before it was immobilized, and you killed it before it could break free,” she said softly. “That… that’s unheard of.”
Klarion shifted uncomfortably. “We didn’t have much choice.”
The nurse walked over to sit down heavily in the chair by Hatsune’s bedside, her face a mixture of amazement and disbelief. “And then the Dungeon deposited you outside, I assume,” she said, more a statement than a question.
Klarion shook his head, confused. “No? We had to fight our way back up and out.”
The nurse’s head snapped up, her expression now angry. “You…you fought your way out? Why in the name of the Seven Princes would you do that? Why didn’t you just wait for the Dungeon to send you out?”
Klarion froze, embarrassed. “The Dungeon does that?”
The nurse’s jaw dropped, and then her face turned a furious shade of red. “It does that?! Of course, it does that! Dungeons like The Pit that only have a single Boss automatically eject surviving delvers from the final room following a short period of time after the Boss has been defeated. It’s standard knowledge for anyone who’s ever paid attention to the most basic of Dungeon delving information!”
Klarion winced under her tirade. “I didn’t know,” he muttered.
“Didn’t know?!” The nurse’s voice rose another octave. Klarion noticed Hatsune’s ears curl slightly, but she stayed asleep. “What kind of scion are you? How could you not know something so fundamental?”
Klarion’s silence stretched uncomfortably, and the nurse’s anger gradually gave way to confusion. “Wait a moment,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “What is your class, anyway? Did you unlock one already, and that was how you managed to survive all of that?”
Klarion awkwardly shifted, trying to avoid eye contact. He could already guess how she was going to respond to what he was going to say. “I don’t… have a class yet.”
The nurse’s expression froze, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly open. For a long moment, she simply stared at him. “You don’t have a class yet?” she repeated slowly, as if the words were foreign to her.
“Not yet,” Klarion confirmed, feeling a wave of embarrassment rising. “I… haven’t even started looking yet, honestly.”
The nurse’s shock turned to outright disbelief. “You… don’t have a class,” she said again as if trying to make sense of it. “And you went into The Pit? Killed the Boss? Fought your way back out?”
Klarion nodded slowly, though her tone made it sound as if he had just claimed to perform healing miracles using a rubber chicken he found outside the infirmary.
She let out a long, slow breath, her hands trembling slightly as she pressed them to her knees. “I don’t know whether to call you a fool or a prodigy,” she said finally. “Probably both. But one thing’s for certain — unless you are leaving something out, you are reckless beyond belief.”
Klarion offered a faint, apologetic smile, refusing to add anything else. The other scions were a problem he wanted to spend some time thinking over himself, at least for now. “I’ll try to do better next time.”
The nurse groaned, rubbing her temples almost violently. “Next time? Don’t even think about it until you’ve taken proper steps to prepare yourself, and you have picked a class!” In a violent motion with one hand that Klarion had trouble tracking, the nurse made a clenching movement and the flames of both candles in the room abruptly went out. The only light in the room came from the hallway beyond the partially opened door.
“I think that’s all I can take for the night,” the nurse said standing, rubbing her face. “I would encourage you to get some sleep tonight. You have class in the morning.”
The nurse walked out, pulling the door closed behind her. Just before it shut, she spoke once more.
“And don’t worry about the Leporine,” she said, her voice back to its reassuring tone. “She will be well enough to go with you to class tomorrow. Good night.”