Bottomless Depths 3

'Scram! What's easy about this?'

Eddra continued to accelerate his way while the adrenaline helped him to avoid the attacks thrown by the adult baboon lizard that was chasing him.

All he wanted was to escape from the creature and nothing else that he lost his vision on the tracks he was taking. It happened fast, but to Eddra, he believed his perception in time had deceived him.

His eyes widen in shock as his foot stumbled upon a hidden ledge of a cliff. He could not notice this for his thoughts immediately ran wide and stopped from creating deliberate decisions.

Then a collision.

The cliff consisted of downright trees, matted of moss and rocks, his body collided with these. Smashing the branches on the way while the sliding through the slippery green moss made him hasten more, hopping from one rock to the other.

He could not control his whole body, however, he could at least lift his arms to protect his skull from breaking to thousands of pieces.

Eddra would constantly hear the shattering branches whenever he met with it along with his bones moving and cracking while his body was smashing through the rocks.

He was out of control. He splashed down the wet mosses and the dirt was stuck on his presently damp clothes.

In just a full minute, he fell in the utmost inconceivable speed. He remembered he was running on top of the cliff but now he was under the gap of the fallen broad tree trunk. He was surprised as well, that he could fit there.

Semiconscious, Eddra was too weak to even produce a grunt, and he also failed to move any muscle on his body. Damped and torn clothes, bleeding out, he could spot the scratches and some were deep wounds all over his body.

'[Exit Dungeon]...' he recited on his head.

The similar thin smoke boiled on the ground, swarming from his back with the shadow reaching and wrapping him up then pulling him beneath the surface, transferring him back to where he came from.

Breezy wind blew on his face, washing away the intense hotness of the place where he had come by. He had arrived at the far back of the base. He eyed the practice dummy that he had planted there.

'Ugh... It felt like the sun was still in the same position when I left...'

Ding!

[You have completed the Side Quest!]

[You have received 45 EXP!]

Despite his arm, pelvis and both of his ankles were broken, he was overjoyed he did not become a baboon lizard's dinner or any other creatures out there.

It was pure luck.

Speaking of luck, he was grateful to himself that he had increased his [Luck] before he entered the dungeon. Although he knew he was joking when he did that.

'Foreshadowing...' he managed to kid to himself soon before he gave up on the weight of his eyelids and blacked out.

...

"... Where did you...?"

Eddra managed to catch some words coming from the calm voice beside him. He refused to open his eyes and savored the cool feeling that was showering him from his chest, expanding to his shoulders and hips onto the very corner of his body.

A friar was currently healing him. He knew this because he was accustomed to the familiar sensation. Whenever the training was extremely exhausting or when he was severely beaten up by the short devil, he had to take a visit at the friar's tent and one would heal him.

"Bleeding... seen by the other soldiers... north, Friar Nun."

"What... attacked this man?"

"A boar...?"

"Are you playing jokes... me? A simple boar... you know?"

Eddra shrugged off the argument he was hearing. No one would understand him if he would tell the truth anyway so he simply shut himself and enjoyed the cool sensation wrapping him.

"This man... in three days. Tell..."

He could not hear a word further when he felt drowsy from the comfort and the coziness of the mattress he was laying.

'Damn. If I blacked out in the forest, I could've been dead meat,' he later commented before he defeatedly allowed the drowsy feeling to take him over.

...

The room gave off a loamy fragrance and a hint of a sweet smell, it was what woke him up from his slumber. Upon opening his eyes, closing, and opening it again, Eddra examined the cause of the odor surrounding the coolness feeling of the room.

Moving his head to the right, he saw a woman wearing a long white robe out of wool, almost sitting on the ground, digging on a pot filled with damp soil and placing a small looking pebble to the hole.

He watched her while she filled up the tiny pit until she noticed his eyes focused on what she was doing.

"Ah, you awake now. How is your body?" was her question as she patted the small lump of soil a few times.

Eddra lifted his torso to sit straight on the soft mattress then answered, "... I think I'm good." His wounds were no longer visible, it was as if he had regained a new skin on his body.

"You've got a huge bruise on your back, small bruises on your chest, scratches on almost every part of your body, and a broken rib, pelvis, arm, and ankles. Wow. You're a pretty tough one, I'll say."

"Er... Thanks?" He felt his ears warming up.

His comment caused her to root from her position and lock a glare on him. "Soldier, what did that to you? I want an honest answer, please."

"A boar. Dozens of them."

"You should have told me you were awake yesterday."

She looked away to Eddra and proceeded to bring a hand just an inch above the lump. Soon enough, her palm gave out small flashes then a green light shone. Just a second passed and a plant sprouted, popped on the lump on the pot.

"Does the Frair Nun has... nature as her attribute?"

Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen this woman once although he had been a regular client in the medic tent, two months after his recruitment and when he became a knight.

"Oh, that's new. I didn't know a soldier is knowledgable about those since they cannot be blessed with attributes."

The woman held her hand's position and continued to shower the sprout by her shimmering light on her palm.

'Because I'm not your typical soldier,' he commented in his mind.

"And to answer your question, yes. The god of nature has blessed me the element."

Below an inch to her palm, the shoot of a plant grew, sprung, and soon became a flower bud.

"... Great."

He locked his attention on the flower bud that was near at its blooming state, but sadly the woman did not take off the light on her palm. The friar nun then stood and walked her way to lessen their distance to each other.

"Let me examine the bruise behind your back. Please turn around," she ordered before wiping off the dirt on her hands on the cloth by the low table near the bed.

She raised his shirt and trailed her fingers on his skin. "You're all good. Although I informed your superiors that you had to take a rest for two days."

"It's fine. I can move. I can attend tomorrow."

"If you say so."

Ding!

[Daily Quest: Routine!

Swing the sword (0/500)

Hit the practice dummy (0/500)

Stamina run (0/10mi)

Push-ups (0/100)

Time Duration: 23:59:54

Reward(s): 100 EXP or (3) Stat Points

Warning: Failing the Quest will bring death to the User.]

'And I have to still do the routine...' he read the plate that popped before him.