Dungeons Online

Chapter 162: Dealing with Cleo's sleep

"Marvin!" Tom shouted from the bottom of his lungs. Even though the soundwave would be slightly tampered by the gate separating the dungeon's corridors and the boss room, he still hoped that his voice would reach his friend. 

After all, he was supposed to wait with the rest of the group just at the edge of the range of Tom's voice. 

'I wonder if it will work,' Tom thought, casting a quick glance towards the exist before moving his eyes back at the girl in his arms. 

'Still, is she just exhausted? Did she run out of mana? Or what else could have happened?' Tom attempted to figure out the problem. 

After using her new ability just twice, Cleo collapsed and lost consciousness. Right now, her chest was moving up and down, proving that, at the very least, she was still alive. 

But that didn't mean anything. 

'Claudia is still alive as well,' Tom thought, biting his lips. He then reached out and pushed aside a stray bundle of hair from the girl's face, stopping it from clogging Cleo's nose. 

'Is she sleeping, or did she fall into a coma?' That was the one major question on Tom's mind. While the second option could potentially help him crack Claudia's problem as well, he wasn't ready to lose the other and last girl that he deeply cared for in his life. 

As opposed to Claudia's situation that only served to radicalize his choice of actions, Cleo's health was of far more importance to Tom. 

Contrary to Claudia, who Tom considered a sex friend and fellow adventurer, Cleo was the girl that he wouldn't mind spending the rest of his days with. 

'Still... If only she wakes up, we will have to push her to test this ability a lot more,' Tom thought, gritting his teeth. 

He hated the idea of pushing his dear friend as far as he considered to, but there was no other option. If she wanted to keep using this overpowered ability of hers, Cleo had to be ready for sacrifices necessary to unravel its mysteries. 

Was her exhaustion affected by the strength of her target? Was it a matter of levels? Would she be able to stop someone on her own level a lot more before collapsing? What would happen if she attempted to stop an enemy that far outclassed her, be it in terms of strength or just pure levels?

All those questions had to be answered before Tom would allow Cleo to freely use her newly found ability. 

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"Tom!" Marvin shouted, emerging from the barrier. Raising his head, Tom noticed the distressed expression on his friend's face, proving that he already noticed the state his sister was in. 

'Well, it would be strange if he didn't,' Tom thought, clenching his jaws. 'After all, she is currently unconscious and resting in my hands,' he thought. 

"Is she okay?!" Marvin shouted his question, falling to his knees and sliding the last few meters that he couldn't even be bothered to run through properly. 

"I have no idea," Tom replied, averting his eyes. Right now, he couldn't look his friend in the face. 

"You couldn't go any easier on her?!" Marvin shouted, his voice containing a mix of shock, awe, and anger. 

"Dude, are you serious?" Tom's eyes opened wide as he asked. "I'm not some kind of monster to do her like that!" he protested and shook his head. "We were just testing her new abilities. And let me tell you this," he said, taking a short pause and finally looking up at his friend's eyes. "Her abilities are too strong."

"Huh?" Marvin took a deep breath, unable to let it go for a long time. "What do you mean?" 

"Her first ability is something like an area of effect stun. Not only does it blinds you and then confuses the heck out of you, but it also leaves a smoke that not only covers a huge area but also induces the same confusion," Tom explained. 

"Trust me, whiffing it for a short moment made me feel as if I tanked a barrel of vodka and watered my throat down with a bag of drugs afterward," Tom said, shaking his head. "But it's the other ability  of hers that made Cleo like that."

"Wait, what?" Marvin protested, confused by Tom's words. "How could her own ability make her lose consciousness?" 

"It's just a guess, but I think it's exhaustion," Tom stated his belief. "As to whether the ability can only be used once per some time, whether it has to do something with the difference of our strength or levels..." Rather than finishing his words, Tom shook his shoulders. 

"She will wake up, will she?" Marvin asked, raising his eyes from his sister's face to Tom's head. 

"I do hope so," Tom replied, although there wasn't even a shred of confidence in his tone. After the mishap with Claudia, anything that even resembled that situation induced a bad feeling in his soul. 

"Is there anything we can do to help her?" Marvin asked, still unable to accept the situation as it is. 

"I have no idea, brother," Tom replied, his jaws slightly trembling from the pressure he put on them. "The one thing that's coming to my mind is to either just let her wake up on her own or feed her more stones," he said, casting a look to the empty bag in where they previously hold the dungeon's haul. 

"And we don't have any left, right?" Marvin guessed only to shake his head afterward. "Good. Then let's do this," he said, rising from his knees and turning towards the entrance to the boss room only to wave his hand. 

Following the gesture, Kira and Rufus entered the area. 

While the woman was pretty cautious with her every step, still not sure how to act around her captors, the kid in her arms was her exact opposite. 

Not minding his manners at all, he instantly caught the sight of the girl in Tom's arms. His eyes flashed up as his face reddened, telling everyone in the room just what kind of thoughts were going through his head. 

"We are going to the next floor," Marvin announced, perfectly aware that Tom was currently not in the right state of mind to take any action or make any decision. "We will remain right at the entrance while you will rush for the boss room. If we don't know if consuming stones will help her, then the best we can do is to try to find out," he said, offering Tom a hand. 

"Thanks," Tom muttered, using his friend's help before gently shaking the girl in his arms. "I guess you will have to carry her, then," he added.

"Sure thing," Marvin pushed his hands forward, only to accept the lifeless body of his sister a moment later. 

"I can help with that!" Rufus shouted, pushing his chest forward as if he wanted to appear bigger. "I'm pretty strong, you know?" he added. 

If not for the blush on his cheeks and fire in his eyes, Tom would for a moment believe that the kid actually wanted to help.

'This damned pervert,' he thought, coldly glancing at the kid. 

"You better shut your mouth," he said out loud, not sparing any mind for the kid's obvious schemes. "If you want to feel a girl up, then find one that will willingly let you do so. You are disgusting," he added, turning his back to the young kid and moving towards the gate. 

'Thank God this strange space warping doesn't work while transfering between floors,' Tom thought when he emerged at the entrance of the forty-second floor. 'With everything that I have on mind right now, I don't think I could pull myself through the experience,' he thought, taking a few steps forward and stopping. 

The rest of the group came to his side a moment later, appearing from thin air. At first, only the general shape of their bodies appeared, with colors and details coming to a view as if someone slid the bar of the image quality in Tom's brain. 

"We are here; you may go," Marvin said, fixing his hold over Cleo's body before stepping forward and laying her down on the floor. Rather than having her rest flat on the stone ground, he made sure to rest her back against the wall instead. 

"Right, I think it will be better if Kira takes care of her," Tom mentioned, already stretching his body for the rushed run of the floor. "Cleo is unconscious either way, so it's not like taking care of her would be a problem. On the other hand, if I miss some monsters while rushing ahead..." 

Tom didn't finish his sentence. He didn't have to. 

"I will take care of this," Marvin said, nodding his head. He perfectly understood what Tom meant with his unfinished words. 

"Great," Tom smiled before turning his head towards the depths of the dungeon's floor. "I'm off then!" he shouted.

'Haste,' he thought, activating his ace spell and darting forward.