Frostfire Legacy

"Ugh..." Aster gently stirred himself awake before opening his eyes to discover a familiar white ceiling. "This is... the hospital?"

Slowly, he raised his body while looking around, but he felt a sharp pain across his chest. He grimaced before looking down, but he didn't see any injuries. His wounds, even his burns, had all healed already!

"... What happened?" Aster mused, a little confused.

He could remember running away with Cassy and Kali, but his memories were blurred after that. "Right! Cassy! Kali!" He shot up, about to leave the bed, right as the door to his room slid open.

"Hmm? Oh, you're awake." A familiar voice echoed.

Turning to see who it was, Aster found a dwarf near the door, walking toward him at a short but constant pace. "It's good that you're energetic, but your injuries just healed. The pain should linger for a few hours more, so just lie down and rest."

The dwarf man, Dr. Zellbrook, spoke slowly with a gentle voice while trying to push Aster back to bed.

However, he didn't obediently follow directions and, with a hint of panic, asked. "Doctor! What happened to my party? Cassandra and Kali, are they alright?!"

"Hmm. Relax first, young lad." Dr. Zell sighed as he pushed him back down forcefully.

"...!"

His strength surprised Aster, but it shouldn't have come as a surprise because Dr. Zell is at least Level 100! Unable to fight against the doctor's strength, he was forcefully returned to bed.

"Hmm. Don't worry, both of them are fine. Rather, it was you who had the worst injuries." He sighed. "You really have shitty luck, lad. To meet those serial kidnappers, then to get chased by the floor boss... Damn!

If that was me at your level, I'd probably just kick the bucket! Hahaha!"

Although the doctor was making it sound lighter, the event was actually quite large. "The Serial Kidnappers on the first floor got wiped out." This news spread quickly like wildfire, causing not only the adventurers scared of them to resume exploring but even the "higher-ups" of the said criminal group to start paying attention to Aster.

This, of course, alerted the police force. They deployed more personnel around, tightening their cordon over the entire city and making sure no criminals could roam freely.

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However, this is merely a stop-gap measure. Unless the police could enter the lower floors—which was impossible since the minimum floor clearing requirement before becoming police is the 300th floor—then there's no way they could catch the criminals straight from within the dungeon.

After all, it's impossible to revisit lower floors after you've already cleared them!

"So the two were safe then? Thank god..." Aster sighed, sinking his body into the soft pillow and bed.

"You should thank that rabbit girl later, alright? She's the one who carried you two out of the dungeon, after all." Dr. Zell smiled as he took out his usual checklist. "Well then, let me begin my job. Let's leave chatting for later."

"... Alright."

Aster began to answer his questions as truthfully as possible, mixing diagnoses for his medical condition and cross-checking what happened inside the dungeon.

"Hmmm... So as expected, your Legacy Level Magic Carved Seal reacted on itself and killed the Dire Wolf by freezing it into a giant ice block?" Dr. Zell echoed as if to confirm. "Your recount matches what the other two said, so I guess that's really what happened... Unless you all suffered something like group hypnosis, of course."

He just said it for the sake of it, of course, as any hypnosis-type skill or spell can only be unlocked by someone above level 50. Someone on the first floor couldn't have such a powerful, tightly managed, and monitored problematic skill.

"Hmm. Well, I guess that's it for now." Dr. Zellbrook stood up, folding his holo-tablet, before walking to the door. "I'll be coming later to check on the healing progress. You should rest and sleep..."

As he opened the door, however, he looked surprised, before a teasing smile crossed his face. "Hmm. But it looks like you can't rest just yet. You have visitors."

"Star!"

"Aster!"

Two figures bolted into the room, slipping past the doctor. One had orange hair, while the other had silvery white. Of course, it was none other than Cassy and Kali!

"You're fine, right?! Is there nothing wrong with your memory? Do you recognize me?!"

"..."

While Cassy moved to his side, clasping his left hand with both her hands, Kali stopped a few steps away. Her face was a little indescribable but mostly had a color of guilt drawn all over it.

"Of course, I remember you. And I'm fine, Cassy." Aster smiled. "Rather, I heard it was you who took us all out of the dungeon. I should be thanking you instead. I wasn't heavy, was I?"

Hearing Aster have the energy to joke around, Cassy wiped the tears threatening to fall from the corner of her eyes and laughed. "Ha ha, you were heavy; I'll tell you that!"

Seeing that she was trying to return to her usual cheerful mood, Aster then turned to the other one, Kali, who hadn't spoken a single word after she entered.

"Kali?" Aster asked, curious. "What's wrong?"

"I... To the two of you, I'm really sorry."

Without any explanation, she bowed her head down as she apologized. She looked like she was in so much pain, but not because she was reluctant to offer an apology. "If not for me rushing off by myself, none of this would've happened. Please forgive me."

"Huh?"

"Kali..."

Cassy and Aster turned to her with quizzical gazes. The two then looked at each other, smiling, before replying.

"Then, if you're really sorry, you should treat us to dinner one of these days!" Cassy exclaimed.

"Right. And it's not your fault anyway." Aster clarified. "We decided to help you without relying on proper authorities. As such, you're not at fault at all. The kidnappers? They're on the first floor, so we're bound to cross paths anyway."

"Right, right!"

"You two..." Kali sniffed, holding back her desire to cry. "But I'm not treating you, stupid rabbit."

"Hey! This is the part where we amicably laugh together, you know?!"

"Hahaha."

The three, returning to their usual attitudes, spent the rest of the afternoon chatting about stuff regarding the dungeon. The atmosphere around them was peaceful, as if they hadn't experienced life-and-death battles just a few hours before.

Kali was opening up, slowly but surely, to the two.