Frostfire Legacy

Chapter 306 Regrouping

"Hmm..."

When Aster woke up, he was already outside, lying on the ground, and looking up at the clear, sunny sky of the dungeon. After raising his body, he realized that Kali was lying on top of him, as if he were a cushion or something, curled up with an expression warped in true fear.

Even without the small note beside them, telling him that Natalie knocked out Kali once more and dragged the two out of her shop, he would've guessed it sooner or later all on his own.

"Kali, wake up." Aster urged, gently slapping her cheeks. "We need to move. The time for regrouping is close."

"Ughhh..."

Shortly after, Kali began to stir. Her brain slowly came to life, starting to run at its usual sharpness. As if remembering what happened before, she quickly looked around warily but realized that they were already outside. She heaved a big sigh of relief shortly after.

*Creaaaak!*

Find your next read at empire

"...!"

But as soon as she heard the door's hinge creaking loudly, her entire body jumped up. "Leader, I'll go ahead and regroup with the others first!" She shouted an excuse before using all her speed to run away as fast as she could.

In just moments, Aster could no longer see Kali's figure.

"Was she that scared of horror stuff?" Aster muttered to himself.

He picked up the masks he and Kali took off while inside Natalie's place and wore one, hiding his face, before chasing after the poor, scaredy cat who forgot to do that same.

---Nôv(el)B\\jnn

A quarter past noon, Aster finally arrived at their meeting place—the entrance of Centuria. However, what awaited him there wasn't something he expected.

"Let go of me, you bitch! Ahhh!"

"Correct." But her response couldn't be more direct. "Actually, Magnee asked me to join your party. As such, I'm here to relay this information to you."

"...!"

Aster gasped, almost forgetting how to speak.

Even from a glance, Aster could tell how powerful Octavia was. Having her with them would be nothing short of an extreme boost to their strength! After a bit of consolidation, Aster nodded with a serious expression and added.

"It would be reassuring for us to have someone as powerful as you within our party. However, aren't you already past the 100th floor?" He added, worried and skeptical.

"Ah, that?" Octavia simply smiled, not taking any offense from Aster's doubt. "It's actually a stroke of luck. On the 180th floor, I found a treasure chest and claimed a special ticket, allowing me to join your party."

As she spoke, she pulled out a slip of paper from between her twin bulges—her "extra" pocket—making Aster stare respectfully. Without minding his gaze, Octavia passed the paper over to him, allowing him to identify its use.

"This is a... Dungeon Progress Reset Ticket?"

Aster read the words written on the paper but still found it suspicious. After all, there were no records of such an item existing in the past—a first of its kind.

'Could it be just like with Nefra, an irregular occurrence in the dungeon?'

Aster guessed... and he couldn't have been closer to the truth. However, there's nobody present who could confirm the accuracy of his guess.

"This ticket allowed me to reset my current floor to the last Safety Floor I visited, which is the 100th in my case~!" She continued to explain. "I got this around the time we first met at the guild, actually, and that's when I learned of you too!"

"That's... quite a coincidence, isn't it?" Aster chuckled awkwardly. "Almost as if some powerful being had a hand in orchestrating this..." Before adding in a small whisper.

"Anyway, since you're all on the 100th floor, although earlier than planned, I'll be joining your party!"

"..."

Aster could tell that he, or the girls, didn't have the right to say no to this—neither did they need to. Gaining a powerful ally is never bad, after all.