"Uni." Confirming that the rest of them had left, KiRA called out his partner and the little bird used her skill to calm the girl down.
-Oooooooong!
The warm light that enveloped her not only rejuvenated her body, it cleared her mind as well.
"Hmm?" Chiika did not understand what was happening but all of a sudden, the person that she was seeing in a dark light now looked like a simple person to her.
He was still the same person, but as if to have changed a persona, he seemed like a completely different being.
Also, the small bird that he had called out…
"Wow…"
She had not seen anything so pretty until now.
The small creature with white body and golden feathers, eyes that seemed so pure that even the noble gases would shy away from them, and in her eyes, energies that made her look so attractive that she could not put her feelings into words.
Just looking at the creature with such special Mana surrounding her made her heart falter. She didn't know what to feel right now…
"Can you help me a little? Here, wear them." KiRA handed a pair of protective gloves to her and asked her to move the dead bodies of the beasts with her.
Chiika was stunned for a moment, unsure of what to feel right now, but she didn't think twice when KiRA asked her to do something.
She instinctively took the gloves and stood up from her place.
"Don't worry. I'm not going to harm you or anything. There's no need to be afraid either." He reassured her with his warm voice, a voice that melted all her fear and anxiety.
All of this made the situation even stranger for her.
She thought he was some kind of hidden monster of the tower. She had not played the game but she knew from her teammates that there were all kinds of hidden monsters in the tower.
If you were to come across one, death would be a better option. And from the whole situation, she thought this was the same scenario as well.
She didn't want to die, but if she was going to suffer through unimaginable pain, she knew it would be easier to just give up.
But, he stopped her.
And now that she was helping him with piling up the creatures, she could tell he was no hidden monster or being.
He was also a player. A very, very powerful one.
"How did you end up with that bunch, Chiika? It doesn't seem like you knew them that well." KiRA asked her while walking away from the open area.
He didn't ask her to follow her, but she still did.
"We met outside, Mister." She didn't know how to address this person.
He most certainly wasn't some merchant. And, it seemed like he had intentionally separated her from those people.
"I was looking for a party and they looked like the strongest party. The captain, however he may be, was pretty strong. Or at least… that's what I had thought."
She was walking behind him and he was going into the place where the Mana density was higher.
Chiika knew there were powerful monsters ahead. But, KiRA already seemed to be aware of it.
"Viv~."
He would send his bird to where the creatures were with a bunch of his golden strings and with a complex technique, he would kill all the powerful monsters that she didn't even consider facing.
Those monsters were beyond their current levels. However, to this person, a few of these creatures seemed nothing like a child's play.
"Once they knew about my skill, they took care of the monsters on their own. I thought they would protect me if I-."
"That's human nature, Chiika." He interrupted her as soon as he finished his hunting.
He wanted her to help him this time as well, so the two of them picked up the bodies of the new prey and brought them back to where they had piled the previous bodies.
"Your skill level is still low so you mistake one nature of energy with another. Once you understand the colors and patterns you see around you, you will know which Mana-type to use for different kinds of spells."
"...?"
She had not told anyone about how she sees the world. Even her teammates only knew she had a special skill.
"How did you know?" This was the first time someone had brought up anything about her skill.
And the thing he just said confused her even more.
"Who… are you, mister?" She believed the person already knew about her skill.
When she came to her senses, she also knew he had played the whole act just to get her away from that party.
She was divested when the party she believed in blamed her for everything and threw her under the bus. She could not forgive any of them for what they did to her.
If she ever came across them, she knew she would punish them. However, before that, she looked at the strange 'merchant' with a curious look.
"You will know one day, haha. Don't stress the little things." He smiled at her genuinely, and asked her to place the next batch of the hunted beasts in a different position.
"Insted, tell me something else." He walked towards a different path. This time, one with even more dangerous monsters.
"Do you want to go to the center of the floor? Is there something you need?" He asked nonchalantly. But his question froze the girl once again.
"..." She looked at KiRA once again, this time, with uncertainty.
She knew he knew a lot about her, but going to the center was something even she had only ever thought about.
'Should I really trust him?'
She did not know what to do in that situation. However, she believed she could trust this person for some reason.
"Yes…" There was no logic behind it. Her heart just wanted him to know about her wish as well.
"I've heard that there's a big flower field at the center of this floor where all kinds of magical herbs grow." Her eyes gleamed with hope when she told him this.
"Some say there are herbs that can cure all kinds of illnesses." KiRA stopped listening after that point.
He got the answer that he needed.
She was after the herbs that alchemists used for potions.
Perhaps there was some family member that was ill, perhaps terminally.
She was young and with the tower's appearance and everything, she must have thought she could cure that person if she got to the center of this floor.
'So cliche.'
Chiika did not say much about why she wanted to go there but the gist was the same. There was someone she wanted to help, but even if she got to the center, KiRA knew she would only face disappointment.
Still… for the skill, he needed to do this.
"We are almost done here." He had finished piling up the bodies of six different kinds of creatures from the area, all with powerful Mana presence.
Chiika could see how strong all those creatures were when they were away from this place, but as soon as they brought their bodies here, all that presence and Mana around them disappeared.
"Why is this happening?" She had many questions, but KiRA did not answer any of them.
Instead, he simply stood back and lit all six piles of corpses ablaze.
"You will know the answer soon as well." Simply standing back, KiRA watched the bodies of the creature burning like a matchstick.
The speed at which they were burning was stunning. Chiika could noy understand how organic bodies were burning so quickly.
Something strange was happening. She did not understand what it was at first, but once all six of the piles had turned into black ashes, she had her answer.
-Ooooooooooooong!
A strange gate opened where the wall of this area used to be, a gate that had opened at the very center of the place.
"Good. Let's go, Chiika." KiRA did not wait any longer once the door-less gate had manifested in its anchor location.
This was one of the hidden pieces of the 1st floor, something that aside from him and a rare few others, perhaps only this young girl would ever know about.
"W-where are we even going, mister?!" She ran behind him, not knowing the answer to the question.
"Well…"
As he had said earlier though, "To the center of the floor, of course," they were going to His drop-point.
The place that Was filled with flowers and magical herbs from all across the tower.