Chapter 15_Getting back on task

Monday evening took too long to come around. It was impossible for Tomiko to think about anything else. Despite not knowing Chimon very well, and not knowing his friend at all, their recovery became her top priority. It was something only she could do.

She tried not to take too much pride in it, being needed. But it did bring her a sense of joy. It was enough for the other problems she was facing to disappear for a while. She knew they would come back up eventually, but it didn't matter.

She could help right a wrong.

To someone she had wronged.

Someone who deserved to be helped

It was raining that evening. Not great weather to run in, but perfect for a dive.

Tomiko found herself thinking about Chimon as the rain came down during class.

The poor guy.

Just as she had feared. Chimon hadn't left his spot for the weather. Opting to only close the lid to keep dry. She noticed for the first time the dumpster was subtly, yet unprofessionally modified at the edges and lid to keep the elements out.

It was still no way to live.

Tomiko approached the bin with her umbrella.

She knocked on the dumpster with her hand.

“Hey” She called out, but with a much kinder tone than she was used to using. “I’m ready when you are.”

She figured tChimon would know the result of her information search from the fact she had come back. On her mind was also the concern of possibly revealing too much of what she knew. She would rather continue the adventure without having to confront him with why she wanted to help.

Because she didn't fully understand herself.

They were emotions she was afraid to explore.

“Give me a moment! I gotta cover some stuff up before I open the lid.” Chimon called out from inside the metal container.

Tomiko could hear a frantic rustling of plastic.

“Um… take your time.” Tomiko said back.

After about two minutes the lid of the dumpster flew open and chimon quickly leapt out. He just as quickly turned around to fully close the lid behind him to prevent as much water from getting in as possible. He checked the outside of the bid around the edges before turning to face Tomiko.

“Thanks for waiting,” He said with a smile. “I’m ready now.”

As he stood there, the rain poured down on his not water resistant jacket. He was already drenched before he even closed the lid. Yet he still stood there, smiling like Tomiko being there was worth celebrating.

“Right. Let's get going then.” Tomiko said as she moved toward the portal. She didn't want to make him wait in the rain any longer than needed.

They both entered the portal.

Tomiko was back where she had last been before leaving the alternate world. It seemed as though Chimon was still able to record their status even before she forcefully logged out. She was impressed by his reaction time and ability to think under pressure. Although, looking back it seemed like he was always good at doing that sort of thing.

“Which way we heading, helmsman?” Tomiko said.

She never used titles or pet names before, but something about her new learned knowledge seemed to make it appropriate.

“Gah! Right! Northward heading, hard left to continue out of this gorge.” Chimon replied, responding with a sailor to a captain-like tone.

He was playing off of Tomiko’s ribbing, but just as respectful as he always approached interactions.

Tomiko jogged in the direction Chimon had described. From below, she couldn't even see the tops of the mountains she had been climbing just the other day. It felt a bit fitting. She shouldn't be concerning herself with what had happened. She needed to move forward.

When they made it out of the gorge, in front of them was a large, craggy clearing. In the middle of the clearing was a tall mountain that seemed to be a volcano. Seemed, because the way it was spewing lava was quite strange. A bright orange liquid streamed its way down the top of the mountain. It was doing so in a way that resembled more of a science lab protect than how an actual volcano would behave on such a large scale. Even from so far away, Tomiko could see giant bubbles forming in the lava and bursting like it was some material other than liquified rock.

About halfway to the mountain, Tomiko could see a cave entrance near the base.

“That is where our dungeon lies.” Chimon said as he whipped his bubble around to face Tomiko.

His smile was much brighter than any of the other expressions the bubble had displayed. It looked more… greatful.

Tomiko just walked past, not wanting to get into emotions. She knew what her aim was, and she was going to accomplish it as soon as possible.

Moments after entering the cave Tomiko could tell the temperature was significantly higher. It was similar to how she felt in the desert.

“Hey, are we good on water?” Said Tomiko.

“I double checked before entering. We have about a week's worth.”

Four days more than she needed. Tomiko planned to get to the target in one day.

She was determined.

There were many powerful enemies in the area, and with many difficult gimmicks. There were lava golems who when hit would damage the attacking weapon, so they had to be struck from afar. There were bats coated with stone so they needed to be struck on a specific spot, which was of course difficult as their flapping bobbed them up and down. And just as Chimon had described, there were lizard monsters unaffected by physical damage, but it wasn't a problem since they had given Tomiko’s sword magical properties.

The cave had no natural lighting except when they got to areas where it was lit from the light of the lava. Real lava probably wouldn't light up a whole room like a lamp, but this wasn't exactly real lava.

Tomiko was concerned about taking heat damage but Chimon reminded her she still had the ring on to prevent such conditions. She thought about taking it off, but if something happened to her, Chimon could just pull her tag from the portal to eject her from the dimension.

Tomiko looked down at the ring. Her head got clouded with emotions she couldn't express. Not that she wanted to say any of her feelings out loud.

“I’m sorry for causing a scene, and making you worry. It was really uncool how I handled this.” Chimon said, feeling Tomiko was hung up on something.

But why was he apologizing? Chimon did nothing wrong. And yet, Tomiko couldn't find the words to say what she felt. What she thought about him.

She just kept going.

After hours of exploring, they came upon a room full of eerily familiar creatures. They were round, bulbous even. They were a very light shade of blue, and floated along the ceiling of the cavern with a thin two foot tail behind them. There were twenty of them. And they all looked like Chimon’s bubble. But they had no faces.

Tomiko felt sick.

It was like a joke in poor taste in a horror movie, when you see a corrupted form of a friendly creature. One that you spent the whole film establishing as a good guy, only to have a twist ending of it being evil all along.

Tomiko’s mind raced. She opened her mouth and was about to scream.

“Shhh” Chimon softly hushed, out of sight behind Tomiko. “They can’t see you, any loud noises and they will all come this way. You should be able to take each out in one hit if one comes close.”

Chimon was able to say what Tomiko needed to hear to get her head back where it needed to be. She slowly moved for the other door into the room.

As she walked into the next room, Tomiko put all of her willpower into not curling into a ball. When the door closed behind her, she felt safe enough to speak.

“What were those?” Tomiko asked, keeping her voice low and failing to keep it from shaking.

“My theory is that those are the closest this world has to intelligent life as it exists in our world. But honestly I don’t know. It’s really just the lie I keep telling myself to keep me from thinking about it.” Chimon replied.

“That doesn't make any sense.”

“Well, not all the worlds have human equivalents.” Chimon made an attempt to explain.

“But like, I look human.”

“The body you are using right now is not alive though. Think of it as a doll that can only move because it is using magic from whatever creature I’m playing as. That’s most likely why you can’t feel pain.”

That was a lot to accept all at once, but one thing stuck out to Tomiko the most.

“Wait, so does that mean you're putting magic in me? Like, even right now?” She asked.

“Um. Yes. I-is that a problem.” Chimon replied. The face on his bubble looked concerned.

“N-no. Just a little weird.”

Tomiko was very creeped out by this revelation. She essentially had an IV drip who was a highschool boy. A younger version of herself may have quit then and there, but more was at stake than her ego.

Following the strange encounter that made Tomiko once again question her life decisions, they entered a large room with very high ceilings. It was a bit odd, having a different masonry pattern from the rest of the dungeon so far. Tomiko found something else strange. Thinking back, she realized this was the only location in the entire world to include functioning doors. The room also seemed to have intentionally dug out holes for lava to flow through to naturally light the entire room evenly. Perhaps Chimon was on to something with those creatures having some form of intelligence.

“Get ready Tomiko. This room has a mid-boss. It's going to be tough since we are a bit under-leveled, but let's give it our best.” Chimon coached from behind.

Tomiko gave a knowing nod, and proceeded further into the room.

About six steps in, a door on the opposite end they entered opened. In came a large rock creature. It stood two stories tall and had vein-like strips of lava flowing around it.

Attached to the monster at the back of the neck was a bubble.

This psyched Tomiko out as it approached, but she regained her composure before it could strike.

The smash was clearly telegraphed, so Tomiko was more than ready to side step out of the way.

Before it could pull back its arm, Tomiko struck it with her sword. It didn't appear to do much damage.

“Two percent sustained.” Chimon said.

Only two percent for a hit? Did that mean she was going to need to hit this thing fifty times?

“Uh, is there a better way to fight this thing?” Tomiko said as the monster finished pulling back its arm.

“Its lava veins are weak points. Striking there would triple the damage of a hit, but it’s pretty risky since it's deceptively quick up close. If anything I recommend blasting it with a few beams of water.” Chimon said back.

“Can you load up a water tome then?” Tomiko said as she circled the enemy to be harder to hit.

“I can, but I haven’t optimized you for magic use, since you seemed to hate it so much. It might just be better to stick to mid range so it doesn’t start lobbing its own projectiles it can fire.

“If using a tome will get this done faster, then that’s what we’re going to do!” Tomiko shouted as she dodged another fist.

“Okay, If you think you can manage it. Water Tome level six at the ready!” Chimon said.

Tomiko, without dropping a beat, swapped weapons and quickly blasted the hand with a round of water magic before it could pull away. It shook its hand as it pulled back, seeming to try to get the water off. Most of it evaporated off quickly, so it didn't seem to need to.

“Four percent sustained!” Chimon called out.

Not much better, but Tomiko was dedicated to doing this quickly. She didn't want to waste any time now knowing what was on the line.

“That glint in its eye means it’s about to fire a volley of fire blasts. Take evasive maneuvers.” Chimon coached.

Tomiko wasn't sure what on the creature's body Chimon was assigning as ‘eyes’, but she took the cue and kept light on her feet to be ready for consecutive dodges.

Just as Chimon described, the monster held up its massive arm, and began blasting lava orbs from its open palms.

Tomiko managed to dodge out of the way of six blasts, but the seventh managed to hit her non-dominant arm. The impact swung her around but she rotated back to dodge four more orbs.

“That hit did eighty percent, I don't think we will ever be able to take more than one hit from this thing.” Chimon reported.

That made the fight incredibly difficult. There was no way Tomiko could dodge enough hits for the amount of time needed to deal enough damage herself. However, Tomiko was determined. Failure wasn't an option in her mind.

She blasted the giant with water a few times herself while it seemed to recover from firing its lava. Then it lifted its arm again to fire.

Tomiko tried a new method of dodging, but something unexpected happened.

The shot hit Chimons bubble. And it popped.

This was the first time Chimon was hit before Tomiko, especially since only a few enemies could actually deal magic damage.

Tomiko fell to the ground as soon as she heard the pop. She couldn't turn her head to see what happened, but she already knew.

She had miscalculated and put Chimon in a vulnerable position. It was something she should have known better than to do. She got sloppy thinking about the big picture. She forgot about that important detail.

As Tomiko laid on the ground, she experienced something she could only describe as asphyxiation. Whatever was keeping her alive was missing and she was slowly growing more limp.

Finally, she burst into smoke, just like other times she had died in this world.

It was a much better death than what was granted to her in the other portal she dived in, but it was still disappointing.

As she drifted back to the real world, all she could think about was questioning what she could do better.

Chimon was already in the alley. Normally it was the other way around. It made sense because he technically died first.

It was still raining, but Chimon didn't seem to be any less happy. He did have something he wanted to say first.

“We got pretty far today. We should call it here and do some leveling tomorrow” Chimon said.

Tomiko was taken aback.

“What! No! We need to rescue him today!”

Chimon giggled to himself. Tomiko couldn't see what was so funny.

“I appreciate your enthusiasm, but we need time to rest up and try again. I’ll try to think of the best place to grind for our level, as well as if there is a better equipment set up.”

“But… your friend…” Tomiko trailed off, not knowing fully what she wanted to say.

Chimon smiled back again.

“They’ve been waiting this long, a few more days will be fine. I already appreciate all you are going through to help. Oh and here.”

Chimon pulled out a few bills and presented them to Tomiko. They were already wet from being in his pocket, so having fully exposed to the rain didn't seem to make a difference.

“No, I can’t accept this anymore.” Tomiko said as Chimon outstretched his arm underneath her umbrella.

Of all the times she felt weird taking his money, this was the worst. She couldn't take from Chimon knowing everything he was going through.

Chimon seemed to hesitate a bit, pulling back the money a little. But then he stiffened his arm with conviction.

“You are doing me a great service, one that no one else has. It would be disrespectful to your client not to take what you have earned.”

“If we can’t even beat this mid-boss, how are we supposed to beat the boss?” Said Tomiko, feeling very frustrated with herself.

“We don’t have to beat the final boss of the area. My friend is in a side room not too far from where we are. This really is the last challenge we need to face.” Chimon replied

Tomiko felt like his calm and composed demeanor was a front, but she didn't have the nerve to argue with him. If this was what he claimed he wanted, then it wasn't her place to convince him otherwise. She could always pay him back when he wasn't feeling so stubborn.

Or maybe he didn't like being pitied. It wasn't something she expected from Chimon, but it was an emotion Tomiko was very used to feeling.

Rejecting kindness when it is what you need.

Was that really something she was doing?

She thought about it as she went home.