Somnium Online

Homewards

Anne was exhausted. She simply remembered Eric catching her as she collapsed, and then she must have lost consciousness

She tried to get her bearings again. She was moving, or... no, she was being carried.

Eric was carrying her on his back. Okay, that seemed like something that he would do. So, where was she?

Right, the dungeon. She had used that big attack and then collapsed. Eric had then picked her up and carried her. That seemed reasonable.

Eric wasn't large or bulky, but he was surprisingly strong and he carried her like it was nothing.

Anne knew she should wake up and let him put her down, but it was surprisingly nice to be carried for once, so instead, she closed her eyes and went back to sleep.

She was, after all, exhausted.

Eric was worried. It had been hours, and Anne still hadn't woken up. For a minute he had thought he felt her stir, but it could have just been his imagination.

Every once in awhile they encountered a stray monster, but for the most part, they were left alone. Finally, Eric reached the staircase where they had set up their temporary camp.

He set Anne on her bedroll and waited. She would wake up eventually. He hoped.

After what felt like forever, Anne finally stirred. She grumbled and rolled over.

"Hey, are you finally up?" Eric asked.

"Ugh, what time is it?" Anne said sleepily.

"Time to get out of this cave," Eric replied.

They had been down in the dungeon for over a week. And while training kept him busy, Eric had to admit that he still missed the sunlight.

Anne slowly rubbed the sleep from her eyes and got to her feet. "You're right." She announced. "It's time to get back to the capital!"

"Hey, Eric" N butted in telepathically. "Look, I know you can't reply with her around, but just listen."

Anne started rambling about all the shops she wanted to visit. Eric was constantly amazed at how fast her personality shifted from terrifying to... almost cute?

"Ahem" N cleared his throat. "Hey, are you even listening to me?!"

Eric startled and nodded. Anne was still deep in her daydream.

"Alright Eric, listen closely. The new players have recently arrived. You need to get back to the capital. When you arrive be prepared to get busy." Eric nodded. "Anyway" N continued. "In the meantime enjoy your date"

Eric blushed "hey, wait, it's not a-" he stooped himself before Anne noticed anything was off.

Eric sighed and shook his head. Turning to Anne, "let's get going, I want to try something." He smiled.

After packing their remaining supplies, they walked the remaining distance to the surface. After his life or death training, none of the monsters on the upper levels were even a challenge for either of them, and they quickly made it back into the open air.

It was then that Eric got to test his theory. Setting down his pack, he focused intensely. He increased the air pressure beneath him and decreased the pressure above him. He felt his feet kick off the ground.

"Hey Eric, when did you learn levitation?" Anne asked, suspicious.

Eric lost control and accidentally sounds upside down. "Whoa!" He yelped. After landing, slightly more gracefully. "I just used wind again. If I can learn to fly with it, we can get back faster."