Chapter 8

Her elegant voice was in stark contrast to the completely alien language that reached my ears.

Regardless of whether I understood or not, she continued muttering to herself.

“□□ □□□ □□□ □□□□. □□□ Mikel □ □□□□ □□□ □□ □□?”

‘Wh- Mikel-sama!?’

Though it was an incomprehensible string of sounds, I could clearly make out the word “Mikel.”

‘Ah… Mikel-sama, is that you again…? I worship you…’

This was yet another moment where my life was saved by Lord Mikel.

Shouldn’t the name of this ability be changed from [Mikel’s Cheer] to [Mikel’s Favor]?

Isn’t this divine love a little much?

“□□ Prostia. □ Shia Kalt □ □□□□.”

‘Hmm? Is she introducing herself…?’

Though the unintelligible sounds continued, I recognized the name Prostia of the Ice Dragon that I’d seen in the status window, along with the place name Shia Kalt.

It seems that Prostia, the Ice Dragon, is the ruler of the Shia Kalt Great Dungeon.

Clearly, this was an introduction.

She must be about to take me in.

‘Of course! You are my butler, are you not!?’

To become the companion animal… rather, the companion plant of the dungeon’s ruler would be an aspiration for anyone in this world.

Don’t people always say they’d like to be reborn as a wealthy household’s cat in the next life?

“□ □□ □ □□.”

She spoke with a look of determination in her eyes.

It’s so predictable.

‘Yes! Butler-sama! Please take good care of me!’

That was when it happened.

Her pale finger encircled my stem.

Could she be about to pull me up like this?

‘Eh? Eh? Just a moment!’

Naturally, my words were not heard.

A flower like me couldn’t possibly speak.

“□□ □□□ □□.”

Prostia continued in a soft voice, a smile gracing her face.

The gesture was as natural as moving a potted plant.

‘Aaaah! It hurts!’

The instant she gently pulled, a piercing pain shot through my entire body.

My roots, buried deep in the earth, clutched tightly to resist.

‘□…?’

Her expression slighted turned to one of confusion.

She pulled again, this time with a bit more force.

『 「Pain Tolerance LV1」 skill acquired. 』

‘Aaaah! Butler-sama! No! Master-sama!!!’

Butler and cat?

The future of Master and slave that suddenly flashed through my mind was utterly unacceptable.

The performance of the newly emerged skill was pitiable indeed.

Her strikingly surprised white eyes glimmered.

“□… □□ □□□□.”

This time, she mumbled with a serious expression.

Then, as she extended her hand, a blue light coalesced at her white fingertips.

‘Master… Is this really my adoption?’

The blue light brimming with formidable energy emitted a fierce fog.

‘Eh!?’

Just as my roots were encased in ice and shattered like glass,

『 「Pain Tolerance LV3」 skill level increased. 』

『 「Pain Tolerance LV4」 skill level increased. 』

‘Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiya!!!!’

An unbearable pain enveloped my whole body.

What’s the point of “pain tolerance” if it doesn’t WORK?!

My deeply embedded roots lost their foothold in an instant and floated in mid-air.

“□□!”

Prostia smiled with apparent satisfaction as she lifted me with one hand.

It was an elegant motion, like plucking a flower from a vase, yet for me, it was the worst pain I’ve ever experienced.

‘Haa… I feel like I’m going to die…’

My consciousness was fading.

My stamina, including the auxiliary battery, was undoubtedly depleted.

『 HP : 27/514 + (0/400) 』

‘You really weren’t trying to kill me, were you…?’

The last thing I saw was Prostia’s calm smile and starlike, shining eyes before my consciousness completely blacked out.

The flower losing its vitality made Prostia’s eyebrows slightly furrow with concern.

Not long ago, the bright red petals that shimmered vibrantly were now limply drooping, and the purple stamen, which once moved elegantly like a serpent’s tongue, no longer stirred.

“Did I pull too hard?”

She tilted her head, lost in thought, but soon shrugged it off indifferently.

After all, this wasn’t an ordinary plant but a powerful entity that hunted magic beasts in the mid-levels; a damaged root wouldn’t make it wither and die.

Upon returning to her lair in the deepest layer, Prostia planted the flower in a corner. She gently buried the dark stem in the icy cave floor covered with ice crystals, and her lips curved into a pleased smile.

She was delighted that her territory had gained such a beautiful decoration.

She considered staying in her human form for a while, lest she accidentally step on the flower in her massive true form.

“Hmm… Your name is…”

“Riko- yes, let’s call you Riko.”

However, her joy was short-lived.

“Huh?”

The petals began trembling softly, like they were shivering in the wind.

The purple stigma now completely drooped and swept against the icy ground, and the red petals grew progressively paler.

“Why are you like this?”

A look of perplexity crossed Prostia’s stark white eyes.

She, the Ice Dragon who lived in the ice caves of Shia Kalt Great Dungeon, had never imagined that a plant here could be affected by cold.

Unlike the creatures here that were born with strong resistance to extreme cold, the flower’s “Frost Barrier” only protected it from the chill of the mid-levels, and the intense cold of the deepest layer had managed to freeze even the flower’s lost consciousness.

Then something occurred to her suddenly.

“Ah! That’s right, this child is…”

She remembered seeing the flower perfectly intact amidst a death field of corpses in the mid-levels.

This flower, Riko, must have grown by absorbing the blood of the creatures there.

Rapidly rising to her feet, the silver of her dress whipped through the cold air.

Her usual grace gave way to urgency as she rushed toward the deeper levels.

Where she passed, frost flowers bloomed and then faded.

Not long after, she returned to her lair with a bowl of ice containing the blood of creatures, each of whom humanity would call an S-ranked monstrosity.

Carefully, she poured the precious blood, which even alchemists would exchange their souls for, around the flower.

As the flower absorbed the blood through its roots, it regained some vitality, but the dazzling brilliance it had shown in the mid-levels still hadn’t returned.

Prostia looked at the flower with a look of puzzlement.

She couldn’t understand why the flower was wilting even in her perfect lair.

Each time it absorbed the blood of the creatures, the flower regained just enough vitality to avoid withering.

Each day, Prostia hunted creatures from the lower levels for their blood, but the petals’ brilliance did not return.

…

As time passed, three years went by.

“It’s already been three years?”

Prostia realized how time had passed.

To her, who had lived for thousands of years, three years was but a moment.

The meeting with the flower, which felt just like yesterday, had already been three years ago—an insight that left her astonished.

“Riko, how can you regain your health?”

‘If it’s a plant…’

Finally, she realized.

Plants need light.

No matter how much nutrition from the blood of creatures she provided, without light, they wouldn’t thrive well.

Hastily, Prostia lifted the flower.

This time, unlike before, she handled it gently, like a glass sculpture.

The chilly winds of Shia Kalt Mountain Range billowed her silver hair as she ascended towards the higher altitudes.

Thinking that the flower, tough enough to survive even in ice, would surely endure this height, she stopped at an appropriate elevation.

“Here should be…”

Carefully, she planted the flower.

She believed that the flower could survive even at this height.

As time passed, the flower gradually regained vitality.

The purple stigma began to move again like a serpent’s tongue, and the red petals slowly recovered their luster.

Nevertheless, a question lingered in Prostia’s mind.

‘There was no sunlight even in the mid-levels…’

She thought deeply as she looked at the flower with her cold eyes.

‘What exactly is this?’

Prostia could not have imagined that the flower would come back to life and regain consciousness by escaping the bitter cold of the deepest layer.

‘Where am I…’

A novel warmth caressed my petals for the first time.

Far from the blue glow of the icy cave, there was something bathing over me in a radiant golden light.

‘This is… sunlight.’

Born and grown in caves, it was an unusually foreign sensation.

Every petal soaked in the warm glow, and the blackened veins in my stems shimmered with a faint glow.

At the moment I extended my detection ability as fully as possible, I sensed a gentle aura nearby.

It was Prostia.

She stood by me watching the entire scene.

The silver hem of her dress swayed elegantly with the mountain wind, and her endless strands of silver hair shone more brilliantly under the sunlight.

Her stark white eyes observed me with a cold gleam as I faced this new landscape.

‘Ah! M-Master…’

The memory came back to me of the moment I lost consciousness.

‘No! It’s because you’re giving sunlight to the plant! I dare not doubt!’

I steadied myself and unfolded my detection ability. The view that unfolded before me took my breath away.

An endless range of white peaks.

The ridges of the snow-capped mountains shining under the sun stood like the backbone of a giant dragon reaching towards the sky.

The clear blue sky above was filled with dazzling snowfields that sparkled everywhere the eye could reach.

‘Who knew a world like this existed…’

A refreshing sensation engulfed me, completely unlike the cold inside the dungeon.

In the distance, other peaks visible through the clouds gleamed like white jewels, finely chiseled under the sunlight.

I was rooted high in the mountain range.

Looking down gave the feeling of immense depth. The dungeon entrance where I had been before must have been somewhere far below.

‘Could I be so close to the sky?’

I was overwhelmed by this scenery.

A vast world I could never have imagined inside the dungeon.

With each icy wind, sparkling snow drifted upward gracefully.

A faint smile graced Prostia’s lips.

It was a look that seemed like witnessing a long-awaited moment finally arriving.

‘Thank you, Master…’

That was when the status window rang.

『 「Photosynthesis LV2」 skill level increased. 』

“Oh! It’s leveling up!”

Something must have changed with the improved photosynthesis skill, I thought, inspecting myself.

“Um? Is this really me? Why do I feel so much stronger?”

What is going on?

Perplexed, I opened the status window.

The moment felt like time stood still.