My Guardian System: The Trader

RAAAWWWWRRR!!!

A roar echoed after Jem left the bushy plains, taking along with him the baby beast.

He had no idea what happened when he lost consciousness. The trader said many things had happened, which he agreed to.

Huf—hah! Huf—hah!

While sweating profusely, Jem was gasping for breath after distancing himself a safe distance away from the scary big beast. Meanwhile, he was leaning his shoulder on a big trunk of a tree. He had no idea what kind of tree it was. He was too tired to care about it.

His breathing was deep, and his heartbeat was quick. He was too exhausted and could barely remain on his feet.

It didn't take long before he flopped on the ground.

It took him several minutes before regaining his strength again. Fortunately, no monsters or beasts came to attack him around the time while he was vulnerable.

After calming down, Jem made a quick inspection of himself.

There was only a little piece of cloth that was barely covering his shoulder. He tore it and threw it away as it was only a hindrance now.

Regrettably, the DIY knapsack was gone, along with all the items inside it. The DIY necklace with the shiny emerald crystal also disappeared. Perhaps it was when he received the wounds from the beast.

"Gah!"

After remembering the wounds, they started aching once again. Jem groaned and grimaced when the sudden pain attacked him. In his mind, he had to think of something to cure them. Unfortunately, aside from the claw series knives and daggers, he had nothing else with him. He remembered he had the extra shiny emerald crystal in his pant's pocket. When he tapped it, sure enough, it was still there.

However, none of them could cure his wounds.

He glanced around him and noticed he was in a place that seemed like a-- "forest?!"

'Am I already out of that cave?' He thought with a hint of relief.

Just then, he heard the voice of his partner. <Indeed. You are currently inside a forest, host. The host ran without realizing which direction he was taking. The host's mind was all about running away from that beast as soon as possible. And so the host arrived in the forest without the host noticing it.>

Jem could not disagree with the trader. He was so scared at that time that his soul wanted to leap ahead of his body.

"I see."

Jem muttered his reply.

<Actually host, I have two pieces of news for you.>

"Eh? Ngh!" Jem gawked but soon groaned when the prickling pain attacked him out of a sudden. Especially when his sweat wet his wounds, it adds more stinging pain into it.

"T-then, tell me…" he muttered with a twitching face.

<Which one do you prefer to hear first, the bad news or the good news?>

He frowned.

He wasn't anticipating that there would be bad news among them. He would much appreciate it if there were only good news, if possible.

Jem went silent for a second before a sigh expired from his mouth.

Hah~

"T-then, b-bad news..."

He replied unwillingly. Well, maybe hearing the good news later was a good reliever.

He secretly wished the bad news wasn't so grave. As though readying himself, he breathed deeply.

<This place is not an ordinary dungeon, host.>

"W-wait! I'm still inside the dungeon?! Ugh!" Jem asked in haste but soon groaned. But his most concern was the trader's words.

<Yes, host. Aside from that, this dungeon seemed to be a high-grade one.>

"....."

Jem remained silent as he was enduring the pain. Also, he lost the desire to listen further. However, the trader continued telling him, forcing him to absorb the trader's words.

<A normal dungeon should only have stone, rocks, mud, dirt, soil, or anything earth-related as the walls and ceiling. However, our current location, and the location before here, confirm my suspicions. Also, a normal-grade dungeon should not be as vast as this place…>

The trader continued explaining and he started to listen attentively. But deep inside, he was grieving.

Inwardly, 'This is actually super bad news," Jem muttered dejectedly when a realization came to him.

His face started to twitch in a bitter expression.