"The mist has hallucinogenic effects. It makes you dream. Better you pick up a red mushroom before you go."
She looked into Aaron's eyes. She could tell he did not understand the gravity of her warning, so she continued.
"There are also creatures that can put you under curses. If you have some charms, better use them. And don't be a pack rat."
She giggled a little at her own joke.
Aaron frowned. "Is dreaming in the mist bad?"
Instead of Elizabeth, the Knight answered this time.
"The dream world is another realm, beyond here. I believe you do not want to shift from one world to another in quick succession."
He looked at Aaron with pity.
But Aaron still did not understand, so he pressed, "If I went to the dream realm, would something bad happen?"
The Knight answered, "I don't know."
Puzzled, Aaron questioned, "Then why is it bad?"
The Knight lifted his head for the first time. It had always hung down, and the gesture made Aaron tense. With a hoarse and raspy voice, the Knight asked instead,
"Where did you come from?"
Aaron startled and waited for a second before he could find his words.
"Don't have to tell me, if you don't want to," said the Knight, his voice fading away.
Elizabeth intervened. She pouted again. "Why did you interrupt me? Mr. Rat was asking me."
The Knight gave a small scoff.
Ignoring him, Elizabeth answered in place of the Knight, "The dream realm is unstable, after the demise of the Dream God."
Her voice lowered. "So it's better you don't fall asleep in the mist. If you want, I can help you gather some red mushrooms."
Before she could finish, the Knight tossed a small pouch in front of Aaron. "Take it. It's more useful to you than me."
The pouch hit the floor and flipped open on impact, revealing a handful of red mushrooms inside.
Aaron looked toward the Knight. The helm made his face unreadable, and his head was lowered again. Narrowing his eyes, Aaron stepped closer to the pouch. He tried for a moment to store it in his inventory, but it did not work. He had expected that.
He let out a short exhale. "Thank you."
The Knight gave a small scoff. "My name is Rosacer."
Aaron nodded. "Thank you, Rosacer."
Elizabeth broke the grim silence that settled afterward.
"You should rest for today. The battle will take long."She paused, then added, "Though they are currently busy, you can try to."
The Knight intervened. "Elizabeth, join him."
"What?!" Elizabeth frowned. "No, I can stay here. I know the area well enough."
The Knight nodded solemnly. "And what after then?"
He turned toward Aaron. "Take care of her. She might be annoying, but she is a good person. At least, in my last days."
He pulled out his sword, then unstrapped his vambrace and his gauntlet. His fingers were already charred black from the cold. It was practically a dead hand. If not for the freezing air, the smell alone would have lured nearby monsters.
In his palm lay a ring. He tugged it free, clenching it in his fist before extending it toward Elizabeth.
"Take this. It will protect you."
Then he pushed the sword toward Aaron.
"This is the Drudgery Sword. Its ability is to make the target lose their battle prowess and fall into a cycle of dull, worthless repetition."
His voice trembled from the effort of speaking.
"Its downside is… the user loses their sanity the more they wield it. He succumbs to nothing more than a mindless swinger of the sword."
Aaron slowly approached the sword laid in front of him. He was a little bit scared, but the abilities of the sword were phenomenal. He had survived till now on dumb luck, and now with this sword, the enemies would be much more stupider. But the problem lay with the size. He was just a rat now; he couldn't really wield such a sword.
He didn't fully trust Elizabeth or Rosacer, yet escaping the mist land was impossible without them.
For now, he decided it was better to let Elizabeth hold the sword until they reached the edge of the mist. After that, he could store it again once the system came back online, at least, that was his theory. He still had no idea why the system shut down. The only explanation he could think of was the sudden transfer to Crescitlok, the City of Brewing. If he could get out of this place, maybe the system would return.
Elizabeth wanted to protest Rosacer's decision, but the moment she saw him handing the sword to Aaron, she stopped. Something in her eyes shifted. She could sense it, the end was drawing near for Rosacer. So she swallowed her objections, chose silence, and respected his choice even though every part of her wanted to reject it.
Rosacer looked at her with a warm smile, though it remained hidden behind his helm.
She slipped the ring onto her finger. It was shaped like three intertwining roots, set with a small egg-shaped green gem that pulsed faintly with mist.
She examined it curiously and asked, "What's its ability?"
Rosacer answered, "It becomes a protective shield when mana is poured into it. It has its own intuition… and if the wielder doesn't know how to use mana, it can forcibly draw the mana it needs."
Elizabeth continued questioning him about the ring, the sword, and their origins. The exchange felt almost like a lesson, a teacher patiently guiding an eager student. Rosacer explained everything calmly, even though his voice was gradually becoming weaker. Aaron listened too, absorbing what he could, though some parts flew right over his head. He decided he would ask Elizabeth later to fill in the gaps.
He waited quietly for Elizabeth's questions to end. There was something he needed to ask as well something that had been gnawing at him ever since the Mistress of Head brought him to this strange place.
Curiosity pushed him forward, yet fear held him tighter. He didn't want to explore this land. He didn't want to linger long enough to understand it. He wanted to escape.
When silence finally settled, he asked the only question that truly mattered to him:
"How can I escape?"