"W-w-why am I in your room?" I asked, aghast.
"Oh come off it, lass. We’re not in the Puer Kingdom. I just brought you here to rest after you passed out yesterday," Gennady said, snorting.
"After I passed out?" I blinked away my tiredness, trying to remember what happened the day before.
My legs were still sore from walking for so long, and my arms felt slightly heavier than normal but I felt a different kind of exhaustion; an inexplicable emptiness inside of me. It was not like I was drained of energy— it felt more like I was too tired to even access the energy.
Then I remembered the events that transpired: walking dozens of miles, and hiking up parts of a mountain; fighting a Horned Viper and six Crawlers; entering a cave, full of Abominations…
And killing them all.
My eyes widened as the image of the Atrocity looking up at me reappeared in my head. I had to have been casting spells down the pit nonstop for over an hour. There were thousands of Abominations, and they did not attack me; not after the Atrocity saw me.
I almost felt bad about killing them; they were a danger to everyone in the area, yet they ignored me. The Atrocity allowed me to kill them, stopping its ‘friends’ (for the lack of a better term) from attacking me. Especially since it was the Abominations that technically helped save me from slavery back in Bys. I knew the reason had something to do with that jerk god who killed me and brought me to this world, but I did not know why he needed, or wanted, me alive.
My thoughts were quickly interrupted by the smell of food. I felt my mouth watering as Gennady placed a small plate of fried potatoes in front of me. It almost looked like french fries, but those did not exist in this world since neither the French nor did Belgians exist in this world; it was similar— like a fusion of potato wedges and fries, except shaped more like a block. In the plate was also a mixture of some dried vegetables along with small bits of meat.
"Here, you go," the Dwarf said, handing me my eating utensils. "You haven’t eaten in at least a day. Maybe more depending on when your last meal was."
I drew my lips up into a smile as I thanked him. I immediately dug in, consuming everything I could with a ravenous hunger. I continued to chow down on my meal for another five minutes, before slowing down enough to speak with Gennady.
"So," I started, still chewing on a piece of meat, "how long was I out?"
"You passed out before noon, and now it’s a few hours to noon the day after. How long do you think you slept?"
"Almost 24 hours? That’s… a long time," I whistled, before biting a down on a large chunk of fried potatoes.
"It is," he said in agreement. "But it makes sense, given how tired you must’ve been."
"Mhm," I mumbled a sound in agreement. "Got anything to drink?" I asked.
"Here" Gennady passed me a metal flask.
I opened the lid, gulping down a strange liquid. It tasted almost sweet, but with a slight hint of fruit and earth. I lowered the flask and handed it back to the Dwarf. "This is alcohol," I said, frowning. It was strong.
"Yeah, one of the best ones. In fact, it’s probably the best one you can find around here. How do ya like it?" The Dwarf gave me a grin under his bushy beard.
"I was hoping to hydrate myself with something like water, not to get drunk in the morning," I said, voice flat.
"Gah, fine." Gennady sighed, walking to his backpack laying on the corner of a room. He pulled out a bottle of water as he murmured to himself. "I don’t understand you Humans. You don’t let your children drink a good beer until they’re 16. What fun are you supposed to have until then? Y’know, the Taw Kingdom lets Dwarven kids as young as 10 drink alcohol— like 13 in Human years. Once you start growing into an adult, you should be allowed to start drinking too."
I shrugged. "Different cultures, different countries. I don’t think the Free Lands had any legal drinking age. I doubt all Dwarven countries have the same laws too. Same thing with us Humans…" I trailed off, feeling something was off.
Then it hit me like a truck traveling at 50mph.
How does he know I’m Human? Don’t I have a… mask? Where’s my mask?!
I stood up, touching my face. My fingers found skin, and not the cold hard surface of a mask. I realized that I had been eating the entire time, face exposed to the Dwarf.
Gennady snorted in response to what I said, seemingly not noticing me staring at him in shock.
"You know, I knew you weren’t just your average Aria, but to think you were actually a Human girl the entire time? I was—"
"You took off my mask while I was sleeping?" I yelled, pointing a trembling finger at him. "That’s… that’s… a violation of my privacy! Why would you do that?!"
Gennady took a step back, surprised at my sudden outburst. "Now calm down—"
"How can I be calm? What did you do to me last night? How would I know if…" I hesitated, and drew my dagger. "What else did you do?"
"I told you, Aria, I did nothing," the Dwarf backed further away from me, warily eyeing the black blade in my hand. "Listen to me: you fell unconscious after you destroyed all the Abominations, right?"
I nodded slowly, still with my weapon out, and watching out for any sudden movements.
"Then, I had to check if you were fine— if you were breathing. I had to know whether you suffocated from the smoke
