09. Side Quest

Alden lay unconscious at the center of the ancient altar. Blood pooled beneath him, dark against the pale rock. His breathing was so shallow it was nearly imperceptible, each breath a struggle his failing body barely managed.

But someone had noticed him lying there. A figure approached cautiously through the dissipating dimensional barrier, moving with purpose to examine the fallen reincarnator.

She wore an elegant outfit of deep emerald green, the fabric flowing and practical simultaneously. Floral patterns were embroidered across the chest in golden thread, and polished wooden shoulder guards provided minimal but aesthetically pleasing protection.

Her hazel hair, tied back in a sleek high ponytail, draped beside her neck as she knelt gracefully beside Alden's motionless form. Without hesitation, she extended both hands forward, palms down.

From her glowing fingertips, translucent leaves began to unfurl—dozens of them, shimmering with soft green light. They drifted down toward Alden like falling cherry blossoms, each one dissolving on contact with his skin.

They radiated tangible warmth and comfort, a soothing sensation that seemed to seep into his very bones. His health began to tick upward, slowly but steadily.

[+20 Health]

[+20 Health]

[+20 Health]

Alden's eyelids twitched, then fluttered open with difficulty, revealing a pair of weary brown eyes that struggled to focus. He blinked several times in confusion, disoriented and struggling to understand where he was or what had happened. The last thing he remembered was pain, betrayal, darkness...

He found himself staring up at a woman kneeling before him—radiant in the dappled forest light, her presence somehow both calming and energizing. She carried the faint, sweet scent of blooming flowers and fresh spring growth. Yet despite his confusion, her face... it felt strangely familiar, like he'd seen her before but couldn't quite place where.

"What happened to you?" she asked softly, her voice laced with concern.

Alden stared at her for several long moments, his mind still foggy and slow. But gradually, as his vision cleared and the healing magic continued its work, recognition finally settled in.

"Khalisa?"

"You remember my name?" She smiled warmly. "Did you check my profile through the system connection?" she teased gently, though her healing magic never stopped flowing from her fingertips.

Caught off guard by her friendly tone, Alden looked down and away, embarrassed. "Sorry... I didn't mean to pry or anything. The hologram just appeared when we talked before, and I—"

She laughed, the sound light and genuine. "It's completely fine! Happens to almost all of us when we first arrive in Ascendria. The system tends to be a little too curious and oversharing with information, doesn't it? Privacy isn't really its strong suit."

Alden fell silent, unsure how to respond to such casual kindness after what he'd just experienced.

His attention shifted to the healing magic still surrounding him, watching the ethereal leaves dissolve against his skin. He had assumed from their brief encounter that the Grovekeeper class was all about mixing potions and brewing herbal remedies in a laboratory or workshop—traditional alchemy.

But it wasn't that at all. What truly defined her class, what made it unique, were these conjured leaves. Soft and seemingly endless, bringing relief and comfort with every touch. They soothed every ache in his battered body, knitting flesh and bone back together with nature magic.

"Thank you... for saving me," Alden murmured, his voice rough and hoarse. Gratitude felt foreign on his tongue after so long without using it. "Seriously. I thought I was..." He trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

The healing light from Khalisa's hands gradually faded as her spell reached its limit. In approximately ten seconds of sustained casting, she had brought Alden's health from a critical twenty points all the way up to two hundred and twenty. An impressive heal. But it had completely drained her mana pool to accomplish it.

The strain hit her immediately. Her expression cracked for just a moment as she touched her temple with one hand, clearly fighting off the splitting headache that came with total mana depletion. Her face went slightly pale.

Alden noticed the change instantly, concern replacing his own pain. "Are you okay? You don't look good."

"It's normal when you burn through all your mana at once like that," Khalisa explained, though her voice was tighter than before. She took a slow breath to steady herself. "The headache passes after a minute or two, and mana regenerates naturally. I'll be fine."

She managed a weak smile. "If you're wondering why I'm here in the first place, I'm actually on a mission from the town alchemist. Gathering quest."

Alden filed that information away. Just like stamina, mana consumption clearly had to be carefully managed. Recklessness with resources could backfire catastrophically—especially in combat situations where you couldn't afford to be helpless.

"You came to the Imp's lair?" Alden asked, sitting up slowly with her help. His body still ached, but the immediate danger of death had passed. "You came here alone? That seems incredibly dangerous for a healer."

Khalisa nodded, looking slightly sheepish as she helped him into a sitting position against a nearby tree.

"Well, I thought I'd find plenty of adventurers here willing to party up temporarily. And I did find some! But..." She hesitated, choosing her words carefully. "Let's just say no one else was particularly interested in helping with my specific quest. They all had their own objectives. Or maybe..."

Her expression became more vulnerable, more honest. "Maybe I'm just not ready to open up to strangers yet. To really trust people I don't know."

Alden understood that feeling intimately. He felt the same way—or at least, he had before foolishly trusting Archie's group.

"So you're gathering again?" he asked, remembering their first conversation on the road.

"This time it's a mushroom. A rare one," Khalisa said. She tilted her head back thoughtfully, placing one finger under her chin in a contemplative gesture.

"Specifically, it grows on a particular variant called a Mage Imp. Though, I might have to steal it directly from the creature rather than harvesting it from a corpse. But I don't know if I can get away without being noticed or triggering combat."

She turned to look at Alden directly, her gaze searching his face. "What about you? Why were you here alone with your HP so dangerously low? What happened?"

Alden didn't want to talk about it.

The wound was too fresh, the humiliation too raw. He had made a terrible mistake—he'd trusted people he shouldn't have, even when warning signs had been clearly visible. He had hoped too much, believed too easily, thought that maybe people in this world would be different from his previous life.

He'd been wrong.

Standing up with some difficulty, Alden gave a flat, evasive response. "Just bad luck. Got overwhelmed by monsters during a quest."

The lie tasted bitter, but it was easier than the truth.

Looking around the altar area with interest to change the subject, he frowned. "Still... for an Imp's lair, it's unusually quiet right now. I haven't seen any other reincarnators around. Where did everyone go?"

"Oh, you didn't know about the instance system?" Khalisa stood as well, brushing accumulated dust and dried blood from her green robes.

"Some dungeon locations work like separate dimensional realms. Only a limited number of reincarnators can enter each instance at a time. Usually between one and five people, depending on the dungeon's design.”

“Sure, it's easier to fight when you have a huge crowd of players all attacking the same boss. But then the competition for loot drops becomes absolutely brutal, right? Kill-stealing, ninja-looting, all that toxic behavior."

Alden's brows furrowed as he processed this new information. So Ascendria's systems were even more sophisticated and complex than he'd initially thought. But the design philosophy made sense from a gameplay perspective. "I see. So boss fights and quest locations use this instancing system?"

"Exactly! Boss arenas, wave defense events, special quest zones—they all follow that dimensional separation system!" Khalisa's enthusiasm for explaining game mechanics was evident.

She snapped her fingers as another thought occurred to her. "Ah! Even rare herbal gathering zones are instanced to prevent overcrowding and resource competition!"

Alden found himself smiling slightly despite everything that had happened. "You really are well-educated about how this world works. Have you been here long?"

Her cheeks flushed red at the compliment, though she tried to mask her pleased reaction with an air of casual confidence. "Well, I do read a lot. You can count on me for information!"

"Well then... thanks again for the rescue. I should probably head back to town and claim my quest reward," Alden said, turning toward where he thought the exit might be.

But suddenly, Khalisa reached out and grabbed his hand, her fingers wrapping around his wrist. The touch stopped him in his tracks, warm and surprisingly firm.

"Wait!" she exclaimed urgently. Then, realizing what she'd done and how it might seem, she quickly released him, her face reddening further. "Sorry... I didn't mean to grab you like that. But I need your help. Please."

Alden stood frozen, conflicted. After everything that had just happened with Archie's group, he didn't know if he could help anyone again. That instinct to cooperate, to trust, to care about teammates—all of it had been buried beneath layers of bitter disappointment and betrayal.

It was hard to trust again so soon. The wounds were still bleeding.

But... he looked at Khalisa properly. She had no one. No team backing her up. No companions waiting nearby. Just herself, alone in a dangerous dungeon. And she was a healer—a pure support class with virtually no offensive capabilities. There was no way she could defend herself if something went wrong, if she got caught stealing that mushroom.

Alden pulled up his equipment status, checking the damage.

[Refined Bronze Shield: Sustain 5%]

[Ancient Silver Sword: Sustain 10%]

Everything was on the verge of complete breakdown—barely functional, one or two hits from shattering entirely. Everything except the Epic-tier Silverbane sword still safely stored in his inventory, untouched and at full durability.

Was now finally the time to use it? To stop being cautious and conservative?

"Too bad my shield's basically no longer useful," Alden muttered as he closed the hologram window with a thought. The Bronze Shield might last one more fight if he was lucky, but probably not.

"I'll heal you! As much as I can!" Khalisa said. She stepped closer, and Alden noticed the space between them had narrowed without either of them consciously moving. "I won't run away. I won't retreat or abandon you. As long as you don't run, I won't leave you behind."

Their eyes met and held. An unspoken understanding passed between them—something deep and difficult to articulate.

A shared loneliness, perhaps. A mutual need for someone, anyone, to prove that trust wasn't always foolish.

"Trust me," Khalisa said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. "Just this once. Please."

Though doubt still tugged insistently at the edges of his mind, though every recent experience screamed at him to refuse and walk away, Alden found himself wanting to help her.

Maybe because she'd saved his life. Maybe because she seemed genuinely kind. Maybe just because he desperately needed to believe that not everyone in this world was like Archie.

Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves and push down his fears, Alden answered, "All right. Go ahead and try to steal it. I'll hold off the Mage Imp if you get caught and it attacks."

Khalisa's entire face brightened with a wide, genuine smile that transformed her features. She nodded enthusiastically, then called out, "Follow me! I saw where it was earlier!"

Alden trailed behind her as they left the altar clearing and plunged deeper into the thick forest surrounding it. The trees here were ancient and densely packed, their canopy blocking most sunlight.

Khalisa was still only level ten according to her profile, but by now she likely had unlocked at least two active skills and one passive—more than enough to provide solid support in a fight if things went wrong.

One of her healing skills could restore two hundred HP over ten seconds, which he'd just experienced firsthand. If the cooldown was reasonably short—maybe thirty seconds or a minute—that would be an absolute lifesaver in sustained combat.

"Wait, stop!" Khalisa suddenly froze, throwing out one arm to halt Alden's progress. He nearly bumped into her back. "Behind that rock! Quick!"

Without hesitation or question, they both ducked behind a large moss-covered boulder. From their hiding spot, carefully peering around the edge, they could see a small clearing ahead. An Imp stood there—but this one was noticeably different from the Lesser Imps they'd fought in waves.

This creature stood nearly four feet tall, wearing actual robes of tattered purple cloth instead of leather scraps. Its staff was carved with glowing runes, clearly magical rather than just a club. A Mage Imp, certainly. It stood in front of a crude wooden table absolutely covered with various herbs, mushrooms, and alchemical ingredients.

And there—attached to a leather pouch at its waist—was the item Khalisa had been searching for. Even from this distance, Alden could see it clearly: a mushroom with a distinctive blue-speckled cap that seemed to glow faintly with internal luminescence.

[Azure Moonspore - Epic Tier Ingredient]

That explained why Khalisa's quest giver wanted it so badly. Ingredients of that quality were probably rare and valuable.

But in that moment, Alden felt doubt creep in as he looked at the Mage Imp more carefully. It was level fifteen according to the nameplate that appeared—five levels higher than Khalisa, ten levels higher than himself. If combat started, could they actually win?

Khalisa must have felt the same uncertainty, because without realizing it, she turned back to look at Alden. Their eyes met. She took a deep breath, visibly steadying her nerves.

"Wish me luck," she whispered, her voice barely audible.

Alden could practically feel her nervousness radiating off her in waves. She was terrified but trying to be brave.

Offering what quiet reassurance he could, he whispered back, "I've got your back. I promise."

Something in his tone must have convinced her, because Khalisa didn't hesitate anymore. She moved forward from their hiding spot with remarkable stealth, her steps so light and careful that Alden couldn't hear a single sound—no snapping twigs, no rustling leaves, nothing.

It was like she had become one with the forest itself, her nature affinity perhaps providing some kind of stealth bonus.

Khalisa's hand darted out with surprising speed, deftly untying the leather pouch and extracting the glowing mushroom in one smooth motion. For a heartbeat, Alden thought she'd actually succeeded.

But the moment the Azure Moonspore left the pouch, disaster struck.

It was as if the Mage Imp had some kind of magical alarm connected to its precious ingredient. The creature's eyes snapped open—they'd been half-closed in meditation or sleep—and it spun around with shocking speed. It spotted Khalisa immediately, caught red-handed with the stolen mushroom, panic and guilt written clearly across her face.

She stumbled backward, lost her footing, and fell hard onto her back.

The Mage Imp's expression twisted into fury. It raised its rune-carved staff high overhead and began chanting in a harsh, guttural language. Magical energy gathered around the creature, visible as distortions in the air. A ring of flames suddenly burst into life, encircling the Imp in a perfect circle of fire that rose three feet high.

Khalisa lay frozen in terror, unable to move, unable to even think clearly. She could only watch as the Mage Imp completed its incantation and thrust its staff forward. The ring of flames responded instantly, collapsing inward and then exploding outward as a concentrated wave of searing magical fire.

The flames surged directly toward Khalisa, moving too fast to dodge, far too powerful for her to block or survive.