Races: Online

Her back hit the wall at the same time that he stumbled towards her and pinned her against it. Right before she could knee him in the groin, she heard and felt something vibrate and Ellynn squeezed her eyes shut. The noise made her ears hurt. Her heart pounded for a moment until the sound of the crash ended—and when she opened her eyes to check if everything was safe. She looked up and saw Han in front of her. She could feel him pressed against her… she made her gaze look past his face and towards the sight of dust clouds settling behind him.

Large chunks of the ceiling had fallen over the place where she and he stood only a seconds ago.

And so the reason they were in this uncomfortable spot was because he had saved her? Her cheeks singed with heat as she pushed the young man away, "We're good now." But she felt something sticky in her hand and realized that it was blood. His blood. "Thank you for saving me." Ellynn felt a stab of guilt that she had attacked him earlier.

Healing potions could heal it but...

"Ow, yeah." The man moved back a bit, "Let's get going now." Han raised a hand over his eyes and looked up. "The portal is still there and maybe standing on this rock can help us reach our exit?"

He didn't seem affected at all by the fact that she had blindly attacked him? Ellynn expected him to be upset—to be mad and even unforgiving of it but here he was, offering a solution. If only a little hurt with her actions. But whether it would actually work was another thing. She still doubted that with the additional elevation of the rock that they'd enable themselves to reach the top.

She had already been worried when it had been her alone.

And yet she couldn't say that she missed her chance of escaping earlier because of him couldn't she? That would be too callous of her. She made her decision back. Instead she had her own solution, exactly the same method in how she helped Theodore and Timothy to reach the top. She needed a large piece of cloth to help push them up when she performed the Wind Spell. 

Ellynn considered the man's bloodsoaked shirt as an option and then there was also—she looked at her own clothes and felt adrenaline course through her vein.

She wore more baggier clothes than him.

Would she begrudge them the chance to escape just because she didn't want to take off her clothes? There was much more at stake than seeing bare skin now. Ellynn chewed on her lip and reached for the hem of her robes.

.. .

Timothy and Theodore reached the entrance back to the first library. The two of them nearly toppling down backwards—and just in time to see the Illusionary Mage. The Mage seemed to have been bent and checking the bag that Timothy had left before the man whirled to them, "Finally back at last? That's good. Have you gotten my book?" He was direct and straight to the point this time around. 

"K-Ka—"

"Hush it Theodore. You finally came back eh?"

It took Timothy some restraint to not throw a fist at them. After what they had to go through—this was the first thing that this Mage would say to them? He didn't even mention looking for Ellynn or even Han! And the latter especially. It made him confused because he was sure that Iola had made some sort of agreement to not let the man speak a word. So how did Han even end up with them in the first place?

Had the guy some kind weird of Skill that attracted himself to trouble?

Timothy felt his eye twitch, "You could have killed us then and there! Ellynn's still back there with Han."

"You left them?"

"No. Well yes but—" Timothy ground his teeth at the way they redirected the blame back to him. Because he may be right and yet now wasn't the time to point fingers at each other, "We need your help to bring them back up again. Can you cast any Spells?"

The Illusory Mage clicked his tongue, "I already told your friend that I'm no personal Mage to follow you every whim."

"Listen, we need you to help—"

The floor trembled for a moment. A quick one that didn't exactly topple them off from their feet but it made him worried.

"Why don't we just throw back her cloak down and she could use it to float right back up?" The Illusory Mage remarked with a shrug. 

"This is my cloak now!" The ginger-haired guy. Theodore made a sound of protest at the suggestion as he held the fabric in his hands.

It was at this moment that Timothy would experience the same troubles that Ellynn had with the Enchanter in the cell chamber. And all he could think of right now was that the Spectre and this guy could have gotten along if they had met in better times.

"Man, you're disgusting!" It was the Illusory Mage who spoke up before him though.

Theodore frowned back, "That's kind of wrong when it comes from you."

Timothy eyed the cloak in the boy's hands.

.. .

She had actually been more shapely and firm than he thought it would be. Han Jing would have almost been thankful for Races: Online then and there for allowing him the chance to feel a blithe form underneath him—he had been afraid that he would only be holding the teats of Betsy. Rest in peace, Betsy.

It may have been a stupid thought to have in the moment. Heck blood was still kind of dripping from his shoulder but the softness was S Grade. He might have been willing to die in her arms—once again another exaggeration but now wasn't the time. Perhaps he could use his dagger to try and clamber up the wall? It would chip the dagger and he wished that he had some sort of adhesive to use or even that his other dagger was still present but now wasn't the time for him to moan about his situation.

"So Ellynn what do you think—" He looked at her.

The Half Elf was undressing.

He did not think that it was that 'kind' of game. Han raised his free uninjured arm and waved his hand but he was still getting a good look at her. "Hey, it's not the end of the world so you don't have to do that—" Han Jing's mind went into multiple directions at once. He remembered Bo Lifen doing the same undressing thing… Han belatedly whirled behind and raised his voice. "Seriously there's no need to do anything rash." The Wood Elf would probably kill him if Han tried it with his daughter. 

"I'm trying to save us."

"Wait, you are?" Han blinked. His misconceptions somewhat cleared up but suspicions still in his mind. "How'd you gonna do that?"

"Why are you acting like this is something weird!"

She was as embarrassed as he was—probably even more so. Han coughed, "Because it is and I'm getting the wrong idea now but yeah…" Han's surroundings darkened. "What the—"

"O-Oh."

He heard Ellynn's footsteps and then she seized the darkness—which was actually just her cloak. "I...I didn't think that they were still up there." Her hands grasped the cloak tightly in her hands, the earlier redness on her face calmed down. Instead she had a thoughtful expression on her face. "I guess they must have done this to save you, Han."

Did she really think that they would just abandon her if she had been alone?

Han Jing may have agreed that it was indeed survival to the fittest, but acts of help weren't too strange for him either. There was good in the world and she deserved to see it. But it would have to happen right after this incident. And so Han mustered a smile, "Did we just get our ticket out of here?"

"Huh?"

"Don't tell me that I'm way too heavy even for the cloak." He pouted at her and tried to cross his arms over his chest. Han didn't weigh that much—he had an average build and he was a Peasant. Still this was somewhat enough to clear the tension? He didn't want to be too awkward around her.

He was already awkward as Han Jing—he didn't want the same for Han.

Ellynn tossed the cloak to him, "Spread it out wide for me and I'll blow it with my Wind Spell."

"Got it."

It didn't take too long for them to reach back to the top and stumble back into the first library. He watched Ellynn lean towards one of the shelves as she caught her breath—she looked exhausted. But there was another thing that caught his attention. It was there that he saw an almost worrying scene of the ginger-haired guy trying to attack Timothy while they yelled about the cloak. They didn't even seem to notice that they were back now.

Han tried not to shake his head and sighed a bit in relief. Looking back once more into the portal gave him some ounce of worry but… It was a shame that he didn't manage to grab anything. Heck, he even lost one of his daggers and that Enchanter Toolstick. It hadn't been his but he still liked the energy saber and he wondered how much one cost. "That place is closed off for good."

"W-What?!" It was the Illusory Mage that looked at him startled.