"Quince, do you need to take these records with you? They are slowing us down you know."
Rita complained as she secured the way toward the resistance base. It was a tough climb but one had to do this much to escape the administrator's eyes.
Ur had flown both her and Quince as high as he could but even he had to climb up the cliff on his own from a certain point. Not that he had a problem since his claws gripped the wall pretty well.
The problem was Quince and his massive bag of data that he had not managed to digitalize. He had wanted to take these books with them for some reason.
"You idiot. Do you know how valuable these books are? There are some very outlandish things written in here but if they are to be believed, then everything changes."
Quince snapped back, unwilling to leave his books behind. The books contained secrets of the abyss. And some of these secrets were groundbreaking.
One such fact that the book talked about was the 'door of the end' which signified the end of the abyss. That meant that this endless abyss had an ending.
But it was not located on any of the floors but was another hidden exit that was present on all administrator floors.
"Fine, take your books along. But pull your weight as well. Why do I have to carry most of these books up?"
Rita asked, now finally asking the real question. The books weighed a ton and Rita's arms were straining while carrying the books over the cliff.
"Stop complaining. You are not even the one carrying most of these books, Ur is."
"And you are carrying the least so shut it. Let me complain in peace."
Rita finished her argument as she finally broke the cliff surface. Her muscles were aching badly and she stretched her back to get rid of the sours.
Quince also made it up with difficulty and he instantly began to scan those books. He seemed uninterested in finding the resistance.
"Excuse me, but should we not find the resistance base first? Do you need to get to these books right now?"
Rita asked but Quince ignored her. He was too deep into his reading and recording phase to hear Rita properly.
"Listen, you look after him Ur. I will go and find the resistance in the meantime."
Ur chirped in agreement, coiling his body around Quinc and his books. Ur had steeled down already so Rita felt safe to finally look around.
Her first stop was to look into the cave nearby. The resistance always made their secret bases in caves and other such places. Rita had to be right.
She called forward her familiar and asked it to keep guard while she went into the cave. It was dark and gloomy, but Rita did not give up. She forced light to appear with her magic.
And that was not the right thing to do. As soon as the cave was lit up, a lot of smaller beast bodies jumped toward Rita.
She slashed them all but she was finally convinced that it was not the resistance base. These kinds of wild animals were not only a threat to the intruders but also the residents.
And it was not like these beasts were tamed either. They had no residual energy in their bodies. Rita would have been able to tell if that was the case.
"So it's not here, huh? Where else can I look around?"
Rita asked but her voice only echoed back. She was lost and also grumpy.
That was why the shadow that had been tailing her decided to attack her. Rita was safe for one second but had someone aiming at her the very next second.
But Rita was also a bonafide warrior. Her instincts had been sharpened in battle and she managed to dodge the incoming attack.
She also managed to get her attacker in their stomach and they kneeled in front of her in pain. Their stomach was clutched in their hand and their terrified eyes looked at Rita.
"H-How did you avoid me? I made sure to a-aim without bloodlust."
That yellow face paled a little, turning into the most revolting shade of a face Rita had ever seen before.
It almost looked like her attacker's whole body was covered in wounds and even Rita had to flinch once her mind was reminded of such an image.
"There are some things that come with experience and…s-sorry but can you turn around? Your face complexion is making me uncomfortable."
Her attacker gave Rita the blankest look she ever got in her life. Even Rita felt a little foolish asking someone who had attacked her to turn back but this was necessary for her to feel better.
The attacker looked reluctant but even they realized that they did not have a choice in this matter.
'Look at that ass. A female or a very curvy male.'
Rita observed before snapping her mind out of the gutter. She needed to make sure she was safe first.
"Who are you and what do you want with me? Be careful how you answer because it might as well decide your life in the next few minutes."
Rita warned as she held the knife even closer to her attacker's back. She had taken this knife out specifically to threaten her attacker.
"I am a local. I just wanted to know who you were and what you wanted from me. I did not mean you any hard, I promise."
The man sounded desperate and Rita's resolve wavered. She could tell that the man was speaking truthfully when he said he was a local.
'Dang it. He's a man with a very curvy ass. I got baited hard by his body.'
But she was still a spectacle about letting the man leave like this. If he was a local then he might know where the resistance base was. But if did not then Rita did not want to alert him and the administration.
Rita was a little lost on what to do but she was thankfully spared from deciding by Quince.
He walked into the cave softly and Rita saw him raise his eyebrow at her and the man in front of her.
"I got attacked. The man said that he was not attacking me but checking something. What should I do now?"
Rita asked and the man looked pleadingly toward Quince. Since he was a kid, the man likely thought that he would be let go.
But Quince was even more of a hard-hearted guy than Rita. He took one look at the kneeling man and decided to declare him useless.
"Sorry man but you are dead. But why don't you tell us about where the resistance base is and we will spare you."
Rita decided to finally ask, knowing fully well that she would kill this man after to preserve her secret.
The man looked a little started at the mention of the resistance before his eyes sparkled with new knowledge. Suddenly, his whole body softened and he gave Rita a small but sincere smile.
Even the color on his face had retired which made him look far better.
"You are here to join the resistance? Why did you not say that before? I will take you to our boss right now."
The man tried to stand by while both Rita and Quince shared a look. They decided to let the man stand up and lead them toward the base.
If he was telling the truth then it was all well and good. But even if he had lied, it did not matter much. They had Ur and the system to keep them company and to ensure that they will be able to recover.
"You better have not lied to us about the resistance base. We are short temper and we don't like people who lie to us."
Rita threatened the man but he seemed unconcerned. He was either too confident about their character or he did not care if people came looking for the resistance.
It was their lucky break so they decided not to look the gifted horse in the mouth.
"It's behind the waterfall. It's a house that acts as a gateway to an illusionary world so hold on tight. People often complain about feeling dizzy."
Rita did feel dizzy as she felt the magic squeeze her body tightly. Her bones were pained and her body felt smaller than she was used to.
But it was pretty much over in a matter of seconds and the cliff melted away into an open field. All kinds of flowers lined up the valley and many extinct animals also roamed around.
"Yo, look here. These are new kids who want to join the resistance."
Rita's attacker yelled toward a group of white-robbed men. They looked startled at hearing those words before one of them almost broke down into tears.
"Another pair of joiners? Is it our lucky day today?"
Looking at these men, Rita did not feel confident in her chances of winning. But Aurora had asked her to trust these men so she shall trust them.
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