The pain had dawned on him before he realized it. The boy was pinching his cheek, pouting while waiting for Ed's response. Ed couldn't react at first and he dragged the right cheek like he was spreading jam on his bread
Although it wasn't what ed thought about him, the pain was enough for ed to flinch. Ed was now kneeling in front of a boy, who's energy remained a secret, pleading for his cheek
Once he was satisfied,he turns to head back into the hole
"You should tag along if you want to survive..." He turned, prepared to disappear into the hole. Ed remembered to ask a question he had in mind
"What's your name?..."
The boy returned a stare,tense enough to pierce a hole through Ed's head. Sulking,he mumurs his words just so ed could hear
"Where's your Courtesy, asking me for my name. Hmph..."
Ed's head turned,he didn't want to swear at him, his life could be extinguished. Nevertheless, he was either childish or dense to demand courtesy like that
Dense... he's dense
"By the way,my name's endor...creator of calamity zero"
By now Ed's legs were completely covered in snow, stopping blood flow to it. His first step landed him on the cold snow bed where some people died adventuring
The next time ed woke up,he was on a bed,with a normal body temperature, something he couldn't get outside.
By the time he had realized,endor was not in the room,but a maid standing beside his bed to attend to him
"Huh?- where is this place"
The maid—ellen sky— stared down at him,fear written on her face. The fear wasn't from ed,but from the mysterious manor he laid. Her snow white hair flowed down, just to her shoulders, and her Bob-cut covered her left eye.
From the way she carried herself, she was obviously a noble from a high lineage. She stared at Ed for a minute before puffing her cheeks in annoyance
"Hmph!"
"Huh?"
Ed sat up on the bed after wiping a cold sweat from his face. By now, she clearly had an irritated look on her face. Minutes passed and Ed finally spoke up
"Um...may I ask your name?"
"Ellen sky..." She continued staring at him while clearly showing the annoyance on her face
"Um..."
"Don't you remember me?—"
"Huh?" Ed replied flatly, shocking her momentarily
"You...damn you Ed!— we met one year ago,in...in the link"
"Huh?...huh?!"
What?... when?,who is she... she mentioned the link,that means she knows about my identity
"Who are you?" Ed answered, his face dead serious
"Ellen sky..."
"NO NOT THAT!!"
"Oh... you saved me from monsters in a monster expenditure... compared to then, you look more human"
Endor enters the room shortly after, wearing an apron. There was food in the tray he carried inside and Ellen collects it and hands it to ed before stepping back.
"Ed .d. angelo... This is the hidden dungeon in the impure gate and this where we are is the only safe zone in the dungeon. By tomorrow, you will leave this place and find a way to exit this dungeon"
He continued" there are only two ways to exit this dungeon... one" he raised a finger in response "death, and second... clear the exit conditions"
"What are the exit conditions?" Ed started, planning to absorb whatever information he's given.
"It differs per person... I don't know your exit conditions, but you should survive and find a way out. "
Endor stares at ed who folds himself back on the bed, dropping the food on a table beside him. Saying nothing more,he leaves the room
Ellen watched Ed sleep for almost an hour before leaving to attend to other things. When ed woke up,he prepared to leave, searching for Ellen while he had time
Midnight approached faster than he expected, with the cold temperatures reaching its max. While walking around the hallway,he runs into her, looking a bit pale. When she saw him, she hid her countenance and approached Ed.
"...Yeah?"
"Let's escape... It seems like you were carried her forcefully with no place to go... Let's find the exit for this—"
"Sorry Ed... I can't tell you why I'm here, and I can't leave with you... I'm sorry" she bowed her head as she spoke, trying to sound as polite as possible. Ed went back to his room to retrieve his blades. After grabbing it,he crawls out from the manor, located under the ground into the cold abyss...