Who are you?(corrected)

[author: the chapter is long because it consists of the union of two chapters].

--- POV Zoe ---

"Ugh my head." -Opening my eyes, my vision was still blurry, but I still struggled to get up.

"Wait stay down, you injured your head. I've already given you a potion so the bleeding will stop." -Trying to focus on who it was, I realized it was Lili.

"Lili, what happened? I only remember the landslide, then nothing." -I asked her while still lying down.

"The weight of the rubble caused us to fall two floors, so we are currently on the 15th floor. Bell and I didn't suffer any serious injuries, the problem is Welf, it seems that a boulder broke his leg..." -Lili said complicatedly.

"I understand Lili, take me to them, my head doesn't hurt anymore." -Hearing my words, she helped me to get up.

We walked a few steps towards the wall, where Bell and Welf were sitting. Welf was breathing heavily and sweat wouldn't stop dripping from his forehead, the wound on his leg was not in good condition, there were several lacerations and the angle of the leg was not normal. Fortunately, the bone hadn't come out, but that didn't ease my guilt.

'I can't do anything.' -Clenching my fist, I could only watch my companion as he suffered.

Although my potions were of good quality, they were still low grade, so they were unable to heal such a wound, even with my magic I couldn't do anything. Word magic might seem powerful, but it had many limitations and one of them was, that it couldn't have direct effects on a living being. For example, I could imagine a magic that would stop a person's heart, but it would have no effect, because it didn't fall within my domain, the same was true for healing magic.

"Welf how are you feeling?" -I asked him worriedly.

"Well, I've seen better days, besides I've already drank a couple of your potions and the pain has lessened, so you don't need to make that face." -He told me straining a smile.

"I see, it's for the best then." -Seeing how he was trying to cheer me up, I couldn't continue to stay sad.

'In the future, my potions will be to heal these kinds of wounds as well.' -With that conviction, I turned to Bell.

"Lili explained to me about the situation, it seems we are on the 15th floor."

"That's right, but that's not the problem. During the fall, much of our equipment was lost, I'm left with a couple of healing potions and one for recovering the Falna and my dagger." -Bell said with a sigh.

"My situation is similar, my backpack was crushed, so besides a couple of potions and some items, the rest is destroyed, haaaa my poor crossbow." -Said Lili also dejectedly.

Our situation wasn't good at all. The bag I kept my potions in was lost and Welf had only managed to save his broadsword. Luckily our salamander cloaks still worked, but climbing back up would be very difficult.

"Going back up will be tough, at the moment I don't know what area of the 15th floor we are in, this means we will have to travel without a clear direction, increasing the risk of encountering monsters, plus even if you two are strong there is a limit to how much you can take on, especially now that both Welf and me can't fight." -Lili analyzed seriously.

"Guys, you can leave me here, I'd just be-"

"No way."(x3) -Before he could even finish speaking we stopped him, we would never leave one of our comrades behind.

"I have a proposal." -Lili said, but from her expression, it didn't look like it would be easy.

Lili's plan sounded crazy, but it was the most achievable. As she had explained, trying to find the entrance to the upper floor in this maze, not even knowing where exactly we were, was almost impossible. What Lili was thinking was that since it was difficult to go back up, it was better to go down using the various shafts that were in the Middle Floors, thus reaching the 18th floor, which was a safe area.

"I understand your plan Lili, but have you forgotten about the problem on the 17th floor?" -Bell told her unconvinced.

"If you're talking about Goliath, the Loki Familia must have handled it during their expedition and since the boss spawn time is two weeks, it means we'll have a chance to get through it, but we have to hurry. Now the decision is up to the party leader." -Concluded Lili looking at Bell.

"That's right Bell, I won't complain whatever decision you make." -Welf said with a laugh that served to hide the pain he was feeling.

"Same for me Bell, I don't have enough experience in the dungeon to make a decision." -I told him with a smile.

By now I had already spent time with him and with the fact that I could read people's minds, I knew what kind of person he was. Even if he sometimes seemed distracted and a bit silly, when the people he cared about were in danger, he always gave his best, in fact after a moment of hesitation, his eyes were full of resolution.

"Our destination is the 18th floor." -With his decision, we all started preparing.

Having to travel a long way, I first had to fix Welf's leg so that it wouldn't get worse. I made sure to clean the outermost wounds as best I could and then gently poured the potion so that the effects would be greater and then bandaged the leg. With the wounds taken care of, I had to take care of the fracture, so I took two thin slabs of stone that I put attached to his leg and tightened them with a cloth so that the leg would stay put.

"Fuu, this way the leg should be fine, but it's only temporary, try not to put your weight on it... Why are you all looking at me like that?" -I asked confused since they were all looking at me surprised.

"No, we were just surprised by your skill, we knew you were good at making potions, but we didn't know you were skilled with first aid too, you moved fast." -Bell said honestly, getting the nod from Welf and Lili.

"Well, my master taught me many things and first aid was one of them. He always said that possessing an extra skill was better than not possessing it at all." -Just remembering those memories, gave me a sense of nostalgia.

"He sounds like a good person from the way you talk about him." -Bell said, smiling.

"You bet, I'll introduce you to him in the future, so let's get out of here."

"OH!"x3 -They raised their fists full of spirit.

"Before we leave though, it's better if I take this out, I apologize in advance for the smell."

Not understanding what she was referring to, Lili pulled a bag out of her backpack and the moment she opened it, I smelled the most nauseating smell of my life.

"By the name of all the gods Lili, what the heck is that?" -Welf said, trying to hold his nose.

"I know it smells, but it'll help keep the monsters away and besides you're the lucky ones, I'm the one who's closest." -Said Lili, also disgusted by the smell.

With all the preparations done, we began to explore the 15th floor. As we walked we hoped that Lili would be able to identify some places so we could get our bearings, but it seemed we were in an area she had never been to, so we often ended up at dead ends. Luckily the smell radiating from the bag kept the monsters away, otherwise, we would have been attacked all the time.

It was only the hellhounds that caused problems. The smell kept them away, but being able to spit flames, they were able to attack even if they were far away, but to our surprise, they were handled by Welf. His magic made sure to block the target's magic and if used at the right time, it would make the hellhounds implode. It was effective magic, but it had a heavy cost but Welf kept using it, not wanting Bell or me to waste energy against such monsters.

After hours of wandering, in which we faced no particular problems, we managed to find a shaft. The height wasn't too great, so we jumped straight in and, although the fall was heavy, we didn't have any problems and reached the 16th floor. Every minute was essential in this race against time to Goliath's birth, and even though we were tired, we could not stop.

"Hmmm... Is it just me or is the smell gone?" -Bell asked confused.

"Wait, if we don't smell anything anymore, that means..."

"The repellent is gone." -All of us turned towards Lili who was holding the bag with a pale expression.

We'd crossed the 15th floor and part of the 16th with the repellent active, so it wasn't strange that it had stopped working and it looked like someone was waiting for it.

'GROOOAR!'

As soon as the smell that was keeping the monsters away disappeared, the monsters' roar began to echo as a group of five minotaurs charged towards us, four of them coming from the front and one from behind.

"Bell try to keep them occupied while I take care of the one behind!" -I shouted.

I didn't know exactly how strong Bell was, so I wanted to quickly finish off the monster that was coming toward me. It was the first time I was facing a level two monster, so I wanted to use more powerful spells, even if they would use more Falna.

"Stone bind!"

Stone chains came out of the ground, binding the monster, blocking its approach, and with its legs bound, it lost its balance, falling to the ground.

"Stone spike prison!"

The second spell caused sharp stone bars to fall from the ceiling, piercing multiple parts of the monster's body, killing it.

"It was stronger than I thought." -I thought, surprised at myself. I didn't know my magic would have so much power.

Interrupting my surprise was the sound of bells ringing. Turning around, I saw how Bell was holding the stone ax of a minotaur he had killed, but what was peculiar was that the weapon was surrounded by white particles. When the sound of the bells ended, Bell raised the ax and executed a horizontal swing.

'BAAANG!'

Everything in front of him was swept away. When the dust scattered in the air dissipated, a crack stretching several meters was visible in front of Bell.

"..."

"..."

"...What can I say." -Lili and Welf were speechless, but I was the same.

The destruction caused by Bell was great, but it seemed like it wasn't something simple from the way he was breathing heavily.

Although Bell's actions were surprising, we couldn't sit still after the noise caused and the fact that the repellent had stopped working, but before we left, I absorbed the magic stone of the minotaur I had defeated.

After that the journey was much more problematic, the monsters attacked as soon as they could and we couldn't find a shaft for the next floor, but I managed to defeat more minotaurs, absorbing the remaining three magic stones. Another problem was that we started to feel tired, the first to collapse was Welf, who went into mind down. The second was Lili, who was already a miracle that she had managed to hold out for so long, despite being the weakest.

As we made our way through the various corridors, we finally found the shaft for the next floor, and without wasting any time, we jumped in. Once we landed, Bell and I could see each other's fatigue, but we had to keep going for the sake of Welf and Lili, whom we carried mutually.

Going down the 17th floor was easier, due to the less diversity of monsters, but at the same time, it meant that encounters with minotaurs were more frequent.

"Stone bind! Now Bell finish it off!"

'GRRROA!'

Roaring, the monster tried to free itself from the chains but to no avail. Bell took advantage of the situation, and pierced his dagger into the monster's head with all his might, ending its life.

'Heavy breathing'

"Let's keep walking." -Bell said wearily.

"GROOOAR!" "GROOOAR!" "GROOOAR!

We hadn't even started walking when the roars of the minotaurs started to be heard from all directions and shortly afterward an indefinite number of minotaurs started to come out of the various tunnels, completely surrounding us, giving us no way out.

"Zoe take Lili and Welf, I'll try to break through, as soon as you see a chance you run as fast as you can." -Bell said gravely as he unsheathed his dagger.

<I won't let anything happen to my comrades.>

It was nice to know that someone was willing to do anything for the people he thought were important, but with me there, I wasn't going to let anyone sacrifice themselves.

"Bell do you trust me? We'll all four of us go away together." -I told him calmly.

"...I don't know what you have in mind, but I trust you." -Initially he was doubtful, but then he decided to trust me sincerely.

"Then stay close to me, if you were too far away, you might end up involved."

Smiling at him, I closed my eyes, not minding the fact that the monsters were approaching, because I had to concentrate. I began to imagine the wind, not just a breeze, but a gale that would sweep over everything it came across, but that wasn't enough. In addition to the wind, I imagined fire being carried by the mighty wind, leaving only ashes after its passage.

"Void' - With the spell ready, I activated 'void'.

The moment the ability was activated, I felt my body being filled with Falna, but at the same time, I felt my mental energy drop deeply so I immediately cast my magic.

"Fire storm"

'KABOOOM!'

A blinding blue light forced us to close our eyes, while from the deafening sound of the wind and the heat and screams of the monsters we heard, we could imagine the scene that was taking place.

Forcing myself to open my eyes, I could see the stormy wind fanning blue flames, which as soon as it touched a monster, reduced it directly to ashes. When the wind died down, all that was left were the burnt walls and some blue flames still burning with intensity.

"...Wow! That was amazing! Wait, Zoe are you okay?!" -Bell asked worriedly.

"Bell we can't waste time here, I'm going to go into mind down in a bit." -I told him urgently, as I felt the weakness getting stronger and stronger.

When I activated 'void', the spell would also use up all my Falna, and the only reason I was resisting it was that some particles were left in my system, but they would be consumed quickly.

Seeing how serious I was, Bell wasted no time, grabbed both Lili and Welf, and began to run, while I struggled behind him. The further I ran, the greater were the effects of the mind down, I began to feel weaker and weaker and in addition to the pain in my head, the dizziness was starting, but I couldn't collapse. Bell was already struggling to carry two people, if I collapsed too, I didn't think he would be able to carry all three of us.

As we ran the distance between us began to increase, and I was forced to use the spear for support, but it seemed that the remaining reserves of Falna were almost gone, in fact...

'tonf' "

...Huh?"

My body could no longer resist and collapsed miserably to the ground. My mental clarity was decreasing more and more when I heard Bell's scream. At first, I didn't understand why he was shouting, but then out of the corner of my eye, I saw a minotaur about to strike me with its ax, but I had no strength to react.

Seeing my death coming, various thoughts ran through my mind. My death would destroy my mother who had started to hope again, Bell, Lili, and Welf would blame themselves, plus I wouldn't be able to see Al again.

'I will die not even knowing who I am.' -By now the ax stood not far from me I thought it was the end for me, when suddenly.

'Vzzzz!'

I saw something move at a speed difficult to follow with the naked eye, which not only pierced the ax but penetrated the monster's chest killing it instantly.

'Voice'

I could hear an unfamiliar voice, but by now both my sight and hearing had faded. As my consciousness receded, I saw a figure approaching me, who lowered himself, placing me on his back.

"Who... are... you?" - Those words came out of my mouth before my consciousness fell into darkness.