Chapter 42 Suspicion...

Rose felt strength leaving her body and collapsed to the ground, feeling the chill of the snow seeping into her bones. She struggled to lift herself up, but it was as if a heavy weight was pressing down on her.

Her eyelids were also heavy, and she could feel herself slipping away.

Crunch...

Suddenly, a loud crunching sound broke through the stillness, and she could hear someone stomping through the snow nearby. She tried to focus her blurry vision on the figure, but it was all just a blur. All she could make out were the outlines of a man's figure, and the sound of his muttered words.

"Stupid lizard!"

He grumbled, and Rose couldn't help but feel a flicker of fear. She tried to muster the strength to speak, but her throat felt dry, and no sound came out.

Suddenly, the stranger picked her up and Rose's blood ran cold with fear. He carried her over to a nearby tree and leaned her against it, his warm hand gripping her wrist.

Swish...

Suddenly, she felt a rush of energy coursing through her body as Mana flowed from the stranger's hand into her own.

'NO!'

She knew that this was a dangerous situation, and tried to resist the transfer, knowing that it could have dire consequences if their compatibility was off. But she was too weak, too exhausted to fight back, and soon she gave in.

As the stranger's Mana began to circulate through her body, Rose felt a sense of acceptance, as if she was ready to die, but then she heard a clicking sound in the distance, and suddenly everything changed.

Click...

A subtle connection was established between them, and the Mana began to flow into her like a racing car on a highway.

As the rush of Mana flowed through her body, Rose's mind raced with questions. Who was this stranger? And how was it possible that they were compatible?

Rose knew that there could only be one person in the world that was compatible with you, and it was almost impossible to find them.

According to her knowledge, she knew that the connection could only be established between a woman and a man. Her parents had joked that if she ever found a compatible person, she should marry him.

However, in that moment, Rose's thoughts were consumed by the present. She had no idea who this man was, but the connection between them was undeniable. As the Mana continued to flow into her body, she felt her dizziness slowly disappearing.

As Rose tried to fully open her eyes and make sense of what was happening, the connection was suddenly cut off.

She felt a jolt of panic as she realized that the stranger was leaving her. The smell of blood brushed her nostrils, and she could see the blurry sight of the man slowly fading away from her vision as he walked behind the trees.

'Wait!'

Rose felt a sudden urge to scream out, to tell the stranger to wait. But she knew better than to let her emotions get the best of her. Despite their compatibility, the man might not be friendly.

Maybe he only helped her because he thought she was unconscious?

As she pondered this, she pressed her red lips into a straight line and began to slowly circulate the stranger's Mana around her body. She closed her eyes and focused, feeling the Mana particles outside of her body gravitating towards her and absorbing into her core.

After a few minutes, Rose opened her eyes and stood up, feeling a rush of power coursing through her veins. She was still injured and far from perfect condition, but the Mana had revitalized her enough to fight a single Yeti.

Rose's azure eyes landed on the massive corpse of the Wyvern lying just a few dozen feet away from her.

She approached it slowly, taking in the sight of the beast's lifeless body. As she prepared to extract its core, she noticed a long cut running across its chest.

"..."

Her face remained stoic, but her eyes glimmered in the light.

"I guess nothing is for free..."

She muttered under her breath and lowered her hands, realizing that the man who had helped her was probably the one who had taken the core.

A small smile tugged at the corners of Rose's lips as she thought about the possibilities. The Wyvern's core was a rare and valuable commodity, and if the man tried to sell it, he would be easily traced.

"I wonder what my parents would say..."

Rose wondered what her parents would say if they found out she had found traces of her compatible person.

As an Elven princess, she was a prized gem among her people. If her family discovered that she had crossed paths with her compatible partner, they would stop at nothing to uncover every detail of the encounter.

Finding a compatible partner was like finding your other half. They could help you with almost everything Mana-related, from transferring Mana to enchanting your body's regenerative functions, as long as they were nearby pulsating their Mana.

"..."

Rose's thoughts turned briefly to Aiden, whom she had met just before fighting the Wyvern but quickly shook her head.

"He has already left the dungeon..." She thought.

However, as she compared his figure to the stranger's, they seemed eerily similar, but her vision was also blurry, so she couldn't be certain.

Click...

She took out a Health Potion from her Spatial Ring and quickly consumed its contents, feeling the liquid energy surging through her veins.

She carefully placed the empty potion bottle onto the snow, aware that it was against the rules to litter in the permanent dungeons. However, since this dungeon would disappear in a few days, the rules didn't apply anymore.

Rose looked around at her surroundings, taking in the quiet beauty of the snow-covered landscape. She knew she couldn't stay here for long. The dungeon was dangerous, and there were likely other monsters lurking around, waiting for their chance to strike.

"Who are you..."