Frostfire Legacy

"So, what sort of information do you want?"n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

About five minutes later, Natalie finally calmed down and returned to her seat. She still didn't give Aster the time of day, clearly holding on to her irritation. However, she had at least shown kindness to the fainted Kali, lending her the bed in the same room.

With no other choice, Aster perched himself on the edge of the bed, careful not to disturb Kali, and replied. "Don't you know already?"

"...Information about everything from the 100th to 200th floors, right?" Natalie sighed, her tone laced with exasperation, as if finding Aster more and more insufferable. "If it's that broad, it's going to cost you. A lot."

She tapped away at her tablet a few times before projecting a hologram in front of Aster. The number displayed on it made his jaw drop.

"10 billion Tels just for information?!" Aster exclaimed, feeling she was blatantly ripping him off as payback for the earlier incident.

"Hey! I'm not petty enough to charge you extra just because you saw my body!" Natalie shot back, glaring at him as if reading his thoughts. "This is the market price—and I've already given you a 50% discount because Fay asked me to!"

"Even with the discount, that's ridiculous..." Aster grumbled. "Can't you make it cheaper? Like, under 100 million?"

Natalie narrowed her eyes but didn't argue. Instead, she turned back to her keyboard, recalculating the price while narrowing down the scope of the information she would provide. After a moment, the hologram refreshed, displaying a new, significantly lower number.

"I've limited the data to only high-relevance information," she explained, pointing to the breakdown on the screen. "Since your group is using that fancy EM Car to travel through the dungeon, I removed details that wouldn't matter. With the discount applied, it comes down to 150 million Tels. Better?"

Aster meticulously reviewed the filtered-out data, ensuring nothing critical was missing. Natalie's adjustments were surprisingly accurate; she had removed extraneous information without compromising essentials. Even the few excluded details that seemed relevant had been replaced with cheaper summaries.

"Alright, we'll take it," Aster agreed, satisfied. "Can I pay with my Adventurer's Card?"

"Sure. I'll send the data to your tablet," Natalie replied.

"Okay, I'll share my address—"

Before Aster could finish, he noticed a notification on his tablet indicating that the download had already begun. Over 500 GB of data was being transferred to his device's memory, completely bypassing any manual input on his part.

"..."

Aster had questions. Many questions. For starters, how was she sending the data when his tablet showed no signal and without any cables or connectors?

"Ah, it's part of my ability, so don't think too deeply about it." Natalie waved dismissively, anticipating his confusion.

"My class is Information Broker, a Unique Rare+ Class. One of my abilities allows me to send data from one place to another, regardless of distance or medium. It's foolproof."

"..."

Intrigued, Aster squinted at his tablet. Upon closer inspection, he noticed thin, glowing threads of mana connected to his device's port, stretching toward the shadowy space beneath Natalie's workstation. It didn't take much to deduce that the mana threads were acting as wires, transmitting the information seamlessly.

"That's... quite a convenient ability," Aster murmured in admiration.

Natalie smiled faintly, though there was a bitterness to it. "It's convenient for this kind of work, sure. But my fighting strength is basically zero. It's hard for someone like me to climb beyond the 100th floor."

"..."

Aster could hear the sadness in her voice, tinged with regret and resignation. He couldn't pinpoint the exact source of her emotions, though. Had her party abandoned her on the 100th floor, deeming her useless in combat? Or had her teammates been wiped out in an encounter, leaving her the sole survivor?

Enjoy more content from empire

He could only speculate.

"Being weak, huh..."

The phrase triggered memories of his own "recent" past, of when his body had been so frail that even standing or walking required someone's help. Though his situation had been different from hers, he couldn't help but feel a sense of camaraderie toward Natalie.

"Do you..." Aster's mouth opened, seemingly moving without his conscious control. "...want to continue climbing through the dungeon?"

"..."

The question hung heavily in the air, carrying unspoken implications that left Natalie momentarily speechless. She sighed after a beat, her expression unreadable. "I wonder..." she murmured. "Honestly, I'm not even sure anymore. I mean, I'm making enough money to live in luxury for five lifetimes, so... probably not?" She finished her sentence with a forced laugh, the humor feeling slightly hollow.

Noticing her evasive response, Aster decided not to press further. Instead, he smiled wryly. "Well, considering how you're fleecing your customers, I guess even if they're few and far between, you're making a killing."

"I told you, my prices are fair and regulated!" Natalie shot back, glaring at him. "If you knew how those shady back-alley brokers overcharge for half-baked info, you'd think mine is practically a steal!"

"Yeah, sure," Aster replied, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "A steal."

"You...!"

Natalie's face twitched with irritation, her fists clenching as she debated whether or not to punch him. Before she could act, Kali, who had been lying behind Aster, began to stir.

"Ugh... Huh...?"

The moment her eyes fluttered open, she bolted upright as though propelled by a spring. Her gaze darted around the dark room in a panic, her wide, fearful eyes searching for something unseen.

"Phew..." She exhaled deeply when she seemingly found nothing, her tense shoulders relaxing.

"Oh, finally awake!" Natalie exclaimed, though her voice carried a trace of grumpiness. "Anyway, I've received the payment, and you've got your information. So pack up and get going! Shoo, shoo! You're disrupting my business!"

Aster glanced at his tablet, confirming the successful transfer of data. With a resigned smile, he extended a hand to Kali, offering to help her up.

"Well, I guess we're not exactly welcome here. Let's go. Though, we might be back later if we need more information."

"R-Right..." Kali mumbled, her voice shaky.

Despite her nod, the lingering traces of fear were evident in her body language.

Suddenly, her eyes caught a flicker of movement across the room. Like a cat fixated on a dangling string, her gaze locked onto the source—a series of disembodied hands moving over Natalie's workstation. The hands flitted across the keyboard with eerie precision, pressing keys in perfect synchronization.

"Hiiik!!!"

Kali's shriek shattered the quiet tension in the room. Without warning, she leaped toward Aster, latching onto him with the force of a frightened animal. Her chest pressed firmly against his face, her arms wrapped tightly around his head, and her legs hooked under his arms and across his back like a clamp.

"MMMPH!"

Aster staggered, completely blindsided by the sudden assault. His muffled protests and frantic gestures for help were futile as he struggled to breathe. He glanced desperately at Natalie, hoping for assistance.

Natalie, however, did the opposite of helping. She stood up, pulled out a camera seemingly from thin air, and began recording the scene with an amused grin. "Not bad, not bad..." she muttered, angling for the best shot.

Meanwhile, Aster's enhanced stats proved useless against Kali's iron grip. He couldn't bring himself to forcibly pry her off, not wanting to hurt her.

He resigned himself to his fate. Deprived of air, his vision began to darken, and within moments, his consciousness slipped away into the void.