"Ah? Erm... ok?" Shiro was confused as to why a woman suddenly hugged her.
Much like her, this woman had long white hair that reached roughly down half way of her back along with a pair of amethyst eyes. Her skin was that of a healthy peach coupled with some light blushes on her cheeks.
As for her clothing, she wore a short white kimono with blue rose patterns spread around the edges. White stockings and some traditional Japanese sandals.
{My queen, she looks quite like the current you doesnāt she? In terms of hair colour and eye colour anyways.} Nimue asked as Shiro couldnāt help but agree.
Watching the woman cry a little while hugging onto her, Shiro sighed slightly and returned the hug back while patting her hair.
Letting her calm down after a while, Yuki stopped the hug and wiped away her tears.
"Sorry about that. Itās just that I havenāt seen you in a long time and I had initially thought that you died." Yuki apologised as her eyes were a little red around the rims.
"Itās fine. Though Iām surprised that our current appearance looks quite similar wouldnāt you say?" Shiro replied with a smile.
"Mn indeed. So have you met with Keomi yet?" Yuki asked.
"Yeah, in the letter you also said that you sent one to Keiko right? My apparent cousin. Though I canāt say for sure since I donāt exactly remember anything." Shiro replied while rubbing her nose a little.
"Ah so you do have amnesia. Hmm... thatās going to be a bit troublesome. But why havenāt you reached B class yet? I thought I mentioned that you should get to B class first." Yuki tilted her head a little in confusion.
"You see, my next class may or may not be difficult to attain so I want to get some information quickly." Shiro replied while making the two of them some ice chairs and a table.
Pointing at the chairs, Shiro gestured for Yuki to sit down.
"What kind of class is there that would force you to contact me earlier?" Yuki asked while sitting down.
"A celestial type one."
"PFT!" Widening her eyes, Yuki finally understood why Shiro had contacted her so early.
āItās going to take a while for her to get everything she needs to class up. Plus, thereās not even a guarantee that she could class up meaning thereās a good chance that sheāll have to reset her class and levels once more. If that happens, sheāll lose everything sheās worked for. Hmmm....ā She thought to herself with a frown.
"Hmm... fine. Iāll try telling you as much information as I can then. Damn, Iāve wasted some time at the start since I thought you were B class so we could ignore some parts." Yuki sighed while furrowing her brows.
"Since you have amnesia, Iāll tell you about your biggest enemy first. His name if Duan Han Ying. While Iām not sure how many powerās heās got behind him, I can say for certain that he has ties with some of the biggest factions. If anything, youāll need to be careful when you reach cities close to the front lines.
"As much as I want to say that Rising Sun is safe, we donāt know if he has connections there or not." Yuki shook her head.
Talking about Duan Han Ying for a little longer, Shiro noted it all down mentally and found out that Kuromi had already told her most of this.
The only thing that she didnāt know was that due to a recent outbreak near the front lines, he was forced to leave Yuki alone so this is potentially the best time to try to get her out of her prison.
"Aright, Iāve noted it down. Where are you currently? Iāll see if I can help you." Shiro asked.
"Hmm... Iām in a place called Frozen Imperial Mountains. To get to it, youāll have to reach the portal thatās opened up near the peak of mount Everest. However, bastard Duan has set up a formation around the place. Another thing to note is that the Frozen Imperial Mountains is like a dungeon. When you enter the portal, it sends you to a different realm of sorts. As for how big this place is, I donāt know since I canāt leave where I am right now due to a secondary barrier. The only thing I can do is use the devices he provided to manage my faction.
"Iāll be able to leave if I reach A class but the moment I do, all of my life energy and mana will be drained and stored away, killing me. The worst part is, I canāt even kill myself right now since the barrier around this place constantly heals me faster than I can harm myself" Yuki sighed.
"Then canāt you just not make any progress?" Shiro tilted her head.
"Thatās not an option either since it will put me under torture should my energy not be raised past a certain amount every day. Iāve been trying to slow it down as much as possible through limiting my advancement but I donāt know how long itāll last before he gets fed up and just kills me outright."
"By the way, how did you even send me the letters if youāre in a different world/dungeon?" Shiro asked curiously.
"You see, because itās not a complete dungeon, the space is rather unstable. I managed to find a small ripple where I can use my magic to send letters that have familiars attached to them. Though the size of the ripple fluctuates quite a bit so Iām not too sure about how long itāll last."
"Tch, how troublesome. I was hoping that you could potentially try to sneak out through that but it doesnāt seem possible.
"Mn."
"Anyways, just so that I can make sure, in order to find you, Iāll need to get to Mount Everest and break past the formation that he has set out. After finding the portal, Iāll find the Frozen Imperial Mountains should I enter. In this āworldā, youāre located somewhere right?" Shiro repeated.
"Yes that is correct." Yuki nodded though she couldnāt help but feel a little guilty. Despite her not being able to leave the realm while her best friend was being killed, she is now asking for her help even though she has amnesia.
"Alright I got it. My next stop is Japan to try to get some of my items for the class up and perhaps meet Keiko. After that, Iāll come look for you." Shiro nodded with a smile.
"You know Kuro chan, I wasnāt there for you when you were about to die and yet you are here now, helping me even though you canāt remember everything. What if Iām lying to you?" Yuki asked as she looked down, not wanting to see Shiroās expression.
"Hmm... letās just say a part of me wants to help you anyways. Waiting for death in a place where you canāt talk to anyone and can only cultivate is not a fate that anyone wants. Hell, even if it was a random person, as long as I can stop them from suffering this fate, I will." Shiro chuckled since this was similar to her time in the labs.
Waiting alone and going through experiments where the only solution is to die. But that was out of reach since the scientists stopped her from dying at the start as she was their prized experiment.
"And also, Itās Shiro now and you can drop the chan. It feels somewhat awkward personally to hear that at the end of my name." Shiro shrugged.
"Mn, got it. Shiro, if I can get out of here, Iāll definitely do my best to help you out. I wonāt just sit by and watch as Duan getās his hands on you. More so since youāre trying to help me even though your hands are quite full." Yuki promised with solid determination in her eyes.
Seeing this, Shiro smiled softly.
āYou have some nice friends Kuromi. The determination in her eyes is like the blazing sun, unyielding. Ironic since her name means snow.ā Shiro thought to herself.
"By the way, do you happen to know why Duan Han Ying tried to kill me?"
"Hmm... not really. I only know that you two were āfriendsā for a while but then something happened and he went all ape sh*t on us. Trapping me and trying to kill you. Thankfully, he hasnāt done anything to the rest of your family yet but I would keep an eye out for them especially your parents as theyāre both on the front lines." Yuki replied.
"I see..."
Before they could continue, they felt their connection falter as they both frowned.
"Seems like the time is up." Shiro muttered.
"Mn. Stay safe out there Shiro. If you canāt come help me, donāt. Itās better that I die than the both of us die should Duan be here when you are."
Raising an eyebrow, Shiro only smiled before flicking Yukiās head.
"Donāt give up so easily like that. I said Iāll come help you so just wait for a while." Shiro grinned before disappearing.
Opening her eyes, Yuki looked up in the sky and smiled softly.
"Iāll wait for you then Ku- no, Shiro." She muttered.