《Edith Donner, Dungeon Devourer (PlaceHolder)》 Chapter 1: A Question of Destiny Edith¡¯s emotions teetered between being sickeningly anxious to heart pounding excitement. Today was the day that would literally decide her Destiny. The anticipation of finally receiving her Heart¡¯s Bounty, the final piece that would finalize her Destiny, made the extremely early morning and bumpy wagon ride seem trivial in comparison. Now that Greyverte¡¯s towering majesty could be seen on the horizon, her excitement won her internal battle. ¡°Calm down Edee,¡± her father lovingly chided, ¡°I know you''re excited to receive your Destiny but if you keep squirming like that you¡¯ll spook the canniths and make us late.¡± The two large dog~like beasts seemed to fidget against their reins, hair beginning to bristle and stand on end. ¡°Sorry boys,¡± she sympathetically consoled. ¡°But dad, you have to understand. Today is THEE day. I¡¯ll finally receive my Destiny. How can I not be excited.¡± she pleaded. ¡°I know love. I won¡¯t deny that today is a big day,¡± her father acknowledged. ¡°We¡¯re about an hour out. Remain calm and I¡¯ll see if I can urge the boys to pull us a bit faster,¡± her father bargained. Heaving a sigh, Edith did her best to calm down. Admittedly her best wasn¡¯t that good, and the approaching gates only increased her levels of excitement. Thirty minutes late, their wagon approached the gates of Verte. After enduring a brief inspection they were permitted into the great walled city. Based on what mumblings she had overheard from wandering Dungeoneers, Verte was rather small for a city housing a Guardian. Looking at the towering buildings near the gates she found that sentiment to be quiet mind boggling. Even then Greyverte could still be seen towering over the buildings, a gargantuan edifice of benevolence and protection. No dungeons were able to form around the colossal figures supposedly dotted throughout the lands. The monsters that burst from a dungeon left too long in the wilds tended to avoid the areas that began to approach the Guardians. This protection is the reason civilization was even able to take root across the world. The Ancients¡¯ blessings didn¡¯t even end there, as it was soon discovered that they provided the very blessings that had brought Edith to Verte today. Lost in these thoughts, Edith finally noticed that they had entered the Guardian Plaza. Her father parked on the outer ring and hopped out of the wagon and began to unhitch the canniths to take them to one of the many water troughs. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°I¡¯ll get them tethered over by the water honey. Try your best to prepare yourself. Like you were saying, today is a very big day.¡± ¡°O-okay dad,¡± she responded. The power radiating off of Greyverte was overwhelming. Greyverte¡¯s faceless and alien visage tilted down toward the two cupped hands placed on the ground before him. His other hands were held folded protectively to his chest as if to console itself. Where a waist would be his colossal form met the earth. Not long from now she would approach those cupped hands to receive her Heart¡¯s Bounty and finalize her Destiny. The anxiety that had once been bested by her excitement returned. What if her Destiny ended up being of little use? ¡°You okay dearie?¡± her father gently prodded. She hadn¡¯t even noticed his return. ¡°Dad, what if my Destiny is useless?¡± she whispered. ¡°Ahh, that¡¯s what¡¯s eating at you.¡± her father stated. ¡°I¡¯m no expert on any of this but I can tell you of my own experience. Hard as it may be to believe I didn¡¯t want to have my Destiny be a Farmer. I remember wanting to be Dungeoneer, and becoming a local Hero.¡± he reminisced ¡°However once I moved out to Thyrion and started working the ground, I realized that I preferred the peace and small satisfaction of watching a harvest slowly grow over the season.¡± he smiled to himself. ¡°I came to realize that even though I didn¡¯t get the Destiny I wanted, I got the Destiny that would ultimately make me happy.¡± ¡°I guess that makes sense,¡± Edith acknowledged ¡°And it¡¯s not like I¡¯ve ever seen anybody disappointed in their Destiny.¡± she assured herself. ¡°I¡¯m sure there are some out there, but there are some people who will complain about anything. I¡¯d like to think we raised you better than that,¡± he jokingly pointed out trying his best to lighten her mood. ¡°That¡¯s true enough,¡± Edith laughed. ¡°And I''m fairly sure you raised me well enough that we can probably avoid that.¡± She hugged her father. ¡°Thanks for the talk Dad,¡± she whispered. ¡°Just because you are receiving your Destiny doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯ll stop being my girl.¡± he whispered back. ¡°I love you Edith. Now get up there and find your Destiny.¡± Squaring her shoulders and taking a deep breath she gave her father one last hug before turning and heading for the center of the square. As she drew to the center she began to feel the gazes of people hanging about the Plaza. Someone heading to receive Greyverte¡¯s blessing wasn¡¯t an unusual sight in the city, but Edith looked about the age to finalize a Destiny and that was a bit more of a notable event. She approached Greyverte¡¯s cupped hands and steeled herself. She stepped into the Guardian¡¯s waiting hands. The hands slowly began to rise till she was face to face with Greyverte¡¯s bowed head. It was finally time to finalize her Destiny. Chapter 2: Finalizing your Destiny Edith gazed up at the featureless face of Greyverte¡¯s majestic form. She closed her eyes as she began to hear the voice of the Guardian¡¯s System. The monotone voice began to reverberate in her head, and she opened her eyes as text began to fill her vision. ~~~~~~~ Analyzing the blessing bearer¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Analysis complete. Blessing bearer Edith Donner Current Destiny: Incomplete. Blessings Granted 2/3 Current Blessings Body¡¯s Boon: Iron (uncommon) Mind¡¯s Favor: Fire (common) Heart¡¯s Bounty: Unassigned Status remains incomplete until Heart¡¯s Bounty has been assigned. Detecting Soul¡¯s Stability Levels¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Soul Stability Levels have reached desirable levels Producing choices for Edith Donner to decide their Heart¡¯s Bounty Generating options from Human Versatility¡­ Generating options from Edith Donner¡¯s Experiences¡­ Generating options from the Weave of Fate¡­ ~~~~~~~ Edith waited with baited breath. Everyone was given three options for their blessings when they came to the appropriate age to receive them. The System generated them based on a person''s race, experiences, and the Weave of Fate. She had heard that other races such as the Botans and Geoni generated more specialized options than what a human could produce. This resulted in humans having much more varied Destiny''s than other races. That also made the other races more consistent in their specialized fields such as mining, blacksmithing, agriculture, ect. The options derived from experiences and the Weave are where people¡¯s more individualized Destiny¡¯s came from. Her experience helping to put out a fire that was spreading through her hometown, Thyrion, three years ago had led to the option of Fire being available at her last selection. The final option being produced from the Weave was often the most unpredictable of the three. It was frequently considered the largest chaos factor to the development of one¡¯s Destiny. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. These thoughts plagued her as the voice of the System began to once again ring in her mind once more. ~~~~~~~ Options Generated Successfully. Please choose one of the following options¡­ Please confirm your selection¡­ ~~~~~~~ Edith was amazed by her luck. She had rarely heard of people having an epic blessing. Even amongst her family the highest rarity she knew of was her Grandmother¡¯s Blessing of Haven which was a ¡®rare¡¯ rarity blessing. She was slightly disconcerted about her option being Ravenous Hunger. She was unsure what kind of destiny would result from combining that with her existing blessings of Iron and Fire. She couldn¡¯t see any way that hunger would interact with those two elements. However, Edith was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth and decided to accept the highest rarity blessing of Ravenous Hunger. ~~~~~~~ You have chosen the Heart¡¯s Bounty generated by the Weave of Fate: Blessing of Ravenous Hunger. Confirm? yes/no? ~~~~~~~ ¡°Yes.¡± Edith confirmed. ~~~~~~~ Confirmation received you have accepted Heart¡¯s Bounty: Raa_ven__ouuuss.. A System Administrator¡¯s Intervention Detected. Please Standby. ~~~~~~~ ¡°Wait, what?¡± Edith stared confused at the text appearing in her vision. ¡°What is going on?!?¡± she demanded with a rising panic in her voice. ~~~~~~~ Heart¡¯s Bounty Rarity increasing¡­ ~~~~~~~ ¡°Why is this happening!?!¡± Edith pleaded to the air in front of her. ~~~~~~~ Heart¡¯s Bounty Rarity Increasing¡­ Increasing¡­ Congratulations You have Accepted Heart¡¯s Bounty: Ranthorn¡¯s Ceaseless Consumption (mythic) Now generating your Destiny please Standby¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Destiny Generation Successful! Your Blessings have shaped the Destiny: Dungeon Subjugation Force. Blessings Have come together to Generate the Class: Feast Master You will be transported to the training area Taurotin Forest in two days time. Please make preparations until then. ~~~~~~~ Edith stared open mouthed at the floating text in front of her. She didn¡¯t know what happened or how to explain any of it. She apparently now held the highest rarity of blessing she had ever heard of. She also finally received her Destiny. But after all the weirdness condensed into such a small span of time, it made her question whether she even wanted it anymore. Chapter 3: The Dungeon Subjugation Force Edith was shell shocked as Greyverte¡¯s hands lowered her back to the earth. The cavalcade of oddities that just occurred during the finalization of Destiny had left her dumbfounded. It wasn''t until some time had passed that she started to process some of what had just happened. Noticing her clear distress, her father calmly approached her. ¡°So Edith, how did it go?¡± He cautiously asked. ¡°Monster Subjugation Force.¡± She quietly answered. Her father¡¯s face darkened at the news. ¡°Damnit.¡± He cursed under his breath. After attempting to bore a hole through the earth with a furious gaze, he took a deep cleansing breath. ¡°Let¡¯s get you down to the local guild hall then. They can outfit you with some basic supplies, after which I¡¯ll take you to get a few extra things.¡± He grabbed her hand protectively and led her out of the square. ¡°What about the wagon?¡± Edith wondered. ¡°It will be there when we get back.¡± Her father assured her. The Dungeoneer Guild was the largest organization in the world. While their main job was to track down and clear dungeons, that wasn¡¯t all they did. People gifted with much more combative powers and skills from the system, a Dungeoneer could be contracted for a variety of jobs. From guarding a merchant expedition outside the safe zones, to searching for rare materials in the wilds. A Dungeoneer could perform tasks too dangerous for normal people. This made Dungeoneers highly respected and well paid members of society. However, despite all of this, few aspired to become one. The mortality rate of those whose Destiny¡¯s revealed them to be new members of Dungeon Subjugation Force was absurdly high. It was estimated that somewhere around one in five new Dungeoneers survived their training areas. With these grim thoughts occupying her mind, Edith was led in a daze towards the local guild hall. The Dungeoneer Guild¡¯s hall was a more modest building than one would assume. A simple two story stone structure with a crest of a spear and staff crossed over a cave mouth. They entered the hall where her father led her to the registration desk. The man stationed there lit up in recognition. ¡°Henry, how are you, friend?¡± The functionary asked. ¡°Finally going to take me up on that offer for imported seeds?¡± ¡°Not today Mason.¡± Her father answered with a stony voice. ¡°Edith just got her Destiny from Greyverte. Dungeon Subjugation Force.¡± Mason¡¯s warm expression fell from his face. ¡°Truly?¡± He asked with trepidation. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to hear that. I¡¯ll get things organized for you. First I need to know what training ground she¡¯ll be headed off to?¡± He asked as he attempted to hide his remorse behind stern professionalism. ¡°Taurotin Forest is what the system told me.¡± Edith quietly answered. ¡°On a rough day like today, I want you to know that Taurotin Forest is good news Edith,¡± Mason beamed. ¡°While it will still be dangerous, it is one of the safest training grounds you could be summoned to,¡± he consoled her. ¡°We¡¯ll get you outfitted with some leathers and a pack of potions. At your registration discount that will be 150 iron crowns.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Her father pulled out his pouch and emptied most of its iron coins on the desk. ¡°I know that isn¡¯t the standard registration rate. Thank you for that Mason,¡± he said with some of his returned warmth. ¡°It¡¯s the least I can do.¡± Mason said. ¡°If you hadn¡¯t raised Ethan the way you had¡­¡± His voice caught as tears began to well in his eyes, brought on by a long forgotten memory. ¡°I¡¯ll never be able to pay that back, but I¡¯ll do what I can.¡± He said as tears flowed down his cheek. Mason coughed and wiped his face with a handkerchief. ¡°A-alright Edith, all I¡¯ll need to register now is your class. That¡¯s the only required part so unless you want them registered we don''t have to do your blessings.¡± Mason explained before ducking into the store room to retrieve the necessary forms. Edith was relieved to hear this . The stress of being taken in two days was already pushing what she could handle. The last thing she needed was more attention drawn to her because of some crazy unheard of blessing she now had. ¡°The system assigned me a class called ¡®Feast Master¡¯.¡± She responded. Mason was skimming through a large book on his desk. ¡°That Class doesn¡¯t seem to be in our archives.¡± Mason stated. ¡° That being said, a new class being added to the guild archives isn¡¯t an unheard of oddity.¡± He said while scribbling through some of the registration papers. After he had gone through the small stack of registration forms, he opened the drawer to his desk and pulled at a small, white, stone sphere. ¡°Now all that¡¯s left is to attune you to a tracking stone. Simply prick your finger and smear a little blood on the stone to attune it. After that we will be finished with the registration.¡± He explained as he handed her the stone and a small pin. Edith took the stone in her hand and pricked the tip of her finger, smearing the blood on the stone as she was instructed. The white sphere shifted into a faded gray. She could only assume that its shifting color meant that it had worked and she handed the stone back to Mason. ¡°Thank you for that, now I¡¯ll go get your starting supplies.¡± Mason said before taking the paperwork and the tracking stone. He then shuffled into the back room once more. He returned with a folded set of leather armor and a box of potions. ¡°Some basic leather armor with a minor repair and fitting enchantments.¡± He explained as he handed her the armor. ¡°As well as three health, two mana and two stamina potions. Since the Taurotin Forest tends to have more than a few varieties of venomous monsters, we also provided five antidotes.¡± He had pulled out each of the potions as he explained them to Edith. He replaced them all into the box and set them atop the armor that she was holding. ¡°Now that¡¯s all for the starter equipment, but I do have one last thing for you. Knowing Henry he was likely going to get you some additional supplies that he doesn¡¯t have the crowns for, but I¡¯ve already sent an intern.¡± Mason informed them as he stood up and began heading once more into the back room. ¡°They should be arriving any minute now with those basics and a pack to carry them in¡± He called out. ¡°We appreciate that Mason but you¡¯ve already been generous enough.¡± her father began to reply. ¡°Don¡¯t even start!¡± Mason interrupted as he returned with a fine leather backpack. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be bleak but this may be the last few days you see your daughter. So you are going to shut your mouth, graciously take the handout, and go home and enjoy the time you have left before she leaves.¡± Mason locked eyes with her father as he held out the pack for him to take. A complex series of emotions seemed to war in the two men¡¯s faces. Her father stared at his old friend, and then slowly reached out and took the gift. ¡°Thank you,¡± he whispered. He then turned back to Edith. ¡°Let¡¯s go home.¡± he said dryly. He took her hand and they left the guild hall. As they left Mason looked up at the ceiling and uttered a silent prayer. ¡°Bring that girl home.¡± Chapter 4: Names Engraved in Stone The ride home had been filled with an oppressive silence. Even the jostling of the wagon seemed muted somehow. Her Destiny seemed to be an uncomfortable weight that had settled between her and her father. After half the trip had passed in awkward silence, she finally mustered the nerve to ask her father a question. ¡°Dad¡­¡± she hesitated for a moment before continuing on. ¡°Why did Mason bring up Ethan?¡± Edith couldn¡¯t remember much about her eldest brother. She was barely five years old when he had revealed his Destiny and been taken away. He also had received Dungeon Subjugation Force as his Destiny, and like so many others he never returned from the training area. She couldn¡¯t recall a time when her parents were more distraught than when he didn¡¯t come home. The question hung in the air between them with a nearly physical tension. Her father took a deep cleansing breath before addressing the question. ¡°Ethan was apparently thriving in the training grounds. It wasn¡¯t that violence came naturally to him as much as protecting others did,¡± her Father explained. ¡°He was a natural leader and had even formed a small group to help others in the grounds. Towards the end they decided to attempt a higher level dungeon to finish things off. It ended up being too much for the others to handle.¡± She watched as tears began to well up in her father¡¯s eyes. ¡°Ethan held off the monsters so the rest of them could make a run for the exit¡­.¡± He choked back the tears as he pressed on with the story. ¡°Mason¡¯s son was one of the people he saved that day. He gave his life to save some people he had only just met.¡± Her father sobbed out as his tears began to flow freely. Edith reached out for her father¡¯s hand attempting to bring him some comfort. He clasped at her hand and begged through his tears. ¡°Please come home dearie, my heart can¡¯t take losing a second child. Promise you¡¯ll come home.¡± He sobbed out. ¡°I¡­ I promise Dad. I¡¯ll do whatever it takes to come home safely.¡± She said, fighting the tears welling in her own eyes. The wagon had stopped and they sat there holding each other, their wails of sorrow ringing through the deafening silence. The rest of the trip home passed in the returned silence. Edith saw Thyrion on the horizon in front of the setting sun. Her father¡¯s eyes were still red and puffy though hers were not much better. She was now beginning to fret over how her mother would react to the news. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°It¡¯s already late so just head to bed when we reach home.¡± Her father told her after seeing the worry on her face. ¡°I¡¯ll tell your mother and we¡¯ll face it together in the morning.¡± ¡°Thank you dad¡± Edith responded quietly. She had already reached her emotional limit for the day and couldn¡¯t have dealt with breaking the news to her mother at this point. As they pulled into Thyrion proper the familiar sight was a balm to her weary soul. They made their way through the modest town¡¯s center heading for the family inn and cozy home nestled on the border of Thyrion. ¡°Head in through the back and get to sleep.¡± Her father instructed. ¡°Your mother should be finishing the final call for meal time in the kitchens. I¡¯ll find her and break the news. Sleep well Edee.¡± Mumbling a quiet acknowledgement, Edith hopped off the wagon and made her way to her bed inside the house. Despite her worries, the emotional toll finally found a use and she soon found herself in a deep, dreamless sleep. *** Edith awoke early the next morning with a renewed sense of determination. With the shock of her Destiny beginning to pass, she had decided to face it head on. She knew she couldn¡¯t run from it. The only option was to embrace it and face what came head on. Even with the resolution to embrace her Destiny, she found herself heading out for her morning run. She hoped that the familiar action would help calm her frayed nerves. As she set out towards the Town¡¯s center, she took in her surroundings with new eyes. The small weathered homes that dotted the city. The packed earth roads that had seen countless travelers. The dilapidated bell tower they never rang quite right anymore. It was these small things that made up her home. A day from now she will be taken away, potentially never seeing her home again. She slowed down as she reached the town center. She looked at the weathered bricks that made the only patch of paved road in the whole town, though no one dared to walk on them. She looked at each of the small stone bricks, a name engraved on each one. Arton Von, Elisa Winter, David Turner just to read off a few. She knelt down to the ones toward the end of the line. It had a familiar name on it. Ethan Donner. People whose Destinies led them to the same road she was now set upon. Would her name join those that had been added after her brother? Would she only be remembered as a name on a brick in a small town? She clenched her fists, an unexpected rage filling her as she thought of becoming one more sacrifice to pave the way forward for others. ¡°Not if I can help it.¡± She proclaimed determination in her eyes. She turned from the memorial square to head home, an unseen ferocity in her steps.