I see... what now? I know I should be upset but we should leave that for later
Wait! I have a lot of questions!... hello?Dammit!
so... "summon dungeon assistant?" when I finished those words a flash of light and a magic pentagram appered in front of my and disspeared the next second, andin it¡äs place a fairy was, she was dressed in a black one piece dress that went to her knees, she stood a 1 foot 4 inches, pink hair and golden eyes decorated a fair face, along with a pair of fluttering rainbow colored butterfly wings on her back. She opened her eyes. floated in front of my and bowed softly.
"I¡äm your Dungeon assistant, use me as you seeappropriate"
"What can you do?" I asked, unsure on how to proceed.
"I have the "Knowledge" skill that grants me all the non-secret knowledge of this world along with basic functions of dungeon" her answer was short and simple, I like her already.
"right, so, what¡äs your name?" I¡äm still unsure of what to do
"I don¡ät have a name" her eyes were somewhat sullen with that statement
"Would... Would you like a Name?" I mean, Why not?
"Really" her eyes started sparkling and were full of hope? excitement?
"Okay... let¡äs see..."I have noting.
"..."
"..."
"how about... El?"
"El" she tasted the name a few times before, "I like it"
"El" I said getting back her attetion "what does your skill do"
"what would you like to know?"
"tell me about this world"
Whith a storyteller-like voice she began.
"This world is called Eulizie and it land mass consist of five continents. The larger one is called the "Holy Continent" and it¡äs inhabitants are only humans, every non-human in the continent is a slave or will be. The Churc of Humanity control all the continent and Eliora the Godess of humanity control the church" I think I understant what this church of humanity is all about, "The second continent is called "the catastrophe continent" because of the many powerful monster and dangerous enviroments along with a dense and toxic miasma of mana that is the reason most monster can¡ät leave the continent. The third continet was called "the Great Continent" because of the powerful Empire that was there. now, with the murder of the emperor, the continent is fractured in dozens of warring kingdoms. The continent we are in is the Continent Of Ecilia which was baptized by the elves who reside in the northen part of the continent, in thesoutheast part of the continent is the Nitreon empire and in the southwest part of the continent lies the Baros Kingdom. the smaller continent is surrounded by a thick fog and is called "The monster Continent" because 600 years ago several sentient monster species, under the guidance of legios God of monster, migrated to the continent and they have been sealed from the outside world ever since"
I see... What I¡äm suppose to do with this?! *sigh* calm down. deep breath, deep breath. let''s keep going. "what can you tell me about the continent of Ecillia?"
"The elves inhabit the Great Ecillian Forest which cover all the northen part of the continent with giant trees, the Baros Kingdom is an oligarchy were the king and his council care only about money; The Nitreon empire is a prosperous land with a strong military ruled by a 22 years old emperor who faces almost no oppositon to his rule." that strange.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
"Why is that"
"The Emperor Eldoran Nitroen Eldisius Russ in is youthfinally unified all the southeast territories, and his egalitarian policies enraged the chuch of humanity. manipulating the queen, who was an avid, follower they increased their influence, through the years, in the empire until they tried to make emperor a puppet as well. when that fail they kill him and tried again with the, then 14 years old, prince and future emperor Demian. That was a mistake, With the help of the 3 most trusted generals of his father, he burned all chuches of humanity, killed is own mother and did the heads of all the useless nobles roll, even those who supported him. he strengthened the military of the empire, declare the church of humanity as an enemy of the state and gave titles of nobillity to those with skill. and he posess a firm grip on his empire ever since."
"What about the gods of this world?" I Know what this Eliora is about, she''s a human supremacist that obtain her power through worship only and since she has a whole Continent that shorship her she''s pretty strong and probably is the "She" that my own godess mention, but there are other gods that should be more friendly.
My thoughts about Eliora aside "The two more powerful gods are Eliora through quantity and Ezreal Through power." that''s unexpected but perphaps... "as the godess in charge of creating dungeons and by extension dealing with the rampant mana over the world, she posses a lot of power , both personally and over other gods."
"The other gods woul simply be: Artinia godess of nature. Medoli godess of love, Atlas god of order, Karatos god of blood, war and vengeance and Maleth god of dead."
"would you like to know something more?" She seems eager to be of assistance but perphaps that is because she was created that way
I need those gifts that Ezreal mention and start to make my dungeon soon or else I won''t finish anything.
"Let''s see... status"
I checked all options and let me tell you that they are garbage, as simply as that. well perhaps the confusion trap is useful but other than that there isn''t much noteworthy.
The gifts on the other hand:
''Hello me'' ''hello other me, what what do you think of our godess gifts?'' ''they are magnificent! I tell you'' ''indeed!''
but I''m afraid there is no time to lose talking to myself. I need to focus and using both my minds those make it easier to feel the mana. it''s like moving through water or perhaps mud and triyng to change the dungeon it''s like molding clay, if you ignore the fact that it dissapears when you want it to and leave an aftertaste of rock and dirt on your non-existence mouth.
The "lobby" was a 20x20 meter square with three corridors on the far wall, 2 on the corners and 1 in the Middle, this corridors led to another 20x20 meters room that are connected to other corridors that are once again conected to 20x20 meters rooms. there are 9 rooms in total formed in rows of 3 and to get to the second floor trough the corridor on farthest wall of the any of the farthest rooms. now, this wouldn''t be confusing if not for the confusion trap, it powerful enough to make people lost their way and some other minor nuisances. the monsters I choose are undead skeletons, I just felt compelled to choose them for some reason. not really something to worry about.
A extrange jolt stop me summoning them though. I soon discovered that my mana per minute has all most triplicate.
Sudden Expansion
When I wake up I notice that there were several thing wrong.
1¡ã El seemed to be panicking for some reason
2¡ã I feel like shit. Like I ate too much then kept eating
3¡ã I feel like shit. this time because I feel like when you do too much exercise and wake up the next morning with sore and painful muscles
4¡ã there was a third floors which was full of spawning point for skeleton knights, and finally..
5¡ã THERE IS A GIANT MONSTER HORDE FIGHTING MY SKELETON KNIGHTS ON THE SECOND FLOOR!!!
"El!! what is happening!?"
"wild monster are atracted to the dungeons and The Old Specter Forest teaming with monster" Why didn''t you tell about this before!?
"Why didn''t you tell about this before!? and why did I faint?" while one mind keep an eye in the battle I needed answers.
"The old specter forest Is full of rampant mana. when you expanded the dungeon influence to the outside all that mana came rushing in to your core but it was to much so you pass out. and for the monsters of the forest you are a shining beacon of pure mana so everyone is trying to reach you"
"And the third floor?"
| I did that. I didn''t want you die so soon after all, I had to force your body a little of course but this will be a good experience for. if you survive of course |
the battle is quite intense at the moment. the second floor boss was battling agains skeleton, specters, trents, some black orc, a 1 and a half meters black goblins. he would have died if it wasn''t for the reinforcements that arrived just in time, they push back the horde some rooms and die, then the horde find itself againt the fully healed floors boss and the process repeats itself.
On the surface the battle was much more intense, because of how small the entrance was some of the bigger monsters didn''t couldn''t get in so they battle their counterparts, a 5 meters fully armored ogre with a mace was fighting a bone abomination and a zombie dragon all the while, the smaller creatures fought each other to get to my dungeon.
I think I know how to solve this I need more mana. the once 1 meter tall crystal was now a grotesque 2 meters tall, jagged, cracked and with protusions in its surface. spark danced across it its surface and a mana fog slowly emanates from it, I reinforced the core quickly and keep doing it while I expanded the dungeon influence, there was a lot of mana laying around some the process went smoothly. I absorbed the mana of the enviroment, purify it and use it to expand the dungeon influence again. I only stoped when I needed to put more defenses.
the specters, ghosts and other ethereal foes were proving to be a problem, while my undead still could damage them since both were dark attributed, they only did half the normal damage. dark flame elementals were the solutions, physical attacks only cause damage to the attacker and and since they attack is magic infused they mop the floor with the specters and everything else really. the problem came when suddenly came more specters more specters that my defenses could kill, but when the disembodied foe actually succeded to get to the core room I was ready. 2 meters tall, jet black fur, giant tusks and purple eyes filled with an insatiable hunger, this warthogs were called soul devourers.
Whit an unholy howl the dozen devourers I summoned proceded to do the task that I gave them, with anim alistic glee they seemed to suck and swallow the especters whole and even El was helping, shooting powerful magic bullets, yet by the time everything was ready only two of the original soul devourers were alive and even then they looked nothing like the original.
With enough mana and at least a third of the forest under my influence I release a all that mana to enviroment and wait. one by one, all the monster stoped fighting and I could feel they conections with me. I invited a third of the forest to join me and they all accepted yet there stiill were some that weren''t under my control. my new monsters first order was to kill them all.
The old specter forest is toxic to all but the strongest monster and those with an affinity to the dark mana and this mana rich enviroment also breed a lot of of monters.
I now have, thousands of black goblins, orcs and ogres, thousands of giant spiders of diffent sizes, hundreds of black boars, hundreds of dark wolves, tens of thousands skeletons, zombies, ghost and specters, thousand of darkwood trents, hundreds of old darkwood trents and 2 dozens of ancient darkwood trents, hundreds of black stone golems and one black stone colossus, 1 black dragon, 3 bone dragons, 2 zombie dragons and, here''s were it gets interesting, one stitch abomination along with several stitch zombies and one dark elf woman.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
the stitch creatures are an amalgamation of corpses crudely stitched together, that along with the dark elf girl tells me that there are necromancers in the edges of the forest, were is possible to resist the high mana concentations, and the corpses used tells me that there are between one of the human kigndoms and the elves. and if you are wondering how did the elf got here, then my answers is that she didn''t.
a third of the forest is now stabilized and the rest is under way but until that happens it is still by all means letal. sheonly got to the outskirts of the stabilized zone before she her body shut down from the mana overload, by all means to get so far from the edge of the forest is an impressive feat but still not enough. if it wasn''t for the black dragon who stumbled upon her and was intelligent enough to know that she shouldn''t be here she wouldn''t be a ghoul right now... it was quite hard but her mana soaked body actually helped the transformation, we only need to wait until she wakes up to know what happen, but know I need to speed up my expansion process, dungeon wise.
Once enough of the forest is under my influence it will only take perphaps a week for this continent countries to find me, even less for the necromancers, and is more than likely that everyone is already making preparations yet I need to catalog all the monster, check me new skill and perphaps make a new entrance that doesn''t look like something tried to crawl trough a hole three times too small.
The first order of the day is a new first floor. with a diameter of 15 kilometers, this giant cave is illuminated by the glowing crystals in the ceiling. a lake finds itself in the center of the expanse. with the entrance to the south, the adventurers have three ways to go: the lake in the middle, the forest to the east and the monster city to the west, With small patrols in between occasionally clashing the roaming packs of black boars. the forest is infested with dark wolves and, ironically, the smaller of giant spiders. the forest boss was a pair of giant silver wolves that would only appear when one is reachingthe outskirts of the forest. The monster city was a place were a leaved all the goblins, orcs and ogres, the city is a fortress filled with side corridor, alleys and dormitories. if one wanted to avoid fighting all the monsters of the city you only need to go to the front gate, there the monsters on guard would open the door and you would be guided to the main hall were you would fight the 5 meters ogre of before and if you win you would obtain both, safe passage and a chest. on another note. the city was, like the forest, split in the middle by a river and full of chests, but in a enviroment full of monster one can''t simply look for them.
to cross the lake one could swin or use the galleon on the on the dock that is only protected by a dozen goblins and some orcs and a ogre. if one didn''t know how to sail you could pay the guy at the helm to do it, be it gold coins or something precious. in the way to the other side on could be attacked by sea serpents or in the worst of cases by a kraken, a A ranked sea monster, in case of battle there were magic ballistas on the sides of ship, there was also the possibility of not being attacked at all.
on the now second floor I made no changes but on the third floor were two things different. the once dead guard knight is know a bloody dead guard knight, his once pristine black armor has red veins like-marks going through it and the small movement and nervous tic could be considered signs ofnervousness in every other person but here. it just looks like he is trying to supress his need for murder.
the second one, was the ghoul roaming the third floor. raven hair at shoulder length along with green eyes on a cute face, only the black veins and pale skin denote her a and undead, zombies are little more than roting corpses but the ghoul were both stronger and are almost intact, her light metal armor along with the leather underneath makes her look like an assasin but the claw like gauntlets are my special touch.
She is a custom made monster. quite costly to, she roams the third floor and runs back to a room if she finds a party in a corridor and she is a A ranked boss, an A ranked monster means that they can be defeated by A ranked adventurers, most of the time at least, a A ranked boss means that they can only be defeated by a A ranked party and so on. I simply decided to make her on a whim.
for the fourth floor I made a mirror labyrinth on a 5 kilometers square room with 4 meters of height and the enemies are apparitions, specters and ghosts that would suddenly appear in the mirrors, there is also the possibility of them being illusions. there were several fake walls with chests on the other side as well
the fifth floor was a copy of 20 square kilometers of the specter forest with the trents, golems, wolves, and giant spider. cabins and ruins, along with hollow trees are where chests could be found I also put some dryads in the giant trees at the side ends of the expanse. while the labyrinth of the fourth floor does not have a boss. for this floor I made a giant ruined temple, at the end of the temple are two giant statues or is more accurate to say there is a giant tree and a giant statue. the I molded the black stone colossus on the image of Ares, the greek god of war, and were the other statue should have been is a giant ancient trent disguised as a treea giant tree but a tree nonless, they weren''t a double boss like the twin wolves on the firts floor but you would fight one depending of of your choice, to open the door one needs to light one of the braziers at the foot of the statues.
it was in the fourth day of the dungeon expansion that with half the forest under my influence appeared the necromancers.
Necromancers
Green and black robes, bone amulets and slaves. this 2 hundred odd people were necromancers, they relief was as clear as dayat having made it this far. not surprising, after all they still need to cross a, in simple terms, toxic forest.
the one in the front was wearing a macabre armor with a sickly green and more bone decorations that seems necessary. it''s strange how this guy has a knightly vibe to him. with the tip of the sword on the floor and straigh back this guy screamed of some sort of fallen knight or something along those lines
after resting for 10 more minutes the fallen knight urged his comrades foward. directly into my dungeon!
I don''t know how but they somehow have a way to track the location of my dungeon which... isn''t some unexpected
uh?
I mean, I kinda expected this but I didn''t think that some necromancers would have it. it''s a skill or an item?
not that i''t matters now.
it will probably take them a couple of days before they arrive at the entrance which means I need to repair the dungeon entrance before that.
A roman temple should be enough.
"keep moving, we are close" I encouraged them again, going through this sacred grounds had not been easy. with little food, water and with no monster or animal in sight with had been forced to eat some of the slaves and almost all the rest are dead but my mana eyes tells me that we are close.
When the experiments escaped we were furious, months of hrad work lost.
the anger vanished when the mana of the holy forest started decreasing. it could only mean one thing: a dungeon
a dungeon born in this holy place could be nothing more than a dark dungeon which means that it could be converted into a undead dungeon like it was done in the deadlands.
With that in mind we took all the food, water and slaves we could and started our journey.
everyone was exhausted and feeling sick from the mana saturation but we made it, unlike everyone I am worried about the dungeon territory been so large.
With half the forest, no... all the forest under the dungeon''s control. what can we expect from it?
the temple infront of me put a halt to such questions.
made of white stone and marble pillars, this temple has a divine aura to it.
in the very center of this temple lies the lies the stairs going down. further into the dungeon.
"gave the save some rest, will go down in an hour."
now comes the fun part.
watching their journey through the woods have very boring but know here they are here.
they descended the stairs and froze the moment they got to the bottom. they awe was short lived, the leader shouted some orders and everyone started proceeded to the forest.
I need to know what I''m dealing with so nudge a roaming pack of black boars to them.
the necromancers were quick to get into a fighting stance. weapons were drawn and magic was prepared all of which had that omnius green light, swords, maces, small crossbows and daggers and of course magic.
those with weapons in front, the mages on the back and the slaves cowered in fear.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
their weapons are enchanted with a some kind of rot effect. everything the weapons touch decays at a rapid pace, the leader especially is making short work of them.
but it all pale compared with their magic, green energy and smoke that simply make my boars drop dead and rot to dust soon after.
the victor was clear from the start. while they level was only of D and C class at most the level of the black boars is D and the magic and rot effect of the weapons give them a clear advantage. of course athe boars killed a few of them but it wasn''t meaningful in the bigger picture.
the boars, or what was left of them, became motes of light and disappeared. in its place small objets like tusks, leather or silver coins appeared this were drops, a phenomenon that only occurs in dungeons. a chest rised itself of the ground in front of the group as well.
focusing on the slaves i noticed that they they are ever so slowly backing away from the necromancer. seeing this I send all the patrols nearby against the necromancers. this not only helped the slaves escape, it also showed me something amazing.
all the mages gathered in a circle and started chanting in unison.
a minute later the spell was completed.
all the orcs and goblins along with two ogres suddenly dropped dead. like puppets whose strings were cut.
a great show of skill and cordination but pointless anyways. the slaves are already on they way here escorted by one of the twin silver wolves.
the necromancers look pretty bad already the leader even executed a pair who suggested to leave, poor guys, I almost feel bad for them, almost.
their journey through the forest was as I expect. they were already on edge so the dark wolves couldn''t ambush them but the moment the giant spider descended upon them and burst from the ground the battle was already decided. most of them were C level, not bad individually but they were tired and unprepared. the rot effect on their weapons and magic along with their resistance to the spiders poison helped but at the end of the day only the leader survived.
It''s quite a sight. a giant silver wolve and a black knight in some kind of mexican standoff I mean. both sides are circling each other in an attempt to find their oponent weakness. Silver, let''s call him that for know, seems to have found it first, he pounced at the knight, claws and teeth ready to tear him appart, their were stopped by, let''s call him Black, black''s shield. the force of the inpact forced him to take a step back. before silver could attack again a back hand strike from Black''s shield daze him long enough for a sword to dig into his shoulder. Black kept pushing the sword deeper in an attempt to grace Silves¡äs heart with the rot attack that helps him ignore Silver defenses.
a howl of pain rewarded his efforts but Silver was a boss of B level. His tough fur and flesh were somewhat cancelled by the rot effect and without his twin his power was halved but that wasn''t enough.
Silver was a 2 meters tall wolve from pawns to shoulder which means that when bited down on Black''s shoulder. at least half his torso was engulfed within the jaws of a powerful monster. Black knew that he wouldn''t win a straight figth against Silver so hi forgo defense and focused on attack in hopes of finish him first.with his shield-arm unable to move and with other still pushing the sword foward this became a battle of strenght and wills.
Black grunted in effort while his armor protested and his knees trembled.
Silver''s body trembled from both pain and rage, copius amounts of drool were falling down his mouth and his blood-shot eyes were wide with fury and his maw was ever so slowly closing in on his prey.
with a loud crack Black''s armor gave up and Silver sunk his teeth in black''s flesh. blood started pooling in the ground and black tried to speak, or at least I think he tried, the only thing that leaved his mouth was blood.
He didn''t scream, I give him that. his shield-arm went limp first, his other arm followed shortly after, his legs stoped supporting him and the rest of him soon followed. the restriction that makes me unable to change a floor were intruder are was lifted meaning that I win.
My victory was always certain.
I''m a high level dungeon. a rare dungeon. a dangerous dungeon.
E level are farmers and rookie adventurers, D level are for those with mediocre fighting skills, C level goes to profesional fighters with good skills. B level is awarded to those with exceptional skills that have expend at least a decade polishing their skill, A level is the highest ground of that can be archieved only by those blessed with skills or through decades of hard and extensive work.
S level is the stuff of legend. men and women... or monsters, capable of destroying whole countries alone.
My black goblins are alone D level threat but goblins always go in packs which makes them a level B threat the same goes for my spiders and wolves.
most dungeons are level D or C. my first floor is already level C and with my floors getting more difficult, I''m a B class dungeon. rare but not unique.
As the chosen of the goddess of dungeons I'' am aiming to become a S class dungeon.
But the only way to do that is making my own monsters. all of those that I can summon are A level at best.
| humanization skill obtained |
"What?"
A matter of Gods
"How dare you!!" Why does they always have to shout at each other. was the thought of most of those present.
"What are you whining about? If the sistem allows it is because it recognizes me as a high god!" the other voice had a smug tone in it that irritated the first speaker.
Ezreal, godess of dungeons, was glaring daggers at the smug face of Eliora, the minor godess of humanity.
"We all know that the sistem is not infallible. it is because-" she was interruped by her rival
"Not only I have the biggest nunber of followers but now all intelligent can use a human form. as it stands, I now represent a important facet of the world." Eliora flicked her black so it wouldn''t obtruct her sight again.dressed in a beatiful white dress, her beatiful face contrasted deeply with her vicius green eyes and smug smile.
Ezreal wore a simple black dress an a tool belt were several small crystal dangled from it
Unpowered dungeon cores.
"We have gathered here to determine if you are to became a high god. Which means you have no part in the discussion." Atlas, god of order, was the one that spoke. He spoke with an old and wisened voice contranting with his armor-clad figure.
"shuldn''t I have a say in this matter?" whinned Eliora
"Ha? why the hell shuld you have a say?!" countered Ezreal
Seated on his chair Atlas couldn''t the sigh that escaped through his lips
"Is something wrong, father?" standing at his left in her usual hunting attire was Teril, minor godess of the hunt, looking at him with worried eyes.
his daughter concern for him warmed his heart but he was more interested in the new weight in is lap whose tail was stroking his helmeted face. dressed in a purple yukata which did not cover her shoulders. Tengen, goddess of secrets, was looking at him with golden eyes full of mischief.
"something is bothering you, my dear husband." It wasn''t a questions but a statement.
"Someone as selfish as her shouldn''t became high gods especially if they break the rules."
"that is not what is bodering you." Tengen said in matter of fact tone.
"Sigh... You know me too well, my love."
"Fufufu... I''m no only the goddess of secrets but also your wife. I have picked a thing or two about you during the past millenium."
Tengen is a rarity among the gods. she is neither a original god or a born god. her sharp fangs, fluffy tail and fox ears atop her head are the only vestiges of her monster heritage.thousands of years ago a dungeon was destroyed and as it happens in such cases. the surviving monsters were free from their restrictions as dungeons monsters. a hidden dungeons boss, a fox, driven by it''s curiosity set itself on a journey to explore the world. with time it became stronger and it''s spread over the land until suddenly after centuries of live, she surpassed the realm of legend. she became a deity know as Tengen, goddess of secrets.
many humas, elf and other ''enlightened'' species have became gods over the thousands of years of history of this world but never a monster. Atlas took this matter in his own hands and make sure to properly teach Tengen about her responsabilities as a god. but with time love blossomed and many childs were born out of that love, such as Teril who is looking back and forth between her parents.
Suddenly as if struck with an epiphany.
"You think Eliora might try something if she becomes a high god!"
"Think? I know she will try something." what had Atlas worried is what she might try.
Back to the discussion
"almost all our followers are humans, it stands to reason that their are a major facet of this world." argued Eliora. a sound and valid argument.
murmurs erupted among the minors gods. the high gods shared glances with each other.
"I disagree." a voice said from the edges of the artificial space were all the gods were holding this meeting.Stolen story; please report.
a venomou glare from Eliora was directed at the direction of the voice.
The gods moved to the sides in order to escape such glare revealing a mass of black smoke and shadows in the form of a man.
His only features been the to shining red dots that were his eyes and the white smoke in the form of a smile were his mouth should be.
Legios, god of monsters, walked through the masses of gods and seatled in chair between Atlas and Maleth and took no notice of the small wisp of smoke that were constantly leaving is body and turning into golden motes of light.
"Legios." murmured Atlas softly. even Karatos seemed to by shocked by his condition.
all the while, Eliora keep her glare fixed on Legios, drinking in the sight of Legios battered form. dark emotions and thoughs swirling in her eyes. If Ezreal was her rival, then Legios was her arch enemy.
A commotion from the crowd of gods. small woman of silverly pink hair and blue eyes pushed her way from the crowd.
dressed in a black and white nurse outfit whose pencil skirt only reached her mid thighs and had side cut along with her sleeves that reached her mid biceps. her white stocking and nurse headband complemented the ''purity'' that her outfit exuded.
Vestal, also know as the guardian angel, rushed to Legios side with a panicked expression, kneeling at the side of his chair she joined her hands in prayer and started chanting.
when the smoke stoped leaving Legios body, the tension in the room dissapered almost completly.
Eliora clicked her tongue at the sigh of almost healed Legios but remained othewise silent.
to the gods. Legios state when they saw him could be compared to that of a man sporting a hundred cuts, and they weren''t shallow.
"Legios, are you...?" Artinia who was meditating until now was the first to question her fellow god wounds.
"My state has not been cause by an external threat. there is no need to suspend this meeting." his voice didn''t falter once but Artinia wasn''t convince.
Atlas decided that it would be better to ask about Legios wound in a more private setting so he allowed the metting to continue.
"As i was saying, I don''t think that humans are all that inportant but i''m a special case I suppose." Legios light tone raised a lot of concern among the gods
"A special case you may be, Legios..." the venom was clear in her voice."...but Karatos, does not most of your power come from the wars that the humans start..?"
Karatos straightened in his chair when he was adressed and gave a nod after some seconds of consideration.
"And Maleth does not the same aplies to you as the most numerous race?, or what about you,Medoli?"
Maleth who until know has been silently watching the events unfold answered in a raspy voice.
"I couldn''t care less about the humans. they have a tendency to play with the forbidden." several minor gods muttered their agreements with Maleth words.
"Humans are the third race in the world more prone to lust. even if humans were to dissapear I would fine as long As I have my childrens to sustain me with their love and faith." the children she was talking about were actually the races of the lamias and the harpies, two races who consisted mostly of beatiful half monsters women who were know for their passion.
Eliora cursed internally at the rejections of the two but she still had an ace under her sleeve.
"Atlas." she bellowed. "is it not a major concern to balance of the world if humans were to become extinct." she did not wait for the answer. "Even if humans are not a rece with any special trait they are esential to this world survival. not only they keep monsters in check but their presence regulates more than half of the mana leaks of the world. hisn''t that right Ezreal~?"
Neither Ezreal nor Atlas answered but that was more than enough.
"Is there someone else that wishes to deny me of the position as a higher god?" Eliora was grinning madly, her victory was all but assured, or so she thought.
"This council will grant you the position of a high god with one condition." Declared Atlas. "Clean the corruption of your followers."
"What?!"
"Your church is corrupted and evil, it can stand as it is if you seek to become a high god. Clean it, and your wish will by granted."
For asecond, Eliora looked royaly pissed but she managed to keep her composure and silenly left the divine realm.her mind already hard at work coming up with a way to resolve the matter of her corrupted and troublesome followers. perphaps she could Atlas to lend her his knights.
"This meeting is over." declared Atlas.
One by one, the gods raised themselves from their chairs and dissapered until only the high gods and Vestal remained.
"Aahh, How tiring. Would you all not agree?" Legios visibly slumped in his chair. his already healed by Vestal magic.
"You own us some answers." Medoli said ignoring his question.
"Can it wait?"
"No."
Legios tone and expression changed to anger.
"The seal around the monster continent broke! it should have lasted another 400 years,I had to use part of my soul to put it back together but the bitch is preparing for war. once she become a high god and summons her champion, she will finish what she started all those centuries ago."
the reason everyone was so worried about Legios state is because this divine realm only proyected the souls of the gods. their bodies were safe and sound behind their guardians and followers back on their personals divine realms. which means that Legios very soul was wounded.
Non of the higher gods were strangers to pain, Ezreal dealing with high quantities of mana that would cause her skin burn, Both Karatos and Atlas had fought Dark deities in the past, Medoli have experienced all the fetishes that existed-- including the more rough and painful tipes--, Artinia has experince the feeling of been burn alive by conecting herself with the trees and Maleth own existence revolves around pain and suffering. But to have their very souls damaged is something that everyone including gods fear.
"Vestal, what do you think?" Medoli questioned her servant.
"there is no permanent damage but should rest for some years too by sure there is nothing wrong" While mortals would question the need to rest for years, god perceive time differently and have almost no qualms with doing nothings for years. Like dragons who are famous for their year long naps.
With that matter finished Atlas turned to the rest of his fellow gods.
"We must prepare ourselves" He anounced. "Prepare your mortal followers, check the loyalty of your subordinates gods, many minor gods will flock to her, and search for your champions"
"Is it really okay for her to clean her church?" Suddenly asked Ezreal. "Wouldn''t it give her a more stable ground to retreat to?"
"It would." Confirmed Atlas. " But it will give us more time to prepare and besides. there is nothing wrong with making the world a bit better."
"sigh... My champion is in the center of the Ecilia continent. Your champions will be safe there... probably."
"your champion?! so soon?! How?" the one who made the exclamation was Artinia.
"I inccidentally kill him so I turned him into a dungeon core and make him my champion, hehe..."
"It does not matter now." suspired Atlas. "If there is nothing more. this meeting is adjourned."
A matter of mortals
At the center of the great city of Nitroen sat a palace. The palace was a beautiful thing, worthy of an emperor, and whithin one of its many towers a handsome man was sitting. dressed in a beatiful blue suit with golden trimmings and fineries. with shap blue eyes and brown hair combed to the side.
"Are you sure about it?" Asked the Emperor Demian Nitroen Eldisius Russ.
in front of him stood an old man, his long hair and beard well kept but having lost all it color years ago. he was dressed hin simple but finely made clothes that exuded and hair of power. a staff of alabaster white and golden ornaments and a big zapphire in the top, was lazily floating at his side.
"I am sure of it! not only was it confirm by the world map but my surbodinates in the frontier forts report that not only the sudden disappeance of all the monsters in the proximity but the mana levels seems to be stabilizing. a dungeon as apeared in the Old Specter Forest." explained Alabaster Dracus, the court magician of the Nitroen Empire.
Demian closed his eyes and noded slowly. Alabaster was one of his most trusted confidants so he didn''t have a reason to not trust him, and the world map was a powerful artifact stolen from the elves that reveals the position of all the dungeons in the world as soon as they breach the surface.
"We need to prepare an expedition at once. if we wait, the elves will destroy it!"
"We should be careful, your, Highness,With the massive amounts of mana that have accumulated in the forest over the centuries, it is more than likely that the dungeon will have an almost unprecedented grow speed. I suggest sending a full legion to subjugate the dungeon."This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
"You are right old man! this is a golden opportunity! Send for my sister and her legion, along with a contract to the adventurers guild. The crown will pay for all useful information about the dungeon, in gold!"
Alabaster could only chuckle at Demian''s antics.
"you are quite excited, aren''t you?" Alabaster had a fatherly actitud that he only showed around Demian. he has raise him as best a he could, like he promised to to his nephew Eldoran, the murdered previus emperor.
"of course I''am excited Old man, I..." He took some deep breaths "... this is the chance we have been waiting for. we are not talking about rare materials, if we can enslave the dungeon we might be able to influence all of the Old Specters Forest. it is a unique chance that and I will not let it be destroyed by those petulants elves!" his tone had turned to anger in the end.
"do not fret, your Highness, I will see to this expedition miself"
"I won''t stop you but be careful, you are getting to old to dungeon dive." said the Emperor with a joking tone.
"jaja, I''m afraid that I need to leave to make preparations, and you should go to see your sister personally." with that he took his leave. his staf following close behind
Demian gaze remained were Alasbaster stood for a moment before turning to the window and to the horizon beyond or more specifically to the Old Specter Forest. Demian didn''t know why but he had a strange feeling about this dungeon. He could only hope that it wasn''t anything bad.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Yes,but our scout couldn''t get too close I''m afraid, the dungeon influence it''s expanding fast."
"This must be the danger that our Goddess warned us about. prepare the troops and call for the forest to help us destroy this dungeon!"
"Shouldn''t your father be informed about this, princess?"
"And let the unholy dungeon grows and fester? We will destroy this abomination while it''s still young, there is no need to disturbe my father."
"as you wish. I will gather the warriors and we shall depart in the morning."
"I will pray so that the forest may lend us his strenght, May the goddess guide us!"
"May the goddess guide us!"