《The power of scrolls》 Chapter 1 Devan rubbed his head as he tried to wake up from his stupor. The events leading to his death flashed before his eyes. He was never one for messy suicides so he opted for one of the classics; death by hanging. Considering he was an orphan he doubts anyone would have been hurt by his disappearance considering he relied heavily on the government to pay for his expenses, the benefit of benefits. Devan smiled at that thought. He winced at the sudden onset of pain and grimaced at the events a few hours prior. Who would have thought that Devan would be transported to another world replacing a guy who he shares the same name with? Surely this is just a funny coincidence. Devan rubbed the bridge of his nose in sadness. ''Betrayed by one you''re older brother. That must suck.'' Devan look up at the night sky. "Don''t worry I will avenge you." he promised with great conviction. ''Even though this body has no talent for magic or aura, I will try to find a way to get to get him back for what he did to you, for now, I cannot stay here any longer, I have to travel to search for my own strength.'' Devan cried out in pain at the sudden intrusion of a massive amount of magical information that is invading his brain. Devan cries grew even louder by the second and he buckled from the amount of pain he was feeling. "Arghh! my head!" he screamed in pure agony. His vision blurred and his mind a messed but the pain never faded away. Devan couldn''t handle the pain anymore and simply passed out. Devan began to wake up and he can''t help but be exhilarated, this is just exactly what he needs right now, an ability. All characters he read about that has been reincarnated or transported to another world have their own cheat that makes them unique and now he has one. An ability called replication. It''s not exactly an overpowered ability but Devan was thinking it would be enough to live comfortably while slowly planning out his revenge. He does owe the original owner considering he is using his body, it''s only fair he reasoned. To explain what his ability does is it basically copies any item or object magical or non-magical and reproduce it through a medium. For example, Devan could activate his ability to replicate a sword, in order to do that he has to offer an item like a rock or a speck of dirt, in fact, it could be anything and the ability would transform that rock into the specified item that Devan had in mind. In a way it is game-breaking. Devan could not help smiling at the sudden turn of events. ''Even if this body cannot use magic, there are other ways using this ability, there are magic scrolls and magic items that grant users powers albeit temporarily, with my ability there is no problem, I can spawn magic scrolls for days.'' he laughed evilly.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Devan took control of his excitement and started planning for his next move. He still needs to get out of this place, even though he is at the outskirt of the Wretched forest, it is still very dangerous. He looked down at his blood stain shirt and grimaced. The blood could attract dangerous animals like a pack of wolves. Devan immediately made haste relying on the memories of the guy who used to occupy this body to navigate to safety. Devan breathe a sigh of relief as he safely got out of the boundary of the Wretched forest and has now entered the area where the dead Devan heartless family rules over. Digrave Key, an ancient battle-field where millions of people died during the war between two mighty Kingdoms. The Clovis family estate lies deep within the cliffs and valleys, an almost impenetrable fortress made possible by the natural terrain, armies would struggle to thrive here as their advantage in numbers would be rejected by the natural funnels and small pathways naturally created by the surrounding valleys that encircled this place. It was said that long ago, this place was called the great plains but during a spell uttered by a legendary mage after his spell was finished, great valleys sprouted from deep within the bowels of the earth towering over the entire invading army. The invading army itself was defeated as their greatest advantage which was their numbers was eliminated, especially when the legendary mage could know their location within the valley as they were inside his spell. The mage then commanded and relied on ambushes, hit and run tactics to whittle down their numbers and achieve victory through this despicable but ingenious tactic. It was said after that great battle the great plains was renamed Digrave Key. ''Hmm.'' Devan mused while heading towards a nearby town, away from the Key City deep within the valley, he would easily be recognised there, as you can''t go into the city without being heckled by the guard for you''re identity card. Besides his shitty family resides in Key city. Since his body is just normal with no hints of any compatibility with aura or magic, and the now dead Devan basically gave up and lived a life of a trash typically seen in novels trashy young master, his body has almost no stamina. After walking for an hour, Devan was very exhausted and haggard, he used his ability to conjure himself a bottle of water and continued walking towards the closest town. Lake falls, the town that Devan has been determined to get to finally come into view. Devan would have jumped in happiness if he wasn''t so exhausted after walking for five hours, he was already ready to collapse. The night sky was slowly being illuminated by the sun signalling the arrival of dawn. Devan arrived in front of the gigantic gate, conjured a silver coin and immediately throw it to the guard standing beside the gate who showed him an understanding smile and let him in without a fuss. As an added the bonus the guard even guided him to the closest Inn called the Drunken Fairy. The guard even told the owner of the Inn to give him the best room at a standard price. Well, considering that a silver coin is a lot of money, its only fair. Devan gave the guard an appreciative nod as he paid 40 copper for his room. After being lead by one of the people working at the inn to his room, Devan immediately collapses on the soft bed disregarding everything else. Chapter 2 Devan woke up with aches all over his body, he can hardly move his legs as it would result in a jolt of pain. He suddenly recalled that he knows a potion used to help heal the injured created by the alchemist guild. Pulling out a small rock from his pocket, one of the many he collected, he used his ability to transform the rock into a healing potion. The rock immediately transforms into a transparent vial filled with red viscous liquid. He downed the contents in one go and immediately the effects could be felt like the various cuts, bruises as well as the pain from yesterdays ordeal magically disappeared. He remembered that a low tier healing potion, one that he drank just now could easily go for the price of 50 silver. Considering that 200 copper could easily feed a family of four for a week and one silver is worth 1000 copper and 1 gold coin is worth 1000 silver. Healing potions are ridiculously overpriced so only the very rich people could afford such luxury. A working man working every day for 12 hours a day in a week would make just around 500 to 600 copper. Just consider that this is only a low tier healing potion. Imagine how high price the mid-tier and high-tier potions would be. Devan slowly got out of bed, stretching his unathletic limbs. He looked around the room properly as he wasn''t riddled with fatigue anymore. To Devan''s inspection, he found the room simple yet elegant, it was clean and quite big. A big large bed snugged at the corner of the wall and a nice desk at the front of the bed at the bottom corner of the room next to the window. The desk was bare except for a large wick of a candle. Devan stifled a yawn as he walked unhurriedly towards the window. Guessing from the sun''s positions, it still seems to be the middle of the day. The hustle and bustle of the pedestrians below filled his sight. He inhaled the fresh air contentedly. ''How refreshing, air not tainted with pollution does wonder to the soul.'' The rumbling of his stomach signalled for him to stop gawking at the streets below and immediately take care of business, mainly his stomach. Devan went downstairs greeted the owner and ordered some food and drinks immediately. The cost of his food and drinks came about 20 coppers and the meal tasted decent. Not as nice as the food on earth but it wasn''t terrible at least. "I would like to extend the duration of my stay." Devan told the Inn keeper. "How many days?" the Innkeeper asks as he wiped down the glasses that he just recently washed. Devan smiled at that. "I''ll just pay an extra day and then we''ll see." The Innkeeper simply nodded and Devan immediately handed him the money. Seeing as it was still early, he decided to explore the town shops in order to procure supplies, possibly buy a cart and a horse and possibly some slaves to help him on the journey, he was planning to hit up the capital of the Kingdom which is called Avalon. Since it is the main capital city of the Avalon Kingdom, the city is named Avalon city since the King and his royal family resides in that city. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Devan couldn''t wait to visit Avalon city since it is the main capital city of the Kingdom, a lot of rare artefacts and magic scrolls could be found there. Devan then first bought a new set of clothes, after changing into one of them, he asked a random person where he could find a magic store. Arriving at the front of a large white building, Devan appreciated the grandness of it as he read the name of the store on the sign placed outside the building. ''Mystic Emporium.'' Devan smiled at that name while shaking his head gently. He gently pushed the door open and a bell rung as the door was pushed. He was immediately greeted by the sight of rows of shelves filled with all kinds of scrolls in the middle of the building floor. Right beside the entrance was the cashier station where an old man with greying hair was stationed sporting a long greying beard. The old man smiled at Devan. "Welcome to Mystic Emporium." said the old man as he flashed Devan with a practised smile. Devan nodded in response as he briskly walked towards shelves of scrolls awaiting his inspection. He noticed that a number of customers are in the building with him perusing scrolls, wands and staffs along the different section of the store. One of them was a girl wearing a grey-white robe, holding a dark wooden staff and across on her side was a small bag that rested on her hip. Maybe Devan was staring at her a bit too long as she noticed his gazed and responded back by narrowing her eyes at him. Devan just smiled awkwardly and looked away. Immolate - Mid-tier 2 magic scroll. Causes the target of the spell to burst into flames. Priced at 10 silver. Delay- Mid-tier 2 magic scroll. Slows down the targets movement speed. Priced 8 Silver. Fire Bolt- High-tier 1 magic scroll. Fires a small bolt of fire at a target. Priced 5 silver. Those were just some of the scrolls that Devan looked out of hundreds of magic scrolls that he browsed from. He''s only seen one scroll that was a high-tier 3 magic scroll and it was called Firestorm, it hurls a gigantic ball of fire at a target and will explode upon contact. It was a very deadly spell and so was its price. The shop had only one copy and it was worth 1 gold. Devan sigh in relief that he didn''t need to spend a single penny when using scrolls because of his cheat. ''Might as well buy something here, maybe not a scroll but possibly a magic device.'' Devan headed towards the corner where magic devices were located. Different from magic artefacts that were found in ruins and cannot be created in the present era, because the knowledge of creating artefacts has been lost during the great war. Magic devices were like scrolls but were imbued in a physical object such as swords, staffs, bracelets etc.. and can be used more than once. They can also be repaired by a magic blacksmith, the cost of repairs are quite affordable. Artefacts, however, are different in that they are limited by how many times they can be used each day but will absorb the surrounding mana in the air to recharge itself. You can also charge them faster by using mana cores taken from a magic beast. There was a bracelet that caught Devan''s eye. It was a slim silver bracelet with a leafy patterned design. Bracelet of Healing- can heal life-threatening wounds effectively but cannot regrow limbs. Can be used twice before needing to be repaired. Priced 20 gold. Devan whistled when he saw the priced. ''Oh well.'' he shrugged. He used his ability to conjure the 20 gold that he needed and paid for it straight away. Chapter 3 Before he left the Mystic Emporium Devan asked if there was anywhere he could buy slaves from the old man and the old man gave him detailed instructions on how to quickly find the local slave trader, the old man''s tone suddenly very respectful. Devan smiled at that. ''Money does make the world go round.'' He set off leisurely as he browsed different shops and stalls littered around Lake falls town. He even bought one skewer of meat from a stall, he was simply tempted by the smell. He happily made his way towards the slave trader as he enjoyed his delicious skewer. "Taste exactly like chicken but more succulent and mind-blowingly delicious. This chicken meat trumps all chicken meat on earth. This is crazy." Devan mumbled incoherently as he praised the fantasy style chicken skewer. Without knowing it, Devan suddenly arrived where the slave trader was located. He frowned at the sight of naked men and women locked in cages and displayed as you would merchandise. ''I thought I was mentally ready for this, but nothing can really prepare from seeing the real thing.'' Devan clenched his fist in anger. ''This must be what they call culture shock!'' he thought in anger. Devan looked away and focused on his purpose of being here. He needs someone that will protect him and will not betray him and a slave fits the bill of what he needs right now. Looking away from the lifeless look of the displayed slaves, he went inside showing a blank look on his face, acting as like the current display of human depravity did not make him feel sick to the stomach. The slave trader, a fat chubby man dressed in very fancy clothes layered with gold, looked at him in delight. "Ahh! A customer." he smiled, eyes looking up and down at Devan. Devan frowned at the chubby man''s demeanour. "My name is Trey, what can I do for you, young sir?" "I need a slave, a strong slave that can protect me." answered Devan. "Ah! good timing young master.." "Devan." Devan finished as Trey was looking at him expectantly. "Ah, so it is young master Devan. Like I said you are in luck, I have recently acquired someone of that description, a young woman, pretty young thing, but untouched I assure you. I a man of great integrity and knows that the intact purity of a young woman increases her value." he grinned. "I see." replied Devan in a dead-pan voice. "Is she the only one available?" he asked. Trey nodded. "She is very young, I assume around 20, I have just acquired her recently so she hasn''t been taught how to behave appropriately but she is very strong. A tier 3 aura user. But she has been engraved with the slave seal and will obey any commands given to her. Considering her rude attitude and strong personality. I will definitely give you a discount considering the state of the product." "Here we are young master." Trey stopped at a cell holding a woman chained up, covered in wounds. "Sorry about that her state of being, we were in the middle of educating her." he said menacingly. The girl in question looked at both of them with fury and disgust in her eyes. The dirt on her face has not marred her beauty and her silver hair was caked in dust and grime. Her eyes blue, shimmering with determination and defiance. "How much?" Devan asked. "20 gold and that price is a discount considering she is a mid-tier 3 aura user and is very beautiful she could easily go for 30 gold." Trey replied. "You bastards!" shouted the silver-haired girl. Trey became angry at her. "Shut up!" he shouted. The silver-haired then began to spasm in the ground and was screaming in pain. "One of the ways you can punish your slaves young master." he smiled evilly. Devan hardened his eyes and immediately paid for the girl. "Don''t worry young master we will heal her before giving her to you and then we can immediately start with the procedure of branding her as your slave. Her life and death controlled by you''re will." he chuckled evilly. "I''m almost loathed to let her go." Trey licked his lips lecherously as he gazed around her well-developed body. He clapped his hands. "But business is business."Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. The process was finished quickly and the silver-haired girl has now become his. Devan with the girl in tow headed towards the Drunken Fairy. She was wearing just a ragged shirt just barely covering her body, she has to pull it down to prevent it showing her delicate parts. Devan could see her embarrassed and humiliation from being gawked from the number of passersby. Devan took off his cloak and covered her with it, earning him a look of gratitude from the girl but other-wise she ignored him and kept her head low. "I will go shopping to buy your clothes later." Devan spoke to her gently. The girl just kept quiet. Devan just sighed and smiled bitterly. They entered the Drunken Fairy, the innkeeper frowned when he saw the young silver-haired girl with a collar. Devan could see the look of disapproval in his eyes but said nothing. They both entered his room and he could see that the silver-haired girl tremble a little bit. "Cold?" asked Devan. The silver-haired girl glared at him and clutch the cloak strongly. "Is this where you take advantage of me young master Devan." she spat venomously. "Ah!" Devan exclaimed in realisation. She probably thinks he''s going to rape her now. Devan smiled mischievously as he took a menacing step towards her. Terrified she backed away slowly. As Devan kept moving towards her, she kept moving backwards until her back hit against the wall. Devan was very close to her now, she let out a terrified squeak when she felt Devan grabbed her shoulder. Devan then immediately burst into laughter. The silver-haired girl confused opened her eyes to look at her master. "I''m not that bad." he said between laughter. "My right hand will do for now." he teased. The girl immediately turned scarlet realising what her master just said, She seemed lost for words and just screamed out ''pervert''. "Come on stop messing around." Devan gently chided as he stroked her head. "I will tell the innkeeper to get a bath prepared for you so you can get cleaned up and possibly we will go shopping tomorrow. You can use my clothes for now." Shocked at the current turn of events, the silver-haired girl was speechless. Realising that Devan is not as terrible as she initially thought she looked at him in gratitude and mumbled ''Thank you.'' "Huh? Did you say something?" asked Devan. "Nothing you pervert of a master." she said grumpily, turning her back towards him while blushing. Devan just simply laughed and shook his head gently at her. "You''re safe now. I won''t hurt you." he smiled. "You are my travelling companion, after all, you''re job is to protect the weak useless me." "Elia.. my name is Elia." she said softly keeping her eyes locked down on the floor. "Nice to meet you, partner. You already know my name, of course, none the less introduction are still in order and I say with absolute confidence that it is my pleasure to meet you, sweet Elia." he gently laughed and Devan used his hand to gently cupped the chin of the beautiful silver-haired girl making her look up at him eye to eye. Elia surprise by Devan''s flirtatious actions simply went scarlet red, even her ears were red. ''How adorable.'' Devan thought. Devan stroke her cheek gently, gave her a kind smile and simply walked out the door to do what he promised and let her have a nice relaxing bath. He hummed a jovial tune as he went downstairs and asked the innkeeper to have a bath drawn for the girl which the innkeeper happily obliged. Devan was told that one of the employees will call her down once the bath was ready which Devan thank the innkeeper for. Looking out of the old window of the inn, Devan saw that the sun was just setting down and decided to he would look around town some more. The task of buying a horse and a decent size carriage is best left for tomorrow and when both of them are refreshed and well-rested. Devan returned to the Drunken Fairy a few hours later, taking longer than he thought. He saw a lot of interesting trinkets and even a storage item in various forms of rings, necklaces and bracelets, they were very expensive and the storage size that they offer was of a large chest. It was ridiculously expensive. It was worth 20 gold, luckily Devan has no problem acquiring such a useful item, the need to buy something like that is out of the question, he could simply use his ability to replicate that exact item. He entered the room and was greeted by a beautiful sight. Elia was wearing his clothes, a clean white shirt that somehow perfect accentuate her chest and black trousers. Devan''s eyes couldn''t stop looking at her, as she was sitting down of the large bed with her head down. "Where did you go?" she said softly, a slight tremble in her voice. "I was waiting for you.." she looked up at him, tears threatening to leak from her eyes. "I thought.." she started shaking. "I thought.." she sobbed. "That you left me, just like they did." She cried, running towards Devan at shocking speed and tackling him on the floor. Her face buried on his chest as she cries silently, her whole body trembling from how hard she was crying. Devan simply held her in his arms, occasionally stroking her back while whispering, ''there.. there.. it''s going to be okay, I''m here now.'' "I''m sorry." he told her softly as he rested his chin on top of her head. Devan kissed the top of her head gently. ''She smells of freshly fallen snow.'' he thought as he continued comforting the crying girl. "I''m sorry." she whispered quietly after her tears have stopped. Her head is still buried on his chest and Devan didn''t mind, it felt quite nice to hold her like this, she was soft and fragile at this moment in time. The desire to protect her from all harm sprouted within him. "It''s just.... it has been...a rough... a couple of months." she confessed, voice slightly breaking. Devan simply held her tight and stroked her back while telling her that it''s ok. He lifted her face up to face him and smiled at her affectionately. "Come on, let''s grab something to eat. It is the duty of a gentleman to right the wrong that he has done. Let me treat to something nice, hopefully, it will help you forget. I''ll always be here for you Elia, I will never ever leave you. You are mine after all." he laughed gently. Elia simply nodded while her face turned scarlet again. She buried her face on his chest out of embarrassment breathing in his scent heavily. ''He smells like nature, calm, soothing and very gentle.'' she thought as she took her time, simply taking in everything that happened and the emotional break down that she just went through. "You''re mine too." she whispered quietly. Chapter 4 Devan opened his eyes blinking multiple times to get rid of the effects of waking up. He woke up quite early because of the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements. He offered the bed to Elia while he took to sleeping on the floor. He wasn''t about to take the bed for himself while the silver-haired girl, who has been through a lot sleep on the cold wooden floor. Devan tried to sit up but paused in surprise as he felt an unfamiliar weight clinging on the side of his arms. Confuse he looked to the side and to his surprise he saw Elia sleeping contentedly by his side down on the floor. ''This really defeats the purpose of me offering to let you sleep on the bed.'' he thought wryly. Devan shrugs his shoulders, putting the matters aside and just gaze fondly on the sleeping girl. ''I probably should let her sleep some more.'' he thought. So, Devan tried to extricate himself slowly and carefully so he wouldn''t accidentally wake her up from her restful sleep. However, the task of removing his arm from her hold without waking her up, prove to be quite a difficult task considering both of her arms held on tightly to his arm. Devan tried to pull his arm but she subconsciously just held tighter. Quite, frustrated with the current situation, he tried to put even more effort on his endeavour hoping that this wouldn''t immediately wake the girl up. When it wasn''t quite working as intended, he tried to forcefully remove himself and tried to get up but then suddenly a stronger force pulled him back down. Caught by surprise by the sudden unexpected retaliation, Devan did not have time to prepare himself and let out a surprised scream by the sudden turn of events. Devan brought back lying down again on the bed the difference this time is there is a sleepy but very much awake Elia hovering above him, straddling his stomach. "Where do you think you''re going master?" she asked softly, eyes trained on him heavily. Devan flinched at the tone of her voice, he almost swears he could feel a hint of dark undertone on her voice. "Planning to leave without me again." she asked, her voice suddenly became low and dark, her face was smiling but Devan could tell that if he answered wrongly, it promises nothing but pain. "I was just planning to stretch Elia." he answered carefully, observing her reaction. Seeing that she has calm down, Devan secretly let out a sigh of relief. "Umm.. Do you mind getting off me? As flattering as this is, I''m ready to get up now." said Devan with mirth. Elia''s face turned scarlet realising for once how suggestive their current position and she jumped off him straight away. Devan simply laughed at her reaction and thought in his head how devastatingly cute she is. Devan stood up and stretch out all his limbs and neck, stiff from the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements. "Come, Elia." he called out to her. "Why don''t we go for a walk to stretch our legs, it is still quite early for breakfast, the sun has not even come up yet." "Considering we just had food brought over for us yesterday from the inn since you did not want to go out yesterday, how about we''ll have breakfast outside today." Devan suggested. Elia simply nodded and tidied herself up ready to head out anytime. * "Ahhh!" Devan breathe in the crisp open air, letting out a sigh of satisfaction. "The fresh morning air is simply the best, isn''t it Elia?" "Yes master." answered Elia mimicking Devan''s actions, which seems very strange but she paid it no mind. "By the way do you know where those groups of varies people are going?" asked Devan, curious about the strange sight before him.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. They were a lot of people heading out of Lake Falls town, usually, in a group of three or four, the most he saw was a party of five people. Some were wearing armour, complete with a different type of weaponry, some look like they are mages and a few were carrying a quiver of arrows and a bow. "They are adventurers master, they are probably going dungeon diving." answered Elia in bewilderment. She looked at Devan puzzled by his lack of knowledge. Devan laughed awkwardly while rubbing his head. "Of course, what else could they be, haha.. haha." he laughed awkwardly. But now Devan''s curiosity has been peaked and he longed to see a real dungeon for himself, he only ever read about them or saw them in games. "Can anyone enter a dungeon?" Devan asked. "Yes, the adventurer guild does not prohibit anyone from entering. Most people make a living out of dungeons as the monsters you defeat there will drop materials that can be sold to the adventurer guild." Elia told Devan. "Let''s go check it out." Devan said excitedly as he began to follow the many adventurers heading to the dungeon. Devan stood outside the dungeon in awe and wonder. It was still dawn so the area wasn''t brightly lit however it did not affect Devan from seeing the entrance of the dungeon in adequate detail. The entrance was on the side of a large mountain in between the two waterfalls. The loud noise of the falling water hitting against the large rocks and boulders underneath the mountain disturb the quietness of the day. There was a massive lake of water so a bridge had to be created to access the entrance of the dungeon efficiently. The wooden bridge creaked against the weight of many people crossing to enter the vicinity of the Lake Falls dungeon. Devan just smiled in excitement, there were many guards assigned to a massive clearing near the entrance of the dungeon. The appearance of the entrance was similar to the open mouth of a cave. Devan assumed that the guards were there to help maintain peace and in times of danger be able to help and help maybe spot an early sign of a dungeon break. There have been many incidents of dungeon-breaks in the last few hundred years that it is common practice to clear out dungeons regularly or a dungeon break would occur causing an instability in the dungeon and a hoard of monsters would then burst forth from the dungeon. "How many levels does this dungeon have?" Devan asked one of the guards stationed around the dungeon. "This is just a young dungeon discovered five years ago thus only have ten levels so far with a boss monster guarding the fifth floor and the tenth floor." answered a guard wearing a steel armour. "What kind of monsters are in the dungeon?" Devan asked. "The Lake Falls dungeon spawns swamp type monsters, such as vine snake which you will encounter in the first level, a combination of vine snakes and poison frog on the second level. The third level will be the same but the monster that spawns there would be at a higher tier. Most monsters in the dungeon are high-tier 2 monsters and lower, so it is quite a safe dungeon." answered the guard dutifully. "Thanks." smiled Devan. Devan and Elia walked further away from the dungeon, Devan furrowed his brows in thought. He then sighed and looked helplessly at Elia. "I am curious to see what the inside is like, I have never been in a dungeon before, but.." Devan look at their current attire and smiled wryly. "I don''t think we are dressed for the occasion." he slightly pouted. Elia laugh a little at her master''s antics and shook her head. "Come on master, time to head back." "You are right my dear Elia. We do have to get some weapons and armour for you, of course, let''s not forget clothes and maybe a light armour for me. I don''t think I have the appropriate strength to be lugging armour around with me. I am hopelessly weak after all." Devan declared proudly. "I don''t think that''s something you should say with pride master." Elia quickly retorted. "Are you sure you can afford all that master? All those things you wish to buy is going to be quite expensive." ask Elia worriedly. "Leave it to you''re master, money is never a problem." Devan said. "Right.." Elia said dryly. "Where are you even getting your money from? Are you from a very rich noble family?" Elia asked curious of her master''s background. Devan simply smiled bitterly. "Well I am from a noble family but my family is not exactly rich. My father is a lowly baron, very low on the nobility ladder." he confessed. "Besides my family does not care about me, I am a useless child after all. The youngest child and the weakest, I have no value at all, my family does not care about me. My older brother has already tried to kill me and almost succeeded, all because I saw something I shouldn''t have." Devan said bitterly. "I have no one." he whispered lightly. Elia gasped in shock at the revelation. She immediately hugged him. "It''s ok master, you still have me. I''ll be your family." comforted Elia. "Yes, I still have you don''t I sweet Elia." smiled Devan fondly. A passing guard saw them in a very intimate position and immediately shouted for them to get a room in a joking manner, which made Devan barked in laughter and caused Elia to turned scarlet red again. ''I guess its the same whichever world you are in whether it be here in Alia or in Earth.'' Chapter 5 "We meet again." said Devan dramatically, trying to pose in a cool like manner in front of the dungeon. Elia took a step back looking away from her embarrassing master. She rolled her eyes and tug on his new leather armour. It was made from the thick hide of a stone lizard. A high-tier 2 monster that roams the open field and forest close to Lake falls town. Elia herself is donning a new steel armour made from magic steel. On the side of her hip was a sword called frozen blade, on its main body was a set of runes that gives the sword the ability to inflict ice damage when it comes in contact with an enemy. On her left hand, she was holding a small shield that has an enchantment that when activated the shield will expand five times of its original size. Devan spent quite a hefty on all their current equipment, including the multiple clothes that he has bought for her. Elia stroke the storage ring that Devan gave to her before setting off towards the dungeon, her face went red as she stroke the ring with her thumb. She has stored her clothes inside of it as well as some healing potions that Devan gave to her. All together Devan spent around 5 gold for their gear and equipment. Elia has never seen that large amount of money being spent all at once in her entire life. ''What a tycoon.'' she thought. ''Still, where is my master getting all this money from.'' she secretly wondered. Eyeing fondly at her silly pervert of a master who was still doing various poses in front of the dungeon. In fact, they are attracting a lot of attention, as a bunch of people couldn''t help but stare at the ridiculousness of her master. Elia palmed her face in utter embarrassment. She sighed again, glancing sideways at her weaponless master, he insisted that he did not need a weapon because he does not know how to use one. ''Is this really a good idea?'' she questioned for about the twentieth time this past couple of hours. She suggested that he at least buy a shield for himself but he said that it be too heavy and annoying to bring with him. ''Oh well.'' shrugged Elia. ''I just have to protect him properly.'' she said with complete determination. "Off we go." shouted Devan loudly as he advanced towards the dungeon with vivid excitement. Inside the dungeon, Devan looked around excitedly, it was like they were transported in a completely different area. They were in a swamp-like forest, filled with trees and shallow waters, it felt like a big open area but if you look from side to side you can see the walls of the dungeon on each side, cleverly hidden by shrubberies, bushes, and different types of plants and trees. "This is amazing!" exclaimed Devan. "Master look out!" shouted Elia, as she moved to intercept the attacker. A giant green snake the size of an anaconda but has the deceptive appearance of a vine. Its body was very thin as it has been stretched to its absolute limits and it was also very fast. But it was no match for Elia who was a middle-tier 3 warrior, as she slashed the snake vine with a flick of her wrist, the only thing that was left was a frozen corpse split in half, in its place a large snake fang, it was an ingredient useful for alchemy. Devan then picked it up the floor and gave it a curious glanced over, he then looks towards Elia.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. "That''s my girl." declared Devan proudly with a big smile on his face. "Would it hurt you to be careful master!" Elia said angrily. "You know I can''t lose you!" she said teary-eyed. Devan laughed awkwardly, face apologetic. "I will be careful, I promise, that''s a Devan guarantee." he winked. "Argghh!" screamed Elia in frustration. Devan just laughed as he moved deeper towards the first level once again. Once again they were attacked by the snake vine monster but this time there were five of them. Elia tensed, she was wholly focusing her attention on the monsters and on her master. "Careful." she warned. "I got this!" said Devan confidently as he summoned a scroll out from his storage ring. "Firestorm." he chanted, the scroll in Devan''s hand immediately burned away as it activated the sealed magic within it. A gigantic fire appeared in front of Devan and then it surged forward the direction of the monsters. As it made contact, it created a mini explosion that spawned a mini fire tornado that then proceeds to disappear. Only the ashes were left of the five monsters and their large fangs. "What the hell was that!" shouted Elia in surprise. "That my dear is the power of money." said Devan smugly. "Huh?" answered Elia in shock and confusion. "I''m basically Batman." said Devan. "What''s a Batman?" asked Elia with a confused expression. "You wouldn''t understand." Devan retorted. "Right.." she replied dryly. "How do we get to the second floor again?" asked Devan. "You see that giant tree in the middle of the floor. We just need to get there, defeat the bunch of monsters guarding the entrance to the second floor. After defeating those monsters, a portal to the second floor will open." answered Elia, straining all her nerves to avoid being ambushed by the snake monsters. "How much did you spend on buying scrolls?" asked Elia still keeping an eye on their surroundings as they move toward the gigantic tree. "Who knows." shrug Devan. "Where do you keep getting all this money? How are you so rich?" asked Elia. "Who knows." replied Devan again somewhat cheekily. Elia rolled her eyes and gave her master an annoyed glance. Elia mostly killed all of the monsters that tried to attack them. Always killing all the snake monsters in a single hit, her skilful display of swordsmanship made Devan clap his hands in admiration. Devan sometimes help out by taking out some of the snake vine monsters if they get too many. He mostly uses Fire-bolt a high-tier 1 magic scroll to attack the monsters with, they die in one hit as well. Devan notices that Elia keeps giving him a questioning look. ''I bet she''s wondering how many scrolls I have left in my arsenal.'' he thought. He gave her an innocent but charming smile. ''The answer my dear is that I have an infinite number of scrolls.'' he secretly sniggered. As they got closer to the enormous tree, they proceeded slowly and carefully, both keeping an eye out of their surrounding, the squelching of their boots paints a stark contrast to the quietness of their surrounding. Elia strained her ears for any noise, up ahead they finally see the group of monsters that were guarding the entrance to the second floor. There were ten vine snakes and one of them was noticeably bigger than the others. "That large vine snake at the back of the group is a high-tier 1 monster. Pay attention to its range attack, as it will shoot a pointy spear-like arrow out of its mouth." warned Elia. Devan nodded taking her advice seriously. He took out a bunch of magic scrolls as well as a protection scroll called barrier a low-tier 2 magic scroll. Elia dashed forward with a shout, the monsters reacted sensing her presence as they lunged towards her, Devan cast barrier on Elia as he stayed behind her. Sensing their approach Elia stab frozen blade on the floor and cast her aura art. "Frozen Spike." she shouted. A dozen frozen spike sprouted out of the ground beneath the group of monsters impaling all of them in the process. All of them died except the high-tier 1 vine snake that was heavily injured. Devan pointed at the dying monster and cast fire-bolt to finish the job. "Well, that was easy." said Devan. Chapter 6 "There he is." whistled Devan looking at the monster boss of the fifth floor at a high vantage. "Damn he''s big or she or maybe it''s an it?" wondered Devan. "What do you think." Devan asked as he looks towards his beautiful companion. "Does it really matter?" asked Elia, rolling her eyes at her master''s weirdness again. "Well yes obviously. My dear Elia, politically correctness is very important." said Devan very seriously. "Right..." replied Elia dryly. "You wouldn''t understand." sighed Devan. "Still the monster is still very big." said Devan, stating that glaring fact again. The monster was a mid-tier 2 monster at least. Its appearance is very bizarre as it has the face of a frog monster that they faced on the previous floor but has the body of the snake vine. ''Maybe it could be a clue to its capabilities, having the face of the poison frog means that it has the ability to spit out a poison attack while having the speed and flexibility of a snake vine monster.'' thought Devan. It''s true that Devan does have a magic scroll that is a high-tier 3 but it won''t exactly be able to one-shot such a monster, after all, monsters are much stronger than a human being of the same tier. So this monster might only be middle-tier 2 but it will have the combat ability equivalent to a low-tier 3 mage or warrior. "Well this is troublesome, I think we had enough adventure for today." declared Devan. Elia did not mind at all, she prefers that her master will not be in any form of danger so the better they are out of here the better she will feel. Devan handed her a magic scroll, this was a magic scroll being sold by the guild stall outside the dungeon for 1 silver as it only works in this dungeon and its only function is to teleport you near the exit of the dungeon in the first floor. They both activated the scroll but nothing happened. Devan frowned at this. ''Could this item be defective.'' he thought. "Something''s wrong with the scroll." said Elia. "I guess we''re going to get out here the old fashion way.... by walking." groaned Devan. Suddenly the whole dungeon started shaking which made Devan and Elia shout in surprise, the whole dungeon floor started shifting as if it was moving and suddenly the walls were no more, it was like the dungeon floors morphed into one giant floor with every monster gathered into a single floor. "This is bad." said Elia nervously. They could see other adventurers from a distance getting attacked and swarmed by a large number of monsters, even the fifth boss monster was roaming around instead of staying put in the boss room. "What''s causing this to happen?" wondered Devan. "There''s probably something wrong with the dungeon core. I''m not sure if there is any way out, the dungeon core might have possibly collapsed the exit portals, we have to find the dungeon core and see if we can fix what''s wrong with it or destroy it." said Elia. "I have a bad feeling about this." replied Devan. "Yeah.." said Elia softly.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Most of the adventurers that they saw have disappeared, most likely dead. They move briskly trying to avoid a path where they would run into a large number of monsters. As much as Devan would like to help the adventurers, he can''t risk both of their lives for a single act of heroism, besides they are a distance away and between Devan and them is a large number of berserk monsters killing anything in its path. The monsters weren''t just killing people they were also tearing each other apart. "AHHH!" Devan and Elia heard a scream up ahead, just a few meters away was a downed girl wearing a mage outfit screaming for help. Devan could see her party members on the floor with missing appendages as if they were eaten by a gigantic monster and sure enough the fifth-floor boss monster which Devan has started calling mini-leviathan was in front of them, ready to finish the female mage. "Oh! no, you don''t." shouted Devan as he rushed forward. ''I won''t let her die, especially if I can do something about it, I can''t help those people far away but she is within my reach.'' "Master!" shouted Elia in surprise as she ran after him. Devan pulled out a bunch of magic scrolls from his storage ring. "Delay. Delay. Delay." Devan shouted as all three delay magic scroll burned away to nothing activating its sealed magic. The lunging monster''s movements suddenly became a lot slower thanks to the magic that Devan had cast. "Barrier. Barrier. Barrier." shouted Devan again, casting three stacks of barrier on the mage girl. "Elia!" screamed Devan. Elia knowing what her master wanted, she ran towards the injured girl at an unbelievable speed, brandishing frozen blade in her right hand she slashed towards mini-leviathan hitting it squarely in its frog-like face. The monster''s lunging mouth change direction because of the impact and now has a huge gash on the right side of its face. However, the monster''s tale also flicks towards them as the monster was being blown away. Elia immediately deployed her shield to protect herself, the mage girl was protected by Devan''s barrier. Elia ran towards the girl and grab her to safety, pulling her towards where Devan is at. "We might as well kill it." said Devan seriously. "Yes." Elia agreed. She was standing in front of Devan; a shield in her left hand and a sword in her right both ready to be deployed in any type of situation whether it be fending off the monster with frozen blade or protecting her master from the monster''s attack with her shield. Mini-leviathan stood back up and stared at them angrily, croaking very loudly. Its cheeks began to puff up as he inhaled a large amount of air, out of its mouth was purple like a fog that was covering a very large area. "The fog is poisonous." warned Elia. Devan nodded and turned towards the injured mage. "Can you run?" asked Devan. The mage girl nodded immediately, Devan handed her a healing potion, which she gave him a grateful look. Devan, Elia and the mage girl began to start running away from the poisonous fog, once they ran far enough, out of its range Devan and co stop and look towards the fog. "I can hardly see anything." observe Elia "Yeah. I can only see the outline of the mini-leviathan, he is still in there." said Devan. Devan furrowed his eyebrow in deep thought. "Wait a second, I have an idea, stand back." announced Devan as he produced the firestorm magic scroll out his storage ring. ''If I hit that poisonous fog with a fire spell, If my hypothesis is correct it the fire spell should cause the fog to combust, I hope I''m right'' Devan thought in his head. "Oh well no rest for the wicked." he softly muttered. "Firestorm." he chanted, instantly a gigantic ball of fire blasted towards the direction of the poison fog and the mini-leviathan. A massive explosion then soon occurred as the shockwave of the blast caused the dungeon to shake once more, the monsters in its immediate vicinity was incinerated as the rest further away, they were killed from the resulting shock wave. Luckily Devan told Elia and the mage girl to cast their respective defensive spell so they weren''t instantly killed from the resulting blast, just slightly injured, unlike Devan. "Well that was stronger than expected." laughed Devan as he coughed up blood, the shockwave must have injured his internal organs. He activated his bracelet of healing and all of his injuries were cured. Elia and the mage girl, on the other hand, fared much better compared to him. Elia looked at him very angrily. "Never ever do that again!" she shouted. "You could have gotten yourself killed. Don''t forget that you are very weak master!" she screamed. "I''m fine aren''t I?" reasoned Devan trying to calm down the enrage Elia. "If you die, I will find a way to revive you just so I can kill you myself." she threatened. Devan was about to say something but the look in her eyes and the moisture gathering within them threatening to burst forth stop in his tracks. He simply walked towards her and embraced her in his arms. "Sorry." he whispered gently. "I''ll be careful next time." Chapter 7 Devan, Elia and Avery the mage girl was heading to the location of the dungeon core, they guessed that the darkening sky and lightning storm on the far outskirt of the dungeon, would be their best bet of finding the unstable dungeon core. Devan and Avery were standing far back from the battle currently going as Elia smashed through every monster that dared to attack them so far on their journey. Avery would blast foes with her fire magic that were coming towards on them on the side which Elia couldn''t quite get to. "So you and Elia huh?" asked Avery. She was still blasting enemies with her magic but since they were only lower-tier monsters, a huge number of them would be instantly killed with one of her fire spells. Devan however was quite relax as all he did was just stand there, observing the battle with mild interest. "It''s not like that." answered Devan turning towards the red-haired mage. "But she seems to be very possessive of you and I''ve never seen a slave and her master interacting in such a way before." said Avery. "I don''t think of her as a slave at all. She''s just a victim of circumstance." defended Devan. "Besides we''re not really as close as you think we are. She has not told me much about herself apart from her name and all I gathered so far is that she has been through a lot recently. Think of me as her emotional crutch, I am the best thing that happened to her after her horrific experiences whatever that might be in recent months." Devan paused as he winced at a particularly gruesome scene of Elia cutting a snake monster into pieces with blood and guts splattering everywhere. "The only reason she''s obsessed and protective of me is that she doesn''t want to lose the only good thing in her life. With all the shit that she has been through, I wouldn''t be surprised that she is at her breaking point, I''m basically the tether that''s holding her sanity together." he continued. "And you don''t feel that way about her at all?" asked Avery curiously. "You mean romantically? No, I think of her more like family besides we have only been together for a span of a couple of days, and furthermore, someone like me doesn''t deserve something like that." said Devan, he frowned suddenly remembering an awful memory from when he was still back on earth. "Do you really believe that?" asked Avery raising her eyebrow.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Devan merely shook his head and smiled leaving a confuse Avery as he walked towards Elia who is covered in blood. Devan took out a cloth from his pocket and wiped Elia''s face clean diligently. Elia smiled at the worried look her master gave her. "You definitely need a bath." said Devan chiding her gently. "Well someone had to do all the work, you and Avery are too busy flirting with each other, no wonder you guys are quite clean when compared to me" replied Elia, a bit of bitterness in her tone when she said the last bit of her sentence. "We were not." laughed Devan as he ruffled her silver hair affectionately. Elia grabs his offending hand pulled it off her now messy head with an annoyed look on her face. Avery sighed at their lovey-dovey interaction. She walked towards them with a playful look of exasperation. "Come on, you two love birds, we have to keep going. The dungeon core isn''t going to fix itself." she quips. "Well at least someones excited." retorted Devan and he laughed as Avery glared at him and stuck her tongue out. Devan, Elia and Avery then proceeded to walk towards the most ominous looking part of the dungeon. As they got closer to the area filled with darkness and lightning storms, the monsters they encounter also increased in strength. After finishing off the last member of the monsters that were attacking them, Elia was breathing heavily, the consecutive number of battles taking quite a toll on her body and stamina. Avery, on the other hand, was also panting as she was running low on mana. Devan took a look at both of them worriedly. "Maybe we should find somewhere to rest for a few minutes." Devan suggested. The two girls nodded at his suggestion to exhausted to talk. Devan led them into a large tree and proceeded to use his magic scrolls to blast a giant hole into the tree, once a huge hole has been created, the trio proceeded to go inside and Elia sealed the hole up with her ice using her aura art. Avery lit up their refuge with fire magic using a spell called ball of fire a low-tier 1 spell. All the spell does is create a floating ball of fire made of mana and is mainly used for lighting up very dark places. "There''s just too many of them." complained Avery as she sat down, resting her back against the inside bark of the tree. "What could have happened to make the dungeon unstable." wondered Devan out loud. "Could be a number of reasons, maybe the dungeon core is undergoing an increase in level but this type of situation has never happened before. Usually when a dungeon levels up there would be no disturbances or cause every floor of the level merging into one as that would cause the dungeon more harm than good as its location would be exposed and dungeon cores do not like being exposed out in the open as they are very fragile." replied Avery. "However there could be another explanation as to why this strange phenomenon has occurred. Maybe someone is trying to kill the dungeon core or corrupt it." continued Avery. "I have a really bad feeling about this." said Devan as let out a deep sigh, closing his eyes in worry. Elia just stayed close to Devan resting her head on his shoulder and fell briefly to sleep. "Our princess over here seem to not care too much, especially since she''s very comfortable in your arms." teased Avery. "She''s just exhausted." said Devan smiling at the sleeping girl, as he took out a cloak from his storage ring to cover her with it.