《Those Who Aspired to Become Gods : A darker fairy tale novel ©ã€‹ Prologue Part 1: A Conversation Between the Gods ¡° I swear just look at all of them down there. Claiming to be one of us...Despicable !¡± ¡° Ah, why do you even care for the affairs of man Baldr?¡± Bacchus said while taking a sip of his wine on a luxurious chair and staring off into the golden sky that surrounds the halls of Valhalla. ¡° As if, I¡¯m merely stating that these vermin should know their place before claiming to be God¡¯s. Such an act for beings so excruciating weak, it¡¯s laughable. Wouldn¡¯t you agree Jupiter ?¡± - Baldr ¡°.......¡± - Jupiter ¡° Hahaha silent as always, guess your not getting the favor of one of the supreme Goddesses on this one Baldr. Or maybe it¡¯s because she ¡± ¡° Silence Loki....I swear by the Chief Gods I¡¯ll roast you and cease that infernal laugh of yours for good!¡± - Baldr ¡°Oohhhh always so touchy aren¡¯t we Baldy, Ya know....you¡¯ll nev¡± - Loki ¡°Shuuuutt UPPPPPP!!¡± Baldr screamed at the top of his lungs cutting off Loki while firing off a beam of light through the interior of the Hall of Valhalla and blasting straight through the ceiling spreading towards the heavens. ¡°Wahhahaha!!!! Oh Baldy aren¡¯t you suppose to be the God of light and oh what was it again......purity?¡± Loki said mockingly. ¡° I told you to NEVER CALL ME THATTT!!¡± Baldr now had a bright aura surrounding him which started to distort the surrounding environment and causing everyone in room to stare. He had a look of pure rage while staring intently towards Loki as if begging for a reason to strike him down. ¡°Baldr! Quiet down this instant. I swear the temper tantrums of children will never cease around here¡± said a women of unattainable beauty who walked into the interior of the hall alongside other supreme Gods. She had long flowing hair that glowed, and long white dress that reached the floor behind her as she walked. She had a surrounding light that cascaded across her skin that showed all those present that she was too a member of the Divine. She was the Goddess Freya, the Goddess of love and beauty. An unmatchable beauty that was the pride of the heavens. She entered into the grand hall of Valhalla with a one eyed God covered in golden armor and long white hair, as well as a much taller and muscular God with an olive branch on top of his head with no shirt, thus showing off his robust physique. They were the Supreme Gods known as Odin and Zeus. Though this was not Mount Olympus, many God¡¯s including Zeus transversed through different realms and plains and often visited one another after ascending to Godhood. It wasn¡¯t rare to see Gods and Goddesses of different origins to share in one another¡¯s company in their own perspective homes. As they entered into the great hall being escorted by Odin¡¯s valkyries, they immediately noticed the damage by the beam of light created by Baldr. ¡°Fre...Freya? What do you mean a tantrum. This little trickster God dared call me...¡± - Baldr ¡°Freya¡¯s right Baldr just let it go. Aren¡¯t you suppose to be a God of purity and you succumb to such acts so easily. It really is a depressing site¡± - Odin. This sentence silencing Baldr where he immediately. ¡° HaHaHa Ahhhh it¡¯s always so amusing when I come here. You Norse are always so entertaining¡± - Zeus ¡°Yes........it¡¯s always quite lively here¡± said Freya in a bitter tone. ¡° Now then, who would care to explain to me why you desecrated the Great Hall here Baldr?¡± - Odin ¡° Apparently these two¡¯s fight this time began over an argument over the affairs of humans¡± Bacchus proclaimed while finished off a bottle of wine. A slender women in a short, luxurious dress then walked over and sat beside him while pouring him another glass as he remained seated. ¡° Humans? And why would the affairs of mortals bear enough weight to start a fight amongst God¡¯s?¡± Odin said as he stared at Baldr with an anger resounding through his voice. ¡°Well......you two say fight but really it was just me standing here while that almighty lightbulb over there decided to redecorate the place¡± - Loki said with a mischievous smile. Bacchus, his servants, and even Jupiter began to smile and laugh to themselves. ¡°Ughhhhh!!!¡± Baldr began to become enraged again as his divine aura began to make the surroundings much brighter again. ¡° Baldr.....Stop that! Now I think I see how this started and Loki you know better than to pick fights with fellow God¡¯s¡± - Odin ¡°Mmmm.... I wasn¡¯t so much picking a fight as wanting to throw in my two cents before The...¡± - Loki ¡°Loki stop with the name calling your equally as guilty as Baldr for this act!¡± - Freya After Freya spoke Loki closed his eyes and chuckled to himself for a moment before continuing. ¡° Fine. I simply wanted to comment on Baldr¡¯s opinions on humans is all¡± ¡°His opinions?¡± - Said Odin looking confused. ¡°Yes, What¡¯s wrong with my opinions for those puny vermin. They are beings who sit on thrones of lies telling themselves they have the power of GODS! Such blasphemy makes me sick!¡± - Baldr ¡° Hehe and why would a God care of the affairs of a bunch of ants it¡¯s not like it affects the Gods¡± one of the Valkyries donned in a brilliant shining blue armor stated while standing next to Odin. ¡°Because.....ugh well. It¡¯s shameful. To claim the title of a God and be so uselessly weak I¡± Baldr claimed looking for another reason to explain his outburst in the Great Hall. Even though he was a God considered to be truly immortal to all damage, he feared the power of Odin and his mighty Valkyries. The Chief God had far more power than even he could comprehend. As well as the fact Odin¡¯s Valkyries were made for war. Get enough armored beauties together and they apparently could take down even a High God. ¡°Baldr really why do you care. It¡¯s not as if any of these mortals live long anyway. Their lifespans are but a small candle that fades in the wind over time and is put out before you know it.¡± - said the same valkyrie. ¡°Exactly! Seriously Baldr it¡¯s not like any of those could ever reach us up here. They are weak and will always remain as such haha¡± Bacchus said laughing as he chugged down another glass while getting much more closer to the women serving him almost losing interest in the conversation all together. He had much better things on his mind at the moment. And then the next statement that was said is something that received everyones undivided attention. ¡°That¡¯s where you are both wrong. Something each of you will forever remain ignorant of I¡¯m afraid.¡± Loki stated with a serious tone and no longer laughing. He stared at the Valkyrie and Baldr as if almost pitying them for their stupidity. ¡°What are you talking about Loki? You¡¯ve been gone for so long and now you come back to Asgard saying such foolish things. Don¡¯t tell me you think a mortal can make it up here amongst us God¡¯s? As Bacchus said, they¡¯re weak, and they will always remain weak.¡±- Baldr said while feeling confident of himself now in front of everyone after what Loki just stated. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°No Loki what are you referring to, first your long absence here. I assume you¡¯ve been spending your time with these humans after such words. What are you implying of being ignorant of¡± - Bacchus said now seemingly interested in what Loki had to say. ¡°Alas..... I was simply stating what I¡¯ve observed over the eons of this vast universe. It¡¯s funny how a couple of lowly God¡¯s can complain about lesser beings claiming themselves to be strong, while you yourselves could be considered as such for maybe even greater beings. - Loki ¡° LOWLY!!!?¡± - Baldr screamed infuriated ¡°LOwghgha .....Cough caougha ¡± - Bacchus tried to say while choking and caughing on his wine pathetically. ¡° Loki.......what do you think of humans?¡± said an almost pure and innocent voice that had not been heard in this Hall for a very long time. It was Jupiter. At this turn of events everyone in the room turned to look at the source of the voice seeing that they had just heard Jupiter speak in what felt like centuries. She¡¯s not a shy Goddess, she just has never been one with many words is all. So anytime this Supreme Goddess spoke it was something that everyone would immediately stop what they¡¯re doing to pay attention. Because if this is something she is asking of Loki, no one, not even Odin would want to interrupt what she wanted to learn. ¡°WHA....¡± - Baldr said shocked at how Jupiter herself was speaking to Loki. Someone who was in his eyes a lowly, no talent troublemaker, was not worthy to be spoken to by such a pure and powerful Goddess. She should be speaking to him, The God of Light and Purity. But sadly it didn¡¯t work out that way for him. ¡° Hmm what do I think of them......I believe that humans are amazing existences that show such extraordinary potential. They share in life and love and experience things in ways that us God¡¯s cant even comprehend. I also believe that being weak isn¡¯t necessarily a bad thing.¡± ¡°What are you talking about, obviously someone like you would say that about being weak, pshhh!!!¡± - Baldr ¡° Quiet.......why isn¡¯t it bad¡± Jupiter explained in a monotone voice while staring quite intently at Loki. This was honestly enough for even him to to become nervous. It¡¯s not everyday that they see Jupiter so interested in something. ¡° Because, being weak can lead to some of the most amazing discoveries and creations. Those that are always strong will tend to become overconfident, boasting in they¡¯re power. Never pushing forward to the new and unknown, just remaining stagnant believing themselves to have it all figured out. And yet to be weak, pushes someone to greater distances than any of us God¡¯s could ever go to. To constantly be weak one must push and push and fight for what they do not have. In every age in every kingdom in this vast universe we¡¯re in the strong will sharpen their claws, while the weak will polish their wits. We as mighty beings sit up relying on our magic and longevity never knowing of the amazing things that have been produced by those who have never even seen magic. It is truly a spectacular sight to see. And I in all honesty believe that for any of you fools who look down on those ¡°weaklings¡±, thinking they are nothing more than insects that will never reach the heavens, could not be any more ignorant of what amazing potential that lies out there. Don¡¯t be fooled, those weaklings will one day make it even up here. And what a day that will be¡± After Loki finishes his speech this left the Great Hall in silence to the peculiar things he had just said. A God glorifying weakness as if it is much more beneficial than high powered magic from the God¡¯s was just insane talk. Yet he said it with the utmost confidence as if he was looking down on every God in that room with pitying looks. ¡° HA!!! you¡¯ve been spending so much time with the humans they¡¯ve finally rubbed off on you Loki. Tis a shame but I do not care. As if any of those puny mortals could ever make it up here to Asgard or any of the other God realms.¡± - Baldr ¡° He¡¯s obviously joking Baldr I mean he is the trickster right...¡± Said one of the valkyries. ¡° No.....this is not one of my jokes. You all seem to think that one who is weak will just remain weak. I however choose to see things differently is all.¡± - Loki ¡° You have quite some interesting opinions boy. Seeing a site like that could be interesting in it¡¯s own right¡± - Zeus said intrigued. The other God¡¯s in the room just remained quiet contemplating the strange things Loki had just said. ¡° I guess we¡¯ll just have to wait for that day to come then won¡¯t we......¡± Loki said finishing his conversation. Saying what he wanted to say he was through with the conversation. He continued to look into the golden horizon thinking of his travels. After spending his time touring the universe he had made the most amazing discoveries. Going to new worlds and lands of all kinds constantly enthralled in the new things his eyes were seeing. Along his long travels he visited an old world he had seen almost a millenia ago however it had changed much more than when he had last saw it. It was an almost futurist society to what he had originally seen and the amazing creations the humans of this world had created truly astounded Loki. This was a world completely devoid of magic and yet the humans here flourished in a way the humans and even the God¡¯s back home couldn¡¯t even comprehend. The Chief God¡¯s had visited this land long ago as well but left soon after realizing it was a dimension that our magic power was quite limited there. Though our power was truly so vast that the mortals of this world couldn¡¯t dare to harm us it wasn¡¯t the humans of this world we were afraid of. The creator of this particular world was something..........ancient. Something we couldn¡¯t properly ascertain of its power. But we could feel it. Whatever it was was an existence so primal it may have been beyond even our own universe. All we know is after affecting some of the local inhabitants of the world we somehow enraged this existence. The Chief God Odin riding across the sky on his mighty steed Sleipnir had called upon this ancient being almost asking it for a fight. However not much is known after that. Though Odin has not spoke of what he saw that day when calling out to fight the Creator of that world. All that is known as that The Chief God stated all of us were to never return to this planet for any reason. We left the world that day and hadn¡¯t returned since. The only thing us fellow God¡¯s present could make of what happened was, whatever Odin saw that day is what made him permanently lose his left eye. The myths say he gave up his left eye for infinite wisdom and knowledge, well that I do not know if its true. But I do know seeing this existence forever changed the war God Odin that day...... As I, Loki, continued to ponder through my thoughts I noticed that Jupiter was still intently staring at me curiously. Prologue Part 2: In the Beginning Hey everyone thanks again for your comments it means a lot. I''m a man who accepts criticism to make my work better so thank you for the tips as well. PS.>>> Due to this being the last prologue chapter it is more descriptive and does not have much dialogue . After this chapter i will be changing to 1st person POV. In the Beginning: Kayle Shaw never lived the easy life. A child born from rape into an unlucky home, he seemed to be born into a world that constantly tormented him. Forced to grow up and take care of his two younger siblings at an early age he never got to experience a childhood of running and playing with his friends. After years of drugs and abuse from men Kayle¡¯s mother eventually overdosed and left this world, leaving her children behind. Kayle eventually dropped out of school and picked up odd jobs to be able to support his family. Saving every dime and even skipping his own meals if it meant to be able to support the two he cherished most. He would wake up early in the morning and run to work as to not spend money on the bus, on break run back to cook for his younger brother and sister while getting them both ready for school, then would run on to his next job while occasionally being drawn into a fight by local thugs. He learned early on what it meant to survive, what it meant to take care of himself as well as others while growing up in the slums. After seeing how the world treats people of low class Kayle learned to never take crap from anyone.....ever! Constantly being pushed into fights with local gangs and loan sharks he learned to fight at quite the young age. He learned rather quickly that if you give scum like that an inch in this world they would never stop walking all over you. Kayle couldn¡¯t afford to let that happen. Due to his unnatural strength and reflexes for his age, he would never leave with more than a few bruises, even when surrounded by multiple attackers, while everyone else left with concussions and broken limbs. Thus, leaving the local gangs in astonishment how a child could cause so much damage. It was a life built up of hard work and his fists. It wasn¡¯t the easiest life, but it was a life he had accepted. After saving and saving he even eventually rounded up enough money to buy his two younger siblings a new gaming system this year and a brand new RPG game known as Divine and Conquer Online. A massive MMORPG game where an individual can become 1 of 100s of different races and use 1000s of different types of magic and skills to take your character and ultimately reach the God¡¯s. With a max level of 300 and an almost infinite amount of ways to customize your player the game was already receiving a large amount of awards and nominations for its lengthy and elaborate gameplay. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Though Kayle was never a gamer it was the one thing his younger siblings asked for, for their birthdays. ¡°All children deserve to have a happy childhood¡±.....he thought. He and his siblings enjoyed playing the game together with their respective characters and eventually received recognition as some of the games top players through their accomplishments. After defeating the legendary boss monster Azriel ¡°The Arch Angel of Death¡± with only 3 players, shock spread around the gaming net as this was said to be a monster that the top guilds and raiding teams couldn''t even manage to get his health down into the yellow. A monster that the developers had even considered to nerf prior to this defeat as he was considered to be too overpowered. After the bosses defeat was widely spread, the game¡¯s creator who always remained out of the public eye decided to find and award these 3 players with a super special gift!! Life was moving forward until one fateful evening Kayle returned home to find the shocking horror of something his eyes couldn¡¯t believe. The apartment building he and his siblings lived in was being engulfed in a monstrous amount of flames torching even the neighboring buildings. It was an overwhelming heat that forced the fire department to barricade everyone away from the surrounding area as they themselves couldn¡¯t even seem to put it out this unquenchable fire let alone get near it. Having made the decision immediately Kayle couldn¡¯t stand still while his siblings could be trapped inside. Leaping over the barricades and rushing into the inferno he¡¯d gladly tread into hell if it meant protecting his family. Running through each floor through severely thick smoke smoke and blazing atmosphere, Kayle ignored the unknown pain he had never experienced until now. Due to the thickness of the smoke he could not even see through to check on the state of his own body. His skin could have been singed to the bone but he wouldn¡¯t know. It¡¯s not like it mattered to him anyway. Finally arriving at his residences door and busting through to his apartment he was surprised to find the flames hadn¡¯t reached his residence but an overwhelming smell that masked the smoke from earlier hit his nostrils. The smell was rancid, it definitely was not the smoke. Not knowing if that was the smell of his own flesh melting off or not he advanced through the dark cloudy hallway to see a bright unusual light coming from his siblings bedroom. Entering into the bedroom the three shared is when he saw it..........two bulky figures with large protruding horns from their foreheads and laughing in a crazed almost unearthly tone standing over the small charred remains of his dear younger brother...... Chapter 1: All Alone Now Hey guys....I guess writer''s block hasn''t hit me yet as I''ve roughly decided where I want the first 2 arcs of this story to go to. I know this chapter still leaves many questions unanswered and we still dont know quite enough about the MC yet but give it time. Since i''m writing this story through the MC and other''s thoughts you''ll gain information gradually throughout the story. Also remember that many chapters that have been posted may be unclean and need to be cleaned soon. I actually wrote a few of these earlier chapters on my phone but have been slowly trying to make everything much more clean and acceptable for you guys. That''s why some grammar and so muny spelling errors occur. Hope you enjoy and remember hopefully by the end of this arc I will go back and clean everything up for everyone. PS>>> I know you guys are eager to get to the Fantasy and RPG world soon and I can''t blame ya that''s the best part but after going over it i need to properly hash out Kayle''s humble beginnings first. I promise it won''t take long as I''m still not giving you the full scoop on our dark and troubled Hero MC. I wanted to give you a glimpse into his thoughts and struggles first before showing certain information about him. So.......hang in there just a little longer haha. ----------------------------------------------------¨C-------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1: All Alone Now ¡®It¡¯s been nine months since that day. Hah, I still can¡¯t seem to get those images out of my head.¡¯ Kayle remained still and seated on a small wooden chair in his living room. He is holding something small and shiny in his hand while it was attached to a small, matching silver chain that wrapped around his neck. Twisting the small cross-shaped necklace between his fingers, this was one of the last keep sakes from his deceased mother. Images of fire and sounds of sirens flashed periodically through his mind while he sat there quietly. The time is roughly 5 a.m. in the morning and the light from the sun has just started to creep in through the window that had no curtains drawn to block it. He had been sitting in the dark for hours. ¡®Ughhhh, get out of there!¡¯ I thought to myself quietly while rubbing my head. The doctors gave me medicine to help me sleep apparently, but they didn¡¯t work at all. They are supposed to have the added affect of suppressing dreams in a way, but that didn¡¯t happen either, and even if the medicine did work, it¡¯s not like they could do anything about the nightmares that plague my thoughts during the day. To be honest, I haven¡¯t had a good night''s rest since..... *Beep! Beep! Beep !* ¡®My alarm...Guess it¡¯s time to go training¡¯. I wasted none of my time in these last nine months. I gained a decent sum of money from the renter¡¯s insurance I purchased from a while back. Living in the neighborhood I''m at, one would have to be an idiot to not have it. I eventually quit all of my jobs and used some of the money to pay for a gym membership at a local boxing gym. As I threw on a hoodie, I walked to my front door and looked into the mirror that stood beside it to check my appearance before leaving. My body has changed these past several months too it seems. My muscles were very broad and much more defined while also having a somewhat unhealthy skin color to them. Bags that lay under my eyes had shown I hadn¡¯t gotten much sleep the night before. Ha....what else is new? Since the medication I was given didn¡¯t help much I learned the only way to get my body to sleep is to physically wear it down until it would finally pass out. Before I would climb into bed every night, I began doing pushups after pushups until my body would eventually shuts down and I¡¯d pass out on the floor. I guess I haven¡¯t gotten much use out of this new bed I bought either. Walking out of my apartment, I began to jog down the hallway and down the stairs for a warm up before I got to the Zhen Fe¡¯s Boxing Gym. This gym was opened decades ago by the founder Zhen Fe, a former legendary of Muay Thai boxer that made it big overseas and brought his unrivaled fighting style into the states. I decided it would be beneficial of me to learn some form of fighting instead of just relying on my brute strength or past experiences. I needed to become stronger......I had to! Thinking these thoughts, my face began to turned grim as I jogged past the front desk of the apartment building heading outside. ¡°Oh...Mr. Shaw! We have some mail for you today if you don¡¯t mind picking it up!¡± said the granny behind the front counter. She was is the landlord of this apartment building that I had moved into a few months back. ¡°Oh? Well, alright I guess.¡± I stopped my jog and headed back to the front counter to receive the pieces of mail in the old granny¡¯s hands. Picking them up and skimming through the spam mail, I noticed one of the letters is rather.......extravagant for a normal piece of mail. Such an odd piece of mail didn¡¯t match the others. Sitting the other letters on the counter I opened up the envelope by tearing the strip off the top.....It¡¯s a card? I opened it up.... ¡°Vhoooooo!!!! Congratulations!!!!¡± Confetti burst into the air covering the surroundings, myself, and granny in glitter and pieces of paper. Wait, what was that whistling sound, and that voice....where did that come from? The card? ¡°Umm, what?¡± said the granny now covered in sparkly colors looking around her counter that is now caked with a thick layer of party supplies. ¡°......¡± I remained silent as I have absolutely no idea what is going on. Who sent this letter? As I read the contents of the page I see in big bold letters on the heading, ¡°Global Mythos¡±. If I remember correctly, that is the major corporation that invented Divine and Conquer Online. After skimming through the letter, I get the gist of what they want from me. This wasn¡¯t the first time I¡¯ve been contacted by this company before. However, this is the first time receiving a letter this.....bizarre. "Dear Mr. Shaw! Congratulations on your amazing achievements in Divine and Conquer Online! We would love for a chance to meet with you at your earliest convenience. We understand that due to the rigors of everyday life you must be truly busy. However, we would love to share with you an amazing opportunity to you and you alone. We wait eagerly for your reply and look forward to meeting with you!" From the office of the President of Global Mythos - Let The Games Begin! Not a normal way to end a letter, but that is however letter I have gotten from them ends.....- Let the games begin. I guess if your world famous gaming company it¡¯s normal. I didn¡¯t really pay it much mind though. ¡°Well, I guess someone else decided to send you a birthday card this year, though I¡¯ve never seen one that shoots out party favors and sounds. I surely can¡¯t top something like that, but here.... I got you something as well. Happy Birthday, Mr. Shaw!¡± The granny behind the counter handed me another card from behind the desk and presented it to me. ¡°Huh? Birthday? Oh yah ha ha. I guess it is my birthday huh, I guess I forgot all about it.¡± Today I had just turned 19, my how the time has flown by. It feels like only yesterday I was celebrating my younger siblings¡¯ birthdays. Upon thinking that to myself, I drew my eyes downward while making a wry smile with my mouth. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Well, I know it¡¯s not much but I just wanted to show you I was thinking about you. Apparently my granddaughter Rebecca was also planning on baking you something special later, so try to act surprised hahaha!.¡± Granny made one of her big smiles after handing me the card she taken the time to writer for me. Though it is a small form a kindness, even kindness I¡¯m not use to, I don¡¯t think too much into it. I guess it takes a lot for me to smile these days, heck even food eventually lost its taste as well to me. Though granny and Rebecca had always been so kindhearted to me, it tended to always get shoved under the rug of my torn heart. ¡°Ah, well thank you this means a lot, I won¡¯t be back till later so I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯ll be able to eat it today¡± - Kayle ¡° Oh don¡¯t worry about that, it¡¯s your birthday you probably have loads a plans, to get to I¡¯ll bring it up and leave it in your apartment building later. I¡¯ll let Rebecca know, now what are we going to do about this ridiculous mess from that first envelope you opened¡±. - Granny ¡°Ahhh that.......¡± after looking around the surroundings saying that I noticed just how much of a mess this stupid card I got made. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen a card like that before it really looks like a lot of work went into making it....Hmm well how¡¯s this I can see your in a rush to go work out, how about I just clean this up and consider this your birthday gift yah?¡± ¡°Seriously....I¡¯m guessing technology these days just keep on advancing. Even for something as miniscule as the greeting card business has had to step their game up. And that would honestly be great because I¡¯m kinda running late¡± ¡°Think nothing of it; have a great birthday Mr. Shaw!!!¡± Granny said as she waved at me goodbye and turning to the mess I had left her. She really is sweet lady now that I think about it. As I exit the building, I placed the letter granny gave me into my pocket and began jogging again. I didn¡¯t even open it to read it....It¡¯s not like it would matter anyway..... ¡®Eh....I¡¯ll read it later I guess, she did go through the trouble of making it for me.¡¯ As I continued jogging down the loan sidewalk, the sun had raised a short time ago. I like these morning jogs; the cool breeze against my face feels calming to my skin. I close my eyes for a minute to enjoy the gentle breeze blowing against my face. ¡°Bro...Brother. Ple..Please save meh me.....AHH gahchah¡± Screams of my younger sister Kaylan and horrifying images began to consume my thoughts as the memory I do not want to re-live keeps popping back up. ¡°Hahahaha. So weak....hehehehahaha!¡± - ? ¡®Hmmm.....guess I can¡¯t even get a break from this while I¡¯m awake either.....figures.¡¯ As I open up my eyes, I had already been jogging for some time while the waking nightmares periodically flashed through my thoughts. I hadn¡¯t even noticed, but I had already reached Zhen Fe¡¯s Gym. It had a huge statue of Zhen Fe in his glory days with the title of ¡®The Emperor¡¯ on a plaque that was placed on the statues base. It was early so the only people there were usually me and Zhen Fe. After entering into the gym, I walk over to my own personal corner I had been training at for a few months now. I began swinging at the punching bag that had been chained to the ceiling. Since this was mine alone, Zhen Fe usually left me to myself for my morning exercises before we begin sparring with other trainees and instructors who showed up later. *Bam!!!! Bam!!! BAM!!!!* Swing after swing, I concentrated my punches directly into the center of the bag that had multiple tape and scrape marks covering it. *Bam!! BAM!!!! BAAAAM!!!! ching ching chinglingigling!!!* After the last swing the bag left its stationary point and swung upwards towards the ceiling causing loud rattlings noises from the chain that was holding it. This bag was one of the heaviest ones this gym had. It wasn¡¯t used by trainees much so it was practically brand new when I got to it. However over just a couple days the lining holding the leather in place from the bag began to tear and rip over the consecutive punches and kicks I had been laying into it. Although it had a good weight to it, it still felt too light. It didn¡¯t have enough weight to receive some of my blows that were concentrated on single points for extended periods of time. The bag I was using is now beat up. But isn¡¯t that what it¡¯s for? Master Fe always said.....¡±When you¡¯re angry, hit the bag. When you¡¯re hungry and want something to eat, hit the bag. When you¡¯re tired....come hit the bag. When you¡¯re bored....come hit the bag. I had drilled these words into memory as I had used these lifeless punching bags as outlets for my intense hatred for months now. It wasn¡¯t going to hold up much longer though I could tell. My punches and kicks had gained tremendous power after learning to use my weight appropriately by changing my fighting stance. I had also learned new breathing techniques that had made my core stronger than it ever had been. It was true....I was much stronger than I once was, but it¡¯s still not enough. As the bag began to fall back down into place, I lowered my stance and tried to land a strike on the center of the bag while rotating my body and aiming my shin at the center position. *¡°THWACKKKK! ...... BAMMMMM!!!!!!!¡±* The power from my spin kick that landed at the same point I had been swinging at for hours now connected perfectly with my shin and sent the bag flying. Breaking the chain that held it in place, the bag flew back and crashed into the wall behind it making a lot of noise. ¡°WOW!¡± Apparently Zhen Fe and several trainers and trainees had eventually entered into the gym and had been watching me without me noticing. Looking back at them I could see why they would be surprised. The chain didn''t tear the bag so much as the force from my kick broke the clamp that was connected to the ceiling that chain was connected to. ¡®Wow....that is pretty crazy. Even I¡¯m surprised at my growth, but I could swear for a brief moment it felt like the air around me split open before sending tiny tremors and shockwaves after my leg connected with the center bag. Damn....I¡¯m starting to feel like a badass already.........No.....It¡¯s still not enough. Memories again began to flood into my thoughts, reminding me of my lack of strength. ¡°Hey Shaw!.... How¡¯s about you and I go a couple rounds today?¡± said one of the instructors who worked under Zhen Fe while breaking me away from my dark twisted thoughts. After hours of swinging and sweat dripping from my body, I am hardly tired at all. I looked down at my taped wrists and hands and began to clinch my fists. I swiveled my head to the side while not even facing the instructor and said in a quiet voice that could only be heard by those who were paying attention to me. ¡°Hope you¡¯re prepared.....¡± Chapter 2: A Fated Encounter? Hey guys thanks again for your comments it means a lot. Really.....it feels awesome knowing people are enjoying this and only being up for around a day having this many views makes me truly happy (well idk if that is a lot of views but for me I¡¯m thankful. Remember I still plan to redo and clean old chapters to better some of my dialogue and make the whole story much cleaner, I just wanted to continue the story for now and will probably come back and clean up everything after the first arc is finished. Thank you guys for the support.Hope you enjoy..... Chapter 2: A Fated Encounter? Boxing Instructor¡¯s POV: ¡®Stepping into the ring for our sparring match, I put on the lightly padded boxing gloves our gym provides onto my taped up wrists. After watching that Kayle kid do work on the boxing bags, I can tell he isn¡¯t having the best day. Nine months in this gym and this kid hasn¡¯t said more than a few sentences to anyone. Trust me, a boxing gym with countless troubling teens coming here to vent out some anger, I¡¯ve met plenty of men of few words, but this kid....he is different.¡¯ Anyone could tell just by looking into his eyes. No one spends that kind of hours added up in this place unless they¡¯re training for a competition. However, according to Master Fe who had spoken to him most out of all of us, that apparently wasn¡¯t the case for Kayle. Truly what scenes has this child seen to bring forth a weight like that from his fists? ¡®I can¡¯t even imagine. Most kids after leaving this place are less angry when they came.....but not him.¡¯ After several instances of some of the other trainees picking fights with Kayle after viewing his raw talent, we banned other members from sparring with him besides fellow instructors or Master Fe. Every student we had who fought with Kayle, including our star pupils who had won several regional tournaments, were just tossed around like rag dolls when entering the ring with him. Where did he learn how to fight like that? Although he didn¡¯t have great technique at first, every spar he¡¯s had with other trainees has ended in a complete knock out within a few rounds. Looking towards the other corner, I saw him. Long blond hair that reached his shoulders with bright blue eyes......He really needed a haircut; it¡¯s grown a lot since he joined us. I guess he wasn¡¯t the type to care about his looks much, though he still kept his stoic and chiseled features. ¡®As I looked at him his eyes aren¡¯t even staring back at me. He just kept staring towards the floor in front of him with eyes half open.....what¡¯s on his mind I wonder? *DING!* ¡®The match has started; I advance a few steps towards the center of the box with my hands up in the first basic stance to guard my face. With those same cold eyes he begins to take notice of me and also advances toward my direction. If I can remember correctly the kid¡¯s technique still needs some work so as long as I don¡¯t take too many of those famous heavy strikes of his I should be alright. *HA! Whoosh! Whoosh!* I jab with my right arm and followed up with a side hook with my left. Kayle narrowly dodges each and takes another step forward and within a fragment of a second, lands a blow into my unprotected ribs on my left side.Guuaaah!My body flails a few steps to the right as I continue to get my bearings after being hit. ¡°Ha....Ha....Geez kid, you¡¯ve been practicing¡±¡°...........¡± I let out a few short breaths and say that while he continues to remain silent. I can feel a throbbing sensation from the area he just kneaded...yah that¡¯s going to be bruised tomorrow. The other instructors weren¡¯t lying; this kid¡¯s arm strength is really something else. I don¡¯t have time to over think it as he dashed towards me at a much quicker speed than before and swings his right foot straight into my abdomen. Even though I didn¡¯t have enough time to evade his strike, I put up both my arms to block the hit. Puaghhhhh!.......Booom! The kick that connected with my two arms sends me flying back several feet into one of the corner posts. ¡®Jesus!!!.....even blocking this kid¡¯s hits can cause so much damage. What the hell is this, really?¡¯ I¡¯m beginning to get queasy after the shot I just took, it had a force that spread throughout my body and with the backlash of hitting the corner post, my body momentarily froze from the stun it had just took. ¡®Ok..... taking this kid¡¯s hits from here on out is out of the question, if he connects my head with one of those kicks, the next trip I¡¯m taking is going to be the hospital. Seriously......Who is this kid?!¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m an instructor under the world famous fighter, Zhen Fe, ¡°The Emperor¡±. I train with him daily and am someone who prides himself in lasting several rounds with him. Yet I¡¯m getting tossed around by this kid¡¯s monstrous blows. Geez! I¡¯m pathetic, I need to end this quickly or else I¡¯ll receive much more emotional scarring than I already have today. As he began to approach me I decide to use a boxer¡¯s greatest weak point in the ring while giving him a feint like I was going in for kick. He went to brush off my strike, though it never came, I change my trajectory and stomp the floor abruptly and lower my stance. I deliver a powerful blow with my open palm right underneath his chin. *BAM!!* That did it......Kayle immediately dropped to the floor and begins groaning. I can see he knows exactly what mistake was made as well. Always....always protect the chin. In boxing it¡¯s widely known to always protect your chin as there is a major nerve there and if it is hit with just enough force and precision it doesn¡¯t matter how big, strong, or how well they¡¯ve trained. Getting hit at this particular point will drop them immediately. Even if the individual isn¡¯t knocked out or has enough energy to continue.....he can¡¯t! For a short time his body won¡¯t respond to his movements due to the intense shock and will regardless force the end of a boxing match. Looking down, I see Kayle as he convulses and shakes on the ground. He looks like he¡¯s trying to force his body to move, but he can¡¯t. He¡¯s starting to breathe kind of awkwardly now that I think about it. Almost sounds like the sounds of a bull ready to charge or a wild wolf preparing to maul its prey.......Yah...he¡¯s pissed alright. ¡°Listen kid, you¡¯ve really improved and we¡¯re all proud of ya, but don¡¯t force yourse........What the hell?¡± As I tried to talk Kayle down, his body continues trembling and he moves his head towards me and as if for the first time in this fight, stares right into my eyes. They were the eyes of someone who was truly enraged. However, that is not what shocked me. His eyes....they...are pitch black?! No longer holding the bright blue hue they once had, they didn¡¯t even have any pupils, just blackness. He looks like a monster. ¡®What.....What¡¯s happening right now?¡¯ Kayle starts to slowly lift his body while continually shaking and looking up at me. His stance is now gone and is now standing at the center ring. How is this possible? How is he getting up? What is up with his eyes?? Did he burst a blood vessel somewhere.....yah he must have a concussion or something. I look around and everyone in the gym is speechless from Kayle¡¯s indomitable will as he got back up. ¡®Ok, he obviously has a concussion right now and I need to put him down quick or this could become disastrous for this boy.¡¯ I get my guard up and aim a shot to the side of his face; his senses must have dulled after what I did to him. Its ok, I can do this....he¡¯s not a monster.¡°Woh what...where¡¯d he guahhh? *Thwackkkk!* As I swung my arm, it felt like he left an after image of himself and I lost sight of him somehow. Before I have a chance to think what¡¯s happening, a powerful strike is delivered to my right ribs from the back. The force from the blow shoots me back towards the same corner post. I taste blood. My God did his kicks get stronger. ¡®Ughhh wha....what¡¯s happening.¡¯ Things are becoming blurry. I see him coming closer and I stumbled forward losing my balance. I throw a pathetic punch his way which is then blocked, and then he countered.... A blow that felt like an atom bomb going off at close range is connected to my chest with his fist in a strike I couldn¡¯t even see thrown. My body is then blasted through the corner post behind me sending me outside of the ring onto the floor beside everyone. It felt like my heart had stopped for a second from that hit. And with that, my vision went out like a light. Kayle¡¯s Pov: I got asked by another trainer to spar. Apparently I¡¯m not allowed to spar with other trainees anymore due to Zhen Fe¡¯s rules. The fight went well, but I could tell I need to practice my techniques much more. Instructors as well as Zhen Fe are far better than the trainees I¡¯ve fought in the past. The instructor I¡¯m facing I believe was a golden glove boxer back in the day, apparently he was some kind of prodigy too. The fight continued with me having the initial advantage. I could see the look of shock when he received each of my punches and kicks. He clearly didn¡¯t expect that from someone my age. Even with blocking my strikes, I could tell they were causing him some pain. Sadly though he delivered a fatal counter to my bottom jaw and dropped me. ¡°Ughhhhhhh ugh nnn ¡±Damn it!!! I can¡¯t move. It¡¯s what he did to me. I should have never fallen for that feint and left my chin wide open. This instructor¡¯s strikes are dangerously fast. My vision blurs and the internal shock I received from the blow sent several images from the past through my brain.......I look up towards my instructor and his face begins to turn into a familiar face. A muscular thick armed man with protruding horns out of his forward. I began to hear an eerily familiar laugh in my thoughts, something I couldn¡¯t forget even if I wanted to. From there, everything went dark..... .------------------ ¡°Impossible, he manages to get past the flames I set. Absurd!¡± One of the unknown figures standing in my siblings¡¯ room stated. ¡°...Do not worry Lord Asmodeous, allow me to incinerate him with my hellfire for you!¡± I couldn¡¯t believe what¡¯s happening in front of me. I can clearly see the charred remains of what¡¯s left of my little brother Hayden lying on the floor. He¡¯s not even recognizable anymore, but just by the parts of skin that are still distinguishable, I know it¡¯s my brother. He¡¯s missing an arm and I can see it several feet away from where his body lies. I can¡¯t think as my mind is in shock, but all I know right now is that I absolutely have to kill these bastards standing in front of me. I absolutely can¡¯t forgive them for what I¡¯m seeing in front of me. Without thinking any further, I rushed forward and I am met with a large black flame that shot out of the less muscular horned figure from before. ¡®It¡¯s hot.....it burns....honestly it burns worse than anything I¡¯ve ever felt up until now, but compared to the emotions that are tearing my heart to shreds at the moment, this fire is nothing. How fucking dare you! Why would you come here and do this?! ¡°I¡¯ll KILL YOUUUUU!!!!¡±I burst through the dark flames, blinded by my rage, and plant my fist into the horned man¡¯s face. His body doesn¡¯t even move or give an inch. He¡¯s less muscular than the one next to him but he¡¯s still around a foot taller than me. I had to leap to land the blow, but it looked like it didn¡¯t faze him at all. ¡°Wah, Ho..How did he get past it!!!!? Impossible!!!¡± Apparently the shock of me not being incinerated by the dark, ungodly hot flames did more damage to him than my fist. ¡®What do I do? Who are these people.....no...these demons. What else could I call these things before me and took my siblings away.....siblings. Wait, where¡¯s Kaylan?!¡¯ After receiving multiple shocks at once with my brother¡¯s state, I forgot to see where Kaylan is. In the corner of the room on top of her bed I can see a small lump with the covers pulled over it. It¡¯s shaking.......No, Kaylan, it¡¯s ok....don¡¯t be scared I¡¯ll protect you just hang on. ¡¯While I¡¯m trying to figure out a plan, the muscular one flicks his wrist in my direction and my body begins to move on its own. It¡¯s lift up from the ground and I can feel my body hovering freely over the ground. As I stare back at the demon in front of me shaking with rage, I finally know where that stench from earlier came from. It wasn¡¯t my skin melting off, but these two. What is that....it smells like sulphur. It¡¯s almost enough to make me gag.As he looks at me with interest, he pulls me towards him as I float in his direction. As he looks at me with disdain I spit in his face while mocking him. I have to keep his attention away from Kaylan. ¡°I swear.....I¡¯m going to kill you, you monster.¡± ¡°Ha? Someone as weak as you? Hahahaha! Never!¡± His voice vibrated the surroundings and had a slight echo to it. After saying this he sends me flying through the bedroom wall and into the adjoining kitchen area of the apartment. ¡°Guah....cough cough.¡± Wow what is this thing. How, How can I get them away from Kaylan? My heart is racing and I can feel that my body took some massive damage from going through a wall just now. Then a bright light coming from the cross around my neck began to glow strangely. The small white crystal imbedded into the middle began to shine like a star for a brief moment and I can feel energy returning to me. This cross is the last keep sake from our mother. I always kept it with me in remembrance. But what is this? I rip off the necklace to get a better look at it and the glow begins to fade back into the crystal. What¡¯s going on? I¡¯m not given any more time to think about it as I hear the voices from before talking again. ¡°Go ahead and torch the girl and we¡¯ll finish off the boy too just in case. His ability to handle your flames is clearly abnormal.¡± ¡°Bro Brotherrrr!!!! Help meeee!¡± I grip the cross between my fingers, I remembered the gang members I¡¯ve fought with until now would use keys like this. It really did make fighting those punks difficult. But I have to conceal it. If it glows like that again, I may not be able to get close to them. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Heyyy... That all you got? Such puny fire I thought someone was hitting me with a blow dryer¡± Ok I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m doing but these two bastards with their talks of weakness and looks of pity makes me think they¡¯re very prideful. Calling them weak might invoke them to come back after me. I entered into the room as I stumbled past the debris from the fallen wall. ¡°What did you say?!!! I¡¯ll have you know my cursed flames are enough to melt this whole stupid world to the ground you filth!!!!¡± Yah...that worked. I only have one shot at this. Hopefully he throws those flames at me again then I can somehow manage to get through and manage some diversion for Kaylan to escape. I have to do this, there¡¯s no other way. I¡¯m sorry Kaylan..... ¡°Prepare for the pain of a thousand lifetimes, you worm!!!!!¡± ¡°Bring it Onnnn!!!!!¡±I dash forward towards the the two and the same demon from before shoots another black flame my way, however this time the heat is definitely stronger now that his pride was hurt. But i can endure. Just a little longer is all you need come on! Just a little further... I burst through the dark flames with an intense pain coursing through my veins down to my bones but I don¡¯t have time to focus on that right now. I continue forward only this time my aim is the bulkier demon. The smaller one called him Lord or something. Meaning if I were to hurt him somehow maybe I can cause some diversion but alas....things aren¡¯t always so easy.He caught me within seconds before reason with his weird telekinetic ability and froze me in mid air. ¡°Hahahahaha were you trying to save the little girl over here child? How pitiful, here feel what true heartache is! Faylon!¡± ¡°Yes, my lord!¡± The smaller demon turned his hands towards the bed Kaylan was hiding at...........no. Flames erupted from his hands and onto the bed. Immediately I hear the screams of my darling little sister. The cries turn my heart into a flurry anguish. I can¡¯t bear this sound anymore.She rolls off of the bed in a panic as the fire started to spread over the covers that were on top of her while I could do nothing but watch. ¡®No...No...No no nononono no nonononono!!!!! MOVE damn you pleaseeeeeee! MOVEEEEEE!!¡¯ My body started to violently shake in the air which caused the two demons to turn back and look at me with a concerned look. After struggling, the muscular one started to show a confident smile. It was at that moment the cross between my fingers started to flow again and I could even feel strength returning to my right arm. I don¡¯t miss this opportunity and sink the long end of the cross into the large demons eye and what happened next must have caused the demon severe harm. He bellowed a scream that shook the very foundation of the building. His skin next to his eye was starting to deteriorate and was burning off quickly. Within seconds, a fourth of his face and skin had already been singed off. My body drops to the floor and the great demon begins panicking as him and the other demon tries to get the cross away from his eye socket. But the pain seems to be too overwhelming for him. I crawled over to where my sister is lying and pull her close to my chest. Her entire left side has been scored and damaged leaving her skin and face ruined. Her hair has been completely burnt off and the beautiful girl I once knew who was always smiling back at me was now hardly recognizable. She won¡¯t open her eyes. I drew her close and then could hear a faint breathing. Oh thank God..... ¡°Lord Asmodeous! I¡¯ve never seen this before we have to leave and cure you immediately. Please we must hurry back.¡± ¡° Ughhhh!!! Aghhhhh!!!!!!.UGH I¡¯ll come back for you boyyyy AHHHH!!!¡± A small circular structure with demonic designs appeared underneath the two and a bright light appeared, within a second the two had vanished. I look down at my beloved sister and hold her tightly against my chest. My eyes begin to water but I don¡¯t have time. I carefully pick her up in a princess carry and run out of the room to get immediate medical treatment, however, not before taking one last look at my little brother¡¯s lifeless body. He probably died protection Kaylan.......Good job little bro, I won¡¯t waste your efforts in vain. As I turned my head, the scene of leaving my brother there will forever haunt my memories. My vision begins to distort and become blurry as I notice I¡¯m not where I think I am. I¡¯m standing over a person whose face is swollen like it had been stung by a bunch of bees. Shaking my head to bring myself back to reality, I feel arms and hands pulling me off of the individual while I hear faint sounds of yelling directed towards me. ¡®Oh my, what.....did I do this?¡¯ Blood was splattered on the floor and around my gloves, but not a lot. What I¡¯m looking at is the trainer I was fighting. Around his solar plexus is a very large bruise, colored in blue and purple, and covers the entirety of his chest. It looks like a wound someone would have while wearing a bullet proof vest but still taking a shotgun blast at point blank range.......I did this? After that I left the gym rather quickly, or well I was strictly told to leave by Zhen Fe. He said I¡¯m not allowed to return until I get a handle on my rage problem and he thinks I need to go receive help from a doctor.......Yah, that didn¡¯t work either. Apparently after landing a shot to the instructor¡¯s chest and breaking the corner post, I had leaped out of the box and got in a few more shots on his face before several instructors had pulled me off. The look of horror in everyone¡¯s eyes told me what I had done was wrong. I¡¯ve never blacked out like this before.....I guess all that lack of sleep topped with my decreasing sanity probably isn¡¯t helping. Well, who would be alright in the head after seeing such sights really? I guess I should go grab a bite to eat since I¡¯m hungry. Strange even after having that freak out I¡¯m surprisingly calm right now and my breathing is back to normal.....hmmm. Something tells me that¡¯s not ok but not much I can do about that. After leaving the boxing gym I go grab a bite to eat at a diner I worked at part time as a cook. I¡¯ve worked multiple jobs over the years but this was the one job I liked the most. I always enjoyed cooking in the kitchen, I guess because I always enjoyed getting to bring it home and see my two sibling¡¯s faces as they would try out my new dishes. I didn¡¯t stay long even though the owner and staff had asked me to stay a little longer. Eating meals is usually a quick process for me now when I¡¯m always eating alone. I continue walking down the streets of my old neighborhood I haven¡¯t been in a long time. ¡®Come to think of it, when was the last time I just took a walk? Damn.....it¡¯s been a while.¡¯ ¡°Hey, where are you going, handsome? ¡± Some girl I walked by tried to talk to me, but I just walked past her without acknowledging her. I could hear her make a grumbling sound like she didn¡¯t expect me to ignore her completely. I started to take a detour and head for a local park my mom use to take us three when we were little. It¡¯s been so long since I¡¯ve been here. As I walk through the park, I continue to go through the memories of what happened that awful night. I rushed Kaylan out of the building and begged the paramedics to rush to the hospital. They allowed me to stay in the EMT van as we drove to the hospital quickly. Her pulse kept dropping, but the EMT¡¯s managed to somehow bring her back from the dead and kept her breathing stabilized somehow. I grabbed her hand that wasn¡¯t burned and pulled it close to my cheek. I kissed it to let her know I wasn¡¯t going to leave her. I prayed. I begged. I pleaded with God, to someone, to let my little sister live. ¡°Let her stay with me, please.¡± If she left this world.....then I would truly be alone. Kaylan¡¯s breathing remained steady until we reached the hospital. She stayed conscious just long enough to see me shedding tears down my face. In a faint voice that only I could hear, she said ¡°...Don¡¯t....cry..¡± She looked me in my eyes and gave me that same beautiful smile she always had just before leaving this world for good. As I continued to walk through the old park, my eyes started to water remembering this.....No....No. I haven¡¯t cried since that day....and I won¡¯t. I took a deep sigh and then started to notice in the distance was a large gathering of people. It was a group of neighborhood kids and some parents watching some.....Wait, is that a clown? I walked up closer to see that in the center of the circle stood a clown, or I say that but his looks are different than that of a modern day clown. He wore one of those large, checkered jester hats and had his face painted half-black and half-white with a few strange markings drawn in. He stood on a large beach-sized ball and was juggling bowling pins, knives, and hoola-hoops. I¡¯m not gonna lie, this clown was good. He seemed to be enjoying himself too from hearing his joyful laugh while being surrounding by the kids who sat there in amazement. ¡°Oh hahahahaha! Now, now....who here would like to see........a magic trickkkkK!!!!!¡± The crowd erupted into cheers and the clown threw his hands into the air with a huge smile on his face. ¡°Well then, I need a volunteer....Hmmmmm who shall I pick?¡± While surveying the audience, the clown in odd clothing pointed at me and laughed again. ¡°Ohohohoho you sir, would you mind helping me out?¡±¡°......¡± ¡®Wait, is this goofy character talking to me?¡¯ ¡°Uhhh no thanks I¡¯m just passing through¡±¡°Oh....and where else do you have to be on this fateful day good sir? You wandered through this park today and somehow found your way here. So I think that it¡¯s a rather good thing as you seem to need some cheering up! Don¡¯t you agree kids?!!!!¡± ¡°......Umm......are you a pedophile?¡± ¡°.........¡± The jester and everyone in the surrounding area were speechless. ¡°Wah....N..No of course not where would you get that from?¡± ¡°Umm, I don¡¯t really see any birthday balloons or anything around and yet you¡¯re standing here in a park, in a clown costume, surrounded by young children.¡± ¡°..............¡± The clown man looked back at me seemingly annoyed at my statement. But oddly enough didn¡¯t try to argue with my logic. As the clown took out a deck of cards he threw the deck at the table he was standing beside. The cards cascaded evenly over the table and were perfectly aligned face down across the entire table. At that moment I felt an immense gaze staring at me. It made me flinch as I looked up to see where this gaze was coming from. There I saw a few feet standing away from the clown were yet another figure that didn¡¯t match this scene. It is a gorgeous, exotic looking woman wearing a casual business suit and short skirt. Her hair is dirty-blonde with an almost purple tint to it. She has a large curvy chest that showed a little cleavage through her business suit. It was hard not to continue staring at her as I turned back to the jester in front of me. As I reached for the cards, his face immediately brightened as if totally forgotten what I said before about him being a pedophile. The card I pulled......a joker? Eh, what are the odds, huh? ¡°Now then, the card an individual pulls from my deck always shows a little bit about the person who picks it. I believe that this deck does not lie!¡± As he turned over the other cards showing several numbers and face cards, he kept staring at me with his same smile which almost looked hand-drawn. Now that I¡¯m looking at him he actually has quite a nicely toned face. Had he not dressed like a clown, I¡¯m sure he actually wouldn¡¯t have much trouble with the ladies. As he collects the card and picks up the deck with his left, he instantaneously lights a match with his other hand and within a second the deck had burned and turned to ash as if it was never even there. ¡®Heh......Clever trick. But is that all?¡¯ ¡°Now then the card you picked as I said says a lot about you.¡± ¡°Hmm....that so? Then I guess it¡¯s saying I¡¯m a dud then.¡± As I said that I showed him the card I had pulled. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yah see I pulled a joker card. Isn¡¯t that like a joke card anyways and is never even used in games. Thinking to myself the joker was always a card no one ever played with. In reality, it¡¯s a useless card and in some games it would mean you lost if you drew it. ¡°Oh..... On the contrary, I believe your card suits you quite well. Though many may think of the joker as a non-playable card or usually meaning a bust in some games, while in other games a joker can be considered as a hidden trump card, thusly, winning the game all together. But I guess it depends on the game now doesn¡¯t it?.......it¡¯s all how you look at it yes?¡± ¡°Hmmm....that so.¡± ¡°I choose to think so.¡± as the clown said that he snapped his fingers and playing cards began to rain down from the sky like a firework had just gone off. Hundreds.....no thousands of playing cards rained down on everyone. On the face of each card.......A joker. As the crowd surrounding us leapt with joy at seeing something so incredible the joker and I continued staring into each other¡¯s eyes as if trying to get a read on the other. ¡°Well nice trick.....but I guess I should get going now. Don¡¯t pull any kids into your creepy van later ok....¡± As I turn around to walk home, I can feel his gaze on my back and hear the faintness of his unique laugh all the way until I left the park. ¡°Tch......Such arrogance in this one.¡± Said the beautiful women in a business suit. ¡°Pay it no mind, Hl?kk. Wuahhahaha! Now kids who wants to see.....some more magic trickkkkksssss!!!! ¡±¡° ¡° ¡° YAYYYYY !!!!¡± ¡± ¡± The sounds of the children¡¯s cheers and laughter passed through the entirety of the old park. Chapter 3: The Proposal Long Chapter guys....enjoy Chapter 3: The Proposal I decided to walk around my old neighborhood some more before heading back home. As I started to walk past the old barren lot where our old apartment use to sit I make a deep sigh. ¡®I won¡¯t deny this is a sigh that gives me a lot of grief to look at, but I remain standing here looking at where the building which was later torn down due to the damage caused by the fire, reminiscing over some of the great memories that were shared there with the four of us altogether. I mean life was never easy, especially when mom died, but it was my life. I remember when I was younger and mom was still around I¡¯d imagine what life would¡¯ve been like if I was born into another home. I can¡¯t deny it was a thought that popped into my head from time to time, since life was always so difficult for me. Having so many responsibilities I never really had a chance at a normal childhood. But I don¡¯t blame my mother; I don¡¯t blame her for dying either. Life was filled with constant pain and torment for her as well. It wasn¡¯t her fault I was born into this family nor was it my younger siblings. I just got dealt a bad hand in life.....that¡¯s all. Though now that I¡¯ve been alone for this long, all which has filled my thoughts these days, is how much I wanted my old life back. As I started at the vacant lot I could almost see the after images of me carrying and playing with my younger sister and brother while mom sat on the porch and watched us fool around. It was enough to cause my eyes to water. But I force the oncoming tears back. ¡®I can¡¯t.....I won¡¯t. It¡¯s not like crying would help anyone anyways. Besides, I made a promise to not cry again after that day. It was a dying girl¡¯s last wish after all.¡¯ The sun¡¯s beginning to set and I decide it¡¯s about time to go. I walk home and the night starts to trickle in down the streets. Upon arriving back at my apartment it¡¯s already late. I walk in and see a small cake with the words Happy Birthday Kayle written on it and sitting on the kitchen counter near the front door. ¡®Oh yah....Rebecca made this for me. I make a wry smile to myself and carry it over to the small wooden chair next to a small table in the living room area of the apartment. On the table were an assortment of books, a small TV, and a gaming system. After the fire at the apartment I ended up getting the chance to look through the wreckage, though the only things that survived through it all were my mother¡¯s cross necklace, a few household items and the gaming system I had bought for my siblings. We didn¡¯t really have much to begin with anyways. The gaming system also got some use too these past few months. I would sometimes still play Divine and Conquer Online. In my down time as a way to remember good times I would get on and play.....it wasn¡¯t the same. Since I didn¡¯t have my brother or sister anymore I was a solo player from then on. Yet after defeating Azrael and getting an insane boss monster drop I was usually challenged by random guilds when I would get online to play. They wanted to take what I and my siblings had earned together. Well.....they did help as an outlet for my anger too for a short time. Amongst the drops one interesting item we received was Azrael¡¯s Death Scythe. It was a large scythe with fancy ornaments covering it from the base to the tip of the blade. It had an interesting special ability that let it ignore and phase through all armor, defense, and weapons while laying waste to anything in its wake that received the strike. It also had an added dark magic to it that would curse and de-buff whoever was unlucky enough to be struck by it. Every swing would take down and tear through multiple opponents and eventually made me into an object of fear to those who played Divine and Conquer Online. I was eventually given the nickname ¡°The Angel of Death¡± over the net. I guess this was due to me one of the ones who previously killed the owner of this title while also welding his weapon around. ¡®Ahhh...I don¡¯t really feel like playing right now¡¯ Next to the gaming system were a large assortment of books ranging from anatomy, some martial arts books, many books on religion including the Bible, as well as some books on firearms and weapons. I had been studying ever since that day to make myself stronger. I learned about key and vital points in the body that if struck properly would properly disarm an opponent while also learning particulars to which places that would cause the most pain. I boned up a little on other martial arts techniques to try and show them into practice with my own but to no avail sadly. It was much harder to put into practice than just reading a book apparently. I also took the time to read through various literatures about multiple religions and cultures trying to learn about what it was I saw that day. I wanted to know for sure what it was I saw that day, because it was clear that no one would believe what I had seen. Telling anyone would just make me look crazy and probably have me thrown into a psych ward somewhere as I was just some kid who¡¯s now alone and went through a terrible ¡°accident¡±. Everything I read though always pointed me back to the Bible. The things I saw and even that name.....Asmodeous. It was definitely a demon. It wasn¡¯t a name I found in the bible either but it was in other literary works that was something the stemmed from the Bible at a different time. Though I can¡¯t take everything I read as fact but I just wanted information. Sadly though most of it wasn¡¯t enough to give me any details I had wanted to know. I also looked up several books on firearms and various forms of weaponry. Only because I thought it might be necessary. Those demons were strong and had abilities that clearly are beyond human. I¡¯d have to be crazy if I thought it was possible to win against them barehanded. Months and months were spent into preparations for my revenge. As I remained seated on the chair in the dark and quiet room my eyes drifted back to the cake. I poke my finger into the top of the cake and get a quick taste of the icing that was used. ¡®Hmmm...good. I¡¯ll have to thank Becca later.¡¯ ¡°Gosh it¡¯s already my birthday.¡± The thought was crazy. Just a year ago I was celebrating my birthday with my little brother Hayden and my sister Kaylan. Come to think of it they got me a gift last year too. ¡°Happy Birthday Big Brother.....WE LOVE YOU!!!¡± My siblings had made a picture of the three of us with macaroni and glitter while coloring the card in their school class. Sadly that present they gave me was one of the things that didn¡¯t survive the fire. ¡°AghhhHHHH!!!!¡± In a brief moment my mind is filled with emotions rushing through my head. It¡¯s sorrow. I flip the table over and the cake along with everything else on the table goes flying over. ¡°Ughh ughh sob sob sob waaaa¡± For the first time in nine months.........tears began to fall down my face. Nine months of intense loneliness. Nine months of extreme anguish, sorrow, and blistering heartache. Nine months holding in all of those emotions finally took its toll and I could no longer keep the tears back. ¡°Ha.....ha....sob....sob...ughh haha I¡¯m sorry.....I¡¯m sorry Kaylan. I couldn¡¯t protect either of you and I made you a promise and it seems I was too weak to protect that either.¡± It hasn¡¯t even been a year and already I broke my promise I made to my little sister who¡¯s no longer here. I ball and sit in sadness for what seems like an eternity until I heard a knock coming from the front door. As I walk and open up the door I see its Rebecca. I must have been loud. ¡°Ah...Um...Hi Kayle. I was just wondering if you maybe wanted some company again tonight.......it seems like you could need it.¡± Yes it¡¯s true. Sometimes I would help receive the comfort of this woman which did help but it never filled that whole that was left in my heart. I¡¯m not sure if that is a hole that will ever be filled now, even if I did avenge my siblings. ¡°OH...Hey Becca, um yah sorry I¡¯m just not feeling real well tonight. I¡¯m probably just going to go to sleep. But thank you.......And thank you for the cake you made me. It was nice of you and very good.....¡± Ok so I may have lied a little but what could I say. ¡®Oh thanks for the cake, but it¡¯s currently on the floor right now.¡¯ ¡°Hmm, I understand. Well if you need anything you know where I¡¯ll be. Good night Kayle, I hope you feel better in the morning and hopefully tomorrow could be a better day for you.¡± As Becca made a wry smile she turned around looking disappointed and walked back to where her apartment was. ¡®I guess she could hear me.....and if not that I guess my face does look a little flush¡¯ I shut the door and walked back into the dark and now quiet room. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever felt this level of loneliness before. Even if Becca had spent the night like she has before, I doubt that she could have made me feel any better...... I just wanted to be alone. Thoughts and images began rushing through my head and I take a few of those sleeping pills the doctors had prescribed me. I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s because this was a taxing day or not but I feel like the pills I took are working somehow. I start to get very tired. I drowsily walk back to the bedroom and collapse on my bed. It doesn¡¯t take long until my mind and thoughts drift away as my consciousness fades away. ¡®Ching ching ching chingchingiching¡± In the darkness of my mind all I hear are chains rattling. I can¡¯t see anything, just endless nothingness.....endless darkness. Ching! Ching!!! CHING!!chingchingching!!!!¡± As the sounds of the chains become louder I can feel my body start to become bound and tightened. The chains wrapped around me and I¡¯m powerless to do anything about it. ¡®You couldn¡¯t save them¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s your fault.¡¯ ¡°No....shut up!¡± ¡®Your mother left because she didn¡¯t love you. Your siblings died because you were too powerless. It¡¯s your FAULT!¡± The voices begin coming out from the darkness of my mind and every whisper from them sends chills down my body. This isn¡¯t a new dream I¡¯ve had. This is a recurring nightmare that hasn¡¯t stopped since that day. This hell, this....is the hell that has enveloped my mind. It is unrelenting and no matter how hard I struggle and scream, I cannot break the chains that bind me. I am powerless to stop them. So the whispers have always continued and plagued me every night. ¡®It¡¯s your fault....it¡¯s your fault...IT¡¯S YOUR FAULTTT!¡¯ ¡°AUGHhh....HA ...ha....ha¡± I open my eyes and I¡¯m back in my room. I run my hand through my hair and I¡¯m drenched in sweat. I take a deep sigh and hold my head as I sat up in the dark room. I got up from the bed and head to the kitchen for a glass of water. ¡®I wonder how many hours of sleep I got this time. Since it¡¯s still dark I assume not nearly enough. I grab a glass and pour myself a glass of water from the sink. ¡°Trouble sleeping......?¡± ¡°.......................¡± ¡®What.....There¡¯s an intruder in my house. How! But wait.....that voice? No way....¡¯ I drop the glass and turn around to see where the voice originated from but I¡¯m surprised as the voice that I remember doesn¡¯t belong to the face that I¡¯m looking at. There in the dark, sitting on my wooden chair is a man dressed in an elegant silver suit with a black shirt underneath. He seems relaxed as he sat in my wooden chair with his head resting on one of his hands as he looked towards me. He has long hair that almost shined as it was white with a little blue thrown into it. His facial features were very masculine and he gave off one of those pretty boy vibes. ¡°Hmmm......Do you know who I am child?¡± - ? ¡°Uhh.....Yah you¡¯re that pedophile from earlier right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m NOT A PED!!!!........mmmm no I am actually the president of Global Mythos. I¡¯m here to have a word with you after you seemed to have ignored all of our earlier invitations.¡± ¡°Oh....so you just enjoy dressing up like a clown on your off time then? However, it doesn¡¯t matter I don¡¯t care. In case you didn¡¯t know, I sort of have a thing about uninvited guests in my home......So I think it¡¯s your time to leave now.¡± The man sat in his chair and smirked while looking downward. ¡°Hmm but I came here for a tremendous opportunity that I believe you would just love to hear! And since you didn¡¯t respond to any of our letters, I felt it necessary to come down here personally to have a chat. I believe you remember my associate from before?¡± Walking in from the darkness of the room from behind the president, stood the same woman I saw earlier today. She was still wearing that same business suit that didn¡¯t seem to fit the proportions of her body. She smiled and bowed her head while clasping her hands to her sides. She then raised her head and also continued to look at me. ¡°Hello Mr. Shaw, I am Hl?kk. It is a pleasure to meet you properly.¡± ¡®Hee....yolk. That¡¯s an interesting name. I guess she really is exotic¡¯ ¡°Now then, now that the introductions are out of the way I feel it necessary for you to know my name as well for us to continue......My name is Loki and I have been waiting for a chance to meet you for a very long time Kayle. To be precise I have been waiting for this encounter for 1000¡¯s of years. So you can rest assured me and my associate mean you know harm at all, so you can calm down and come have a chat with us.¡± ¡°Ha?...... you really know how to exaggerate huh.¡± As I start to let my guard down after hearing that ludicrous statement the man in the chair now seeming to get serious continued. ¡°No.....Tis no exaggeration at all I¡¯m afraid. You see Kayle........ Hl?kk and I are not from this world, we hail from another. You see Kayle......I....am a god.¡± ¡°............ What?¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t hear wrong. I am the same God Loki from your lore in this world in Norse mythology. Though your histories I feel sort of bastardize the truth a little bit, I am one in the same, The God of Mischief.¡± ¡°So you do a few magic tricks in a public park with kids and you now think you¡¯re a God.¡± ¡°Oh you need a demonstration. Allow me to prove it to you then.....¡± Snap! The sounds of his fingers snapping and the whole room we were standing in changes and the three of us are now standing in a lush and rich forest surrounded by trees and sounds of wildlife. It¡¯s daytime now and I can even smell the change in the environment around me. I try to keep the shock on my face from showing as what I have just witnessed is truly incredible. Though since this is not the first time I have seen something that couldn¡¯t be explained by this world¡¯s logic I was able to hide my surprise. I also don¡¯t feel like giving this man the satisfaction of that.......I¡¯m gonna mess with him a bit, he seems cocky. ¡°Hmmm......good trick. Quite the illusion, but I can¡¯t tell from this if you¡¯re a God. A magician has all sorts of tricks prepared so you need to do something more random to prove it¡¯s not a trick. Here...try snapping your fingers again and blow that woman¡¯s clothes off.¡± I smile to myself as the man who was still sitting in the wooden chair made an indifferent face and lifted his hand, motioning that he was about to snap his fingers again. ¡°LOKI!!!!!¡± The woman screamed in his direction. She looks towards me with her face beet-red and had a look of intense anger. ¡°Hahaha.....sorry about that. I just wanted to mess with him a little.¡± As Loki began to realize I was playing him he lowered his hand and smirked. ¡°So you¡¯ve accepted that I was already a God? You don¡¯t seem as surprised as I had imagined.¡± Loki said seemingly more interested. ¡°Eh... I¡¯ve accepted that there are things and beings in this world that don¡¯t work by the same logic that this world has taught me to be true.¡± ¡°Oh I see......well you don¡¯t have to worry. I¡¯m not a demon so rest assured you can trust me wuhahaha!¡± ¡®There¡¯s that laugh again. Wait....demon?¡± ¡°What do you know of demons?¡± I questioned him as maybe he could lead to a clue to the questions I had been searching for months now. ¡°Mmm, quite a lot actually. I know a lot about you as well. We¡¯ve been researching you ever since you and your two younger siblings started making outstanding accomplishments in my game Divine and Conquer Online.¡± ¡°Wait....you created that game? Why would a God care to do something like that?¡± ¡°Because I love games hahaha!!!¡± Loki said while clapping his hands together. ¡°Now then....since you clearly don¡¯t need a long explanation on things perhaps I should tell you a story, but I¡¯ll only tell you some of the more important details as I¡¯m sure you can keep up! The world me and Hl?kk reside in is a world much like Divine and Conquer Online. Though I couldn¡¯t make it exactly like my home world I got it pretty close with the help of some of my magic and amazing game designers. We worked for quite a long time to make it much like the world I knew. I made it specifically to test out the humans of this world to see how they might fare in an environment much like our world¡¯s own. Though there were a number of prospects three particular children did something I saw as truly impressive. Three people went up against a legendary boss monster I practically made to be invincible and they were able to accomplish what hundreds of raiding parties could not......Truly as a gamer myself that astounded me!¡± ¡°And that brings you here because?¡± ¡° Ah...I¡¯m getting there hahaha. So after doing some investigative work and reviewing the information my associate Hl?kk had collected about you, what we found was actually quite the happy surprise as the three of you were siblings, seeming to make this entire process much easier.....I¡¯ll cut straight to the chase. I will offer you the same opportunity I offered to your two younger siblings nine months ago. Given another chance, would you consider starting over and living out your days in a new world foreign to your own? Roll the dice again if you will.¡± As I stood there and contemplated what Loki had just said to me I gave him a quick answer. ¡°No thanks....¡± ¡°Ughhh.....but why? Giving another chance at life you could start all over again, with a new life, it¡¯s like hitting the reset button and getting a do-over?! I expected someone in your circumstances would leap at such an opportunity.¡± ¡°Yah, trust me I¡¯ve had those thoughts before. They don¡¯t lead down anywhere good. Life has always been a struggle. It has been nothing but pain for me. All I have left is to finish what I¡¯ve started here. I have no wanting to live after I¡¯ve finished what I¡¯ve set out to do. That way, I can finally be at piece. Sorry but I can¡¯t accept your offer. I still have business here.¡± ¡°Ohhh........not even if it meant getting to see your sweet Kaylan again?¡± The words that left Loki¡¯s mouth it was like a grenade thrown into the middle of our conversation. ¡°What are you talking about!?¡± I said frantically not being able to hide my curiosity. ¡°I did say I made this offer to both of your siblings before didn¡¯t I? Well....sadly I offered it to your brother upon his death, but he didn¡¯t care nor listen to what I had to say. He seemed to be perfectly content in moving on to that next place, he wanted to see his mother again I suppose.¡± ¡°And Kaylan?¡± ¡°Well after making the same offer to her she was a little wary of the idea at first but she eventually agreed to go to my universe. Not before making a deal with me.¡± ¡°A deal?¡± ¡°Ahhh...yes. Weren¡¯t you ever curious how a small 10 year old girl was able to survive so long with roughly 75% of her body burned to such an extent? She asked me if she could be given the opportunity to speak with you one last time. The reason she gave me was that with her own passing you would be left in this world all alone, and the idea of that was just too much for her. So she agreed that if she came to my world I would give her a few brief seconds of life to speak to you one last time. She said you received the message....¡± Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°...........You¡¯re lying.¡± As I contemplated something I knew something felt wrong. This guy isn¡¯t being entirely honest with me. ¡°Umm what do you mean?¡± ¡°Kaylan and Hayden were twins, so to say that she would separate from being reunited with her brother and mother again is something I just can¡¯t accept that. Even if it was just for a message to send me with her final breaths......you¡¯re lying.¡± I started to stare back at him with a piercing gaze. ¡°Hmmm you¡¯re clever as well. Hah....I suppose I should be honest with you. I was not entirely truthful with your sister when I had spoken of the conditions to transverse to my universe.¡± ¡°.....What are you saying?¡± ¡°Moving a soul across universes, there are....hmmm rules and conditions that must be met to allow such an act to occur. I spoke and reasoned with your younger brother of these facts and after hearing them is probably why he decided to pass on and reunite with his mother.¡± Loki sighed as if regretting telling me this and continued. ¡°You see Kayle, the magic it takes to transport a soul born from this universe and place it into my own is not a simple one. The repercussions of such are not small either. A person would essentially need to die in this one for it to even become possible as the laws that govern our own perspective worlds are just too different. Hence the reason I offered my proposal to them at their deaths. Though since the death of a person in this world and being given the opportunity to go into another universe you are essentially....... forsaking your own universe you came from. For example, if a soul that has been taken from this world and was to go to another universe, my universe, there would have to be at least a certain level of remodeling done for you to fit into our world¡¯s physics, or the RPG style of life you find in games as well as in my world. However, death in my universe is also handled differently as it is in this one. Should a soul die in my universe after being transported from here...........you would not be transported to this world¡¯s version of the afterlife.¡± ¡°Wha....what do you mean?!¡± ¡°I am saying, should you or your younger sister die in my realm.......you will not be able to reunite with your brother and mother in this universe......¡± Upon hearing those words my heart which couldn¡¯t take much more abuse shattered. The one thought other than revenge that I had embraced all this time was to be reunited with my family again. Many people fear death, and try everything they can to escape it. But I always thought of death as something that could truly be a beautiful thing. It could bring me back to the people I cherished most in this life. Though I couldn¡¯t just end it all until I had made those who made me suffer to such an extent pay, hearing that the one thing I had been holding onto now is no longer possible, broke me. ¡°And....this little detail, you just....... happened to leave out while telling my sister and lied to her!?¡± As I question Loki, my heart is filled with rage at this point. How dare he do this to us! ¡°I withheld certain information yes.¡± He said nonchalantly. ¡°WHYYYYY??!!!¡± I screamed back him while clenching my fists. Birds in the trees began to fly away as I had apparently disturbed the peace of the forest with our conversation. ¡°.........Because I was desperate.¡± Loki said with sadness in his eyes. ¡°Desperate.....so you lied to my sister and made it to where I can never be reunited together with my family again!!!! You...You tricked her!¡± I was furious, I couldn¡¯t believe what I was hearing. So even in death I won¡¯t be able to find the peace I had longed for. I was in shock. ¡°......Yes...and trust me as a God who enjoys mischief, I did not enjoy this one. Though I never said it was impossible to be reunited, just that in the event of your deaths it would mean you wouldn¡¯t be able to go to where your mother and brother were that¡¯s all.¡± ¡°Wait what do you mean?¡± ¡°The amount of time it takes to perform such magic is also quite lengthy. After performing this ritual with your sister¡¯s soul it took roughly 10 more years to be able to acquire the right ingredients, magical power, as well meeting certain conditions just to perform it again.¡° ¡°I don¡¯t understand, 10 years?¡± ¡°Ah yes....you see time is a relative thing. Though I don¡¯t have the time to explain it to humans as it is particularly difficult for you all to understand. Even I had trouble comprehending it at first when traveling to other worlds until I had a chat with Chronos. But let¡¯s say that the nine months that passed in this world where your sister was to mine, roughly 10 years in my realm has passed. Hence the reason I didn¡¯t seek you out immediately after your family had died.¡± ¡°..................¡± As I stood there in silence I was trying to absorb everything that Loki had said up until this point. As I stood there with a grimaced look upon my face Loki brought his hand together in a clap while smiling and within an instant the three of us were standing back in my apartment as if nothing had happened. ¡°Now then........what do you think?¡± ¡° You said we could be reunited again........how?¡± This was the only thing I found interesting in all the garbage this smug silver suit was saying to me. ¡°Yes.......Tis possible. Should you come to my world and ascend to Godhood it may be possible for you to see your other family members again along with being able to come back to this world with your sister.¡° ¡°..How?¡± ¡°Mmm, tis a bit complicated. Though I am a God my abilities are rather limited here. However other Gods have other quite unique abilities and strengths. I believe that the possibility to visit the place where your mother and little brother have gone to is still possible, although I myself do not know the exact details of how to do so quite yet.¡± ¡°..................¡± I¡¯m still speechless, it¡¯s a lot to take in......can I really trust this person? I ask him a question he has yet to answer up until this point. ¡°Why do you want us to come to your world anyways?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°Yah... you still haven¡¯t mentioned what it is that is so beneficial for you to have us go to your universe. You¡¯ve made it pretty clear that the difficulty it takes to transport a soul across the span of universes takes a lot. Why go through all the trouble?¡± ¡°What a splendid question! It¡¯s because I¡¯ve grown quite tired with the world¡¯s affairs lately. Mortals and Gods alike abuse their power and take advantage of the weak. It is a daily occurrence and it is one that always leaves a bad taste in my mouth when I look down from the heavens.....truly dreadful, watching such a beautiful playing board like that getting ravished.¡° ¡°And you as a God can¡¯t take care of this matter yourself?¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s best to answer your question with a story." "Ah, another story then..." "Yes, yes, now I¡¯ll be sure to leave out all the details besides what¡¯s important as I can see you catch on rather quickly.......Eons ago, my world was enveloped in war between the Gods. The damage that was received in the God realm we resided in moved down to middle earth and all connecting worlds, causing chaos that swept throughout the realms. Many of us Gods perished but even more of the mortals living in the connecting worlds were slaughtered, all for a war that had nothing to do with them. Since many of the Chief Gods receive much of their divine power from the worship they receive from such mortals the repercussions of this war were countless. After the chaos ensued the Chief Gods from different religions and orders made a truce and forbade all influence with the other worlds...though only directly. As a God they are allowed to pick one ¡°champion¡± or let¡¯s say someone to give an internal/external blessing towards. Making the individual vastly more powerful than the average individual.¡± ¡°I¡¯m assuming the Gods use such individuals as a sort of way to maintain their hold on the world that they can no longer influence?¡± ¡°Hahahaha......precisely! Indeed you are even cleverer than I had you pegged for. Quite splendid indeed, mhhmhmhmh.¡± As Loki laughed again while clapping his hands together, I began to understand what he was trying to imply. ¡°Wait.....if a God can only pick one person for such a blessing. Then why do you need me? You already have Kaylan?¡± ¡°Well, isn¡¯t a game always more fun with more players?¡± ¡°Has anyone ever told you, you can be very annoying!¡± ¡°Quite often in fact muhahahaha! Ok, ok I simply wanted to bring a couple more interesting pieces onto the board is all. Let me explain it in a way that may help you to understand more. Let¡¯s say I as a God I decided to go out and steal some weapon from another world, bring it into my own and were to give it to my champion to do my bidding. Now that in itself would violate the rules...yes? Though let¡¯s say if I were to have a champion with say outside knowledge of such destructive class weapons and perhaps steered him into a direction of materials to make such a weapon then that is not in violation, as I am not directly influencing the situation since I am leaving it to my champion¡¯s free will.............Trust me that red tape can drive you nuts, do you understand?¡± ¡°......I¡¯m assuming you want us because we have knowledge in this world that maybe doesn¡¯t exist in your own..... Since my sister was too young she couldn¡¯t use the information from this world as she had no opportunities to learn it, hence the reason you sought me out. So....you want me to go to your world to make guns?¡± ¡°Oh no.....I never once implied such things. I was simply making an example is all. However I will say your deduction abilities are spot on.¡± ¡°So what do you want from me then?¡± ¡°I just want you to come and play in my world is all. No more, no less. I believe your personality and work ethics will do the rest. So.....what is your answer? Do you wish to come to my world and see your lovely Kaylan again?¡± As I contemplated everything Loki has said up until now it really is a lot to take in. I have not the proper time to ascertain the information and absorb everything he¡¯s said. As I thought over everything in my head I put my hands on the necklace around my neck and played with it with my fingers. It¡¯s always a way to calm me down sometimes and helps me think. ¡°That really is a fine piece you have there.......No doubt a gift from your mother?¡± ¡°Uhh...yah it belonged to her before she died. It¡¯s all I have left from her.¡± ¡°Hmmm......you know, though you can¡¯t take anything with you I suppose since it really is such a unique necklace I can hold onto it for safe keeping.....that is until you come to my world.¡± ¡°Hmmmm.....¡± I continue contemplating his offer over and over again in my head. Though it¡¯s a lot of information to take in, there was one thing that kept ringing in my head. And that was that the only way to ever reunite my family again was to go along with what he was saying. Though he tricked my sister for his own problems and all I wanted to do was beat his face in, I realized fighting him here wouldn¡¯t help me right now. Nor do I think I would be able to hurt him. I suppose if I go along with this maybe someday I could become strong enough to whoop his ass eventually...... After thinking that, a smile appeared on my face for the first time in a long time. Looking over I can see the woman Hl?kk staring back at me with a puzzled look, maybe she thought my expression looked creepy. ¡°You know, just one more thing to know......to sweeten the deal. Demons exist in my realm too.¡± ¡°Whoa, what?¡± ¡°Well yes we have demons as well. Though they didn¡¯t appear till some time ago. They originally weren¡¯t from our world at all. In fact recently I¡¯m beginning to think the demons that live in middle earth right now are the descendants of those who originally were beings in your universe.¡± ¡°You¡¯re kidding...¡± ¡°No.... it¡¯s just what I believe is all.¡± As I sit there contemplating this I realize that if I go with Loki and Hl?kk to the world they hale from I might be able to find some answers and my own form of justice if I follow him here today. ¡°.......Ok. I¡¯ll go¡± ¡°Marvelous!¡± Loki said as he smiles back at me. I take off my necklace and hand it over to him but not before giving him a stern warning. ¡°Don¡¯t........lose it!¡± ¡°Now, now. Don¡¯t worry child I promise to keep good care of your accessories. Do you have any belly button rings or tongue piercings you want me to hold onto as well?¡± He said in a smile ¡°Ughh shut up.....so what do we do now?¡± ¡°Mhmhmhmh now all you have to do.......is die.... Oh wait before you do however I would like to try something out real quick.¡± Upon saying that Loki waved his hand and there appeared a very large and golden staff. It had a fancy ornament at the top and glistened creating its own light, illuminated the dark room we were in. He grabbed the the staff and and pointed it at me while gently giving me a poke with the tip which held the fancy glowing ornaments and rings. Immediately after doing so a light began to encroach around my body and I could feel a warn tingling sensation wash over me. As this is happening the women Hl?kk is giving me a look of shock as she can¡¯t believe what she is seeing however. ¡°Wha.....Loki how are yo¡± ¡°All in good time Hl?kk. All in good time¡± Loki said as he cut the slender women off. As the light coursed throughout my veins all the way to my heart, I felt a strange sensation of the hairs all over my body standing on in. It wasn¡¯t a painful experience as it felt kind of pleasurable. ¡°Muhahahaha so.....it did work. How splendid!¡± ¡°What did you do to me?¡± ¡°Not to worry Kayle, I simply put a little something there inside you that wasn¡¯t there before, that¡¯s all!¡± ¡°Ok.....I¡¯m only going to say this once, so were clear. There is absolutely.... nothing of yours that I want inside me.¡± ¡°Hahaha, indeed. Now then you need to die; I know you¡¯re thinking why don¡¯t I just do it but that also would be a breach of the rules and conditions for this ritual to work. You must die by your own circumstances. And not to worry after you leave this Earth I will wipe the memories of those who have known you so there won¡¯t be any trouble afterwards.¡± ¡°Ok.... I understand¡± As I contemplated this I agreed this was probably for the best. My death could probably hurt Rebecca and Granny as they were the very few people who showed to truly care about my well-being. ¡°Good......then I guess we will speak again in another time and place. I¡¯ll see you on the other side.¡± While saying that he gets up from the chair and looks towards the floor in front of him where several books and the cake from before were lying. He picks one up that gave him some interest and flashes it towards Hl?kk while smiling. It was the book I had been reading on firearms and other weapons during my time over the last few months. As he gives her a smirk while showing her what he was holding he then takes the tip of his spear and points it upwards towards the ceiling and then swung it downward. This opened up a tear in space as a bright light coming from some distant place seeps in through the ripple. He tossed the book back at the floor and stepped through light that was coming through this hole. While waving goodbye Loki leaves with Hl?kk as she bowed to me one last time and stepped through the gate of light that envelops them, and they disappeared just like that. ¡®Hmmm......it¡¯s much quieter now. Damn that guy can really talk huh. Well I guess it¡¯s time to go then.....But wait, there¡¯s something else I must do before leaving.¡¯ On the kitchen counter I write a note for the two people who have done a good job at being there for me these past few months. I couldn¡¯t just leave without saying anything, regardless if they remembered me or not. The note wasn¡¯t long with just one sentence: Though you may not remember this, Thank you for all the loving kindness you gave me through such hard times. It truly meant a lot, and I wish you Rebecca and Granny the very best. -Kayle After writing this note I left it on the kitchen counter and headed towards the balcony. As I looked over the railing of the four-story building I figure this was enough of a height to do what needed to be done. But just to be sure I should go head first. While looking towards the sky of the world I would possibly never see again a take a deep sigh and climb over the ledge...plunging to my death. ---------------------------------------------------- ¡°My goodness.....he¡¯s even more bizarre than I expected. Truly splendid. I¡¯ve waited millennia for such a soul and he is beyond my expectations.¡± - Loki ¡°Lord Loki......How were you able to bestow him your blessing? When you had already given such a blessing to his younger sister? How is that possible? It goes against the agreements of the Gods it shouldn¡¯t be possible.¡± ¡°Oh......you still haven¡¯t connected the dots yet? Here perhaps if you look at his status I just acquired perhaps this could tell you.¡± ¡°Wha......Impossible........so wait that means he¡¯s¡± ¡°Precisely...hahahah! I guess great things do come to those who wait haha. Who knew?¡± --------------------------------------------------------- As I open up my eyes I can see trees. Large trees sky-scraping over my eyesight towards the sky. I hear sounds of birds and feel the breeze of the wind upon my face. Everything is so big I¡¯m in amazement of where I am. As I try to get up I¡¯m having a sort of difficulty moving. ¡°Ugh.....ughhhh.¡± As I roll over onto my side I see a pond a short distance away. I can¡¯t seem to stand up so I crawled towards the pond for a drink of water. As I crawl up to the edge of the pond and look over, I saw my reflection. ¡®No.....no are you fucking kidding me?! I¡¯m a fucking baby! Ughhhhh..........LOKIIIIIIIII!!!!!'' End of Chapter Hey guys again sorry this chapter is so long I just had so much I wanted to say over these last few chapters and I couldn¡¯t split them up and hopefully it wasn¡¯t too long for you guys. I hope the premise I¡¯ve painted for you has been exciting as this is where the true story of our MC begins. I also hope you enjoy the the banter with Loki and the MC as they are in some ways polar opposite and and the start of their new camaraderie. Though Loki is someone who almost everything is a game to him and even effects his speech(When he says he wants to bring new pieces to the board or oh you couldn''t connect the dots). He''s actually quite smart and due to his nature of being a trickster he uses such intelligence to find ways around the rules such as you''ve seen. PS.>>>>>> Since i¡¯ve never really been a fan of the growing up aspect of reincarnation stories as I want to just jump straight into the action. I promise his childhood years will be short and we¡¯ll get to the good stuff quick while also explaining how. So hopefully you all enjoyed this chapter and please feel free to comment on how you liked it. Chapter 4: A Not So Fairy Tale Beginning Chapter 4: A Not So Fairy Tale Beginning In the Grand Library of Asgard ¡°Lord Loki, here is all the information I¡¯ve gather on him from his world. It still doesn¡¯t seem to add up though.¡± Hl?kk proclaimed as she dropped a stack of papers on top of a table Loki was sitting by. There were a large assortment of books and papers carelessly left open over the large table in a room surrounded by even more books towering to the ceiling. Loki had come to the Grand Library of Asgard to gather more information to some questions he had since speaking with Kayle. ¡°Hmm, I guess my new favorite piece is something of an enigma isn¡¯t he?¡± - Loki said as he read through information in a very old book covered in dust. ¡°Do you believe he could have been lying to us my lord?¡± ¡°It¡¯s hard to say, he is much more intelligent than I had previously assumed. Though I don¡¯t believe what he has told us so far were lies. Didn¡¯t you see his eyes flare up when I had mentioned demons? Hahaha." Loki said while laughing continuing to read diligently without looking up in response in his chair. ¡°But Lord Loki, to have such skills would have to mean only one thing.¡± Hl?kk exclaimed looking concerned. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m aware. Which is why I will be looking into this myself from here on out.¡± ¡°Then what would you have me do?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have you watch over our new little hero for the time being. That is until he can handle things himself.....Haha lucky for us though, that shouldn''t take too long.¡± ¡°My lord?¡± As Loki began to laugh quietly to himself while speaking, Hl?kk questioned him as to why he seemed so cheerful. ¡°Oh come now Hl?kk. I¡¯m not the God of patience after all hehe. I¡¯ve already waited long enough. So... I paid a visit to another one of the world trees. I can¡¯t tell you how many favors I had to call in to receive yet another one of their sacred essence from them. Something I¡¯m sure will become a hassle later on. However, now just like his sister, his growth should be accelerated until he reaches his past life¡¯s self. The ritual to copy his old body onto his soul was truly a difficult one which gave me quite the headache figuring out.....So you shouldn¡¯t be tied down too long down there Hl?kk, so do not worry.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve gone to quite the bit of trouble for these two individuals my Lord. Do you really believe that all this effort will lead to a good outcome?¡± Hl?kk spoke back to Loki which now grabbed his attention away from his book. ¡°Yes.....I believe all of this is very necessary to gain what I want. I believe that Kayle is mountains above the others I even considered for this job. He is truly special, someone I believe you shouldn¡¯t judge so hastily Hl?kk. Besides....I assumed that getting to spend some more time with such a strapping and interesting individual would be something you wouldn¡¯t be too up against hahahaha.¡± As Loki finished his sentence he smiled as he looked at Hl?kk as if seeing right through her. ¡°Ah...Uh Lord Loki, what do you mean?¡± Becoming confused Hl?kk questioned Loki quite nervously. ¡°Weren¡¯t you just recently saying how you were never noticed by men as you are constantly working and wasting away, never to share in the affections of a man?¡± Loki questioned while smiling back at the defenseless Hl?kk. Even he could see that Hl?kk was a woman and wanted to be treated like one sometimes even though she was in reality a mighty valkyrie capable of causing calamity over all of middle earth. Though Loki could see through that and tell there was more to the Valkyrie woman with shiny silver armor and golden feathers in her hair. She had an amazing body, with a large bust that even for the Gods, she was truly a feast for the eyes. Though for Loki who was constantly enthralled in his work and games he never seemed to notice such things. ¡°....You''re mistaken.¡± Hl?kk said keeping her face serious .She was always a warrior first and a devoted Valkyrie to Loki, though it was a thought that occasionally entered her mind throughout the millennia. ¡°Hmm am I hahaha? Oh well if you say so...... shouldn¡¯t you begin heading down there now Hl?kk?" As Loki gave up and laughed to himself he began peering into the old book on his lap once again. ¡°Yes Lord Loki at once. Though....might I ask, why did you reincarnate him there of all places?¡± Hl?kk pressed him for information as she could not understand why a human blessed by the God¡¯s was dropped in such a place. ¡°...Experience makes the man, Hl?kk. Never forget that. Now then we don¡¯t want to keep our baby hero waiting do we mhmhmhm? Of yourself and don¡¯t interfere too much, ok?" As Loki began to chuckle to himself as he waved Hl?kk off, he returned to reading his books in silence deep within the confines of the ancient and grand library of Asgard. Hl?kk then disappeared into a cloud of purple smoke and out appeared a crow-like bird with light purple wings and golden eyes. From there the bird flew out the open balcony of the library, into the golden sunset, and descended from the heavens of Asgard down to middle earth. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elyria Tyrule¡¯s POV: ¡®How did my life lead up to this point?¡¯ I was once a shaman priestess in training in my village since I was young. As a member of the Fenguashi Fox tribe my magic comprehension and elemental resistances were high even compared to the other Druid members of our clan. I always loved nature and taking walks through our clan¡¯s forest which was filled with such breath-taking sights, sounds, and smells that couldn¡¯t be enjoyed anywhere else on the eastern continent. We were a tribe that lived along the land of the local animals and enjoyed our peaceful way of life. There was hardly ever a time I can remember from my childhood where I wasn¡¯t smiling. ¡®Though.... I haven¡¯t brought myself to smile for a long time.¡¯ Ever since the humans invaded our village and captured our tribesmen, our village was burned along with the surroundings of the forest. Our brethren who resisted were met with violence and slaughtered before our eyes while everyone else was thrown into cages and forced into chains. The entirety of our clan....wiped out or forced into slavery......all by these humans. They¡¯ve never been known to be very kind to us demi-humans. I never understood why, just because we have some animalistic traits we''re looked at as dirty or almost a sinful existence. Most of the men were killed or used for slave labor while the women and children were thrown into slavery, forced into a life much worse than death. Taken far away from our homes we were then transported to a rather large human settlement in the north of our homelands. It wasn¡¯t the largest kingdom in these parts but it was much larger than our village. Each of us were drug out of cages and forced onto a stage where we were bided on as if we were some items in a market. Looking down I could see such dirty eyes looking back at all of us, I knew that the life we had all lived up until this point will never be the same. When it was my turn to go up on stage since I was still in my teens and much more developed for my age everyone in the surrounding area erupted into a bidding war between each other. I was eventually bought by a rich nobleman who couldn¡¯t take his eyes off of me as he smiled with lustful eyes. He even spent a large sum of gold to purchase me. I was then turned into one of his mistresses of his household where he had several other demi-human women and even a human wife who was also apparently a noblewoman. From that day I was separated from all of my family and fellow villagers from that day on. I have yet to see another member of the Fenguashi tribe since that day. I thought it wouldn¡¯t be as bad a fate as the other members of my clansmen''s who were bought maybe being subjected to much less atrocities than the other fox tribe members. My heart to this day still goes out to all of them. Life however couldn''t be described as easy though. Forced into being used as an outlet of his lust I went through months of unimaginable abuse and pain. I along with the other demi-human mistresses he had were used constantly and enough to draw the attention of his main wife. She didn¡¯t like us very much and for whatever reason didn¡¯t like that her husband had taken so kindly to me as well. It¡¯s not like it was a life I had wished for but I guess she cares not of that. Though....through all the pain and constant torment I received, there was a light that began to show at the end of such a dark tunnel. I bore a beautiful little girl. She had bright orange hair, ears and a tail, just like her mother. She had beautiful emerald-green eyes that reflected the light and an adorable laugh. She was perfect. Though she came from such a painful experience I couldn¡¯t help but love this little girl with all of my heart. As a shaman priestess in my village it was always looked down on for us to take a lover in this life. So bearing children was something I never thought I would get to experience. I was happy for the first time in a year of captivity.....though that too didn¡¯t last for very long. The house of Tyrule I was bought into wasn¡¯t ran very well and fell on hard times. Money was scarce in the city and several stronger noble families with powerful families and stronger influences rose to power under this regions¡¯ king. Since the house of Tyrule didn¡¯t have any strong influence in the region or strong enough powers to protect its lands, the noble house of Tyrule fell into a fragile state. It was then implied by Lord Tyrule¡¯s first wife to sell my daughter. She said as a fox demi-human which are so rare to find could round good enough money as a slave. I begged and pleaded him to not to take her away but it came to no avail. My beautiful daughter Iris, which means ¡°rainbow¡±, who had become the true light of my life was then taken from me. I prayed to the Gods that after that day I wouldn¡¯t be able to bear another child as the pain of losing one was too great. Why must this world be so unkind to us demi-humans. It has been 8 years since my little girl was taken from me and i don¡¯t think i can take living this life anymore. With Tyrule away on business for the last few months, I left the castle and went to the small piece of land the fallen noble family held onto behind their castle. It was a small forested area that I used to come to ponder and pray while enjoying the many animals and nature¡¯s presence. Though now most of the wild animals have fled due to over hunting by Tyrule¡¯s men. They even stripped their own land of all available resources. Now it was just an empty forest with the faint sounds of small birds chirping. As I continued down the quiet path I entered into a small clearing which had a small pond near it which is a place I used to take my daughter to when she was little. I kneel down and look at myself in the reflection of the pond. I hardly recognize the women looking back at me. Life has been truly unpleasant and after all these years of torment I honestly cannot hold on to the idea I will be saved anymore. ¡®I can¡¯t go on anymore.¡¯ As tears begin to fall down my face I can¡¯t help but think how leaving this world means leaving my dear baby Iris in this world alone which only brings me more heartache. I pray she somehow finds peace in this world and can live a happy life. I¡¯m just too powerless to do anything anymore, truly a worthless mother. With these shackles on my wrist and neck, my magic is severely strained and I¡¯m unable to use various skills and even my own personal storage is prohibited. This is what bounds me. If it wasn¡¯t for these shackles I would have never allowed my baby to be taken away from me!!! But in the end, all I can do is blame myself. My sweet baby is gone and there¡¯s nothing I can hope for anymore. With a deep breath I plunge my head into the water of the small pond and begin to say goodbye to this world with my thoughts. ¡®I hope one day Iris you can forgive your mommy for being so weak and unable to protect you from these awful creatures. My sweet sweet child. Sob....sob. I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t be there to watch you grow up and celebrate each birthday with yo......huh?¡¯ ¡®Something is pulling on my hem of my clothes and pulling me back out of the water. It is not a very strong force but I can tell there is something trying to prevent me from killing myself.¡¯ As I raised my head from the water I gasp for air I thought I would never have enter my body again. I turned to see what was gripping my clothes so persistently..... ¡°Wha.....a baby?¡± ¡®It was a small child with bright blue eyes that glowed in the sunlight and short blonde hair. He looked deeply into my eyes and I back into his....¡¯ Kayle¡¯s POV: ¡®Ugh...I can¡¯t believe he didn¡¯t tell me I was going to be reincarnated as a baby. Not only that I have no idea where I am right now. I appear to be in some kind of forest.¡¯ As I get a drink a water I sat back and decide to check my surroundings. Swiveling my head around I notice an odd thing in the top of my vision that won¡¯t go away no matter where I turned my head. ¡®Is....Is that an HP bar?¡¯ It looked exactly like the HP bar that sat at the top of a character in Divine and Conquer Online. ¡®Hmm....maybe Loki wasn¡¯t lying about this world being RPG-like, still it¡¯s quite trippy to see regardless of being warned about it. Is there a way to check my status or maybe an internal map I wonder?¡¯ ¡°Sob....Sob..wahhh¡± ? ¡®Huh.... I hear the sounds of someone coming. It sounds like a woman but I should crawl away just in case.¡¯ I don¡¯t have enough time to check any further into this HP bar as I quickly hid in a nearby bush. Out from the wooded area emerged a woman. ¡®No.... not a woman. A.......fox girl?¡¯ Walking close to the pond I now have a chance to get a good look at her. She looks to be in her late twenties and has a bright orange tail with a white tip and furry ears. Her hair matches and her face is red and eyes are glassy. I can tell that she¡¯s been crying. I wonder what she¡¯s so sad about. Looking at her she kneels down staring at her reflection and begins to ball even harder. Before I have a chance to see what¡¯s really going on the girl pushes her own head down into the water and remains like that. ¡®Is.....Is she drowning herself? Did she come here to kill herself?¡¯ As I watch this I can see that she isn¡¯t struggling. She truly wants to commit suicide. Since I don¡¯t really know where I am and I don¡¯t want to watch a girl kill herself in front of me, I crawled out of the bush and try to pull her away from the water. When she became aware of my presence she burst her head out of the water and started breathing very heavily. As she looked back at me she looked greatly puzzled to see me, a baby, sitting alone in this forest. For what seemed like a long time we just stared into each other''s eyes. ¡°Whe....Where did you come from?" As she leaned towards me she picked me up and pulled me towards her abnormally large chest and began to examine me. She stuck her nose to me and began to smell my neck and hair. Was she trying to sniff my scent? ¡°Such a beautiful little boy.....Are you all out here alone little guy?¡± As she asked me this I naturally responded with a nod which only seemed to shock her more about the situation that was in front of her. ¡°Eh....Did, did you understand me just now?¡± I nodded again as I then realized how was I able to communicate with this woman in this world. The language I¡¯m speaking is english, a language born in my world. So how is it that I¡¯m able to fully comprehend this woman? Even though I can comprehend her words, I¡¯m still unable to make noises with my mouth, let alone form words. I guess as a baby my body isn''t developed enough yet. Seriously why did Loki make me into a baby, what the hell. I can¡¯t wait till I see him again, we¡¯re definitely going to have some words him and I. ¡°Wow.....You sure are a smart little boy. But what are you doing out here?¡± The fox woman asked me as she inclined her head. Not knowing how to communicate back with her I just made a puzzled face and gazed into her deep green eyes. She truly is a beautiful woman. Come to think of it that girl Hl?kk also has a large chest but this is ridiculous. Are every women in this world just incredibly stacked? How do the men in this world get anything done? I guess she saw that I was staring at her chest and she smiled as she looked down at me. Her eyes which was previously full of pain just is now showing such a warm and gentle smile. Wow, such a beautiful smile. I can¡¯t imagine what could have caused her to be in such pain. As I look down her eyes I see a collar around her neck as well as her wrists having black iron shackles around them......is she a slave? Does slavery exist in this world? ¡°Here.....you must be hungry. Though I haven¡¯t been with a child in a long time and my powers have dwindled, I can manipulate enough magic to allow my body to provide you some nourishment. Here.....¡± As she said this she lowered the clothes over her shoulders and revealed her chest to me and pushed me towards them. ¡®Uh...uhhhhh woh...wait. What¡¯s happening?¡¯ Not knowing how to respond, she placed her frail hands on the back of my head and pressed it towards her bare chest. I began sucking on her breasts before I knew what happened. Oh God how did it turn out like this? Though I¡¯m not complaining I feel a tad bit guilty lying to this women as I¡¯m not as harmless as she thinks I am. As I look up at her however I can see her smiling beautifully down at me as tears begin to well up in her eyes again. Only this time she truly looks happy, as if all the pain from before was washed away. Since she seems to enjoy it I just continued enjoying myself with the meal she provided for me. I''m only slightly creeped she found some random baby in the forest and decided to act so forward......this world is a bit weird. I guess Loki must have cooked this up. ¡®I wonder.....did Loki send me here to meet this woman? Hmmm, maybe he wanted me to meet a loving mother whom I¡¯d become attached to. Trying to get me to fall in love with this world just to do his bidding. I know what he¡¯s thinking and I¡¯m not here to play his games. I¡¯m here to find my sister Kaylan and answers for us to get home. Though......I don¡¯t hate this feeling right now. Growing up I never really had many loving memories with my own mother. It¡¯s not that she was a bad mother, she just, was never really very affectionate with any of us. Though I never blamed her. I guess it would be hard to want to be close with her bastard son from the man who raped her. It wasn¡¯t her fault........ though this does feel kind of.....nice.'' ''...Again not going to think why she didn''t think to go look for any fruit before exposing herself to a random baby in the woods.'' Eh...oh well. I closed my eyes. I honestly felt this strange sense of comfort rushing over me. Being pushed against her chest I feel warm and very relaxed as she caresses my hair. ¡®Eh.....I guess I can be ok with this for a little while longer.¡¯ ¡°......My baby.........I promise I won¡¯t let anyone take you away from me this time. You''re a gift from the Gods......you must be for me to feel this happy in so long...Sob....sob....¡± As she picked me up and pulled me close to her neck, she hugged me, and it''s the most loving and gentle embrace I have ever felt in this life and the last. ¡®Eh....did she say her baby......this time?.....Ok...now it''s starting to get a bit creepy.'' I can¡¯t understand or even fathom what this woman had gone through but by her appearance and words I can tell she has been through quite a lot. Although I wanted to stop her from laying her claim on me as her child I find it hard difficult to stop her for the moment. This woman is the first person I¡¯ve met in this world and since I have no idea where Loki is maybe this is a blessing in disguise. She lifts up her shirt and begins to carry me around as she paces back and forth around the small pond. Though she has such a happy atmosphere I can hear her heart thumping quite rapidly. I don¡¯t know if this is her being happy or nervous. Her tail was swinging quite heavily too. ''Hmm Loki did say this world was like a fantasy.'' After a short while she carries me through the woods and talks to me about where we are going. She said her name was Elyria and we lived in some nobleman¡¯s house known as the family of Tyrule. This is also apparently his land. Though she said she was one of his wives I can¡¯t help but wonder why his wife would have shackles on her arms.... I don¡¯t think this is a very good man we''re going to meet. Through our walk I found out that this land is within the Kingdom of Aldain and ruled by humans like me. Lord Tyrule who is the apparent owner of Elyria is away right now on business as times are apparently hard in this small kingdom. Currently in a feud with another kingdom right now along with other circumstances, times have fallen quite hard on this particular household. I also learned that this Lord Tyrule has multiple women in his household and even a noble wife who apparently didn¡¯t get along with Elyria. This fox woman had her only daughter sold into slavery several years ago and it was something that had pushed her into wanting to kill herself today as it was the anniversary of the day her little girl was taken away. That is until she met me and that somehow gave her some since of hope. Some since of reasoning to not kill herself she saw as some divine message from the Gods themselves. Even though she was once a shaman and trained to pray and become close to the Gods she had never actually met one. She thought of them as omnipotent existences that looked after the world. ''Honestly I think if she ever met Loki she would actually kill herself.'' Listening to her story I began to truly sympathize with her as she, like me, had lived a pretty cruel life so far. I guess I can¡¯t blame her for wanting to kill herself either as I myself am someone who committed suicide just a bit ago. When we made it through the forest we come to a clearing and a view of a large black castle sits on top of a hill. Though this is the home of a fallen noble it still is quite large in size. Seeing the castle, Elyria made a troubled face as she walked up to the side entrance. Walking through the castle she holds me close to her chest and tries to sneak through the corridors of the quiet building. Upon walking through the dark candlelit hallway, a woman in a bright yellow dress accompanied by a guard appeared from around the corner. ¡°Oh...if it isn¡¯t the castle whore! What¡¯s that you have there.......wha....a baby?!¡± The woman dropped the fan she was holding and looking at the two of us in disgust. ¡°Yes.....This is Tyrule¡¯s son........Vali. I was with a child until recently while you and he have been away. I wanted to leave it as a surprise for Tyrule so I didn¡¯t tell any of the castle¡¯s guards yet.¡± As Elyria said this she gripped my back much tighter into her chest. Who is this disgusting sounding woman? I¡¯m assuming the first wife Elyria had briefly spoke of.......So this is the woman who asked to take Elyria¡¯s child away. ¡°Wha!....Impossible! We haven¡¯t even been gone long enough for you to have a child!¡± ¡°I¡¯m a demi-human, our birth rates are not the same as those of humans and are usually much earlier.¡± As Elyria said this I could hear her heart beating faster and faster. I can tell she¡¯s nervous and does not want me to be taken away like her last child. Really this woman has had it rough it seems. ¡°As you can see Ms. Mira, he has Lord Tyrule¡¯s blonde hair and and blue eyes. Though they shine a little more than his it must be because he has a lot of magic potential.¡± ¡°.......¡° The woman shot daggers at Elyria, becoming angrier with each second. She stood there in silence thinking of something to say as the guard next to her also expressed his astonishment. ¡°Even if that is Tyrule¡¯s son....... he will just be sold like that last one as his mother is garbage. Making the child itself a part of garbage.¡± ¡°You think Tyrule would give away his son, his human son? With war and the state of our household he could be a great asset to this family''s future strength.¡± ¡°Tyrule has a son......my son. He doesn¡¯t need some worthless child like this one, I¡¯ll let Tyrule know of this at once.¡± ¡°You do that....¡± As Elyria said this she walked past the two and around the corner of the corridor. Looking up at her I can see she seems very distressed and is trying to hold back her tears. Upon noticing me looking at her she smiles back and me and says ¡°Don¡¯t worry......I promise I will protect you with my life. I won¡¯t let anyone take you away and I¡¯ll talk to Lord Tyrule about keeping you. It¡¯ll be ok sweety.¡± She kissed my forehead and opened the door to a room. It was quite small with a tiny bed in the corner and a dresser on the other side. It had a small window to it but other than that, this was the extent of this room. Is this where she sleeps? Though she lives in a castle this is not very glamorous at all. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. As she sat on her bed she pulled me away and looked into my eyes. ¡°My beautiful baby boy Vali. I promise to the Gods themselves that I will protect you from anything that comes. I swear it." Elyria brought me closer to her again and hugged me through the long hours of the night. She continued to hold me until the two of us fell asleep in each other¡¯s arms. ¡°Step.....step.....step...........¡± I heard loud footsteps coming closer and closer to our room. Since this was one of the first nights I can remember that I fell asleep so easily I was angry that something had abruptly ruined that. I peer my head above Elyria¡¯s shoulders and see the door opening up. It appears to be a guard of some kind. He had shaggy unkept blonde hair and facial hair. He had a disgusting look in his eyes as he looked towards us. Coming closer to us I glared at him trying to figure out what he¡¯s up to. He reaches.....for me. Upon picking me up he just turns around and puts me on the floor and begins to lean towards the bed where Elyria was sleeping......¡®Don¡¯t you fucking dare!¡¯ ¡°Mmmm.... Vali? Where¡¯d you mmmgmgmmm?!!!¡± Elyria seemingly noticed I was no longer beside her wakes up to being gagged by this man¡¯s hands. ¡°Quiet....¡± SMACK! The man backhands Elyria in the face and leans in closer to her while still covering her mouth. ¡°I¡¯m not gonna say it twice, don¡¯t make a fucking sound or I¡¯ll kill you and the child! I paid fifty silver for this bitch!¡± As her breaths become heavy she looks around the room and shakes her head back and forth frantically. Her eyes seem to be full of fear. ¡®What is this guy thinking, isn¡¯t he a guard in this castle and he¡¯s going after the Lord¡¯s mistress? What the hell is going on? Get off that woman this fucking second you pig!¡¯ I can feel the rage setting in, it is an emotion I¡¯m rather familiar with. As I try to crawl towards the bed it is too big for me to grip the boards and covers to pull myself up.....GOD why did I have to be reincarnated as a baby? I hear the whimpers of my mom as the shadows of this man began to take off his clothes while wriggling his body and binding Elyria¡¯s two hands over her head with his own. She¡¯s frightened and turns her head over to me on the side of the bed and our eyes meet. As she looks into my eyes her face becomes calm as if she¡¯s trying to tell me not to worry and that she¡¯ll be ok....No... No this isn¡¯t ok. Why are you so calm....How can you look so unafraid right now?! As my mind is gradually overwhelmed with anger, I can hear the sounds of chains rattling down the deep precipice of my mind. I began to shake with anger, and I can¡¯t control it. I¡¯m so livid that I was brought into this world as a fucking baby. Why did Loki do this to me? Why am I being forced to watch this an not able to change it? Not being able to accept it any longer I struggle to get up the bed but to no avail. I can still hear Elyria struggling as the man is trying to rip off all her clothes. Wishing to be on top of this bed to be able to do something within the next instant my vision changes and my body is actually sitting on the corner of the bed behind the man on top of Elyria........What just happened? Not giving a chance to think of it I crawled towards the side of where the man''s clothes were. There was a dagger on his belt if I remember when he walked in. Trying to grab it without him noticing my presence I know I don¡¯t have long to take this guy out before he harms Elyria further. Her clothes have now been ripped out and the man is trying to position himself correctly to enter her. As I hear him laughing to himself that this is easy, I watched as the look of shock and horror enter his eyes as his whole body froze. ¡°Ughh,...GauhhhhhhAHHAHH!!¡± I stabbed the dagger right into the man''s right thigh. After studying some anatomy books I found that there is a major femoral artery in every human''s thigh muscles and if punctured will cause a person to bleed out within minutes. Sometimes it¡¯s even impossible to treat even with medical help on standby as severing the blood flow down someone''s leg will cause a person to lose roughly 30% of his blood and die before he knew it. As he arches his back backwards and screams loudly in pain, I¡¯m not finished with this scum and won¡¯t allow him to die so easily. I start to crawl up the side of his body. Doing so I can see my hands and notice my nails are now pointy and sharp and can feel my teeth now have sharp fangs. My mind is still racing and hasn¡¯t even registered what¡¯s happening to me as I¡¯m too preoccupied with wanting to tear this person apart. Never before have I witnessed a rape but after the damage I saw my mom put through, I will not ever show remorse to a rapist in my last life or this one. As I crawled up to his shoulder he now seeing my presence as the one who stabbed him, the look in his eyes go from shock to anger. He¡¯s still confused and reaches to grab me but I don¡¯t give him a chance as I bit into the man''s bare neck as if it was as natural as breathing. I had no way of hurting this person as a baby but this, but I almost felt drawn to wanting to watch this man die in agony. I could still hear the chains in the dark corners of my mind rattling as I watched him grip his neck and fall back off the bed and covered in blood. Wriggling around not being able to make any more sounds his breathing became erratic and slowly stopped moving. He is dead........This is the first person I¡¯ve ever killed. Even in my last life I have never murdered a person yet.......I¡¯m calm. Why am I so calm.........maybe I really am a monster. Turning back towards Elyria I see the dazed look in her eyes as she still cannot comprehend what happened. She looks back into my eyes with fear. It was a look I had received once before. It was the same look all the men back at the boxing gym gave me after I had lost it on one of the trainers. It was the look of disgust.....of horror. She probably couldn¡¯t bear to... ¡°Vali........thank you so much for protecting mommy.¡± Elyria crawled towards me with her now tattered clothes leaned toward me and picked me up. She pulled me close to her bare chest and embraced me just as she did before. ¡®Eh.....she......she¡¯s not afraid of me?¡¯ Though just moments before she had a look of pure fear looking at me as if she was looking at a devil. Now she was holding me tighter than she had before and and kissing the top of my head. I know just earlier I had ripped a man¡¯s throat out with my teeth. I can¡¯t imagine how she could see a child like that and want to embrace it. I know my form must have changed somehow as I could remember seeing my nails longer and fangs in my teeth. But as my state of mind returned to normal and my vision cleared, I could see that my hands were fine. No long creepy nails or fangs in my mouth. So what was that then? ¡°Shhhh.....it¡¯s ok baby. Mommy¡¯s right here, and she¡¯s safe now. Thanks for taking care of me sweetheart........I don¡¯t know what we¡¯re going to do about this but I promise, everything¡¯s going to be ok.¡± Pulling me away from her large and soft chest she looked me in the eyes and gave me that same warm, loving smile a mom would give her child and kissed my cheek. ¡°I¡¯m telling you Dear she has been sleeping around with everyone in this whole castle see...........Oh my GOD!¡± The door swung open and I heard the voice of that same disturbing woman from before. As she enters in the room she sees the blood all over the floor and the now fresh corpse with blood all over his neck and a knife in his leg. She is stunned and doesn¡¯t understand what she¡¯s seeing and then looks towards Elyria and I. ¡®Interesting how this woman showed up casually after this man attempted to attack Elyria. No way that¡¯s a coincidence. This bitch here must have set her up! This must not even be a guard, just some guy she just payed and tricked into coming in and raping her, until they arrived.'' ¡°Now dear that¡¯s imposs.......eh!¡± Entering into the room was a blonde hair blue-eyed man with a fancy red robe. He looked to be in his forties and I¡¯m assuming this is the Lord of the castle I have been hearing about up until this point. I¡¯m guessing he has returned and this bitchy woman has been trying to set this up. ¡°What...What did you do? You killed one of the guards you were sleeping with as you heard us coming in to witness your treachery against my husband. How dare you, you harlot!¡¯ ¡°No.....Lord Tyrule this man came in to have his way with me and then.......¡± Elyria tried to explain herself but did not know how to explain how the man was killed. She looked down at me and noticed the blood that was around my face and tried to think of a logical excuse on the spot. ¡°Don¡¯t even listen to this woman''s lies Edwin! Look the guard has blonde hair just like that child¡¯s, I just know it can¡¯t be your own. It must have been one of the many men she¡¯s laid with in your home!¡± The nasty wench in the yellow dress and brown hair looked at us with eyes filled with contempt. ¡®Seriously what is with this woman and why does she hate Elyria so much?'' ¡°I.....I see.....It is hard to imagine my Elyria would betray me but this is hard to refute with the evidence like this." The older man looks at the corpse, then at me Elyria then at me. He seems to be surprised that there is blood on my face and must think of me as nothing more than an animal. The same as he apparently sees other demi-humans. Though I know I look like a human he apparently must be quite whipped by this woman to accept her words so willingly. This is also the woman that somehow talked him into giving up his own daughter apparently. ¡°But Lord Tyrule this is your SOugh....¡± ¡°Don¡¯t let this whore speak another word in my husband''s castle! Gag her immediately and take her out into the castle square!¡± As the guards poured into the room and walked past the man and woman standing there they reached and bound Elyria with a clothe in her mouth and rope around her wrists. I can see the look of such pain in her eyes as she looks at the Lord of the castle with pleading eyes. Though he doesn¡¯t seem to be willing to listen to her cries. Another guard picks me up and I try to wiggle away as I reach towards Elyria and she reaches back towards me. Having just met Elyria I don¡¯t want to part from her just yet. I feel this amazing warm feeling when I was next to her I have never had in my past life and I can¡¯t let them take her away from me. As were both brought outside in the square of the castle gates, Elyria was thrown to the ground and she rolls to her side unable to get up as her limbs are tied. ¡°Come dear, show what happens to those who betray my husband''s trust.....my husband''s love!¡± The bitch leaned onto her husband and caressed his cheek and this causes him to bow up as if trying to prove himself to his wife and all the guards surrounding her. A large stick of iron is given to him by one of the guards next to him and is glowing orange from being heated under a fire. It is a large metal block with some design on it but it is hard to make out. Before I know what happens the man Edwin takes the iron rod and presses it into the side of Elyria¡¯s face. As smoke begins to rise from her cheeks I hear her screams through the gag in her mouth. She rolled trying to get away from what is happening to her but the guards stepped on her and held her down. ¡®MMMMMMmmmmmHmmmm!¡± The cries of Elyria break my heart. I try to break free but the guard holding me wont let me go. I struggle as much as my body will let me but nothing happens. ¡®I swear to God I¡¯m going to kill every last one of you!¡¯ ¡°Now let that whore¡¯s bastard child be with his mother. It is a fitting end for them both. I always knew she was garbage dear. ¡° ¡°Yes....I agree. Guards release the lying wench''s child and grab a stone. We will end this treachery in my household TONIGHT!¡± Letting me go I crawl as fast as I could to the fox woman Elyria. Still tied up and unable to move I crawl up close to her face and put my hand on her cheek and letting her know I¡¯m here with her. I can feel tears forming in my eyes as I look at the pain these horrible excuses for humans have done to her. It¡¯s enough to make me hate my own race. The entire right side of her face is ruined. The upper part of her face around her eye has been melted off and the right eye that once had a beautiful shade of emerald green was now chalk white and oozing with white puss. She looked at me with tears coming out of her one eye as if trying to tell me she was sorry. No..... I¡¯m sorry. I couldn¡¯t even help you and you¡¯ve done so much for me in this short time. You didn¡¯t even know me a few hours ago. A guard comes over and cuts the ropes binding her and she immediately wraps her arms around me and embraces me. She¡¯s trembling and telling me everything is going to be ok and that she wont let me go. I can feel her body pulsating as rocks are now being thrown at the two of us and she is covering my whole body with hers. I can feel the force of some of these rocks colliding with her back through her chest as I can tell it is causing her great pain. ¡®Why.....WHY.....WHY am I being forced to go through this?! Why did Loki leave me here....¡¯ Thinking to myself I quickly gather that Loki did not drop me off here to find love and attachment like I had previously thought. He had brought me here to see this world¡¯s treachery with my own eyes. I thought he wanted me to form some loving bond and live a happy childhood but I was wrong. He wanted me to see the true horrors of this world and how cruel it can be. Elyria just keeps gripping me tighter as the sounds of the guards laughing and yelling out profanities towards us. Why...why is this woman holding me so tight and protecting me. Why me? Why go through such troubles to protect someone like me? This women.......no.......my mom is truly a special person. Though I had a mother in my last life I never got to see what it was like to be truly loved by a parent. Though she was around, not like my father, I could tell being around me was painful for her. She may have loved us in her own way but she overdosed on drugs and left us. But this woman Elyria......My new mom, loved me so much she¡¯d rather die right here than part with me. It was enough to break my heart right there. Looking at the guards hurling rocks at us while being completely protected by my mom I can see a small glowing purple bird. It¡¯s a familiar shade of purple I¡¯ve seen before. It looks a lot like that one girl Hl?kk¡¯s hair that I have seen before. At that moment I begin to think this crow like bird must be something related to Loki and beam daggers at it as if wondering if he¡¯s going to do anything. He hasn¡¯t even came to greet me since I got here what did he expect me to do being born in this fuckers land! The light purple crow, which sat on top of the castle wall stared back at me with its golden eyes. It began to flutter its wings casually and then dropped down the large wall and onto the ground as if it were falling. Immediatley following this however a large roar coming from behind the gate erupted and large black dragon like creature crashed through the top of the gate destroying it crashing into the castle square. ¡°ROARRRRR!!!!!!!¡± This wyverian type creature which now landed in the middle of the square only several meters away from where we were looked around confused as if looking for prey it had lost track of. Seeing the guards that were now in its full view widened its eyes as if decided the meal in front of it was much better. ¡°Wha.....A black wyverian species.....he-here?!! Gu-Guards!!!! Attack it now at once! Don¡¯t let it spew its toxic gas around or it¡¯ll melt your skin off!¡± Edwin Tyrule yelled this to his men as he cannot believe what he had seen. He looked into the red eyes of the 15 meter black wyverian as if it was an impossible sight. If I remember correctly wyverians weren¡¯t that difficult to deal with in Divine and Conquer and I have even dealt with many rare variants of the species but seeing one up close is truly monsterous. The bitch woman and Lord Tyrule ran back towards the castle as the guards drew their swords and shields against the monster. ¡°ROAARRRRRRRRRRRRR!" The black wyverian spewed out of his mouth a large black mist that shot out like a laser towards the four men to its right engulfing them entirely. ¡°WAHHHHHHH!!!¡± ¡°AAHHHhhhhhhh!!!" ¡°My......My armmmmmmm!¡± Looking over towards the guards who had touched by the black mist were now nothing like they had appeared two seconds ago. Their limbs were oozing and smoky as their arms turned to a gooey like substance and melted with no resistance at all. While one collapsed holding his arm where his hand and sword used to be the others are already lying on the ground as their legs were completely gone. ¡®Wow.......Such firepower in one breath...¡¯ Thinking of what is in front of me is truly terrifying. I have never seen a creature like this in my life. It is something that looks even more intimidating than the two demons I had met before. While growling and moving its body it started to jump and attack the other group of guards that had filled the castle square. There had to be roughly 50 soldiers collected in this square and the black wyverian that hopped around like a dog playing with it¡¯s toy were being mercifully eating and torn to shreds in front of me and my mother. While my mother and I are both frozen staring at the beast, a slender figure wrapped in a hood and cloak was walking very quickly towards our direction. Paying no mind to the outside chaos from before she casually grabs my mothers arm and pulls her off with her. My mom not knowing how to respond at first struggles but due to this cloaked figure¡¯s persistence she easily didn''t refuse. It was much better than the alternative. Being pulled away out of the wreckage of the castle gate we could still hear the screams and cries of the men behind us fighting to their deaths. As the figure who was holding my mother''s hand continues forward I can see light purple hair fluttering in the wind from the side of her cloak. ¡®I¡¯m sure now......this cloaked figure is Hl?kk. But why did she wait this long to do something. Why did she allow this to happen! I swear I better get some damn answers fast or Loki is gonna be added to a list of individuals I have been wanting to kill for a very long time¡¯ The women after walking past the gate with us and around the castle wall flicks her wrist and a familiar ripple appears tearing through space itself. She motions for us to go into the gate of light. My mother seemingly confused at what powerful magic she¡¯s seeing for the first time. she holds me tightly and bites her lip. After entering through the gate a bright blinding light occurs and within a second we are in a secluded forest clearly far away from where we had been. This bizarre teleportation magic I¡¯ve seen before. The sounds of screams can no longer be heard and the forest we''re in has a natural fluorescent glow to it. Fireflies are floating in the distance and the leaves and trees are a beautiful shade of glowing green. They look similar to my mothers eye¡¯s actually. While I and my mother are amazed at the sight in front of us were speechless at looking at such a beautiful sight. There only a few dozen meters away was a small secluded house hidden away from the world. The cloaked figure then walks in front of us and takes off her hood revealing herself to be the woman I knew as Hl?kk. ¡°Before you say anything...... I know that you''re furious with me. But I had no idea that was going to happen and which is why I lured in that smog wyverian.¡± ¡°Ugh....Um well that''s alright. I¡¯m not furious however, just very confused.¡± ¡°.....I am sorry miss. But I was not speaking to you. I was speaking to that small child there.¡± ¡°You mean Vali?¡¯ ¡°Vali?........Well, yes I suppose it¡¯s natural you would name him. Well......rather, I am Hl?kk. I am a Valkyrie in service of God Loki. This boy here holds the blessing of Loki and is henceforth protected here while he is growing.¡± ¡°Whaaaa? He.....He was blessed by a God.....and the God of Mischief? How amazing!¡± As my mom looked at her shocked, she couldn¡¯t believe the small boy she was holding was one of the rare beings in this world truly protected by the Gods. ¡°But....you spoke as if you.....knew Vali?¡± ¡°.......Yes.......we have met before. I¡¯m sure you can see that this boy can comprehend the things you are saying, clearly showing intelligence much more than his age should allow? Well though it''s due to a number of reasons.¡± Stopping as if deciding on how to explain herself she looks at me while pondering to herself. I glared at her as I don¡¯t want her to reveal too much to her just yet. Though I don¡¯t really have a problem with people learning I¡¯m from another world. In fact I imagine myself wanting to tell her this one day soon when I can talk. However, for now......I rather enjoy this woman thinking of me as her child. It¡¯s a strange feeling completely new to me. It is something I want to enjoy if not for just a little while longer. ¡°Well.....as one of his blessings from God Loki he has the ability to use a universal language and understand any sentient race in this world. I assume that is why he is able to understand you when you talk......amongst other reasons.¡± Hl?kk mumbled the last part softly to herself..........ha...I guess this woman has a problem with lying to people. ¡°Wow....amazing! Your saying he really could understand me all this time! Vali you truly are amazing....I love you so much!¡± As she put my had over her left shoulder she hugged me as if trying not to show me her appearance. I could tell she was insecure about her face and didn¡¯t want me to see. Thinking about this fact I looked back at Hl?kk and glared at her. Trying to tell her my feelings with my thoughts. If Loki won''t help this woman who cared for me I¡¯m going to punch his teeth out the next time I see him. ¡°I know what your thinking...... I am a Valkyrie, I was made for battle and do not have healing abilities. And I cannot interfere more than I already have. It is known to those from our realm that interfere too often or too much in this world could descend from Godhood if what we do is too severe. And then forced to live out our days here.....I am sorry.......And Loki did not know this was going to happen to you. He cannot tell the future....as far as I know. I just know that he chose this woman to be your mother that is all. He must have......had an idea of her treatment, Ka.....Vali.......I¡¯m truly sorry! Please believe that.¡± Thinking over the thoughts she said to me it is something I can''t accept. She said that they could descend....COULD! To me that just means it¡¯s possible. ¡®Ugh....Loki did say the truce between the Gods was a tricky and confusing one. But he somehow managed to wiggle around it so there must be room to find a way to heal this woman. Don¡¯t give me that crap that you Gods can¡¯t do a thing for her!¡¯ ¡°It¡¯s ok!.......I¡¯m ok. Though....my face is ruined, for the first time since I can remember I¡¯m truly happy. Sob.....Sob.....¡± My mother cried and held me in her arms with tears rushing down her face. Though she has no sadness in sadness in her eyes. She had a look of relief.......a look of comfort. She said she had been in the castle for years, and after being treated so poorly she finally found herself a child she could call her own, and a home away from all the grief and sadness. Kneeling on the ground and finally realizing she had been saved. She held onto me and cried into the starry night while not letting go. Being fully enveloped into her chest as she embraced me I could smell such a sweet scent going through my nose and a warm feeling I was still not use to surrounding my body. This was a love I had never experienced in my past life and was something I swore to myself I wouldn¡¯t lose in this one. ¡®I swear....By the Gods of this world and my own, I swear I will find a way to heal you. And protect you.....you my mother...sob....sob.... I swear that I will become strong in this world to where no one will ever be able to harm you again! While those who did this to you will receive a pain much worse then death.............I swear it!¡¯ With tears coming out of my eyes that flowed for the woman I now accept as my mother, we sat there holding each other through the long hours into the night. End of Chapter Chapter 5: Life in the Forest Chapter 5: Life in the Forest The sun narrowly begins to creep in through the curtains of our log cabin deep within the mountains of Angenehm Forest. My mother told me the name meant a pleasant place. Our new home was hundreds of miles away from Alvain kingdom, and is somewhere further south east of the Eastern Continent. It had been roughly 3 weeks since my mother and I fled with Hl?kk to this place and I¡¯ve honestly lost track of all that has happened over that last several days. ¡°Hmmm.....Vali....don¡¯t disobey your mother..zzzzz¡± ¡®Hehe..seems mom¡¯s having an interesting dream.¡¯ As I roll over I see the face of the beautiful woman who sleeps next to me I know now as my mother. Her face looks rather peaceful with arms still hugging me from the night before. This has actually become a frequent occurrence since we arrived in this cabin a few days ago. Even though there is actually another bed in this cabin she decided since I was still a baby it was appropriate to sleep next to each other..... Though I¡¯m not exactly a baby anymore. I¡¯ve grown roughly two and a half feet since we¡¯ve arrived here amongst several other changes that have been occurring within my body that even in a world of magic is truly mind boggling. At day 3 my leg muscles developed strong enough for me to walk around the cabin. Day 5, I was able to speak my first words and within a few hours was capable of speaking fluently with my mother for the first time in this world. These actions both surprised my mother in both good and bad ways. I guess she liked the idea of me staying a child for a little while longer. Though I¡¯ve had no complaints on my end either. ¡®I wish Loki would have told me about my abnormal growth rate...as now I am no longer allowed to breast feed from this woman, apparently if your old enough to ask for it your not old enough to have it..........ah what am I thinking about anyways!¡¯ ¡°ZzzzZzz mmm¡± pat pat I pat the top of my mothers head and her fox ears started twitching as she smiles while remaining soundly asleep. She looks so peaceful lying there in. I casually look down her head towards her bare slender neck and towards the two large mounds that are now practically inches from below my chin, then back up to her face. She really is such a breathtaking woman. Even in my world the women from there couldn¡¯t compare to Elyria''s gentle and alluring beauty. Though her wounds have still not yet healed, and she is still blind in her left eye, I still find her to be one of the most beautiful woman I have ever met. I don¡¯t know what it is but there is just something about a woman with fuzzy anime ears that tickles the heart of a man. I try to pull away from her and get out of bed without waking her. My mom apparently loves sleeping in. I can¡¯t blame her as this is the first time in what seems like forever that she can truly relax like this. I¡¯m no different, ever since having mom sleep beside me and coddle me throughout the night I¡¯ve finally got a good nights rest in what has felt like a year. I use to have agonizing nightmares but ever since I¡¯ve come to this forest with this fox woman I¡¯ve been able to to find some sense of peace here I can¡¯t seem to ever remember having. All because of this woman...... I gently try to remove the hands off me that now no longer are shackled with any magic deterring slave fetters, along with the collar around her neck has also been removed. Hl?kk was nice enough to remove them for her upon arrival at the cabin, I guess she felt some sense of guilt for being unable to do more for us earlier. She did seem to be quite remorseful over the whole ordeal.... As I get out of bed I put on a shirt and sandals and get ready to go work out. I use this time in the early morning to thoroughly train my body since after my first week arriving here. My mom originally was against the idea claiming she wasn¡¯t sure if it was healthy for a child to do such things, but eventually realized those kinds of things probably don¡¯t apply to me. I walk outside to one of the trees I¡¯ve been using for punching practice. I originally would just do air strikes to get use to my new body but now I have the body of an athletic 8 or 9 year old. I eventually moved to hitting the tree for a little contact. At first my skin would get scuffed and blistered up and my mom would yell at me but after a few days my skin somehow naturally became quite tough, normal blows like this wouldn¡¯t even be able to tear at the skin. I don¡¯t know if this is due to Loki¡¯s blessing or that weird growth essence he apparently put inside me but my growth is substantially increasing at a predominant rate. ¡®But.....let¡¯s be honest, that is no where close to the weirdest thing I¡¯ve found out about my new body......ughhh fucking Loki. I feel like smacking him.¡¯ Bam! Bam! Bam! Twack! After several punches and kicks I received a notification.
Strength + 1Stamina + 1Agility + 1
¡®Hehe....nice.¡¯ I never tire of seeing that. In my old world there was never any indication of your growth you just had to see the results after long extended periods of time of hard work. But now....literally everything in this world can be placed into numerical values and one can witness their growth first hand. However.....since Loki being the bitch that he is didn¡¯t explain shit to me upon arrival and I had to casually pick most of this up myself or through conversations with Hl?kk or my mother. Which brings me back to the first day I spent in this cabin....... --------------------------------- Apparently if I focus hard enough I can see something of a central hud around the corners of my vision. The first time seeing this rather bizarre but I can see a red star in the top right corner of my vision. Upon clicking it a message popped up in front of my view. Would you like to turn on your notifications? Yes or no? ¡®What.....Notifications?......ugh yes.¡¯ Upon clicking yes I found out since I¡¯ve been here I¡¯ve had all the information I should have been originally receiving turned off.But that wasn¡¯t what surprised me most. My status had changed.... Name: Vali Race: Human Level: 3 Age: ? Class: N/A Title: N/A Health: 700 Mana: 1300 Stamina: 55 Intellect: 300 Strength: 55 Wisdom: 400 Agility: 15 Defense: 55 Luck: 500 Magic Resistance: 10% Poison Resistance: 0% Elemental Resistances: Fire: 25% Earth: 0% Light: 5% Lightning: 0% Water: 0% Wind: 0% Dark: 5% ¡®Hah? how am I level 3? Shouldn¡¯t I be level 1 since I¡¯ve come here. It took me a while to realize how this could have happened until I remembered I had killed random man. Though I¡¯m quite positive he wasn¡¯t a guard, I can¡¯t tell how strong he must have been. Apparently enough that my level rose 2 times after killing him. You can gain experience in this world in a number of ways and oddly enough murder is one of them. Though after looking at my stats I just became more confused as even for a child my stats were all over the place. For a person at at level 3 I originally thought those stats were rather, odd especially for a baby. Hl?kk said the essence Loki gave me was from one of the great world trees. She told me that the essence itself was binding to my body so my growth would rapidly increase until I reached around the same age I was in my past life. Though other than that she said she wasn¡¯t aware of any other effects it had. Since it came from a tree that was supposedly capable of holding up an entire dimension, it may have had other unknown effects that could change my body somehow. Though she did say a lot of the high stats I¡¯m seeing should have come from Loki¡¯s blessing. Apparently Loki¡¯s Blessing also came along with granting a couple of unique abilities and greatly improved my luck while affecting growth correction in my stats and also allowing me to gain experience much quicker than an average human. When I asked if all this was normal she just shrugged and said every God gives their own unique blessings as to whatever they¡¯re affiliated with. Seriously though, these blessings from God¡¯s I can see why mom was so surprised upon finding out I had one. Originally I thought these stats were rather odd for a child of my size to have my mother was even more surprised by it. After showing her my status by turning on the display for other¡¯s to see she was quite pleased and shocked at the same time. By the way her strength as a demi-human now that her shackles are off is around 350 while her intellect was a whopping 950. Though she still wont tell me her actual level her wisdom stat she said was somewhere around 1200. Also, after Hl?kk had taken off my mothers shackles and collar I learned my mother is actually a 4 tailed fox. Apparently the large amount of her power was being subdued with those shackles she had on for so many years and getting to bring out her other tails was also very satisfying for her. I had asked at that time if she ever met a 9 tailed fox as I¡¯ve heard about them in myths in my world but she said she hasn¡¯t either as it is as much a legend to her. Though, she did say an elder from a neighboring tribe had 6 tails and apparently for fox priestesses the number of tails one has is directly proportional to ones power for the fox tribe. She said in her clan she she was the one with the most tails in her village and was looked up even as a child for her great potential. It¡¯s possible to have your tails increase with age and when they grow in magical or elemental affinity but according to her it¡¯s very difficult, as she herself was born with two tails which is incredibly rare according to her. Now that she currently has 4 I think my mom might be holding back on just how special a person she actually is. ---------------------------------------------------- I¡¯d like to say that¡¯s all I found out after looking at my status but there was much.......much more things I found out that day that just brought up many more questions. Next to the inventory icon was a skills list. Now as a child I shouldn¡¯t have been born with any skills but as a child who received the blessings of the God Loki I assumed to have maybe a couple of skills but what I found was much more concerning. During my swing¡¯s I recalled what was going through my head the first time I saw my skills list.
Skill¡¯s List: Divine Blessing of Loki: Spatial Magic Universal Language Acquisition Racial Skills: Demonic Absorption Demonic Awakening Magic Manipulation Learned Skills: Cooking Ingredient Identification
Upon first seeing this my jaw dropped..... ¡°Loki......just what the hell did you put inside my body you bastard!¡± After seeing this I apparently scared both my mother and Hl?kk who was still a little crow sitting on the windowsill. ¡°Hl?kk....do you know anything about this?!¡± ¡°Ah....eh well I just found out myself recently yes.¡± She answered while turning her head. It had been a few days since I got to this world and after collecting food and eating lunch with my mother I decided to learn more about this game world and myself. But what I had found was truly terrifying. ¡°What the hell did he do!!!¡± ¡°Well you see Vali.....that is what Loki is currently trying to understand right now. Those skills you have acquired......we did not give to you. Other than Loki¡¯s divine blessing we do not know how those other 3 racial skills came to be.¡± Hl?kk said nervously back towards my angry tone. ¡°It says DEMONIC......what the fuck is going on!¡± ¡°VALI! Language.....and do not raise your voice so much at a women you know better than that.¡± My mom becoming aware of my hostilities looked towards me with an unpleasant look and entering into our conversation. ¡°Now sweetie......what appears to be the problem exactly?¡± ¡°Just look at my status!¡± As I turned my display to on for others to be able to see it I flick it towards my mother and turn it around for her. ¡°Oh dear.....so that explains that night.¡± ¡°HA?¡± I¡¯m shocked....does she know what¡¯s going on with me? ¡°You don¡¯t remember when you came and rescued mommy? Your eyes were as black as the night and you had an appearance completely different than the little boy I knew. I wont lie that at first I was a little frightened of your appearance, but one simple hug from your mother and it all went away.¡± ¡°Yes...Vali, you need to understand that currently that is what Loki has been looking into and trying to find information as to those abilities as they are quite......unique.¡± ¡°Ya think! So....what¡¯s this mean that i have some demon powers in my, how is that possible?¡± ¡°........ We believe it could be due to you.......inheriting these skills.....Perhaps, we can speak in private?¡± Hl?kk said while timidly looking towards Elyria. ¡°Oh...well if it is something that private between God Loki and my son I guess I can go outside and collect some ingredients for dinner. But remember.....you can always come to me about anything ok sweetie.¡± My mother came over to me and rubbed my cheek before leaving out the front door. ¡°Now what were you saying....are you.....implying my mother was raped by a demon all those years ago?¡± I couldn¡¯t comprehend what was going through my mind right now, I could feel my heart beginning to pound through my chest. As my insides began to churn Hl?kk turned into her human form and came over to try and console me. ¡°We do not know what happened Kayle, nor do we know anything about your origins as of now, but we are currently trying to find this out.¡± She placed her arm on me awkwardly and continued. ¡°I know its hard to accept, I know how much you hate demons, it came as quite a shock to Loki and I as well. But maybe.....it¡¯s a blessing in disguise...... ------------------------------------------- Going through the memories in my head I continued to swing at the bare tree with bitss of bark being chipped away with each swing.
Strength +1Stamina +1Agility + 1
It wasn¡¯t usually this easy to get my stats to go up in the game but I remembered and old trick in the gym that gave my punches devastating power. I would at the time hold dumbbells while I would train and throw punches. I eventually got to the point where I could do it normally with 55 pounds in each hand. though now I¡¯ve had to succumb to using weighted stones tied to my wrists and ankles. this helped me raise my stats much quicker though and not just my stamina or strength either. I wonder how long it¡¯ll take until my body gets back to my usual self. Hl?kk did say some world tree¡¯s essence is inside of me and it will drastically increase my growth until I get back to my usual self. Hmmmm... Bam! Bam!
Congratulations!!! You have now advanced your hand to hand combat level to Beginner Level 8! 20% Increase in strength and evasion rate while fighting without a weapon. 10% Increase in attack speed. Strength + 5 Stamina + 10 Agility +5 Defense + 5
¡®Ahh good. I should be able to raise it to Level 10 by breakfast. Along the moment it reaches 10 it will switch over to Level 1 intermediate hand to hand combat. Since I didn¡¯t have weapons I had to work on my martial arts. Which I personally believe is a good place to start off before holding any weapon. if you don¡¯t have any good fundamentals and jump straight into weapon mastery there are actually penalties later on. I remembered in the game I played back home that a lot of players were unaware of this fact and when starting the game they would immediately go out and buy whatever weapon they could. Though if you didn¡¯t learn the basics of hand to hand combat there was a slight penalty when holding a weapon and you didn¡¯t get to exert its full power. Though if one were to increase his hand to hand combat first there would be no penalty and if you raised it high enough would actually greatly increase the damage when holding a weapon later on. Though many people besides monks would never do this, though they weren¡¯t ones to ever really use weapons themselves. So due to that many people in the game were completely unaware of this fact. As someone who enjoyed martial arts I enjoyed trying to use hand to hand combat in the early portions of the game and randomly came to learning this fact after later changing over to a sword. The effects were amazing on the overall power it granted me later on. Bam! Bam! Bam!
Strength + 1Stamina +1Agility +1
Twack!! The tree I was swinging on rupture after my last swing as my fist went straight through it.
Congratulations!!! You have advanced your hand to hand combat level to Beginner Level 9! Strength + 5 Stamina + 10 Agility + 5 Defense +5
You have Learned a new Skill!!! Powerful Strike Perform a powerful strike that will devastate your enemies! 50% increase in Attack Power Cost 30 SP Cool down time: 3 Seconds
Nice I got another hand to hand combat skill. After getting past the basic level of hand to hand combat and becoming a beginner I also learned a skill at beginner level 3 called ¡°Quick Fists¡± which increased my attack speed by 10% but was also a non passive skill. The skill lists go to 8 levels of mastery. Beginner, Intermediate, Novice, Advanced, Adept, Expert, Master, and Divine. Well that is according to the the game from before that I was use to. I really want to acquire a lot of passive or semi passive skills that I can stack on top of each other that will really come in handy later on. See passive skills are skills that are always turned on, and are always helping you in the background. They can range from any number of attributes and will always assist you without any cost to your magic or stamina points. Semi-passive skills such as my demonic awakening skill if turned on will stay on using up mp or sp while in use. Walking to another tree I began to continue my training while swinging at a tree. Bam! Bam! Bam! Currently right now I now have 9 skills. The abilities I have received from Loki were incredible. I¡¯ve yet to fully understand just how unique and profitable it is to be blessed by a god. Universal Language Acquisition will allow me to communicate with any sentient race that has a language. This is an invaluable skill as my mother says this is something that she has never seen before. She herself can speak in human tongue but many other races like the elves and other demi human races have languages that are very hard to learn. Such as the lizard-man race talk with a weird series of clicking sounds with their tongue and is quite hard for others to understand. Though if I were to be in a room with one I¡¯d be able to understand anything it was saying while also being able to converse with anyone in a universal language which is recognized by anyone. Though Loki¡¯s blessing did not stop there. While also greatly increasing my luck and stats, it also gave me the ability to gain experience much quicker than the average humans. He also gave me a very powerful magic known as Spatial Magic. In my opinion this is something of a cheat skill. It allows me to teleport myself or any object practically anywhere within my range of vision within 50 meters. As my level and intellect grow stronger I can apparently increase the distance as well as the uses of Spatial Magic in battle. My mouth seriously drools at the opportunities of this skill. I guess this is probably how Loki moved around so well and was able to pull off those tricks of his....Ughh thinking of that annoying laugh right now is off putting. Hl?kk told me to train in my Spatial magic daily as it would become a very valuable tool later on. She implied that teleporting myself during a battle is only one small portion of the potential seen in this magic. I¡¯d like to say that¡¯s all but the other 3 unique abilities I have are equally absurd skills.
Demonic Awakening: Awaken the power of the fallen. Increases Strength and Defense by 200%. Increase Agility by 150%. All other stats rise 25%.
This is the skill i may or may not have inherited and is what caused my vision to grow blurry and change my eye color and nail length. It turned my nails razor sharp and even grew two small fangs in my mouth. The first time seeing my appearance in my reflection of some water I was bathing in was a lot to take in. I looked very......creepy. Though intimidating, I didn¡¯t hate it. If these demons gave me these grotesque abilities I¡¯ll use the same skills to tear them apart. Something capable of tripling my strength and defense isn''t a bad thing. Demonic Absorption is another ability I acquired and is something that Hl?kk was quite interested with when I had brought it up to her. Apparently she told me that amongst the demon races there are several very strong demon kings all under one Demon lord who controls the lands to the northern Continent. Apparently there is constantly infighting between clans and demon families, even more so than the humans. Amongst the stronger clans are lineages that hold great power through their blood lines and over time they have survived and grown to be very strong. Each of the strongest families have powerful abilities that are unique to their family making them outlandishly stronger than the other demons in the area. When I asked Hl?kk what the demons were like in this world I was surprised to find that they weren¡¯t much different than the humans in this world. Some don¡¯t even seek out violence or war and enjoy living life normally in their cities with their families. Much like humans do as well. Though I¡¯m told there is quite a bit of hostility between them and humans, which isn¡¯t much different than most races with humans in this world it seems. These abilities apparently are passed through these families like royalty would in the human continent with their noble lineages. Though humans rarely inherit any abilities......Though somehow I managed to have inherited 3.
Demonic Absorption: Upon consumption of a fallen foe you can acquire one random racial ability and take on its traits. One must consume the heart, blood, or power source of the individual within an hour upon the victims death (Unless consumption from a monster''s core). The ability stolen will be selected at random based on one¡¯s own skills. Max limit of 2 abilities for fallen monsters as your diet will allocate to the absorbed parts and unable to learn any new abilities. Limit does not adhere to unique races.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡®......yah anyway i look at it this it''s a cheat.¡¯ Though it selects a skill at random, there was never any ability anywhere close to that in the game. The skills I had acquired through the game were all through my class or ones I gained from quests following unique conditions my siblings taught me about. But I never found any way to obtain monster abilities through the game. Bam! Bam! Thwack!!!! With my continued swings on the new tree bark began to scatter around as the sun was now creeping overhead above the trees. ¡®Damn...almost time for breakfast.....no I need to keep going I need to get to intermediate today!¡¯ Bam! Bam! Bam! Oh yah I had one more unique ability. Though demonic absorption was something Hl?kk seemed to be weary and concerned over the ability Magic Manipulation was something her and my mom showed to have more disbelief of. The ability stated,
Magic Manipulation: You can manipulate any magical properties in the world and bend it to your will.
Now reading this I just assumed it meant I would be able to use magic but that was quickly refuted by both Hl?kk and my mother. Any mage has specialties in magic they spend their lifetime on developing. But their magic isn¡¯t necessarily manipulating their respective elements or fields. My ability however seems to be something else entirely from that. ¡°Though I am not a mage type this is an ability that seems to be troubling Loki the most as well. if the possibilities are right, it may be possible for you to manipulate any magical properties you come into contact with and change it into your own.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that just what magic is?¡± ¡°No...this skill apparently gives you the innate ability to manipulate magic at its core. You can change the magic within objects as well as anything in your general surroundings to your own. It could even be possible to manipulate magic that is projected towards you....that is what Loki communicated with me over his findings. Henceforth he wants you to continue training your magic with your mother from here on out as well......¡± Bam! Bam! Bam! Twack!!!!
Strength + 1Stamina +1Agility +1
Congratulations!!! You have advanced your hand to hand combat level to Beginner Level 10. Now it will advance to Intermediate Level 1! Strength +10 Stamina +20 Agility +10 Health +200 Defense + 10 You now no longer will hold any penalties when holding a weapon for the first time. 30% Increase in Attack Power and Evasion Rate while fighting without a weapon. 20% Increase in attack speed when fighting without a weapon.
You¡¯ve been awarded a new skill! Stunning Blow! Strike your opponent and stun them for a brief period of time. 40 Sp cost Cooldown time: 10 seconds
¡®Ughhh finally!! Nice i got an added boost to my health and even a new skill. This is great. ¡°Good morning Kayle......I can see your hard at work as always.¡± ¡°Oh hey Hl?kk, did you bring those ingredients I asked for last time?¡± Becoming aware of Hl?kk¡¯s presence I don¡¯t turn around to greet her as I¡¯m still reading up on some of the new added boosts to my stats I¡¯ve acquired. ¡°.......yes. Though I¡¯m curious as to why you asked me to go collect such odd things for you. Lord Loki has also voiced his concern with your diet and thinks you need to start eating more meat. He thinks you will grow up to be a rather scrawny champion and asked me to pick up some food for you this morning.¡± It was at that moment I turned around and noticed Hl?kk was carrying three very large rabbits with horns growing out of their head. ¡°Hah! Loki said that huh. Ya know he still hasn¡¯t paid me a visit since I got here. Is he really that busy stuck in a library all this time?¡± ¡°Yes....he¡¯s the type of person who throws himself into his studies. Though he may show an image of a troublemaker amongst the God¡¯s he is actually quite wise and the hard worker.¡± ¡°Ah so god¡¯s think of him as a nuisance too huh?¡± I stated as I stare back at her with a smirk on my face. ¡°......well he is known for his games he likes to play. They can.....rub some the wrong way, yes.¡± Hl?kk answered quite awkwardly, I guess she doesn¡¯t like speaking ill of the God she serves directly under. ¡°Oh..... you mean others find him pretentious?........I¡¯m shocked.¡± ¡°.........is that sarcasm?¡± ¡°Nothing gets past you Hl?kk.¡± I roll my eyes and start to take off my shirt that is covered in sweat. I sit down and start to do some light stretches after my workout and untie the weighted rocks from my wrists and ankles. ¡®Ya know, Hl?kk is an odd one. I can tell she doesn¡¯t get out much and isn¡¯t use to extended conversations. It¡¯s amazing how a women with such an amazing figure and face doesn¡¯t have more experience dealing with people. Though I guess she is a Valkyrie whose made for war.¡¯ ¡°So wha¡¯d Loki decide from breakfast this morning? As she stared back at me with the same straight face she answered. ¡° I went out and captured a few horned rabbits in the area.....you know come to think of it you should be able to hunt on your own at this point, why can¡¯t you do this yourself?¡± She made a beat red face and turned away, I assume because of my partially naked appearance. Upon turning around I can see now that the rabbits do in fact have horns coming out of them. Ya know come to think of it she is right. I haven''t had the opportunity to eat any meat since I¡¯ve been here. A growing body does need protein but all I¡¯ve had is fruits and other ingredients my mom and I have collected and tried to cook together with during our time here. ¡°Well let¡¯s go inside and cook some breakfast before mom gets up with the other ingredients you brought as well. I know just the recipe I¡¯ve wanted to try out. I found some other interesting ingredients in the forest the other day with mom and have been preparing them waiting on you to come back. ¡° As I got up I began to head back to the house and ushering for her to follow. ¡°.....I see you do in fact enjoy strange things for a boy your age.¡± ¡°Have you forgotten I¡¯m not really a 9 year old boy. besides in my past life I loved getting to try out new dishes and cook for my two younger siblings. It was just one of the few hobbies I guess I enjoyed. Come on you should stay and try it out I promise you won¡¯t be disappointed. Besides I need help convincing mom it¡¯ll be ok to let me leave the house and start hunting on my own soon. She still doesn¡¯t trust me to be out alone.¡± ¡°Do you blame her....she still doesn¡¯t know of who you really are Kayle. Why are you withholding that from her anyways. Surely she doesn¡¯t think of all of this is from mine and Loki¡¯s influences.¡± Just before crossing into the threshold of our log cabin Hl?kk questions me. I stopped and contemplated how I wanted to answer her. ¡°.....yah I guess I haven¡¯t found a good chance to tell her. It¡¯s not like I want to withhold anything from her but.....I don''t know I want her to enjoy seeing me as her son for a little while longer is all.¡± After saying that I entered into the house with Hl?kk. ¡°....I see. So that is why, you were thinking of her. She is not your real mother however?¡± Pausing to figure out how to answer her I continued. ".....yah.....but she does a really good job at being one. Why not let her continue thinking of me as her son if not for just a few more days.¡± Walking into the kitchen I grabbed the meet from Hl?kk as well as the ingredients I had previously asked her to obtain to start preparing breakfast. ¡°.......do you believe she would stop thinking of you as her mother after learning the truth then.¡± Asking this she made a puzzled look towards me while I started to begin with the ingredients. ¡°Ugh....honestly I couldn¡¯t tell ya. Guess we¡¯ll find out eventually wont we.¡± She looked down as if thinking about something while I started up a fire on the ill conceived skillet and prepared an interesting dish I don¡¯t believe to have been made in this world yet.This kitchen was actually quite convenient. Though not as high tech as the one at the diner or even my home, it did have a lot of free space I wasn¡¯t use to. ¡®Ughhh......I can¡¯t wait to taste some delicious meat!!! With water running down my mouth I prepared the meal.¡¯ Hl?kk¡¯s POV: ¡®This boy Loki has sent me to watch over is becoming more and more confusing as time passes. Upon first meeting him in the park that day all I saw was a disheveled man with an arrogant attitude. Though Loki seemed to think much more of him.¡¯ He was much different than the humans I met as his face would make a smile though his eyes never showed to do the same. I knew he had a rough past after meeting his little sister. But who knows what all that time alone did to him. After coming to this world however he became even more of a strange existence. He had demonic abilities.......the same as the species he claimed to hate so much for tearing his family away. But these abilities even for demons were truly unique. Demonic absorption was an ability I had never seen and I doubt even the demon kings in this world even possess such an oddly absurd skill. If the individual consumes parts of his fallen victims then he can acquire a skill from those he has vanquished. Truly a ridiculous weapon that could be terrifying if left unchecked. If that is possible his potentials he could reach are mind boggling for me a Valkyrie attendant to the Gods. Though that would be enough he had another ability we couldn¡¯t find out to what its origin was. Magic manipulation that is something even some Gods can not utilize perfectly. It can allow you to interfere with this worlds magical laws and turn them into your own. If this person learns how to increase his affinity and knowledge of the magic in this world he will be a truly frightening opponent to face. Even with his Spatial Magic he acquired from Loki can possibly be manipulated in time.......truly a puzzling thing this boy. ¡®Seriously though who is this person. I can¡¯t seem to want to trust him as he doesn¡¯t speak much. Though, I am use to Gods who always speak and say what is on their minds. I can¡¯t accept he has no information about his past but Loki seems to think he wasn¡¯t lying. This boy doesn¡¯t speak much about his past, all he does is swing his fists at a tree for hours on end everyday and trains himself to the point of physical exhaustion.¡¯ I must say even for a warrior maiden I find his will to be incredibly strong. Maybe it is true what Loki said about individuals born from weakness hold terrifying power that gives them an edge over those born from privilege. I never knew what he was talking about until I had seen this boy work his body till he was covered in sweat and blood from such an intense work. Currently right now I am sitting and watching him cook breakfast for all of us. He asked me to collect some weird assortment of ingredients the next time I visited. Though I¡¯m never far away, I do have to go back and speak with Loki on occasion to receive and give new reports. He seems very interested in wanting to cook a meal today, and since I did bring the ingredients I do have a reason to be here but this is the first time spending such an extended period of time with this boy. I....I really don¡¯t know how to act in such a situation. Should I say something?¡¯ ¡°Mmm this rabbit meat is going to go perfect with today¡¯s entree. thanks for bringing me the milk, eggs, and hehe....other ingredients.¡± As he started to chuckle to himself I remembered some of the other odd things he asked me to collect.....Ughh why would he ask me a Valkyrie to the Gods to collect such things!¡¯ ¡°........yes though it does smell appetizing why did you ask me to collect such odd things. And what is that white substance you are using?¡± ¡°haha to the first question you¡¯ll just have to see. And to your second this is an ingredient used quite often in my world known as flour.¡± ¡°That is a flower?¡± ¡°Hahaha....no its not what your thinking it is called floooourrr. It¡¯s said the same but spelt differently. Basically if you take certain seeds or roots and mash them together they can make this white powdery substance known as flour. it¡¯s a major cooking ingredient where I¡¯m from though this will taste much different than the more purified versions from where I¡¯m from.¡± He started to mix the ingredients together and mashing the white flower substance into a bowl. ¡°And we are going to eat this flower?¡± ¡°Haha something like that, that see now with this I throw the powder into a bowl and mix it with water, salt and oil you brought. After mixing it thoroughly I¡¯m going to throw it on this weird iron skillet and make toritillas!¡± He seemed rather excited as he said that last part. ¡°Toorteeyahs?¡± ¡°Ha would you like to come see. I use to make breakfast burritos for my siblings all the time. It was easy because it was really cheap to make and the cook at the diner would always run out of ingredients so I learned first hand how to make some of these things without the normal methods. See growing up we came from a really poor family and it was just my mom and two younger siblings for a while. Well, until she passed, so I took on most of the cooking duties from there on.¡± ¡°.......I¡¯m sorry to hear that.¡± ¡°Eh.....don¡¯t be. Now, the floud is pressed down I can throw the flattened pieces in the skillet and when they heat they will eventually become hard and able to wrap around the rest of the food I¡¯m preparing.¡± ¡°Why would you want to consume hard food?¡± He made an odd face when I said this and looked back at me confused. ¡°.....It¡¯s not that hard. Now next I¡¯m going to scramble some egg yolks as well over the fire. The egg yolk is a good compliment to this too. Now....all we need after this is the cheese which I have to say was quite difficult to make. Which is why I told you to bring those odd other ingredients from before haha.¡± ¡°Eh! You mean we will be eating that as well?¡± I wanted to vomit when I remembered the other things Kayle had asked me to gather from him......why....why did he make me collect such things! ¡°Yep....It¡¯s an ingredient that I also found out about working at the diner, the cook I learned under was very smart after all. Though I never thought I would use it until coming here. It¡¯s an ingredient that is found in cattle or sheep¡¯s stomachs and is an enzyme that helps them to digest their foods. It¡¯s an enzyme known as rennet. We also use this ingredient commonly to make cheese, which is also a huge cooking ingredient in our world. When added to milk and churned for a period of time it will change the texture of the milk and turn it into cheese. Though I¡¯m not sure how it is going to taste with some of the ingredients we¡¯ve had to gather in more crude ways. But that¡¯s the fun of experimentation!¡± ¡®What is he saying? I¡¯ve never heard of some of those words coming out of his mouth. Rennet, cheez, inzhimes, toorteeyahs? Maybe this boy is actually much more intelligent than I had previously thought of him. Though he always had a smart mouth I was use to it after so many years working under Loki. Though this boy seemed to be very resourceful. I must say even as a Valkyrie who gets to dine amongst the Gods this foods aroma that wafted into my nose was intoxicating. He had also seasoned the meat in a strange way before cooking it over a fire. I don¡¯t want to show my eagerness but I would very much like to taste some of this food from another world. I always visited with Loki but I never took part in dining in the world Kayle came from. ¡°MMmmm....Vali waht are you making for me this morning!!!!¡± His mother had apparently awoken to the aromas and entered into the room to see where the delicious smells were originating from. walking into the kitchen of the cabin she held her hair and stroke it to cover the scar on her face. I can see how much it still pains her to have such a wound. I feel horrible over what atrocities this women must have gone through. If it wasn¡¯t for the possibility of descending I would have tried harder and even wanted to asked some of the other Gods or Valkyries to heal her but that would only bring awareness to this child and to Loki¡¯s plans. If they found out of this child¡¯s existence all kinds of problems would arise and some may even come after him to hurt Loki indirectly. I asked Lord Loki if he would heal her as well but he told me that it would be healed in due time, as this was simply just another stepping stone Kayle must overcome. Apparently he wanted Kayle to heal his mother as that drive would apparently push him further and is what Loki originally had wanted. Though it truly saddens me ever time i see this fox women¡¯s scarred face, Loki had consoled me a little by telling me if she wasn¡¯t chosen to be Kayle¡¯s mother she would still remain in that horrible place. Though that didn''t ease my feelings much at all..... ¡°Just sit down.....this is aa surprise I¡¯ve prepared this morning. I¡¯m sure you will both enjoy it.¡± ¡°Oh.... Hl?kk I didn¡¯t notice you came in today. How are you?¡± Elyria had eventually taken notice of me as she couldn¡¯t help but to be swept up in such a sweet aroma that filled the entire house. ¡°I¡¯m doing well. How are you miss Elyria?¡± ¡°Oh you don¡¯t have to call me miss....It makes me feel so old. Just call me Elyria, were friends after all!¡± ¡°Ok......Elyria.¡± ¡®Did she call me her friend.....hm. That may be the first time someone has said such words to me. I have sister Valkyries back home but......I¡¯m not sure if I would consider any of them friends.¡¯ I looked down contemplating this as Kayle presented us with plates full of his dish he had created. ¡°Alright eat up. This here is a breakfast burrito! It contains egg, cheese, and the meat Hl?kk was so kind as to hunt for us. As well as the outside is covered in a fresh homemade tortilla. Enjoy.....oh and before I forget I found this herb that¡¯s very spicy so I made a make shift salsa as well and is what originally made me want to make this dish today, so don¡¯t forget to try on your food as well!¡± As me and Elyria drew closer to the food Kayle has prepared we both look at it quite oddly. It doesn¡¯t really look like food. It¡¯s just a white stick shaped object. Apparently he said egg and meat were in there with this weird substance from before he called cheese, which I believe also exists on this world. I was just unaware of this being the way it was made. Thinking back on what he said he used to create such a substance however made me want to vomit. Valkyries don''t necessarily need to eat anything and with my limited interactions with Humans I was unaware of some of their creations. Loki did say they could get quite creative..... ¡°Oh...this looks interesting Vali! Hmm let¡¯s try it.......eh!!!! Mmmm!!!!¡± As Elyria took a small bite her face became red and she brought her other hand to her cheek. She jolted upon taking the first bite which makes me think she disliked it but her appearance seems to be smiling. ¡®Ughhh do I have to try this....uh he¡¯s looking at me now waiting for me to take a bite. Ugh...ok! I¡¯ll make it quick......munch.....¡¯ ¡°Mmmmm oh wvow! Sho Gerd!¡± It was amazing. What a wonderful assortment of flavors that upon touching the tip of my tongue sent my whole body into shivers. It was an indescribable taste. The meat was so juicy and the there was a taste of something sweet in there as well, is this the cheez he spoke of.....Oh my its wonderful. This taste is something I¡¯ve never experienced in the hundreds of years I have spent living. Opening my eyes I see him smirking towards me then he looked over to his mother. He gave her a different more gentler smile as he watched his mother enjoying what he had made. He wasn''t the same angry and quiet boy I remember......¡®wow.¡¯ Cough! Cough! Cough! Upon seeing him smile it was the first time I¡¯ve ever seen him show such a warm and caring atmosphere since we¡¯ve met. He¡¯s always shown to be so detached and this is a look I did not think he was capable of. Kayle always showed signs of holding on to such painful memories but he......really did have such a cute smile. Though he¡¯s still just a child, I must say he has a very attractive face. I didn¡¯t notice this until now. Seeing this though made me forget I was chewing on food and I almost choked. ¡°Haha careful! Now yall need to try it with this salsa alright. Trust me it adds a little kick.¡± As he then pointed towards the green substance in front of us he then took a bite of his own portion. ¡°Oh Vali!! this is so wonderful! Where did you learn to cook such foods?!¡± His mother said with her eyes still clothes enjoying her meal. ¡°Oh just some trial and error and spending some time messing with herbs and other ingredients. So you like it?¡± ¡°MMmhmmm....oh yesh itsh sho derisheous!!¡± ¡°Hahaha don¡¯t eat with you mouth open mom, come on now.¡± ¡°Mmm hmm¡± ¡°And now after messing with these ingredients and making this dish my cooking skill has rose to Beginner level 4! Hahahaha! Did you know that after raising your cooking stat can pull out more flavor from your food and also get incredible boosts to your health points permanently. Ah this world is truly something!¡± Kayle said this as he continued to eat his meal. COughhh Cough! Though he then made an odd look and stared back at his food with a weird look. He made a concerned face as he continued to chew his food. ¡®What is it? Is it not what you thought it would taste like? It¡¯s really good Kayle!¡¯ ¡°Cough...Cough.....I just learned a new skill.......Flicker?¡± ¡°¡°Hah....what are you talking about!¡±¡± Elyria and I were both shocked as we didn¡¯t understand what he was saying. ¡°Apparently my ability demonic absorption has finally shown itself hahaha! I learned a new skill from eating this monster meat Hl?kk brought for us. It¡¯s a skill called Flicker!¡± With that Elyria and I had looked at him in amazement as we had forgotten about his other odd skill to absorb abilities. Looking after this boy as per Loki''s orders I can see is going to be a handful..... End of Chapter! Chapter 6: Getting Stronger Hey guys I''ve read your comments and I will start editing more of my work now. Thank you for the advice to those who spoke so from now on I may change my perspective to a past tense in my sentence structure to hopefully let the story flow better. Though.....I may have not started doing this till later in this chapter. But hopefully the quality is much better and will start to get better as time progresses. I usually type the story on my phone throughout the day then transfer it to my computer before submitting it. Though I understand the errors in grammar that I''m doing, I just don''t catch it during the transfer so hopefully the quality gets better and you guys can enjoy the story much more.. Hopefully you guys are cool with my roundabout way of providing information by now as I don''t just immediatley give information about every character. Through out the chapters since they are from the perspectives of each character you get a little bit of information about everything as the chapters go on..... Enjoy...... Chapter 6: Getting Stronger ¡°Hehehe let¡¯s burn him¡± ¡°Yes burn him hehehe take this!¡± ¡°Ha, gonna have to make it a lot hotter than that.........flicker.¡± My vision blurred and the small winged purpled creatures called imps eyes show disbelief as I leave brief multiple after images of myself in a burst of speed. I appear right in front of the one who threw a ball of auburn flames towards me and before he has a chance to react I reach and grab him by the throat. Those flames really aren¡¯t even enough to singe my arm hairs off. I guess this is what it¡¯s like to have such a high fire resistance. I gripped him tighter and hoisted the little imp in front of his 2 friends and choked his frail neck with my arm. ¡°Gah... Grrggs¡± Snap! ¡®Oh oops......I broke the little guy¡¯s neck with my arm strength. Wow my strength is really getting to become formidable, it¡¯s almost scary. Though I say that these small winged creatures range only from level 7-12 each. So they aren¡¯t much of a difficulty to handle as their natural defense is quite puny. After mom decided it was ok to let me hunt with Hl?kk watching over me, I went out and began to explore the surrounding areas of the forest around our cabin for the last few of days. We found and hunted a few horned rabbits and I found that they were much more difficult to catch than their small level lead me to believe. I must say if I hadn¡¯t absorbed the skill flicker prior to to it, they would have been a real challenge to catch due to the brief bursts of speed they can use which allows them to avoid danger rather easily. The skill costs 50 mp to use but gives a severe burst of speed and leaves a brief after trail of your images as you thrust in whatever direction. It has a 5 second cool down but I can probably cut that down as well with time and practice. However, after acquiring monster skills I found out a little more about my Demonic Absorption ability has a few catches to it. It¡¯s an amazing ability that not only allows me to absorb abilities it allows me to take on some of the monster¡¯s traits greatly boosting my stats as well. Though consuming more than two monsters of the same species does nothing. Another thing I found out after looking at my skill list, the skills absorbed are transferred to the Racial Skill¡¯s list and are not under the same rules as normally learned skills. For non monsters, skills learned have 7 stages of mastery but a monster¡¯s skill is completely different and does not have similar stages. The skill Flicker I had learned only showed a proficiency mark next to it saying 1/100. Originally I assumed that if I just use it enough it would grow faster but after using it a few times in practice the number stopped going up. I¡¯m not sure the level of masteries they have but they are not the same as skills one would learn by much simpler means like cooking or my hand to hand combat skill. If an individual wanted to learn cooking or hand to hand combat one would have to perform an action repeatedly 1000s of times to learn something or if certain conditions are met, thusly they grow in a different way than the monster skills do. Though with me having accelerated growth I also can learn certain abilities while the essence of the world tree is still inside me. I guess it makes since as monsters who use these skills for life and survival, have different methods of strengthening themselves than we do. But I couldn¡¯t raise the skills so easily after absorbing them. My other three racial skills along with Loki¡¯s blessing also don¡¯t have 7 levels of mastery as well as they don¡¯t have any proficiency icon next to them. So maybe it¡¯s impossible to improve those abilities or effects. Though I¡¯ll only know with time I suppose. The flicker skill is also quite the difficult skill to use as I have to always be mindful of what¡¯s around me before dashing as to not to crash into something. It took me a few try¡¯s but I¡¯m slowly getting the hang of it. ¡°Wah.....ah run away!¡± I grab the other one by the back of its head as he tried to scurry away and then slam his skull into the ground. His HP dropped to 0 and died instantly. ¡®Now....where¡¯s that third one?¡± Even though I only need the two bodies to gain whatever useful skills an imp can give me I¡¯m busy trying to gain experience and these monsters are serving as good practice. Due to my lifestyle of fighting a lot while growing up, I quickly got use to taking on multiple enemies. These monster¡¯s give a considerable amount of experience too even though they aren¡¯t very high leveled. That is something Hl?kk found out from Loki as not only am I receiving a blessing from him that lets me gain experience quicker than the average human, the World Tree Essence that is currently inside of me drastically increases experience gained by anything I do almost 10 fold while also ages my body until reaching my past self. Honestly that is quite the extraordinary item he gave to me. But what do you expect from the essence of a tree so large and mighty it¡¯s capable of holding up an entire world. Too bad it won¡¯t stick around forever. ¡®What did Loki have to do to receive something like this because according to Hl?kk this sort of thing isn¡¯t given out so candidly and can¡¯t be reproduces in several 100 years. But apparently he somehow managed to receive two of them, one for me and one for Kaylan......So I guess she has been training quite hard as well since she¡¯s been here I need to catch up. Ahhh......I wonder where she is right now. Why Loki decided to separate us I¡¯ll never know? Probably one of his stupid games. I guess I¡¯ll have to ask him next time I see em.¡¯ ¡°Hmmmm......damn where did that little bastard go?¡± I glance around a few bushes and passing by a few trees as I seemed to have lost the third one. I turn around and behind me sitting on a high hanging branch is a purple crow, it¡¯s Hl?kk and she is observing my progress from a distance. ¡°Hmmm.....Presence Sense!¡± At the moment I say that a small radar appeared on the bottom right corner of my vision and showed a small red dot no more than a few meters from me. Flicker is not the only skill I gained from eating the rabbit meat a couple of days ago, as I also gained a rather useful skill to view what¡¯s in my immediate surroundings. A truly invaluable skill and would come in handy in this particular situation. Monster¡¯s have such useful abilities. I¡¯m sure there are human equivalent skills out there somewhere but these are truly useful for a hunter. After walking closer to the small red dot on my display I see it is no more than a foot away from me, I look up but still don¡¯t see anything. ¡®Could he.....have a stealth ability of some kind?¡¯ Turning my attention around as to see the movement of the dot I really can¡¯t even hear a sound of him around me......hmmmm. ¡®It should be right........here!¡¯ ¡°Wahhh!!!¡± I rotated my body with a spin kick towards the direction of the point on my radar, my leg grazed something small and soft and I heard a scream from the hiding imp as his camouflage got deactivated and was sent flying. The image of the small purple winged creature shot forth like a canon and splattered on a nearby tree. I walked closer to see if he was still alive but the blow must have killed him. I wonder if he died by my kick before he hit the tree, but I guess I¡¯ll never know. The power of my strikes are starting to get truly fearsome. I wonder what my strength stat is right now, though I promised myself I would wait just a little longer to view my status because I wanted to be truly surprised by my growth in this world and not meticulously check on it after every battle. With the world tree essence inside me my experience gained is not normal and I think may also be why I was able to acquire other kinds of skills originally like hand to hand combat so quickly as well. ¡®Seriously though why does Loki keep me so in the dark about these things?¡¯ I started to rip off the imp meet and tear out it¡¯s heart along with the first one I had killed. ¡®I hope I get that camouflage ability from before as that could be useful. But sadly my skill acquisition form Demonic Absorption is randomized. Lucky for me though low leveled creatures don¡¯t have a lot of skills to use so my odds are much higher at receiving a certain skill. ¡°Ugh....I don¡¯t have time to go home and cook this meat so.........perhaps I should just take a bite out of this here?¡± I somehow got the urge to consume this meat in front of me raw like it was normal. ¡®I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m about to eat raw meat, a heart for that matter but I don¡¯t really want to stop and cook right now either since I¡¯m busy training.¡¯ Munch.... ¡°Mm.....wow its actually.....kind of tasty. Wow eating raw meat straight after a kill wow who¡¯d know it would taste so..........delicious¡± As I was enjoying the meal I quickly realized...... ¡®OH Crap! Hl?kk is still watching me. She saw me eat these hearts like a monster!¡± I turned around and saw Hl?kk in her bird form looking away from me as if trying to shield her eyes from what I had done.......¡¯Ah oh well I don¡¯t care anyway.¡¯
You have gained a new skill! Fire Ball
You have gained a new skill! Hide Presence
You have gained affinity in fire magic! 3% added to fire resistance.
¡®Yes!....I got that hide presence ability from that little imp from before how lucky. Hmm and apparently gained some fire affinity as well. Good....I¡¯ll have mom help me with learning fire magic when I go back for lunch as Fire is one of her specialties in magi, or so she says. But first lets try it out.¡¯ Upon activating the skill a medium sized flame appeared in my hand and lit up my face in an auburn tint....even though it was hovering only inches over my hand I didn¡¯t have any since of pain. Just a slight warmth and tingling sensation running through my hand........¡¯hmm so this is magic?¡¯ I then activated Hide Presence and my whole body started to pulsate and my skin began to blend in with its surrounding like the small imp had done before. ¡®Ya know I kind of resembled one of those alien species that clicked a lot from those old movies with arnold.....what was his name again? Oh well this is good these skills can really help out!¡¯ Acquiring a new skill with Demonic Absorption is kind of a weird feeling. Though I don¡¯t know how I somehow acquire the knowledge and understanding of how the skill works or the properties of the flame I am using. But altering the flame in any way or using this magic manipulation I also have, I¡¯ll need to study much more with mother as magic is still very confusing to me. ¡°Well I guess that¡¯s enough for right now so we should head back for lunch¡± I started to walk back towards Hl?kk who had remained quiet. I guess the site of me consuming those imp hearts so barbarically must have been quite displeasing. Though that¡¯s fine I don¡¯t blame her, she has already talked and shared with me a lot of information today about this world we are currently in. First off I¡¯ve found that there are 5 major continents in the world of Middle Earth in which we are currently residing. We currently live in the Eastern Continent towards the southern eastern region which is surrounded by forests and mountain ranges known as the Jheroki Mountains. Though this continent has several human and demi-human species the continent is actually run and mostly populated by a large elf city somewhere up north hidden deep in a sacred forest where the majority of them live together. They have low birth rates but their longevity and magic is much higher than the human population. It is even rumored the elven race descended from fairies and are are essentially not even considered mortals anymore. I really hope to go and see an elf in person one day so hopefully I¡¯ll be allowed entry there one day. Now on to the other continents. The central continent is where the human Emperor and several human kingdoms call home. Humans in this world hold the largest population throughout the major species and this has made them the most dominant amongst the races currently. Though this is for a variety of many different reasons coming into play, it is not necessarily because they are the strongest race. The southern continent is home to several demi-human villages and tribes as well as the home of the Golden Eyed Beast King. A large black beast man known as Walrung Lionel and he is what has stopped the progression of the human settlements in the southern continents for a long time. Though the south is predominately demi-human territory, due to the large differences in characteristics between demi-human species, they aren¡¯t exactly united together at the moment like the elves. This is what has caused them to fall prey to the humans beginning to start up settlements in the southern continent recently. The western continent is home to the dwarves who live deep in the Mountain City of Hiroshi. Apparently this is also home to many dragon species and is very difficult to conquer completely due to the hazardous environments there. Since dwarves tend to stay in there cities and forge while hoarding their gold not much is known about that regions entirety and is mostly unexplored. I¡¯m told also that many other races hardly live there as well since the environments there are too harsh and change rapidly. The northern continent is primarily governed by the demon race. The demon race however is less united than the elves and humans but more so than the other demi-human tribes. There is constant in fighting there between demon families and kings due to their warlike mentalities. Due to their overall strength and tenacity this is the one place the humans have not been able to colonize in yet. Amongst the demon villages and settlements there are many very strong demon lineages that are similar to the human noble lines in royalty. They have been around for a very long time and pass down their unique families demonic powers to their children making their family lines even stronger. There are many strong demon kings in the northern continent and are constantly fighting one another but apparently they are all united under one demon Lord who is a supposed monster incarnate that has lived for centuries. This according to my mother, though she has only heard stories. ¡®I don¡¯t care though who it is, I¡¯ll be paying a visit there someday.....hopefully someday soon. I obviously need some answers to a few things and I can¡¯t think of a better place to go ask some questions in my own special way. But I need to become much stronger first. Hl?kk had said that not all demon races are blood thirsty monsters and many aren''t that different from human families so I shouldn¡¯t go butchering them all due to my own past experiences. But I¡¯ll deal with those issues when we get to them won¡¯t I.¡¯ Now that could be all but apparently there are many more sentient races in this world and apparently not all have been identified yet as much of the land is still unexplored. I believe this may also be due to the war of the Gods Loki had previously mentioned which decimated a large portion of the population on this planet. It probably greatly stunted the growth of this world too as the technology and understandings in very simple matters I¡¯ve noticed are not all that advanced. In the seas surrounding the continents are a race of sirens that resemble mermaids and are home to many sea kings. They have some alliances between other races and are also not united entirely together between other races. This is to allow safe passage through open waters but they are a race that cannot be ignored in this world¡¯s power struggles either. Apparently there are also other aquatic type species of demi human that are something of river tribes. My mother told me she saw some when she was younger. She said they were very majestic and had a very profound beauty to them, but it was hard to understand what they looked like based on her descriptions. Truly this is a big world. Roughly twice the size of my own according to the information I¡¯ve gathered. A long time ago apparently the 5 continents were all connected but due to the war of the God¡¯s the lands were greatly altered and changed. Looks like this may be a long journey but I know what I need to do! ¡®I need to get stronger! I need to heal my mother and then reunite with Kaylan in this world. Though I don¡¯t know how long it¡¯s going to take.¡¯ As I had headed back home for the day Hl?kk flew overhead and followed. I wonder what she¡¯s thinking about. So many things passed through my mind as we ventured back through the forest. Cassandra Kraiser¡¯s POV: It has only been a few months since I¡¯ve joined the Asher families royal guard. I originally thought I was to serve under King Asher but I was quickly placed as his youngest daughter Lucy¡¯s personal knight. There aren¡¯t many female knights in Asher Kingdom but I¡¯ve wanted to be a knight since I was little. Though this isn¡¯t what I had in mind when becoming a knight. I can¡¯t complain though, I made an oath of honor to the Asher¡¯s and to protect the king and his family with my life. I Cassandra Kraiser am from a strong noble lineage and our family has had close ties with the Asher¡¯s for several generations. Though this generation of Asher¡¯s aren¡¯t as heroic as their father or father before him. The Asher Kingdom was founded around a hundred years ago when settling in the Eastern Continent by the current king¡¯s father who was known widely for his strength in battle. The current king as well has made a name for himself as a warrior that many look up to. Though his children are rather odd. Lucy is a young 12 year old girl who is a rather tom-boyish and likes odd things for a girl her age. She constantly gets into trouble and wants to go on adventures with me and her other servants that can be a huge handful at times. She also can have a problem with showing proper respect to those under her but that can be expected from royalty. In respect to that regard however she is nothing like her other siblings. Currently right now I am leaving my morning training session to go to the royal throne room. There is to be an announcement made by the king and he has asked his three children and their servants to be in attendance. I entered into the royal throne room and see the king sitting there accompanied by his wife. She is currently holding his hand and looking down at me. I bowed my head and went stand where Lucy and her other servants are while we wait for everyone else to arrive. Lucy is currently wearing a pink dress with her blonde hair up and she seems to be playing a game with her servant Lori. Lori is a half elf with light blue hair and large ears and is quite intelligent. Standing on the other side is another one of Lucy¡¯s personal servants and shrouded in all black stealth clothing. Her face is covered but a short amount of her bright purple hair and cat ears are showing out of her dark cloth. Her name was Cana and she is a member of the neko race of cat people and considered an expert at stealth operations. Though she doesn¡¯t talk much. It¡¯s true that humans in this continent aren¡¯t very friendly to demi-humans but that was never something that seemed to be apparent with Lucy. She found them all rather fascinating which is why she picked her two servants personally. Though her older brother Dominic is known to take notice to many female demi-humans he lays his eyes on but that is another thing entirely. Her older sister Olivia however I don¡¯t know much about as she is something of an enigma to me and everyone else. ¡°Oh my am I late?" Entering into the royal throne room is the soon to be crown prince Dominic accompanied by his personal guard. Walking behind him I can see the image of an overly large bald man in dark red leather armor with muscles bursting through the openings. He was wearing dark red gauntlets on his wrists and he looked to be very formidable. His name was Ponchius and he was originally a member of a prestigious guild up north that boasts in absolute strength and brutality. Lord Dominic paid a large fee to take this man under his command. Standing behind him however was a shorter more dignified looking man with short black hair. He had silver armor that sparkled in the sunlight and a large one handed sword around his waste that had a blue mist surrounding it. It was the legendary Frost Sword that he had inherited from his father upon his death only months prior. Aldus was from noble birth and after acquiring the sword he quickly rose the ranks and earned the attention of the crown prince Dominic thus becoming his personal knight. Dominic prided himself in acquiring strong individuals under him and these two clearly were his pride and joy. The two were of incredible strength known around the region and Aldus was said to soon pass the level 100 barrier which is a great accomplishment. I myself am only level 65 which is considered to be quite formidable and much above the average adventurer. Though I am still only 19 and have much more room for improvement. Though this man Aldus was much more powerful than myself, he was nowhere near the level or strength of the 9 legendary heroes or the 12 Sages. He was however noticed as a rising star in the eastern continent due to his fame in owning a legendary weapon and had a great future ahead of him. I can¡¯t imagine the money that was spent in acquiring these two individuals. Dominic was nothing like his father the king. Though he came from a prestigious family known for their strength in battle and connections to the central continent, he didn¡¯t quite live up to the legacy of his family name. Dominic grew up very privileged as the son of a king and was given anything he asked for as the eldest son. Thus turning him into someone who views anything he wants as his. Though he had some considerable talent with a sword when he was younger, he soon gave up his growth in sword skills claiming he was meant to rule not to fight. Something his father before him would never have said....¡¯I suppose we all have our own paths in life.¡¯ ¡°Oh Cassandra you do look lovely this morning. Even covered in sweat your face and bright blonde hair glistens in the sunlight. Are you sure you wouldn''t want to join me later for a bath?¡± ¡°And for the last time I¡¯ll tell you no. Not until we are wed.¡± ¡°Oh my how you make me wait forever to enjoy myself. Mhmhmhm someday I¡¯ll finally have you my lady.¡± He walked by and brushed my cheek then walked past me and to stand next to Lucy. ¡®Yes....it¡¯s true. I am to someday wed the crown prince of the Asher kingdom due to my own families wishes in strengthening our families bonds. Though it¡¯s not that I disagree with political marriages between noble families, I just assumed the man I¡¯d someday marry would be different is all. He treats women no differently than all the other men in higher society, but that is just the point. I want to be seen as a partner and cherished by my lover not as some conquest.¡¯ Though that is just something normal in this world, the men of power and royalty are known to take many wives and mistresses to extend their family lines. Tis a common occurrence. I just assumed when agreeing to the marriage I would be treated similarly as the current queen of the Asher kingdom. King Asher is not much like other royalties and has only taken one women in his lifetime. He treated his queen as his most prized possession and seemed to truly cherish each word that came from his wife¡¯s lips. Though his son the prince doesn¡¯t seem to have acquired the same beliefs as he did. ¡°Sorry I¡¯m late.....I was busy with some of my hobbies!¡± Entering into the room now was Lucy¡¯s older sister Olivia. She was very mysterious to everyone and not much is known about her exploits. Though she does seem to have a rather interesting personality. ¡°Good.....Since everyone has arrived it is time to make the announcement.¡± Straightening his figure while still holding his wife Liriana¡¯s hand he continued to speak his orders to us. ¡°We will be leaving tomorrow to Aldain to receive the duel request that my son Dominic has received by the current crown prince of Aldain. Though I am told you will not be fighting Dominic?¡± ¡°Yes....yes.....I¡¯ll have Aldus and Ponchius accept the duel on my behalf and show the king of Aldain¡¯s son he isn¡¯t even worthy of facing an opponent as me.¡± As he said that the king and his wife made odd faces when hearing their son say that. Though the King quickly acknowledged that it was probably for the best as the prince of Aldain currently wielded the dreaded Infernal Whip. It was a very dangerous weapon I¡¯m told and is almost on par with Aldus'' Frost sword. It was said to have slain over two hundred men in the colosseum in Aldain already. ¡°Ok granted. Though know this Dominic. If that is your decision, should your champions lose you will still bear the responsibilities that come with a loss. No exceptions!¡± ¡°Haha! As if they could hurt my champions father. While most princes and kings pride themselves for their strength or techniques with a weapon, I am going to be a wise king who rules over the land with his intelligence. I haven¡¯t the need to jump into the colosseum which is why I¡¯ve selected strong combatants as my personal guard.¡± This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Bahahaha!¡± Looking over I see the one laughing to be Olivia the elder sister of Lucy trying to contain her laughter. ¡°What is it!¡± Dominic asked angrily. ¡°Oh nothing.....I was just thinking of something that happened earlier is all and made me laugh....hehe¡± ¡°Eh whatever...¡± ¡°Yes well then you know Dominic for this duel that is being held at the colosseum in Aldain is a 3on3 match. According to my intel the crown prince will have an archer and a mage fighting along side him. Perhaps it is wise to have a ranged class of fighter as well.¡± ¡°No need your grace. They will not be a problem for us. We could handle them with just the two of us.¡± Aldus answered stoically . ¡°Your confidence is well noted. Though you will have to take a third member into the duel, these are the rules!¡± ¡°Then give us some puny priest who can heal us from behind while me and Aldus lay those puny people to waste!. It¡¯ll be easy my king!¡± Ponchius now entered into the conversation showing absolute confidence in his brute strength. ¡°Hmmm fine then. I¡¯ll grant you one of our healers as I am not allowed to provide you with any of my personal guard. Though do not take those enemies lightly Aldus and Ponchius. It is my sons life you will be fighting for in this duel as well. They not only seek my son¡¯s head but due to the present state in Aldain in their decreasing economy they need gold and reparations that the winning party receives. Which is why they have been asking for duels amongst other noble families and kingdoms. Quickly show them we are not a weak kingdom and will not fall to such greed or ideals!¡± ¡°¡°Yes your grace¡±¡± ¡°Then we leave for Aldain tomorrow morning. Prepare yourselves accordingly as it will take around a weeks to arrive there.¡± As the two bowed before the king, Dominic showed a since of confidence in those he paid for and smiled back at his father arrogantly. ¡°Cassandra!!! Come, let¡¯s all go play before we have to leave tomorrow!¡± Lucy then grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the throne room and accompanied by Lori and Cana. Vali¡¯s POV Hl?kk and I have hunted in the forest now for a few days but I haven¡¯t seen many other monsters besides horned rabbits or imps. We ran into a wolf from before and it was level 32 and incredibly agile. Its claws were enough to scratch the surface of my skin but my strength had overwhelmed it and I had eventually broke its jaw when trying to bite me. It died shortly after that. I also gained the ability Vicious Bite from eating him but I haven¡¯t seen another wolf since then. Maybe now I can get an added bonus to my fangs should the need ever arise for it. Right now we¡¯re trying to hunt more but as my level has been steadily rising due to the constant training in the mornings and hunting throughout the day my stats I can feel are truly rising at an unbelievable rate. Though I¡¯m waiting till tonight to check my status to see how much I¡¯ve grown. I still want to find a few strong monsters somewhere in this forest before checking my status. ¡°ROAAAARRRRRRRR!¡± ¡®Woh.......what was that?¡¯ Hearing the sound of a loud and menacing roar that sent shivers down my spine I think to myself what could cause a blistering roar.....and does it know of my location? Not being given a chance to think much more of it as something is thrown through the trees into the clearing and crashing into a tree several feet in font of me. I cautiously walked towards the crumbled figure to see what it is and to my shock it is a severed head of a wolf. ¡®Uhhhhh this is new¡¯ Pushing the trees aside a large dark figure emerged from deep in the forest. It¡¯s several feet taller than me and has bright yellow eyes which are staring right towards me. I notice the presence of a smaller figure several feet behind it and see it is covered in red fur and roughly the same shape as the figure in front of me. I¡¯ve seen an animal like this in my world. Its a large gorilla like monster. It¡¯s forearms are massive and easily larger than my entire body at this point. I¡¯ve grown in the past several weeks from intense training and consuming monster meat but even if I didn¡¯t have the body of an athletic15 year old this is still intimidating even if I had my old body back. Before I have a chance to react something hits me with incredible force and I¡¯m sent flying past the tree lines and crash through breaking branches from the trees behind me. ¡°Guahhh......oh wow. That¡¯s quite the punch¡± My shoulder is dislocated from the crash into the trees. That big bastard gorilla rushed me and I didn¡¯t have enough time to react to his first blow which I can feel caused immense damage to my insides. But I¡¯m a boxer.......I¡¯m use to taking hits. While most martial arts work on not getting hit and evasion boxing isn¡¯t really a martial art meant for battle as no one can take constant hits and survive. Though I did learn a lot about mental fortitude and discipline, so it¡¯s going to take a lot more to take me down than something like this. ¡°Alright Donkey Kong it¡¯s you and me let¡¯s go!¡± After forcing my shoulder back into its socket I put my fists up and advance towards the large overgrown monkey. I can see a small status over the giant ape. It is in red and has ? marks underneath the title Lord of the Forest. I took steps towards the overgrown gorilla and he looked at me as if shocked I got up from that hit or disbelief I¡¯m going back towards him. I¡¯m guessing he¡¯s not use to a foe that doesn¡¯t immediately run away from him. He made a noise to the smaller red ape behind him and turned towards me now with a face filled with anger. He lashed forward towards me and closed the distance in a second. He swung his great arm towards my left side and I narrowly ducked underneath him to deliver a blow to his ribs. ¡°Oraghh...¡± ¡®Haha....that¡¯s all I needed to hear. My blows are apparently strong enough to potentially hurt him which gives me the clearance to continue this fight. Lucky for me this big dumb monkey doesn¡¯t seem to have any fighting techniques and just throws punches around wildly.¡¯ ¡°Raghhh!¡± I lowered my body and plant a ¡®Stunning Blow¡¯ directly on his solar plexus to send shocks through his body. It hardly seemed to phase him but gave me a brief chance to deliver a jumping knee and activated ¡®Powerful strike¡¯ to his unprotected face. The force from my kick knocked the giant ape¡¯s head backward and he arched his whole body backwards. From the devastating force from my kick I can hear the sounds cracking of his bones from the force given.He swiftly moved his arms while in a daze to grab me but I don¡¯t allow him and deliver a kick right to the bastards ankle forcing him to lose his balance. ¡®Here it comes bitch!¡¯ As I jump on top of him to begin to do work on his face I delivered a few swings to his unguarded face. He struggles however I move around so he can¡¯t grab me nor get up with my blows pounding him back to the earth. As I¡¯m busy swinging something comes flying towards my head and crashes into the side of my skull. I jumped backwards off the great ape and feel the side of my head which is now bleeding. ¡®Ahhh what the hell?¡¯ I turned my head into the direction of the thrown object and I can see that the red ape is holding some crude tool in his hands that looks like a tomahawk of rock and stick tied together. His level is also unseen to me as I don¡¯t have any skills to be able to see the stats or skill level of monsters much higher than me. Apparently that is a skill and of itself. I can see the title however and its name is Clever Ape. ¡®Ah.....so he wants to join in the fun too huh.¡¯ As I stared back at him in rage the large grey ape has now gotten up and looks back at me with intense hatred. I¡¯ve somehow managed to destroy the monkey¡¯s pride. He then slams his fists into the ground which sends shockwaves throughout the ground and I quickly lost my balance. The ape didn¡¯t miss this chance and lunges towards me and now has me in his large powerful grip. ¡°ROARRRRRRR!¡± He roared loudly in my face and a rancid smell and saliva washes all over my face. ¡°Wow.....close your mouth fur ball. Let¡¯s see how you handle me cranking up the heat.¡± My whole body at this point erupts in flames and the hand that was holding me quickly let go and was enough to scorch the great apes muscular hand that held me. After practicing a few magic lessons with mom I learned how to channel the flame from Fire Ball out other points in my body, not just through my hands. Though doing it this way takes up a much larger portion of MP and requires intense focus. I can¡¯t keep it going for long so I simply deactivated it and ready my hands up again. ¡°Ok and since you bitches don¡¯t fight fair I guess I won¡¯t either.......Demonic Awakening!!!¡± The air around me starts to swirl and scatter around me and I feel a dark unseen aura surrounding me. My muscles began to tense up and I could feel my heart began to race. This is the effects of turning on Demonic Awakening without being activated due to intense rage. The ape somehow sensing my rise in power by the wind currents swirling around me it slowly took a couple steps back with a confused look on its face. It must be wondering how to attack me as I¡¯m not some simple opponent he¡¯s use to seeing. Somehow sensing a crisis it turns its head and makes a noise to the red gorilla behind it. ¡°No no.....bell hasn¡¯t rung yet so no tag ins.¡±Saying this I jumped towards him and he has no way of reacting to my speed. I jump upwards to meet his gaze and swung my claw like fingers towards his bear neck.
Critical Hit!
A notification appeared but I paid it no mind as the great ape staggered backwards. He grabbed his open wound on his neck and the look of anger in his eyes is now gone.I found that my razor sharp nails have an interesting ability at passing through solid defenses quite easily. Though I¡¯m not sure what it would be like to use on armor or steal, I imagine this apes leather is quite durable as apparently being a boss monster. However, it¡¯s clear if used correctly can cause much more damage than my regular blows when finding critical points to attack. I grabbed his other arm and kicked the same ankle from before and completely overpowered him. Sweeping his leg the great ape again found himself on his back with me jumping on top of him. I began to unleash a flurry of slashes at his bear chest and tore away at his flesh. ¡°ROOAHHhhhrrrrhrr¡± The gorilla is in disbelief as it can¡¯t seem to over power my strength and rid the nuisance that is on top of him. His health is slowly winding down as apparently a bleeding affect has been caused as well. Whooooosh! Another one of those strange objects from before is thrown at my head but I¡¯m ready for it this time. I lowered my head and it simply passed over me while I continued to unleash attack after attack at the Lord of the Forest. Somehow I feel like my cognitive abilities have slightly rose as well in this state. Demonic Awakening is truly a fearsome ability and cannot be ignored. ¡°Let¡¯s turn up the heat again shall we?¡± I activate the Fireball skill in each of my hands to surround my fists and again start to slash away at the grey apes face and chest. Within moments of being attacked by the scorching heat and razor sharp claws on my hands the great apes health quickly vanishes and he stops struggling. His eyes rolled to the back of his head before he took his final breaths in this world. Still in my demonic state I only have roughly 2 minutes using this before all my mp is used up, this is what me and Hl?kk have determined much earlier. I look up towards the red furred gorilla who was holding the tool from before and it¡¯s eyes look back as if it didn¡¯t comprehend what it just saw. Me over powering the Lord of the Forest so easily was clearly not something this Clever Ape had foreseen. ¡°So you seem to be much smarter than this one......That¡¯s an interesting tool you have there. I¡¯m curious what sort of skills you have. Well.....since you seemed so eager to fight earlier I guess I won¡¯t keep ya waiting alright.¡± I then used my spatial magic from Loki and teleported behind the red ape. ¡®Haha.....he seems to be confused and doesn¡¯t know my location. Should have ran away earlier....¡¯ I lunged my claws into his unguarded back and pass through his flesh with ease and can feel his spine through my grip. His entire muscular figure jolts and is stunned by my action forcing it not to move. He¡¯s clever......he should know his death is imminent. I increased the strength in my grip and then severed his spine. After that the Clever Ape lost all strength in his body and dropped to the ground. It¡¯s eyes slowly closed into darkness.......forever.
Level Gained! Level Gained! Level Gained! ...........
Several notifications spring up after I kill the red ape and then I recall I got a few earlier after killing the first one but didn¡¯t have time to go through them. ¡°Wooohhh now that was a good fight, it got my blood pumping.¡± ¡°What were you thinking! Those monsters were both much higher level than you and you simply jumped in without any concern for yourself whatsover!¡± Hl?kk now in her human form approaches me from behind nagging at my actions. ¡°Ah...yah he was stronger than the average monsters we¡¯ve run into but they weren¡¯t so bad.¡± As i said that I began to collect both of my victims meat, leather, and hearts. Something tells me this leather could be used for something later and this meat might be an interesting cooking ingredient. Though the Lord of the mountains chest is ruined and probably unusable for anything.
You have received a new title!!! Lord of the Forest Strength + 15 Defense + 15 Health + 500 Weaker monsters will now cower in fear of your might and won¡¯t approach you willingly
¡®Oh....I got a title'' ¡®Oh nice. Apparently the big grey ape was something of the lord over this entire region and upon killing him I attained his title. What was that other ape¡¯s title? Clever Ape?¡¯ While reading the information and thinking this I started to consume the two individuals hearts.
You have learned a new skill! Tool Creation
You have learned a new skill! Lord¡¯s Earth Shattering Smash
¡®Oh wow both of these look interesting.¡¯ Yah both of these abilities looked amazing and I could already see the profit of finding such rare monsters. Maybe luck has more to do with what I think it does, in the game it just gave you better drops and helped with evasion rate. Though these two monkeys even though one was a boss didn¡¯t drop anything as it wasn¡¯t holding anything but its meat and leather, as well as some crudely made tools that seem worthless to me. ¡®It says here the ability for tool creation is the ability to bend materials together to create tools. Hmmm, this will be interesting to play with in the future. Also I got Lord¡¯s Earth Shattering Smash, this must be that skill he used to rob me of my balance from before.......Awesome these will both do nicely.¡¯ ¡°I really wish you wouldn¡¯t be so barbaric with attaining new skills. And do you not seem to care for your own well being?¡± Hl?kk showing her displeasure in my actions began to voice her concern while looking at me sitting on the blood soaked earth. ¡°Eh, what are you talking about. If it was too dangerous I wouldn¡¯t have continued the fight and I always have you don¡¯t I?¡± As I answered this I smiled up at Hl?kk and saw her staring back at me with a concerned look on her face. ¡°Well....that may be true but you should be more careful. Though I¡¯m amazed at how you defeated those two opponents so easily....you shouldn¡¯t grow too confident and just jump into fights so readily.¡± ¡°Aw....are you worrying about me Hl?kk?¡± ¡°Your mistaken!¡± ¡°Haha ok. Well come on let¡¯s go I want to get some more hunting in before returning home tonight I¡¯m still not done training for the day.¡± Laughing to myself I answered Hl?kk and started to adjust my shoulder that got dislocated from before. Though my body has gotten stronger it still is human at the end of the day so maybe I should be a little more careful. ¡°Are you serious?! You clearly have an injury with your shoulder and you just defeated the Lord of this Forest! Don¡¯t you think you earned a break?¡± As I started to rotate my shoulder that was still agitating me some I continued to walk through the lush forest. ¡°Eh a break? I just now sat down and shared in a nice meal. That¡¯s plenty of a break. Now it¡¯s time for round 2, just need to find an opponent, now let¡¯s go...¡± ¡°Ughh.....your a very strange human.¡± As I smiled to myself thinking of what my new status would look like when revealing it later tonight, Hl?kk turned back into her crow form and we continued through the forest. Hl?kk¡¯s POV: This boy is truly a wild one. After somehow managing to claim victory over two much higher opponents and receiving substantial injury, all he wants is to continue hunting. Where does he find such will. Most humans would be elated at receiving a title and defeating a boss class monster by himself. Though he just simply shrugged it off and wished to continue with more training. Does he do this for his sister? To become stronger for his mother? He thinks nothing of his own well being and jumps head first into a fight thinking it will all be ok. But he shouldn¡¯t believe that. Many have fallen to such ideals and even gods are guilty of this. The greek god of War Aries would still be around today if he wasn¡¯t the arrogant god that he was. Constantly living for battle and new challengers he simply believed all would fall before him. Though when the war between gods that swept through the realms erupted he believed himself to be in his own personal heaven. He met the high god Kali on the battlefield and beckoned her for a fight. Though he was simply torn to shreds before the might of the Hindu Goddess of destruction if it was as easy as cutting through paper. I wonder if this child will meet a similar fate some day. Though he doesn¡¯t show the same arrogance as Aries. He seems to actually have a lot more on his mind but I don¡¯t ever know what he is thinking. He¡¯s constantly looking forward and wanting to become stronger. What love he must have for his sister and mother to push him to such lengths. To throw himself in such danger for the sake of becoming stronger. I¡¯m guessing the agony of not being strong enough to protect those he loves has become his motivation. Flying behind Kayle we both passed through the large and lush forest while the sun began to go down. I was told not to get involved unless absolutely necessary as per Loki¡¯s orders. He doesn¡¯t want Kayle to rely on the power of a Valkyrie but I think my presence has had somewhat of the opposite affect as this child simply jumps into fights since I¡¯m here. Though I have no idea what he is really thinking.... ¡°Woh....¡± As Kayle stopped at the edge of the forest he made a sound of disbelief. I flew over and landed on his shoulder to see what he had gasped over. ¡®Wow...the land is barren and dead. The grass on the ground is black and dead as if it hadn¡¯t received rain for decades. It looked nothing like the surrounding forest we had just came from. All we see in the distance is the Jheroki mountains surrounding by a thick fog. What could have done this I wonder? It is clearly not natural and I can sense a strange unpleasant aroma as if the use of magic still lingers in the dirt. Kayle pressed forward and continued with no words, simply wanted to investigate this phenomena over the dead earth. ¡°I sense a great deal of magic lingering over this place Kayle. I wonder what could have caused it. ¡°Hmm....Presence Sense!....I don¡¯t see anything in the surrounding areas¡± ¡°You know I have my own sense abilities as a Valkyrie, so you don¡¯t need to keep using that. Though yes....we should explore more as I too am curious as to what has caused this damage so close to your home Kayle.¡± ¡°Ya know you can call me Vali now, It is the name my mother named me. And hey I need the practice anyways.......so what do you think did this?¡± ¡°Hmm I¡¯m not sure ka.....ok Vali. I wonder what could cau..............Kayle hide NOW!¡± ¡°Huh¡± ¡°I said get behind cover immediately!¡± He jumped behind the cover of a rock and I could sense the presence of an intense and powerful being. ¡®What is this that even sends my senses on high alert?¡¯ Then I heard the sounds of an unpleasant voice that echoed through the surroundings. ¡°I smell the blood of a Valkyrie mhmhmhmhm. Where are you hiding daughter of Odin!¡± ¡®That voice? It truly sounds like something ominous. ¡°Kayle...er Vali....remain here while I go check this out. Please listen to me!¡± I then turned into my Valkyrie form and am now wearing my battle armor that shines as bright as a star. I exit from behind the rock to see where the voice had originated from. ¡°Oh there you areeeeee.......Such a little one hahaha. And what is a Valkyrie doing on my masters land?¡± Coming from the immense fog surrounding the base of the mountain face is.......a reaper? No....a King Reaper! Covered in a long black cloak surrounded by a black aura with a hood over its skeleton face. It had a giant scythe with an intense miasma leaking out of it that stings my skin even from so far away. ¡®They are not just normal undead and are agents of the God of the underworld Hades. They have incredible power and can match a Valkyries strength. They are considered very dangerous beings that wield a death Scythe that is said to cause immense damage to ones soul.But what is this one doing all the way out here? He said master? Why would Hades be in middle earth?¡¯ ¡°So a king reaper shows himself.....and what of Hades?! Are you telling me he broke the treaty and has caused this much destruction to this land!¡± ¡°Ha? Who said I follow such a master Valkyrie? I serve another......¡± ¡°And who would that be skeleton?¡± ¡°The name is Malthiel wench! And i would not be disrespected by such a foolish girl as you. Besides I needn¡¯t answer such questions from you who is about to perish!¡± My eyes begin to glow and my armor begins to shine with my voice rising! ¡°Hah.....you dare to challenge a Valkyrie. I am the Valkyrie of storms, prepare to hughh!¡± Before I was given the chance to finish my sentence and intense wave of dark pressure rushes over me as Malthiel took out his large death scythe and swung it towards my direction. I tried to put up a barrier in time to stop it but the force was too powerful and shattered it quickly sending me crashing into the rock behind me. ¡®Ughh......this power......this is much more power than a King Reaper should be able to wield.¡¯ My body can¡¯t move for some reason as that last attack has somehow immobilized me briefly. Ugh.....what did he do to me? Malthiel starts to walk towards me and laughs quietly to himself. ¡°Cough...cough.....Kayle.......vali...if you can hear me....run. Don¡¯t fight him ok just get out of here.¡± I whisper this hoping that Vali behind me can hear and somehow manages to escape. I don¡¯t hear a reply. Good.....so he got away. Though this day may be my end I can¡¯t allow anything bad to befall the boy I was sent to protect. He has abilities that lord Loki may someday require to change this world. I hope......someday accomplishes what he has set out to do. I hope....he somehow learns to heal his mother and reunite with his family.......though I¡¯ve only known him for a short time. I¡¯ve enjoyed watching over him as he¡¯s grown in this world. He seems to be a good man.......I wish for his happiness. I truly do. ¡°Any last words Valkyrie?¡± The king reaper Malthiel raises the scythe towards me before preparing to take my head off. ¡®So.....this is how I meet my end. I don¡¯t even get to show my true strength as that powerful blast somehow immobilized me to be able to do anything. So pathetic for a Valkyrie.....goodbye Loki......Elyria my....friend.......goodbye........Ka...¡± Crash!!!!! ¡°Wahhhhh¡± I wait for the execution that never comes. I hear Malthiel make a noise of bewilderment after a large crashing sound that reverberates the earth is heard. I looked up and saw Malthiel who was originally floating, get up and now standing on his two legs. His death scythe is several feet away from him as he has appeared to have dropped it. The sound of that heavy weapon hitting the earth must have been what caused the whole earth to shake. But how..... Standing a few feet away from Malthiel was Kayle breathing hard. He must have somehow charged in and crashed into the king reaper before finishing off his strike. The disruption of of his skill dissipating from his powerful death scythe crashing into the earth left a crater in the planets crust. ¡°Ah....guess the bell finally rang for round 2¡± With that cheesy line he turned his head to the side and gave me a smile before he looked back towards his opponent. ¡® ¡®No.....He can¡¯t fight that being alone.......I.....have.....to help him!!!!¡¯ End of Chapter Chapter 7: Agent of Death Chapter 7: Agent of Death Vali¡¯s POV: Stepping in front of this monstrous figure, I can¡¯t even begin to know where to attack him. Though attempting to stand up to save Hl?kk, after seeing the devastation of that last attack I disrupted is enough to make my heart skip a beat. This giant undead was shrouded in darkness and practically absorbed the light around it. It wore a black cloak and had a dark aura surrounding him that honestly looked toxic. He had a skinny frame but had long limbs and was easily a couple meters taller than me. The one who called himself Malthiel was originally hovering slightly above the ground which showed he was quite skilled in magic. I had charged him and delivered a blow with Lord¡¯s Earth Shattering Smash to his left side of his shin and greatly using up a bit of my stamina. Though I couldn¡¯t exactly knock him down he just stumbled over and dropped the large death scythe he was holding. The weight of the scythe must have been ridiculous because the whole earth shook as the scythe touched down. It left a crater several meters wide and whatever skill was about to be activated severed the large rock behind Hl?kk and devastated the surrounding forest behind it. The once lush forest was now black and decayed as though no life had touched it for centuries. Ash floated from the land that was once covered with life and I can sense a real emotion of fear that I¡¯ve never felt before. Though trying to act confident for Hl?kk, I sensed a huge gap between this thing and me. I gave Hl?kk a smile to let her know I wasn¡¯t going to leave her......I couldn¡¯t. I feel as though I¡¯ve grown attached to her somehow. Always watching over me these past couple months and showing such odd and awkward behaviors has meant something to me. She honestly feels like the first friend I¡¯ve ever had. I couldn¡¯t let her meet a fate like that. Not alone anyways. I¡¯m tired of not being able to protect those around me. I¡¯m tired of watching as the people in my life are taken from me I can¡¯t accept it. I¡¯d honestly rather die along with the person then just sit here and watch again. ¡® Being so weak before and seeing those I cherish tormented and abused right in front of me is something that has honestly broken me. I don¡¯t think my mind would be able to handle much more grief. I honestly don¡¯t know how I would react if something else was ripped away from me again. I¡¯d probably truly fall.¡® The undead is facing me now and I can see the name Malthiel with the title Reaper of Kings and 3 question marks where his level should be. Clearly this thing is much stronger than the boss class monster I just faced. I can feel my hairs stand on end and my skin starts to tremble.......what¡¯s happening, as my natural instincts send me all kinds of alerts in my head warning of intense danger I immediately activated my spatial magic and reappeared dozens of meters away. I see now that Malthiel¡¯s hand was raised and now lowers it. ¡°Ha....Quite a familiar ability. But a human challenging me? Surely you jeeesttttttt.¡± His voice had a truly inhuman sounding echo and his large frame then turned towards me......I have to do something quick or I¡¯m going to get killed. I then teleport right behind him and delivered a kick to his back leg. His body gives no movement by the power of my kick and I can feel that the body behind the dark cloak doesn¡¯t feel natural. I assumed an undead has much less of a resistance to blunt attacks than to sword type weapons. But he seemed to receive no damage at all. He casually moved his limbs back and tried to grab me and I reappeared in front of him and while activating fireball with my hands I simultaneously activate Demonic Awakening and Stunning Blow. Now I see that the dark aura surrounding him is making it to where my punches aren¡¯t even touching him. He swings his hand like a blade in my direction and I use flicker to dash backward as fast as I can.......¡¯Oh my God what is this thing.¡¯ He stares back at me and tilted his head back and raises his long arm. Then a powerful lightning strike which is almost as large as he is rains down on his body......No....his skeleton hand which is wearing shining jewelry is stopping the lightning from striking him and the lighting shoots out after colliding with his fist and scattered. The sound of the lightning strike that came from above ripped through the air and a blistering roar erupted over middle earth. ¡°Hah....You¡¯ll have to do better than that Valkyrieeee¡±. His voice gave a chill down my spine being so deep and ominous. I then look back and there standing in bright shimmering armor and a large spear covered in an intense bright light stands behind me. Her armor is platinum and produces an intense light that looks like a bright star in the night sky. Hovering over her shoulders are other pieces of the same silver armor and look like small shields. She looks violently pissed and is staring straight back at Malthiel. ¡°GLADLY!¡± A loud roar erupts from her spear and a golden lightning strike shoots straight towards the undead and I can feel the surroundings getting darker. I look up and clouds are forming with dark clouds and are blotting out the sun. The light from the lightning strike tints the earth in a golden flash. Four very large tornadoes begin to touch down on the ground, while trees, water and earth begin to fly and swirl around the area. A large storm then began to tear through everything. The golden flash is somehow again dissipated by the dark aura surrounding the King Reaper. Within an instant I see Hl?kk appear behind Malthiel and delivering a strike just above his right flank. The force from the strike launches Malthiel forward but was not enough to knock him over. Malthiel then straightens his poster and raises his hand and then prevents a flying tree for crashing into him. He tossed it to the side and swung his hands in the form of a sword back towards Hl?kk. She blocked it with her spear and tried to deliver a counter. The two begin swinging back and forth at one another but neither is gaining any ground. Their speed is unmatchable and I can¡¯t even follow it fully myself with my heightened senses and eyes from experience. Though it does look like Hl?kk has the advantage at close quarters combat and started to gain some ground with each strike that sends rain water flying in every direction when making contact. I¡¯m not going to lie as I¡¯m seeing Hl?kk in her battle uniform that shows her nicely toned legs and plush cleavage with the shining armor only one thing is going through my head.......¡¯Is.....is this turning me on?¡¯ Seeing Hl?kk fight in such a majestic and brilliant way while wearing shining skimpy armor......in the rain, I¡¯m hard pressed to not find this in any other way as sexy. Though our lives are on the line right now I can¡¯t help but admire what I¡¯m seeing....... ¡®Uh..... I need to stop checking her out and help somehow.¡¯ Regardless of any opening she receives Hl?kk cannot seem to land a hit through the dark toxic aura surrounding Malthiel. ¡°That¡¯s and interesting skill you have.....¡± ¡°Ah...Do you like it. A gift from my masterrrrrr hahaha¡± As the two trade another strike Hl?kk jumps several meters back and gets some distance from the large reaper. ¡®How are we going to hurt this thing. Can we even get away from him?¡¯ ¡°Haha here feel the weight of having come here and treading on my masters grounds.¡± The reaper of king''s then flicked both of his wrists and several dark balls began to appear in the surrounding stormy area. The dark spheres began to grow and pulsate. Before the attack takes place I jumped behind cover of the same broken rock from before just in case. Then I see the surrounding trees that haven¡¯t been swept up in the storm in my side view being ripped from the earth and hurled towards the black spheres. Rain, clouds, even the light from above, everything began to be sucked into the dark spheres. Though so much was being absorbed by the spheres they all remained unchanged. ¡°Does......does he have the ability to make black holes?¡± My mouth now wide open in shock thinking of this possibility.....he¡¯s strong. Very strong. Looking in the sky I can see the bright shining light from Hl?kk¡¯s armor. She now has bright wings of light coming out of her back and is trying to fly away. Though she is getting away from them the dark spheres begin to spin and I think the force is becoming even greater. ¡°Mhmhm...what¡¯s a matter Valkyrie?¡± The reaper laughs to him self and I with Demonic Awakening deliver another Lords Earth Shattering Smash at the large rock I¡¯m hiding behind. The rock then bursts and a large chunk is launched in the direction of Malthiel at an unbelievable speed. But is again just waved off by him casually. How is he so strong.....seriously he¡¯s strong enough to take on a Valkyrie? Seriously if he didn¡¯t have that stupid aura surrounding him. Malthiel then snaps his fingers and all the dark spheres in the sky explode and a thunderous noise is heard and shook the land. I look up to see if Hl?kk is ok and the blast sent her flying and she is slowly falling to the earth......no. I dig my feet deep into the ground and begin to sprint in her direction. The vision around me becomes hazy as I slice though the air and leave craters with every step and gaining stride. I dive and catch Hl?kk just before crashing into the ground. Lying there I then turn off Demonic Awakening because my mana is about to run out. Both of us are then breathing deeply......this is going to be tough. How can we even hurt him with that dark aura. What is it anyway? It looks exactly like the miasma that was coming off of his scythe.....oh shit his scythe. His massive weapon he left, its huge but......it¡¯s covered in the same dark aura that surrounds that undead. Maybe this can be used somehow. ¡°Hl?kk, I have an idea. If you can hold him off for a little bit longer I think we can take him out.¡± ¡°What are you talking about. Vali....get out of here! That person is a master of death magic and you don¡¯t stand a chance against him.¡± ¡°I know....I know....but I think I can get you an opening. It wont be for long but the moment I give you the signal give him your finisher move because we¡¯ll only have one shot at this.¡± ¡°.....Ugh.....fine! But get out of here if the plan fails ok!¡± ¡°Sorry.....Couldn¡¯t hear you, I¡¯m partially deaf from all the loud noises.¡± I say that and simply crawl away into the direction of the large crater in front of me. ¡°What?!......Vali!.....VALI!.....Ugh..¡± Hl?kk seeming frustrated and turned her head and faced the king reaper once again. I arrive at the large crater and there standing in the shallow hole is a large metallic death scythe covered in a dark aura. It has several designs and glyphs across the blade many fancy grooves going down its shaft. It looked to be a legendary artifact that one would never be able to see in my old world. Reaching for the scythe and trying to pick it up an unbearable surge of pain enters into my limbs while dark crimson and black veins appear to be running up my arm. ¡°AghhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHH!¡± I dropped the large scythe and it crashes into the earth again. I scream in agony as the pain is more than anything I have ever experienced in my life. ¡°Hahaha!......Seems the boy is feeling the constant pain of wielding my weapon, it has but one wielder.¡± ¡°Vali?!¡± Hl?kk turned and saw me in agony and couldn¡¯t believe what she saw. But quickly realized she was in a fight and shortly distanced herself. The pain was enough to crush me from the weight of making my blood boil and bones crack. My flesh began to rip and the pain was unbearable. Blood began to corse out of the cracks of my skin and wash over me.....¡¯geezes what is this pain. I.....can¡¯t.......breath at all.....mmmmmm¡¯ I rolled on the ground throbbing in pain and then a familiar light began to erupt from under my shirt. The same light I saw almost a year ago, the light from my mother¡¯s cross. I had forgotten about it until now. Hl?kk had given it to me upon our first day at the cabin and I¡¯ve had it on ever since. Though I don¡¯t know what causes it to produce such a glow it has done this before and healed my body. The small bright white crystal shined and my pain slowly subsided. Though my hands felt like they had been burnt beyond repair, I could breath again. I left my hands up and see the scars over my arms have not been healed but the horrifying pain has subsided. ¡°WOW.......Fuck that hurt!¡± I turn my head over and see Hl?kk is still trying to fight with Malthiel and keeps trying to turn her head over to see if I¡¯m ok. Ok I don¡¯t know how my necklace has somehow managed to stop the pain of lifting this thing and I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s going to work again but I need to pick this scythe up or both of us are dead regardless. ¡®OK.......here it goes!¡¯ I prepare myself for the intense pain and activate demonic awakening again. My muscles surge with energy and tense up as if being flexed. I reach for the death scythe and wrap my wrists around the handle. Using all the strength I can muster I lift the scythe and place it over my shoulder to support the weight. It¡¯s unnaturally heavy for its size and am currently being engulfed by the weight. The pain wasn¡¯t as strong as last time but I can still feel my skin being burned and bones cracking from the weight.....I have to hurry. I prepare the scythe and immediately use spatial magic. My vision reappears and I¡¯m slowly falling from behind Malthiel and swing the monstrous death scythe in a downward fashion towards Malthiel¡¯s wide open back. ¡°GAH.........¡± Malthiel¡¯s whole body froze as it has just been pierced through from the back of his spine by a large death scythe covered in black aura. As his body twitched the dark aura surrounding him had also vanished. ¡°NOW!¡± I hit the ground and screamed with my last bit of energy and before I could finish my next breath a bright flash passed over me and the sound of a large explosion reverberates my ear drums. The image in front of me is the dark cloaked undead Malthiel now with his hood having been blown off from the blast I can see his face. Though what is standing there is a headless figure with a small piece of bone sticking out from under the hood. The power from Hl?kk¡¯s flash was enough to take the head clean off of Malthiel, ending his life permanently. I smiled knowing that we had somehow managed to attain victory over this ridiculously powerful opponent and my eyes closed and as my consciousness faded away due to intense exhaustion and mental fatigue. In my final moments of consciousness I could hear Hl?kk screaming my name getting closer and the sounds of notifications blinking -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Opening my eyes I can see the sunlight cascading through the windows and has lit up the entire room. I¡¯m currently laying in the bed at home. I tried to sit up but I can feel an intense sourness in my muscles and it makes it difficult. I looked down and noticed my stomach up to my chest is covered in bandages while my arms also have bandages and cloth wrapped to my fingers. ¡®Oh ya......I remember now. We were fighting that massive undead and somehow made it out alive.....Well barely. By the looks of my body the damage must have been extensive but I can feel enough strength to stand up. I got up from the bed and staggered a few steps to try to exit the bedroom. I walked through the hallway of the house and everything looks different and my vision is blurry. I heard the voices of my mother and Hl?kk talking. Entering into the living area that was connected to the kitchen I see my mother and Hl?kk sitting down and chatting. As if noticing my presence Hl?kk looked in my direction and gave me a smile I had never seen from before. It was enough to shock my system awake and made my heart skip a beat. ¡°Oh Vali!!! Your awake!¡± Running over to me my mother pressed her face against my chest and tried to hug me without causing me any pain. She then placed her hands on the back of my head and kissed my cheek before burying her face in my neck. I can feel her shaking and even smelling my neck. It must be a demi-human thing as she normally does this while were sleeping and said she enjoys my scent. Her tail with the white tip then wrapped around my right leg. ¡°Ah....yah....you didn¡¯t need to worry mom. Hl?kk was looking after me so nothing would have happened. Besides...I don¡¯t go down so easy.¡± ¡°Yes....though yyou should still be more careful. The extent of your wounds were so severe. We rubbed an old ointment remedy I remembered from childhood over your body but it still took days to heal properly. We¡¯ve had to change your bandages 3 times and Hl?kk and me even had to slee..¡± ¡°Elyria!¡± ¡°Oh come now......Your body temperature dropped and was so cold so I had Hl?kk get in bed with us and we warmed you with our bodies.....its not shameful.¡± ¡°.........¡± I looked back at Hl?kk whose face was pure red. I then looked down at my mom whose fox ears are drooped to the side and is also showing a cute experience........of course I¡¯d be asleep for this.....Wait.....I need to stop thinking about this as Hl?kk and me aren¡¯t like that and this is suppose to be my mom¡¯ Seeing my flustered look I try to change the subject. ¡°Umm......how long have I been out ?¡± ¡°........4 days. The extent of the damage you received from picking up that cursed weapon did considerable damage to your body. After looking over the weapons true abilities you should have died from the curse but somehow managed to repress it. Loki would like to know what happened to allow you to hold it? Do you remember anything of that day?¡± ¡°Loki huh? Ya know he still hasn¡¯t come down here yet? .....Ah...and I don¡¯t know really. I just remember picking it up and my flesh started to tear apart and I felt a horrible pain rush through my body. Then my cross lit up and ..... somehow the pain had subsided slightly and allowed me to breathe again.¡± ¡°.......I see. I¡¯ll report this to Lord Loki later.¡± Hl?kk said this while intently staring at me with a puzzled look. Her eyes then look downward to the silver cross that is on my chest as if trying to receive some answers herself. ¡°Yah....about Loki, seriously where has he been? I¡¯ve been here for weeks and he hasn¡¯t come to see me once. You said he¡¯s been to busy but with what?¡± ¡°He has been searching to the answers to some things that have been troubling him. He told me to give you a message however.¡± ¡°A message huh?¡± ¡°Yes....He wanted to say congratulations on your remarkable achievement in your assistance in taking down such a considerable foe. He wants to prepare a gift for your achievement but it won¡¯t be ready for a few days. He plans to deliver it personally and speak with you then. He has also taken a couple of items that we recovered from Malthiel that he wishes to investigate further.¡± ¡®A gift?¡¯ As if noticing my confusion she continued. ¡°Yes....he didn¡¯t say as to the nature of the gift but he said it was something truly invaluable to a a new hero......then he made a joke that I think you would be mad if i told you and then told me also to give you a few things for taking away some of the items from Malthiel.¡± ¡°..............¡± ¡®I can just see Loki sitting there....smiling his stupid smile. Why did he send me here away from Kaylan? Why did he allow more trauma to happen to me? Where has he been? Seriously what game is he playing.¡¯ She gave me and assortment of random gifts that came in a small black bag. But pulling things out I could tell it was a magic item back as the things inside were probably too big to fit in it......10,000 gold. A black v-neck shirt and tan jacket.....and.......what the hell is this.¡¯ I pick up a white mask with black beady eyes and a red smile. It has one black tear on it........Does Loki think I¡¯m gonna wear this. Is there a tear because he¡¯s sorry for taking my things?.........I somehow don¡¯t know how to react to this mask but it does seem quite durable.......Hmm oh wow and it has a few interesting abilities I might like to try out later.....oh well whatever. Looking back at my mom who is smiling at me and Hl?kk is remaining quiet I notice something. Hl?kk and my mother look different somehow. Everything.....in this house is different somehow. But what is it? Wait. ¡®I¡¯m looking down at my mother. I use to come to her chest but right now I¡¯m at least a few feet taller than her. ¡°Wah...I grew?¡± ¡°Oh yes....so you finally took notice. yes you¡¯ve grown all up Vali. Into such a handsome young man.....but your still my little boy always ok.¡± Saying this my mother caressed my cheek with her soft hands and looked back at me with her one emerald green eye and one off white. ¡°Yes Vali.... due to your massive increase in levels and some various other circumstances we should discuss.....you have aged to roughly the same age you were befo......¡± Saying this Hl?kk paused and then looked towards my mother. ¡°Oh.....That....I already knew that Vali was probably not from this world. I¡¯ve had those assumptions for some time now.¡± -Elyria ¡°You....you knew?¡± ¡°Well sure....as just a baby you could understand me so well. You never cried unless mommy cried. You showed such wisdom and intelligence a child your age shouldn¡¯t... You had odd fighting techniques that clearly looked to have been learned somewhere. You could even cook such amazing dishes I have never seen before. I originally thought maybe it was all in my head and Hl?kk was teaching you those things but then we had a meal together one day and I saw I was right. I¡¯m assumed you must have had a past life.¡± ¡°............¡± I was speechless. I had assumed I was being careful as to not reveal anything too soon. i even snuck out in the early morning to practice as to not let her see my training and get any ideas. Apparently she wasn¡¯t always sleeping in as I had originally thought. My mother is clearly a very wise woman. ¡°It¡¯s ok.....even if you don¡¯t come from this world. Even if you had....another mother. I still see you as my son Vali. And I¡¯m so happy I was chosen to be your mother.¡± She held her hands up to her chest and I could feel my eyes becoming watery at hearing her words. I told myself she was a sweet and gentle woman, but in the back of my head I was afraid she¡¯d become distant if finding out. What if she didn¡¯t accept me as her child anymore, not that she¡¯d have a reason to, but......I didn¡¯t want to risk that. ¡°Oh it¡¯s ok sweetie......Mom loves you¡± ¡°I love you too.....mom.....thank you.¡± I had lost the ability to properly tell my feelings to this women. She had gone through so much in her life time and was in a way the same as me. We¡¯ve been leaning on each other these past couple months and I feel that she felt for me the same way I felt for her. She needed me as much as I needed her. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. I kissed her cheek with the scar and give her a warm long embrace. Hugging my mother like this is new for me. This is the first time I¡¯m able to fully wrap my arms around her. We stood there for some time hugging as I tried to convey without words all the love and warmth I share for this woman. ¡°Ummm not to interrupt your moment you two but, I still need to convey some of the things Loki wished to tell.¡± ¡°Oh yes...of course.¡±My mother answered Hl?kk and we both separated. ¡°Ya know before we continue this what is Loki exactly looking into? It¡¯s enough that I haven¡¯t seen him at all and you haven¡¯t even been clear on that yet.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m not entirely sure as to what he has discovered as of now, I am told he was wishing to learn more of the inherited skills you posses and to their origins. As well as to the origins of demons in general. He also told me he was very curious about that necklace from your mother. After I tell him that is how you survived the curse of that weapon he will probably have more questions for you.¡± ¡°Oh...so that cross is actually jewelry your mother from your past life gave you?¡± ¡° Yes....due to circumstance....I didn¡¯t have much of a relationship with my mother. She died when I was still quite young and one of the only things she left was this necklace.¡± ¡°.....I see¡± - Elyria said drooping her ears down thinking to herself. I can see that hearing a piece of my troubled past has saddened my mom having heard that. I wanted to reassure her though that I did see her as a mother and was truly happy about our meeting. ¡° The one thing Loki has done that I agree with.....is choosing you as my mother. Not in a 1000 lifetimes could he have found a better woman than you. Your my mother.¡± Saying this my mothers ears perk up and she began to show a warm motherly smile my why and then looked to the floor embarrassed. ¡°.......¡± Not knowing how to respond to the atmosphere Hl?kk remained quiet. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Hl?kk. What did Loki have to say to me?¡± ¡°...yes well. While your wounds were healing we did some research as to why that king reaper appeared on Middle Earth and we found some interesting information. ¡° ¡°Oh? Like what?¡± ¡°Do you remember seeing anything when you looked at him before? Like about his status?¡± ¡°Oh....not really. Just his name and title followed by 3 question marks since I couldn¡¯t see his level. Ya know what¡¯s your level Hl?kk?¡± ¡°Hmm so you noticed. My level and combat ability are far too strong to be read by a status.¡± ¡°....and this Malthiel person. Who was so strong did have a level of some kind?¡± ¡°Yes....which can only mean one thing. Reapers are much like Valkyries. They are creations of the God of the underworld Hades. They can match a Valkyrie in strength and are all masters of Death Magic. You were truly lucky he didn¡¯t see you as a threat and kill you immediately, before he was destroyed. ¡° ¡°Yah yah....so this is what Loki had in mind to tell me. Not to jump in half cocked? I¡¯m aware he was strong...¡± ¡°No...you don¡¯t! You don¡¯t understand just how lucky. Listen I didn¡¯t even use a 10th of my own strength when fighting him as it would have caused too much devastation to the surrounding environment and you would have been potentially caught up in that.......He was taking it easy on us, which ended with him dead. Due to the unique ability he used to absorb all of our strikes with darkness magic. Something we believe was given to him by whoever he followed.¡± ¡°Do yall know who that is?¡± ¡°We believe it to be a fallen God possibly. One who has descended.¡± ¡°Descended?¡± ¡°Yes...that is why you could read Malthiel¡¯s level. He probably went against the treaty due to not following its laws and the power of the treaty caused him to descend. It¡¯s known that Valkyries as well as Reapers hold are beings of immense power. Not able to match a God in strength but can be a potential threat as we are essentially body guards of the divine. When descending however you lose a considerable amount of your divine power and are forced to live out your days banished from the God realms.¡± ¡°So that¡¯s why I could see his level? And you think that his master too may be a fallen god?¡± ¡®Yes....that is what Loki is currently looking into as well. Which is why he requested to take some of the magical rings he was wearing and study them as to their possible creator. We¡¯ve found that a ring is what gave Malthiel the ability to use that aura we saw. ¡° ¡° I see....Did he leave anything else?¡± ¡°.....yes. Loki believes you should keep Malthiel¡¯s Scythe, cloak, as well as be allowed to consume his core he dropped. However, Loki as well as I feel it necessary to properly warn you about such items.¡± ¡°Huh...can I even wield that weapon? And why is Loki acting like he¡¯s allowing me to do something, like its his choice?¡± ¡°Yes....we¡¯ve determined you will be able to wield it now. After somehow being able to wield it through being extensively cursed....you were able to help slay the previous owner of it. It now has a new owner. It is a magical weapon so it can have its size changed due to your will. Though you¡¯d only be able to wield a fourth of its power yet. I and Loki both feel it necessary to warn you about this weapon..... This is a Celestial Class weapon, one level under Divine Class. Though it isn¡¯t anything compared to Thor¡¯s hammer Mjoinir or Loki¡¯s magical staff Gungnir. It is much more dangerous than many Celestial class weapons I¡¯ve seen. You saw what it did to environment and it¡¯s honestly enough to probably hurt a God.......Don¡¯t go waving around so candidly!¡± With eyes telling me she wasn¡¯t joking I simply nodded in respects to her wishes. It made since, I mean I kinda don¡¯t even want to wield that thing it was really creepy looking. Even though I¡¯m someone who always found myself in fist fights, I always did want to learn swordsmanship when spending my time in this world. Never did I think I would wield a crazy death scythe from some high being. But I guess it doesn¡¯t hurt to have such a powerful weapon at my disposal should things get ugly. Hl?kk after seeing my understanding flicked her wrist and out appeared the same designed death scythe from before but it was much smaller. Almost the size of a spear. She then flicks her wrist again and a dark crimson core exuding dark aura then appears and she floats them both towards me. I¡¯m sort of freaked out to grab the death scythe but I touch it with my finger just to see if it would sting.........nope......just floating there there though. I grabbed it. Wow.....it¡¯s got a good weight. It¡¯s not too heavy and I feel like I could swing it easily but it feels as though it has a perfect defense. Man we are lucky he wasn¡¯t using this thing. I then grab the crimson floating core that is suppose to be the last bits and pieces of this person magic and stare at it menacingly. What powers could I gain from something like that? I almost forgot entirely about the weapon I was holding. ¡°Vali.... also concerning your unique ability to absorb skills. We feel it highly necessary to warn you of the potential danger of the ability you attain could have. Do not use the skill until we are in a safe place to perform it and away from anything.¡± ¡°Yah I get it...he was strong so be careful.¡± ¡°No! You don¡¯t fully understand how lucky you were with killing him at your level. That being....was a master of death magic. Not to be confused with dark magic like on your weapon or black magic that necromancers use but death magic. Most get it confused but it is much more dangerous.¡± ¡°Ok....I won¡¯t mess around with it.¡± Damn what is the potential of this death magic. The effects of this world are truly insane upon raising skills and I can¡¯t imagine the type of skill I would gain from a death master. I took a bite out of the essence and it tastes sour. It¡¯s really hard to finish and tenses up the muscles.
You have gained a new skill! Death¡¯s Grip
Your affinity to dark magic has been increased due to absorbing the essence of Malthiel. Your darkness resistance has risen to 25% You can now use the ability Dark Pressure
You have gained a 33% Immunity to Fear
¡®Woh... he must have been powerful to raise my resistance and give me 2 skills. Now what are they?¡¯
Death¡¯s Grip Feel your victim¡¯s heartbeat and let them feel the beauty of death. Cost 10,000 Mp
¡®Woh.....this skill feels weird. I feel like I understand how it works though. I¡¯m somehow able to use this magic to feel everyone¡¯s pulse or lifeforce. I can somehow grasp it and crush it with this magic. Ugh.....What? This guy could have killed me from a distance with this magic before I even did anything to him......If someone doesn¡¯t have a resistance to something like this they would die immediately! ¡°Woh. He was really powerful!¡± ¡°So you understand now yes?¡± Hl?kk seemed to understand I came to a realization of just how weak I currently am. ¡°Ugh......yah. It¡¯s certainly not something we can test out here at all.¡± ¡®Wait there was another ability.......Dark Pressure? Hmm it¡¯s seemed to be a semi-passive skill. It cost 2,000 mp per minute to use. It appeared to be a brand of magic that combined physical and magical ability into a sort of pressure to exude towards the people in your surroundings. It can send them into terror if they aren¡¯t strong enough to resist it. Wow....It¡¯s like an intimidation skill from a boss monster!!!¡¯ On my I can¡¯t even comprehend looking at my stats. I still haven¡¯t done that yet. Name: Vali Race: Human Age: ? Level: 147 Class: N/A Title: Lord of the Forest, Slayer of Death Health: 115,645 Mana: 333,665 Strength: 13,235 Intellect: 16,224 Stamina: 10,445 Wisdom: 9,230 Agility: 8,390 Defense: 12,550 Luck: 16,890 Magic Resistance: 25% Poison Resistance: 7% Immunity to Fear: 33% Elemental Resistances: Fire 28% Earth: 3% Dark: 25% Lightning: 4% Water: 1% Wind: 4% Light: 8% Void: 8% ¡®Wait Wah..? My stats, I have a new title? how did I gain elemental resistances which are so hard to raise?¡¯ I look up to notice that Hl?kk is looking at me oddly with a piercing gaze. ¡°Hmmm it seems the last traces of the World trees¡¯ Essence has left you now. Your growth shouldn¡¯t be as accelerated anymore.¡± ¡°Woh.....Why are my stats so high?¡± ¡°Heh....you think your stats are high?¡± It almost sounded like Hl?kk was mocking me just now. ¡°Well....why are they so high? I was expecting good growth but this seems extreme?¡± ¡°Well your stats are higher than those around your level sure. That¡¯s also due to your inherited characteristics and Loki¡¯s blessing on growth correction as well. But Loki has determined that the World Tree¡¯s Essence may have also enhanced your absorption ability while also accelerated your growth rate. It was to remain there until it got you back to the rough age of your past self upon death. Loki explained the spell at the ritual but it seemed to have too many complicated algorithms even for me to understand. He is a master of a magic after all.¡± ¡°So you think my absorption ability gained some of the traits of those I¡¯ve absorbed.....and the World Tree¡¯s Essence accelerated the experience gained and raised my absorption.........¡± Everything began to flow into my mind as if I could comprehend everything so easily. I could fully comprehend the logic of what the World Tree is and its logic in this world. I feel like I¡¯m much more intelligent somehow. I¡¯m comprehending things way quicker than I normally would and.....hmmm maybe intellect when risen in this world also pertains to one¡¯s actual intelligence. In my old world I learned that humans cannot use more than roughly 10 % of their own brain capacity at one given time. Every part of the brain is at all times functioning and showing activity all the time. However we as a species haven¡¯t been able to fully activate its functions fully yet. Our bodies naturally have a limit on this and we as a species just haven¡¯t developed enough to be able to access that level of brain activity. It is believed that if one were to be able to access more of that one could understand the farthest reaches of the universe........ My intellect does feel like it has risen considerably. I feel as if I could access all of the information I have learned and read within a millisecond and be able to recite it from memory. This......does feel amazing. My body though sore and bandaged.....it feels quite strong and durable. I feel like I¡¯m much stronger than I once was. The World Tree Accelerated the experience given from those monsters and Malthiel must have been crazy high to begin with. If I assisted in killing a being of that level and was given the increased experience given from him must have been enough to rise my levels so much. Being asleep for 4 days my body must have adapted accordingly. ¡°Yes....that is what Loki believes. It is however faded now. Your growth has now stopped accelerating and we both found due to your unique ability you gained experience much quicker than your sibling.¡± ¡°I see...¡± That brings me back. Back to what really matters. I got this strong to take care of my sister. But I¡¯m still nowhere close to where I need to be. I need to get much stronger. As I held the large ornamented black scythe I began to put it up until I saw it......the reflection of myself off the glass window.......NO. ¡®I get a glimpse of myself then peak at my face and then peele off all my bandages. Though what should be scars are now simple scratches and show to be healed quite soon. That is not what what concerns me......my hair!!!!¡¯ ¡°Why is my hair white!!!¡± ¡°Ohohoho so Vali finally noticed?¡± My mother finally chimes into our long conversation to assist in the bomb that has just been dropped. ¡°Yes Vali, your hair lost its color when I found you. I believe it was an effect of the curse. Luckily that peculiar cross you got around your neck was there.......¡± I couldn¡¯t hear what Hl?kk had to say right now because the vision of what I looked like was enough of a mental shock I had blocked everything out. I had white frosted hair. I based my height roughly at 6''2 and my skin was tan and unbelievably strong. My muscles are dense and much larger than they once were too. I have appeared to take on not just the abilities of some of those monsters but acquired some of their traits. Which is why my stats are all over the place and my body has gone through such huge changes. Though my unbelievable growth speed has stopped......I still can¡¯t believe this is the effect of something like a world tree essence.....''I look......really stupid!'' My hair was white.. I was holding a large metal framed scythe which was surrounded by a dark aura ''Ughhh, I''m starting to look like a fucking villain!'' --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 days later Lilly¡¯s Pov ¡®Ha...ha...ha.....Why are the humans so mean to us.¡¯ Just 3 moons ago my brother and I were living together with our family up in our small mountain tribe away from the world. It was cold but it was nothing for a Lycanthia race. We were a breed of wolf demi human species that were known for their sharp claws and ability to survive harsh winters. I was just celebrating my 10th birthday together with my family. Everything was so good then. Why did the humans have to take it all away? ¡®Ha....ha....I¡¯m currently hiding behind a tree hoping no one can see me. My brother somehow managed to break my chains and kill the man who was about to buy us both from when we were on stage. He told me to run and I did but why.....why....why.....The rest of our family is dead, everyone in my village is dead. I can still hear their cries every time I try to sleep. Humans always hated us so much and we never did anything to them....honest....ha...ha...ohh ohhh.......¡¯ ¡°Hey boss I think she went this way!¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve picked up her trail she¡¯s just passed this way. With my skills I can surely follow her tracks. It won¡¯t take long¡± ¡°Good everyone spread out. I don¡¯t want to miss the bounty that demi-human¡¯s a white haired one she looked rare. Sell for a hell of a lot too.¡± ¡®Uohhhhh no....please....don¡¯t find me.¡¯ ¡°There!¡± A large burly man jumped out and was holding a dagger. It frightened me and I froze. ¡°Hi!!!!¡± He reached for me with his other hand and I out of reflex clawed at him. ¡°AH!....Bitch that hurt!¡± Bam! ¡°Guuaahhh¡± The large man had kicked me and my body flung a few feet from where it originally had been hiding. I started running as fast as I could into the forest and hoped they couldn¡¯t catch me. I cant¡¯t let what Noah did for me go to waste....ughhhh Noah....I wish you were here with me right now brother. Atleast then we¡¯d be togeth..... Slam! ¡°Owwww!!!¡± I tripped and twisted my foot very badly. Something had been sticking out of the ground but I was running for my life and hadn¡¯t seen it. Ooooooooo hhhh. ¡®I can¡¯t stand on it and slowly crawled to the nearest tree I could find and sat there. My foot looks bad. It¡¯s purple and really hurts a lot..... uhhh ohhhhh. Brother.....I¡¯m scared. Please save me.¡¯ ¡°Just calm down....we¡¯re simply taking a detour right now and are already halfway to Aldain.......I simply want to site see today and since running here only took an hour I don¡¯t see what the big deal is........Come on......We¡¯ll be back before night.¡± I began to hear the voices of a man and a women. They appeared to be arguing and the women seemed to be annoyed. She almost sounded like how me and my brother fight sometimes. ¡°Elyria made me promise!! She was so upset with me last time I brought you home after telling her we wouldn¡¯t go out far! I cannot look her in the face again knowing I was dishonest! She called me her friend!¡± ¡°Well where already out here. Just give me a few minutes to catch my breath and we¡¯ll continue on. Besides some site seeing in Aldain I was hoping to buy a few things too for the cab........Hey a little girl?¡± ¡®Oh no....he saw me!¡¯ The man was tall. He had a handsome face and looked had such a gentle smile. But he was human. Oh....No....he¡¯s getting closer. Please...please don¡¯t I cannot run away.....No..no. Eh? As I felt him get closer I noticed he wasn¡¯t doing anything. ¡°I know Hjokk stop pecking me...Hey your ankle looks really messed up....want me to take a look at that?¡± ¡°Ah!¡± ¡°Huh...oh no need to be scared. I just wanted to look at your le..¡± ¡°Hey here she is over here! Eh....hey whose this guy?¡± ¡°...............¡± The man with white hair didn¡¯t answer he just straightened up his body and peered back at the large burly man from before and gazed back at him. It¡¯s now I see a small purple bird on the white haired man¡¯s shoulder. It too looks towards the direction of that man. The man¡¯s friends came up behind him and were now all staring at the tall man with white hair. Before I knew what happened a smaller person in dark clothing dropped down from a tree and looked to be trying to attack the white haired man. But that¡¯s not what was happening. ¡°Gahhhghg¡± The white haired man held out his hand and was gripping the dark clothed person by the neck and was choking him in air with his arm. The man in dark clothes tried to struggle but before he had a chance to escape the white haired man¡¯s grasp''s he was pulled in close and I heard the loud sound of him having his neck broken. The man in dark clothed man became motionless and was then tossed back at his friends. Uh..the white haired man is now holding onto a small dagger that was originally in the hands of the other person. He turned his head and looked back at me. What a gaze! I can¡¯t seem to stop shaking......is ....is....he going to kill me to......I can¡¯t move right now and my heart began to race as he approaches me with the dagger in his hand. He lifts his hand with the knife and I can feel I won¡¯t be seeing my brother anymore........ ¡°Hehe....here.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± The man is holding the blade of the dagger and motioning to say he is giving it to me. Does....does he wan¡¯t me to fight for my life......what a cruel human. ¡°I had that happen to me one time it sucked. I was just gonna look at it and thought if ya had some protection you¡¯d be more inclined to let me look is all.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡° ¡° ¡° Huh¡± ¡± ¡± The scary looking men from before show signs of disbelief as we all didn¡¯t understand what this man was implying. ¡° Here....If I do anything you don¡¯t like just poke me with this alright.....I¡¯m just gonna see if I can make your ankle feel better...alright.¡¯ ¡°Umm.....o....ok....¡± I grabbed the knife and held it back at him....such a strange human....what is he planning. ¡°Oh.....you 3 should probably leave......So I''m Vali...you?¡± The man threatened the three scary men and then looked back at me with such kind eyes. Much kinder than any human¡¯s I¡¯ve ever met....... ¡°........Lily.¡± The man knelt on the ground and lowered himself to meet my gaze and moved his vision to my foot. He had an odd bird on his shoulder that kept pecking him. The surroundings got surprisingly quiet and I forgot about everyone else around us when I looked back at him.....it was rather......peaceful. I then lowered the knife he had just given me.......I didn¡¯t know how to react to such a human. Chapter 8: World Debut at the Colosseum Updated! Chap 8: World Debut at the Coliseum I didn¡¯t realize it at first but I keep finding new odd things about my body that came from absorbing those monsters.... My skin and hair have become tough and quite difficult to cut. My leg strength and reflexes are worlds apart then what I thought possible of my body. When I was resting back at the cabin for a few days I would do some practice swings on nearby trees outside but nothing would be left in my wake. My fists cut through air perfectly and the trees then exploded on impact. It had looked like a shotgun had had gone off when making contact. I moved over to rocks and the same thing happened. Unless greatly holding back my strength my fists will do irreparable damage. I think my bones itself might be much more durable as well, they¡¯d have to be to absorb these levels of impacts my body is putting on them. It it wasn¡¯t just my body but my mind has gotten quite sharp as well. My cognitive perception has definitely increased and magic is beginning to make since to me much more. I¡¯ve also learned that magic manipulation is a wonderful thing......I wasn¡¯t aware but if you could truly manipulate magical properties down to the core of something, you could essentially use skills and abilities at higher tier¡¯s than are currently available to you by increasing the output dramatically. It¡¯d be like using a skill in more advanced stages while still being in beginner. It shows more potential than anything else....Well I say that but that weapon... Well....truly my brain is changing as well I believe. Increasing your intellect in this world isn¡¯t only a number, and when your stats rise in this world your body changes accordingly. It truly is such a strange phenomenon. When sitting down and thinking about it though, it all actually quite makes sense. World Tree¡¯s are truly God existences in their own right. In my own world plants aren¡¯t really respected by many and thought to be weak forms of life. But that¡¯s not true. Sure plant species lack mobility, but they can pull and drag every available resource in the surrounding areas and transform them to energy. This allows them to survive in the most harsh of conditions. They grow and compete with other plant life, they can run and wiggle to push past cement ..... all to survive. Truly plants are resilient. A world true technically is like a God Plant in this world and like the world tree, the essence pulled all the available resources I was giving it to form my new body. Absorbing a higher being like Malthiel may have caused more effects than I originally realized but I¡¯ll only know how much with time. Currently I¡¯m washing my face in a shallow river and taking a short break. The light from the son is shining off the river and back into my eyes. It¡¯s still pretty early in the morning but I can start to hear birds wake up. I¡¯m about a halfway distance from my home and Aldain. What should have been a few days trip I managed to cross in an hour. I had to take a longer route however because Hl?kk and Loki don¡¯t want us going anywhere near the Jheroki mountains.....I don¡¯t blame them, I don¡¯t want to go there either right now. I¡¯m amazed at my growth but I¡¯m not stupid. I am a very small existence in this world and I realized that quite candidly the other day that one mistake could have been lights out. Besides.....I have reasons to go to Aldain. I need to buy a few things and supplies with the money Loki had gave me. I don¡¯t know why he gave me gifts and money for killing him but I¡¯m guessing he didn¡¯t just take a ring off Malthiel.....I mean if he was a descended being, he would have multiple things in his Inventory list.........I guess I¡¯ll never know will I. But there are other reasons to go to Aldain as well. I¡¯m going to gain some information on a certain fallen noble family. I would like to get to know them as much as possible before bringing their entire world into ruin. ¡®There pain will not be felt with death alone. This much I have already decided.....I will make them feel all of the pain from my own suffering. For what those bastards did to her.....I will destroy it all!¡¯ I shook my head and looked down at my reflection. Though I have my old face my white hair is still displeasing to look at. Its medium length and I don¡¯t even bother fixing it at this point. I¡¯m wearing the dark shirt Loki gave me and it appears to be out of some very strange material I¡¯ve never felt before. It¡¯s got an interesting weight but the fabric feels quite soft so I guess I¡¯ll wear it. I¡¯m also wearing the tan jacket he gave me as it¡¯s....actually kinda cool looking. I¡¯ve never really owned any nice clothes before but I really do like this jacket. Loki gave me a cool jacket. But I¡¯m not going to put on that stupid mask. I¡¯m also wearing the white plaid scarf my mom had made me that was made from materials she collected. It actually has a very nice scent to it. I however decided not to have Abgrund out and left it in my inventory. This is the name I have decided to give the large metal death scythe from before. I originally had just tossed it aside not thinking of ever using it mainly because it looked creepy, I didn¡¯t even actually look at it. I honestly thought the skill I would receive would be much more interesting sine I didn¡¯t really plan on using that infernal weapon. But what I found out is that weapon is a very dangerous thing. It is a Celestial class weapon I know but the power of it is truly terrifying. I had originally thought the name of it was Wrath of Balor. That was the first thing I saw so I really didn¡¯t think much of it but it wound up being a skill. There are however multiple skills on this weapon and I cant even see all of them. Multiple places our darked out implying I haven¡¯t unlocked them or I just don¡¯t have the ability to use the skills yet. Since it¡¯s a weapon with such magical properties it can change its size and weight to my will. The large metal blade of the scythe can also retract and stand on the end like a spear. It¡¯s damage was something like 6,000 but I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s the final number as I can¡¯t use this weapon fully yet. It is however........too dangerous a weapon. The skills that are on here like Dark Sever or Wrath of Balor.......they are far too dangerous to just sling around and could horribly disrupt and change the environment. I can¡¯t even find a way to practice the skills and since it would look insanely creepy to people I decided not to have it out all. Celestial Class weapons are truly dangerous. The Ranking order for weapons and items go like this: Normal->Rare->Unique->Magic-->Ancient-->Legendary-->Phantasm-->Celestial-->Divine Nine Ranks and according to the world knowledge it¡¯s actually only seven. Due to the fact that Legendary class weapons are said to be ones that make legend. And only a very small number of people own a Phantasm class weapon right in the world currently. Saying that the legendary or ancient class weapons aren¡¯t good weapons is wrong. They are weapons of legend. It¡¯s just that the level of separation between the last three I¡¯m told by Hl?kk is the difference between heaven and earth. This weapon is far too dangerous to just wave around in middle earth and apparently I would gain some unwanted attention that Hl?kk wouldn¡¯t tell me.....¡¯I¡¯m assuming Loki could have enemies and killing his champion would make sense......Him having people who would want to do him harm I can totally understand haha.¡¯ Well.....I decided to give the large Death scythe the name Abgrund which means....abyss. I believe it fits well with an old quote from Niche..... ¡°Beware those who choose to fight monsters........Less you become a monster. For those who choose to stare long into the abyss.....Know....that the abyss gazes back at you.¡±. I know full well the weight that this weapon could have and I don¡¯t wish to become a monster in this world. ¡°Are you done yet.....We really need to hurry if were going to make it back past curfew.¡± ¡°Ya know it¡¯s normal for kids to stay out past curfew. And your taking her rules more seriously than I am?¡¯ ¡°After your injuries from before I need to keep a better watch on you.....and besides I don¡¯t like being scolded.....I¡¯m not use to it!¡± ¡°Hl?kk just calm down....we¡¯re simply taking a detour right now and are already halfway to Aldain.......I simply want to site see today and since running here only took an hour I don¡¯t see what the big deal is........Come on......We¡¯ll be back for night.¡± Hjok is currently resting on my shoulder and complaining in my ear. Our relationship has definitely changed in the past couple of days as well since the incident. She now rests on my shoulder quite often when she is in her bird form and seems to forget to keep a watchful distance flying away. It¡¯s almost as if you question why she remains to be a bird at all. But now she and I talk more and it has become somewhat interesting.......I¡¯ve been enjoying poking her buttons and watching her squirm.....Though it has backfired on me I am not denying that...... I¡¯ve already been beaten twice since that day by Hl?kk and thoroughly reminded me of how weak I am........The first time is when I turned on Dark Pressure in the house and apparently it sends people around me in shivers and cause them brief feelings of terror if they can¡¯t suppress it. It¡¯s an ability that uses magic that works hand and hand with your status. If someone doesn¡¯t have enough power to stand up to you in a fight by statistics alone it will momentarily stop them and work as an Intimidation skill. Apparently if one were to increase there resistance or magical affinity to 25% one can naturally learn this skill..... just another interesting thing I''ve acquired from my large level up. Well I had turned it on and scared my mother giving her goosebumps and Hl?kk hit me with her spear. One other occasion was when I said something that apparently made her strike me again with her spear.......I wouldn¡¯t know........because I have seem to have forgotten from being struck in the head. Seriously if I didn¡¯t have the body I currently do I know I would have had brain damage. The thing that really messes with me though is that Hl?kk doesn¡¯t strike me as the person who would gage their swings.... ¡°Elyria made me promise!! She was so upset with me last time I brought you home after telling her we wouldn¡¯t go out far! I cannot look her in the face again knowing I was dishonest! She called me her friend!¡± Her wings started to flatter wildly as she sat perched on my shoulder. ¡°Well where already out here. Just give me a few minutes to catch my breath and we¡¯ll continue on. Besides some site seeing in Aldain I was hoping to buy a few things too for the cab........Hey a little girl?¡± Sitting hunched over several meters away is a small little girl. She had long white shaggy hair and large pointy ears of the same color. Her eyes were bright yellow and shined off the son. Her hands and wrists were furry and I could see small claws on her hands that shined off the sunlight.......she was frightened? She also appeared to be injured. The small girl was in rag like clothing tied by a string. She was small.....very small. It was hard to determine her age. She had dirt all over her face and the area under her eyes were dark and clouded. I started to walk towards her but my presence must have shocked her and she just pushed her body much more against the tree behind her. Her long furry white tail that resembled my mothers was curled up to her face....Why was she so scared? Is it because I¡¯m human. And there I saw it......She had shackles on her wrists and ankles with short broke chains around them.....Is....is she a slave? Why would a little girl like this be....a slave? Then a large fat man jumped from behind a corner and saw the small girl and that is when I found out what was going on. She was being chased.........are you telling me these people put children in shackles? I knew demi-human and human relations were bad but this is something different. Slavery and putting kids in chains is something that should never happen! This is, this is sick. The fat man was holding a knife and them I caught on my radar that there were 4 of them. One was trying to get a good angle on me and seemed to be trying to hide himself in the trees. ¡®Heh.....these guys are all low level. Roughly 24 and the highest being 27. The little guy in the trees is the highest level. I guess he¡¯s killed a lot of people..... He jumped at me holding a small shiny dagger. I just extended my arm before he got to me and caught him by the throat. I started to choke the man that attacked me and I could listen to the sounds of his friends and him make sounds of astonishment. Apparently he was going to just cut me down here without a word..... Seriously I¡¯m not one for murder, but if someone comes at me with the intent to kill I¡¯m going to put them down. I never murdered in my past life but.....¡¯Ever since I took my first life I just....eh I don¡¯t want to think about it right now.¡¯ As the man then tried to reach for his weapon I pulled the man closer and snapped his neck. It felt more simple than pulling off the cap of a new soda bottle. It gave no resistance and his Hp immediately dropped to 0. I noticed that everything is registered in this world. An attack can be done in a multiple ways and even if everything is under rpg like elements.....The human body is still a body. It if you abuse it in certain ways, it will shut down. That is unless you develop your body into something indestructible. This world is however much different than my own. You can build your body up through hard work and training. If you take down strong opponents and get experience in this world you yourself can raise yourself to unforeseen heights. As long as you keep going, and survive. You can get strong in this world. I tossed him back at his friends and threatened them. I tried to give the knife to the little girl but she really didn¡¯t know how to respond. She just kept pushing her small body back up against the tree. She was truly frightened of me. I hoped that maybe if she felt a little more in control she¡¯d let me look at her leg. She seriously looks like she hasn¡¯t even eaten yet. She eventually took the knife and I started pulling ointment and particular leaves I¡¯ve found from a certain tree that glows a bright blue at night has leaves that if sealed to wounds increases the effects of medicines and recovery rate, ya know now that I think about it it has all gotten quite quiet.....God looking at this little girl makes me fear for Kaylan some.....Where is she in this world? The little girl said her name was Lily and had finally started to lower the knife I handed her......She looked like she hadn¡¯t bathed in weeks and hadn¡¯t been given much to eat in her time as a slave..... I started to see the three dots on my lower screen approach me from behind. ¡®Seriously......what are these idiots thinking? If though could see my level wouldn¡¯t they just immediately run away from me?¡¯ I stood up and faced them while the three started to spread out and the big guy held a short sword at his waste and threatened me. ¡°EH!......you killed one of ours. We¡¯re gonna slice ya up good now! If ya don¡¯t give us the girl now were going to cut you down!¡± ¡°....If you were already going to slice me up for killing your comrade why would I obey any of your later demands?¡± ¡°....huh?¡± ¡°........Are you kidding me?¡± I had then realized these band of thieves aren¡¯t at all bright. I guess it makes since as the schooling systems in this world are probably in no way advanced......but these people are actually bonafide stupid! ¡°Well..let¡¯s see what you guys got I¡¯m actually interested in checking something out.¡± There was one thing I wanted to test out about this world''s physics. This world is a game. In the real world humans are vulnerable to sharp weapons, always have been. In this world though level plays a role in everything. If your defense is technically high enough it should easily be able to withstand a knife. I walked forward and started to approach the 3 men. Each of them flinched in my advancement as they probably had just remembered I had easily killed their higher leveled companion just moments ago without much of a struggle. They brandished their weapons at me which didn¡¯t look to be that bad actually. I wonder is that a normal weapon......a unique maybe? Hl?kk is no longer on my shoulder and has flown to the little girl. I can hear her gasp in my direction as she seemed frightened for me. One by one each of them lunged at me with there swords and daggers and I raise each of my arms while walking through them. ¡°Ahhh!¡± ¡°hehhee Yah!¡± ¡°hehe....huh¡± ¡°......hmmmm no damage? Come on guys I was expecting a better trial run on my first fight with the new body but this is horrible.....you guys couldn¡¯t even manage to cause any damage? Don¡¯t understand let me explain. Each of you have such low strength and and attack power compared to my defense.....we could sit her all day and you¡¯d never be able to hurt me. I wanted to test out my auto heal function I just received after passing 100.....lets you heal 150 health in 1 minute. But it appears that you 3 will not be able to help me with testing this out........hmmm¡± This information just went right through their open brains as if I was speaking to a horse. They did however back away and look truly frightened of me. Even the little girl behind me made gasps of amazement at what was currently taken place. But logically its quite simple what happened. In this world Attack Power = ( Person¡¯s Strength + Person¡¯s Attack Damage: personal skill traits or weapon damage) - Enemies Defense. If a person¡¯s defense is naturally higher than the attack power given it wouldn¡¯t be possible to cause harm to the person with high defense. Though never possible in my world, this world when your stats rise your body rises accordingly. This is what I received from the Lord of the Forest of having a tough exterior with solid defense properties. You''d need a much stronger weapon to get through my tough exterior. ¡°you.....your over level 100?¡± ¡°Ooop.....Lightbulp?¡± One of the thieves apparently figured out through his startled state and clamored shamelessly. I made a wise crack back but who am I doing this for anyways......I feel as though I¡¯m always talking to myself. ¡°Oh...run away....run away now!¡± Each of them scattered off in the distance and I contemplated chased after them......¡®hmmm, honestly I don¡¯t have the wanting to chase them and hunt them down even if it would be easy. I don¡¯t feel like I want to get too comfortable with murder anyways. I don¡¯t want to become some blood soaked monster in this world.... I walked back to the little girl and she was looking back at me with wide eyes. She probably thinks I¡¯m a monster after just killing that person from a while ago so casually. ¡°Wow......so strong.¡± ¡°......¡± ¡®Or not....the little girl just kept staring at me without saying a word and smiling back at me.¡¯ Hl?kk then flew to my shoulder and sat there. ¡°Wow..... Hl?kk was right your very strong!¡± ¡°Umm what? Hl?kk you gave her your name? Shouldn¡¯t you not be revealing who you are!¡± ¡°She seemed scared. I wanted to reassure her you¡¯d be fine and she was safe.....¡± ¡°....Seriously what¡¯s even the point of being in your bird form. You might as well just say your a Valkyrie while your at it.¡± ¡°What¡¯s a valkyrie?¡±The little girl with a tiny voice asked thus interrupting our conversation and bringing me to what I had just done. ¡®Damnit!.....Why would I make such a stupid mistake. I was claiming earlier to being much smarter and laughing like a super genius and I just did something so stupid! Talking to Hl?kk sometimes gets distracting. I feel as though my true personality comes out whenever I''m around her.¡¯ ¡°See....now who¡¯s revealing too much!¡± ¡°...........¡± I had nothing to say. This was my bad, but I was still irritated as she kind of assisted. ¡°So you said your name was Lily? What are you doing all the way out here?¡± ¡®Stalling tactic....little kids can forget things!¡¯ ¡°Mhmm.....I was.....trying to run away.¡± ¡°To where?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.....¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know what do you mean?¡± ¡°.......Somewhere safe. That is where my brother told me to go.¡± ¡°.......your brother? And where is he?¡± ¡°........In....a human city.¡± The little girl kept talking slowly she was very weak so I gave her some water and decided to first hunt some food and cook her a meal. It didn¡¯t take long and I just simple put some seasonings on there before cooking it over a fire. ¡°.........ahh¡± She ate it so fast it was gone after two bites... ¡°...mmmmm soooo gooooooodddddd!¡± She clamored a little and shook her body. She then arched her head back and closed her eyes. After savoring the taste I laughed a little and she opened her eyes and looked up at me. ¡°More!¡± ¡®little demanding aren¡¯t we?.....eh no....she¡¯s probably been treated quite poorly up until now. I cook her some rabbit meat I found in the surroundings and she honestly ate through 3 rabbits before stopping. I think she said she was a wolf-demi-human? But she has white hair like me and now I¡¯ve noticed that her furry hands and claws are no longer out and she has small frail human hands......I guess that is something like a defense mechanism for demi-human species. After eating Lily became surprisingly more open. I guess when you have a full stomach all people are capable of talking a little. She said her brother and her are the last survivors of a Lycanthia tribe somewhere in the mountains near here. Not long after her 10th birthday a large group of human warriors mages entered in there settlement and killed everyone. Her and her brother Noah had somehow escaped and got picked up by what I¡¯m assuming to be a slave trader and thrown into chains. She¡¯s been chained up and in a cage for weeks........wow. I didn¡¯t know this world had this. After they were sold on stage by someone earlier this morning her brother managed to break the chains off her sister and kill one of the men watching over them. He told her to run to somewhere safe......and here we are. What is going on in this world that this is ok? Children thrown in cages?......where is Kaylan for that matter. I told her that we were headed to Aldain and she was originally off about it but wanted to stay with me and Hl?kk. I wonder if this town is where she escaped from. If that were to happen this could get difficult.....hmmmm. I decided to give her the cloak from Malthiel I gained from his drop. It like all other magical clothing items in this world has the abilility to fit whoever wears it. Quite convenient. It also has the ability of 100% Magic Resistance. 25% added Fire Resistance and a unique ability too increase mana recover by 5000 a minute and increases maximum mana by 10,000. It was truly a boss monster¡¯s cloak. It went over her body and fit her figure perfectly and I decided it was time to put the hood over her. I was pretty close to Aldain already. I had apparently closed the distance much more than I originally thought. With Hl?kk on my shoulder and Lily now walking alongside us we continued to Aldain. Those magical leaves really are quite fascinating. They greatly increased recovery speed and increased the ointments affects I rubbed on it earlier. Maybe demi-humans also have naturally bettery recovery rates I really know nothing about her wolf tribe to be honest. As we got closer to the city gates I could see large stone walls and and a big wooden gate. ¡°30 Silver per Entry!¡± ¡°Huh....oh. Here got change?¡± ¡°Eh.....no not 1 gold 30 Silver ! I don¡¯t got change for ya!¡± He seemed kinda irritated but I honestly didn''t have any other coins besides those coppers from the thieves and the gold from Loki. ¡®Uhhhhh. I hate giving away money. I seriously do not like it!........As someone who constantly saves money in my last life I do not like leaving a penny on the table, ever. I¡¯m going to make this city regret this........¡¯ ¡°Just keep it.....now may we enter?¡± ¡°Oh...ah...Yes! You must be a nobleman I¡¯m sorry sir. Yes please this way! Open the gate!¡± The gate opened and the guard started acting much more friendly all of a sudden. I guess they don¡¯t get people just handing money away around here.....his voice is annoying. ¡°Oh...my sir can we show you around our grand town?¡± ¡°......I¡¯m just here to buy some supplies and goods at your shops is all. Thank you though.¡± ¡°Oh ok but most of the shops in the shopping district are closed today. Because of the big match today at the colosseum. But you can try to see if some stores are still open. I¡¯m sure some places still are today sir!¡± ¡°Hmmm a fight?¡± ¡°Oh yes! The King¡¯s son Prince Gasper Aldain is dueling the neighboring kingdom¡¯s Frost Sword Aldus. It¡¯s said to be a truly spectacular matchup. You should go and watch the duel it will be grand!¡± ¡°Hmm afraid not. Just passing through is all. You have a good day now sir.¡± I tried to brush him off us and continued to walk through the town. It really was quite barren today and no one was out on the streets. The Smithey, Armor and Weapons shops were closed. Some of the local guild houses had no one out side of them. I kind of wanted to check out guilds too but no one was there. Even the Church of the Goddess Frigg was closed today and I really wanted to get some high grade holy water I was told of by my mother.......¡¯Ughhhh what is with this town!¡¯ ¡°The magic shop I really wanted to get some books. Hmmm man this place is really dead today.¡± ¡°I guess the fight the guards originally spoke of must be drawing a large crowd. ¡° ¡°Yah.. no kidding Hl?kk, But hey this store is open, looks like a general goods store.¡± As we entered into the shop Lily stayed attached to leg while we walked through the store. She really did not want to be separated from me.... The shop seemed to be quite plain but had a large assortment of items. I had Hl?kk take Lily to the clothing section and pick out some clothes. I grabbed some spare blankets and clothe for my mom. I also bought a sowing kit as I learned from my sister when playing the game the Tailoring skill actually other wide affects that greatly affected gameplay. I wanted to pick up the blacksmith skill or grab a weapon but there are no places to do that currently. I did get some other tools around for the house and a large sawlike fish bone that is a part to an old dead monster. I grab some working tools and a small dish to hopefully start mixing ingredients and medicines. I still need to learn a proper method to heal my mother.....¡±ha....the church is closed today that¡¯s a laugh!¡± I got some other working tools to create things due to my new ability Tool Creation I haven¡¯t gotten to use. Upon further realization I¡¯ve come to find that Tool Creation is not what I had originally hoped. It basically gave me the ability to create tools....not items. Apparently my skill is a knock off of some better skilled called Item Creation. Though it came to an initial shock it did give me the initial ability to view and see materials and show items in a holographic blue light to show possible building types. It literally felt like a game within a game as I could use the skill to see items and show how to connect or bind them to make a tool. Though it¡¯s not as potentially great as Item Creation. Tool creation is still kinda cool in it¡¯s own right. We checked out at the front where a large man with a long waxy red beard. He was kind of gross looking I¡¯m not going to lie. ¡°For the clothes of the demi-human bought.....10 silver. For all these other supplies I can sell for 30 silvers.¡± ¡°Hmm.....¡± ¡®Damnit.....I really need to make change but I don¡¯t want to lower the goods of this anymore! ¡°Well.....I sell all for.....30 silvers but lowest I can go.¡± ¡®I just made another face as if I was contemplating the sale but that just made it worse as I really don¡¯t have a way to make change.....Fucking Loki!!!!!!! He must have known this would happen. I swear!¡¯ ¡°Ok...ok.....20 silvers and we make a deal yes!¡±
You have acquired a new skill!!! Negotiation
I flick my hand away cause the skill pop up is annoying in this sense. ¡°Ah...all that sounds fine actually......you seem to know a lot about this place. Your a smart man after all.¡± ¡°Are you trying to negotiate prices?¡± ¡°haha no....I simply want some information along with these goods. I¡¯ll give you 1 gold. ¡° ¡°Wha!.....1 gold what do you want. For just this stuff 1 gold is.....yes. Yes!¡± ¡°Haha ok....I need some information on the Tyrule family....are they in the city at this time?¡± ¡°....The Tyrule¡¯s are.......probably at the colosseum like everyone else. It is a big fight today so their families are probably with the king about to see the prize match.¡± Lily is looking up at me with her bright yellow eyes like she doesn¡¯t understand. ¡®Yah....maybe I can get some information about Lily¡¯s brother as well from the Tyrule¡¯s as well. They seem to have rather big ties to the area¡¯ .....it¡¯s a win win.¡¯ As I started to leave the store I had a angry look on my face. He didn¡¯t have much useful information sadly and I honestly feel like I have now wasted 2 gold coins in this stupid hell hole. Only this time I didn¡¯t just give him the gold coin and thusly demanded 30 silver from him for the gold coin and all the stuff we had purchased. I didn¡¯t much demand as just greatly imply. Luckily now I have some spending cash and won¡¯t look like an idiot anymore.¡¯ Uhh.....I¡¯m starting to feel sick of this place already.¡¯ Looking down at Lily she is still wearing the dark cloak I gave her....''Seriously I don''t know why anyone would ever wear that creepy thing. She is however wearing her new clothes that are light blue underneath it. She said she didn¡¯t want to take off my cloak and that she liked it. She is kind of a forceful kid but I let her do what she wants for now as she seems to have been through a lot. I couldn¡¯t just toss her aside. What kind of monster would I be then..... Lily is now holding onto my jacket sleeve and trying to keep up with my pace. I slow down a little and let her walk beside me. I put my hands up to pat her head but she flinched as if thinking I was going to hit her. Her ears twitched through the hood. I then patted her head and held her hand as we exited the shop. Demi-humans seem to have even more animal traits....hmm, really an odd world. As we exited the shop I thought maybe it would be a good idea to check out this prized fight. I could get the opportunity to see other strong fighters and compare my strength. Though I¡¯m currently level 147, Hl?kk has confirmed that I am not anywhere close to the higher leveled champions in the central continent. Home to many people and beings that have also been blessed by the Gods. Though she assures me that my stats are much higher than those anywhere close to my skill level. There are still remarkably powerful people out there and over confidence can result in sure death in this world. I know this as well as anyone. Malthiel was an insanely strong being. I should have died fighting him but he treated me as nothing more than an insect buzzing around him. I was truly lucky...... Hl?kk said Loki that was due to his luck blessing but I don¡¯t believe him. She even made an odd face at that and hadn¡¯t believed him. She said it was because he was laughing while saying it.......Loki...... We got to the colosseum gate and loud cheers are constantly erupting and shaking the entire structure. Lily and I walk up to the front of the large entrance covered in stone or what looks more like hardened clay. It wasn¡¯t a very well made structure and you could see that by its shotty workmanship. But it was very large and quite big. I never saw this during my time in Aldain. We paid the fee to get in and simply walked through. luckily this time it was 2 silver. I was able to not waste another gold coin....¡¯If Loki only knew how much trouble he has caused me in this world!........he¡¯d..... he''d probably laugh....Which makes me more angry!¡¯ I look over to the side and see Hl?kk making bird faces at Lily who is looking back up at her giggling. ¡°Hehe.....I like Hl?kk. ¡± ¡° Careful birds are known to poop a lot.¡± I clamored while walking through the crowds of people that are sitting on what appears to be bleacher like stands.....There¡¯s a lot of people here. ¡°hehehe¡± ¡°I do not poop a lot!¡± ¡°No...she¡¯s a pretty bird¡± ¡°Mhmm I rather think so too¡± Looking back at the conversation of the two I can see Hl?kk smiling back at Lily....though it¡¯s hard to say this but she with her beak is still smiling. It¡¯s odd but kind of charming in a way with her lush, shiny purple feathers. ¡®Hl?kk being charming who¡¯d knew.¡¯ ¡°Hehe......What the hell is that!¡± My sentence to the two was interrupted as I couldn¡¯t believe what I saw in front of me...... It was multiple heavily armored people swinging swords and cleaving through other individuals with much inferior equipment. Watching the scene I can already see the disadvantage to the individuals in rag like clothing that looked much similar to the clothes Lilly was originally wearing. They are all holding ragged weapons and if you look closely they already show signs of bruises from earlier injury and each look like they haven¡¯t eaten in days. It was impossible not to see such a disadvantage. But the one¡¯s in heavy armor and flashy weapons were swinging them around and slicing these....slaves in half. Many of them seem to be from the elven tribe but.....Looking closer I see a couple demi- humans in there. A female elf with a large purple bruise on her eye and a large round chest. She was in ragged clothing and showed signs of abuse and scars all over her arms. She wasn¡¯t fairing well against a large bald man with red leather armor. He was big....probably bigger than me and his muscles were bursting through each crack in his armor. He was big but showed to be quite fast as well. The elf women tried to evade and swing at him with her small rugged short sword but was easily getting toyed with and pounded by the large man. Looking to the side I see another elf man who¡¯s arm has been detached and is trying to fight someone with a whip with only one arm.. Each of the people in rag like clothing are being slowly cornered.¡®What.....what is going on? Why....Why is everyone cheering and watching this! Why is this being accepted! That elven woman was only being toyed with. I knew elves had a lot of magic but she seems to be losing ground with that sword she¡¯s holding. She¡¯s¡­¡­trying to protect someone? I see a small boy behind her. I don¡¯t care if there is hate for demi humans in this world but this.....this is so much different. She¡¯s weak, hungry, she looks terrified and has dropped the weapon and backed away slowly. She¡¯s shaking and due to my increased senses I can hear her crying even through the roar of all the loud cheers surrounding them. She¡¯s still trying to shield someone behind her though I just can¡¯t see who. It looked like¡­¡­a child? Just then an elf man jumped in front of the elfen maiden and was burnt alive by some fire magic from some mage standing in the back. ¡®From here I could even hear her voice through the loud roaring of the crowd.¡¯ ¡°Get behind me¡­please¡­.someone¡­¡­..ha¡­save us.¡±¡­¡¯..She was asking to be saved. Just like my sister did.'' ¡°Yes...humans in this city think nothing of the demi-human tribes on this continent. They are treated no differently than items....Items can be destroyed at will by the owner should they see fit. As such.....slaves bought are considered perishable goods.¡± Hl?kk said this in my ear as if noticing the level of my own shock. My eyes were wide open and all that was filling my thoughts was my sister Kaylan....She¡¯s....she¡¯s been in this world this whole time....This whole time, without me. She needs me here. ¡°Noah!!!!!¡± Lily who was tugging on my arm tried to run towards the the stoned wall above the colosseum and jump into the large battleground. I came out of shock of what I was seeing and then grabbed Lily and picked her up. It was then that I looked in the direction towards her line of site....... A black haired- demi human boy with large pointy ears like Lily and a large bushy black tail coming out his back jumped out in front of the small grey haired cat demi human. He wore the same ragged clothes as everyone else but had large bruises covering his body. His shirt had been blown off by the same mages fire magic and he had ripped it off with his dark furry hands. They were now showing the same claws as Lilly had shown when she was in danger from those thieves. He was breathing hard the two slowly backed away closer to the colosseum wall. ¡°Please......please......save him.......mister....please......¡± Lilly was shaking in my arms as I contemplated jumping in this fight surrounded by loud screaming fans. I had no idea what was going on, how this world was so ok with the site of children and women, that have no possible chance at fighting back, against better armed and trained opponents¡­..They¡¯re being slaughtered like cattle. Many male and female elves who wore the slavery rags were already thrown about all over the colosseum grounds. The dirt was dyed a dark crimson color from being stained with all those who had fallen there. The same female elf from before had her weapon disarmed and a flaming whip had came from behind and wrapped around her neck. A large fire erupted around her and a man holding the whip was choking her from several meters away. ¡°I know what you are thinking Vali, but many have gone down this road you are contemplating. Many have died doing it. The corrupt in this world rule and it stains the humans here to show the same rott as the interior continent. I won¡¯t stop you from making whatever decisions you make, but I will only warn you justly, that it is not an easy road........and also all of them appear to be small fry.....and don¡¯t let that one with the blueish sword hit you it appears to be a strong weapon.¡± The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. She then floated over to Lily¡¯s shoulder who was below me. The elf girl tried to scream in pain but it was too much. The man then flipped the elf women over to where the demi human child from before was standing. The people in shiny armor and fancy get ups were all just toying with the slaves. It looked like they were just showing off their weapons. I pick out of my inventory a small white mask...''....Ughhh.....Loki.....did you know this was going to happen. Did you know I would need to withhold my identity some way so you gave me this creepy mask knowing I would have to wear it.....Loki....this is all somehow your fault somehow.'' The big muscular man in red armor then raised his arms and a dark red light appeared in his fists. Everyone then began cheering as the two slaves were the only ones remaining and huddled close to one another. The elven woman who looked to be in her late twenties wrapped her arms around the boy to try and shield him from the immediate danger. They had no weapons and were cornered. The boy swirled his tail around and tried to continue fighting but the elf looked to have given up. She just continued holding him tightly. He yelled to the audience and raised his fist in the sky and a bright green light appeared in his hand. He waved it to the sky and aimed his gasp towards the three. WhooooooooshhhhH! Boooomm!!!! A large gust of wind swept through the colosseum and a loud boom was heard over the roars and crowds of everyone in attendance. Dust flew into the sky from the dirt and blinded the surroundings. It was then that the ground started to shake from after shocks of a large skill being performed. There standing through the dust in front of the three slaves I had my hand firmly holding the large red armored man standing over me. My hand was firmly grasping over his wrist and firmly holding it in place. The disruption of the skill must have had some after shocks as the blast from the large man must have been strong. Though this massive built man with a size that is relatable to monsters.....had his skill immediately stopped when coming into contact with my my hand. The figure of us had then become visible to the surrounding people and I could hear the audiences cheers stop and now the colosseum has gone unnaturally quiet. The large man began to wiggle and squirm, then I increased the grip and started feeling the bones in his wrist crack and come apart through his thick gauntlets. ¡°Ahh...ughhhh!!!¡± Me gripping him made his face show both looks of pain and anger. He tried to head-but me and I simply took it. Coming into contact with my head at such a force must have caused him to go into a daze for a moment. ¡°Ya know you have horrible form. If you used your body weight proportionally you could be able to exert 3 times that with proper training......though....that was enough power to kill these unarmed people.......your prepared right?¡± As he tried to wake up from his daze I started increasing the strength in my grip and the the sounds of his limbs snapping can be heard by the surrounding people in the ring. The dark red gauntlet surrounding his forearm started to crack and break apart. I can feel the tendons and ligaments in his wrist becoming dust in my hands through his dark red gauntlets that are ruined now. Blood started to ooze out and splatter on my white mask and his wrist is now barely hanging on by any meat at all. SNAP ¡°UAAAAAhhh!!!¡± That waking him up he tried to lunge at me and I simply kneed him in the stomach to lower him to my level. ¡° You know that old saying the bigger they are.......The harder they?¡± Saying this to him I immediately slam my fist into his gut in an upward fashion and the vision of him getting blown past the low grey clouds can be seen. I¡¯t really did look somewhat like a cartoon hehe.¡¯ ''Ugh....why did I have to say such a cheesy line there though¡­..trying to look cool I guess.'' ¡°Wahhhh!!¡± Everyone in the crowd began to show their shock and voices can be heard through out the stadium but no cheers. ¡°Who.....Who are you to interrupt a duel between Kingdoms!¡± ¡°..........¡± ''.....I am batman.'' Looking towards the two cowering slaves they each look up at me shaking and with looks of awe in what they had just seen. I look past them and see a person in a shiny white iron equipment is holding that same flaming whip and yelling at me. I don¡¯t reply. I simply start viewing my surrounds at everyone in the coliseum. No.....my new battleground. There behind the man with the whip are two smaller people who appear to be an archer and a mage. Their levels are 67, 88, and 89. Turning my head I see a gentleman with short black hair and and a large one handed sword with a blue hue coming off it. His level was 98.....Oh that looks interesting, that must be the sword Hl?kk spoke of. And there I saw it......... A priest type person......standing behind the black haired man. He looked exactly like what an individual with a priest position should wear, especially from the game......He could have a healing ability. Thinking of all the opportunities to be able to absorb this persons ability I could heal my mothers wounds. Thinking of this I shot daggers at the small priest man for quite some time. ¡°Guah....¡± He flinched at my menacing gaze and didn¡¯t dare move.....Ugh....I can¡¯t just kill him. I can¡¯t just kill a person because I want their ability. If I go down that road it will be a hard one to stop....Ugh I would really like to eat that person¡¯s heart though. Everyone stared at me not knowing what I was about to do. Thinking of this the man to my right flung his whip in my direction and I intercepted it with my forearm. It lit up and began to bleed a bright fire all over my arm like it did to the elf woman under me. ¡°Hahaha.....Now burn wha!¡± ¡°You call that hot.....¡± I gripped onto the whip around my arm and wrapped it around my hand. I yanked the whip and the man holding onto it with curly blond hair was slung into my direction. His body flung through the air in a rolling fashion. As everyone gasped his body flew towards me. I stood strong on the ground and delivered a shot right to his open face when he landed. BAM! The punch sent the blonde haired man back and in a > shape and his body crashed against the wall. The wall had caved in some and the whole colosseum shook at having had an object launched like a cannon into it. His body then slowly slid down the wall and a small blood stain could be seen from where his head had collided.....yah...that may have killed him. An arrow came in from the side at my chin and i used flicker to appear at the archers front. My stride was much longer due to increased leg strength and I appeared right in front of him. He out of reflex swung his dagger in my direction and I simply evaded it and gave him a flick to the side of the head. I didn''t hold back my strength at all. The flick sent the archer''s unguarded face flying towards the wall and Im sure there was much more damage than hitting that wall. Archer¡¯s don¡¯t have very good defense but I guess since he was such a lower level than me he couldn¡¯t take a hit like that. The crowd is in awe of the fact I have just slain three opponents so easily. I walked back to my original spot and picked up the long peculiar whip on the ground and tossed it in my inventory. ¡°No....You mustn¡¯t that belongs to Lord ALDAIN!!!¡± A small man shot a large gust of fire magic in my direction and I flicked my wrist diverting the fire magic rushing past me. I wasn¡¯t just sitting in the cabin resting this whole time. I¡¯ve been getting stronger with magic as well. And magic manipulation is amazing. It allows me to interfere with incoming magic. But right now I can only divert it. Magic manipulation doesn¡¯t have a way to increase it¡¯s ability it is something that comes with time and study. My mom has helped me greatly in mastering this. I used my spatial magic and appeared right in front of the fire mage. I had traveled a distance of several meters within a second and the vision of me appearing an inch away from him caused him to cower and step back from me. "Ugh." I didn¡¯t originally plan on murdering anyone in here but they¡¯re actions are unforgivable. I can¡¯t simply watch this and allow it to go on any further. Not within my site. I¡¯ve been stepped on my whole life, and having to see it done to others in front of me and being adorned with cheers.......unforgivable. Many elves on the ground have shown signs of being torched on the ground with their smoldering bodies. I can still smell their flesh burning in my nostrils¡­.This man did that I slid my finger in a slicing fashion in a speed the man couldn¡¯t react to across the mages neck. I have found out that I can actually bring my claws out if I focus hard enough and due to my increase in strength from the monsters I took in with the world tree.....the speed of my strikes could not be ignored. The claw sliced through the mans open neck and due to my speed the air itself created a flurry following it. Within a second the mans head had fell to the ground. My nails have gotten sharper but I¡¯m curious as to how sharp. Simply swinging my hand at fast enough speeds can severe limbs from bone. """"".............."""""" I walked back to the two slaves from before. There is not a sound in the colosseum that can be heard. Looking up at them everyone¡¯s mouths are wide open staring only at me. I even see some royalties and high nobles who don¡¯t know how t o react to this. Everyone¡¯s eyes are simply staring at the horrors of what is happening in front of them. They expected some prize fight and were watching those same men simply show off their talents with slaughtering demi-humans......kids......As far as I¡¯m concerned they¡¯re all garbage. ¡°Who.....who are you! Answer me!¡± The short black haired man with silver armor looked at me with eyes of of blood lust. I don¡¯t know why he was so angry but he also didn¡¯t advance on me as he was too scared due to what he had just seen happen in front of him. ¡°I¡¯m no one of importance. Just a simple man who is doing a decent thing......If you don¡¯t want to end up like the rest of those in this place.....Run from me. The lot of you makes me sick!¡± I was blinded by rage....All I could think about was all the brutality that was happening in front of me. I can¡¯t simply watch that and not do anything. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to start a war with the Kingdoms.....but I cannot accept standing here and just watch it¡­¡­.I¡¯ve had to sit by and watch before¡­.I can¡¯t do that again. Killing people is not my purpose here but.....I¡¯m slowly finding myself becoming a murderer right now... I lean over and talk to the two slaves. ¡°Hey....it¡¯s alright. You guys are safe now. Come on.....link arms we''re leaving.¡± The two looked up at me and were still shivering from over the display. I mean less than a minute ago they were about to be blown away. They however don¡¯t show faces of relief but concern. Maybe they don¡¯t trust me. ¡°I....I can¡¯t leave her¡­.m..my sister is trapped here! I can¡¯t leave her¡­here.¡± The elf had tears in her eyes. She was being given a chance at escape and she couldn¡¯t accept it. The demi human boy with black hair just simply stayed silent looking at me oddly. He didn¡¯t look to trust me at all. ¡°Listen....we need to leave now.¡± ¡°.....I ....I can¡¯t leave her¡­.She¡¯s¡­.she¡¯s all I have!¡± ¡°Yes¡­.and if I survive here today they said I could be with my sister!" The black haired boy spoke up¡­.Hmm maybe I should tell him why I¡¯m actually here. Does he actually believe he can meet with his sister should he win in this place? How bad is the world here where they have brainwashed the kids to this extent of fear. Even if she has fellow elves in that sacred forest¡­.she won¡¯t escape this place if it meant leaving her here. I began to hear the crowd clamor louder than before but I continued to talk to the girl while watching my radar. ¡°..............Where is your sister? ¡°.....ugh...down...down, below here¡± She didn¡¯t make since but she motioned too the dirt. So is she saying she died or that there is a basement structure below the colosseum. ¡°...yes¡­..She, she is chained up downstairs. If....if you help her sir¡­surely I¡¯ll..¡± ¡°Downstairs¡­you mean like a basement under this colleseum?¡± I asked hurriedly. I cut off the elf women who seemed puzzle when I interrupted her but I needed to get my answers quick as we don¡¯t have time to spare. Though she told me these people were small fry, I don¡¯t want to do something stupid like with Malthiel. Luckily my cognitive functions have improved , I feel my speech patterns and way of thinking is much shaper than before . ¡°........ It is large room below where we are standing. ¡° Many slaves and monsters are sold down there.¡± The small boy again spoke up. He still seemed irritated. Maybe I should tell him his sister sent me. But again no time. I then go to take out Abgrund and I feel the dark haired boy from before is about to make a move. I heard him being yelled at from the distance by someone, in fact I heard a lot of people clamoring and yelling but I didn¡¯t pay much attention to it all. ¡°Kill him. Alphonse!!!!! Show him the glory of Asher!" The man then dashed in my direction and swung his frosted sword.......I wonder..... Tink! I grabbed the sword and caught it with my hand. His movements were too slow for me and I could see easily where he was going. He seemed to be a skilled swordsman but this person was probably not thinking clearly. He just¡­..moved too slow. After I grabbed the sword he did an odd flick with his hand and cut my hand quite severely. Looking down I can see blood and that this weapon, like Hl?kk had said to watch out for, has the potential to cut my flesh. But that is not what had surprised me. The sword cut the meat in my hand and showed the bones of my wrist.......They were solid black. Could the sword do this......no. They are the same color as that Reaper from before. I knew I had absorbed a lot of him and knew my bones got stronger but.....I didn¡¯t think I absorbed the traits of his bones. They were dark black and nearly impenetrable by bladed weapons. They were the black cursed bones of a King Reaper and could not be split by this sword. It makes since now why my body could handle the jumps and exerted forces I¡¯ve been applying on it until now, it''d be impossible otherwise. My bones are much stronger than they use to be, and now have a dark black color to them. ''....They seem quite durable.'' I look up and see the man backing away taking some distance. I see him trying to search for an opening. It is now that I use the mask Loki gave me. I activate a skill that allows me to see openings of an individual and would help you deliver a critical hit. Surprisingly even though this person is level 98 he has a lot of openings according to this mask. He really is small time. I then used spatial magic and appeared behind him. I grabbed him by the back of his head and his whole body went numb. I swung my hand with the tip of my claws downward and sliced off the right arm of the man and the weapon holding it also dropped to the ground. It had cut right in between the gaps of his armor and severed his arm entirely. ¡°AHHHhhhhhh!¡± The man now writhing in pain is squirming in my hand a lot so I let him go. I walk over and then take the interesting looking weapon and walk back to the Noah and the elf girl who have somehow managed to survive this horrible ordeal. I can hear someone screaming in the distance proclaiming not to let me leave....I¡¯m going to need another way to get out of here. I bring out Abgrund and everyone in the audience gasped. I could hear the clamoring becoming louder and some screams can be heard. There I stood with a white creepy mask holding a large metal death scythe clouded in darkness caused everyone in the stadium like structure to panic. The elf and even the small boy below me had eyes wide and couldn¡¯t due to my action. Apparently the look of a man holding such an ominous weapon is a weapon and of itself. It is quite intimidating. ¡°Hold on.¡± I said this and pulled each of them a bit closer to me and then applied the weight to the base of my scythe. The weight was changed and I used Lord¡¯s Earth Shattering Smash on the ground. Even though I was holding back what had happened was truly terrifying. A crack appeared on the ground and an earth quake shook the entire colosseum. Everything shook and loud screams were given by everyone in attendance. The ground broke apart in front of me and large layers of the earth had began to cave in. Over half the large open space in the colosseum had opened up caved in and I honestly hope I didn¡¯t kill anyone innocent downstairs. .Not like there seems to be many in this city. As I said this I helped the two climb down the debris and onto the floor below. Looking up I saw crowds of people trying to escape and only a small handful of noble looking people in shining armor and clothing staring back at me. A large group of guards with weapons drawn were standing by them in a press box of sorts¡­.They looked angry. I swiveled my head around and there I saw something that made me stop what I was doing.....lying about 10 meters away was that same priest type person from before but his skin was burnt and roasted. He must have took on the flames I had redirected from before because he was standing behind me......It¡¯s funny I call myself smart but I miss some of the simplest things. I need that persons heart.....Thinking this I manipulated the spell fire ball and a gust of fire erupted around me and shot out like a ring as me in the center. This caused dust and clouds to form in the stadium center while fire covered my surroundings to stop anyone from interfering.....or seeing. I had ripped the dead priests heart out and threw it in my storage before jumping down to the basement of the large colosseum. It would originally be a dark place but due to the light from the destroyed ceiling has caused the entire downstairs to become illuminated. Walking through the basement I see cages that had large monsters crashed in it and several dead guards that were underneath. The devastation of that last move may have been overkill. It¡¯s hard to say if anything survived this. I walked over to where the 3 yellow dots on my radar were that I had kept track of and determined were the slaves had went. I walked up to them. There were several cages I walked by. Some with dead monsters in them, some with dead slaves. Even children...The crash didn''t seem to kill any of them though. I did a scan of their heartbeats but nothing remained but the shell of their bodies lying there. I signed as I walked past the cages and towards the two from earlier. I got closer to the cage with the other two.There sitting inside was elf woman sat there wrapped in chains. Her clothes have been torn and her body is in pretty bad shape. I could begin to hear the faint sounds of chains rattling in my mind....or maybe it was the chains around this elf. I don¡¯t stop to think about it but I reach down and break the small narrow cage. I then saw that same elf from earlier rush over to where she is. There sitting in shackles and chains was a beautiful elf woman. She had large chest that even puts my mothers to competition. She has a black eye and her left leg appeared to be broken.....I again stopped at the site in front of me was just too cruel. Her lips were cracked and bloody, her eyes looked dead. But whenever she saw her sister they regained some light. ¡°Wah¡­.Ti¡­Tifania?¡­I thought I¡¯d never see you again!¡± The two elves started crying and holding onto one another. The elf from before could hardly talk due to her burns on her neck but I could still manage to the sounds they were speaking to each other. She brushed the messy hair over her sister in chains and tried to get her to calm down. Looking at each others appearances must have been hard. This girl in shackles¡­..her entire left side of her face was bruised. Like she had been hit during a struggle. Though she doesn¡¯t show to have the same kinds of abuse as her sister¡­.. I started to approach the two when the elf in shackles started to shake and pull away. She initially looked at me in quite fear and said a few things to her sibling but didn¡¯t appear to trust me. The two elves fought and I honestly couldn¡¯t understand them.....''I just kept hearing chains. Chains rattling....and rattling. The echoes were so loud it drowned out all other noises. It might be the elf girls or.....it sounds just like those sounds from my nightmares....I haven¡¯t heard them in such a long time......but I have never forgotten.....that sound.'' I broke the cage open and tried to crush the chains of the beaten and dirty elf woman. She flinched and tried to struggle when I placed my hands on her neck. I wasn¡¯t listening to what she was saying. I just ripped off her collar and tried to hold back my tears.....¡¯The sounds of rattling continued and....My God.....Kaylan is stuck in this world. I.....I have to find her.¡¯ I rounded up everyone and could hear the boy with the black hair becoming startled. We needed to leave immediately. I think he can sense danger too. Maybe even past my senses. Though we are not exactly in safe territory. I tried to tell them each to hold hands and I¡¯m going to use a teleportation spell. The elf I freed said something and I just ignored it. They seemed in awe of what I had said but didn¡¯t argue. They just were quiet and hoping that they could actually somehow be rescued from this place. I couldn¡¯t use my spatial magic entirely to zap us home. My mana wasn''t low but using spatial magic with this many people is tricky. But I think I can use it to at least get us out a few miles from here....somewhere....far......far away from this horrible place. Just before I was about to activate my magic I heard a small faint sound. If my senses weren¡¯t as sharp as they have been......I would have never been able to catch it. ¡°cough...cough....help.....ple..pleaseee¡± In the far corner of where the colosseum¡¯s basement is I heard a faint whisper through the wreckage. It¡¯s very small but with manipulating my magic I was able to pick up a trace of a heartbeat. A very slow heart beat. Somehow these words were able to make it through the overpowering rattling the filled my ears. But I could hear something else. I could even smell it......it smelled like death. I put away Abrgund and told everyone to hold on, I would be right back, sending the elf women and even Noah into a panic but I assured them I would be right back. They tried to honestly stop me and I had asked what was in that corner. The one with the broken leg said that is where they keep the food for some of the other monsters they show fighting in the colosseum. She said that is the one place she never wanted to be while being down in this horrible hell hole. I swore to them I¡¯d come right back and rushed over to the location and I saw a site that caused my whole world to freeze. ''I don¡¯t know why I was doing all of this.....saving people. It was never something I did back in my old life but this is just.......horrific. How are the people of this world ok with this happening? ¡® There in a very small and narrow cage in the corner of this prison¡­..I saw a grizzly site. The smells of excrement and death entered through my mask and I saw something that turned everything in my surroundings black. A very small and frail child sat curled in a ball while hugging her knees. She looked up at me and her eyes showed the site of seeing pure terror and began to cry. She was scared of me......Scared of what was going to happen. I lowered my head and got down to her level. I pulled off my mask revealing my face to her. I.....was trying so hard to hold back the tears at what was sitting just a few feet away from me. This small sickly girl had dark brown hair and a dark floppy ear that looked to have a rough to the touch. The other side of her head was dirty and it looked like her ear had been torn off. Looking at her peeking face I see the scars. Roughly her entire face is ruined and rattled with some type of flesh disease. Only some small pieces of skin remained over her right eye and part of her frail chin. The open flesh and meat showed that something terrible had probably happened to her. She didn¡¯t even have any chains on her as she was just too small and clearly too weak to do anything. This is the place that they store the food for the monsters of stadium? My vision distorted and it began to become hard to breathe. My throat choked up and I broke the cage. The little girl then held her knees tighter and starting crying. ¡°I...I...don¡¯t want to die....pla please¡­¡­.¡± She was trembling and showed signs of not wanting to be taken away from this small cage. I took off my mask. She must have thought the next time she would exit this place would mean her death. ¡°I¡¯m....umm.....I¡¯m not gonna hurt you. I¡¯m..here to take you away from this place.¡± ¡°But....but.....your eyes!¡± My eyes....maybe they¡¯ve turned black again. I couldn¡¯t be sure I just......broke down. All I could think about while staring at this poor scarred little child was Kaylan. ''She¡¯s.....she¡¯s somewhere in this horrible world. She¡¯s.....somewhere far away from me¡­.. and I can''t be there for her. I....have....to find her...... '' Tears began to well up in my eyes and pour down my face. My actions began to startle the little girl in the cage and looked up at me shaking. She then changed her expression to a confused one as if trying to figure out what I was doing standing there. I said the one thing I honestly wished I would have heard a few times in my life.... ¡°.....Do you wish to be saved from this place?¡± ¡°....owawawa.......¡± She stopped her shivering and slightly nodded her head while she looked up at me. I raised my hand to usher it was time to leave. The small sickly girl tried to raise her body. Her legs were far too weak to support her weight and fell back to the ground. She looked like she was honestly going to die right there. She was exerting so much force.....So much strength¡­. it looked like she was struggling with her last possible effort.'' Why.....why are you trying so hard. '' ¡°I¡¯m...I¡¯m fine....pla...please don¡¯t leave me...can...walk....¡± The girl kept trying to lift her small body off the ground and move forward but only tears came forth from her efforts. I know that she would want for nothing more than to leave this place. But what has happened in this little girls¡¯ life. It doesn¡¯t sound like she is happy for freedom but she¡¯s terrified I¡¯d leave her if she didn''t hurry. Her weak legs gave in and she fell into my arms. I pulled her fragile body close to myself and began to hold her against my chest. Only images of Kaylan began to flood into my head. Chains rattling could be heard and my vision had gone completely dark again. ''Ka...Kaylan is in this horrible place. She could.....should could just as easily be in the same state of this little girl. '' I held the unbelievably small girl tighter and tears continued to fall down my face. I couldn¡¯t bear the idea of a fate like this one happening to the one I cherished most......¡¯What the hell is wrong with these people? Why? Why is something like this happening....to children!? Where....Where is Kaylan!¡¯ My body shook and I began to lose control. ¡°Ugh....mi..mister....I¡±m...dirty.¡± The small girl I was holding close against my chest made a tiny whisper in my ear that some how made it through the loud rattling noises. It only made me wake up to what I was doing. I¡¯m sure this probably looked quite odd to her. Her small ragged clothing was covered in dirt and her own feces. She had seen such horrible times and ''.....and I am going to take her away from this place.¡¯ ¡°It¡¯s ok.......I don¡¯t mind.¡± I looked back at the little girl and she had then seen that I had been crying. She looked up at me with her big brown eyes that showed to be red from crying or also infection. It was really too hard to tell with looking at the extent of the damage done to her body. I placed my hand on the back of her head and held her gently. We continued to look at each and I began to hear loud whispers as well as the same rattling. Something comes up from behind me and shakes my shoulders.It is the first elf women I saved and she is telling me we need to leave. I simply nod as I am currently not in a good state of mind. I feel like what I have witnessed today has caused me some kind of severe shock towards my already fragile mind. As I held the small girl in my arms we walked back to where everyone else had been waiting. Lying on the ground was the elf I had freed sitting on the ground with her broken leg. We had all connected arms when around 30 red dots appeared on the radar and swarmed around us. ¡°Stop them!¡± ¡°Ugh....what''s that he''s holding?¡± ¡°Take them alive but be sure to injure him good. Show them what happens to those who mess with the Aldain Kingdom!¡± All that I could hear in my mind was rattling. Mind numbing sounds of rattling chains. My vision distorted and I honestly could¡¯t see what was in front of me. '' All I could hear was those loud rattling chains........they were so.....loud....'' I had looked up at the entering guardsmen and flicked my wrist. All of the 30 guards that had surrounded me were now hovering over the ground and convulsing. I heard moans and sounds of them squirming. But the sounds didn¡¯t drowned out the loud rattling of chains that just wouldn¡¯t stop. I had activated Death¡¯s Grip and tapped into the pulse¡¯s of everyone in the surrounding area. Ya know Death Magic is truly a terrifying thing. It¡¯s a skill that I am honestly very scared to practice with. But magic manipulation I still think is much more dangerous.......It allows you to manipulate one¡¯s own magic. Thusly using the skill in a much better way than it originally allowed. It¡¯s like using a skill at advanced level while still being at the beginner. I brought my hand to a fist and within an instant the 30 men who were all convulsing for there lives had instantly stopped moving. Boom! A loud wet sound erupted and the eyes of all the victims had each exploded out of their skulls and blood was now coming from their open mouths. Some of it had even splashed on my now bare face. Their life forces that was just in this world had now gone silent. They had been given the touch of death and were crushed internally by my magic. I dropped my hand and the bodies fell. The slaves could not believe what they had saw and just looked back at me in silence. Still holding each other¡¯s hands they had not moved from when they had seen my magic. They simply were too terrified to move away. Without saying anything else I grabbed the first elf¡¯s hand who was connected with everyone else and looked down at the small sick child with her head buried in my chest. She didn¡¯t see what had happened luckily but she still seems frightened. I could use my magic to hear her heart beat and could feel she at least wasn¡¯t as frightened as before. All that consumed my mind however.........was Kaylan. I quietly activated my spatial magic........and we all escaped that horrible place. Sickly Demi Human Slave Girl¡¯s POV: I¡¯ve never had my own name. I was born into slavery and my whole life has been filled with pain. I only learned how to speak some through fellow slaves and a nice lady who took care of me once. Though...I¡¯ve never had a name. I¡¯m sitting in the small cage that i¡¯ve lived in for the past few nights. Though I don¡¯t know because it¡¯s always been so dark down here......¡®It¡¯s been....so scary down here.¡¯ My parents were slaves themselves and I was sold away from them apparently right after birth. I thing I¡¯m a member of the Rufian Race which is a breed of dog demi-human though. But.....I don¡¯t know my family either. ¡®Life really has been a cruel one to me. I don¡¯t believe I¡¯ll be alive much longer¡­¡­..¡¯ I begin to cry to myself which actually hurts when I do it now. Due to being experimented on by the humans.....my face and body were ruined. My face is rough and I got to the see the reflection of it one time.........I¡¯m truly ugly now.....I can t breathe as good anymore either. I....thought...this is really what life had to be. It was always painful and cruel to me. Though I had some friends initially who were other slaves, I was always alone in this world. Thinking about this in my cage I heard loud noises upstairs on the floor above. I guess a big monster is up there fighting.....Those mean humans said.....I would be eaten by one soon. Because of my face no one would buy a slave like me. I was told I was bought to become food for the monsters here. I began to hug my knees and cry. Though life has never been good to me. I¡¯m scared of dying. I.....I don¡¯t want to die yet. Then a loud sound happened and the whole ceiling began to fall apart. Large crashing sounds happened and a bright white light shined on the once forever dark room. It was the first time I had seen the sky in a few days. The large parts of the ceiling that came crashing down had crushed almost all of the monsters around me and even a dozen guards who were standing quite far away from me.....I was....The only one left around here. Cough...cough The dust started to get into my lungs and I couldn¡¯t breathe. I was going to have a spasm attack again. Last time I shook for a long time....and one of the guards threw food at me. ¡°Ple...please....he.lp me..¡± I don¡¯t know why I asked for help. It¡¯s not like anyone has ever tried to help me in all of my life. I¡¯m just a ruined little girl that no body wants. Who would ever want to help me? One time.....a couple days ago a rich nobleman and woman had walked by my cage and the women had laughed at my site. She called me horrible names that made me cry. But then she said.....If I wanted to be bought all I would have to do is bark like a dog.....I did.....She then told me to come along with her but my legs were....to weak. I couldn¡¯t get up, I couldn¡¯t walk to her. I tried as hard as I could but I couldn''t seem to stand up cause my legs don¡¯t seem to work real well anymore. The lady then laughed and said it seemed like I wanted to stay in the cage and then left me here¡­..All while laughing at me.....I¡¯ve had to think of that horrible memory of being left in this cage ever since. If I was just a little stronger....I could have gotten out of here.... I started crying to myself and I could then hear the sounds of someone running over. ''......it was.....a masked man. It had dark black eyes and a red smile. Though it had a tear painted on it. He started approaching me for some reason I went into a panic....Is this it....is it time for me to die?'' He walked up and just¡­..stopped. He just¡­¡­.continued to stare at me. He lowered his body and got down on his knees. He seemed to be wearing odd clothes but I could see that he had really white hair coming out of his mask. I begged and pleaded with him that I didn¡¯t want to die but he just stood there. He took off his mask and he was a very handsome human. ''He.....he¡¯s crying?'' Why is he crying? He asked me if I wanted to leave this place and I didn¡¯t know how to respond. ''I wanted to leave but.....I don¡¯t want to die. '' He just asked if I wanted to be saved.....yes¡­..Yes I wish I could be saved. I tried as hard as I could to get up but my legs weren¡¯t strong enough....I .....I can¡¯t do it. My knees wriggled and began to shake....no....please I have to get out of this place. Please.....ple...please don¡¯t leave me here....Tears began to fall from my face and I just couldn¡¯t do it. It was going to happen again. I tried so hard and then my raised body began to fall. ¡®Eh...¡¯ He....he caught me. The white haired man from before is now holding me in his arms and shivering. I¡¯m so dirty though.....I¡¯ve ... been in this cage for a long time. It felt like he was still crying.... he then looked right at me and I could see into his eyes. Yes they were black and I was frightened but ..... they looked so sad. ¡®Is he....crying for me? '' ''Why would a human cry for me?'' A tall beautiful elf appeared and gargled something in the man¡¯s ears and he followed her. He burried my face in his arms and I could hear the sounds of several men surrounding us. One of them even pointed at me saying how ugly I was. ''Well....I guess this is it......Being princess carried for the first time and held so warmly......it was nice while it lasted.'' The white haired man had then raised his arm and all the surrounding men began to hover over the ground like magic! I¡¯ve never seen something like this before. Though I¡¯ve heard other slaves speak of magic but is that what is happening right now? I looked up at the man who held me but he wasn¡¯t making a face. He didn¡¯t seem to show any emotion at all. He just closed his open hand and the surrounding men screamed and then a loud popping sound was heard and blood flew into the white haired man''s face. I didn¡¯t know what had happened but the surrounding loud noises had finally stopped. It felt like it was just me and this man again. I lowered my face in his chest as not to show I was staring at him.............. ''Where is this human taking me? Is it better than...that cage?.....He seems quite warm. '' And the smell from his scarf was so very calming. He continued to hold my small and dirty body and then I saw a white flash wrap around him and I. ''If I only knew then that this was the beginning of my new life... with this man.'' End of Chapter Chapter 9: Deaths New Hand Updated! Chapter 9: Death''s New Hand Cassandra Kraiser¡¯s POV: The room is silent. Not a word could be heard, making it as if no one were there at all even though the room is filled with kings and a large number of high nobleman families, some with ties to the central continent. Even some local guild masters, very famous ones in the region, are also gathered, as the room is filled with a large assortment of men and women from around the continent who can be gathered in such a short time. All the group¡¯s leaders are all sitting around a long wooden table that had been crudely cut out of dark, dead Baum wood. It¡¯s a large, dark-plant monster species that can be found in the surrounding magical forests around Jheroki Mountains. The dark wood gave the table a dark and ominous feel to it, very similar to what I and everyone else in the room are now feeling. Sitting in the middle of the table is a magical viewing crystal that was given to us by a high nobleman. He had received it from his travels in the central continent and bought some of their lucrative inventions back to the kingdom. The purer the crystal, the clearer the picture will be. Although the picture was fuzzy, everything could initially be made out well. I can¡¯t imagine the amount of wealth it took to afford something like this. Even though this room is filled with some of the best military minds on the continent, they cannot describe what we are all seeing. According to what we were just told, one of the higher noble clans of the Elliot family was using this device to film the event at the colosseum a couple of days ago. It was to show some of his affiliates in the central continent the renowned Aldus that had taken to fame greatly after his father¡¯s death while also attaining the legendary Frost Sword. Apparently, like many other rising adventurers in the out landing human colonies, Aldus gained attention for his talents in swordsmanship. If one shows promise, they may even get a chance to live in one of the central continents massive inner cities and join a prestigious guild or sword academy affiliated with his or her class. Truly there are so many opportunities to go to the central continent, but it is easier said than done.... Even though this video was originally meant to view Aldus and the other vassals, the entire room¡¯s focus is on somebody else entirely... ¡®Who in the world is that?¡¯ Though the room is silent right now, I can still remember the screams and cries echoing from the crowd, watching the horrific scene that is playing back to everyone in the dark room right now. The light from the blurry crystal image illuminated the large, dark room as I can see the white¡¯s of everyone¡¯s eyes as their mouths were wide open at the scenes displayed on the blurry blue light. I looked down and I can hear Lucy and Lori talking to one another, so I ushered them to be quiet......¡®This is important!¡¯ I hated the idea of even coming to this disgusting kingdom the moment I heard of the duel request, but who am I to express my opinion against the king¡¯s orders. Aldain is a disturbing kingdom that wasn¡¯t founded very long ago if I recall. They need the profit from duel requests and had been challenging neighboring kingdoms to gain wealth as their national wealth was crumbling away due to poor management. The King of Aldain was a former Earl that somehow obtained quite a bit a power, thus, became a king after defeating one of the local dungeons. He gained affinity in the new unconquered land and laid his claim to it, though what he did with his power is truly more grotesque than what I want to say..... Throughout the moving, blurry images that flashed on the display, it would show brief appearances of a masked man. Slowing the speed of the image down as much as it could go a small white dot appearing as quick as lighting had somehow managed to stop a violent punch to a poor unguarded elf woman. ''I must say I was quite happy the moment I saw this masked man appear. I despise watching grotesque acts of violence on the unwilling, while saying it was a warm-up before the match to show off prowess? It¡¯s truly sickening!'' They aren¡¯t treated well in my kingdom but here......here is really bad for them........ It¡¯s as if the entire Aldain Kingdom is drowning itself in morbid abuse towards others. I couldn¡¯t bear to watch and tried to shield Lucy¡¯s eyes as Lori and Cana couldn¡¯t bear to watch anymore. ¡¯I.....I wish I could have done something.¡¯ Thinking back to the shame I had been feeling, I remembered that my feelings then just like now quickly turned into a completely different one. I like everyone else gathered around this long dark wooden table, were in awe of this masked man. After appearing with a flash, he suppressed Ponchius¡¯s, monstrous blow with only one hand. Some words were said and before anyone else knew what happened, Ponchius disappeared from the coliseum. I remember a few days ago at the moment, I thought he had made the large man truly vanish. ¡®After that........anyone that stepped towards the masked man to attack him were mercilessly cut down.¡¯ He showed such displays of strength and raw speed, we originally thought he was a was like some berserker, even though he was wearing a white scarf and quite odd clothing. ¡®He was clearly a man of undeniable strength¡­.I¡¯m from a noble household who always thought to be quite strong for a knight while also being a woman. This person shattered those ideas of strength¡­¡­..but the masked individual also showed magic that had never been seen before this day.¡¯ He can actually..... cast magic without any incantations. Something thought to only be possible for the 12 Grand Sages. Each image displayed in the circle showed a masked man appearing and reappearing throughout the colosseum at will, wreaking havoc to whatever poor soul unlucky enough to enter his sight. Flashes of him beheading a person, taking on the large bright flames of an ancient whip.......... he crushed each and every one of his opponents as if he was toying with children. After finishing them off, he would even take their weapons as prizes. He appeared to be standing in front of 2 demi-humans on the coliseum floor however. The sand and dirt were dyed a dark, blood-soaked tint and even the great Aldus, who was said to be a great rising star in this continent, was immediately dealt with and dismembered flawlessly. He killed or dismembered each and every one of the two dueling kingdom¡¯s party at today¡¯s match. He did take down some of the strongest in our kingdom, and did it so simply no one in the room is speaking. He appeared to do all of this all while standing in front of two unknown slaves.....''Why?'' ¡°By the Goddess Freya...¡± ¡°He....He can also use magic?¡± ¡°Ugh¡­¡­ he tore his arm off!¡± Standby priests and guild masters, some who weren¡¯t at the event, voiced their shock at the horrific scene that plagued everyone from that day. ¡°How is Aldus¡¯s condition anyway?¡± One of the older high-esteemed guild masters from the region in the room inquired. ¡°His condition has stabilized, but his time as a warrior is finished.¡± King Asher had finally spoken up. Before rushing back from the incident he told us all to wait outside of the city gates while he investigates everything. I along with the other personal knights stood and protected the king¡¯s children while the rest of the royal kings went with King Asher. The moment he came back, he held his children and wife in his arms and began talking to them. Lucy had only said he was glad they were safe, but I feel as though he saw something since he hasn¡¯t spoken since. He just kept staring at the dark table wood and didn¡¯t even take notice to the moving images above. ¡°I....I heard Beast Arm Ponchius landed in one of the colosseum¡¯s private seating rooms.¡° ¡°.....Yes. His condition is quite bad as well......but had managed to survive the fall.¡± ¡°The fall?¡± The King of Aldain had spoken up, asking in response to the other higher noble out of curiosity. ¡°Yes.....it appears he fell from the sky. It was too blurry in the image to see and due to all the sand and dust flying around, well we know now that he was punched into the sky and didn¡¯t land for at least a minute later.¡± ¡°¡±¡°........¡±¡±¡± Everyone remained quiet and continued watching the unbelievable site we had already witnessed. What strength can this person actually have? We just couldn¡¯t determine who the man was, nor why he had stopped this duel between kingdoms. No one could answer these questions. ¡°He¡¯s clearly over level 100.¡± ¡°What? How can that be? How could someone pass the Level-100-barrier without us noticing?¡± ¡°......Maybe he¡¯s from the central continent..¡± One of the higher nobles in a black robe sitting at the table questioned.¡°....You think this is someone from the Central Continent?¡± The King of Aldain then spoke again louder. ¡°We of the Elliot family have thoroughly investigated the remnants of the coliseum and have determined this to be a high possibility. ¡° ¡°........¡± ¡°....Why would someone from the central continent come out to the outskirts of the world? We¡¯re still a new kingdom, so why would someone there come just to wreak havoc?¡± ¡°The powers shown by this masked individual shows......much to be considered. He is not only a being of immense strength and fighting ability, but he is someone who shows to have truly mastered magic....possibly at an Arch mage level.¡± ¡°Come now, you¡¯re not answering my question! Why would someone like that come to our kingdom and do this?!¡± ¡°You¡¯re not listening.....the remnants of what we found at the colosseum is eye-opening." ¡°.......¡± Everyone in the room became quiet and forgets to look at the crystal showing images of whoever was holding it running. They were apparently running for their lives on the display. I remember that day so well.... The man in dark clothing from the Elliot family then continued his findings. ¡°The large rock that was carved to be the colosseum¡¯s floor seems to be completely destroyed. From what we¡¯ve seen, that large black scythe he was holding left the surrounding rock and area that was touched by it to emit toxic mists.......many of ours that investigated the affected rocks became sick and collapsed. ¡° Everyone in the room sat in awe of that statement. All of us who were present that day remember the sight of that large weapon of death. The moment the masked man pulled it out of his inventory, I felt it.......the pain of my skin stinging like it was touched by a thousand pointy knives. My skin crawled and it was as if my eyes were drawn right into the darkness that surrounds the large dreadful weapon. He used the weapon¡¯s bottom to smash the ground floor, collapsing the whole colosseum. Many have died and are currently being investigated, but the majority seemed to be monsters and many of Aldain¡¯s guard. Truly so many have died by this man, and he did it so easily. ¡°So....that area is actually toxic now? What was that scythe? It looked like a dark legendary weapon of some kind.¡¯ ¡°Yes.... we believe it to be quite the strong weapon to have such effects. We¡¯re quite interested in his weapon¡¯s power actually as it seems to be quite immeasurable by our data. Compared to many of the legendary relics and items I have come to see in my travels, I have witnessed weapons that could take down entire kingdoms in a day.......but according to what my men with the appraiser skills said is that, ¡®The weapon is truly.......terrifying.¡¯¡° The man from the Elliot family man spoke back to the King and then we all looked at the end of the video cutting out and the room becoming dark. ¡°.......So it¡¯s someone who possibly defeated a dungeon and acquired a strong weapon? It¡¯s not war from the central colonies?¡± The Aldain King asked quite nervously. The power that was displayed there was just that fierce; the inner colonies were said to have powers that are truly frightening. It was as if saying they lived in a completely different world. ¡°No.....we believe his level to be quite high. We could not seem to view his status as he must have been much higher than the appraiser¡¯s level.¡± ¡°....He could be something like a demon or an intelligent monster?¡± One of the men in the room asked this and it was actually something that could be possible. The masked man on the display moved and took down his opponents ruthlessly and showed monstrous power. Something that the demon race has always shown to be known for. ¡°No.....we know from the appraisal that he is at least human.¡± ¡°You say that, but we found the body of a priest that was from the Asher kingdom and he had his heart ripped out of his chest........He wasn¡¯t like that before the duel started!¡± ¡°......¡± Everyone¡¯s still quiet trying to figure out and understand who this man could be. I didn¡¯t even know that about the priest.... I keep hearing Lucy and Cana talking and they need to seriously keep it down. I quietly scolded them but they just smiled back at me....¡¯Uh...children will always be children I suppose.¡¯ ¡°I believe that we should get a guard of both our kingdoms and hunt this mad man down at once! He may be high level but if we surround him get him while he¡¯s not looking we will cut him down!!! Call all available guilds in the area and we will hunt down this masked man, the man who killed my son!!¡± ¡°Yah!¡± ¡°AHhhh!!!!¡± Many of the men surrounding King Aldain screamed in unison. However as many yelled and tried to rally together, one remained seated in his chair at the end of the table and all he did was look at the dark wooden table. King Asher continued to remain quiet for some time, seeming to be thinking about something very deep. ¡°I do not know believe that would be a wise decision!¡± King Asher then spoke again and the room became quiet at his strong words. His voice had aged, but it still has much wisdom behind them. You could hear the sounds of his deep voice coming through his beard. ¡°Father! What are you talking about?! He ruined my personal knights!!!! Do you realize how much we paid to have them join us?! They are ruined now!!!¡° ¡°Dominic.......you as well as everyone in this room should listen to my words........do not pursue this enemy!" ¡° What are you saying!! We must take revenge for the Asher Kingdom! We cannot look weak to the other kingdoms! Even if he is from the central continent we cannot let this hypocrisy stand!¡± ¡°King Asher?! Are you saying you¡¯re not going to join us in hunting down this heathen?!....This...This monster!?¡± ¡°....I do not wish to see more blood fall for this act. I warned Dominic and his men that stepping into the ring could ultimately meet their end. But they did not care. Such brutality.......any and everyone that stepped up to this masked man were easily and immediately destroyed.......I do not wish to see more violence for the words of seeking out revenge.¡± ¡°.....You...You¡¯re kidding?¡± Prince Asher seems to be in shock and very angry. ¡°Psh...Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re afraid of one man, Asher? You....said to be an acclaimed warrior comparable to the heroes?! Hah! That¡¯s a load of garbage now I see. What a joke!! What you see this person to truly be that powerful he scares you into cowardice?!!!¡± ¡°...Yes....I have chosen to consider him a dangerous being.¡± ¡°Father...You¡¯re....You¡¯re scared?¡± Everyone in the surroundings couldn¡¯t see how such a famed King from many years ago had gone to the point of submission before a foe he had never even faced. I can understand being afraid of a monster like that, but......for a king or a knight to stand down in fear....to....show fear in the eyes of an opponent. It makes our kingdom look rather......weak...Though....I¡¯m kind of happy he doesn¡¯t want to chase after that white-haired man....I can''t imagine trying to attack him. ¡°I only choose what I believe......After the colosseum was destroyed, I met the masked man and somehow survived.....I took some of my elite guards and looked through the desolated area that was left in his destruction....I had thought since such a person could freely use magic and jump from place to place that he may have already been long gone.........I and my men had met a small guard from the Aldain kingdom and ventured into the broken parts of the dungeon where they wanted to look for someone...¡± Everyone in the room had stopped what they were doing....Even Lucy had stopped playing to listen. ¡±....We ventured in and found the same white-haired man with the same group of slaves he had been appearing to stand in front of from before. I believe he may have been protecting them. Before I had any chance to say anything, the guards rushed him. Twenty of the best royal knights from my kingdom and 10 of those men from Aldain........all mercifully killed before my eyes as if it was as simple as flicking his wrist. Their bodies were lifted off the ground by the white haired man¡¯s magic and moments later, their eyes had burst from their skulls...... killing them all..... He killed them all so quickly, he showed no hesitation at all for who they were......Letting me know he is not someone who has no regard to killing those in power just because of their title.... If I had been standing only a few steps forward....I would have met a same end that day.¡± Everyone in the room was shocked in awe of this statement. No magic was heard of that was so grotesque and could do something like he described. Well....nothing about that man is normal. But that is just shocking to hear. He showed such dazzling magic it wouldn¡¯t be weird to assume he could do horribly things with them. If he truly was someone from the central continent, I could believe what the King was saying. They say that people there are on a completely different level than us in the eastern continent. ¡°Fine...those who wish to follow this will¡¯s of a coward can stay with this fool. Those who wish to capture the bastard follow me and be paid with enough gold to match your weight!!!¡± Many cheered and followed King Aldain out of the war room. It then became quiet again and only a few higher nobles and guildsman were left present in the room still going over the images of the magic crystal. They appeared to be trying to find out any information on where this man could have been. ¡®I....don¡¯t know what to believe about this person. Though he mercilessly slaughtered people in the colosseum and caused so much destruction........he seemed have saved those small slaves so....that has to count for something right?¡¯ The King then walked over to me and put his hand on his daughter¡¯s head and rubbed it back and forth. He really does cherish his daughter Lucy. The King then went to go speak with Dominic and find his wife Liriana. He warned me to keep a close eye on Lucy and then left the large room and tried to talk Dominic down from his hysteria. Though I haven¡¯t seen Olivia, Lucy¡¯s older sister, for some time. ¡°Psstttt......Hey, Cassandra.¡± Lucy kept looking up at me with Cana and seemed kind of excited about something. ¡°Hey.....I want to go find that masked man and make him my next servant.¡± ¡°........¡± ¡®.....What did she just say?¡¯ ¡°Don¡¯t give me that look. You don¡¯t think he¡¯s dangerous do you?¡± ¡°Obviously that masked man is dangerous Lucy!.....We cannot go looking for him at all! You heard your father¡¯s orders to Dominic didn¡¯t you?!.....That is a very bad idea!¡± ¡°He¡¯s not bad though.....didn¡¯t you see he saved those demi-humans? A bad man wouldn¡¯t jump in front of a girl from being hurt would they? He jumped and saved demi-humans which means he must love them as much as I do!¡± ¡°Lucy......we can¡¯t. That person.....we know nothing about that person and he could possibly even be a monster like that man from before had said.¡± ¡°No.....Lori said based on her Acquire skill she could see bits and pieces of his status. His name is Vali and he¡¯s a human just like us!¡± ¡°You....Lori, you could see something like that?¡± ¡°Mmhmm. And Cana can here can even find the masked man!¡± ¡®......¡¯ I was speechless. How can this little girl think she could find him?! ¡°I love demi-humans! They can do such amazing things!!!¡± All I can then hear is the little princess I was sworn to protect skipping away and laughing. She looked like a girl that had found a new toy. I was partly curious about the man in the mask as well as very frightened of such a man. But I too had some own curiosities about such a person.....She said he was a human? Who got to be so strong, I wonder how. Me and her other servants followed behind her not knowing how to react to her always enthusiastic spirit. Vali¡¯s POV: Such a cool and cold sensation. Splashing the water on my dirty face, I then submerged my face into the crystal blue river. We weren¡¯t that far away from where I and Hl?kk met Lily earlier today. The sun was still out but I can¡¯t be sure what time it is. Judging by the placement of the sun it¡¯s getting close to evening and I might be a little late for my curfew tonight. Though I doubt my mother will think much about me breaking curfew if she finds out what I¡¯ve done. I don¡¯t want her to know that I killed so many people. I¡¯ve killed one person in front of her already and I don¡¯t think I can bear that look from before she gave me. From the woman who has unconditionally accepted me, I don¡¯t want to scare her as much as I already have. She truly is such a blessing in my life. Taking my face out of the cold river water I wash off dirt and blood from everything that had happened. My arms were still shaking and I was having trouble breathing. After appearing in the vast open forest I tried to give the small sick girl in my arms to the elf with the bruised neck to walk away and vomit but she showed initial confusion. The elf as well as the girl in my arms started to show signs of panic as if I was just simply going to leave them there. "Ah...Ehh..." The small girl in my arms would make noises as she was handed away from me. She struggled with some words but I think ultimately it just hurt her to talk very much. I couldn''t see how she wanted to be so close to me right now, but I guess anywhere is better than that cage. It''s a lot like Lilly acted as well. I swore I just needed to wash myself and I¡¯d be right back. I gave them each things to clean their dirty bodies with as well as some cloth to dry off.....I¡¯ll need to try sowing some clothes for each of them when they¡¯re done.....There¡¯s no way they should go back to those gross rags they¡¯ve been forced to wear up until now.They didn¡¯t really talk much to me at first; I guess they are still scared of me from everything I had done. I told them I was going to hunt some food for dinner and that they should each clean up before I got back.... Since I needed to wash the blood off my face and honestly get away for a moment. I had never lost control like that and used death magic to such an extent before.....it......changes a person. I can with my magic feel the pulses and life forces in my hands and I crushed them into oblivion. Within a moment, their souls were extinguished from this earth, like a small candle being blown out and never to be lit again. Just like those men that had all left this world. The power of death magic is truly a terrifying thing and doesn¡¯t feel good to use at all. It gives one the feeling of crushing an existence within your hands¡­..just feels weird is all. The blood was finally taken off my face and my eyes had apparently gone back to their normal color. I.....I didn¡¯t notice the person who was looking back up at myself....Killing isn¡¯t something that ever feels good but this felt.....worse somehow. Those men, every one of them there deserved death but.....How can I explain something like this to my mom?.....Kaylan.....Ugh...I don¡¯t know what is right or wrong. Looking up I could see something in the distance. It looks like a rabbit just.....bigger. It had an odd color to it too. There standing just several meters away was an odd purple rabbit. It had a large golden stone on its forehead and three horns. Wow.....this is an odd looking rabbit. It even has a large, white beard. It is a tad bit larger than the other horned-rabbits I¡¯ve seen before and I came to find my attention drawn to this large rabbit.It just sat there eating grass off the ground not paying any attention to me..... ¡¯Ya know....now that I think about it I haven¡¯t met much horned rabbits since I absorbed the Lord of the Forest. After receiving that title, I feel like monsters in this area natural try to avoid me. As if they each have like a unique presence sense that lets them know of danger or maybe the Title just has to do with the area. Hl?kk just claimed that there were many ways to erase your presence and there are several different ways to do it and only a small number of ways to do it correctly. I slowly approached the purple bunny and used Flicker to dash into its direction. Bam! I just slammed into a tree that was roughly several meters away from where the rabbit was. I felt dizzy as something felt very odd before hitting that tree. I couldn''t quite make it out. ¡®Ummm.....what was that?¡¯ Looking up, I couldn¡¯t find where the purple rabbit is. I just couldn¡¯t see anything to be honest. Then using my radar I turned around and found the same purple rabbit to be eating grass again rather nonchalantly. It then sat up, leaned back on its hind legs and puffy tail and started filling its belly........What? ¡®Ok.....does this peculiar monster not even see me as a threat?¡¯ I used spatial magic and appeared in front of it, flashing my arm in his direction to take its head off literally and then moments before my arm crashes into the earth, the large purple blur escaped my swing. ¡®Ok....Seriously, what the hell is this thing?!'' I don¡¯t know what this thing is, but it¡¯s clearly not a normal horned-rabbit......I start to look around my surroundings since I swear I can hear someone laughing in the distance. But I don¡¯t care....I feel as if the world itself is mocking me, so I will find that stupid rabbit and eat it!!!!I turn around and find the same rascally rabbit eating some grass and looking up at me. It kicked its back leg and a small spark came out of its furry foot. ¡®It.......It¡¯s toying with me, does he?... Uh I am so going to eat you, rabbit!!¡¯ I wonder if this is how that bald guy on Looney Toons felt when chasing rabbits. I get it now.....They¡¯re cocky ¡®I think this rabbit might have an emergency escape skill that is somehow teleporting himself away. But it is honestly at the point of being faster than my spatial magic as I can¡¯t keep up with this annoying purple monster¡¯s speed.¡¯ I pretended to look away and whistle then appeared behind him and swung but to no avail as the purple monster again disappeared moments before grabbing him and again evading my capture. Hearing more laughter I turn around but I didn¡¯t see anyone there. Somehow just want to end this hunt now as I just want to get this meal started already. I activated my Death¡¯s Grip and the rabbit started violently shaking in the air. But what came after was really quite odd. As it was in the air a version of Flicker was happening and causing multiple purpled rabbits to appear in the sky. It looked like it was trying to escape but the one thing about death¡¯s grip is that as long as something is within my field of vision and doesn¡¯t have a proper resistance made up......they will meet death. The rabbit slowly stopped shaking in the air and came to a slow and solemn stop. It had finally stopped breathing and the forest then remained quiet. I jogged over to the rabbit and started cutting up the fur and meet and got ready to take it back to where everyone else was. I still needed to wait on Hl?kk as said should anything happen to Lily we should all meet up right at that same tree we first met. I acquired the heart of the strange purple monster and then remembered something that I have still yet to do. I had gone to the trouble of collecting that priest¡¯s heart who was in the coliseum earlier today.....if he¡¯s a priest he......he could very well have a healing ability. If he has a healing ability, then my mom and ......that girl. Their wounds could be healed, hopefully. If those wounds cannot be healed by my hands, the pain that kingdom will face will be much worse than what I am already planning.... I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m becoming in this world but I hope that it¡¯s at least one who can protect a few women and children. ¡®It¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to war for anyone....but....if its right in front of my eyes I, should do something! I can¡¯t sit and watch.¡¯ Thinking this I bit into the two hearts as blood began to seep out of my teeth and cover my mouth. I am scared to eat the heart of a human because I.....I honestly don¡¯t want to become a monster in this world......Someone who seeks out enemies and devours them all to attain strength isn¡¯t something I set out to do. But....my powers draw me to do such things now....¡¯I....I have to do this for Kaylan. I have to find her in this horrible, horrible world. I use to think it was a fairy tail but......this place is nothing like those in the story books.¡¯ Biting through the hearts I actually thought to myself how the taste.....wasn¡¯t that much different from one another. ¡®...Weird.¡¯
You have acquired a new skill! Freya¡¯s Soul Recovery
You have acquired a new skill! Lightning Step
¡®........¡¯ A small smile came to my face as I had acquired a skill that could meet the qualifications of what I had been looking for, a skill to heal my mother. It is at Beginner Level one but it said it could heal small bruises and sores. The other skill after acquiring it was something similar to increasing my cognitive functions with a high cost of 1400 MP. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. It appears to be a skill that leaves small lightning sparks behind as you increase your speed by a huge margin too. But even though it cost 1400 to use, it looks like the cost of keeping it stagnant is impossible for me now. The skill takes massive amounts of magic points to maintain and even if this is something that I think could be useful in the future. It is not something I¡¯m worried about right now. I put back on my black shirt and noticed not any blood had been left on it which seemed convenient. It must have something to do with the fabric. I tied up some of the furs and carried the meat back to the large tree by the river....Returning back everyone just stared back up at me with no words. They were no all clean and sitting down with cloth covering them a lot like a towel would. ¡®I guess my appearance does look a bit odd heh.¡¯ ¡°Hey guys sorry I¡¯m late.....Did everyone get cleaned up ok?¡± Other than the small sick girl nodding no one really spoke back. I looked over and noticed that Noah was sitting next to the two Elven women. The small sick girl from before was still being held by Tiffania and they were all sitting around the other elf with a broken leg. It showed that all of their levels were 1 or 2. The two elves were both at level 1 and looked to be in their low to mid twenties.. In this world many demi-human species age much differently than humans. But she also told me most slaves in the kingdom get their levels forced back to 1 upon becoming a slave. Apparently there is a magic ritual that can even do that. They all didn¡¯t look like they wanted to talk to me. They didn¡¯t really talk to each other much either and maybe that¡¯s simply due to the situation. Before I got to finish that thought a loud banging sound echoed in the forest and birds flew from their nests in fear of the loud noise. Something had crashed into the back of my head and knocked mc completely over. The sound and weight was enough to honestly crack the bones of a normal human. Though I inherited these bones from a higher undead......I feel as though this hurts way more than it should. Bam! Bam! Bam! ¡°...Wow....that bird is scary.¡± ¡°Mmhmm.¡± Loud noises kept banging as large forces kept hitting me in my back and shoulders and I could hear that cat girl talk. ¡°Did you think it was funny to leave us at the colosseum you idiot!....I had to sneak out Lily and I wasn¡¯t suppose to show my valkyrie form.....I had to take down 3 shady characters who tried to kidnap her and could have descended! Then I get back and everyone¡¯s practically half-naked!.......¡± Looking up Hl?kk was beating me in the back and a small frail little girl climbed onto my back. The small girl couldn¡¯t walk and coughed really hard when she climbed on top of my back. I could hear her weak heartbeat starting to rush as the small weightless figure sat on my back. Apparently the small sick girl I had saved from that hell saw Hl?kk in her purple bird form and came to my rescue. Though her body was so weak and sickly she got on my back and started growling like a guard dog.....well she does look to be from a dog race. This action stopped Hl?kk from hitting me with her large spear that was floating in mid air. ¡°Grrr. Do....Don¡¯t hurt...hi..m please¡­cough.¡± ¡°I....I wasn¡¯t....¡± ¡°Noah!!!!¡± Hl?kk and the small girl were interrupted as loud cry from Lily had the boy from before had erupted and stopped their quarrel. ¡°....Li....LILY!!!!....Ho...how?!¡± The two siblings hugged and cried in each other¡¯s arms seeming to think they would never see each other again. ¡®This really is a sad world.¡¯ Their hugging made the others calmed their nerves a bit from all that has happened. I got up and carefully picked up the small dog girl on my back. ¡°Hey.....it¡¯s ok Hl?kk beats me up from time to time.....you don¡¯t have to be so scared. You shouldn¡¯t be over exerting yourself right now anyway.¡± I brushed my hands across the scarred girl''s now clean hair but her one ear is still rough to the touch. I see a small haggard tail coming out from the bottom of the towel that¡¯s wrapped around her and pieces of flakes are falling off it. The image of this broken girl was truly heart breaking as this small frail child has barely in skin showing anymore. Most of it is bruised or showing some of the same signs of the skin disease on her face......This girl seemed to be in her final moments when I found her. My words had brought everyone¡¯s eyes back to me and I couldn¡¯t notice because I was staring into the eyes of this small frail child. She looked back at me and I gave her a smile to let her know I didn¡¯t mind staring back at her. Even though she seemed nervous her eyes didn¡¯t move away from mine.....not once. I placed my arm on her cheek and began to activate Freya¡¯s Soul Recovery....... A rainbow light came from my hands and washed over the small child¡¯s space and body and everyone made sounds of gasps. They weren¡¯t sure what I was doing but they knew it had to be some kind of magic. What appeared after the Freya¡¯s Soul recovery was the same girl and the same scaring all over her face. Her color seemed to have changed slightly and I could honestly feel the tone of her heartbeat fluctuating better. Her breathing was steady too. ¡°....eh...it doesn¡¯t hurt when I breathe....¡± Everyone gasped. ¡°You....you have healing magic!¡± The elf with the broken leg exclaimed loudly. I didn¡¯t listen and kept performing Freya Soul Recovery. I put in larger amounts of mana
Congratulations! Freya Soul Recovery has just advanced to Beginner Level 2 Healing from the Goddess¡¯s teaching on soul recovery has been increased greatly! Healing magic will heal minor wounds and sours much more quickly. Small cuts can now be healed easily and the soul itself will feel to be truly cleansed!
I kept applying more and more magic on the small girl. Lights kept flickering and enveloping her and all she did was sit there staring up into my eyes. She didn¡¯t say any words, nor did those around me. They just saw me stare intently at the little girl in my arms and me who had taken so much interest in her. Their faces showed they had no idea what I was planning.
Congratulations! Freya Soul Recovery has just advanced to Beginner Level 3 Your affinity for healing magic has increased greatly! Wounds and open sores will be washed away and skin will naturally become more beautiful. The magic given by the Goddess of Beauty will cleanse your soul to eternal fairness!
¡®This sounds interesting...¡¯ I started applying large chunks of my mana and small pieces of skin started to show under the purple bruised parts of her tiny shoulders.......¡®What....is is....it working!¡¯ I then applied more of my magic and the light just kept blinding the surroundings in a rainbow color. The little girl just closed her eyes and let the lights wash over her. She probably didn¡¯t care what had happened to her at this point. I¡¯m not sure if she trusted me and that is why she protected me, but I know that she looks as if she has decided whatever happens to her at this point is in my hands. She lied there in my arms fully accepting my hands touching over her bruised body. She just accepted whatever fate I had for her.......I have to keep trying.
Congratulations! Freya Soul Recovery has just advanced to Beginner Level 4
Congratulations! You have advanced to Beginner Level 5
Congratulations! You have advanced to Beginner level 6
I don¡¯t know how much time passed. Or what was going on in the heads of those that surrounded me and this small girl. The sun did start to set but I didn¡¯t care. All I could think about was this small girl and my mother at home. If I can heal this girl........if it¡¯s possible to heal this girl¡¯s wounds.......I should be able to cure my mother!¡¯ Notifications kept flying through my vision
Congratulations! You have advanced to Beginner Level 10. It has now switched over to Intermediate Level 1. You can now heal illness and cure acute disease. The powerful healing magic from Freya will wash over the wounds from battle and be healed down to one¡¯s soul. To have a beautiful self, one must have a beautiful soul! Healing affects to Illness and Disease can be increased by the addition of some soul stones. Your healing magic has become much stronger due to your increase in affection with Goddess Freya!
Before I knew it my mana had been completely drained. I used much more available MP than the skill originally required but that was due to magic manipulation. I was able to use the skill to much higher tier¡¯s then normally would let me by just acquiring the skill. Who knows how much time has passed and by the time I had looked down at the girl something began to happen. The wounds all down her body were now showing white skin with small peach fuz coming off of it. Her lower body which was once completely bruised and shown such bad coloration from before was now a very white peachy color. I had thrown out all my magic and the skin that was completely gone on her face had now grown back but showed that her face still had some minor wounds of some remaining scars.....¡¯I guess even with my magic I couldn¡¯t completely heal this little girl.¡¯ ¡°Her...her skin has been healed!¡± The elf Tiffania with the burnt throat began exclaiming in a gargled voice and looked at the small child in my arms in astonishment. ¡°You....you have such a strong healing ability!¡± The other elf with a broken leg and large chest exclaimed as if not being able to understand the use of simple magic. I thought elves had much more magic affinity. ¡°So....this is something else you acquired from your fight.¡±Hl?kk finally broke the silence and the little girl looked up at the small purple bird on my shoulder. ¡°eh....my....my face is different! Cough...Cough....and my whole body feels, different¡± The small girl began to feel her face with her small clean hands and couldn¡¯t believe what she had felt. She didn¡¯t have any idea how to react to what I had done for her.....¡¯wait.....what did that ability say again?¡¯ ¡°Hl?kk!....What¡¯s a soul stone?¡± ¡°...just a stone that some higher level monsters drop. They are sold in places and hold quite a bit of magic power depending on the monster.¡± I walked over to that weird rabbit and with my claws I tore out the small diamond shaped gem inside the dead rabbits head. ¡°Hey Lily....can I see that cloak your wearing?¡± ¡°Ah...aw ok Vali¡± I asked for the small cloak in Lily¡¯s hands but she seemed quite hesitant to give it back. She seemed to like wearing it.¡¯...Seriously what is this girl saying now, this cloak is creepy.¡¯ She did however smile back at me when I put it on. ¡°Huh!¡± Her brother seemed irritated by this though.After gaining a large magic boost and mp per minute I again tried to use Freya¡¯s Soul Recovery on this small child in my arms while holding the dark yellow colored gem in my other hand. I held it up to her and used the skill. A bright, beautiful ambient light shined much larger than before and I could feel as though I was literally using my own soul to chip away at the dirt and grime covering her. I feel like....... our souls were actually touching. ¡°Unbelievable! Her wounds have all gone now!¡± ¡°Ah!¡± ¡°Wow....si sir are you a famous wizard?¡± The two elves, and Lily had crowded around and kept looking at the small girl who¡¯s name I don¡¯t know and just stared at her in amazement which only made her now pale white cheeks turn a nice rosey color.....Looking down at her big brown eyes that now shined in a different color than before, I could see this little girl was beautiful. She had small and delicate features but it was difficult not to be charmed by her cuteness. Though her left ear is still gone her right one shows to have a different texture than before. It shows to be slightly furry and a darker more healthier shade of brown. Her hair seemed glossy and she is honestly inrecognizable to her old self. ¡°eh....my....my face...¡± The little girl started to cry and I jumped from where I was and started spinning the girl around in the air. ¡°YES!....Haha...YES!.....Ah this is truly amazing!!!!!¡± I jumped up and couldn¡¯t hold in my excitement. My magic had somehow healed this horribly wounded and sick girl and I can even hear the sounds of her cough have left. I somehow healed a long standing illness with only a little time of hard work and all I could think about was my mother back home......¡®I¡¯m so happy I could just dance right here!¡¯. I started spinning with the girl in my hands and she looked back at me without saying a word but she is smiling. Such a beautiful smile I hadn¡¯t seen before. She just smiled back at me without saying anything, as if being swept up by the moment as well; she couldn''t even see why I was so happy. She simply stared back at me and tried to smile. I could see however small tears forming in her eyes. We were both quite happy we didn''t know how to act. Everyone continued staring at us with odd faces besides Hl?kk and Lily and after I realized I was making a fool of myself I started to cook for everyone. I let the small puppy girl sit with Hl?kk and the elves while I prepared a meal. Lily had sat close to Noah who was sitting beside one of the elves. I felt a strong gaze coming from the two elven maidens but I ignored it for now. I really need to get some food in these kids quickly as I really think I may have gotten to these children just in time, they need something in their stomachs. I cooked the rabbit meat and grilled vegetables with spices I¡¯ve been collecting and even some I bought at that store. Luckily I bought some equipment for camping and making a fire was as simple as snapping my fingers. The food preparation went by fast and during the time Lily walked over to see what I was cooking. She kind of got in the way at first but I didn¡¯t mind. I even tried to pat the small girls cute ears but she flinched greatly at my action until she noticed I wasn¡¯t going to hurt her. Seriously their image of me must be bad. After I patted her head she just closed her eyes and smiled. Her white fluffy tail started to wag back and forth and I¡¯m starting to think these kids might have more animal traits than human ones. I look over and Noah is just staring wide eyed at me. ¡°So um, we all get to eat?¡± ¡°Mhmm I¡¯m actually finished now so¡­..let¡¯s all eat up.¡± I put everything on the small wooden plates and bowls I had purchased and let everyone fill their stomachs. I may have to go catch another monster later as that rabbit was big it may not be enough to feed all these people. I sat down and got a bowl and helped the small girl with her meal. It¡¯s not that I doubt she couldn¡¯t feed herself. She¡¯s just real weak right now and exerting herself isn¡¯t good at all. I started to to take small portions of the soup in a spoon and blow on it like I had for my siblings in the past. I brought it up to the girl in my arms mouth and she just awkwardly accepted me feeding her. ¡°¡­mmm¡± She started to smile and wag her short fluffy tail. When she opened her eyes she still had tears in them from before and continued to eat from the spoon. Everyone else just looked at the food oddly as if still trying to figure me out entirely. I guess if you saw someone brutally murder a bunch of people then cook a meal for them that¡¯d be strange. Also, since I¡¯m from the same race from the one¡¯s who have abused them for so long, it¡¯s not rare that they would take some time to warm up to me.....I hope. ¡°So good mister Vali!¡± - Lily ¡°Oh mmm!¡± - Noah ¡°This is deriochhious!! Eat something!¡± -Tiffania One after another they took bites from their soup. The sounds from their stomachs overpowered their thoughts. They ate away at the tender rabbit meat and all closed their eyes as if enjoying something for the first time in years. ¡°Ahh....¡± ¡°Mm...it¡¯s hot....but it¡¯s soooo goooooood!¡¯ ¡°Eh...its....it¡¯s good I guess.¡± The two elven maidens and the boy ate their meals. I went over to the two elves and used my recovery on her throat to and then the one with the broken leg. Sure enough my magic had recovered enough and apparently is even enough to mend broken bone now......it¡¯s as good as new. ¡°Ah....my...my leg......th...thank you sir!¡± ¡°I......it¡¯s healed...............I....thank you. Really thank you. You¡¯ve saved my sister and I haven¡¯t even thanked you yet appropriately. You¡¯re...a very kind man.¡± The elves didn¡¯t know how to react to my actions but I didn¡¯t have a reply for them and just walked to where Hl?kk had been sitting. I continued feeding the small girl in my arms who continued to peek back up at me¡­¡­Her body may be practically as good as new but it was still too weak to do much else right now. ¡®She needed help doing the most basics of things....I swear I¡¯m going to kill the bastards who stared all of this one day!¡¯ Sitting there quietly feeding the small girl she looked back up at me and smiled. Her tail¡¯s fur is even back to being quite fluffy, and has somehow managed to be healed as well. The simple site of this does however make me smile.... Everyone ate in the quiet light of our fire in the woods and just simply enjoyed in the meal. Not much words were said, it was just peaceful except for the sounds of them guzzling water and meat until their bellies became plump. We all ate until we just lied there and stared at the fire together..... First peaceful night I¡¯ve had in such a long time. The moon was big tonight and the stars shined down on us all there, still strangers....... just sharing a meal together. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Walking through the forest, it¡¯s the next day after the colosseum incident.. I¡¯m heading through the large, lush forest and it¡¯s truly thick. After around a day of walking I see it....The cabin in the middle of the forest. Walking up to the house I hear a large crashing sound and within moments I see my mother standing at the front door. She looked flushed but truly excited to see me. She also seemed troubled. ¡°Ah Vali.....You¡¯re back.......Listen uh......Loki came by and left something for you.....¡± ¡®Eh.....did she say Loki visited.....¡¯ At that moment a small silver figure ran from between my mother¡¯s legs out from her furry tails and starts running into my direction. ¡®What.....What is that? Is.....is that a dog? ...NO......that¡¯s a wolf.¡¯ Moments before realizing this, a small silver wolf pup pounces on me and the weight of this small dog is seriously something to be reckoned with.....This small dog felt like it weighed thousands of pounds with its tiny body. I could honestly feel my back being pushed down into the earth. It had tiny horns that looked like inverted Nike checks on its forehead and looked kind of odd. Before I have a chance to do anything, it begins to lick me playfully in my face and chest, though I feel much painful stings as his claws are too sharp. I know this because it is ripping my skin which should be sturdy with ease. I picked up the odd silver pup and hold it over me and its long grey tail begins to wag around. Luckily I had given the small sick girl to the elf women as to not alert my mom initially and tell her what had happened. ruf....ruf.....Ruf.....! The dog kept barking and I honestly don¡¯t know what to say to what was happening right now. ¡°Ooohh¡± ¡°¡­.Loki?!¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± The small girl and the elves looked at me lying on the ground and the small girl the elf had been holding looked up and stared at the cabin and my mom. Her eyes ventured around and showed excitement in everything she saw. And just like that we had arrived back at our cabin home and things seemed to be getting exciting. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ As we all were sitting around the cabin and about to introduce each other, I made a crack about Loki being a pain and leaving me with this......weird wolf dog and it had clearly done some work on the house. It¡¯s small but it is really....really curious. ¡°Seriously Loki is such a pain......what was he thinking giving me this thing?¡± ¡°Oh......I thought you¡¯d like it! In fairy tails, the heroes always need their trusted companions hmmm!¡± And just like that the sound a familiar and annoying voice came into my ears. I turned around and standing there in a shiny white suite embroidered in gold appeared in the kitchen. His long bluish-white hair is done up in a weirdly figured pony tail and he enters into the cabin wearing modern odd clothes. ¡°Uhhh.....Loki...¡± Before I do anything, I lunge in his direction to deliver a shot right to his open face before he has a chance to react. BAM!!!!! The sound of my arm coming into contact with an invisible wall in front of Loki echoes in my ear drums and he¡¯s just sitting there smiling with his eyes closed as if he didn¡¯t even notice.....¡¯Uh this asshole¡¯ ¡°Ah ah ah.....touchy touchy. Is that any way to treat the God who blessed you. Cherished you. And brought you to this world?¡± ¡°....Funny. Those were some of the reasons why I was trying to punch you.¡± Loki then laughed again and I stared to notice something......The surroundings were completely still and nothing was moving. I looked around and noticed all the slaves including my mom and the small wolf were.....frozen? ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± ¡°Oh....this is a simple space I have designed for us to speak.¡± ¡°A....space?¡± ¡°Why yes.....you didn¡¯t think spatial magic just meant jumping from one place to another did you? Why it has all kinds of uses. Like now we are currently in a space I have created that moves at the rate of roughly 1000000 times that of the outside world. So it is just that us in this world move at a roughly quicker pace than those around us. Time moves at different paces according to where one is. Isn¡¯t science and magic wonderful?¡±He began to clap and I could see he was happy with himself.....¡¯Uh....he really is rambunctious.¡¯ ¡°Now then how did you like my gift?¡± ¡°Your gift looks like it destroyed my house.¡± ¡°Ah yes......I see that.....But isn¡¯t it natural for a dog owner to train him? You should get on that right away, you know. This one is going to be quite strong!¡± ¡°........What?¡± ¡°Why this dog here is actually a wolf. I made him personally and used quite a bit of magic to have him made. His hair is made from a particular sky imoogi that is found in the western continent. It is quite strong and durable. His claws I found from a strange ore on a distant planet....And his eyes mhmhmhm. ¡° He just kept laughing marveling at his apparent creation and clapping. ¡°Though the grandness of my creation is it comes with a small added feature! It like you has the ability Demonic Absorption!!!¡± ¡°This dog has the same ability as I do?¡± What is this guy¡¯s game? This wolf essentially has the same ability as I do....Why would Loki give me an animal like this? ¡°Why yes....as he grows you shall too. I hope you will treat this little mutt well.....I put quite a bit of effort into creating him.....I expect you already know what to name him yes?¡± As I looked at the small, silver furry animal I thought to myself over all the history and knowledge of my world. In the mythologies Loki had created a large wolf that was to one day kill and devour Odin towards the end of the world....His name....was Fenrir. ¡°......Fenrir?¡± ¡°Oh, splendid!! So you have been keeping up!¡± He clapped his hands and continued his flamboyant charades. ¡°So....you¡¯ve been looking into our own Norse Mythologies?¡± ¡°Why yes......Your world is rather interesting on some of its prophecies on our own beliefs........truly interesting.¡± ¡°...How so?¡± I wasn¡¯t going to hide it. I was rather curious about some of the things Loki had gone to find out for all this time....He had truly been gone for such a long time. What did he find out? ¡°Hmm....Do you know the history to this world Kayle?¡± ¡°No....not really? I wonder whose fault that is.¡± Sensing we had some things to discuss, he just nonchalantly continued. ¡°Well this planet is originally a broken off piece of an Ancient celestial being known as a titan. This entire planet is a part of its body. It is truly marvelous and interesting place¡­..though.....We God¡¯s cannot make something so beautiful ourselves.....¡± Loki lowered his head and started to walk around. ¡°You know Kayle........I have traveled to your world once before you know.¡± He started to walk with me and went outside. Loki then stepped closer towards a bush right next to the house to admire a flower that had been hanging off of it....what was he getting at?¡¯ ¡°I was utterly amazed at the wondrous and beautiful world you had come from.¡± ¡°....it¡¯s not really that special.¡± It¡¯s true....all I ever had known was pain from that world. I didn¡¯t have a lot of good memories to pull out but they were ones that honestly kept me going for so long. ¡°If only you knew child. The beautiful colors and feel of ever expanding life......it was truly magnificent. The ambience had shined and made colors our kind had never seen before. I and all the other Gods in attendance marveled at the beauty of your world. It was like staring off into a trillion different canvases and seeing an infinite number of works of art by a true master......¡¯ As he continued, I listened to his thoughts on the world I came from. ¡°Each of us marveled in such beauty as we got lost in it and even planned on calling it home once. Though not much is really known I had to search for so long through books from different kingdoms, even books from old dead Gods, and even some from an old lizard king.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand...¡± ¡°Well Kayle¡­¡­.when the Gods of this world came and visited yours apparently many Gods saw it as a new paradise. We enjoyed our stay and even had a large effect on the local inhabitants there. Afterwards.......I read in books that many Gods had run-ins with large winged creatures that shot down from the skies of your planet and laid waste to many gods there. Since we weren¡¯t even aware of the existence of other beings as powerful as us in your world.....Naturally we stepped up and tried to lay claim to the whole place.¡± Everything he was saying was so much to fathom. He is a being that is truly old and may be telling me histories of my own world. I kept quiet and just thought about what he kept saying. ¡°Though we have pride in our strength.......We were easily dealt with and banished.... I later read stories from old books from some of the beings who had survived and you want to know what I found. An old lizard king not really a God mind you....but something close took his minions there without us knowing and ruined everything. The lizard-men reproduce quite quickly you see and apparently this race was causing some sort of a disturbance with the local population......Not long afterwards it was said a large dark winged being showed up and vanquished the lizard king with a large black sword engulfed in fire.¡± ¡°Dinosaurs.........you¡¯re talking about dinosaurs?¡± I was shocked; I honestly didn¡¯t expect a lame Sci-fi explanation to why the dinosaurs died out.....This sounds kind of stupid. ¡°Yes....very good. After the lizard king and his minions were destroyed some had escaped, I guess as a way to wash away all our corruption from the place, those winged creatures must have decided to flood the entire place.......If you could only see just how beautiful the world was back then.....Breath taking.....in a trillion different ways. Truly it was a masterpiece and there were even some colors to have vanished from your world as well I¡¯ve found. It¡¯s as if they were all washed away with the damages that we........meddling God¡¯s had caused.....¡± Loki continued to play with the flowers in his hand looking displeased then looked back up at me seriously. ¡°..............¡± .....I really didn¡¯t think that was what Loki had gone to investigate. ¡°So....that is what you found out after being gone so long?¡± I said that in annoyance to show him my agitation......''Um, Loki? '' He just waved his hands back and forth. ¡°What do you take me for?! I¡¯ve learned much more things that have piqued my interest....For instance......Your parents were something that truly troubled me for some time.¡± ¡°What you mean like my father must have been a demon.¡± ¡®I¡¯ve come to terms with this and have pushed it back into my brain.¡¯ ¡°No.....I¡¯m much more interested in who your mother was!¡± End of Chapter. More dialogue later... Chapter 10: The City Born in a Dungeon Updated! Chapter 10: The City Born in a Dungeon ¡®So......soft?¡¯ Running my hands through the fluffy silver fur I¡¯m so surprised at the peculiar animal Loki decided to give me. The small little wolf cub I¡¯ve decided to name Fenrir really is an odd creature. He¡¯s not very big for a wolf cub but he has some surprising characteristics that make me question how Loki ¡®made¡¯ him. He was oddly cute for such a little beast....too cute it made the things he did quite more ominous..... ¡°Ok...go!¡± RUF Fenrir dived forward and started chasing a medium sized horn rabbit roughly 12 meters away eating berries by a tree. It¡¯s early in the morning and the sun still hasn¡¯t rose yet. Even though I¡¯ve gotten some of the best sleep in years in this place I still can¡¯t manage to sleep all the way through a night. I guess I¡¯m just a morning person. Luckily I use this time to hunt with my new wolf cub given to me by Loki. It truly is a fascinating animal. Fenrir right now is level 16 and he has risen considerably over the last few days......he eats....everything. This isn¡¯t the first horned rabbit he¡¯s attacked either. Watching him lunge forward the horned rabbit has used its escape dash ability twice now and has easily been pushed back into a corner, backing away in fear to the tree. It¡¯s odd but sometimes when monsters attempt to use an ability they get frozen where they stand and start to tremble only to later have their neck ripped open by this little wolf dog. It was almost terrifying I couldn¡¯t make out how he did it either. Loki left before he explained that little tid bit.¡¯.....Loki.¡¯ He truly had said some interesting things to me the other day. These were the things I thought about while watching little Fenrir devour yet another horned rabbit. ¡®Not only things about myself but.........about everyone. I¡¯ve learned many things over these last couple of days.....¡¯ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ¡°My mother? What about her? ¡°Oh come now.....you didn¡¯t think that odd necklace of yours had no value you at all did you. When I found out about how it let you pick up such a cursed weapon increased my interests more......You don¡¯t think that item of yours is originally from your world do you?¡± ¡°..........¡± Loki was acting very......cocky. He always talked as if he was humming and trying to keep a rhythm. It was kind of odd and he chuckled sometimes to himself too. ¡®Seriously.....I wonder if all gods are like this.¡± ¡°Oh...mhmm that little crystal right there in the middle of it..... I¡¯m not quite sure what it is to be honest but it¡¯s made of a pretty peculiar diamond......you said it belonged to your mother? ¡°....yah. It¡¯s a pretty odd piece of jewelry I¡¯ll say that much. My mother was a woman of faith.¡± ¡°....Mhmmm......Anabelle Wall.....Such an interesting person your mother.....I looked on the information we gathered on her and ........interestingly enough she did show to have been abused as you say however.........only two birth certificates were found. One for a Kaylan Shaw and two for a Hayden Shaw......but no information on a 3rd older son, or a father for that matter.¡± ¡®..........¡¯ What is Loki getting at? He took off his white jacket and threw it on the table and even his under shirt had a shine to it. He had the look of a businessman meeting a guy going to a tacky club. He really is such an odd god. He then turned around and sat down on the wooden chair in the living room where everyone else were gathered while still practically frozen in time. Spatial magic is truly something. Thinking about what was telling me I am also halfway amiss as seeing this peculiar magic makes me fear of being trapped in a box like this forever. Divine level magic is something truly terrifying indeed..... ¡°So.....Is that all you found out? I just don¡¯t have a birth certificate? ¡° ¡°Mmm.....Yah...no information on you....It¡¯s as if you fell out of the sky one day and started taking care of that family.......rather odd don¡¯t ya think?¡± ¡°What are you talking about now? ...I have memories of being with my family and my mother since I was a child?¡± ¡®What is this joker getting at?¡¯ ¡°Hmm well have what you will, we never really found much more about your mother to be honest.....but this necklace¡¯s origin is not from your world I can assure you on that. The cross however originated in your world due to Christianity, while that small white diamond in the center wasn¡¯t...... Well in the end, we never really found out anything about your mother........whoops sorry .¡± He made a theatrical sad face and I just stared back at him astonished.¡¯.....What is this clown pretending to have information about something and drop little grenades in an open room like!¡¯ ¡°Loki! Why would you just spew out a lot of crap like that and act like you had a lot to say about my parents! That¡¯s crap!¡± I may have waved my hands back at him and overreacted. ¡°Haha....no no no. I just mentioned how I was still curious about who your mother is that¡¯s all......I¡¯m not however sure who you father is but I have some interesting clues!!!¡± He then started waving his hands and then clapping his hands in an overly flamboyant way..¡¯....I feel like he¡¯s getting more and more excited the more interesting he thinks he is to someone.¡¯ ¡°......I¡¯m not gonna beg you to tell me Loki just talk this is getting annoying! I still have a lot of questions to get to.¡± ¡°Oh fine.....Now though I don¡¯t know the identity of your dad I did however look into the history of the demon race as a whole.......The information I found was rather dashing!¡± ¡°.............¡± I showed no signs of amusement and just waited for him to continue. He has an odd way of trying to build the suspense when he talks and it¡¯s kind of annoying. ¡°........Well what I first looked into was an ancient book from the house of some dead soldiers from the old God of war Aries.....Centuries ago when the war of the God¡¯s broke out, every race was clamoring together with their respective God¡¯s and fighting on every plain. The land was decimated and the undeniable destruction reached out across the realms....The fight did not end so easily.....It was a long and bloody war where no side received any profit, to this day a lot of the reasons the war started are still quite unknown. The war was so chaotic it was hard to honestly remember things as it was truly a bloodbath across worlds. The one thing some of us do remember however is a peculiar race that came in and stomped onto the battlegrounds one day. They were strong, and resilient, ........truly ferocious creatures that could not be taken down so simply.....They were the demon race....¡± I sat down in the chair opposing him while he continued his story.... ¡°We had not once seen this race before it was started but assumed they were the creation of just some dark God¡¯s. They were beasts on the battlefield and turned an already chaotic war into a bloody nightmare. They were dominant and some of the winged creatures could even take on some of the chief god¡¯s quite easily. They cut them down and sent the war into a free for all. They were essentially wild animals running amok on the front lines something had to be done....... The war of the God¡¯s was put on hold to stop these monstrous animals from laying waste to anymore of us. They seemed to find every other race as a sheer offense to them and only sought to destroy. Since we couldn¡¯t continue a war with wild beasts roaming around, everyone banned together and pushed the demon race back to the northern tip of the world. Each of the stronger one¡¯s had such amazing abilities the word cheat doesn¡¯t even apply......We chose not to hunt them all down because we weren¡¯t sure how many of us would take to kill them nor if we even could. ......The war of the Gods only continued a short time after that. ¡° ¡°.........so what are you getting at about them then?¡± ¡°We weren¡¯t aware this....demon race existed until the war had started......but what is interesting is we do have evidence of their existence in something we have seen before. They were seen slaying that lizard king.....same winged creatures. And the point of what I was meaning to get to you was that. Each of these so called demon race species on our planet.....appear to be the descendant of much older beings that I believed originated from your world....It¡¯s funny but I didn¡¯t realize that the War of the God¡¯s happened not long after we left your world........interesting isn¡¯t it?¡± .-------------------------------------------------------- ¡®So.....the demon race in this world aren¡¯t actually original inhabitants here. The demon race of this world are descendants of....I¡¯m guessing fallen angels or something from my world. Sometime in the middle of the war, all the Gods and their followers had to ban together to match some of these demons as some of the stronger ones were quite dangerous. Though many of the ones from that battle I¡¯m guessing still exist today because they couldn¡¯t be killed.¡¯ ¡°Hmm well.....Something you might find interesting is that the demons¡¯ magic is a lot different from our own. You see Norse magic uses a series of numbers and advanced calculation and code. We manipulate science to the form of meeting and mastering magic itself. We cut down life to its most basic and primal elements.....or so we think. Well....anyways....the magic the demon race uses works on a completely different basis than our own......They use raw emotion and desire and don¡¯t use magic coming from themselves but magic from their surroundings. They have a peculiar way to manipulate magic from the earth and thus giving them amazing abilities.....Though we took down quite a few of them, their stronger ones slaughtered many of us....OH! Back to what I was saying......In an old text from some followers of that lizard king we spoke of, there was one of those winged creatures and one of them showed an interesting ability.........He too enjoyed consuming the hearts of others!¡± ¡°So.......You think it might be likely that I am related to some old demon?¡± ¡°........Or well in this world I¡¯m not sure of the name we have for them right now. There are demon kings and demon emperors, even a demon lord. Though they are only descendants, I believe the ones that are still alive from that demon war are looked up as God¡¯s now.........Well all I can tell you is the one who ate hearts liked to wield a fiery black sword and had 8 black wings.¡± ¡°I.....see..¡± It was a lot to take in......Fallen angels.....wars between gods......hell even dinosaurs.......It¡¯s interesting hearing such world¡¯s views on things from the perspective of another worlder. But Loki always seemed to be hiding things sometimes..... --------------------------------------------------------- As Fenrir came back to me he had blood on his mouth and I whipped it off with a cloth. Gosh he can use Flicker now too but his speed is still too unnatural. It¡¯s not that he needs speed right now.....Monsters simply are paralyzed when they see this little grey cub..¡¯......Seriously why does Loki not tell me things!¡± -------------------------------------------------------------- After Loki had dropped the bomb shell about who he thinks to be my estranged father he asked to see the death scythe I had in my possession as he hadn¡¯t gotten to see it yet. I demanded information about my sister and he said in due time.....cheeky bastard! After I brought it out he examined the scythe in his chair while it floated in the air. Apparently he couldn¡¯t see all the skills either since even as a God, there are some things that he cannot see through. What is also interesting is that he can¡¯t touch it as he said it won¡¯t kill him but he thinks it could be potentially harmful to him, he¡¯s not sure yet. Looking around the room I saw my mother who is now holding the small girl from before and she seems to be very happy. My mother and I have enjoyed taking care of the little girl over the last few days as she is honestly such a sweet shild. She can¡¯t speak really well but we have been helping her learn to speak with everyone else. I¡¯ve also learned that the blessing from Loki may have been more of a blessing than I had realized. Universal Language Acquisition is truly extraordinary and I didn¡¯t know of its value until having so many slaves from different worlds in the same room. The reason they all weren¡¯t speaking before is there are many language barriers between everyone in the cabin. Lily and Noah learned human language while the elves know only some. The reason they weren¡¯t all talking from before and just looking at one another may have been because many of them couldn¡¯t quite yet speak the same language as everyone else. Many of them could slightly converse with one another and hardly with me. The small white haired wolf girl, Liliy, and her brother Noah were always sitting with one another but on occasion Lily would try to come close to me. I¡¯m not sure what Noah¡¯s deal was but he always looks at me with the same cold eyes. He clearly didn¡¯t trust me. He had shaggy black hair like my own and bright yellow eyes. He had a tough exterior for a a kid around his age and I found that he was only about a year older than Lily. Apparently the people in their tribe grew to be quite big, Lily was just small for her age. The two Elves always sat very close to one another but I would catch them staring at me on occasion. Right now though they are sitting there together still with a cautious demeanor. It may have been because I was man, but I think it was also probably because I was just human. They both cleaned up well and it was honestly hard not to stare back at them at times. They¡¯re ears were large and protruded through the sides of their long hair, and I can see why elves are usually described to be majestic. They each have quite stunning features. Whenever I or the elf Tiffania weren¡¯t holding the little girl my mother would take over. She held her for hours on end in fact. She could talk to each of the slaves and some sentences with the Elves but for the most part everyone would always remain so quiet. I originally thought it was because they weren¡¯t sure they were actually safe yet or possibly couldn¡¯t converse. Though there may be another reason they weren¡¯t speaking much. Lily does however approach and speak to me curiously sometimes. I could simply understand each of them which must have been what originally surprised them. Apparently even if their speech is scrambled up I can communicate with them just fine. It¡¯s as if whatever they are thinking with what they are trying to say, I can somehow hear their meanings.....It¡¯s what allowed me to speak so much with Ari. Ari is the name we¡¯ve decided to give the girl being held in my mothers arms. When we asked her....she told us she didn¡¯t have a name. Before we had any chance to think on it, Elyria gave her the name Ari. She said it means ¡®sun-like¡¯ which is the presence she got from her when they first met. I didn¡¯t really get why she thought that, but I can never be sure where she gets her naming sense from. She gave me the name Vali. She told me it holds the meaning of ¡®strong¡¯ or ¡®leader¡¯ in her tribe, things that have never really fit with me before. Looking at Ari sitting motionless in Elyria¡¯s arms she has a curious look on her face staring at Elyria¡¯s tails. Her look has changed so much, magic is truly something. Her skin is now smooth and healthy. The sickness in her body was simply washed away with the powers of this odd healing ability, it had truly astounded me with what the power of magic is truly capable of in this world. Freya¡¯s Soul Recovery when learning the skill it gave me thoughts and understandings of how the skill¡¯s fundamentals work. It felt .......very interesting to be honest. It felt like every time I used it I could feel my life force being shared with those I used it on. It feels like my soul itself is touching theirs for a brief moment in time. Using it is like wiping away dirt and grime that has wrapped around your life, and it almost washes it away slowly after each use. Though even with a healthy looking body there is still those with much deeper scars. I was originally scared at how my mom was going to take everything but she surprisingly saw Ari and decided to pick her up immediately upon seeing her.... ¡®She didn¡¯t ask about what I had done or anything, she was simply happy to see me home...she truly is an amazing woman.¡¯ Watching her be so good with children is actually quite an attractive quality a woman should have and Ari seemed to really enjoy playing with mom¡¯s fox tails while in her arms...¡¯...She seems to be enjoying holding Ari too. She still however has the scar over her face, so I need to heal her as well.¡¯ While Loki was looking at the scythe I wondered about what would happen if I increased the weight of the scythe......... CRASH! ¡°OWWW!........OWwwooo wahahahaha! He actually hurt me! hahaha!¡± While Loki was looking at Abgrund I grabbed it then dropped it while increasing its weight. In a moment everything in the surroundings went back to normal speed as I guess when Loki was struck he somehow deactivated the space we were in. I immediately put away the scythe. I have actually now also determined one of the reasons everyone hasn¡¯t taken to me is because of this thing. Apparently if you don¡¯t have a resistance to it, it is unpleasant to be around like it makes them feel queasy. Loki started laughing on the ground holding his foot and laughing wildly. Everyone then became aware of our presence. ¡°Who¡¯s that....he¡¯s shiny?¡± ¡°When did he get here?¡± ¡°Eh....Lord Loki when did you arrive?¡± ¡° Oh is this Loki.....Hello Loki, It is so nice to finally meet you. Everyone in the room now aware of Loki voiced their thoughts to one another in different languages but I heard them. Even Hl?kk and my mom exclaimed their surprise. ¡°Hahaha! Splendid!¡± He got back up and fixed the whole in the floor by simply waving his foot over the broken wooden floor. The floor was repaired and I then saw a small black goo get repulsed too....¡¯......I may not take out Abgrund anymore, since anything it touches actually becomes quite disturbing....¡¯ He then walked over to my mom to greet her for apparently the first time. As he reached in to grasp her hand I noticed a large white light that was surrounding Loki had went through his arms¡¯ and transferred to mom¡¯s skin. Within a few seconds mom¡¯s scars and eye were immediately healed. Her skin was no longer cut and torn, it showed to be as if the same day when I met her, only now much healthier actually... ¡¯.....you didn¡¯t !¡¯ ¡°Oh...that felt so warm!...My...my face!¡± She began to feel around her face with her free arm and she was exclaiming her happiness with her tears. She held her face and broke down smiling....¡¯.....Loki......you didn¡¯t.....¡¯ You knew I had been trying so hard to find this ability and you........Ugh.....I guess it doesn¡¯t matter. Looking at her now shine with such joy. How could I be upset. I wouldn¡¯t have been able to heal her eye either as I can¡¯t regenerate lost limbs and her eyes were extensively damaged. Bam! ¡°OUCH!.....You.... Hl?kk?¡± ¡°You healed Elyria! Do you know just how much Vali has been working just to heal his mother! And for you to do it so simply in front of him...Why would you do such a thing!¡± ¡°You¡¯ve never hit me before.....and I¡¯d know I remember everything. I was there when you were created!.....Mmmm I didn¡¯t see there being an issue. I simply figured while I¡¯m here why not reward him yah? Besides his mother has been working hard too.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not the point! Honestly all of you Gods have no heart¡± ¡°No heart?! Where is this coming from Hl?kk ¡° Hl?kk in her bird form flew around and argued with Loki and it was kind of a quirky site and then my mother who was holding Ari began to laugh and look over at me with such a warm and kind smile. She was holding the demi human girl close to her chest and smiling when she walked over to me. ¡°Oh Vali!.....Were you trying so hard to heal your mother? .......You already have.¡± As she said this she smiled while stroking my cheek while holding Ari. It was hard not to smile back at such a kind woman. ¡°I have?¡± ¡°Yes.....I haven¡¯t been so happy in years.....Truly.....you done so much for me...sob ...sob¡± She cried while she smiled which I thought was an interesting thing. She just swayed with Ari while we talked. It was then that I noticed that Ari had also had her ear attached from before. Her hair looked much healthier and maybe his healing went far beyond mine. Looking back at my mother¡¯s eyes I could see the same green glow in them from before. She was stunning. Such a beautiful face needs to be enjoyed and looking at her gives me strength.....I guess it really doesn¡¯t matter who healed my mother.....as long as I can see this smile. I wound up voicing my own astonishment. ¡°This is.....Incredible.¡± After that Hl?kk and Loki continued to talk a little bit and then he, for some reason tried performing tricks for the kids. He attempted a trick and none of them besides Ari even showed a sign of surprise. Noah and the elves just looked back at him oddly. Whoosh! In an instant Hl?kk changed into her Valkyrie form but was just wearing modern clothing not much different than my mothers. ¡°Eh...she was human.¡± ¡°ah...the bird?¡± Both Noah and the elves made their looks of amazement. Acting more interested in Hl?kk than Loki¡¯s magic. This made him irritated and he started trying more dazzling magic all shining brightly in the background. ¡°...........¡± The two elves I then noticed kept looking at Loki and Hl?kk not much differently than I did.....I suppose it is because they appear to be human if you¡¯re just simply looking at them. Though he is wearing rather shiny clothes and performing magic like an idiot, I don¡¯t believe everyone has still worn off the idea of humans in their hearts......If you think about it they have been abused and tormented by the humans here for so long.......they wouldn¡¯t just open up to one after so many years of bad relations. Though some of them seem to be warming up to me. Now that I think about it I have fallen asleep while holding Ari the last couple days on my chair and Lily would be there staring at us. She was close with me back in Aldain but now that she has been spending time with Noah, she I guess has been warned about me. Now she just looks at me curiously, she seems to follow me around when I make food too. These horrible thoughts of humans had been hard grained into these slaves, but I can feel they are slowly beginning to realize they are safe here. Maybe in time who knows. Noah doesn¡¯t really talk to me much, other than saying thank you for saving his sister, which was a struggle for him. He just doesn¡¯t trust me. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Currently me and Fenrir are traveling through the forest southeast around the southern tip of the Jheroki Mountains.....I know I said I wouldn¡¯t look through this place but I would like to see the area where Malthiel died. I¡¯m curious if the surrounding area is still devastated and I¡¯m honestly just curious about that mountain in general. The mountain base is covered by a dense fog and the mountain¡¯s tip extends far past the clouds. It¡¯s so massive that it takes up a huge chunk of the south rim up through the middle of the continent. This is where we fought Malthiel..... Looking out at the desolate area, I see the aftermath of the fight between Hl?kk and Malthiel. The earth has been devastated and torn trees and broken up earth are scattered throughout the battlefield. There were massive craters throughout the dirt and no life remained in this blackened pit. I decided just to make it me and Fenrir this morning as it was still way too early and the sun wasn¡¯t even up yet.....I haven¡¯t decided what we¡¯re going to do with these slaves just yet but my mother seems to be happy having someone others in the house and talk to while I¡¯m out. ¡®.....it¡¯s actually quite nice.¡¯ I¡¯ve thought of maybe teaching some of them hunting or even basic fighting techniques but I guess that will have to come with time. I wake up very early and most of the kids when they finally get some sleep...they¡¯re out. The 2 elves an slept in the bed with my mother. Noah slept on the floor but we made a pillow and blanket for him to have, Lilly would always sleep right next to him. I¡¯d always catch her staring back up at me in my bed......and Ari.....she couldn¡¯t walk well yet as even though her body was healed it was still far too weak to do much. Years of abuse can¡¯t be healed in a day I¡¯ve found, they can¡¯t be healed with one good action. She always fell asleep though right at the foot of my bed every night. She would fall asleep there before any of us and knew she had lyed down. She didn¡¯t always sleep through the night but I had picked her up and let her sleep in bed with me the last few nights. The first night I let her sleep on my chest to see if her breathing had truly been stabilized.....it had. Sometimes she¡¯d wake up and I¡¯d hear her gasp. ¡°ah...eh.¡± She apparently thought she had been sleep walking. I kept telling her it was ok to sleep in bed with my mom or even me, but she just got really red and would look away. ------------------------------------------------------------- I kept Fenrir close to me as we walked through the broken ground and craters that littered the destroyed environment. The surrounding forests have been decayed and look the same as they did that day Malthiel had touched down. Ruf!....Ruf!!! Fenrir started to run away into the white mist that covered the mountain base near the forests edge. He ran like a dart and plunged into the white smog that covered everything. ¡°FENRIR!....Dammit!¡± I started to run after him as fast as I could. This little silver cub was strong but it was still just a cub at heart. Its body was still small and could no way fend for itself around here. I sprinted as fast as I could and plunged through the white smoke and couldn¡¯t see anything in front of me. Ruff! Ruf! I just kept hearing his small bark and kept advancing forward through the dark white smog. I couldn¡¯t see anything in front of me and then brought out my white mask from my inventory. An added skill that has been placed on it allows you see in the dark! That along with being incredibly durable and being able to see critical hits it is a very interesting item. I wonder if Loki made this too? I worry because this area is filled with Baums.....a very large and dangerous tree type monsters my mother has told me about. I have never seen one but I am told the moment you see it you need to immediately take it down or its roots will absorb all your life force away. I honestly don¡¯t want to deal with something like that in this smoke. Ruf! Ruf! I started running faster and remembered over the last couple days this little wolf has been kind of entertaining .Though it has no way to speak back to me, I know it understands everything I¡¯m saying. Two nights ago Ari tried to walk for the first time and started to fall. Fenrir dashed over and in a moment caught Ari with the side of his body. She was originally scared of him but he would lower his body as if invited her to ride her. It was a site that made everyone in the cabin smile. ¡°ehehehe¡± Ruf! RUF! He would jog around the house and Ari would tightly with her small little fingers grasp onto his fur and run around the house. Both their tails started to flurry around.....¡¯I don¡¯t know what it is about them but the past few days....spending time with them has........done something to me.¡¯ I burst through an edge of the smoke and within an instant, see a giant landscape in front of me and a large 100 feet drop off cliff that I would have ran straight over if I didn¡¯t see the light coming in from the smog.
You have now entered Balor¡¯s Grand Dungeon: Buried Life! You are currently on floor 52 Due to being the first to find this dungeon you will receive 2x experience on monsters for the next week! Every monster you find for the first time will drop its best loot!
¡°Oh Wow!¡± In the distance I see.......a large and lush forest and landscape that shouldn¡¯t be here. I see large peculiar trees that stand taller than mountains themselves and large peculiar land masses hovering in the sky. This is.....this is beautiful. It said it was called....Balor¡¯s Grand Dungeon........Balor....the same name of a skill I still haven¡¯t used on that scythe. I guess Malthiel¡¯s master built himself a dungeon. If I remember correctly......Balor was an Irish dark God....something like drought and blight.¡¯ I found a lot of information about him, I wonder if he is the same Balor. It said the name was....Buried Life?....How am I already on floor 52? Where is this place? In front of me is a large world that should not exist here. It is as if the mountain does not exist at all. No......I passed through the mountain and now I am here. I am currently standing on what appears to be a large cliff and I¡¯m hundreds if not thousands of feet above ground...¡®Wow........this is......truly an amazing site.¡¯ I can see small bird type monsters flying in the distance and waterfalls from the large floating land masses with the waterfalls falling over to the ground. The crystal blue waters I can see from even here. I think I even saw a large walled city in the far stretch of land as well. From this height I can truly see everything. Even........A bright sky. An oddly orange bright sky as if it is sunset. But it¡¯s not.....It should be risen. The sky is orange and in the sky has a large red moon. It covers roughly half of the sky itself and I can tell this is not the same world I was just in. Looking in front of me I can even see a large massed rock structure extending passed the clouds.....¡±Where am I?¡± Dungeons are suppose to be strange existences in this world. Monsters will continue to respawn and after destroyed and according to my mother are places left by very powerful existences. Conquering one of these labyrinths can gain a lot of a fame to those who conquer one and this one seems to have its own sky in it. Since I''m the first here this has be quite the hidden gem. Ruf! Ruf! Looking down I can see a silver dot running into a small forest...¡®What.....how did he get down there?¡¯ Looking down I have no idea how Fenrir managed to scale a 1000 foot wall so easily.....Can....can he fly or something? ¡®Oh......there appears to be a large staircase only a few feet to my right.¡¯ ¡°...........¡± I ran down the large cliff like stair case and it almost looks to be carved into the rock. Running through a lush forest I can hear all kinds of sounds and monsters. There¡¯s obviously predators in prey in this forest and Fenrir ran straight in here...... ROAAARRRRRRR!!!! ¡®Woah......I¡¯ve heard that before¡¯ Ruf! ¡°Damnit!¡± Running faster I get to a clearing and see the silver fur of Fenrir standing on end as he is looking up at an incredibly large black monster. It looks the same as the black smog wyverian from before only this one is clearly dozens of meters bigger. It is massive and under its title....it had a name Whalrremn Level 256. It was a black smog dragon much bigger than the one I saw the night I got here but this one has its scales on end and roaring back at Fenrir. I could now view monsters at least 150 levels over me after raising my level. Currently I was 149. After killing all those people that day at the colosseum, I rose 2 levels. I find it odd that this world even counts murder into experience..... ¡®There¡¯s no way you think you can attack that thing do you? That smog dragon from before had a black mist that melted people that had steel armor on like a wave washing over a poorly built sand castle. It¡¯s what makes black smog dragons so dangerous. RoaarrrRRaaa The dark wyverian raised its scales and an intense dark mist began to sparkle and fill the air but then immediately fade away. It¡¯s as if the skill had gotten disrupted mid go and caused the black wyverian to shake. All I could see was Fenrir sitting there with his back to me staring at the large black wyverian. What is he doing to that thing? ROAARRRRR!!!!! The wyverian then seeming to break free over what is going on begins to charge at Fenrir and roar a menacing shout that pierced through the skies...¡¯I can¡¯t let this happen.....I have to put this thing down immediately!¡¯ I just got Fenrir a few days ago and this was just to supposed to be a small hunting trip. Early this morning instead of punching practice, Fenrir and I went off for a jog. I wanted to teach Fenrir to hunt and become a good hunting dog. I¡¯ve never actually owned a pet but I have taken care of some small animals that my sister would play with from time to time in the apartment. Fenrir apparently had the same ability that I do. Demonic Absorption, it can make something truly powerful and the potential of this thing, I can understand just as much as he can. I wonder why he gave me this thing. I brought out Abgrund that was clearly a weapon to have claimed many lives. I pierced the dirt of the ground beneath me as I sprinted towards the dark smog dragon. I used Lightning Step and found it was something entirely different than Flicker. Flicker bursts my body forward with a burst of magic energy. While Lightning Step bursts my cognitive functions by 10%. And all I can say is wow! The world has slowed down and became still. I can see the smog dragon from before frozen in time and roaring down at Fenrir. It is happening but very very slowly..¡®This....is only 10%?¡¯ I swung the Abgrund horizontally toward the large dragon releasing the skill Dark Sever....... ShEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! The sounds of screams coming from the scythe can be heard and a torched sound fills the surroundings. And a dark sickle shaped light shot towards the smog dragon. The right entire top half of its head began to slide off and the large black dragon filled with smog in the air dropped to the ground without putting up a single struggle. The surrounding trees that were as tall as mountains that were struck by the Dark Sever have cleanly cut through multiple trees through the forest. It is a pure wave of desolation and everything that was clearly cut by this skill shows a black and molded residue. Smoke comes off the black dyed earth and trees and crackling sounds can be heard.
Your Level Has Risen Your Level Has Risen...
Crackling noises came from the scorched surroundings along with the sounds of notifications going off. ¡®Woah.......I do not need to use that again. ¡® I put up the scythe and run over to Fenrir. He is just nonchalantly biting at the fallen monster. He is actually cutting through the scales rather......easily!....That thing should be insanely though! The black smog dragon¡¯s scales are supposed to be the top in the wyverian species and 100 times stronger than steel. Blood starts to come out of the dead half dragons chest and I just sit in amazement as this little puppy that honestly has a rather adorable face..........is doing such a horrid thing. Ruf!...Ruf!..... ¡®No way......! Is he retrieving the heart!.....Good boy!¡¯ Clearly this is a smart wolf. I guess Loki truly made something intelligent if he is going to give it to his champion.¡¯...Though.........He has two champions........Ugh....Loki.¡¯ I had obviously asked him about where my sister had gone........I was amazed at his response.¡¯ ---------------------------------------- ¡°Hmm.......Ya know I don¡¯t really know.¡± ¡°WHAT!!!¡± Loki just sat down in a chair trying to shoot magic tricks at Lily and Noah. They were starting to play with the small fireworks and laughing together. I however was still mad and swore a little bit. Then got struck by my mother......Scolded at by Hl?kk for using that language in front of children which I then apologized though....... He later told me he honestly wasn¡¯t a 100% sure at the moment as she never stays in the same place for very long. She is apparently quite rambunctious and loves to travel. Since by the time he came to talk to me she could be anywhere. She has also apparently gotten pretty good at spatial magic. I asked her where he thought she was and he just said somewhere around the Central Continent.....probably. He said she was in the western continent and then in the central continent and has simply been seeing the sites all over. I kept pressing for answers but he was insinuating he was busy displaying magic tricks for the kids.......Now that I notice Loki is actually trying really hard to impress these kids. Apparently Noah isn¡¯t responding and even the elves are looking at him oddly. I know he can communicate with them but they just kept giving him strange looks which apparently made him try harder. He tripped and then everyone had an honest chuckle at his expense, which made him give up. Though he did seem to open up the kids a bit more after that. ¡°Ya know that wouldn¡¯t happen if you weren¡¯t wearing such odd shoes Loki.¡± I questioned him about his odd attire. Though he was wearing a rather nice modern suit he was wearing bright green boots that looked like they were made from alligator skin. ¡°Oh do you not like them Kayle? They are the new hit craze in Asgard. I got the idea from some of your attire from your home. I made it from the tail of an odd lizard species in this world. Aren¡¯t they nice!¡± He then began to flash his oddly pointed green shoes at everyone in various poses. ¡°Who¡¯s Kayle?¡± ¡°........¡± Everyone looked around the room to Lily¡¯s question. It was the first time we¡¯ve heard her voice so clear to be honest. Everyone looked back at Loki then at me. They took an initial shock at finding of my true identity. They learned I was from another world but not my past. I was reborn into this world and Elryia has been my mother ever since. Since Loki was explaining it everyone in the room was capable of understanding him. I just stood there silent. It¡¯s not like it was bad memories I just hadn¡¯t much to say on the subject. The elf girl whose leg was broken from before would then glare at me more. I found out after that day from Hl?kk that the elf girl with the broken leg was also a Blessed Person. I told her my name was Vali but both of them never really told me their names. Hjokk nor Loki could even see who she was blessed by. It was a sort of cover for Blessed Person¡¯s to not have the identity of their God¡¯s known. Loki then stated who he was and that he was a God checking up on his prot¨¦g¨¦. ¡°Wah...¡± ¡°go...god!¡± ¡°...Lo....Loki!¡± Everyone including the elf maiden showed their shock to what Loki had said. Though the other one didn¡¯t look too scared the one who had her leg broken made a shocked face back at me after finding this out. I don¡¯t know if she was sizing me up or not, she just kept quiet for some odd reason.¡¯ Apparently seeing me eating a heart was a little........well yah ya know I get it. She and the elf who I had saved in the coliseum had to return back to their homeland. I asked to help take them back but they heavily applied that I could not. The sacred Forest that they didn¡¯t even tell me its name did not allow humans there, ever. Though they said they were truly thankful to me for what I had done. The one who I touched by the neck I have caught staring at me too for quite some time, she never did give me her name though. Which I thought was strange that the elves never once introudced themselves. I only knew Tiffania¡¯s name because I heard the blessed one say it. Though every time I look at her she turns her head away. Hl?kk then offered and flew with them to escorted them home. She later told me a couple days later when she returned that the 2 elves wish to send their thanks and will be sending a thank you message in the future. She didn¡¯t however say what that would mean. I asked if that was normal and Hl?kk just shrugged saying elves are quite odd creatures. They aren¡¯t gods but they are practically immortal. Though if they¡¯re........virtue is stolen......they aren¡¯t looked at as disgraced so much as just pitied. Some of these elves aren¡¯t like they were depicted in the story books. Though their long silver hair and long pointy ears were quite cute and would show their emotions rather on their sleeves, they weren¡¯t up for talking. I was only told they were slaves for a couple of days but a lot can happen. The elf with the broken leg was hit a few times and was treated roughly. Though nothing quite as cruel as the other elf I had saved in the ring. She had been previously raped by some man who bought them from the slaver at the colosseum. The elven girl Tiffania was beaten and abused and then returned the next day to her ¡®sister¡¯. ---------------------------------- -------------------------- The next day. Listening to the stories I could understand why she would be afraid of me and Loki....I could understand why she even wanted Hl?kk in her bird form. They weren¡¯t use to humans just sitting down and not treating them like dirt. Though I would have liked to get to know the elves more since I had never met them but they had to get back to their home city quickly. They didn¡¯t talk much and I don¡¯t know if that was actually my fault though. I don¡¯t know if Loki has good connections with other Gods but.......yah she gave a vibe like I would obviously be a trouble maker......figures. Loki did say that¡¯s why he originally put up the barrier and that was my fault but.....¡¯.Ugh....He¡¯s just such an odd God. He kept talking about his stupid boots and how he sold some to a World Tree......what¡¯s a world tree going to do with lizard-man boots!!!¡¯ He always does weird poses too when he talks he¡¯s really weird. ¡°Hl?kk....do all blessed people have God¡¯s like him?¡± ¡°Eh....welll.....the God¡¯s can all be rather.....¡± ¡°Oh what¡¯s the matter Kayle! don¡¯t you like them, I¡¯m making a fortune in the God realms.....hahaha!¡± ¡°.....Yah. I¡¯m going by Vali now, and umm aren¡¯t you just a little too excited about shoes?¡± ¡°Oh yes.....that name...mhmhmhmhm. And to answer your question with a question, do you want to know how long an eternity is?.......Well it¡¯s rather long. And I find that it¡¯s much more enjoyable if you throw yourself into your interests.¡± ¡°........¡± ¡°hehe¡± I could hear Ari laugh. Probably cause Loki dances around so much when he talks. He keeps doing lunges and poses trying to show off his stupid boots. ¡°And what¡¯s wrong with that name? It was chosen by his mother! I happen to like the name!¡± My mom smirked towards Loki as if saying she were proud of the name she had given me and he just simply smiled back and looked back at me. ¡°Hmmmm and does the hero remember the mythologies of Vali from any old books?¡± ¡°......no.¡± ¡°Haha....well he was actually Odin¡¯s son who was sent to kill Loki after I had somehow managed to kill Balder.....your world¡¯s prophecies are truly hilarious!¡± ¡°There¡¯s a prophecy about a God named Vali?¡± ¡°Mmm well he is Odin¡¯s son you see....But I¡¯ve found so much of the text in your mythologies about us are not at all credible mhmhmh! Did you know it said I could kill the indestructible Balder with something called Mistle Toe.....WUhahahahah!!!!¡± ¡°Umm.....what are you getting at?¡± He kept laughing to himself looking up at the ceiling. ¡°Oh nothing......just saying it was hilarious watching him choke up the stuff in front of everyone at an annual warrior¡¯s banquet....mhmhmh. But anyways all I¡¯m saying.....perhaps the prophecies are right and some are wrong....but in your world¡¯s knowledge....Vali and Loki were destined to fight......I wonder if that means we too are destined for something....¡± A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Destined to fight....oh don¡¯t worry Loki if you think your getting a beating someday your right....it¡¯s coming.¡± ¡°Just saying it¡¯s a coincidence is all mhmhm.¡± He smiled back at me and started trying to impress the kids with his magic again. Since they weren¡¯t originally in to him and didn¡¯t give him an immediate response he tried harder. And when they finally started to crack up at his weird since of humor he somehow seemed over joyed. I wonder if other blessed individuals dislike their god''s.... ---------------------------------- Sitting in the woods Fenrir had eaten a part of the large heart and his grey hairs stood on end. Whenever he would attack a horned rabbit his hair rose up like tiny needles and he would then sprint away. He was such an odd animal and always seemed to be easily excitable. ¡°That good?......You really need to not run in like that ok buddy.¡± I took a bite of the heart and sat beside the dead black dragon. ¡°Mmmm¡± It tasted sour, like some kind of juice. Kind of like a starburst with a grape flavor to it. Hmmm
You have learned a new skill! Decaying Mist
Congratulations! Due to your natural affinity in darkness you have learned a new skill! Due to your 25% Darkness Affinity, Decaying Mist skill has been changed to Abysmal Mist
¡®Yes!.....Aw this looks to be the skill I wanted even a passive skill...I wonder, my skill says it takes the skill randomly.....but I usually get some very interesting abilities. Like Death¡¯s Grip and Freya¡¯s Soul Recovery.....It¡¯s all top tier skills and I¡¯m sure the things I took had multiple skills but each of these appear to be some of the more powerful ones. But, my darkness resistance which I¡¯m told any resistance is insanely hard to raise. Hjokk says some of the strongest and most powerful mages in the world have something like 30% resistances. They are very hard to raise as it is a natural affinity in this world. Though I somehow absorbed quite a lot of those affinities....the point of the matter is resistances are not easy to raise and even a few percent could take decades of effort in this world. I¡¯m just naturally reminded that this world is a game still. Entering into this apparent dungeon, I feel as though my nerves are constantly on end. Dungeons are a weird thing in game worlds. They are places that a player can go to kill monsters and gain large experience with even greater rewards. Though it was more dangerous as monsters were usually twice as strong in dungeons. This however looked to be a completely different world inside of this mountain. This mist has changed into Abysmal mist....apparently the smog was a sort of decaying and acidic base skill but my darkness magic resistance has added a new skill to sort of chain together. Though I¡¯ve never seen a chain like this. I suppose monsters have different skill trees as well but this is ridiculous. Though in this world.....everything is connected to an RPG element and I keep forgetting. ¡°How ¡®bout you buddy get anything good?¡± Ruf I looked down at him and he then hopped in my lap and grinned his teeth. A small black drip came down and fell to the earth. The earth just stayed dyed but nothing really happened after that. I guess it¡¯s like a poison ability.......¡®Pretty good boy....¡¯ I started petting Fenrir and he scratched himself behind the ear to show him my happiness. But not before I scolded him thoroughly about running off and never using this ability without my consent...it honestly looked like it could be dangerous. ¡°Alright buddy lets......¡± ¡°Si....Sir!.....Do not attack!¡± ¡°Huh.....¡± Whoever that voice is has not shown up on my radar at all. I felt someone walking closer to me and jumped back with Fenrir both getting in a stance....It said that I was the first to discover this dungeon but someone clearly just talked to me.....What I saw though was..........What? Standing in front of me in oriental clothing are 2 demi humans. They both have black hair with long white streaks going through it and rounded ears. Small curled tails with the same stripes are coming out of their thin clothing. They appeared to be something like a white tiger race as the female had whiskers too. Though her figure was athletic and curvy her fists were massive and looked like a bears¡¯ only with black fur and white stripes. She and a boy who looked similar only much more muscular stood in front of me. They looked quite strong, even though they asked me not to attack I am the one on alert right now......There level said 214 and 223.....¡®What!!¡¯ Hl?kk mentioned that there were much higher leveled adventurer¡¯s and individuals in the other continents. Though she did however mention that this was a newly founded continent for the human territories. The demi humans who are second in population only to humans, are thought to be much weaker. After rising my level I obviously asked about my level gap around this region and becoming the new Lord of the Forest........But how are these 2 demi humans so high level! ¡°.........Who are you.¡± Ruf! ¡°Ah.....ugh....Listen, we wish for you to come with us please. Also.....please refrain your animal please!¡± Fenrir was slowly approaching them and the white tiger race man seemed to be frightened. I don¡¯t know if they saw Fenrir try to take on the smog dragon but I think he must have some natural ability to scare people somehow? ¡°Fenrir!¡± Snap! I snapped and he came back to my call. I¡¯ve taught him this much. ¡°Listen how did you find this dungeon? I figured I was the first here?¡± ¡°.......¡± ¡°.......¡± They both looked at each other confusingly and did not know how to react to what I had said. ¡°Umm.....What are you talking about? You seem to maybe be a person from......the lower levels?.....Though I don¡¯t see your ears?¡± ¡°Huh....no I¡¯m human¡± Answering the girl¡¯s question each of their eyes grew in shock. ¡°That¡¯s......that¡¯s impossible.¡± ¡°Wha...how!¡± Both of them showed their shock and didn¡¯t know how to take what I had said. Immediately the black haired Demi human grabbed me and pulled me close to her while she examined my head. She kept pushing my face down and I realized quickly she was quite strong. She kept feeling my head and playing with my hair. ¡°Wha...Where are your ears? They don¡¯t seem to have been cut off or anything....You.....you have them on the side of your head!¡± As the male demi human stepped forward to the girls question Fenrir jumped out and scared the large muscular demi human. Both of them appeared to be around their late 20s but were each very strong looking individuals. It was at this moment......both of these two are not wearing armor of any kind. Simple thin cloth and leather armor around their waists. ¡°Yah....Like I said...human¡± I motioned to my ears when she pushed me away and they just kept looking back at me with shock. ¡°How is a human here?¡± ¡°Is it really that odd I live quite close by.......wait.....are you saying you guys live in here?¡± As we both stared at each other our mouths were open....It was an odd situation. ¡°Listen!!!.....Um...Can you just come with us please....we wish for you to speak to someone right away!...If...that is of course ok with you sir.¡± The man freaked at my question and even though he seemed so strong he appeared shocked at me being a human. ¡°Why is it so odd that a human would be here?¡± They started pulling my arms and run with me through the forest.....It was then I realized just how strong the white tiger race was. Though the women with black hair didn¡¯t have a large frame she had muscular legs and as she ran she would jump and land from tree branch to tree branch. She was pulling me and Fenrir chased behind us. Honestly it baffles me that these two people can do this. They are running so fast and none of their weight is being displaced on the thin branches. We follow behind the male demi human and are ripping through the forest..... When we whisked through the air it felt completely different than cutting through the wind like I had been doing.....They flowed with it. We landed in an opening and I was honestly so shocked at what I saw, I couldn¡¯t contain my initial reaction. I didn¡¯t even land correctly but just kept looking at the site in front of us. A huge walled city made of a dark black stone stood taller than even the mountainous trees. The stone wall looked massive and I had no idea how anyone could have made this. The wall looks to be very well made. From all the construction I have seen so far in this world and from their advancements in anything......This is the most advanced thing I have seen since coming here. On top of the wall that out stood mountains. Were large cannon like objects that stood covering the walls. They.....know how to build cannons? Clearly if this world knows about the use of cannons I was always curious how this RPG like game world would handle it. Looking at the large metal cannons I froze.......All I could think of was who were these people...¡¯..They set up home here....in a dungeon!¡¯ Fenrir and I simply followed as we got closer to the wall, I got more and more amazed at the walls height. It made me only more amazed at who its constructors must be. ¡®Are the white tiger race this good with technology? Walking up closer to the wall I can see large groups of individuals training. Performing the same action one after another in a peculiar fashion....They are practicing martial arts. Each of them have black and white hair and are wearing red cloth instead of armor. They look to be completely ok being out in the open in the middle of a dungeon, but then again they did build an apparent city here so who am I to judge. Walking closer to the wall is a small platform type device and the two demi humans I was with walked over to a group of other demi humans standing by the wall. Each of them were wearing some form of uniforms and appeared to be this cities military. They also seemed to be quite well coached......honestly they actually didn¡¯t look much different than those from the military shows. The faces of those the two spoke to freaked out and looked to just show concern but the girl apparently is quite of high rank here. The other guards stepped aside and did a weird salute with their hands raised..... They ushered me on the platform and seemed to be quite nervous....¡®What is really going on here?¡¯ Even though I¡¯m not sure If I should go with them so candidly if anything gets bad I could always just flash out of here right.......I am honestly curious and since none of them seem to be hostile I¡¯ll humor them. We got on the platform and two large demi-humans began to pull up the platform we were standing on. Looking at their muscles I noticed that each and every one of the individuals here had unanimously high levels. None of them were under level 200. Each and every one of these demi-humans were of considerable strength. When we got to the top, the girl who still hadn¡¯t introduced herself walked on top of the large wall...¡®Woh......they made this¡¯ The wall is so tall it begs to question how they were capable of doing something like this. The sky must be artificial but looks to be several thousand of feet from the ground. The wall looped around the dungeon floor and barricaded a decently sized city behind it. The wall was truly a monstrous structure that made it more than halfway to the ceiling of this floor. We walked up to an even larger man. He had a goatee and white hair. He had the same demi human features but his hair was long and had the same black stripes running through them. His eyes were a bright shade of blue I haven''t seen before. After explaining what they had saw the white tiger man looked at me and his mouth wide open I guess they seemed like it was crazy to kill a smog dragon so easily.... ¡°....You¡¯re human!¡± ¡®Guess not¡¯ ¡°Uhh yah.....So you guys have taken up residence here huh.......nice wall.¡± As I answered the man with a large build with an almost gentle aura I then looked down the very large wall.......Damn that is a long drop. ¡°How did you come here child?¡± I could hear a slight purr in his voice. He seriously did sound like a cat species. I tried not to chuckle and answered him. ¡°Just simply passing through. I didn¡¯t even know there was a dungeon here.....Why are you guys living here anyways?¡± ¡°.......¡± Everyone looked around at each other and then back at me. He got much closer to me and started to examine me. As he got closer he felt around my shoulders and looked at me, I noticed his level......347.....¡¯What the Hell!!¡¯ This thing is also monstrously powerful. After he felt my ears he backed away and started laughing. At that moment everyone looked around then at him and some themselves started laughing. Since I didn¡¯t get the joke I just stood there. ¡°ahhaaha! It¡¯s finally time.....we¡¯re finally getting out of here boys haha!!!!¡± Everyone then went silent to his words. I don¡¯t know if it was because of what he said or what would come next, but what walked down the large floor of this wall was a women in a dark black uniform. It was black pants with a black upper coat. She had a captain¡¯s hat and long blue hair. It was of a more royal color blue than the man¡¯s eyes but she was clearly a different species than the others around here. In fact....everyone surrounding the blue haired demi human were also wearing a different colored uniform. Their uniform each had a different crest entirely on the front and it was then I could see each of their levels. All around 270 and a couple getting close to 300. Though this women here was 306. She as well as all the black coated demi humans wore 2 long swords at their wastes and had fancy sheaths made for each. The sheet too was black but the handle was a bright silver and shined off the sun. Each demi-human in the black robed clothing had royal blue hair and small pointy ears on the top of their heads. The men and women looked more like one of the cat races. Though I haven¡¯t seen one with blue hair before. Seeing me the women who appeared to be a higher rank approached me and smiled. Though she didn¡¯t smile as calmly as the man did before, she.....looked back at me like a predator. It was before I had any chance to escape she lunged at me and cleared a distance of several meters in an instant. She pulled her twin swords and lunged at me in a wonderful stabbing motion and I teleported to where she had originally been standing. The light from the swords were blinding. Each blade glowed in a brilliant ambient light I saw an entire spectrum of colors flood into the surroundings as she swung my way. ¡°...Nyah!....you clearly are a strong one! Did ol¡¯ Malfius bring you up from the bottom floors? Tsk...Though I feel the need to warn you.... you people will never be able to take down a Fomorian with those fists. That¡¯s why the majority of your race is practically extinct.....You were all butchered on the upper floors!¡± She said this and then dashed in my direction and I used flicker to evade her strike and grabbed her wrist. She did a twirl around my body and kicked my upper chin....she was actually very good. I lifted up my fists and prepared for a box and she swung her swords down in the way of an acrobat and both swords with the lights stemming from the diamond tipped blades. They were made from an odd material that glowed. She lunged through me and cut my cheek while also pulling up my cross necklace.....¡®Wow.....for the sword to be able to cut my flesh that¡¯s something....but hey.....what¡¯s this light.¡¯ Looking down at my chest the light from the crystal in the middle of the cross glowed and shined like it hadn¡¯t before. It honestly looked no different now than the light coming off the swords. They looked to actually be........the same material? ¡°Those swords........What are they made out of?¡± Saying this the women stopped lunging at me realizing I¡¯m not a simple opponent and smirked. ¡°Heh....how do you not know of these? These are the only weapons capable slicing through the tough fur of the Fomorian. Don¡¯t you know anything sewer dweller?¡± She seems to think of me as something, I don¡¯t catch the reference here. But that¡¯s the second time I¡¯ve heard that name. Fomorian.......That word sounds so familiar. Looking through the knowledge I have gathered over 9 months of reading books on mythologies and legend. Fomorian belonged to a race of dark giants. They were monsters that were....I don¡¯t really remember. I didn¡¯t touch much more on reading about it as that book clearly have not anything to do with those demons I saw. I simply closed the book and looked at another. ¡°What¡¯s a Fomorian?¡± ¡°haha! What¡¯s a Fomorian....Only the one thing that has pushed our people to extinction. Don¡¯t they tell you anything on the lower floors seriously nyah.......What¡¯s a fom......You...seem to really not know?!¡± Looking back to the white tiger man with the white beard he just simply shrugged. ¡°I tried to tell you.........he¡¯s from beyond this place.....this dungeon!¡± ¡°Ah!....Yo...you!¡± She turned around and looked shocked at who I am now as if she didn¡¯t believe it. ¡°Seriously though......What¡¯s a Fomorian?¡± WOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A loud noise that pierced through this open land had shook the ground, the walls, the people standing on it......¡®It was a brilliant first attack¡¯
You have been paralyzed by fear from the Roar of a Fomorian! Due to your resistance to Fear: Strength has been reduced by 44% Agility has been reduced by 12% Ability to successfully use a skill has been reduced by 33% Abilities at holding a weapon will become more difficult
Looking down the wall for the first time I see what looks like an honest to god monster in this world... ROARRRRRRRR!!!!!! Pushing past the same trees I had considered to be as tall as mountains over with ease is a very large Black Creature that blocks out the light from the moon behind him. Though not as big as the wall we are standing I honestly cannot even comprehend fighting that thing. The dark beast clouded in dark mist that was standing on two legs then started running on all fours towards the large wall. Everyone in uniforms took stations and started to circle around the cannons and at the same time the black clothed demi humans had run and assembled as one. ¡°FOMORIANNN!!!!!!!¡± ¡°STATIONS NOW!!!!!¡± ¡°AHHH AHHH!!!!¡± Orders were barked out and in an instant people were assembling to take on this beast. The beast came barrelling in and crashed through multiple parties where the red armored demi-humans and some of the some of the ones in black clothing were originally training. Each and every one of them were brutally being torn and ripped apart. The black abomination was level 415 and alone was wreaking havoc on these demi humans. The large black furred Fomorian was so large I contemplated not even guessing its height from up here.....¡¯...It was big...Plain and simple.¡¯ Due to being up on this wall it was hard to ascertain it¡¯s size fully. I remember reading about them but they were truly monsters that go bump in the night. They were bear type creatures with dark fur and oddly shaped heads. They had dark crimson colored eyes and a horrific laugh while they threw those caught on their claws into their large grinning mouths. Their arms were very long and had extended claws. They would lunge with their clawlike hands and skewered the demi-humans below with ease. The monster had no lips and long white needle like fangs. It constantly wore a grin but didn¡¯t seem to show much emotion. It was however making laughing sounds as it would try to eat people. ¡°Wow....¡± My amazement got the women in black clothing¡¯s attention next to me and she simply raised her voice to the one next to her and gave an order. ¡°.....Gayle...The boy here asked what a fomorian was..........Show him who we are. Show him the power of our Struggle!¡± She yelled it while brandishing her sword in the sky and staring daggers at the dark furred beast below. The dark monster had crimson eyes and didn¡¯t say a word as it tore through each of those standing below.......Health bar¡¯s kept disappearing and small lights simply kept blinking away and I could even feel the beats of their hearts simply come to rest.....¡¯...All because....of that thing!¡¯ With my new bones and body I could honestly probably survive a fall like this. Since I can¡¯t take much more of standing around I went to lunge off the wall when something amazing fills my view.........The dark clothed demi humans from before faced the giant with grins on their faces. They weren¡¯t like the ones in red clothing but were running straight for the giant beast. Each blue haired demi-human jumped off the shaking wall and looked as if they were running down the wall itself. Each had perfect form and ran barreling down the wall like the wind. Their feet would lightly touch the wall surface and stride. Each kept their twin swords sheathed and jumped head first into the abyss. ....They danced. They each pulled out their twin swords of light and swung them around. With each and every swing, a rainbow of light would stream from the smoothened diamond like finish from the sword. Clearly these weren¡¯t normal weapons of some kind. Where do you get the materials for something like that? The blue haired cat like demi human danced around the giant fomorian and would evade swings and then immediately attack. Their footwork was phenomenal. Even from here I could notice such a stunning display of footwork. After the gravel would be crushed by the monster''s blow, they would simply pull off acrobatic stunts and jump straight back towards their attacker. All while perfectly choreographed with each other. They danced around the dark beast and one ran up its long arms and spun around several times and the dark fomorians throat had been cut......¡¯...Truly it was a magnificent display.¡¯ Each and every one of the dark clothed demi humans danced around the beast that was laying waste and causing the wall to shake. As the monster fell to the ground the earth shook and then became swarmed by several blue haired demi humans with shining swords. Within moments the large monsters health had dropped to zero and the great furred beast had fallen. ¡°AHH!!!!!!¡± ¡°Another has fallen!¡± The men and women demi-human cheered all around and everyone on top of and below the wall could hear the cheers of everyone. ¡°...Impressive.¡± I looked down and smirked as it was an impressive show and I did not expect that outcome as I assumed I may have to jump in and pull out a certain weapon out if things got ugly. ¡°Now you see what it takes to take on a Fomorian........SO.......Are you really a human?!¡± The black beasts were truly monsters that stood almost as tall as the giant trees they pushed over with ease. They weren''t mere monsters and showed audacious mannerisms and sounds that made everyone cringe. She with her hands behind her back got close to me and tried to observe me. Her tail swirled around and she didn¡¯t seem to know how to approach me. ¡°mmm nyah! I suppose with those weird ears you aren¡¯t from the bottom floor!!¡± At that moment the women in dark clothing hugged me and seemed to be truly excited. ¡°Seriously......what¡¯s going on here?¡± ¡°I think I can explain that to you son.......If you¡¯d.....allow me.¡± The white haired man from before stepped up and all the men at attention straighten up and stood up in a correct form, all besides the blue haired woman in front of me. She smiled and looked back at him as both their tails whirled around oddly....this world is so weird.. Seriously all the demi-humans here move their ears and tails around quite a lot so it¡¯s much different than what I¡¯m use to back home......would it be weird to ask them to stop? ¡°Now....My name is Malfius...This women next to you is Ecclaire. I¡¯m sorry for her previous attacks.........she and I will have an obvious conversation about such actions later.¡± He looked at the women and she just rolled her eyes back at him. ¡°What¡¯s the big deal....he seems to be strong anyways.¡± ¡°....I don¡¯t think you know how much....He could use magic!¡± ¡°Huh!?¡± She and everyone looked at me and were shocked. ¡°Yes....and that is not all..........boy can you do us a favor.....Can you bring out that weapon you wielded to insta-kill that black smog dragon today. ¡° ¡°Ah...what?¡± "Oh Abrgund?" ¡°What?¡± The girl looked in surprise to what he had just said as if she were surprised I was stronger than she thought. Seriously did she think I was just quickly running around her earlier? I took out Abgrund and everyone on top of the wall just stood there wide eyed......No words were said just silence......Staring at this scythe. ¡°That......That scythe.......¡± ¡°Is......Is that the same scythe?¡± All the surrounding demi-humans began to clamor. ¡°Ah this....I got it off an undead I help kill. It¡¯s a dangerous thing though so I don¡¯t play with it too much....Though I¡¯m told it makes those around uncomfortable?¡± ¡°......uhhh yes.......We know.¡± ¡°Oh....sorry about that. I¡¯ll put it away as I felt everyone¡¯s tensions.¡± ¡°Well.....now everyone could see huh.......My people told me this boy wielded Malthiel¡¯s scythe.......and took down a smog dragon with one swing with this thing. He has magic.......he¡¯s human......He can possibly help us escape this place!¡± Every demi human in the surrounding place began to clamor and speak up. The girl from earlier for one. ¡°Ah...but....he¡¯s such a small level there¡¯s no way he can take on a titan.¡± ¡°......Level is not everything Ecclaire!¡± ¡°Yes it is!¡± They both started glaring at each other arguing kind of comically......they¡¯ve clearly done this before. ¡°Listen ummm eh......¡± ¡°I¡¯m Vali.¡± ¡°Vali.....yes. Well......Since I believe you are someone from beyond this place and someone of incredible strength to have slain Malthiel. I believe that you can help us escape....¡± ¡°Escape?¡± ¡°Yes.......Centuries ago a dark god named Balor appeared and sunk several tribes and nations into the bottom of a dungeon he had created. Our ancestors were all gathered on floor one of this dungeon centuries ago. He claimed that should we ever advance to Level 100 we would be granted freedom........that was several hundred years ago. We¡¯ve lost many of our own but we kept strong. We kept pushing past the levels and made it to floor 63......¡± Everyone¡¯s faces showed grimace at that statement. ¡°.....Though we had been trapped in this pit for all of our lives.....We became strong. We fought monsters daily and life became about protecting one¡¯s freedom. ...........we have been down here for a very long time.......We got to floor 63 where a weird monster called a Fomorian first appeared. They were dark black furred beasts and they were stronger than anything on the floors below. This dungeon was invented by a dark god so smog dragons and fomorians are not all that lurks down here Vali.....The monsters tore through the advancing teams and crushed them. We sent party after party in there after them to receive any intel and every one of them hasn¡¯t returned. We clearly decided to hold off on advancing through the floors when after a few months¡¯ time those same black beasts that were sited started coming down to the lower floors........We¡¯ve been pushed past to making a walled city here on floor 52.....we¡¯re kind of at the last end of our rope as you can see.¡± Looking around I could see the wall and everyone with a very serious look looked back at me in proper form. ¡°Those interesting swords of yours seem to slice em down just fine though.¡± As I said this I thought about the fact that I cannot go to war for these people. I can possibly help them escape this place but I can¡¯t just jump into a fight with a being like Malthiel so candidly. ¡°Ah yes......these came from a peculiar rock we found on this floor. We built a city around the mines and have our main base of operations here for the advance teams. Though there are more cities in Dark Eden.¡± ¡°Dark Eden¡± ¡°It¡¯s what we call it here.¡± ¡®I wonder where they would have gotten such a reference to Eden?¡¯ ¡°Yes that material from your swords seem interesting. ¡° ¡°I see that necklace around your neck shines the same way.¡± He was implying me to give some information about myself but I just sat there and contemplated all that he had told me. ¡°We wish to escape this prison one day Vali. You wield the weapon of whom someone we truly feared. And you claim to have slain him. He was like Balor¡¯s executioner when we didn¡¯t obey the rules here.....many of ours were sacrificed with that scythe.¡± ¡°......Yes...It¡¯s true I killed Malthiel. But I have no intention of fighting his boss with you, if that¡¯s what this is. However I can help you all escape this place.¡± ¡°Wha........what do you mean?¡± My question shook the man and all those who stood atop the wall. It was so silent I could hear the wind blowing in my ear from up here. ¡°This floor you said is floor 51? I simply walked right into this dungeon by some entrance that is in the face of a mountain. I guess I killed the gatekeeper. I can show it to you if you¡¯d like.¡± ¡°AH....uhhh yes....but wait. There are many we would need to evacuate if......though no wait.....We cannot escape with you.¡± ¡°What....Why not.¡± ¡°Balor would simply come down from the top floor and destroy us. He has made this dungeon so we cannot simply escape. Those who have tried have been executed in front of us and hung on the walls of each floor......We cannot escape this place by simply walking out ¡° ¡°Hmm.......then let me see what I can do. I might get help if possible.¡± ¡°Help?¡± ROARRRRR ROARRRRRRRRRRRR Loud roars shook the dungeon floor and large dark Fomorians began to burst through the trees and rush the wall. Everyone began to set up in stations again and get ready for the assault. Most of those on the ground were already killed or been ripped apart by the other Fomorian. Many have gone inside the gate and closed it already. ROARRRR!!!!!! BAM!!!! BAM!!!! BAM!!!! Loud crashes on the wall began to crush shake the wall and the very foundation began to crumble. Large bits of the black stone would fall from the wall and down to the ground below. Some of those standing by the edge of the walls had fallen over to death itself. The large beasts would slice and eat those that came into contact, though some tried to put up a struggle before their hp dropped to zero. Each beast was over level 400 and truly sickening to look at. They would eat monsters and laugh with that disturbing sound was enough to make any man cringe. As everyone on the wall began to attack I put my hand on Malfius¡¯s shoulder and told him. ¡°I¡¯ll be back sometime tomorrow and we can figure something out........It¡¯s getting late and uh.......... I got a curfew....¡± They both looked at me in shock and I just kept walking past them. I had a smirk on my face as I wasn¡¯t sure how they would take my actions. ¡®I don¡¯t know why at times like these I choose to be cheeky....perhaps it¡¯s a defense mechanism.¡¯ As the man then smiled to himself the girl with long blue hair had raised her arm in my direction. At that moment Fenrir had jumped into my arms and I had leapt from the monstrous black wall and down towards the dungeon floor. I activated Abysmal Mist and descended towards the large dark black furred beasts causing mayhem below. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Currently I¡¯m walking back home with Fenrir and about to be back at the cabin......Ha....I can¡¯t believe combining skills can be so advantageous in this world. Apparently Abysmal Mist that somehow worked together with Dark Pressure has transformed that black smog entirely.....¡¯....Hehe.....Those two are gonna show me some interesting faces tomorrow when I get back.¡¯ The effects of raising skills in this world and combining them are truly fascinating, I didn¡¯t even really get to fight them. I took out Abgrund and fell towards beasts expecting a fight.....They were all waist by the time I hit the ground. ¡°Hmmm.....¡± I can sense someone nearby and hear a faint heartbeat. I¡¯m not sure how but after obtaining death¡¯s grip I have somehow managed to feel staggered heartbeats at times...¡¯ and I feel as though.....I may be transforming into a sith lord.¡¯ I cracked a smile at reminding myself at my ridiculous appearance. I could sense a couple small dots slowly approaching me as I moved....¡¯..hmm.....It seems to be like I¡¯m being hunted.¡¯ I put on Loki''s mask and turned on the night vision on it. I saw 2 glowing figures not far behind me. I used spatial magic while also activating hide presence. The two dots on my radar belonged to two men in armor. They had short swords and pendants on them.....It seems like they are both alone cause I can¡¯t pick anyone else up but these two are now quite shocked at my disappearance. Since I can see their swords hanging out as if they were ready to kill me.......I simply severed the head from his body while I heard the other one being devoured by Fenrir in the dark forest. ¡®....I seriously don¡¯t have time to mess with thieves. If I¡¯m late again honestly......My mom will probably start hitting me.¡¯ I¡¯ve been scolded several times but the last few days she has been more preoccupied. Lately me and her have been taking care of all the slave children at the house and I can feel as though my mother is having fun being somewhat of a motherly figure to someone and they are slowly warming up to her. Much more than me anyways....Though she is a demi-human like them. I whistled walking to my cabin in the woods when I¡¯m sure I hear something.....I hear 3 heartbeats and I¡¯m actually sure of it now....though there is nothing at all on my radar......¡®Where are they coming from.....¡¯ Using my magic manipulation I swept the area feeling the pulses of life and trying to sense a presence of it and found that there were 3 figures hiding in a bush not too far away from me. I in all honestly have no idea if I¡¯m being tracked but even my radar isn¡¯t working on these figures and now I¡¯m thinking this might be a trap. ¡®Those weren¡¯t just simple thieves........maybe someone is here from the kingdom whose coliseum I just demolished.....¡¯ When I found out where they were I used spatial magic to appear behind them. ¡°..........What are you doing here.....¡± ¡°AH!...¡± ¡°AH!!!!¡± ¡°Eh!¡± Sitting there were three......I¡¯m gonna go with women figures all dressed in odd clothing. One appeared to be a female knight, the other a small elven girl with light blue hair, and another small girl in a big frilly dress. It¡¯s.....honestly not something you¡¯d expect those to have out here. ¡®Are these girls trying to perform a trap with those thieves.....?¡¯ ¡°Ah...don¡¯t kill us please!¡¯ ¡°....get back!" Shing! Coming from a tree to my right is a bright shining metal flying towards me. It flew towards me and I used lightning step to grab it between my fingers. ¡°AH!!!¡± ¡°Lucy, Lori....Cana. Everyone get behind me now!¡± ¡°..........¡± ''Like a....medieval.......midget......charlie''s angels?'' Ruf! Ruf! Fenrir then jumped up in front of me and started barking but I think he thought we were playing. He jumped around like he was excited....¡¯....nice guard dog!¡¯ I just stared at the girl in knight armor wave her sword at me as all the small girls get behind her.....¡¯....um....what is this?¡¯ I tossed the shiny knife the small purple haired figure threw at me and tossed it on the ground. ¡°...Who are you?¡± ¡°I am mi... miss...la Lucy Asher......we.....came...to have a meeting with you....Ah....he¡¯s cute!¡± The small girl in the frilly dress reached to pet Fenrir then stopped. ¡°..........¡± ¡®Who are these people?¡¯ ¡°Yes...her highness¡¯s princess Asher wished to meet you sir. I hope you would give us some of your time.¡± ¡°.....that¡¯s an interesting crest you have there.¡± ¡°Ah...Wha what?¡± ¡°The crest on your shoulder.......I just killed a man wearing a crest quite like just a bit ago.......he was attempting to kill me. Now......why are you all here!¡± The girls shook and didn¡¯t know how to respond to me. Are they that frightened.....? ?¡¯...ah...geez¡¯ ¡°Listen...I don¡¯t like cutting down women so you¡¯re ok. But I would like to know what you¡¯re doing here......miss Lucy?¡± I said her name in a weird way as I started to observe each of them. The small girl was level 8 and those around her were 12, 16, and 65. The female knight women appeared to have a great sword stance and even looked to be a master. Her form showed that if I just stepped in front of her I would probably be struck down if not for my unnatural speed. ¡°Good.....then we would request....an audience with you if it would do right by you.......at a later date. My lord¡± ''that''s an odd way of talking.....my lord?'' The women bowed after she said that. ¡°.....what?.¡± When I ushered it was about her bowing she was treating me like some high king or something. I just waved her off and said I wouldn¡¯t harm them but until I decided who they were I wouldn¡¯t let them leave. They seemed scared but I told them I lived close by and to just follow behind me. ¡°Ah..you...want us to come to your house?¡± ¡°Yes....I have a curfew. I¡¯m not allowed to stay out past dark anymore I¡¯m afraid.¡± ¡°.............¡± ¡®........huh?¡± ¡°............¡± Each of them didn¡¯t know how to respond to my compliment and timidly followed behind me. ¡°Ah...curfew? Sure you don¡¯t mean?¡± ¡°Yep.......Mother¡¯s right?¡± ¡°..........What is your mother like?¡± ¡°Oh stern....but caring.....I cherish her.¡± ''Damn...I''m sound like a momma''s boy. '' As I walked through the door of the house I was halfway hoping she heard me saying that just now. ¡°Thi....this is your house?¡± ¡°What .....can¡¯t the monster in the woods have a cabin get away?¡± ¡°......¡± ''I really feel like that odd annoying Loki talk is starting to come out of me now......I need to stop spending time with him.'' As I walked in and took off my mask I heard the sounds of quick patter Pat pat patpatpapta Bam ¡°Welcome......home!¡± Ari had come in and greeted me as I walked into the cabin. Though I¡¯m sure everyone is asleep she waited for me to come back.......¡¯....This little girl has truly started to do something to me.¡¯ I took off the jacket I was wearing that was covered in black blood and my soaked black v neck and put it by the door. She had tried to run to the door and got too excited but her legs just aren¡¯t strong enough to be able to walk in a day. Wounds I¡¯ve learned can be healed but some damage takes much more time than that.....¡¯...coming to this fairy tail world I¡¯ve come to see things much differently.¡¯ Spending time with her I find it more and more that the pains I¡¯ve felt in life are nothing in comparison to this beautiful little girl had to suffer. Over the past few days my mother and I have been helping her learn to speak our language better. Lily and Noah have also been learning to speak our language a bit better. Apparently they can speak some but mostly speak some wolf language. When I¡¯m usually outside exercising, many of them would stay inside and play with her tails or watch her do magic. ¡®I won¡¯t deny, the times now are a lot different for my mother, and we have both been enjoying it. Some late nights and after meals when the others were napping, we would stay up late and talk. Ari still couldn¡¯t quite talk yet but she was learning....and getting quite good at it. I¡¯m truly lucky for the gift Loki had blessed me with in Universal Language Acquisition. Even if someone can¡¯t talk properly yet.....I can somehow get an idea of what they were trying to say and communicate with them. Using these times always reminded me of helping Kaylan and Hayden learn to talk when they were younger. I would do the same lessons with them and these short times with Ari have been a gentle reminder of that. Though the stories were hard to hear.....they were a sweet reminder of a much simpler time. I hugged Ari and picked her up. Her short tail started to wag and she looked back up at me. ¡°Ari...shhh. Everyone¡¯s still sleeping. What¡¯s the matter can¡¯t sleep?¡± ¡°Nuh uh.....bad dreams.¡± ¡°Yah....me too.¡± She couldn¡¯t talk real well but she was so intelligent for her age. From her broken sentences I had determined that she was around 5 or 6 years old. Her whole life seemed to have been filled with constant torment except for one brief period of time. I feel just sitting here listening to it only fills my rage more. It truly breaks my already weak heart......Her parents had apparently been slaves as well and she was separated from her parents close to birth. They experimented drugs and magic on her and after she was used up, they just sold her to a slaver here. Kids would call her names and even throw stones at her. Over the course of Ari¡¯s life she learned to speak from fellow slaves when she was younger but most of what she says is in broken sentences. It¡¯s amazing how much we could communicate with each other from before. It¡¯s also guess why she has probably taking such a quick liking to me. She must if she¡¯s waiting for me to get home. I¡¯m the first person she can have these conversations with, maybe even better than with my mom. Some days after meals and everyone would be napping, me and this girl would sit on a chair and I would help her learn to speak. I told her to tell me about her life....I knew it would be really hard to hear. And I know it would probably be hard for her to say....But I wished to know this little girl for some reason. I needed a reason to help her learn how to talk. So we worked on words together and even fell asleep together like that a couple of times. I don¡¯t know why every feeling kept going back to Kaylan when I saw this little girl, but all I could think of was her. I feel like meeting this small girl is helping me let go to some of the struggles I''ve had to go through.. ¡®My life has been nothing but a recurring nightmare and I use to think sometimes it would eat me away.....¡¯ But listening to the horrible agonies of the humans of this world I could only hold the small demi human girl tighter against my chest. Her tail would wagg and it had a nice soft fur to it so it tickled me. I tried not to laugh but it was hard not to smile back at her since these times we share are truly pleasant. She seemed to find it cosy sometimes and would slowly drift away in my arms. I find it this small little animal eared girl, in her own way has been healing me. I sat down with Ari on a chair and ushered the 4 women into the dark cabin and issued them to be quiet. They all walked in oddly and huddled up on the couch. ¡°It¡¯ll be morning soon.......You can rest here, we can talk tomorrow......try to be quiet.......And I don¡¯t think I need to warn any of you not to try anything do I?¡± They each nodded and sat back looking at each other strangely. I told them they don¡¯t have to sleep but to be quiet. I leaned back in the small wooden chair and held Ari in my arms. I carved two pieces of wood and bent it to make a rocking chair for my mother. She naps on it every day actually.....she¡¯s quite lazy. Though it does feel nice sitting here helping Ari learn to speak. It takes me back to a much calmer time..... ¡°Today.......was so .....f un!....Elee...ryaa.......soo.....nice!¡± ¡°Yah....she¡¯s a nice lady huh?¡± These were the sounds that could be heard in the dark cabin in the woods. No one interrupted us and seemed to still be sleeping. The 4 young girls from before just lied together around the couch and didn¡¯t seem to be sleeping from their heartbeats....but oh well.... End of Chapter Chapter 11: The Remaining Updated! Chapter 11: The Remaining ¡°....a...pple!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± ¡®What is happening right now?¡¯ Just a few hours ago we found ourselves lost in the forest after following Cana¡¯s tracking skills. The masked man somehow appeared behind us and scared all of us. King Asher told me to protect his daughter and what have I done....I¡¯ve gotten all of us captured by this man after being unable to protect Princess Lucy. I remember pulling my sword from the sheath and his little wolf had jumped in front of him. Its eyes had turned a bright yellow and I was frozen in place. I remember not being able to move and all I could see where those bright yellow eyes staring back at me. ¡®Ugh, how do I resolve this situation!....though I am unable to accurately explain what I am even seeing. ¡® Originally I thought him to be a monster, but Lori swore her appraisal skill said he was human. He....really appears to be human. I seriously could hardly sleep through the night as I was unsure what that man would do. But.....he simply held a small child and talked with her until they later dozed off. It was also hard to sleep as throughout the night a small feint light would be pouring out of his hands. I assumed he was doing something to the girl but I couldn''t be sure. The masked man from before is now.....cooking.......and also wearing an apron. A small brown haired demi human is sitting on his shoulder and holding on to his messy white hair, and even helping him to stir the ingredients.....It does have a nice aroma to it though. He has one arm mixing ingredients while the other is wrapped on her leg and a small light is coming from his palms. This image is just shocking to me for some reason. ¡°Ok....Now, Lily....what¡¯s this?¡± ¡°Uhh.....apron right?¡± ¡°haha yup! Mom¡¯s teaching you all well.¡± ¡°Mmhm...What are you two making?¡± ¡°Homemade pancakes..... I even got a makeshift nectar I found off this peculiar flower, I found that it¡¯s quite sweet. It¡¯ll be a good syrup.¡± ¡°Seerup?..¡± ¡°mmhmm it¡¯s yummy, try some.¡± Right now there are several demi humans in the cabin. Other than the man who captured us, Princess Lucy and I are the only humans. They do seem to be quite weary of us both. Now the little white haired demi human is smiling and wiggling her body around happily....Oh come on is it that good? I don¡¯t know too many men who have chosen the cooking profession. Every human has the ability to choose a class and a profession. The class is one of the 12 battle type classes, while the professions are a way to earn extra skills and abilities in a particular field. Also it is usually impossible to learn some top tier skills without a profession. He seemed to be quite knowledgeable though.....and oddly good with kids. ¡°Can I have some?¡± ¡°Yah breakfast is ready anyways so everyone come grab a plate.¡± This....this is the monster we¡¯ve been searching for this whole time? The man whom the Elliot family has said the Central Continent has sent several high level members from their clan to investigate him. Apparently that crystal image has been duplicated and has been sold to many rich nobleman in the central continent. Though I doubt they would believe me if I told them what I was seeing. The King said he wasn¡¯t sure if this person is affiliated with any kingdom but, he did say he was probably trying to rescue demi humans....These must be those same demi humans he spoke of¡­ hmm.... Each of them are conversing with one another and seem to be enjoying themselves. While Princess Lucy, myself, Lori, and Cana are still seated on the couch. ¡®....now that I think about it for children these demi humans can speak using human speech quite well. Princess Lucy got Cana quite recently and she¡¯s still learning to speak it. We even had a scholar come in to teach her, but human language is difficult for demi humans. In fact those Lycanthia race children¡¯s species language is quite different from ours and I haven¡¯t seen one that speaks so fluently before. ¡®Oh...they brought us each a plate full of food....hmmm it does look interesting, it even has sliced pieces of fruit on top of it. Though, I¡¯m anxious just to let Princess Lucy eat this.......that would just be the perfect way kill us wouldn''t it, you monster in disguise. I¡¯m on to YOU!¡¯ ¡°MMmm! This is amazing!!!¡± ¡®LUCY!¡¯ ¡°Mm try shome Cashandruh.¡± As I picked up the oddly carved wooden fork and took a bite....Ugh......what is this? Damnit it''s so good! It even has little pieces of fruit inside of it! Actually, this is better than what I¡¯ve tasted from the royal chefs in Asher kingdom so this is quite a surprise...¡¯Ugh...he¡¯s looking at me....what do you want?¡¯ ¡°Mmmm, you love demi humans and you¡¯re a great cook, this is amazing!¡± Princess Lucy showed her pleasure to the white haired man. She¡¯s quite serious about making this person one of her personal guards as well. But she doesn¡¯t know anything about him. The King has even deemed this person as dangerous. ¡°Mhmm Vali¡¯s meals are always good!¡± ¡°Easy...¡± The two wolf demi human children spoke up to Princess Lucy and wagged her tail around the kitchen table. ¡°I¡¯m impressed how everyone speaks so well too. Did you teach all the kids here to speak human speech as well?¡± Princess Lucy then started directing his question to the odd man known as Vali as he gave the small child who was on his shoulders to the fox woman who said her name was Elyria just earlier. He walked over and sat on the small animal skin couch oppositely facing us. I guess he feels this is time to start our chat. We would have tried to speak earlier when everyone woke up but....It was honestly just such an odd situation that we didn¡¯t know how to respond. ¡°Well, I think my mom can take the credit for that.¡± Looking behind him I could see the woman he called his mother was closing her eyes and enjoying the meal he had just prepared for all of us. She and everyone else seem to not be focusing on us anymore and I can¡¯t blame them, I kind of want to take another bite of that. But we need to handle this properly.... ¡°...Yes...I too am quite surprised as human speech can be quite difficult for some demi human children to learn.¡± Trying to enter into the conversation I wanted to learn more about this man in the woods. ¡°Not really....I mean language is honestly just attaching words or structure to latent ability....Children in most cases can actually learn languages much easier as their minds are much more....hmm I guess you can say when they¡¯re learning they mostly think of what¡¯s right in front of them.¡± ¡°......¡± ¡®Ok......so the monster in the mask seems to be quite intelligent. Perhaps he was once a high noble or son of a scholar?....I was honestly expecting something much different when meeting the person who slaughtered all those men like a beast.....I honestly didn¡¯t even think Cana could find him! I mean....how could a little girl track down what the kingdoms highest advisors could not? ......Though I knew he was actually human, I didn''t think someone with abilities like that would act this way.'' ¡°Sorry....I¡¯ve been doing that a lot lately. I just remember things I¡¯ve read so easily now and I forgot it can get annoying to some....Now....anyways....why are you all here?¡± As he questioned us I noticed some of the others in the cabin took notice to our conversation. I¡¯m sure they were quite curious as to why humans had come here as well. Though they all seemed quite content when Vali said he would handle it when they woke him up this morning. ¡°Umm yes, well I was hoping that we might speak about a business arrangement.¡± Before I had the opportunity to respond, Princess Lucy had put on her business face and began to speak to the man seated across from us. He didn¡¯t however seem very interested in us, more confused if anything. ¡°Business huh?¡± ¡°Yes....I, Lucy Ash....¡± ¡°No need for introductions.....I know who you are...Now what arrangements would Miss Lucy be bringing here for me today?¡± ¡®That was rather rude of him. To interrupt a royalty while they are speaking is highly frowned upon. As much as I want to correct him....we are in his home and as the King said this man doesn¡¯t seem to care for those of titles or rank.¡¯ ¡°Ah..ugh....well, I was hoping we could become friends!¡± ¡°.........your business arrangement is to become my friend?¡± ¡°Well....yes! I loved your display at the colosseum the other day! It was so heroic and amazing. Any of those bad men who tried to hurt the demi-humans.....BAM!....... were taken care of and I wanted to meet the man who would do such a thing....You see I love demi humans too.¡± Princess Lucy began to get theatric like normal while trying to entice this man into joining her house. ¡°..............¡± He appeared to be trying to understand what Princess Lucy was trying to accomplish here today. Maybe she is trying to relate to his nature at caring for demi human children. Princess Lucy isn¡¯t a dumb girl and she can honestly see that this man seems to enjoy taking care of people like what we¡¯ve just seen. ¡°Ah....well I would love for you to become one of my personal knights. I would obviously award you with lots of gold and even a title.¡± ¡°......I don¡¯t really have need for gold or a title. So....sorry Miss Lucy.¡± ¡°Wa...wait! Surely we can work something out. I mean ......I can help you.¡± ¡°Help me ?¡± ¡°Ah you see. After your displays at the coliseum, I know there are many who started looking for the white masked man. I do not know whether it is to attain you as a powerful ally or to destroy you. I know those at Aldain seemed quite angry with you for destroying their most wide source of income.....Well as a princess you becoming my knight you could move all your mother and demi humans into the castle town with me. All of you will be treated kindly and we would get to laugh and play all the time. ¡± ¡°..........¡± He still seemed not so convinced with Princess Lucy¡¯s proposal. Well he did just kill those wearing the same crest as me. He must still be thinking if we are truly his allies or not. ¡°Yes and also....I also dislike how demi humans are treated in this world. Cana and Lori are both amazing! All other demi humans I¡¯ve seen are so fascinating I don¡¯t know why the kingdoms treat them so poorly. But maybe with you, the two of us might be able to change that......what do ya think?¡± ¡°Hmmm......you¡¯re not lying are you?¡± ¡°Ugh...no of course not. We came here with just us 4 to prove to you we don¡¯t mean any harm to you or your family. We just wanted to become friends.....honest.¡± ¡°.....Then why are there currently multiple parties of people currently approaching this cabin?¡± ¡°Eh....ah....what do you mean?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure if they¡¯re human or even if they know there is a cabin here. But there seems to be quite a number of people getting closer to this cabin........Are they from your kingdom Miss Lucy?¡± ¡°N....no....I said we came here alone, honest.¡± ¡®Oh no...What is happening right now. His eyes are starting to glare at us, and now after his announcement everyone in the cabin has stopped eating and is now paying attention to what was just said. I....what should I do to rectify this!¡¯ ¡°I¡¯ll be right back everyone just finish breakfast.¡± ¡°Vali....!¡± The small child who was earlier sitting on his shoulder and his mother seemed to not want him to leave. ¡°No worries.....Just seeing what all this is about, shouldn¡¯t take long.¡± He then put on his white mask and walked outside. He¡¯s still wearing his apron from cooking a meal. Does he plan on fighting like that? I quickly followed after him as if these people who are close by happen to be from our kingdom this will not make anything better. After watching how easily he matched up against those who stepped to him before, the King of Aldain and even prince Dominic seem to think that if we just overwhelm him with numbers or a surprise attack that it would be enough to take this individual down......but now I¡¯m not so sure¡­ ''Vali apparently has an ability to sense those getting closer to him. He¡¯s clearly well-educated and even though his attitude is so nonchalant about what is happening, he doesn¡¯t seem to see this situation as threatening.'' Following behind him we walked out towards the lush forest. The sun had only risen just a few hours ago. I wasn¡¯t sure how long we were walking for or how far he seemed to think these parties were at. Vali didn¡¯t walk very fast though or even try to hide behind cover while he was searching. ¡®Is.....is he planning on taking me out to some place and kill me?......He did seem weary of us.....Ugh...I really, really don¡¯t want to fight this person........ But as a Knight I cannot allow anything to happen to Princess Lucy....I have to ask him.¡¯ I began to take out my sword quietly while following after Vali and he then immediately stopped. ¡®Oh no.....could he hear me?¡¯ ¡°......Those individuals I spoke of are just beyond these trees........Are they from your kingdom?¡± He turned his head to the side and I realized he was then telling the truth all along. I could hear the feint sounds of men talking to one another. Peeking from behind a large tree, I could see a large assortment of men in shiny armor with blue capes and some mage type men in dark black clothing. They seemed to be men from the Aldain Kingdom and the insignia on the mages appears to be from the Elliot family. The Elliot family had a lot of ties to the central continent. Even though the Eastern Continent¡¯s kingdoms are still new and unsettled, the Elliot family has been here for almost as long as the royalty here. Not much is known of the Elliot family but what can be sure is that they covet power. They were only at the colosseum that day to see Aldus fight the prince of Aldain. Yet when they watched him and all the others in the coliseum get dealt with so easily they¡¯re interest must have changed to Vali. Though I¡¯m not sure if they want to recruit Vali to their family or the Central Continent, or try to kill him, along with the Aldain kingdom which appears to be all their kingdom is after. After the destruction of the coliseum and the death of their prince the whole city erupted in rage over the destruction over their most profitable venue. The state of Aldain has already been bad but this just added to the problems altogether. They are out for blood now, and the king has been given strict demands for the head of this masked man named Vali. ¡°I am the princess of the Asher Kingdom Lucy Asher.......What exactly are you all doing out here?¡± ¡®What.... Princess Lucy?....NO!¡¯ ¡°What....Princess Lucy.....What are you doing in a place like this?¡± One of the man in dark robes answered to Princess Lucy stepping out into the open quarry where the men were searching. ¡°A princess of Asher has just asked you a question.....Speak!¡± ¡°......Yes...well....We are currently searching for the masked man from before as per direct orders from the King of Aldain. ¡° ¡®He¡¯s lying....The Elliot family does not follow the commands of the Aldain Kingdom. They answer only to an unknown kingdom in the Central Continent. ¡® ¡°Well.....This is a place I come to play with my servants. And you are all trespassing.....please leave.¡± ¡°..........¡± The men started to look at one another and back at Princess Lucy. I¡¯m sure they didn¡¯t know how to address royalty from another kingdom. ¡°Hmmm yes....Well, Princess Asher.....these orders come from the King of Aldain himself......as well as I do not believe your family even owns these woods. They are within the kingdom of Aldain¡¯s borders so.......it is you who are trespassing....and where are these servants of yours?¡± The man from the Elliot family began to walk closer to Princess Lucy so I had stepped out to show myself. ¡°I am right here....I am a knight of the kingdom of Asher. I am also the private knight to Princess Lucy. ¡°Oh...well it is nice to meet you. I am Elija Elliot.....You said you use this area to play with your servants?¡± ¡°Yes....what is wrong with that? I like it because it is quiet here.¡± ¡°Hmm....yes well. A few men from Prince Dominic have gone missing.......They were told to explore this forest and have yet to return.....That along with a few other tools we have determined the masked man may be in the area.....And you said you use this area to play? For how long?¡± ¡°.......¡± Both Princess Lucy and I didn¡¯t know how to explain ourselves. ¡°....Hmmm allow me to rephrase the question Princess Lucy.......have you seen the masked man?¡± ¡°N...No!¡± ¡°And yet you say you were out here from before using this area to play with your servants? Yet Aldain is quite a ways from here....even further away from Asher kingdom. Interesting that you would find such a secluded forest, I wasn¡¯t aware princesses were allowed to travel so much at your age......¡± ¡°.........¡± ¡°I¡¯ll ask again.......have you seen the masked man in this forest?¡± Seeing the man become more and more serious while gazing at us, I could see those from the Aldain kingdom becoming quite reckless towards his accusations. Apparently they really wanted to find Vali and one even began to put his hand on his sword. Seeing this I reached for my own sword and drew it out and stood in front of Princess Lucy. As I stood there, many men put their hands on their sword handles but none drew their weapon. It was odd as most of the men seemed quite agitated from before yet no one drew their weapon back at me. It must be because drawing your weapon towards a royalty is death in most kingdoms. The man who was trying to pull out his sword started shaking his arm as he was making an odd face. ¡°I...I....can¡¯t move...Ughh.¡± ¡°Wha....m.. me neither, what¡¯s happening!?¡± ¡°¡±¡°UGhhhh¡±¡±¡± ¡®All the men remained motionless and began to shake oddly. Each of them couldn¡¯t appear to lift their weapon or even move....Wait....they appear frozen?¡¯ I turned around and there I see......the small silver haired wolf cub that was with the masked man from before. He is just sitting there and staring back at the men who couldn¡¯t seem to move in retaliation to the odd attack. His eyes glowed yellow and he just sat remaining without taking his eyes off every man in front of him. ¡°Oh my......Fenrir does seem to have an interesting ability. Even I don¡¯t know how he does that.¡± I hear Vali¡¯s voice and then I see his figure walking slowly past me and towards the men.....¡¯...What is he going to do?¡¯ ¡°Now.....I seem to recall you men claiming to have been looking for me.¡± Saying this, no one spoke a word as the idea of being frozen in place next to such a dangerous opponent is in all honesty a nightmare on its own. This was not the time to provoke someone with an obvious upper hand. ¡°Hmmm.....cats got your tongue...or wolf in this case right? " Vali then turned and looked at the men and no one responded to him. I can''t tell if he''s trying to tell a joke or not simply because of his mask. "..Anyways, I believe you all said you were from.......Aldain.... that correct?¡± No one replied they just kept moving their eyes from the wolf and himself. ¡°Hmm......Today has been such an interesting morning. And what exactly does the King of Aldain want from me exactly?¡¯ ¡°Li...listen!!! I am not here for Aldain....I''m a member of the esteemed high noble Elliot family! I have been sent here to require an audience from you, the man in the mask about a meeting with our family!¡± ¡°Wha.....you said we were going to kill that bastard Elija!¡± ¡°Shut up you idiot! Si...sir Please I wish an audience!¡± Since the men couldn''t seem to move they all looked back at each other and began to argue. Apparently those from the Elliot family may have wanted to speak with Vali but those from the Aldain kingdom didn¡¯t like hearing that and forgot the situation they were in. ¡°........Ah...well you see whatever it is you all have to say.....I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be hearing any of it today.¡± ¡°Uh?¡± ¡°Fenrir.....show me that new ability you got from that Fomorian. Since you were greedy and took the only heart that was left.¡± Ruf! ¡®Huh, what is he talking about?¡¯ ¡°Ah!¡± ¡°Ugh!¡± ¡°WHa!¡± A large dark shadow began to cover the ground where the men where as well as towering past them. After seeing the shock in the faces of those who were looking behind me, I unreadily turned my head to what was there..... Sitting in the same place as the small silver wolf dog was at before. Was now a large....no....giant black furred wolf. It still shared the same bright yellow eyes and remained motionless as it still stared quite intently at the surrounding men. ¡°.....Sorry but I can¡¯t let anyone affiliated with your kingdom know of the whereabouts of my home.......you understand.¡± Snap! Vali snapped his fingers and the dark wolf began to lick his lips...and let out a tremendous echoed howl. ROOOOoooooooUUUUUGHHHHH!!!!! BAM! The dark oversized wolf that was taller than the surrounding trees jumped towards the men and then began a massacre...I had thought the masked man from before was violent but this.... ¡°Oh my Guhhh!¡± ¡°RUN!¡± The dark wolf would slash with his large paws at some of the armed men and would leave only the lower half remaining. The upper half of the armored man from Aldain was cleaved in my direction and large tears through the man¡¯s armor and body has turned his upper half into ribbons. I looked up and saw that the large group of men were mercilessly being eaten with no way of fighting back. Some gained the ability to bring out their swords but seemed to do no damage to the dark furred wolf. ¡°AVALANCHEEE STORmuAaaaghghhg!!¡± The man Elija Elliot began to cast some area of effect magic when Fenrir wrapped his fangs over the Elliot clan members head and tore it off.....It was a slaughter. Within maybe the span of a minute. Everyone that was just standing before us were now brutally torn to peices. The bright green grass was now soaked with a dark red stain from all the victims¡¯ blood that had just been slain...so easily? ¡°Wow...so that¡¯s the ability you got? I swear Loki makes such weird things....¡± The large black furred wolf shrunk down to its original size and ran towards Vali. He was still wearing a mask as he began to pet the silver wolf he called Fenrir. The once grotesque and bloodthirsty atmosphere from before has now vanished form the small wolf cub¡¯s eyes and even began to lay on its back to get scratched by his master. ¡°........¡± Princess Lucy and myself were awestruck at what we just saw. ''That.....little dog could do this?....Vali isn¡¯t the monster, this is the monster! Fenrir does seem to have been trained by this person.....What have we gotten ourselves into? I don''t even know where to begin to explain this to King Asher.....Ughhhh'' ¡°Now.....Though I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯m up for being a Knight, I do believe we might be able to help one another Miss Lucy.¡± ¡°He...help?¡± ¡°Yes....I¡¯d like you to give a message to your father for me. I¡¯d also like you and your family to look quite extensively into the Aldain Kingdom.....Noble families, the royalty, the citizens and their businesses, I want to know everything about how that kingdom works.¡± ¡°And you have a message for my father?¡± ¡°Yes...I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll listen to it so don¡¯t worry. This isn¡¯t the first time we¡¯ve spoken, him and I.¡± ¡°....When did you speak to the King?¡± I had to interrupt as the King had not said any of this to me. ¡°Oh just in passing. I may have mentioned something to him when we briefly met in a dungeon.....or well, that colosseum. ¡° ¡°Daddy....I mean Father never told me of such things.¡± ¡°Yah I don¡¯t doubt that. I may have scared him a bit with my displays and simply gave him a warning is all.......And it¡¯s about time he paid up a bit for not killing him.¡± ¡°And if I do this........you¡¯ll become my very own knight?!¡± ¡°.....I doubt I could really pull off the whole Knight thing, but let¡¯s just say this will further our relations a bit.¡± ¡°....Hmmm Ok! I accept! All I know is Aldain is a dirty Kingdom and daddy always said if the current king didn¡¯t beat a dungeon he wouldn¡¯t have owned rights to that area. I¡¯ll have father look into Aldain and even deliver a message for you. How do we meet again!¡± ¡°Well, you do know where we live so....I can hopefully trust you not to say much about it, I¡¯ll give you the details of our next meeting in a moment. I wish to convey something to you Mizz Lucy. Though I may see a difference in Aldain from this so called Asher kingdom.......If I come to find the same filth in Asher, its fate will be the same as Aldain¡¯s.¡± ¡°What do you mean of this? Are you threatening the Kingdom of Asher?¡± I blurted out my dissatisfaction....All we have done to Vali is search him out and proposed he join our kingdoms guard. He claims our kingdom is the same as that horrid city? ¡°I mean that you Ashers¡¯ may not be so innocent......You remember that small girl who was helping me cook this morning?¡± ¡°Ah right the demi human. She looked to be quite happy, you must treat them all very well!¡± Princess Lucy answered Vali¡¯s question and tried to flatter him at the same time. She sure is clever. ¡°Yes.....Well her name is Ari. I didn¡¯t introduce you to anyone as I was still curious about each of you......Ari can¡¯t talk fluently quite yet but she has learned quite a lot. We talk every day and I¡¯ve learned quite a lot about her. Though she was never really sure where she was throughout her life as a slave.....she did remember a name that those around her spoke about often. She didn¡¯t know if it was a place, person, or thing, she just heard it used frequently...........That word was Asher.¡± Saying this he then glared back at Princess Lucy as if demanding an answer. ¡°Well...Though slavery exists in our kingdom.....they....they have rights in Asher kingdom and harming a slave is prohibited.¡± ¡°Is it.......Though you both couldn¡¯t see it she had horrible scars covering her entire body......Someone in the Asher kingdom had been doing horrible things to her and other slaves for years.......I¡¯m not saying you or your family is to blame ..........But I am saying that as a princess of Asher, perhaps you could look into this." ¡®Could.....that be true? I mean some mistreatments of demi humans could get by sure, to say that it was done to be comparable to Aldain......If this is true it would make sense why he¡¯s been so weary of us from the beginning. ¡°Well....I promise we didn¡¯t know anything about it. I promise to look into this as well though. But how do you know that it was something that didn''t happen in Aldain?¡± ¡°I know......The reason I never let you say your name in front of them is because the name ¡°Asher¡± still makes Ari shake a little...........So I would like you to look into your own kingdom¡¯s faults as well Miss Lucy......Or I will.¡± His will seemed strong as he said that to us. He didn¡¯t falter either. His blue eyes only showed bitterness. I then agreed to look into Vali''s accusations. ¡°.....Ok. I understand, I¡¯ll personally look into that for you...... May I ask...., you said the same fate as Aldain¡¯s earlier what did you mean?¡± ¡°Yes......sometime soon the entire kingdom of Aldain will fall to ruin." ------------------------------------------------------------------- Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Vali¡¯s POV Man this has just been the weirdest day. Currently I¡¯m wandering through the woods back to that hidden dungeon in the Jheroki Mountains. I have Hl?kk on my shoulder and I¡¯ve told her roughly what all has happened, though there¡¯s a lot to take in. Waking up this morning, I realized for the first time in my life.....I over slept. I was making sure those 4 girls didn¡¯t try anything and somehow dozed off while me and Ari were talking. I woke up with Lily, Noah, Lucy and her servants all staring at me and Ari intently as I opened my eyes. Apparently they were scared when seeing Lucy and her knight.....think she said her name was Cassandra, lying on the couch this morning. Whenever they went to come grab me they all saw me and Ari resting. After waking up to their odd looks, I decided since it was late, I¡¯d cook for everyone. I¡¯ve had a lot of fun trying out new recipes in this world and getting to see the inhabitants here react to our world¡¯s food. I¡¯m not sure but I think the slaves have started to come around to speaking with me. I¡¯m not sure if this is due to Ari¡¯s influence or just that there¡¯s other humans they don¡¯t know nearby so they all were quite close to me this morning. Noah still gives me those same looks but he¡¯s oddly alert this morning. Lily however after noticing I was cooking decided to come watch again. Since this was always my time to relax when cooking, I guess they thought what I was doing was fun Though Ari and Lily seemed to be very interested in it. Ari would sit on my shoulder and I¡¯d help them learn about what everything is while we prepared our meal. My mother who had fallen asleep with Ari last night was still asleep. ¡®This world really is amazing. Everything you do can in some way be thrown into these strange statistics of a person¡¯s status that everyone who lives in this world has.¡¯ In this world I believe that there are multiple ways to be considered strong. In the game many complained it was all about your level, while some said the level of your skills were more important. Honestly in this world everything you do with enough work or practice can have significant changes on your stats. As long as you work hard and constantly train in something, you will get better. As I cooked and helped teach the kids what each item was, I¡¯d also use this time to heal Ari. She sat up on my shoulders and would hold my hair while I kept my free arm resting on her tiny legs so she wouldn¡¯t fall over. I would activate Freya¡¯s Soul recovery through my hands while preparing the meal. Though her external wounds are practically non-existent to her old self, after advancing Freya¡¯s Soul Recovery to Intermediate 4, I found that I may be able to heal wounds that are unseen. It said that Freya¡¯s Soul Recovery is a skill that doesn¡¯t only heal physical wounds, but also one¡¯s own soul. This skill, I believe may have the ability to heal unseen wounds.....maybe those of a broken heart. It sounds lame but maybe this world and magic can have something that makes this exist. It¡¯s hard to say what exactly the skill does yet but I know the importance of raising this skill. I can¡¯t reattach lost limbs yet or cure a disease. But in this world....all effort are recorded. Freya¡¯s Soul Recovery not only can heal myself but others as well, using it repeatedly on Ari has helped me build up the skill quite quickly. I¡¯m not sure how fast regular people increase their skills though.....hmm though maybe in time I can see just how fast the growth of these kids have with requiring or using skills. ¡°...Vali....What¡¯s that light?¡± ¡°Oh...just working on my other skills Lily.¡± I then put my hand on her head and activated Freya¡¯s Soul Recovery through my fingers onto her silver hair. Her wolflike ears began to twitch and she made a slight moan when the light passed over her. ¡°Mmm....that feels good!¡± She looked up at me and I lifted her up onto the counter to let her get a better view of the food. She seemed much less weary of me than she was before. When we were in Aldain she was quite attached to me, but after being with her brother she has gotten slightly more cautious of me over the last few days. I think due to seeing my interactions with Ari that has lessoned her caution some. They both helped make food with me and then Lily and Ari wanted to wake mom up. Noah continued staring back at this scene like it was crazy. ¡°Come on Ari, let¡¯s go wake up Elyria!¡± ¡°Ok!¡± Lily got down from the counter and reached up to be given Ari. I let Lily hold Ari and they both went off into my mother¡¯s bedroom and returned a few minutes later. I told everyone I¡¯d explain everything later and asked them just to enjoy breakfast. My mom who was originally uncomfortable with seeing strangers in her home, I guess lost out to her hunger and the scent of the breakfast feast we had prepared. Apparently increasing your cooking skill brings out more flavor from the food you create per mastery, so your food naturally will just taste better. It also helps you to work with other foods and brings out more affects from the nutrients I hear. Well along with raising my skill, the fresh ingredients, and my unique recipes, the food we created always had an intense flavor to it. ¡°Mmmm! This is even better than what mom made huh Noah?!¡± ¡°....It is pretty good.¡± Lily and Noah would both continue to talk with their mouths full and eyes closed. I guess I need to help teach them proper manners later on too. My mom would take small bites and feed Ari while also sitting with them at the kitchen table. They both stayed quiet though and enjoyed the meal. I eventually made a plate for the 4 girls who I had found in the woods the night before and let them join in the meal too, but I wanted to use this time to figure out who they were exactly. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- As Hl?kk and I kept talking about the information I received from Lucy, we both continued towards the dungeon I had found the day before. I told her about the people who I found apparently living in this dungeon. They had stated their families had been trapped in this dungeon for centuries and when I told her the name she didn¡¯t know how to respond. Apparently Balor was an old Dark God that was believed to have died back in the old war of the gods. Though now he seems to have created a legendary grand dungeon and trapped many people in such a place. He told them that there were a 100 levels and should their people ever make it to the 100th floor, they would receive their freedom. This was told to them centuries ago so the odds are the people I spoke to probably have never seen the outside world. I¡¯m not sure of the life expectancy of some demi humans of this world but I know it isn¡¯t quite like the same ages of the humans in my world. Though in a world that changes the bodies of those here to even handle the sharpness of a blade with no damage at all. This world honestly just keeps getting bigger. ¡°So what did you tell the human women?¡± ¡°Just that I wanted them to search for some information for me. I want to know more about the kingdoms that control this continent. Who is better than a royalty herself. ¡° ¡°And you think you can just simply trust her?¡± ¡°Eh....well, I don¡¯t necessarily trust her. But for now I need information, on this continent and Aldain. This Lucy person may be able to provide that. ¡° Hl?kk seemed to be slightly against the idea which I don¡¯t blame her. These people are apparently from the Asher kingdom which I¡¯ve only heard of recently. It is also the name that Ari had told me in her talks. Originally I had planned on just killing them there but the whole kingdom is named Asher....so maybe Lucy and her family isn¡¯t responsible for such unspeakable acts like Aldain. As well as a war with a kingdom right now would be bad.... But I am going to find out regardless. The tragedies I have seen have given me a lot to think about these past few days.....If I plan on finding Kaylan. I need to provide her with a safe place to live. Though I was told she was human by Hl?kk, this continent cannot be considered safe. Murder happens frequently here and if you aren¡¯t strong enough to stop it, this world just tramples all over you. The humans of this world are only united together because they are of the same species, while all the demi-humans who originally lived in this continent are being abused and ripped away from their families. I¡¯ve already made my bed and I need to lie in it. Hl?kk warned me about stepping into that colosseum and I¡¯ve apparently made some enemies. ¡®Though I don¡¯t deny what I did was wrong...... maybe I didn¡¯t have to kill all those people...Well not like I can fix that now.¡¯ We finally made it back to the entrance of the dungeon. The white smog was still in place just at the base of the mountain. ¡°So.....this is where Balor has hidden his dungeon?¡± ¡°Yah...apparently Malthiel was the gate keeper to this place?¡± Entering into the 52nd floor of the Legendary Grand Dungeon we saw the backdrop of the same orange sky and large moon. The sky and terrain looked nothing like the area surrounding Jheroki Mountains....It was honestly like looking at a completely different world. I brought Hl?kk today because I figured having her see this she would be able to properly ascertain the situation better. After she sees everything she will report back to Loki and maybe we can make a game plan.....¡¯....Honestly, these demi-humans are strong. They¡¯re high level and they are a species without magic and yet they gladly take on giant beasts.....I may need them for what I have planned in the future. Helping them may better my relations with them some.¡¯ ¡°Truly this appears to be quite the dungeon. I can feel that the floors go down quite a ways into middle earth. This is a very large dungeon....¡± As Hl?kk flapped her purple wings she started to look around the dungeon while still remaining perched on my shoulder. As we walked for quite a ways into the direction of the walled city from before I remembered how I left this place yesterday......I¡¯m not sure what reaction they¡¯ll give me upon my return. When I leaped off the great wall towards the bombardments from the giant fomorians I never got to actually see just how large these creatures were. I brought out Abgrund just in case the situation called for it......though Abysmal Mist completely blew away my expectations. I also found out something interesting about Dark magic in this world. In my old world I actually never understood why Dark was considered an element in RPG games. In this world Light and Darkness are an element, though in mine you can¡¯t equate one without the other. You can never make something essentially more dark, you can only take away more light. In my world darkness doesn¡¯t exist without the absence of light so therefore isn¡¯t really an element to itself at all. Yet in this world......darkness can exist alongside light. The Abysmal mist are small blots of darkness magic that intertwined with the decaying smog. The Decaying smog has the ability to melt and destroy any organic or inorganic life it touches. Resistances are not easy to raise either.....getting my darkness affinity to 25% gave me the added function of a boost to decaying mist with darkness magic. Though I¡¯m not sure how it was so overpowered yet. A large black mist that rained down with me in the center, the ground below was blotted out by a large wave of darkness that began to fall. As it touched the black furred Fomorians the moment the mist touched their fur, large portions of the Fomorians began to disappear entirely. The intense mist was so vast that by the time I landed on the ground below sending shockwaves through the earth......nothing remained. I gained 8 levels after killing them all single handedly and I gained 3 after killing that smog dragon, but I felt I really didn¡¯t get to see just how strong these beasts actually were. They were the giants that pushed the inhabitants of this dungeon almost to extinction. Only bits and pieces of the furred beasts were left and only a small piece of the heart was available for Fenrir to eat. ¡®I''m not complaining, with that newly added ability I was able to leave Fenrir at the cabin to protect everyone while Hl?kk and I went to investigate the dungeon.¡¯ Everyone wasn¡¯t exactly pleased I was leaving again, I promised I¡¯d be back much sooner than yesterday. Just before leaving with Hl?kk however I got a weird vibe I was being followed........It....was Noah? ¡°I still don¡¯t trust you....but, but I want to learn to fight....To protect Lily! Please.....teach me to fight!¡± He had wanted to learn to fight......he said he wanted to protect his sister and since I was going somewhere dangerous I said it was impossible. Though I can¡¯t blame a guy wanting to learn how to protect his sister, I also wanted to learn how quickly some of these children gain abilities compared to myself. I know Loki¡¯s blessing made it quicker for me to acquire skills but how different would it be for anyone else. I told him to do 2000 punches with each arm in the air and taught him the form. I also made him wear the stones I used to wear and told him several other training methods of mine. Though only a couple. I want to see just how dedicated this little black haired wolf boy can become. We left while he was doing practice swings in the way I showed him while also guarding his face. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ¡°Well......here it is.¡± ¡°Wow......why would they build a wall that big?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know either. The Fomorians weren¡¯t anywhere close to the size of this wall but they treated those things like they were apocalyptic to their way of life. I didn¡¯t get too see though.¡± Apparently after killing several Fomorians as well as a Smog dragon I got an interesting message when equipping Abgrund.
Abgrund *Fourth Tier 52/100 Celestial Class Weapon Damage 6,000 Special Optional Abilities: -Dark Sever -Wrath of Balor -200% Rise in all Darkness magic when equipped *(By feeding your death bringer the blood of a fallen, Blood Wake will then become available)
So the more opponents I kill with this weapon I¡¯ll gain a skill. Apparently that is why Abysmal Mist was a lot stronger that before as just holding it gave a great rise to the skill itself. This really is a cheat weapon from an ominous being. I remember trying to look for and collect meat from the dead Fomorians but there simply wasn¡¯t much left after activating that skill. Darkness magic just.....erases everything it comes into contact with. With the combination of that skill and holding Abgrund....there wasn¡¯t much of anything left. I tried to use the Legendary Frost sword to test its sharpness on the Fomorian parts but not even a Legendary weapon can cut these large animals thick fur. It could cut to some part of the meat it just couldn¡¯t dig very deep. The frost sword had 2 skills and a couple interesting attributes but the damage on it was only (+450 - +850). It was nothing compared to Abgrund.....I wanted to learn to use a sword, maybe even from some of those demi humans I saw, but I won¡¯t be able to against these beasts apparently. Not unless I use one of those......weird weapons they used. They seemed to cut through Fomorians quite easily and even seemed to have been made by the same crystal as my necklace....¡¯...Hmmm¡¯ As we walked closer to the wall, I could see a large amount of individuals in uniform trying to investigate the area around the great wall. Though the wall only had minor damage, the devastation to the terrain and the clean-up of what¡¯s left of the monsters seems to be quite the job. As we got closer someone noticed us. ¡°Ah...Sir...go get Malfius!¡± When we continued forward many of those standing around the black ground and the semi damaged wall. I tried hard not to let the mist touch the wall but some parts of the black stone is missing some chunks off of it. ¡°Ah...Vali...It¡¯s nice to see you again from yesterday.......I see your wolf isn¡¯t anywhere to be seen today.¡± The same demi human man I met after the smog dragon was standing in front of the large wall that could honestly match a sky scraper. He looked around me and seemed pleased that I did not bring Fenrir. ¡°Ah yah....I decided to bring Hl?kk today to see the sites.¡± With that his eyes were drawn to Hl?kk but she didn¡¯t say anything back....¡¯...I¡¯m not sure if she wants anyone to know she is a Valkyrie just yet.¡¯ ¡°Yes well.....even though you left after making such a display, we¡¯ve all been hard at work trying to repair the wall. Though Malfius is talking to the other leaders. He has instructed me to take you to the grand hall on this floor where you will be meeting with other leaders of the alliance.¡± ¡°........The alliance?¡± ¡®This is the first time I¡¯m hearing of this alliance. I know that this White tiger race and Neko race aren¡¯t of the same species but is there really that much infighting between them that they¡¯d need to call themselves the alliance?¡¯ ¡°Yes......it is an alliance between our races to fight against the dangers of this dungeon. Our species didn¡¯t get along well at first and have even take liberties to live exclusively away from others on different floors.....hence the reason Malfius has been busy for most of today collecting all the leaders.¡± ¡°.......Is there really that much of a strife between two demi human species?¡± ¡°.....there is actually seven races trapped in this dungeon. Anyways....this way sir!¡± ¡°Ah....Ya know, I never did get your name.....¡± ¡°Its Cam....I am sorry I did not introduce myself sooner. With everything happening I must have forgotten all about it.¡± ¡°No need.....wow this is a nice place.¡± With that as we were walking into a large stone building. He ushered me into a large room with a round table. It looked like one of those old war rooms you see on TV. The chairs were smooth and looked to be made by the hands of a fine craftsman. The seats had leather cushion and the whole room was a dark and very poorly lit room, until Cam went and lit a few candles around the room. It looked to be quite the luxurious room from what I¡¯ve seen. This must be where all the leaders gather around. ¡°So.....how long till Malfius gets here?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve sent word to him of your arrival. It shouldn¡¯t be long sir. Shall I get you something to drink while you wait?¡± He remained standing near the door with his hands behind his back. He remained standing with proper form like a seasoned veteran would. His back was facing the wall next to the door and he remained in the room while looking back at me. ¡°Nah, no need.......so you said the seven? What other races did Balor trap in here?¡± ¡°......Though there are seven remaining.....there were originally 10 races that Balor had trapped in here centuries ago.¡± As I heard this I widened my eyes as this may have been more serious than I originally assumed. I honestly thought it was only the White Tiger race and that blue haired Catlike race. ''........Honestly getting used to all this fantasy and make believe has been tough.....I refuse to wear that black robe with this white hair and large scythe. Now I have a big black wolf that follows me around........I''d look like a goth kid in care bear land.'' ¡°.....Um. What happened to the other 3?¡± ¡°.....The humans were the first race to fall in Balor¡¯s grand dungeon. They never made it past floor 2 actually. ¡° ¡°How did that happen?¡± Interrupting him I was curious how the extinction of one particular race can incur in this dungeon in any other way than infighting. ¡°......the other 9 races had banned together and decided to slaughter them......The human¡¯s at the time were much higher level than the other 9 races. It is told that many of them tried to take control over some of the other races as they saw themselves superior, after the completion of the first floors dungeon boss.......The 9 races turned on the humans....Though the Elkia race did warn them that would be a mistake.¡± ¡°Elkia race?¡± ¡°.....A race of deer like demi human. They have large white antlers coming out of their head and are usually very intelligent. They were the ones who originally warned that we would need the power of all 10 races to complete this dungeon....but we didn¡¯t listen.¡± ¡°And what happened?¡± ¡®This is a completely different story than I was just told just yesterday. I wonder what Hl?kk is thinking about this.¡¯ ¡°Floor after floor became much more difficult. We lost so many of our own, a generation stopped and it was advised to increase the population, though many of the floors cannot support life well. Some floors are even toxic to some of the races. When the populations grew over the centuries and the levels expanded.....we thought, maybe we could win.¡± ¡°But?¡± ¡°But......we only were met with more loss. The elven race tended to also stick to themselves. They were the next race to go, in floor 22 their entire race was taken out by a single boss monster......We then lost the Elkia race a few months ago. On floor 47, though........we do not know how they all met their end.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°......We had just accomplished floor 62 around that time. The Elkia race had lived on floor 47 by themselves. They had a lot of high level members and were masters of light and barrier magic. Though.....somehow.....something happened to them.¡± ¡°So your saying after you had pushed past floor 51....somebody killed the entire Elkia race just 4 floors below?¡± ¡°......We still do not know the truth of what happened that day.¡± ¡°What floors are currently being occupied?¡± ¡°...Floor 1, 8,11,20,22, 45, 47 and 52. Some of the races like the Adler race live by themselves in the clouds on floor 22.....They are a bird like species. While some like the Annunake race were nearly wiped out entirely and live on the lower floors. Though the largest population rests on floor 1.¡± ¡°Annunake?¡± ¡°A legendary White Lycanthia race. A wolf like demi human species.¡± ¡®I think that is what Lilly is.....Lycanthia is a wolf race. Though I don¡¯t know the difference between her and her brother other than their hair color.¡¯ ¡°Yes...they were said to be one of the divine races of demi human once created by the god wolf Amarok. Though their numbers have dwindled greatly after the clash on floor 63......¡± ¡°The Fomorian were that tough?¡± ¡®They seemed to have handled them quite handily after they took out those shining swords.¡¯ He then looked back at me seriously and his eyes practically glowed in the darkly lit room. ¡°Yes.....Other than their ridiculous size, their claws can rip straight through any armor.......they have outstanding healing abilities....Enough that we were unable to properly wound them until the discovery of a particular crystal we found here on floor 52....It burns right through the titans dark fur.....stops their healing abilities quite handily as well....... Though we lost thousands before such a discovery was made. ¡° There also seems to be a lot going on than just two demi human races facing a bunch of black furred giants. ¡®Hmm....I was hoping I could trust these races but that may be more difficult than I originally thought. The only reason I was thinking of assisting these people is that it would further increase relations with them to possibly help me in the future...... ¡°So right now Malfius is traveling to meet every race leader and probably beg them to come to the 51st floor?¡± ¡°That is correct.¡± ¡°.....Should it take a while?¡± ¡°......He went yesterday after speaking with you, even with his speaking skills........it may take some time.¡± Hl?kk turned her face to look at me as if showing her annoyance towards me. I agree I don¡¯t want to have to wait all day for these people to organize. ¡°How long do you think it is going to take for these leaders to all come up here?¡± ¡°.....That is difficult to answer.¡± ¡°Why?¡± He began to turn his head to the side trying to think of a way to answer me. He made a puzzled face and then got back into his same composure. ¡°Though I personally don¡¯t agree to this. Due to your low level.........it is hard to get those to trust your worth in coming up here.¡± ¡°..................¡± ¡®What the hell did he just say?....................Ugh, I¡¯m thought as weak by these people......Well that¡¯s depressing. I honestly assumed it was cause I was human or possibly too dangerous to trust. Not because I was too weak?¡¯ I keep forgetting that this world is like a game and level is just something natural people would talk about. I made a dissatisfied look at him to show my annoyance but he just grinned as if not knowing how to respond. ¡®Well there is a shot to my confidence.¡¯ Well this guy is nearly 70 levels higher than me. Though I have no idea what his stats are. Dungeons are supposedly a very dangerous place. A place where you are at your most vulnerable. Your level is revealed to everyone and monsters are twice as strong as the surrounding monsters in the area. Though you can gain high experience and high reward, it is a place where one false move can be fatal. Hl?kk is looking back at me and I think she is trying to smirk....I can¡¯t be sure because she is a bird....she always forgets this. ¡®Hmm well they appear to not be able to trust me either. But since this is going to take a while I need to know more about these people before I think of allying with them.¡¯ ¡°Since it is going to take some time I¡¯d love to take a tour around the place.¡± ¡°Oh.....ugh....sure I guess that can be alright. Would you like a tour of the city or maybe floor 11 there is beautiful scenery there.¡± ¡°Ya know I¡¯m sure all the sites are great, I want to see them all in fact. Let¡¯s start at floor 1.¡± ¡°....Umm.....It is not a very habitable place. ¡° ¡°You yourself said the largest population lived there.¡± ¡°Yes...it is the place our ancestors first arrived. Though it is floor 1 in a dungeon. It is a dark and desolate place. Though many live there now.....it is not by choice.¡± ¡°......Well let¡¯s start there then.¡± ¡®I need to figure out everything about these people. They said the word sewer dweller, they thought when my ears were torn off that I was someone from floor 1. I would like to see the state of these other races that should be allying together before I put my trust in anyone just yet. This world is a cruel one, but who¡¯s to say those I¡¯m with are allies or not. If these people cannot be trusted, I will not ally myself with them. This alliance isn¡¯t just for me.......this.....all of this.......is for Kaylan.¡¯ In my old world I didn¡¯t take much notice to anyone other than my family. I feel like I never had the time to. Even now all I think of is my family. Though I took my old world for granted, the world I came from at least tried to be just. This one has hardly any law to speak of and those in power simply abuse it. ¡®I must find a way to create a small place that is my own in this world. A place where Kaylan, my mother, and hopefully everyone else can live safely. I have apparently already made enemies here and could potentially affect others now......Though I don¡¯t intend to stay here long..... I can¡¯t remain still in this world. As Loki would say.....The other pieces won¡¯t remain unmoving.¡¯ As he saw my resolve, Hl?kk and I continued with Cam to a large platform and descended to floor one. End of Chapter Chapter 12: The Seven Chapter 12: The Seven Edwin Elliot POV ¡°Well Edwin regardless I would like you to make contact with with this masked man. I do not care how many you have lost or how many it takes to gain an audience.....I wish to meet this person. There is no telling just how valuable an asset having this person joining our kingdom will be.¡± ¡°Yes sir. Though we have not heard back from certain members of our household, we assume they have killed.¡± ¡°Then check the whereabouts those men where suppose to be looking. We can eventually find this person but I do not have the same opinions as Aldain. I wish for you to gain an audience with this man and see if we can lure him to our side.....A few kingdoms by the coast of the central continent have already seen the viewing crystal with his images. He¡¯s going to start having people lure them into their kingdoms households to strengthen themselves. I don¡¯t want to miss this opportunity before any guilds or central kingdoms try to get to him first. ¡± ¡°And if the masked man simply refuses our offers and won¡¯t join us?¡± ¡°Then kill him. That weapon he had showed to be something your family claims to be beyond anything I¡¯ve seen in the central continent....then prove it to me.¡± ¡°You have seen the crystal images your grace?¡± ¡°Yeah I saw it....though I didn¡¯t have anyone with the appraisal skill there with you when you saw it so I have to just take your word for it that it will be profitable for us.¡± ¡°Yes your grace....It will absolutely not disappoint. We believe it to be one of the strongest weapons we¡¯ve ever found on the eastern continent so far. In fact we compare it with with some of the higher grade legendary weapons.....if not higher.¡± ¡°Surely you can¡¯t think it¡¯s a¡± ¡°Phantasm Class....No it didn¡¯t show the same color scheme during the appraisal, though we believe it could potentially be as strong as one of the 4 Hero weapons. We cannot be sure until we look at it but I believe it is a great find your grace!¡± ¡°Very well. If you think this is an item comparable to one of the 4 phantasm weapons then I am sending some of my own in as well.¡± ¡°Your grace?¡± ¡°What we have to handle this quickly before word of this spreads to anyone else. You said that entire colosseum he wrecked was filled with people didn¡¯t you. Well then that¡¯s a lot of mouths talking about this person and word spreads fast. Regardless if it¡¯s across continents. We can¡¯t be the only one¡¯s looking for this man, so I¡¯m sending in two specialists.¡± ¡°Two specialists? Sure we believe this person to be rather high level along with some dangerous class of magic.¡± ¡°Then we will simply beat him when he is at his weakest and offer him his opportunity then. These specialists are both over 150 and are world class assassins that have already slain 3 divinely blessed beings. They have a interesting way of getting things done. So they will be headed to your continent soon and I want your joint efforts in tracking this person. Find out what will make him turn to our side!¡± ¡°Yes your majesty...¡± The crystal display turned off and the two way transmission that allowed one to speak to another from leagues away had ended. Truly just another remarkable invention in the central continent. Our family has always collected ancient artifacts and collected old text. That is why we offered to explore the eastern continent in exchange for finding strong individuals for the kingdom we hail from. His majesty wants to get his hands on the masked man, I simply want to get my hands on that weapon. It is a magnificent device. The king just isn¡¯t thinking grandly enough, though it¡¯s not like he was ever a wise king. Just a brilliant tactician in warfare. He was once a general of one of the four strongest empires in the human nation. He¡¯s been through many battles and has now made a kingdom of his own by the coast of the central continent. That weapon.....If it is what I think it is then I feel like taking on this masked man will be much more difficult than I previously inquired. We can¡¯t simply attack him, I¡¯m sure that is what happened to Elijah. Though I don¡¯t know he just went missing in the woods to east close to the Jheroki Mountains. Sending in more clansman just to get slaughtered would only hurt our clan. We need to play this strategy out right. We need to find him and I need to find out what makes this masked man tic. Vali POV The large disk shaped platform continued its descent to floor one. Out of all of the inventions I¡¯ve seen so far in this world, this system seems to be by far the most advanced. Even though we aren¡¯t¡¯t descending at a very fast pace, something like this that has been working for hundreds of years running between each floor like an elevator is fascinating. It must run on some kind of magical power. There is apparently another form of transportation between floors for the leaders of the races but I¡¯m probably not allowed to use that. Though I have much more pressing matters to think about currently. I need to find out more about the races that are trapped in this massive dungeon Balor has created. I need to somehow come up with a plan, as I am hoping I can benefit someway in helping them as well. This won¡¯t be a free service I¡¯m providing them, I can¡¯t just throw my life around like that, though for the plans I have for the future I will need some aid soon in accomplishing them. These people hopefully can become those allies I need when the time comes. I¡¯ve been thinking about a lot of things since I spoke with Loki. Honestly it has given me a lot to mull over of what I need to do to provide a safe place for Kaylan and those close to me during my time here in this world. Since the kingdoms on this continent doesn¡¯t treat demi humans well, or from what I¡¯ve seen, it isn¡¯t possible to live here with my mother. In my world if the treatments were so unfair I would simply try to travel to a different country. Though in this world, I don¡¯t know of anywhere that I would consider safe for all of us. Why did Loki drop me here of all places? ¡®......Though according to what I¡¯ve acquired this continent is still fairly new settled territory and the kingdoms here are not as powerful as the ones established in the central continent. That Lucy girl said the King of Aldain happened to acquire rights to this land after defeating some local dungeon....Hmmm. Perhaps the humans of this world are doing a sort of land grab policy with newly settled lands? ¡® Back in my world when our countries were first being established it wasn¡¯t uncommon for leaders to issue large pieces of new land to individuals to help bring in new resources and expand territory. If I somehow defeat a dungeon I might be able to acquire some land of my own. Since I am human this might be able to apply to me. Hopefully I can gain some good relations with the Asher kingdom through this Lucy character and be able to have a small land of my own. Essentially it would be like forming my own country. To build a country all you need are land, citizens, and a government to run it. These demi humans are all high level from what I see. Having them as allies when things get bad would be beneficial to me, and if we can possibly beat this dungeon together we might be able to acquire some territory of our own. Though this is all based on assumption by what that little girl said. ¡®Honestly I wouldn¡¯t have even believed she was a royalty if she didn¡¯t have that female knight with her...Hmm she was a rather alluring women now that I think about it. Her name was....Cassandra. She had long chestnut blonde hair and wore some slightly flashy armor. She seemed to be wound up rather tightly, though her level was low she did show to have talent with a sword....Hmm I wonder if I can get those black clothed people to teach me to fight with a sword. I still haven¡¯t gotten to practice with this frost sword yet and I would like to get a sword mastery skill on it. I apparently now have a Scythe Skill Mastery on it now. After killing that smog dragon and dark fomorians my scythe mastery has gone up.
Scythe Mastery Beginner level 8 15% added attack power when using a scythe as a weapon
I guess this is due to doubling the experience of everything I attain in this dungeon for the next week. Mastery on weapons is usually much different than masteries of other skills. Like every skill the higher masteries take forever to increase. It takes a lot to level up a weapon skill, it is not just doing an action over and over again, but also takes into the account the intensity and way you use it as well. So if you were to use your skills properly and facing opponents far stronger than you can help the growth as well. Though this is only the earlier stages of mastery. So far I¡¯ve only received two skills though for the mastery. Slice is an active skill that increases the penetration of my scythe blade by 10% and another semi passive skill called Staff Strengthening that increases my weapons defense by 10%. I also now get an added buff of 15% added attack power when using a scythe. Though I don¡¯t really want to use the scythe honestly. It¡¯s far too destructive to simply use it to fight someone and isn¡¯t something I should just swing around for fun. That¡¯s why I was hoping to learn another weapon skill such as sword mastery from those black robed demi humans from before. They all seemed to be quite skilled at using a blade. Hopefully I can somehow get them to teach me as well, maybe then I don¡¯t have to lug Abgrund around so much and scare everyone...¡¯....Though.....I guess it¡¯s not like its bad to have a nuke in your back pocket should the need arise for it.¡¯ Abgrund does give an added boost to my dark magic when equipped, and since I gained abysmal mist I may need to use it more in this dungeon. Cam said those giants can heal rapidly but apparently the only things that can halt that were their odd shining blades and my mist. Since I was so high up on that wall and the mist destroyed them before I hit the ground....I never did get to see just how powerful those beings were. Gaining that 25% affinity to fire also gave me an added boost to my fire magic, though I never really got to see those effects as the only skill I had pertaining to fire was fireball. If I didn¡¯t have magic manipulation I wouldn¡¯t have been able to bend the fire around my body the way I can......Truly there are many ways to become strong in this world and I feel I haven¡¯t even scratched the surface yet. That¡¯s why I believe it will be beneficial to gain trustworthy allies. Even if I am stronger than the majority of the humans in this continent, this world is just too big to fight in alone. I can¡¯t take villains here lightly either, hence the reason I had to have Fenrir eat all of those men from before. If I couldn¡¯t trust them and they came back with people to hurt my mother or anyone else, I¡¯d never forgive myself. Hopefully I can also somehow gain ties with the royalties of the Asher kingdom, I told Lucy I wanted to meet with them in an undisclosed location in a few days to discuss what we spoke of before. I guess only time will tell to see where this goes....¡¯...Man this has been a long time, but the feeling of the large disc shaped platform we are standing on continues to fall deeper into the the planets core. ¡°.....So....Is that bird as weird as your other pet?¡± Cam not seeming to enjoy the quiet as much as me decided to try to make small talk. Lately I¡¯ve felt like I have much more time to think to myself, this could be due to my cognitive functions expanding, though I guess for others my odd silence can seem strange. ¡°Ha....I don¡¯t know if she is as weird as him, but she hits pretty hard. What¡¯s wrong? Didn¡¯t get along with Fenrir too well?¡± ¡°Ha...is that what you called it? That little thing creeped the hell outa me.¡± ¡°...Yah, haha, he is a rather interesting animal. This however is Hl?kk.¡± As I motioned towards the small purple crow sitting on my shoulder Cam acknowledged her and greeted her. Though she didn¡¯t say anything back. She doesn¡¯t reveal herself to just anyone and I honestly feel this might be for the best right now and has just been quietly observing everything on my shoulder. The less the know about us for the moment the better. ¡°Hm...Is that bird not a monster?.....I don¡¯t see a level for it like everything else in this dungeon?¡± What Cam said wasn¡¯t incorrect. Hl?kk doesn¡¯t show to have a level and since a dungeon is a place were a person¡¯s level is at all times shown, it could be considered odd that something that is alive in here doesn¡¯t show such information. A dungeon is meant to be a place where you are at your most vulnerable so this has probably lead to Cam and the others in this dungeon to be quite mindful of their surroundings. ¡°Yah....she is a bit complicated too.¡± ¡°.......¡± As Cam stood there, he stared back and forth between me and Hl?kk if trying to determine something but eventually just shrugs his shoulders as if deciding it wasn¡¯t important. ¡°So...What other races are trapped here in this dungeon Cam?¡± ¡°There are currently 7 races remaining. The Reiki¡¯s, Eis Neko¡¯s, Annunake¡¯s, Adlers, Arachnee, Pixie, and Jiji race. Though the only combat efficient races to continue the fight with Fomorians are we the Reiki race and the Eis Neko race.¡± ¡°To continue the fight?.....What do you mean?¡± ¡°......We have suffered great loss here. Many of the races have given up the fight to conquer the dungeon and have determined the fight hopeless. A large number of what is left of our population is apparently fine with just remaining here for the bitter remainder of their lives. It¡¯s funny to think only several years ago we felt like we were truly going to conquer the dungeon in our own lifetime. We celebrated in having the strongest generation in the history of each of our clans........¡± After Cam said this he just turned his head and bit his lip. I guess the thoughts of better times can always make a person cringe when seeing how bad it can turn into. I know all to well of this fact. ¡°So your generation was considered the strongest in this dungeons history?¡± ¡°Yes...In fact we conquered floors at tremendous speeds compared to our predecessors. The accumulation of boss drops and increasing our population some races actually became quite strong and dominate over the others. Since all monsters besides the boss spawn in each floor after death, certain hunting grounds were acquired by certain races and for the first time in our history it seemed like it would be possible to escape this place. There was peace between each of the races even though it was a constant struggle for getting out of here, we worked together.¡± ¡°And when you hit floor 63 that stopped?¡± ¡°No....it happened sometime before that.¡± ¡°The death of the Elkia race left us in a very vulnerable position. Though each race had its own respective commanders, the Elkia race were our unspoken leaders in this place. They were brilliant and were responsible for a lot of our advances over the years. They were our healers and are what actually helped unite all of the races together.......Their deaths came as a shock and happened just before the discovery of the Fomorians........Things got chaotic.....we just didn¡¯t know our whole order was strung on such a thin string.¡± Cam seemed to have many regrets in his life. He and his generation were considered to be the strongest generation in this dungeons history and due to the races acquiring manpower and high leveling spots they acquired strong weapons from monsters. They were clearing floors much quicker than ever before and it was thought they would be able to accomplish the other 37 floors within their own lifetime. Though tragedy struck all the dominoes tipped over. Though the death of the Elkia race seems foul play to me. ¡°....You said before there were only two combat effective classes against the Fomorians? Are you saying that the only two races in the dungeon that are able to fight are yours and that blue haired race?¡± ¡°That is correct.¡± ¡°So because those dark giants started coming down to the lower floors it pushed all the races back. I¡¯m assuming these non-combat races live on the lower floors you spoke of before?¡± ¡°That is correct.¡± ¡®Hmm....He doesn¡¯t speak much about the lower floors when I press him. He was certainly talkative about the situations of what was happening on the upper floors though.¡¯ ¡°If I recall that one woman, Ecclaire was it? The Eis Neko....she thought I was a resident of floor 1. Why is that?¡± ¡°..........You actually could resemble some of the Annunake race with your white hair. Though you don¡¯t have the same bushy tail or white ears as they do. Many residents of the lower floors aren¡¯t in the best of health. Actually many of the remaining white lycanths that have survived live on floor 1 along with the other races there.¡± ¡°If I recall Ecclaire acted as if your race was dwindling as well?¡± As I pressed him he just looked down to the floor and lowered his eyes. He kept his hands behind his back but struggled to find the words to speak. ¡°....We too have been met with extreme loss do those titans. Though we have lost many of our number we haven¡¯t lost quite as much as the Annunake. Due to a disaster that happened to floor 44 they lost a large number of their clan. Some stayed and fought but a lot of the remaining were crushed on floor 63 by the emergence of those dark beasts. If it were not for the death of the Elkia race many months prior to this then the Annunake family would have probably been the next race to leave us.¡± ¡°....Why would the Elkia races deaths keep the Annunake alive?¡± I don¡¯t get what he¡¯s getting at. The Annunake are apparently a race of white wolflike humans. The Elkia race would be a race that resembles a deer.....I¡¯m assuming their relations would be bad? ¡°The Annunake¡¯s cherished the Elkia race. In fact it was always known that their races have been on good terms since the 10 races were all brought here centuries ago. It is not known why the mysterious Annunake race always acted so friendly with the Elkia¡¯s but they always regarded them as family. When the Elkia race were wiped out.......Many of the Annunake lost desire to continue fighting and left to live on the lower floors. ¡° ¡°I see...¡± Seems that the death of the Elkia race had a large effect on all of the other races once tragedy struck. Though the death of their race did effect many Annunake to stop wanting to fight which lead to their entire race not getting wiped out months later on a higher floor. With the loss of the Elkia¡¯s for many of them they give up and chose to live out their days on the lower floors. EEERRRCHHHH! The elevator type device we are currently standing on has stopped....I guess we¡¯ve arrived. The large two gray doors open and the glowing orbs on the elevator wall glow into the dark interior of the first floor. RARRRRRGHGHHH!! Flap... Flapp Flappflafalfplalap I can hear feint sounds of flapping and odd screeches in the distance. I can also hear a sound of water dripping in the distance as well. I feel my hearing has heightened but what this first floor feels like right now is a dark cave of some kind. ¡°This way Vali....¡± As Cam casually walked forward into the darkness I quickly followed behind him. Since I cannot see well enough in the dark I pull out Loki¡¯s mask from my inventory and activate Night Vision, one of the mask¡¯s two skills. I can see in front of me is a very large cavern that goes deep into the core of middle earth. Cam is walking down a wide path that looks to have been built into some kind of tunnel. There are large pieces of rock acting as pillars holding up the integrity of the large tunnels ceilings. ¡®Cam did say that floor 1 was a dark place that people wouldn¡¯t choose to live but I was expecting a lot different than this.¡¯ Who would want to live in this dark chasm. I activated presence sense and noticed that nothing appeared on my radar. Though it is still at its first level it can still get a grasp of an area of 50 meters around me. Though I just heard flapping from before I could have sword a monster would have been near by. ¡°Floor 1 is where our history first began in this dungeon. It is the location Balor first appeared before each of the races he brought and trapped here. It is on floor one where our first city was built and the unity of races first began. It once stood as the foundation of our unity, though it is now over run and over populated by many species today. The health of the city has diminished heavily over the last several years also due to the over population and shortage of food.¡± ¡°You said that their were other floors that can sustain life correct? Why not just bring more of the races on this floor to the higher floors.¡± ¡°.....I agree to this. But the alliances council agreed that increasing the population on higher floors would actually hurt our cause much more. Many race¡¯s leaders live on a higher floor. But due to the population expanding too much over the years and with the appearance of the Fomorians, we have been pushed back. ¡° ¡° .....So that thing about your numbers dwindling is actually bullshit it¡¯s just if your not considered a ¡°combat efficient race¡± your forced to live on the lower floors.¡± Cam stopped walking and the large dark cavern remained silent. He didn¡¯t turn around to face me though I knew he was searching for a way to answer me. His hands remained clasped behind his back and his form remained unmoved. ¡°.......Your quite perceptive......Though they are not my own beliefs they are the beliefs of some.¡± He started to walk forward through the path that I just now noticed began to get narrower and narrower as the the path grew forward. Looking around my surroundings this really is a dark and ominous dungeon. The ceilings and walls were shaped with sharp rocks coming out of them. They were odd dark spikes that looked to have an odd swiveled look to them. The cave we are walking through really does not give me any good premonitions of if I was one of the individuals brought and trapped here centuries ago. ¡°So....what floor do you live on Cam?¡± ¡°....I live on a small farm on floor 45 with my mate Waltrude.¡± ¡°Oh so your a farmer eh? And you got yourself a wife look at that?¡± ¡°Yes...The Reiki train there hands to kill as well as to create......And I¡¯m assuming wife is human for mate? You seem shocked I¡¯d have one Vali.¡± ¡°Not at all your a rather stoic guy after all hehe. So I take it your wife farms as well?¡± ¡°Yes Waltrude is quite the Reiki, you¡¯ve actually met her. She was with me when we first met you on floor 52.¡± ¡°Oh you mean the woman who dragged me through the forest? Hmm well congrats she seems like a fine woman.¡± Cam stopped walking and turned his head to the side to look at me. He gave a puzzled expression. ¡°...You have an interesting way of speaking. You refer to my wife as a woman? The tales from the past about humans is that you were a rather greedy and arrogant race. The stories told some were kind while many for the most part did not treat us demi-human races very well. Though I heard they couldn''t all communicate so well with the other races.¡± ¡°So you and your generation have never really met a human before huh?¡± ¡°No but there are some pictures and sculptures carved into the walls in floor one so we had an idea of how your kind looked.¡± ¡®Hmm I never really noticed but I guess my train of speech isn¡¯t correct anymore. I refer to many female demi-human women as women, and I guess in regards to what I¡¯m saying it isn¡¯t correct because a woman is a female human, not necessarily considered as a female Reiki. I guess I didn¡¯t notice it before now.¡¯ ¡°Well, I have a special skill that helps me to communicate in any language. It comes in handy.¡± ¡°I see....¡± As Cam and I pressed further into the quiet cave I began to smell a rancid odor. It honestly smelt like death but I couldn¡¯t see where the smell was coming from. I started to look around the dungeon floor but could not find any traces of life on this floor at all. Cam somehow noticing my distress turned his head back forward and said not to worry about monsters. The monsters here are around level 7-30 but due to Cam¡¯s and mine high level we won¡¯t be approached by any so candidly. But the lingering sent of death still remains in my nostrils. ¡°Well......we¡¯re here. The center of floor 1. The first city of Dark Eden, the city of Anfang, the city of beginnings.¡± As he stopped and gazed into a large opening into the pitch black cavern I walked up beside him to view floor 1 of Balor¡¯s dungeon. An overpowering stench of death passes through the white mask and into my nostrils. Even with my mask it is a poorly lit city. It was.....not what I was expecting. In front of me was a large open space that looks to have been dug out. Many tunnels I can see in the distance but the walls bordering the large city in the center are the same as the ones in the tunnel we just walked through. The ceiling now is at least 10 times higher now than the tunnel and the city in the middle has large walls surrounding many oddly built buildings some that go almost as high as the ceiling itself. Looking up towards the top of the buildings and along the ceiling I really am impressed by the way this species was able to build a city down here from nothing. They¡¯ve dug out tunnels, built walls, spires and houses in here. They¡¯ve even made carvings along the walls......Wait! Staring along the walls I see odd designs and markings along the dungeon walls. At first I thought it was just part of the cave rock but there are carvings of some kind along the walls. Moving my eyes along to the walls I then notice.......they aren¡¯t carvings......They¡¯re....bodies. Skeletons are chained across the walls of rock surrounding the walls of this entire floor. The bodies are enough to cover the walls fully and reach up to the ceiling......Actually....the ceiling has some fresh bodies hanging from there as well. Some of them don¡¯t look quite as old as the other skeletons and haven¡¯t decayed fully. This entire floor is filled with the stench of death. gulp... I started to walk forward towards the poorly lit city in the center of the dungeon. The stench is starting to get more and more overpowering now and its starting to make my eyes water. Cam continues alongside me and I can see that though his appearance hasn¡¯t changed at all his mood does seem to have gone rather grim. ¡°....The worst part I find about Balor¡¯s dungeon is that we aren¡¯t able to properly mourn our dead. Upon death here, your body will be transported to decorate the walls of each dungeon floor. Balor once joked that he use to burry the bodies beneath each floor but he ran out of space.......This is...... our struggle.¡± Walking further to the city born in a dungeon, I can¡¯t help but look now in horror. To imagine a fate like this and being drug here along with your family and clan. If you were to die here your loved ones would have to view your body lining the walls of the dungeon your trapped in forever....Balor truly is a sick and twisted fallen deity. Drawing closer to the city I notice the wall surrounding the city doesn¡¯t have any gate. It just has a large opening between the wall. Walking with Cam we passed through the entrance to the city and I then felt an odd cooling sensation and felt as if the smell of death had diminished some. It felt like I had passed one of those odd barriers from tv. ¡°Each city we founded has a barrier like this one that was left to us by the Elkia race.¡± ¡°I see..¡± Cam and I walked through the dark city and what¡¯s odd is there isn¡¯t any guards anything watching the gates. I can see people in the distance next to oddly shaped buildings that resemble crudely built shacks. I can see some fires lit around the city but the overall feel to this city is rather grim and dirty. Even though it has a somewhat different atmosphere than the cave surrounding it, this is still an unpleasant feeling. Walking through the city I notice these small shacks must act as houses for the people here. I now have a closer glimpse of the races down here and they are quite odd looking. I see a lot of very small dwarf like races. Though they have the torso and appendages of a human, they¡¯re faces are covered in hair. Some of them have very bushy grey or brown hair. I¡¯d essentially think of them as tiny humans but they have so much facial hair as well it covers their entire face. I can¡¯t make out any facial expressions though a lot of them have started to become aware of my presence. ¡°Oohhh¡± ¡°Wowawawa¡± Many of those short raced demi humans were all huddled together around a fire and had turned and looked at me and Cam. We continue to walk past them and past the living grounds of the city of Anfang. Anfang means city of beginnings but what kind of beginnings is this for someone to be born into. It¡¯s dark, the walls and ceiling itself remind them of being trapped down here. This isn¡¯t just a struggle like Cam said before. As we walked past more shacks I can see eyes from the openings peeking through at both Cam and I. Though many of the eyes I¡¯m seeing are red and glow in the dark. Though this floor is very poorly lit, the races here seem to have no problem seeing at all. We continued to walk and I could here a lot of chatter from my surroundings. Many of those same small demi humans were wondering behind me and Cam and trying to act like they were hiding. I can¡¯t even tell if they are children or not since their faces are covered in fur. Though all their other body is not covered in fur. Many of them are wearing something that look like overalls made out of animal leather. They have feet that resembles a big foot and fur appearing on the top of each. Each of them look quite cautions of us actually. We continued walking through the area as I wanted to get a good look around this place. Cam said the leaders of all the races weren¡¯t ok with allowing the higher levels to accept too many people from the lower floors because it would potentially harm more than it would help. I¡¯m assuming if they moved a large number of the people on the lower floors to the floors that are capable of being populated the food supplies and availability for resources would decrease. But who is to say who is allowed to live one what floor, who is allowed to decide that the races that aren¡¯t combat efficient to live on other floors. It feels like there is a lot of inner strife between these races that I wasn¡¯t aware of. Though it¡¯s not much different than those in this world. The strong take control and make the rules, the weak simply don¡¯t have the ability to refuse. ¡®It¡¯s just amazing that these races are all locked in here together but there is still internal fighting and racial issues.¡¯ ¡°GET AWAY! RAHCHH!!!¡±¡± I hear the sound of a girl screaming followed by a loud screech that pieces my ear drums. Cam and I look at one another and and run towards the source of the sound. We sprinted past the crudely built shacks with eyes still pointed at us and round the corner. There I see..... A small....ummm what is that? In front of me I see two figures in the distance running away and turn my head to the side. Standing at about the height of stomach is.....a little girl? Though...she¡¯s not a girl. I see her eyes are bright red and she is staring back at me. Her teeth are glaring back at me and I can see she is huddled next to something. It¡¯s another woman.....though she looks to have been partially eaten by a monster. The little red eyed girl does too actually. After I look over the scene I can now see that they weren¡¯t eaten by monsters....Their lower halves are that of a large spider. They must be the race of Arachnee that Cam said about before. They appear to be a race of spider like humans with the lower half of a spider. The little girl is now no longer looking at us and is covering over the larger figure that looks like a larger version of herself. The woman with the lower half of a spider the little girl arachnee was covering had her legs crushed and the lower half of her abdomen looked to have been slightly crushed and a green like liquid was oozing out of the sides. Looking at the Arachnee in front of me I see her Hp is dropped gradually to the bottom and is slowly dying from her injuries. Her eyes look heavy and she clearly doesn''t have long left. I step past Cam and and he makes a reaction to stop me but I simply wave my hand at him. I kneel down and reach my hand out to the Arachnee woman with the puncture wound and the little girl rushes to stop me. ¡°NOO!!! Just go AWAY!¡± ¡°.....I might be able to heal her.¡± ¡°What?! HOW!?....How can you heal her?!¡± I without answering reach past the little girl and put my hands on the woman¡¯s face and the other hand on her lower injured spider half.....I take a deep sigh and activated Freya¡¯s Soul Recovery as well as amplifying the magic power released by the skill. A bright light rose from man hands and lit up the surrounding area. The open wound on the Arachnee started to seal up slowly but her hp was still decreasing. I continually activated freya¡¯s soul recovery and began to try to follow her pulse. Death¡¯s Grip opened a door for me in understand to tap into life. Though it¡¯s not like I can use the skill to heal someone, I can use the understanding of the skill to monitor if the person is at least stabilizing. After the wound was sealed I began to put my hands on the broken legs of the spider and the crushed parts began to repair and come back to life. The Arachnee in front of me still had her eyes slightly open. Though her hp stopped dropping she had lost quite a bit of blood and was in a critical state. Her color in her human half was quite pale. Her hair was dark black and now she began to blink her eyes.....She has 6 eyes? Four new eyelids above the Arachnee¡¯s regular set of eyes are two pairs of bright red eyes that still looked to be out of life. ¡®Though her hp has stopped dropping I can hear her pulse slowing....but I do not know why.¡¯ ¡° Truly you do have quite phenomanel magic. Malfius was right to put so much faith in you. Though her wounds are gone her chi is steadily dropping, Arachnee are a race that can survive quite well on blood, though they eat other things as well. We need to provide her with more blood .¡± ¡°Wait....can¡¯t someone with a different blood type just kill the person?¡± ¡°Blood type? Listen I don¡¯t know what your talking about but the Arachnee have the ability to absorb nutrients from other species blood and it gives them abilities and sustenance. That is why they haven¡¯t had the best of report with other races.¡± Figuring out what Cam was getting out I scratch my forearm and a slow trinket of blood starts to fall from my arm. I reach in front of the women and just shrug as if telling her this is the only way. I bet it¡¯s odd to offer your blood to someone and I honestly don¡¯t know how to ask her to do this but hopefully she doesn¡¯t want to die. She picked up my hands and brought it to her mouth and began sucking my blood......¡®mmm it¡¯s a very tingly feeling. I can feel as if my life force itself could be taken away right now. Though it¡¯s not painful, it is just an odd experience. It does however tense up all of my muscles in my shoulders and arms. After about a minute the woman Arachnee lowers my hand and starts heavily breathing. The little girl closed in and started to hug her while crying. ¡°Mama!!!!¡± ¡°It¡¯s ok Karma...It¡¯s ok mama¡¯s ok.....Just....Wo are you sir? I..How can I ever repay you for saving my life.¡± ¡°....Don¡¯t worry about it. ¡° ¡®Honestly it¡¯s not like I¡¯m a good person or anything, just helping someone that is in need right next to me. If you have the ability to do something you should be able to at least help those around you. Though I may be potentially going to war with Balor with these people. I need to get on their good sides. What comes after Balor....I need as many people as possible to survive. ¡®
Congratulations! You have received a new title: Death Canceler All stats rise by 5 All healing magic receives a 10% buff You have saved a soul that was marked by death, you have gained the title of Death Canceler. A highly awarded Title that Doctor¡¯s and Priests around the world covet. Many will marvel at the title of those who are capable of granting life when it is fleeting
¡®Hmm my Freya¡¯s Recovery skill has also gone up to Intermediate Level 7. It says I can heal wounds and injuries both seen and unseen. Though I was able to use it to the point of closing an open wound and repairing fractures to sustain her life. I¡¯m guessing my magic manipulation is allowing me to repair things I shouldn¡¯t have repaired with the skill alone. I¡¯m also receiving a bonus in this dungeon for a week so any experience I gain is doubled....I can probably heal a lot of people in this first floor and boost my skills a lot down here....I can accomplish multiple things at once with this actually.....¡¯ I started to look around and noticed that the large buildings in the distance looked nothing like the shacks here. This must be the lowest part of the city. The buildings here look to be made with much more flimsy material and judging by the way everyone looks here it is likely that not many of those here have eaten. The small demi human race with faces covered in hair look like they all have dirt and bruises on their skin. They must work hard to grasp any amount of food down here there is. Looking at the red eyes in the distance I suppose there are more Arachnee here as well. I see another race peeking behind some shacks made of sticks that look like tiny elves. This must be the pixie race. I started to walk a little closer and one jumped behind the shack. I¡¯m curious what pixies look like so I walk forward and Cam starts to follow me. Walking around the corner a small male demi human fell down and is looking up at me. He doesn¡¯t say anything but looks quite frightened when he sees me. He crawled backwards and there I see a girl that look quite similar to him. They look like a race of skinny hobbits and have pointed ears. They look like they have fairy wings on their back but the boys are torn and the girls look rotted. He backed into her and they both trembled while looking back at me. As I was about to say something the boy jumped up and yelled something. ¡°Don¡¯t...Don¡¯t take her!¡± ¡°....I¡¯m not here to take anyone.¡± ¡°ShutUP! That¡¯s all the people from the top come here for anyways. To take ours away. I won¡¯t let you!¡± ¡°I¡¯ve actually come here to meet all of you. I plan on taking everyone out of this dungeon soon. Though....I think we need to start healing everyone and getting everyone fed real soon. We need everyone at our strongest if we are going to get everyone out of here safely.¡± ¡°....I don¡¯t believe you! How could I trust anything you say!¡± The small pixie boys eyes started to show a feint glow but then faded away. I walked forward to him and reached my hand towards him. He swung his arm at me and I caught it before he could form a fist. Looking down at it his arm is covered in bruises and small cuts. He doesn¡¯t have any shoes on and his hair is brown. His face and body is covered in black dirt that appears to be the same from the dungeon floor. He¡¯s very thin, almost as thin as his female friend here. I activated soul recovery and watch as the small cuts on his body start to repair themselves. The light shines and the two pixie like individuals in front of me widen their eyes and I can see now the color of both of their eyes are a dull orange and a dull purple. ¡°....Tanin your hands!!!....He healed you!¡± The girl started gripping the pixie boys hands and rubbing them as if trying to see if they were truly healed. They both seemed shocked at what I had done. The boy continued feeling around his body while the girl jumped in front of me and hugged me. ¡°Thank you sir....Tanin is my little brother and well......thank you¡± She gripped onto my the back of my jacket. Her small body reached around my waste and looked to have a ghastly appearance of her own. Her eyes were dull and her wings attached to her back were see through and looked to be breaking apart from rot. Pixie¡¯s are said to be a magical race that are often compared with fairies. Though this race is much different than I imagined. Pixies are said to be highly playful and magical beings and enjoyed playing pranks on people. They look sickly. I place my hand on the girls shoulder and activate my healing skill again. Though the small wounds start to heal the recovery of her wings does not happen at all. The large almost butterfly like wings that stood on her back were in a broken and rotted state. They have a dark brown color to them much like this girls hair. ¡®Hmmm....¡¯ ¡°Oh...Thank you!¡± She looked at her cuts on her body and looked to be quite happy. Though I wasn¡¯t able to heal her or her brothers wings at all. They¡¯re wings look like decayed mosquito wings now that I think of it. Thinking this to act as a sort of disease I remember using a crystal on Ari when I healed her. It said on the skill mastery menu that if you use one of these magical cores from a monster they can increase the healing affects and even help cure some disease. What I need to do is start healing everyone in here that I can. I can raise my skill as well as intimacy with these people along the way and find out interesting information about this place. I told Cam to go collect as much food as possible. If that meant hunting or whatever he had to do, collect it and bring as much meet and ingredients as he could down to the first floor. Anything that he could get from the Reiki¡¯s farms or monster meet that is edible to bring down is much as possible. He gave me an odd expression but oddly didn¡¯t refuse my demands. I¡¯m not sure what his job is if it is to make me happy while Malfius is away so that I help them, or if he genuinely wants to help these people. Though he does agree to help with this. I also have Hjokk go collect as many monsters with those odd magic crystals in their forehead. When I mentioned this Cam actually mentioned they had something similar to what I was referring to. It was magical cores that are found in many monsters in this dungeon. They are used in enchanting some weapons they had been using as well as other inventions over the years. ¡®They really are a crafty group of races.¡¯ I then had him collect as many of those he could as well and had Hjokk just go and gather food. She like me had an ability to teleport to another area. However, she says her ability is more like a warp skill and she can tether it to locations she has been or to certain people, ie me. ¡°Everyone who needs to be healed of any injuries of wounds come forward now! I will heal you. Pass word around that in just a couple of hours we will be providing everyone who wants food to come fill their bellies!¡± I yelled that to the crowd in the that were gathering around from the bright lights that were shining from me activating my skill. After I announced there had been food many of the residents here started talking amongst themselves and looking around at each other. I could roughly hear what some of them were saying and it seemed that even though I may have just said that they wouldn¡¯t just believe it....The lack of trust in this world runs deep. Not just with them but even with the elves I¡¯ve met and some of the other demi humans when I¡¯m first meeting them. People in this world don¡¯t naturally trust humans though they may not even know if I¡¯m human or not. After a while no one came forward. No one even ran away to tell anyone about the feast I had just spoke of. They just looked back at me oddly. I was about to say something when out of the group of small people came a small furry headed man holding a child with him. He ran up to me and held the small furry haired child up to me. The small Jiji race child had difficulty breathing and sounded to be quite ill. ¡°You...You said you could heal people?....Is...Is that true?¡± ¡®I guess it would be odd if you lived in a world where you thought healers were gone.¡¯ I put my hand on the small child and activated my soul recovery and a large light left my hands and into the small child. I continued doing this process for about a minute and the child¡¯s breathing had stabilized. The jiji child had small bite marks all over her so I wasn¡¯t sure what had bitten her but it had caused her to fall into a critical condition and cause this kind of reaction. I guess there are still dangerous monsters of some kind on this floor. ¡°Her...her breathing is back to normal! Thank you! He healed my daughter!¡± After that everyone started clamoring and making loud noises amongst each other. ¡°What is your name sir? ¡° ¡°Vali, what about yourself?¡± ¡°I am Henley, and this is my daughter Joxen.¡± ¡°Well it¡¯s nice to meet you both.¡± ¡°Was what your were saying before....about the...food? Was that true as well?¡± ¡°Yes were bringing some food down here right now and prepare it for you guys.¡± ¡°....Why are you doing all this.?¡± The small furred man looked back up at me and I couldn¡¯t see through his hair to make out any form of a facial expression. Though the large dark brown fur shook when he spoke resembling a mustache, I couldn¡¯t really see the Jiji races eyes. ¡°Like I said......Hopefully soon I plan on helping you guys escape this place.¡± ¡°Yes you said that before you.....you think we will be able to leave floor one soon?¡± ¡°No...I mean out of this dungeon.¡± After I said that the man known as Henley just stared back at me quietly in a large crowded area that was buzzing with noise with people running back and forth. Everyone started running up to me and I began to heal them one by one. Since I would be doing this for quite a while since the food is being collected I put on my black robe I got from Malthiel due to the MP increase and began healing the large line of people who gathered here. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After about 2 hours or so I lost track of how many people I healed. I ran out of mana several times but due to the MP recovery of this incredibly high quality robe I was able to continue quite quickly. The 25% Magic Resistance I have also found gives me a slight boost in mana recovery as well. Though I wasn¡¯t able to cure some of the disease some of the pixies. I told the ones with sickness to wait to be healed later whenever I got my hands on more of those odd magic crystals from monsters. My skill mastery for Freya¡¯s Soul Recovery rose to Intermediate Level 7. Now it states my understanding of recovering ones soul by the power of Freya has risen and my Soul Recovery will leave the soul and body more beautiful after I have touched it. The experience gained from healing so many different races was ridiculous. That along with the benefits of being among the first individuals to find this place is amazing. I need to try fighting the monsters in this dungeon as well. Hopefully I can gain a few skills from the monsters here as well. I can already see this dungeon as a wealth of gain for myself if I continue to train here. Though what I¡¯ve found after taking care of my mother and healing Ari.....I¡¯ve found odd benefits in doing things I naturally did for my siblings since I was young. I gained stats and experience after every meal I prepared. After every time I used the healing skill. What better way to gain experience in this world than to increase my current skills and gain new ones. All while gaining new allies in this unknown world to myself. This dungeons atmosphere is a cruel and broken one. The lives here of everyone I¡¯ve healed I can see the struggle to live in this place. The wanting to live on. It¡¯s hard to imagine honestly in in such a place, where your dead are scattered on the walls around you and buried in the dirt beneath you...¡¯...Their will to push on and fight to live on in such a place is quite admirable honestly.¡¯ Some of the injuries were quite severe. If I didn¡¯t have the ability of magic manipulation there would be no way to repair some of the injuries of those who came forward. Many had large bite marks taken out of parts of there body and were poorly bandaged. They had said they tried rubbing some ointments they made on it but it got infected and many of them were honestly quite close to death. Many had family members who carried them there and had very high fevers. The ones with large bites from monsters from their flesh were barely able to make the trip. I was somehow able to get them out of critical condition. I had Henley and a group of other Jiji race people with him to walk to every house and see if there are any people who need to be healed as well as fed. The idea popped in my head just in case there were some who wouldn¡¯t have heard of my message or couldn¡¯t leave due to injury. After several hours of increasing my recovery skill and healing those on floor 1. I saw a large race. Much larger than the small races I have been healing so far. They stood tall and were very muscular. Each had long white hair and bright silver eyes that glowed in the poorly lit city. Some had pointy ears and bushy tails but some showed to have been partially torn off. They showed to have just as bad of injuries as those I healed before but they wore their scars with pride. None ever approached me. Behind a few of the white haired individuals I see two much larger figures. They look roughly 7 feet tall and for all tense and purposes look like humanoid wolves. They have the the body and abdomen of an athletic human, while having large arms and massive fists. Their bodies are covered in white and silver fur and the two wolf men¡¯s claws shine just as bright as their eyes do here on floor one. None of them approached me but just continued to stare at me. I didn¡¯t pay them much mind but it was uncomfortable to have them watch me. When I squinted my eyes and focused on their levels I saw that the white wolves were each around level 270. Though one of the ones in front looked human the two in the back looked more beasts than demi humans. The other demi humans on this level aren¡¯t even over level 50. So since I have been waiting on Hjokk and Cam it is a tad bit unsettling being watched by these large people. I didn¡¯t have to wait long as Hjokk came back and arrived on my shoulder. ¡°I gathered enough meat I believe. What are you planning on doing anyways Vali? You plan on feeding everyone down here?¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I¡¯m planning on doing.¡± Me and Hjokk began to whisper to one another. She still didn¡¯t want anyone to hear her so she would only speak between people I was healing. It was kind of funny as she seemed to act quite frustrated that I wouldn¡¯t just take time for her....¡¯...Hehe...though she can¡¯t make a grin she can give a pretty intimidating glare.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t blame her I guess. I can¡¯t just go around trusting anyone. And this society also seems to filled with their own internal problems.¡¯ Hjokk even brought a few trees she cut down to make a fire and brought everything out of her inventory in a wide open space a ways away from the demi humans shacks. A large heard of some kind of animal is dropped next to the large wall only a small distance away from everyone. ¡®......WOW.¡¯ Hjokk may have kill over 400 monsters. I have no idea how many bodies are there but it¡¯s not like the smell of death could get any worse around here. The mountain of monsters stood taller than the wall that surrounds this city. The monsters looked to be some type of bull type monster. Everyone around is wide eyed at the large mountain of bodies and Hjokk flew back over to my shoulder. I threw the boards into a pile and cast fireball into the center.....Within moments a large bonfire was made. I took out a small table I had built using tool creation and a couple other supplies I always keep in my inventory for when I cook outdoors. Luckily many of the races down here have the dismantling ability and I had each of them cut the leather off of the meat. Apparently many of the Jiji are quite great with their hands. I¡¯m not sure if they are skilled butchers or just hard workers. Each of them work in unison and collected the leather and worked to cut through meat cleanly to save every last piece of meat available. They were very intricate and watching them was actually quite fascinating. They were very quick and their hands I know noticed were rather large for their bodies as well. They looked to be quite strong for their small bodies and moved quite quickly. The Jiji race is small but they look to be quite the little workers. After the leather was collected they chopped the meat and brought it to me in stacks they even made a tarp made out of the leather and stacked it in unison. After I saw how each of the worked together to climb the mountain and lift the bodies in a lined faction I then realized how that massive wall on floor 52 must have been built. These demi humans all work rather well together and if this city is where the majority of them live, I think they are responsible for building most of the things I have seen here. While the Reiki were more of farmers and resemble the idea of monks when I think of them. The Jiji race appear to be a race that also has its own benefits......Cam acted like they are looked down on but regardless if its because they are hungry or not they are all quite hard workers. They even dismantle much faster and cleaner than I do. I started rubbing the ingredients I mixed in my hands over the beef from the strange monsters Hjokk had brought. Around that time Cam came along and gave me a lot of ingredients from their farms and some crystals that he could collect in the allotted time. He stared wide eyed at the ridiculous size of bodies of animals and just stared back at me like I was crazy. Just then the Annunake race people I believe to have identified walked over to Cam. ¡°Ah Captain, It¡¯s good to see you again.¡± ¡°Ah...It¡¯s great to see you as well Akino you look well.¡± A female Annunake walked up to Cam and addressed him as a captain. After that several individuals walked up along with her. ¡°Yes Cameron.......What exactly are you doing down here?¡± One of the wolf men from before came and stepped in front of Cam and stood taller than both of us. He had the legs of a wolf as well and he wore dark black pants over them. He had a large white bushy tail coming from behind his back but had no shirt on showing off his strongly formed physique. He had grey scars covering his white furred face, body, and arms. He looked to have been through many battles.....The wolf looked to be quite strong. ¡°...Adimar....It is a pleasure to see see you again sir. I am simply here along with Vali and are planning on cooking a meal for those on the lower floors.¡± ¡°.......Vali hmm......¡± The large wolf faced man came walking towards me and looked to be observing me as he walking around me. Though I don¡¯t have an appraisal type skill, I can¡¯t see much about objects or people in this world. Though since we are in a dungeon I can see levels of those of anyway level higher than me if I squint my eyes. Apparently not all individuals outside a dungeon can see levels or information on others unless they have an appraisal type skill. Only monsters show levels. Though since I am a blessed one if I squint I can perceive some form of information about someone. The wolf¡¯s name is Adimar and his level was 288. When he got to my side he stopped . ¡°.......Boy....Are you human?¡± He whispers that into my ear while I am cooking. I still have my mask on though he must have saw my human shaped ears. I continued cutting up the meat and mixing some of the vegetables into a soup for everyone. The ingredients rubbed between my hands dropped into the broth I had been making with the seasoned cooked meat. ¡°That¡¯s right.....though I¡¯m not sure why you call me a boy.¡± ¡°.....Tis your scent little one. You don''t give off the smell of an adult. ¡± The white haired human looking girl looked back at me and smirked. She looked the most human of everyone down here. I can see what looks like ears to have been cut off on the top of her head, as well as part of her tail looks to have been ripped off. I¡¯m not even sure what this girl is talking about but Adimar isn¡¯t refuted what she said either. It¡¯s weird but this girl in front of me doesn¡¯t appear to be showing any demi human traits whatsoever. There were only 4 of the white haired race I thought to be the Annunake but two of them looked more beast than man, while the other two just looked like regular humans. Adimar didn¡¯t say anything but continued to stare at me with his silver eyes. I didn¡¯t respond much to it and just continued cooking the meal. I wasn¡¯t sure if he would start anything here but since I¡¯m claiming to cook everyone a meal and have healed many here I¡¯m sure he wouldn¡¯t try to fight me here just because I¡¯m a human. After cooking the broth in a large pot I continued to cook meet in the form of steaks and made them over a fire. I put a big iron slab and rig it to stand over a smaller fire I have created. I¡¯m not sure how many dishes I prepared or how many mouths were fed but I¡¯d say the crowd was roughly around 9,000 people or well demi humans. I wasn¡¯t sure if we collected enough food due to how fast the food was being eaten, but the demi humans were all quite small on this floor so it was possible to feed everyone until their stomachs were full. My Cooking skill had also risen to Novice Level 3. Cooking for 9,000 people who also had several helpings rose the skill quite quickly. I¡¯m still in the earlier stages of the skill mastery and the later masteries take forever to increase, though I have risen a lot today thanks to the increase in experience gained and cooking for so many people. I think Loki might have a hand in this for helping me gain experience faster but I don¡¯t want to think about that right now. Thinking of his stupid smile would only put me in a bad mood......¡¯...Ugh...Loki.¡¯ As I stared off squinting my eyes at the thought I hear the voices of everyone around filling their stomachs excitedly. Many at first were even unsure how to speak to me when they walked up to receive food I gave them. Filling their bowls with soup or giving them a giant steak made their eyes each shine much more than before. It almost brought many of them to tears as they continued shoveling food down there mouth. They probably didn¡¯t even chew any of it. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Though I raised my cooking skill quite a lot in just one feast down here. From gaining all those levels in mastery I also gained 5,000 to my health as well. The buffs from cooking go to my Hp, stamina, and sometimes even my intellect/wisdom when using different cooking methods I haven¡¯t tried in this world yet. This world rewards everything you do and cooks get some interesting buffs in this world. I want to see if there are even cooking skills in this world. If there are classes and professions there has to be things that work for every class like the game would..¡¯..Hmm.¡¯ There were thousands of Jiji¡¯s, Arachnee, Pixie and even some Annunake in attendance. The feast and bonfire lasted for several hours and after many had eaten I saw each race show their reactions much differently. The Jiji race sat back and relaxed, some of the pixies would dance around the fire and the Arachnee would even dance with one another too. It is remarkable how they can find happiness down in a place like this. Their spirits appear to be up which is good. This was truly never a site I would see in my old world. So many different races coming together and enjoying our time together. I talked to many of the races and used some of the crystal gems on those I couldn¡¯t cure before. Most of the gems were green and blue while a couple were yellow. I was told the strength in magic crystals go green-blue-yellow-red-purple-black. I used them on several of those who looked sick and was not just an injury I could fix before. The 10% rise in healing magic along with the effects of a crystal are truly spectacular. I can feel like my healing touch was a hose that was tied up for a long time and then suddenly released. With the power from the small magic crystals I now could feel Freya¡¯s Soul Recovery burst from the stone and shot into the individuals I used the skill on. Some it healed entirely of whatever sickness or disease they may have had. Though when I used it on a pixie something weird happened. The light from the crystal would glow brightly then scatter over the pixie like a shower. The sparks get absorbed and a feint light starts to glow around them. They are a magical race so maybe they can be healed in different ways than other races. ¡°My wings are back!!¡± The girl I had tried healing from before had large royal blue wings extend from her back and glow in a way they hadn¡¯t before. The light was a bright aqua color and lit up the area in a whole new light that didn¡¯t come from the large bonfire from before. ¡°Th..thank you!....Vali!¡± She hugged me again and many of the pixies from before came around and started jumping up and down. ¡°Look Aurora¡¯s wings are back!¡± The pixie girl Aurora in front of me has her eyes glowing now in a bright color of blue. Her hair was dark before and even her eye color had changed. Even though her face and body are still dirty. Her hair color is now a bright color of green. It¡¯s enough that there is even a glow to it. ¡®The pixie race appear to be a magically infused race. Perhaps living down here is more unhealthy for them then I¡¯m aware of.¡¯ ¡°Vali!¡± ¡°VALIII!!¡± The pixies started dancing around as if very excited for some reason. I guess they knew I was going to heal them though none of them came forward and asked. They all just kept dancing around the pixie girl seeming happy for her. I started healing each of them one by one and my Soul Recovery skill actually rose 2 levels to Intermediate level 9. Due to using my recovery skill at advanced stages as well as by repairing pixies has lead to a massive increase in mastering skill levels. Though the earlier levels of mastery come quick this is a great place to level up your skills. I can¡¯t wait to fight some monsters in this dungeon. I only healed around 30 of the pixies and each shined in a different ambience that lit up the once dark dungeon with their after glow. In such a dark and condemned place, with grim surrounding the walls, the ceiling, the ground the stand on, they couldn¡¯t have have acted happier. Even the ones who weren''t healed were hugging the ones who were and they all shared in each others happiness....It was truly fascinating. They are an interesting culture. I felt an intense gaze and looked over to the same white wolf from before, Adimar. His silver eyes stared back at me and his long white hair flowed like a main from his large dire wolf appearance. I look away and see Cam is speaking to some one. Cam salutes the person and runs over to me and tells me the leaders have been waiting on floor 52 for a while now and have been waiting for us. I guess we have lost track of time. I bid everyone farewell and told them I would be back soon. Karma and her mother both came to wish me a goodbye and to thank me again for everything. I also saw Henley and many of the jiji race behind him waving at me. The pixies stopped dancing and ran towards me to all hug me and wish me a goodbye. There race is the most accepting of me. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s that they trust easy, or what but apparently in their culture giving them that bright light back is a big deal to them. I heard them whisper quite a lot amongst themselves but they all flew around and waved at me goodbye. ¡°Bye Vali!¡± All the men and women pixies shouted in unison and then Adimar came walking up. ¡°Hope it¡¯s alright if I join you both.¡± ¡°Ah....Chief Adimar....I don¡¯t suppose that would be a problem at all.¡± ¡°Haha it¡¯s fine Cam you needn¡¯t salute me. I simply wish to know what the council¡¯s will with this boy as well.¡± He glared down at me and looked forward. He hasn¡¯t really spoken to me yet for that one time but he hasn¡¯t given me an indication at liking me at all. His glares at first were that of curiosity, when he found out I was human he then gave me looks of odd suspicion. Though after I saw him and his followers talking with Cam at the feast each of his followers have looked at me now with completely different glares. I don¡¯t feel that they think well of me though. ¡°I¡¯ll be tagging along as well then.¡± The woman Akino also chose to come with Cam, Adimar and myself. Since we needed to get to floor 52 quickly according to the Reiki attendant we followed him deeper into the city to a different platform. It is part of the building that nearly reached the top of the first floor¡¯s ceiling. We stepped into a large platform and where an Eis Neko in dark clothing was waiting for us. He glared at us and we stepped onto a platform and he activated something on his bracelet. Then all of us were then transported to a large room. ¡°Hmm so you have a warp ability?¡± ¡°....It is just a way some of us travel quickly through floors. I had to borrow this from General Alysteir....She is very pissed she was left waiting.¡± The neko race guy seems oddly angry with me for some reason. Then again I¡¯m not getting nice looks from anyone else either. The giant room is empty and we are told to follow the the neko raced man. Walking through to the outside the floor I walked through this morning I now notice is completely abandoned. There isn¡¯t the sound of anything here and I could have sworn I heard some training or people on the wall working from before. I can¡¯t hear anything now. We continue to walk through the quiet city while light from the sky illuminated the entire town from the light of the large moon in the sky. A large blanket of shade however stood over a large majority of the city due to the giant wall, though it was a large city from it¡¯s interior now that I¡¯m walking through it, it is still deadly quiet. ¡°So...That odd bird of yours....Does it taste as good as that food you made?¡± The woman Akino tried to make a conversation as we made our way through the abandoned city streets. ¡°Ha...I wouldn¡¯t know, I¡¯ve never tried to hunt something like Hjokk.¡± ¡°Oh is that its name? So it¡¯s more of a pet then.¡± Hjokk then glares back at me and I just simply smile back at her. ¡°Haha, I don¡¯t know I feel like I¡¯m honestly the pet at times.¡± ¡°That so....¡± The white haired women continued to walk forward through the city without looking back at me. I don¡¯t know what her or Adimar¡¯s problem with me were but they did not seem to give off an atmosphere of liking me. They did eat my food but they honestly didn¡¯t give me the impression they trusted me at all. ¡°Yep...fraid my bird is much scarier than me....¡± ¡°Ok...we¡¯re here.¡± With that the neko man opened up double doors to the quiet room and the image of the same war room from earlier was now filled people. Several demi humans of many kinds I haven¡¯t seen yet were gathered. Sitting around the table was an assortment of different demi humans with several of their own kind standing behind them. Their was a white haired jiji race, a white colored Arachnee woman with white hair along with a white spider like body. Behind her were two Arachnee that had short black hair and long pointy fingers. They looked to be rather dangerous. The white Spider queen also had 2 sets of red eyes and looked at me with a very dangerous gaze. There was also a strange birdlike race seated across from them.They each have large feathered wings coming from their backs and brightly colored feathers coming from the tops of their skulls and hair. They resembled a war chief headdress in a way. They looked to be large for demi humans and the large male leading them had the head of an eagle and it looked almost like one of those mascots you would see running around a sporting event. Though this creature gave off a very intimidating presence of his own. His muscles were very large and he his talon like appendages looked to be dangerous. Sitting beside them was a red pixie that glowed much brighter than the ones I saw on level 1. She was looking at me curiously and had a couple of other small pixies gathered behind her as well. There were more Annunake race here as well and even a few that looked like Adimar. They were all strong individuals and each gave off a serious atmosphere while looking towards us. There was also Malfius sitting beside a blue haired man with short hair. He was a member of the dark clothed neko race and standing behind him is that same blue haired neko women from before. Next to her was a white haired women in black clothing and also wore the twin swords at her side. Though she looked to be from the same race as Malfius. She was actual quite an alluring women. As much as I wanted to stop and stare at that women I couldn¡¯t. There standing next to her is someone who gives me a very erie feeling. Out of everyone in this entire room this individual gives off such a tingling sensation I¡¯m forced to take notice of her...''Why is my focus drawn to this woman?'' There in the same dark uniform and a captains hat is a women with long blue hair. Her black uniform fits tightly to her figure and looks much more fancy than those around her. She has the same swords at her sides but looks to have several items she is wearing that look peculiar. She is somehow of higher rank than the other individuals around her but not the man sitting next to Maflius. He looks to be the leader. But I can¡¯t for some reason take my eye of this women with long blue hair..... Though these are it....These are the 7 race leaders all gathered in one room with their representatives. These are the Seven people I need to talk to. ¡°Great your here now Vali...Adimar oh it¡¯s good to see you, Though I wasn¡¯t expecting you here of all places.¡± Malfius spoke up and adressed the white wolf man standing next to me. ¡°Yes.....I too wished to join in on this council. I hope that is ok with all of the esteemed leaders of the alliance?¡± The others looked around and simply nodded and only the other white wolves showed concern. Before anyone continues the wolf man Adimar stepped forward in front of me and addressed everyone in the council room. Behind me I noticed Akino was closing the doors behind her. ¡°Now then........before we begin, though I am not an individual of rank anymore, I request we sanction a gag order on everyone in this room......Regardless of what is spoken here.......nothing leaves this room!¡± The room became silent at Adimar¡¯s words. The demi humans looked around the room and not much protest was made. Though the blue haired man did speak up before there was much say in the matter. ¡°.....Though you are correct, you are an individual who has lost your rank so who has also lost the right to be in this room. However.....We were already planning on placing a gag order on this event. The floor is off limits for the day and the city has been moved to a location on 45. We need to make this quick.¡± The blue haired man looked straight at me with a look as if looking bored with me and not wanting to continue. ¡°So Malfius......this is the person.....This person is the one who is going to save us and slay Balor?!¡± The large eagle demi human yelled this at Malfius and looked at me while leaning back in his chair. Those behind him shook their heads and seemed agitated. The were men and women in their race that didn¡¯t have the heads of birds. But each had feathers naturally coming out of the forearms and heads. Each stood quite tall. ¡°.....If you would all let me explain....I will tell you the truth about this individual today.¡± ¡°He¡¯s human.¡± Adimar stopped Malfius from continuing while he walked over and leaned on a pillar next to table and stating this fact. ¡°What!?¡± ¡°Impossible!!¡± Loud noises irrupted in the room and every one of the demi human races that were in the room started making loud noises and looking amongst themselves then right back at me. Some look at me curiously while others look at me with disdain. Each of them however look to show the same look of shock at my sudden appearance. ¡°....It is not impossible......Vali here....Came from beyond this dungeon. He¡¯s a human from beyond this place.¡± With that everyone started to show the same looks of shock, all but the Eist Neko and Reiki races. Everyone continued to show looks of anger or surprise while they continued to look straight back at me. All of them....It was an unpleasant feeling and I honestly didn¡¯t know when I was suppose to say anything. ¡°Are we sure he¡¯s human....I mean he looks like he could just be another Annunake?¡± ¡°Nope....He¡¯s got the ears on the side.¡± Akino then chimed in and the rest of the audience continued to clamor. ¡°Ok....now how are we sure Malfius, so if this is someone from beyond this dungeon, if he¡¯s not some Annunake or some human whose the ancestor of some who survived in this place, what¡¯s this puny little guy gonna do to to get us out of here?¡± To this statement from the blue haired man sitting in the chair made everyone nod there heads and look back at Malfius awaiting his answer. ¡°This puny human took down Malthiel....¡± Hearing Malfius say this no one clamored like before or made any noise, rather they just slowly turned their heads back and stared at me now with an even more strange look.....I mean I guess I know how unbelievable that could sound for those who knew Malthiel but the looks they are giving me are ones as if they heard a rodent somehow took down a lion. With everyone looking at me I simply took out Abgrund and held it before everyone in the room. The dark aura is released from it and everyone in the rooms whole body froze and tensed up while looking at me. Though since it gives everyone around such an odd feeling when I bring it out I put it back into my inventory. ¡°It¡¯s true!...¡± ¡°H..How could he take down Malthiel!!¡± Many voices started clamoring together amongst themselves, all other than Malfius and the blue haired man sitting beside him. They along with the demi humans standing behind them must have already received the news of Malthiel¡¯s passing and accepted me as the one who killed him. My eyes wonder around the room and found each of the members here were all high level, well higher than me. The three highest leveled individuals in the room however were Malfius, the man sitting beside him, and then the blue haired woman behind them. This woman who had a very dangerous look about her, was at the highest level of 357 and seemed to be much more dangerous than the man in the chair who was 334. ¡°If it were true his level would be much higher than Malthiel¡¯s. But he¡¯s not even above level 200. It¡¯s a lie!¡± One of the bird men from behind the Adler representative voiced his concern. ¡°Yes....I too am puzzled by this Malfius.¡± The blue haired man who appears to be one of the leaders of the conference looks back at Malfius as if pressing him to answer. He blue haired man in a black uniform had two blue pointed ears above his head but kept a fairly young adults appearance. He looked older than me but it was hard to tell just how old he was. I¡¯m not sure of how the demi humans of this world age. I¡¯m curious as to now that I have several demi humans living in my cabin. I was planning to view their growth alongside my own but hopefully I can also learn some things from these people as well. I smiled and looked around the confused state of the room. Hjokk looked back at me and whispered in my ear that we should be careful here. The mood does seem to be getting bad. Looking towards Adimar and Akino beside him they both appear to be looking back at me with the same angry gaze as before. I don¡¯t know what it is about a human to them but they do not like me for some reason. ¡°Yes well...¡± ¡°Now, now....See everyone heres problem is they just keep thinking I¡¯m going to help you all out of the goodness of my heart. See....I have my own demands as well for helping you all.¡± I cut off Malfius and everyone in the room then turned back to myself and the purple bird resting on my shoulder. ¡°......What was that?¡± The blue haired demi human man looked back at me now seemingly annoyed. His earlier bored behavior spiked when he heard me speak up for the first time. Everyone else didn¡¯t appear to enjoy my tone either so I continued. ¡°....Sorry I¡¯m just not the good samaritan type. Though, I do believe that we can help one another......You guys agree to a few things for me....I help you escape this dungeon.¡± I looked over at Adimar and Akino and they smirked at me then glanced back at the blue haired man sitting next to Malfius. ¡°AHAHAHAHA!!!!¡± Everyone erupted into laughter and some snickered to each other about the statement I just made. I guess to them in a world like this level is everything. A place where your strength is literally said right above your head at all times. Not like it is outside this dungeon. Unless you have a type of skill to view it all you can see is the name of a person and hp bar when squinting above a person¡¯s head. To a person like me coming in claiming to do what they haven¡¯t been able to accomplish for centuries I guess would be hard to believe for them. I don¡¯t blame them.....though....I¡¯m not really in the mood to play games right now. I¡¯ve seen what the actions of this council have done. I can understand the ideas of over population on some levels. But I feel that they should all unite together in this place to get out of here. I saw and met quite a few people in the lower floors. I¡¯ve gotten to know some of the policies this group has implemented..¡¯...I need to show them here that I make the rules from here on out starting now!¡¯ ¡°Ok....How¡¯s this human from beyond this place...¡± ¡°Vali...¡± ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°Vali...that¡¯s my name.¡± ¡°Ok...Vali....How¡¯s about you prove to us your someone we can put our faith in. Simply walking in here claiming to be able to go against a god! To say you¡¯ll do what none of our kind have ever been able to accomplish for thousands of years while appearing so weak! Let¡¯s forget the fact your a human, something we all know to be a botched race.....You walk in here....Holding the weapon of the one we hate most!¡± Slam! His voice gradually got louder and looked back at me. He slammed his fists on the large table. There on the hard stone table the entire edge of the table has been shattered. The entire stone table cracked throughout the surface and a large cracking sound filled the room. ¡°Fine....What do you have in mind.¡± ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ¡®This.....seems unfair....¡¯ The blue haired man I have now learned to be called Malaki proposed a 3 on 1 match between me and 3 selected members of their choosing. We left to a lower floor that resembled a humid jungle. It had a large bottomless pit we were standing over with several stone pillars that rose over the large abyss. This floor too had many bodies lining it''s walls...but none on the ceilings. ¡°What¡¯s wrong human!....If you can¡¯t handle these three opponents there¡¯s no way you¡¯ll be able to conquer Balor¡¯s Dungeon! Hell....If you can¡¯t beat these three now your not even a match for Alysteir!¡± Yah...I don''t think I''ll like Malaki. Alysteir was the blue haired girl that stood behind him. Her grim appearance gave her the look of a person who had seen many horrors in her life. Though the looks she gave me were that of a crazed person. She was however the strongest of the Eis Neko¡¯s and was hailed as the strongest in this dungeon currently and had the largest level of anyone trapped here. In fact I can honestly understand, just the atmosphere around that person is very unpleasant. Having her gaze on me this whole time has constantly kept my hairs on my neck stand on end. Though luckily I don¡¯t have to face her right now. If I did I would probably have to get serious and might actually not be able to take her at all if not for my death¡¯s grip. Though my stats are high for a human around my level, I have no idea the stat growth of someone who trains daily in a dungeon for the entirety of their lives. They are each strong clans of demi humans who have lived the better part of a millennia in this dungeon and have trained and learned to survive in the most dangerous environments Balor could throw at them. They¡¯ve lasted the horrors, and the long fight of this dungeon. They and are amongst the remaining seven races left in this place. Currently I¡¯m going to fight 3 of these powerful races. One Reiki woman who is wearing the black uniform from earlier. She is the same one with white hair who didn¡¯t match the group of Neko races who were standing beside her. Though she does look to be quite strong. Also the bird like man leader, and a white wolf man leader who also is in a beast form. Apparently the Annunake are a race that can transform into these large white legendary beasts and are said to be incredibly strong. They are according to all the other races here amongst few legendary races of demi human produced by gods. Their levels were 298, 305, and 301. These guys were nearly twice my level. If I used my Demonic awaking skill my strength and defense would rise by 200% and the rest of my stats would rise by 25%. That would put my level at around 180-190. Though my strength and defense would be at around level 300. So if I use this skill I can possibly match some of these larger demi humans if they get close. Though if things get bad I can always flash away. My stats are high for someone around my level I¡¯m told, I¡¯m sure my genes have something to do with that as well. If it weren¡¯t for the blessed skills or the inherited abilities I received.....I probably wouldn¡¯t stand a chance in this world. The wolf growls at me and the eagle person flexes his muscles. The wolf I¡¯m fighting isn¡¯t Adimar. He and his female friend are standing alongside several other delegates that are still remaining on this floor. We left floor 52 and came to floor 11 to a weird pit like structure that covers a large area of the dungeon floor. It has many large steps and stones to jump across and use to get to the other side. The spectators or watching me standing several dozens of meters away from my 3 opponents. The girl stands in the center and keeps both her hands on her sword hilts. To her right is the wolf man and he is standing on another pillar that reaches far down into the empty chasm below. To the Reiki women¡¯s left is the bird man with the head of an eagle. The same boss eagle who was angry from before. Though.....I should be focusing now....¡®Like I said before.....I really don¡¯t feel like playing games with these people and I want to show who the dominate one in this relationship will be from here forward. If they continue to think they are in charge they may complicate things for me in the future. If I shut these people down quickly......I can probably get them to agree to my demands more easily later on.....Ugh...It could be difficult though. Each of them are around twice my level. Two of them are the leaders of their races delegates and one appears to be quite skilled in using a sword. This could be difficult......¡¯....No.....I can end this quickly.¡¯ ¡°BEGIN!¡± Someone yelled for the start of the match and the eagle man rose in the air and started flapping his wings back and forth rapidly. His wing spanned several meters in the air and when he extended them a large shadow fell over the fighting grounds. The Adler race man¡¯s wings blocked out the sun from this floors walls and began to shine. Then small lights began to form in the shapes of feathers and began to shoot down in my direction like a machine gun firing off. Loud roars ring out as the feathers begin to crash into the stone pillars. At that moment I feel the Reiki woman closing in on my position at an alarming speed while the Annunake man is flanking around my right side. Even though there are large gaps between some of these large pillars we are standing on they move at a tremendous speed.....If I didn¡¯t have Loki¡¯s gift I probably wouldn¡¯t be able to last in a fight with these people....well.....I don¡¯t feel like thanking him anyways. I looked towards the steep drop below and smiled just before disappearing from the the battle arena entirely. The faces of all the onlookers including my pursuers were in awe. That¡¯s what I thought.....The Eis Demi human girl Ecclaire from before was under the impression I just moved very quickly. They didn¡¯t know I had the ability to travel through space.....After talking with Loki I have learned something very interesting about spatial magic.....I¡¯m really not using it properly. To use something properly you exude the most out of it you possibly can. I haven¡¯t been using it well at all. I appeared over the Adler man who was flying overhead and landed a stunning blow on the back of the Adler¡¯s head with the back of my leg. BAM!!!!!! ¡°What was that?!¡± ¡°LOOk! Up there!¡± The Adler race man then began to.....glide slowly back to the ground. Though he didn¡¯t struggle he just simply descended and flew downward slowly. He was appearing to fly away from the area but the amount of damage done to him wasn''t much at all. I used my spatial magic to appear back onto another pillar that was roughly where they were originally stood due to the damage from that wing attack from the Adler race. The pillars that got hit with those feathers of light were destroyed and several of the large stones that stood over the large abyss began to topple several over. Many of them were erased entirely as if they were shot with a gatling gun. I then looked back at the Adler man. As I looked further at the Adler demi human I noticed he wasn¡¯t flying away at all. He had been knocked unconscious by my hit to the back of his head and is now slowly descending to the dungeon floor, his wing span simply being so large it carried him and made him continue to glide over the floor. It¡¯s kind of a funny sight to be honest. ¡°Pffftttt...hehe¡± ¡°YOU!.¡± ¡°...In one hit?...Fine I¡¯ll get serious.¡± The Annunake and the Reiki woman then faced back at me and then decided to take me as a serious opponent. The woman¡¯s blades were still not drawn yet but she then slowly began to advance towards me while Annunake¡¯s arm was a very large spear and threw it at me. After seeing this I simply activated my spatial magic again and appeared on a pillar only a few feet in front of me but now completely out of the way of the spear that was moments from hitting me. Now only several pillars forward from where I stood the Reiki woman had now turned to her side to face me and we had now made triangle the three of us. The large broad Annunake wolf leaped towards me and swung his claws in the direction of my neck. The crowd could here the loud snapping of my fingers and his image then disappeared entirely. Loki gave me a lot to think about after showing me some of the ways he uses spatial magic. I was using it all wrong. I was simply thinking I was teleporting myself from one place to another. But essentially that¡¯s wrong, I¡¯m not moving from one place to another at all. In fact I¡¯m simply stepping into another space when I activate spatial magic. To put it more simply.....If I opened up a space to step through that would make me appear 100¡¯s of feet away from where I am, and put my left foot through it. My left foot would then appear in that space while the rest of me is still in this space. It¡¯s essentially like being in two places at once and thusly destroys the physics of my world in what I am doing. If it was possibly for Loki to place me in a space of his choosing and even amplify the time perceived in that space by a million he could essentially keep me trapped in a box forever. This thought is truly terrifying to me so I wanted to increase my understandings of spatial magic. I figured out I don¡¯t simply have to move myself from one space to another. I could move others to spaces I essentially want to move them too as well. If I dignify a space and that person steps into it I can make them appear in another space of my choosing. I chose that Annunake man to reappear somewhere roughly close to the ceiling of this floor and dropped him. ¡°AHHH!!!!!¡± I can hear his faint screams rather far away....hehe.. Now it is just me and this girl. This Reiki girl who is wearing the same clothes as all the Eis Neko¡¯s but is clearly not from the same race as them. She still hasn¡¯t drawn her swords yet. and is staring at me quite intently....¡¯Ok....I¡¯ll fight one on one. And I¡¯d honestly like to see how I¡¯d fair against a swordsman. I increased my claws and tell her I¡¯m ok with accepting her challenge. She lunges towards and when I throw a punch with my right arm her image disappeared and my legs are swept from under me. I immediately activated spatial magic a pillar away and then jump towards her. She reacts smoothly as if never losing track of my wear a bouts and jump back towards me. She released her twin swords and flipped over top of me and spun downward in a fan like motion. I deflected the spin with my sharp claws and and tried to deliver a shot into her stomach. The force from me parrying her swords flipped her body and she somehow rode the spin and connected her fist that was still clutching one of her swords into my ribs.
Critical Hit! You have been hit with Chi Divider You have lost 200 mana - 2,000 mana per minute will be lost if chi continues to flow out of your body - Agility has been reduced by 15% - Strength has been reduced by 10% - Effectiveness of skills has been reduced by 12% - You have received 600 damage
¡®....What!?¡¯ The force of the punch entering my ribcage sent feelings of lightning down my spinal cord and jolted my entire system. As hard and tough as my defenses were my entire body ached after this hit. This was honestly the strongest punch I have ever received in my entirely life. It....yah ....it¡¯s way stronger than Master Fe¡¯s. The power of that blow regardless of how strong it felt like it did all sorts of internal damage to my insides. This person is strong. One punch to my ribs cage did all of this? I tried to land a rapid counter but she swung around me on the narrow pillar like she was swimming through the air. She then jumped and quickly landed a kick to my now other ribcage and a much stronger force than from what I felt the first time sent me flying. CRACK! BOOOOOM! The force from hitting my right side sent me flying dozens of meters crashing on top of another stone pillar. I started to fall over and quickly grabbed the top of the pillar.
Critical Hit! -You have received 1200 damage. Due to the force of the blow to your body, stamina has been reduced by 15%
I should have a high defense, for a human, for anything around my level. This world even shows how my growth should stack up to another. If my defense is high enough it should be able to support a fight against these people. Maybe...I might need to use Demonic Awakening against this person. That one punch felt like nothing I¡¯ve ever felt in my life. I can honestly feel my energy being drained after that hit. Honestly....If I didn¡¯t have Loki¡¯s blessing I may have not been able to handle 3 of these people at once....No I¡¯d be kidding myself if I thought I could. ¡®Yah....I always thought but if I could have chosen out of a catalog for animals or monsters of this world I could have absorbed other than Malthiel and the other monsters. If I had the world tree essence in me whenever I absorbed any of those other monsters could have given me a completely different body actually with completely different skills....Though....If I could have chosen.....A tiger¡¯s legs would have been one of my top choices definitely. Tigers have tremendous leg strength. Though I acquired some traits from those horned rabbits and the defense of a boss gorilla. Tigers legs are truly incredible. Back in my world a tiger¡¯s leg muscles are so muscular, some tigers after death still have the ability to keep their bodies standing due to their massive leg strength. They can break and sever jaws with one swing from their monstrous paws, and this women is a race of white tiger humans. ......Ok I need to get serious here. I lift myself up and face her and she quickly advances on me. I activate death grip to see if I can stop her in her tracks but oddly..¡¯......I feel her life force but.......it¡¯s weird. It¡¯s....Like it¡¯s too large to hold in my hands and I can¡¯t firmly grasp it.....could....could she have a resistance to this skill?¡¯ Death grip is still in its first stage, due to my manipulation I thought I would be able to at least stop this person from advancing but sadly I can¡¯t. She smiles at my odd face and swings her swords back at me. I try to activate lightning step and this somehow gives me an edge against this woman¡¯s incredibly fast strikes. Between each strike I activate it to increase my cognitive functions and speed to match her strikes and parry her swings. I don¡¯t think my claws can hold off for long. If I didn¡¯t have this ability to time it just right I probably wouldn¡¯t be able to hold this for very long. The swords are from an odd material like my necklace and seem to produce some kind of heat to them as well along with the light that comes off of them. If I didn¡¯t activate lightning step at just the right time and deflect it I¡¯m sure the strength of this sword would actually shatter my claws regardless. They are made of an incredibly strong and hot material. The colors danced along with each strike and we continued our battle on the pillars dancing around as the spectators watched us. Wee would jump between pillar to pillar reacting to the other we each tried to create an opening to launch a counter to the other. Though we appeared to be quite evenly matched though she is slowly beginning to gain ground on me. I feel as if I am stronger and possibly faster than her but she moves in such a way it¡¯s just very odd to track her. Honestly she doesn¡¯t run in a way like humans from my world run. I run and smash through the ground while cutting through the air.She moves as if the wind is carrying her across the battle ground for her and she simply strikes when she tries to find an opening. She then back flipped and jumped from pillar to pillar attacking me and the battle went on for a long time. She was truly a frightening opponent. Honestly, If I tried to fight all three of those opponents and they were at her level, I would have never lasted. If I activated Demonic Awakening maybe I could last in a fist fight with this person to reduce the damage, but the only reason I coached her into taking it to swinging her sword is because of the extent of the damages from her punches on me. I never knew monk skills like that existed in this world. Too bad for them they didn¡¯t know but this terrain was to my advantage. To a person who can travel to whatever point they want at will this battle ground was to my advantage the moment we got here. I only wanted to use spatial magic and my raw strength to show them I was stronger. If I used a weapon that may have looked in favor of the weapon. If it was any other location maybe they would have had the advantage. If I didn¡¯t have spatial magic I might have gotten to see just how strong that wolf or bird man really were. Though I may have a way of gaining an upper hand on this girl. Thinking of this I smile while thinking of an interesting idea. ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± ¡°Nothing....Simply enjoying this fight is all.....Your sword skills are phenomenal......Though.....I¡¯m much more impressed with your hand to hand combat.¡± ¡°Yes...I was once fought as a member of the Reiki race and alongside my father....I chose another path. A path of the sword to take on those beasts.....And you think you can help us with such things as you laugh during all of this....is it because I¡¯m female what is it?!¡± ¡°No you misunderstand. I was simply smiling because I was impressed is all. I myself want to learn the way of the sword as well.....Perhaps you can train me some day......That is after all this.¡± ¡°Ha....If....you beat me then I¡¯ll teach you how¡¯s that!¡± After she stated this she gave me a feint and lowered her body in an instant her image changed with a green light surrounding her and her body shot forth like a dart towards me with one sword pointed towards my face. I activated lightning step but it felt like her speed had changed somehow and as I swung down at her image that should have been slowed down began to squirm and avoid my claws and go straight toward my shoulder. PING! The sound of the sword crossing over my skin and scraping against the top of my bone rattles the sword and sends shivers down my spine. She somehow increased her speed and matched my own and got her sword into my left shoulder. I¡¯m bleeding though I only lost 4000 health from that. I guess those durable bones came in handy. Looking up I can see the Reiki girl tilting her head looking up at me and feel the gazes of everyone else as well. ¡°Yo...You?..¡± ¡°I¡¯m complicated.¡± I knocked the sword out of her hand then stomped my foot onto the stone pillar while activating lord¡¯s earth shattering smash with full power. BOOOOM! I feel the shockwave travel down the pillar and the smoke rises as a loud bang fills the battle grounds. Everything started to shake and crumble as all of the pillars had began to topple over crash into one another. It honestly felt like the whole dungeon floor began to shake. ¡°What?¡± The Reiki woman began to jump away to escape the falling pillars to find a good vantage point and I too jumped onto another pillar several meters away. She looked back at me as if contemplating on how to finish me off in this situation and draws her sword pointing it at me. She began to jump onto each pillar that was falling onto another and lunged over large gaping pitfalls that had since crashed into the practically bottomless pit below. No floor could be seen through the dense fog below but one could fathom it was a long drop. However, to this woman she is leaping over falling debris from the ceiling as well as the large pieces of stone that created this arena. She looked as if she were to fall but would simply jump on a falling rock and run up it. She would then jump up parts of the wall and other stone pillars and was doing it so swiftly. She moved like no one I had ever seen before and it was a strength I had never seen in another person......¡¯....She was stronger than me.¡¯ I may have learned to fight well, acquired stronger skills in this world, and have magic that can distort space itself, but if I were honest with myself, I believe her to be much stronger than myself. I have to use all of these things just to fight her. And even with my incredible stats and abilities I don¡¯t know if I could do what she is doing right now. This is a different form of strength I¡¯m not use to and I am in awe of this woman. ¡®She moves like gravity doesn¡¯t exist to her. She runs horizontal down falling rocks and jumps between pillars to advance forward even an inch. She swims through the air and moves so swiftly it¡¯s truly a beautiful spectacular scene I would never witness in my last life. Her white long hair flowed behind her in a fancy braid as she moved easily around the collapsing environment. She moved like no one I had ever seen before....¡¯ BAM! Another Rock crashed into the rock she had been running along and it jolted her forward causing her to misstep. She was only a few pillars away from me and had jumped up to grab one of the only remaining pillars that stood still. ¡°Ah!..Mmmm!¡± The Reiki girl struggled to pull herself up with her one hand but she was struggling. Looking away from her I don¡¯t really give it much thought as I feel the fight has ended. Honestly it would be a shame if this person who was going to teach me how to fight with a sword were to die so soon. Especially if she is to help us take down Balor in the future we need more people as strong as her. I appeared on the pillar she stood on and kneeled down. After smiling down at her and looked at the long drop below I offered her my hand and asked if she wanted a lift. She had the same bright blue eyes as Malfius had and looked to be a very stunning beauty as I had originally thought. She does have this oddly alluring feeling about her though she also gives off the impression of someone one who is hard to please. She doesn¡¯t smile back at me but does glance down at the long drop below....¡¯...Ok she can¡¯t possibly be thinking of jumping can she?¡¯ ¡°What....is taking my hand that bad?¡± ¡°.....Fine....I concede.¡± After picking her up and lifting her onto the pillar I activated spatial magic and escaped the collapsing arena that has now been turned into an empty pit. All of the pillars have crashed and broken including the one me and the Reiki girl were just standing on. The looks on everyone¡¯s face was priceless. No one said anything though I didn¡¯t get the best of looks from some of the Eis Nekos or the Annunake race. Though many of the Adler race were glaring at me I noticed that the Pixies in attendance and the a couple of the Arachnee were laughing quite historically. Apparently they thought the whole display was hilarious. Though no one else really said anything I told Malfius I needed to leave now but as we walked to the floor elevator we discussed all of the things and terms I needed them to follow if we were going to work together....I hoped that this was a first meeting and maybe in the coming days we can communicate about what we are going to do from here on out. Since this floor was barren and many of the demi humans were still talking amongst themselves Malfius and I continued our talk until we got back to floor 52. I and Hjokk then walked past the city gates and I activated spatial magic to appear outside of the dungeon. I¡¯m starting to comprehend spatial magic a bit more now. Maybe soon I can learn to use it in more ways like Loki has...¡¯...Honestly there are a lot of things I need to work on.¡¯ Me and Hjokk continued to walk into the forest back to our cabin in the woods and the sun began to set. We got back earlier than yesterday as I didn¡¯t want to continue leaving mom at the house with people she didn¡¯t know for such extended periods of time. Though she has seemed to enjoy it, I feel that is wrong of me to put on her. ¡°....Weird day.¡± ¡®Weird day....¡± Hjokk commented about her thoughts on the day and I agreed. ¡°Well.....I think that went well.¡± ¡°You too huh....Yah I honestly didn¡¯t see my day going this way when I woke up this morning.¡± Honestly it did start weird. I woke up and had strangers in my house who turned out to be a princess from one of the countries whose duel I interrupted the other day. Then had to sick Fenrir on a large number of individuals from the Aldain Kingdom which I have decided is my enemy. Afterwards I went to a dungeon created by Balor that I thought to only have two races exist inside of it had actually 7 different races of demi human living there. They lived in some weird social structure between races and were originally to have 10 races though due to tragedy and apparently some deceit, they have lost quite a bit over the years. They¡¯re histories are much more deep than I originally thought yesterday after meeting this demi humans. I¡¯m hoping I can trust them for the future. ¡°.....Are you planning on trying to save everyone in that dungeon Vali? ¡° ¡°No....though it would help if more people were saved.¡± ¡°I just don¡¯t want you to simply risk your life away on every passing stranger you meet with a problem. This is a Fallen God Vali.....He is going to be much stronger than Malthiel and.....Though Loki also wants us to explore into this matter as well, I don¡¯t fully agree with it.¡± Hjokk began to show her concern but didn¡¯t look at me as she spoke. She seemed hard pressed to find the words to guide me down the right path. She always tried to let me learn at a distance before but now she would sometimes try to give me her own opinion as well now. ¡°I know that.....But for what I have planned in the future, I may need the people in this dungeon. The more the merrier honestly. This plan of mine is complicated but if I can pull it off correctly we might all be able to benefit from one another in all of this.¡± It was true. I had been thinking about this plan for a few days now and more pieces continue to come together. Though it¡¯s complicated if it all works out the rewards will be just what I¡¯m looking for. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯re not fighting any fallen god or going to war with any kingdom just yet. I¡¯m just gaining information for now.¡± ¡°Well....the coming days will sure to be interesting.¡± As we continued back to the cabin we continued to talk more and even though Hjokk showed to have some concern over this dungeon she eventually gave up. We then discussed what we thought everyone was doing back at the cabin as we were walking back. She was right, there were a lot of things to do in the coming weeks if my plans are to succeed here, I have a meeting in a few days with the King of Asher....I¡¯ll know more then. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ari¡¯s POV ¡®Life sure has been good to me lately. ¡® ¡°Oh good job! Ari...Your doing it!¡± Clap! Clap! Clap! Vali....That¡¯s the name of the masked man who saved me. It feels like....I¡¯m finally experiencing life. Though maybe all this has just been a dream. I remember I use to have dreams of flying, or running through a forest only to wake up later. Maybe I really am just stuck back in that... ¡®No....all the experiences I¡¯ve had the warmth I¡¯ve felt. I remember....I remember being cold. This is real.¡¯ For the first time since my legs stopped working I was taking my first steps and Elyria was cheering me on. She would do this with me everyday actually...¡®She¡¯s also been so amazing.¡¯ No one ever really payed attention to me like this before. Even him...He always seemed so interested in the things I have to say and would always hold me so close to him.....¡¯...Mm...Vali¡¯s honestly like a good dream.¡¯ He would even feed me the first few days we met....He was always so gentle. It was the first time someone had treated me so.....important, and those delicious tastes uh....Surely I couldn¡¯t dream that up. ¡°Woh.¡± I lost my balance and fell over. Woosh! Something appeared right below me and hoisted me back up. It was Vali¡¯s pet wolf Fenrir. I gripped onto his soft fur with my hands to support myself. ¡°Thanks Fenrir¡± He had such soft fur, he always let me pet him and I had never felt something so nice. I¡¯ve felt honestly so many things these past few days. My face is even better again. ¡®I haven¡¯t even told him thank you yet.....I mean it happened so fast, and the way he reacted when he healed me was just. I don¡¯t even know how I could possibly pay him back either. He¡¯s a very kind human.'' ¡°Hey how¡¯s everyone¡¯s day been?¡± He¡¯s home.... I don¡¯t know why by my heart started racing back and forth and I tried to run to him. I wanted to greet him upon entering his home. Bam! I fell. I guess I can¡¯t quite run yet. ¡°Hey... I thought I told you not to exert yourself so much. Your body is going through a recovery period and....Oh well whatever¡± As he picked him up he just smiled and stopped talking. I don¡¯t know why....oh....I think my tail is hitting him again. My tail does that a lot but I can¡¯t seem to control it. I forgot I even had one when I was in that.....You know it¡¯s strange, I remember that I came from a bad place, just......can¡¯t seem to remember what it all looked like. Everything before that day Vali saved me and those other demi humans....is kind of a blur. It¡¯s like this is my real life and all that other stuff before was the bad dream. Though everything from my past is just, it''s not that I''ve forgotten, just.....it''s hard to remember. I remember being in a cage. I must have been in there for a long time......but now I can¡¯t even seem to remember what it looked like for some reason. Like it was all just a nightmare, I can¡¯t seem to remember it all. ¡®It¡¯s just hard to remember anything from my past for some reason now. I use to get bad dreams sometimes too, even the first couple nights after I was saved. But...not really anymore. I feel bad that I lied to Vali that I was. I just wanted to wait up till he got home. I hope he doesn''t get mad.....I¡¯m sure I came from something bad, it¡¯s just hard to remember that place now.....There¡¯s just....so many new and exciting things to think about now.¡¯ ¡°Welcome home.¡± As I greeted and smiled up at him he brushed my head with his other hand and the warmth from his palm was transmitted to the top of my head. He has such a calming touch. ¡°Well Vali, You just missed it.....Ari took her first steps just a bit a go.¡± ¡°What?!....I missed it....Hey look at you, your gonna be running in no time.¡± He seemed genuinely happy for me. I mean I believe he is. He¡¯s the man who saved my life and took me in when I was going to become food for monsters. Being a human has nothing to do with any of it. Vali he¡¯s truly a good dream in a nightmare of a world. Looking up at him he¡¯s talking to Elyria about Noah. Earlier he was doing some strange exercises too hard with those odd stones on his arms and legs and was running and at some point passed out. Lily found him a few hours later and he¡¯s been asleep in bed ever since. Though Elyria did cook him some food and left it for him when he wakes up. It¡¯s fun getting to cook with Elyria or him. He seems to enjoy it to so, I enjoy it. Lilly seems to enjoy cooking and playing with Elyria also. Elyria¡¯s a great wizard! No...that¡¯s wrong she¡¯s a high...shama... ¡®Mmm....he always smells so good.¡¯ I even picked up a skill since I¡¯ve been with him in his home. Scent Tracking After always being so close with him and talking for so long in his arms. The scent of his scarf his mother made him around his neck and his own, after I learned to distinguish the two I somehow got a skill. ¡®But I somehow find his scent more pleasant....It¡¯s just so.....warm.¡¯ He laughed after seeing Noah¡¯s state and his mother seemed to be a bit frustrated. They argued for a bit but I honestly feel like when he¡¯s here it¡¯s just me and him in the world. Elyria, Lily and Noah are great.........I just always feel so swept away by this man. He looked at me and commented on the pretty clothes that Elyria had made for me and talked with her for a bit. It was true Elyria made these clothes her self and are made from such a strange material. It''s so stretchy but soft. I''ve never wore something so pretty before. I just kept looking back up at him while he talked with Elyria. ¡®Mm...life has been good to me.¡¯ End of Chapter! Description Page Races Confirmed: Human Holds highest population in the world currently. Have many kingdoms and nations and are currently trying to expand to other continents. The central continent is where 4 great empires rule over the majority of the kingdoms and land there. Each empire was built by strong heroes and some blessed individuals that have shaped the entire continent. Kingdoms and guilds constantly fight for supremacy and to become the strongest by taking on unconquerable dungeons or fulfilling great quests that make a name for themselves in this large world. Elf Race that is united under one elven queen in the eastern continent. Are a race that is said to not be a physical race but one that is more of a spiritual race. Said to live to almost be eternal. Very adept in magic and receive large benefits from earth spirits in the sacred forest where the majority of them live. Due to their strength in magic as well as warfare they haven¡¯t yielded the eastern continent yet fully to the humans, though for unknown reasons a majority have holed themselves away from other races for a long time. Dwarf Small humanoid like race that are adept in handcraft and blacksmith related work. Though small they have incredible strength. Large number of their population live under the rule of several dwarven kings in the western continent living deep within the mountains. Due to the strict environment surrounding the mountains, not many other races come into contact with them for a long time. Demon: Known to be very strong and fierce. Though there is constant infighting between family clans and households, they stand united against other races and have kept the northern continent unsettled for the human population for centuries. Said to have many demon kings and stand united under a demon emperor and his demon lord. Knowledge from Loki depicts that many of the beings the demons worship as Gods are the same beings that fought in the war between the Gods centuries ago. Beast Man Species: Species much like Demi-humans but show their traits much more than demi-humans do. Sub Species: Aker Race: Race of humanoid lion beast man species. Very large and fearsome. Currently the Beast King in the southern Continent is ran by a member of this race, though not much is known about them at all. Arachnee Race: They are entirely female race and must mate with males from other races for them to survive. They have the lower form of a spider and the upper form of a human female. Though some show their traits more than others. Very strong and adept in close quarters combat and can see quite easily in the dark. Demi-Human: Hold second highest population next to humans. Has very many different subsets of their species but are still considered different than the beast man species as they are for the most part humanoid. Due to the large number of differences and social orders between them, they are not united as a whole and were crumbled by the united forces of the human race in the eastern continent. Sub Set Species Confirmed: Neko Race: Catlike race with many different kinds of different lineages. All lineages however have great eye sight and are said to actually adopt more catlike traits than human traits. Reiki Race: White Tiger Race, not much is known about them currently. Annunake Race: White Wolf Race, One of the few legendary races of Demi-Human said to be created by a God wolf long ago. Adler Race: Humanoid Bird-like race. Has feathers coming out of hair and head looking similar to a war chief headdress. Has sharp talons and large wings giving them the ability of flight. Elkia Race" Deer like demi-human race known to be highly intelligent and majestic. They are noticed by their large white antlers that come out of the of their heads and give off a faint light. They are known to be adept in healing, and barrier/light magic. Pixie Race: Short demi human race that resemble thin hobbits with fairy like wings on their backs and pointed ears. Known to be quite mischievous and are adept in illusion magic, though are not very strong physically. Jiji Race: Race of small demi humans. Though their heads and faces are covered in white or brown fur, they have the torso and appendages of a small human. The hair is so bushy it is hard to distinguish a face as it looks like they have bushy facial hair as well. Their feet are quite big for their body and have patches of fur on their hands and feet. Though they are small and not powerful physically as a race, they are very good with their hands and enjoy making things. -Rufian Race: doglike race of demi human. Usually not known to be very adept in magic but naturally have a great sense of smell and tracking abilities. -Fuchs Race: fox like demi human race. Very adept in elemental magic and have their own social order compared to other demi human species. Not much is known about them as they mostly are a race that stays to themselves in their villages amongst their own kind. Chapter 13: The Legendary Annunake Warning! That is why I want to warn you. This chapter will......get graphic. I checked the horror box for a reason and some cases the story is going to take some of those dark turns we talked about. But we''re slowly starting to build a story aren''t we. Your starting to see maybe those 9 months of intense loneliness and feelings of weakness maybe......hurt our mc just a bit more than we realize. SO i''ll be taking some big swings here and there with the story. Hopefully you guys stick around because this is only the surface of what I have planned on the story is only going to get bigger. I wasn''t even planning on doing this arc in the beginning. I wanted to skip to the.....i''ll say more interesting aspects of what I had planned. Hopefully though you guys don''t mind as I''m having a lot of fun building up a world that our mc has found himself in. Ladies and Gents..... Chapter 13: The Legendary Annunake ¡°Ha...Ha...HA..HA!¡± ¡°Good follow through, but after rotating your foot always keep your feet planted...Don¡¯t lose your balance ever!¡± ¡°...Right..Got it....Ha..Ha..HA..HA!¡± ¡®I got to say this kid isn¡¯t half bad.¡¯ I gave Noah the basic stance and a couple exercises to do and he is already showing great promise. He has some sloppy parts to his technique but after throwing punches and doing this movement thousands of times yesterday, regardless if his muscles are tired he is keeping his form pretty good....¡¯....Perhaps I can take him to level in the dungeon with me sometime soon.¡¯ In the coming weeks I plan on leveling in that dungeon quite a bit with the inhabitants there. I need everybody as strong and as healthy as possible if what I have planned is going to work. It¡¯s not just to conquer this dungeon but for what is going to come afterwards. I have a meeting with Lucy and hopefully the king in just three days. If I were to somehow accomplish and beat this dungeon, there are going to be thousands of demi humans fleeing from the hell they¡¯ve been trapped in for the entirety of their lives. Not only will this be hard on the demi humans who haven¡¯t set foot into the actual world before, but the other nations and kingdoms of this continent might not know how to handle something like that. To say the least the kingdoms here aren¡¯t very high level compared to the other continents. Though if a large number of high leveled demi humans appeared out of nowhere and the local human kingdoms got wiped out by them, the central continent could take notice and attack....¡¯...That¡¯s why I need to meet with this King Asher.¡¯ I seriously wonder just how high level these central continent nations are. I¡¯m told the eastern continent kingdoms aren¡¯t very strong due to them acting as a sort of borderland colony to spread their interior nations power. Though....I¡¯m hard pressed to imagine how other kingdoms could compete in levels with the clans I met in Balor¡¯s dungeon. For leveling purposes I¡¯d assume a dungeon would be the best environment for something like that. Each of the races down there have lived and fought in a dungeon everyday of their lives and survived. They¡¯ve experienced hardships in a living nightmare of an environment and continued on for centuries. These races don¡¯t seem to have high magic like I¡¯m sure the central continent have, but these are a race of demi humans that take on giants. ¡®I¡¯m truly lucky to have been given Loki¡¯s blessing....I may one day have to thank him. It really is a cheat skill.¡¯ Spatial magic is honestly a hack in itself. In the game Divine and Conquer Online there were some teleport type skills or warp skills that classes like warlocks could use, but they had cast times or an incantation had to be said for it to work. My magic is immediate and sort of works like an emergency escape skill as well as being incredibly useful on offense. It doesn¡¯t take much mp to use either, it all depends on how far or what I am using the spatial magic towards. It is pretty cool to see the different kinds of uses I can come up with though. To warp that wolf man from yesterday into the sky I had to simply wait until he lunged at me and I had the space he moved into open up elsewhere. To use my ability like that the person has to be either still or I can predict where they are moving. It also helps if it¡¯s closer to me. ¡® If I didn¡¯t have this ability I probably couldn¡¯t have taken on those 3 in that duel yesterday either.....No...I¡¯m sure if I had to fight all of them in that environment without my spatial magic.....Yah I probably wouldn¡¯t have made it. They clearly didn¡¯t seem to care of I died out there but I feel if I killed any of them during that battle I wouldn¡¯t have been able to talk them over to my side as easily.¡¯ ¡°Ha...Ha...HA!¡± Noah is starting to slouch more and he isn¡¯t controlling his breathing very well. ¡°Noah...Take a water break for a minute.¡± ¡°I¡¯m good.¡± I started to walk up in front of him as he did his shadow boxing and I swung my fist in front of his face and stopped an inch away from his face. He closed his eyes and fell back on his butt. ¡°Wha...hey!¡± I reached my hand out to pick him up. ¡°Always keep your eyes open. If your eyes are closed you can¡¯t avoid the hit that¡¯s coming.¡± ¡°Oh.....Got it!¡± He took my hand and stood up. ¡°Now...take a water break .¡± He took my advice and sat down on the porch and drank some water out of a large bucket I had gathered from a river earlier this morning. I woke up a few hours earlier and already did my morning workout and cooked everyone breakfast. Now Lily and Ari are both inside with mom learning how to read, though last time I went in there mom was just performing magic. ¡®Well....I guess no harm done, mom was smiling and everyone did seem to be having a good time.¡¯ ¡°Hmm......Oh Noah!....After you get a drink of a water you should add those stones over there again and jog around the house 100 times..¡± He looked up at me with a shocked look on his face as the water then began to spill over on his chest. ¡°...You just said I could take a water break.¡± ¡°Yah.....that¡¯s what your doing right now......and since all the water is now gone you should get started.¡± Noah looked back at the now empty bucket that he didn¡¯t get to finish due to my harassment. He walked over to where the rope and stones were and I think I heard him mumble something about drinking slower next time. ¡¯...Hehe...eh it¡¯s good for him.¡¯ He needs to build up his stamina right now, if he wants to become strong enough to take care of his sister in a world like this he needs to put in the work. Hopefully he works hard and I can get a good gage at how demi human¡¯s stats progress. From what I¡¯ve gathered with meeting so many from the dungeon, I¡¯ve come to find that each race of demi human have their own interesting characteristics that give them a specific advantage over other races in their particular field. Each race I met could see quite well in that pitch black environment and have survived extreme conditions for centuries. I wonder what race traits this boy has. He should be a Lycanthia race. Even his sister is among the same legendary race of Annunake that were well respected in that dungeons alliance. From what I gathered from Jiji and Pixies had said to me is that they have magic infused in their claws and teeth and were always the ones who stood on the forefront of every fight. Due to some accident that happened on floor 44 a few years ago a large number of their species was wiped out, and after the annihilation of the Elkia race many of them fled down to floor one. Noah then had wrapped the stones around his body and just before running he hit the tree next to him in anger. Though seconds after hitting it he stopped and just looked at the tree oddly. ¡°Ugh.....woh huh?¡± ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Don¡¯t tell me you have hallucinations too?¡± ¡°No it¡¯s...wait what?¡± Noah still looking at the tree oddly then turned and seemed confused by my question. ¡°Well maybe it is a little hot today. Am I really working you too hard?¡± ¡°What no it¡¯s....I just gained a skill.¡± ¡°Oh....that¡¯s cool what is it?¡± ¡°Hand to hand combat!¡± ¡°Well look at that....That¡¯s great congratulations. Now you can start working on your mastery of this which will increase your abilities by quite a bit.¡± ¡°Wow...so with this fighting style of yours can I take on multiple opponents at one time?!¡± Noah seeming excited for once looks at me with eager eyes. ¡°Well yes.....though I wouldn¡¯t recommend using my particular fighting style against armed opponents. In fact Muay Thai isn¡¯t really a martial art that would probably fair well in war or weapon based combat, not to mention magic.¡± ¡°Wha...then why am I learning it? I want to learn something that is going to make me stronger fast!¡± ¡°...I learned this particular martial art for a reason, I chose learning it over several other styles and would you like to know why?¡± He nodded his head in anticipation. ¡°Well....How¡¯s about after you get your exercises for the day through and I¡¯ll tell ya.¡± ¡°......¡± He just looked back at me with dead eyes and didn¡¯t seem to like that I was smirking back at him. Eventually he gave up and began to run around the house with the added weight of all the stones wrapped around his body and dragging shortly behind him. ¡®Hmm so he gained the hand to hand combat skill after roughly.....4,000 punches and kicks....Is this average for demi humans? It took me around two or three thousand punches to receive the skill. I wonder if that¡¯s for me being a blessed being or maybe hand to hand combat is just harder for some races to attain, I think I should start training Lilly too. I really want to see the growth rates of other humans however. It would help to see if the Annunake or especially the Reiki have some sort of hand to hand combat mastery system of their own. It would be beneficial to look deeper into this.¡¯ After receiving all of the added experience in killing the smog dragon and those fomorians, as well as healing all of those down on floor one rose my level by 12 yesterday. Killing the level 400 giants gave the most experience but even using my healing ability gave me quite a bit of experience. I guess this is one way how priests can gain levels, I really would like to see what else the humans of this world do to get stronger. Each of those demi humans I fought yesterday showed to have several unique abilities. I never did get to see the power of an Annunake. That Reiki woman though, she showed to have exceptional skills with a sword but I¡¯m much more interested in the other skills she used on me. Not only did it deplete my stamina and cause massive internal damage it also depleted my from my mana pool. If I had to fight someone like that without magic she would be a truly frightening opponent....Even with my magic she was incredibly dangerous. My current level is 165. With my Demonic Awakening ability with raising all stats by 25% putting my level roughly around level 206, while my defense and strength are doubled. My stats are already quite strong for my level. I just don¡¯t know how high some of the stats of those I was fighting were, it really is hard to tell with the cheat like abilities I have. If I had to fight all three of them I would have gotten to see just how strong each of them were, but then I wouldn¡¯t have been able to put myself in a commanding role. Thinking of the skills that Reiki must have had I opened up my own skill menu to observe what I¡¯ve accumulated so far.
Skill¡¯s List: Divine Blessing of Loki: Spatial Magic Universal Language Acquisition Racial/Acquired Skills: Decaying Mist (Abysmal) (Semi-Passive) 44/150 Bite (Active) 0/50 Dark Pressure (Semi-Passive) 3/100 Death¡¯s Grip (Active) 77/150 Demonic Absorption (Passive) Demonic Awakening (Semi-Passive) Fire Ball (Active) 45/100 Flicker (Active) 96/100 Hide Presence (Semi-Passive) 14/100 Lightning Step (Semi-Passive) 55/150 Lord¡¯s Earth Shattering Smash (Active) 24/150 Magic Manipulation (Passive) Sense Presence ( Semi-Passive) 92/100 Tool Creation (Passive) Learned Skills: Cooking Mastery: Novice Level 3 - Added Flavor (Passive Boost) Freya¡¯s Soul Recovery: Intermediate Level 9 Hand to Hand Combat Mastery: Intermediate Level 4 - Powerful Strike (Active) - Stunning Blow (Active) - Quick Fists (Semi- Passive) Negotiation: Beginner Level 1 Ingredient Identification Mastery: Intermediate Level 2 Scythe Mastery: Beginner Level 8 - Slice (Active) - Staff Strengthening (Semi-Passive) Combined Skills (Decaying Mist) + (Darkness Affinity) = ( Abysmal Mist)
Seriously my Absorption ability has allowed me to acquire an odd assortment of skills. If there was anyone who could somehow view my status and skill list I¡¯m sure I wouldn¡¯t look like a good person. Though these aren¡¯t so bad an assortment of skills so far. A few of these skills can¡¯t be increased in mastery but I have good offensive and defensive skills to use should a difficult fight come my way. With Demonic Awakening I can increase all abilities as well. With Flicker, Lightning Step, and my spatial magic I even have great evasion and emergency escape abilities as well. I also have an intimidation skill I haven¡¯t really used yet. In a world where one false move could be your end I¡¯m lucky to have been able to acquire such skills early on. With Abysmal Mist and Death¡¯s Grip, I haven¡¯t quite figured out the extent of their potential yet. They¡¯re truly fearsome abilities.Though when I tried to stop that Reiki girl in her tracks by just tapping into her pulse I couldn¡¯t even use it to halt her movements. Maybe it was because she was much higher level than me that the skill didn¡¯t work. ¡¯ I guess Death¡¯s Grip is not so bad to have should things get desperate. It just....doesn¡¯t feel right to use Death Magic, but maybe increasing it¡¯s mastery could be beneficial as well. Though to increase my mastery I need to continue using it......Hmm...¡¯ Ruf! I hear the sounds of Fenrir¡¯s footsteps trotting around the side of the house and appears to have Ari riding on top of him. She¡¯s still very small and can fit quite easily on top of him. Her entire complexion and look has changed so dramatically it¡¯s amazing to think only a few days ago she was so close to death. Now she¡¯s even managing to take a few steps with minor assistance. Fenrir ran up to me while Ari held tightly onto his fur. Even though Fenrir still held the form of a pup, Ari¡¯s reach only wrapped around part of his neck to hold on while riding on top of him. ¡°Hey....What are you two up to?¡± ¡°...Coming to see you.¡± Ari reached out her hand away from Fenrir to try and crawl into my lap. She has seemed to grow attached to me for the last few days. I guess who would blame her considering her circumstances.....¡¯ But it¡¯s odd. From my conversations with Noah and Lilly, they only met humans roughly a few weeks ago. They were sold into slavery together and didn¡¯t experience nearly as much torment from humans as Ari did.....And yet, Ari has warmed up to me much quicker than the other two. I¡¯d just assume Ari would have more precautions about humans but she shows to have absolute faith in me. She just doesn¡¯t show the same signs someone who has been a slave her whole life would normally show in my opinion. ¡° What are Mom and Lilly doing?¡± ¡° Elyria is giving Lilly a bath. She just gave me one too so I snuck away with Fenrir when she wasn¡¯t looking. ¡° Now Fenrir walked up and is rubbing the side of his face against mine and trying to be playful. Thinking about it this guy and Ari seem to be quite close. Last night when I got home I saw Ari trying to walk and Fenrir catching her when she was about to fall..¡¯..he is a pretty smart animal....Loki made this guy hmm.¡¯ ¡°Good boy....¡± Looking down now at Ari who was looking back up at me, I noticed her hair had began to show a much lighter, silkier color than the day I met her. Her ears looked to be quite soft now too and a pleasant scent began to fill my nose. ¡°Hmm...well whatever shampoo that is smells nice. Did Mom make this one too?¡± ¡°...Mmhm. Elyria said she use to make some like that from her old home. It smells so good!¡± ¡®Mom is quite the clever fox. She seems to have a lot of these random concoctions or remedies from her old life as a shaman. When I first found out her level it was 52. But now it is 63, which makes me wonder what she¡¯s been doing when I¡¯m not around. She simply says she¡¯s been training too but her growth seems too rapid for being a mere simple method. She really is mysterious, she has been teaching me to learn magic but it¡¯s much more difficult than anything I¡¯ve ever tried to understand. It¡¯s strange because things come to me much quicker than before, but understanding the basic properties of magic for elements I haven¡¯t used before seems impossible for me right now. She said she is advanced in several elemental magic which baffles me. If I didn¡¯t have my absorption I wouldn¡¯t have been able to grasp this much in the short time I¡¯ve been here. Magic takes decades to comprehend and perfect it seems.¡¯ ¡°...So...What are you two doing?¡± Ari who was looking up at me began to look at the slowly jogging Noah passing around the house. ¡°Oh Noah is just training a bit and I was just going over my skill¡¯s list.¡± ¡°Can I see?¡± ¡°Sure why not.¡± I activated the display version of my status thus illuminating the skill¡¯s list I had been viewing. A small skill¡¯s list screen illuminated in front of Ari sitting in my lap in a light blue glow. Her mouth was wide open and she looked curiously through my skills. ¡°How¡¯s the reading lessons with Elyria going?¡± ¡°...good! Diiiee..vine be less eeng!¡± ¡°Wow that¡¯s really good yes! It¡¯s pronounced Dee vine bless eeng.!¡± ¡®It¡¯s actually quite amazing how quickly she picks things up. In fact everything this little girl shows is quite something. Whether it¡¯s cooking ingredients or anything else she has quite the good memory. She also picks things up rather quickly and only needs to be taught something once or twice to remember it permanently. Which is much quicker than my two siblings ever could do. It¡¯s quite impressive actually. Noah and Lilly can both speak human language fairly decent already but still couldn¡¯t read the language real well. Ari I think is starting to quickly surpass them.¡¯ It didn¡¯t take me very long to translate human letters of this world into my own alphabet. Even if learning new magic might be difficult learning a new language actually wasn¡¯t all that difficult for me. It¡¯s good to know that my increased intellect counts for something.... ¡°Hey Ari want to show me your skill list?¡± ¡°Oh ok! Mmm¡± She looked to be focusing hard and trying to read the letters on her status. I wonder if the letters on her status are in human language or some other language system? Within a few seconds a small pink display popped up showing Ari¡¯s skill list. ¡®Hmm she seems to have a few skills already. And what¡¯s that skill?¡¯
Ari¡¯s Skill List: Racial/Acquired Skill¡¯s Bite 22/50 Golden Rule Scent Tracking Level 1 Learned Skill¡¯s Cooking Mastery Beginner Level 2
¡®She had 4 skills already and one had a different mastery system it seems than the other ones. And what¡¯s golden rule?¡¯ ¡°Look we both have Bite!¡± ¡°Hey look at that...Who do you think bites harder?¡± ¡°Hehe I dunno...¡± With that she started grinning her teeth up at me while her tail started wagging back and forth. Ari¡¯s mood has become much more playful, and after talking with each other through the late nights I think she¡¯s learned it¡¯s ok to be close to me. I just figured she would be more reserved like the others but we have a good time together. She then fumbled around in my lap to read the other skills she had. This may be the first time she has been able to read her skill list but I don¡¯t know. Ari said she learned to speak some from other slaves but didn¡¯t know how to read when we met. Her tail continued to wag back and forth and the fur of her tail has also began to show a much lighter color than the first day we met. Even her skin now is so soft, it did say after using the skill the person¡¯s skin would look more beautiful than before. I do use this skill quite a lot on Ari, everyday in fact. I wanted to see what this healing wounds that can¡¯t be seen actually is. Freya¡¯s Soul Recovery truly is a phenomenal healing ability. It cured this girl, it helped saved that Arachnee yesterday. It even cured many of those pixies with that strange disease, though that was only possible with using one of those magic cores. Still it seems rather convenient of a skill, but it doesn¡¯t work like other healing abilities I¡¯ve seen in games. I assume most healing abilities heal outside wounds and then the rest of your body. It feels like Freya¡¯s Soul Recovery heals individuals from the inside out. I can only use Soul Recovery on one person at a time so far regardless of the amount of magic I pour out but maybe with time that can change as well. If I recall the Freya ability came from a priest from the Asher kingdom. Hopefully I can find out more about the skill when I meet with their King in a couple of days....But I have a lot to do before then. I still need to go train at the dungeon when Hjokk gets back from giving her report to Loki. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lilly POV: ¡®Where does he go everyday?¡¯ Vali, the man who saved me and my brother only a few days ago is such a mysterious human. I¡¯ve only known humans for such a short period of time but he doesn¡¯t act much like the ones I¡¯ve seen. The other humans would always get so angry whenever I couldn¡¯t understand what they were saying and would even sometimes hit me. Noah would then always have to come to my rescue but they would only hurt him much more. But...Vali and Elyria are different. They have took us in now. They¡¯ve fed us, clothed us...Elyria is even teaching us how to read. Everything is much different for Noah and I now. For the first time since I lost the rest of my family, I feel.....safe. It¡¯s all because of him. The man called Vali not only saved Noah and I but others, and he¡¯s never once asked for anything from us for it. Noah was sure it was all just an act and we might just get sold back into slavery later but I don¡¯t think so. The way he treats us....the way he treats Ari....I don¡¯t believe he would hurt us demi humans. He has such kind eyes, they just look so sad sometimes. I just want to know more about him. I¡¯m trying to follow the path he left with Hjokk only a short while ago. She came flying down from the sky in her bird form and they both left shortly after that. Vali leaves everyday to someplace so I snuck away while Elyria and Ari were inside and Noah was busy training. ¡®Ugh....this place really looks unfamiliar....Where did he go.¡¯ I¡¯ve been walking in this forest for a short time but I can¡¯t find his tracks anymore.... Snap! ¡®What was that!¡¯ I heard an odd sound deep in the forest. I turned around and didn¡¯t see anything. I started to walk faster but the noises began to grow louder. I could feel eyes staring at me and the sounds slowly getting closer. My breathing quickened and my heart started to race..¡¯...Ugh maybe I shouldn¡¯t have come out here....Vali...Where are you?¡¯ Snap! ¡°Eh!¡± I started to run deep into the woods after the sound of something snapping close behind me. I ran as fast as I could, even though I had no idea where I was. I just kept running.... ¡®Vali.....if I can just find him!¡¯ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vali¡¯s POV: Arriving back at the dungeon I witnessed a scene I wasn¡¯t exactly expecting. Hjokk arrived back at the cabin earlier and we soon went back to the dungeon to go level. I don¡¯t like the idea of taking Noah or anyone else for that matter just yet, not until I build up a good report with the inhabitants there. If relations with these races get better maybe I can take Fenrir here to level later, maybe even mom. We would need to wait till Ari is able to walk, but I think if everyone were to raise their levels some it would be beneficial for each of them. Especially in a world like this. ¡®If this game world works like the game I played it might be possible to try power leveling with everyone.¡¯ In Divine and Conquer Online it wasn¡¯t rare to see some small level parties with one or two larger leveled players. Together they would take on much stronger opponents so the smaller leveled party members can increase their level quicker. There are usually penalties to the experience gained when this act happens, but it is still not a bad way to level up a player. ¡®Well....that¡¯s what I was planning on doing with everyone in the lower levels today anyways, I just expected a bigger turn out.¡¯ When me and Hjokk arrived on floor 52 of the legendary grand dungeon, Malfius along with many other Reiki and pixies were waiting for me. No other races however showed up. I guess I just assumed I would be speaking to the race leaders today about some of the plans I gave to Malfius yesterday. The same red pixie leader from yesterday is here along with many other members from her race that also glowed like the others, but no other races are here. We are currently in a courtyard in the inner city on floor 52 and even though there are other races walking around they don¡¯t seem to be paying attention to us. ¡°Ah...Vali, you¡¯ve arrived. I figured you¡¯d bring some new odd animal with you.¡± ¡°Haha hey Malfius. Yah Fenrir is back at home but I have Hjokk again with me. So are we going to meet with all the leaders to discuss what we¡¯ll be doing from here on out?¡± After questioning Malfius he made a troubled face but didn¡¯t break eye contact with me. He was a very strong founded man that looked to have been through countless war, he never broke character once but he did seem to not look very pleased. ¡°Yes well.......this is it. These are the individuals who have decided to go along with you Vali.¡± ¡°........¡± ¡®I assumed after my display last night it would have been enough to make the leaders submit to my ways and hopefully make them want to believe in me. The only races I see here are Reiki and Pixies. Do they not trust humans that much?¡¯ ¡°But it is ok son....We will make the others come around soon. We will continue with our own plans, let me handle the other leaders for now. I will make them see the value in the Reiki way of life, I will make them see the value in you, they won¡¯t have a choice but to take notice.¡± He seemed confident, in fact everyone behind him who stood at attention were in an intricate formation. Each of them stood tall and proud, these were people who for centuries have fought for one single purpose. Even after failure and heartache they continued the fight to escape this prison. Many gave up and decided it was better to live out their days in this dungeon. But these few never gave up. ¡°....I¡¯d be proud to fight next each of you.....Soon you are all going to escape this place!¡± All the Reiki smirked and looked back at me but the pixies started talking amongst themselves and started to flicker their wings excitedly. ¡°...Yes...And we too would be proud to fight next to you sir Vali!¡± The small red pixie started to walk up to me and Malfius. She had short crimson hair but he light surrounding her along with her dress was a bright red. The light from her bright red wings sparkled and danced with the environment she walked around. She was level 186 but she proud amongst everyone present. ¡°...Tha...Thank you for healing so many of our own.¡± ¡°It¡¯s ok Cosmia, He doesn¡¯t mind if you hug him!¡± Walking out from the other pixies I see the girl Aurora I had healed last night. After I noticed her I felt a light tug on my clothes and a small weight pressing against mine. The small pixie queen embraced my much larger body. ¡°Umm it¡¯s ok, just happy to help where I could.¡± ¡®She seemed much different than the other race leaders. She didn¡¯t have childlike features but she did have a rather small body. But the impression I got form her was also different than the other race leaders. Even yesterday when I first saw her she didn¡¯t give me the same looks as the other races there.¡¯ ¡°You see Vali, not many of us were aware of your exploits just before the Alliance meeting yesterday. There are many unhealthy and wounded down on floor 1. There is also a weird disease that infected many of the pixie race not too long ago. We aren¡¯t sure how the disease first spread but once it infected the pixie it would begin to rot them from the inside out. We had never seen anything like it before.¡± The small pixie woman Aurora called Cosmia slowly backed away from me and then continued to look into my eyes with extreme sorrow. ¡°Yes...We didn¡¯t know how it spread so quickly amongst our race....so....we had to quarantine those with the symptoms as to not infect everyone else.¡± ¡°So you all just sent them to floor 1 and that was that?¡± ¡°You see Vali...The pixie race aren¡¯t like the other races. They are..... each connected to one another. When one is hurt or injured, the others in the surroundings will share their life force with them.¡± ¡°Yes...and when the rot started to set in amongst our race no matter how much life force we would share, the disease would win out......If we continued to live beside those that were infected....our whole race would reach annihilation. ¡° Malfius and Cosmia both began to explain to me the strange epidemic that struck the pixie race only a few months ago. The pixie¡¯s appear to be quite the peculiar race as if one is injured in this case sick, the surrounding pixies will share their life force or hp and mana with one another. That¡¯s quite the convenient race trait. Alone they might be weak but if they were to fight coordinately together they could have some real potential. Cosmia looked to be quite despondent over the whole situation. She told me that her race are all family to one another, not only that but they live for one another. When they had to separate from one another made them all heartbroken. Apparently many of the pixies who weren¡¯t infected still decided to leave to floor 1 to be with some of those who were. Tanin was one of those such individuals who wasn¡¯t infected originally but left to be with Aurora. Though I don¡¯t see him right now....Now that I think of it he was one of the pixies I didn¡¯t get to heal last night. Since none of the pixies ever really walked up to me to be healed they just danced and hugged those who were. He just happened to be one of the ones I didn¡¯t get to. ¡°Well.....how¡¯s about today we work on collecting as many of those odd magical cores. They are apparently the only thing to take away that odd rot and heal the pixies so lets begin there.¡± ¡°Yes...I have sent a small team to floor 14. There is a good hunting spot that have many monsters with those stones in their heads or chests. We¡¯re also trying to do some trades with the other races for theirs. We should have a good number by the end of the day for you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good. I was planning on going and fighting some of the monsters on each floor and hopefully take some of the lower leveled inhabitants with me. Is it possible if some of your men can also start going to the lower floors and take groups out to level....make a priority on safety.¡± ¡°...Yes that can be arranged. We each have our own training and quotas to reach but we can work something out in shifts with each of our members. Are you planning on making some of the smaller races fight alongside us against the Fomorians?¡± Malfius said this while looking to those standing at attention behind him. They were all in monk attire aside from one. I didn¡¯t see her before but it¡¯s that Reiki girl I beat in the 3 on 1 duel before. She isn¡¯t in her normal black attire but she isn¡¯t in the same attire as everyone else either. She¡¯s wearing something that resembles an asian qipao but it¡¯s much longer and more elegant...¡¯..She actually pulls off the whole exotic look.¡¯ ¡°Mmm I¡¯m not sure. It might be impossible but we need everyone as healthy and high level as possible if we want all of this to work. It will just help a lot is all.¡± ¡°I agree. It is going to be a joint effort to escape this cell. If we continue down the paths we have already walked we will only be met with more loss.¡± He seemed confident in me. After looking into his eyes I could see though that Malfius had a lot more on his mind than he was letting on. I guess I can¡¯t blame him. He looked off into the bright red sky and said with a serious face. ¡° If we only focus on making the best moves, we will never get the better of our enemies. When necessary, we must take those big risks in battle, and prepared to lose it all. That is the only way we will accomplish victory here.¡± The words of a man who¡¯s willing to fight giants with his fists....Even if I haven¡¯t made many allies in this dungeon, this person seems to be very dependable. He isn¡¯t a simple warrior who fights monsters but one who analyzes everything. I feel that I can trust him. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roooraghhh Looking at the odd large beast in front of me I¡¯m amazed this is a monster on floor 1. It¡¯s pretty big for a level 24 monster and has a mouth that opens bigger than my whole body. It looks kind of light a black eel and hovers just above the ground. It floats just a few feet over the floor and slivers its body like a a snake throughout the dungeon. It¡¯s very quick for its large size but shouldn¡¯t pose much trouble for me. With me are Hjokk, Aurora, Tanin, and another pixie girl named Cyanna. Karma the archnee girl along with her mother Reinma also decided to join us in leveling today. There is also that Reiki woman from earlier, she eventually introduced herself as Meifeng. Even if she is a Reiki she has apparently joined the Eis Neko¡¯s but after her loss with me she promised to teach me how to use a sword. Those shining swords are apparently only awarded to high ranking members as they are very valuable and made from a scarce material. I¡¯m using the frost sword for now. I¡¯ve told everyone here that the first time we encounter a particular monster to stay in formation but allow me to take it on. This way I can get a feel for their movements and abilities before allowing anyone else to jump in....we are training with a priority on safety. Last night one of these monsters went through the city walls and killed roughly 10 people before being taken down. I also found out after coming back to floor 1 that 3 more pixies passed away that didn¡¯t receive treatment from yesterday. Even though Soul Recovery healed their wounds and lightened their symptoms, this rotting disease is quite lethal to pixies. But it hasn¡¯t effected any other race that I¡¯m aware of. The reason the pixies who were infected were moved away from the healthier pixies is that due to their race trait of sharing their own life force with one another would ultimately mean the end for all of them. If one is affected by the disease the others would continuously share life force with them until they were eventually all gone. Simply sharing health and magic with one another wasn¡¯t enough to heal the strange rot. Since the only cure we know of for this rot using magic stones, I had Malfius and many of his followers to collect these strange monster cores and to bring them to the lower floors. I also sent them to acquire any supplies, food, and old armor or weapons they weren¡¯t using. I found it odd that in a dungeon I haven¡¯t seen any of these demi humans use any form of armor. When I asked them why this was they said they use to wear armor on some of the lower floors, but once they met with the Fomorian race armor was meaningless and only slowed you down to get eaten by those monsters. Regardless of what armor they developed it was merely ripped to shreds by their long skewer like claws. Right now though the pixies are wearing some odd leather armor that looks to be made out of some hide of an insect monster, and the Arachnee girls are each holding large sticks with sharped horns on the tips of them. Each of these items were made by the Jiji race and I¡¯m becoming more and more amazed at each of the races down here. I was expecting everyone to be a in a sullen and broken state living in such a place their whole lives but each of them have quite the drive to stay alive. Everyone contributes together on floor 1 and helps hunt together. Even if they aren¡¯t strong individually in fighting they work together quite well. I¡¯ve seen each of them fight already with some mongoose type monsters earlier on this floor. Even though their levels aren¡¯t very high and they aren¡¯t quite strong, they were all quite crafty. The pixies would make the arachnee and themselves invisible for a short time and then strike at the enemies flank. Whenever the monster would turn in their direction the Arachnee would then attack it from the other side with their spider legs. The Arachnee use their front spider legs almost like lances. Even though Karma¡¯s legs weren¡¯t very sharp she could still secrete a small neurotoxin that works as a paralysis on some monsters. It¡¯s not incredibly strong but it¡¯s enough to slow down an opponent long enough for everyone else to take it down. Her mother Reinma can also produces tiny threads from her fingers that she uses to help bind the mongoose type monsters. Each race has such interesting methods and these aren¡¯t learned abilities but racial traits they were born with. It¡¯s interesting to see how they coordinate each of their abilities to take on monsters. I wonder what kind of growth these species can have if trained properly. Even though I have seen them take on other monsters already I¡¯m having a bit of trouble with this new type of monster. If you don¡¯t take it out before it notices your presence the beast becomes quite difficult to catch. Not that it¡¯s in anyway faster than me but it has probably one of the most incredible abilities I¡¯ve seen so far from a monster. I jumped towards the long eel like monster known as a Boden Esser swinging my sword. I¡¯m not sure what the title means but they refer to it as the floor one devourer. Just before my sword struck the slimy hide of the eel it slithered and passed straight through the solid rock of the dungeon wall. ¡°Wha!...Damn!¡± It was starting to get kind of annoying as anytime I got close it would phase right through the dirt or rock surrounding it and pop up somewhere else. This strange skill gave it the ability to travel freely through solid matter. It is also the same ability that gave this beast the way to enter and exit the city with ease. I didn¡¯t know just how dangerous this floor was until I started to fight this monster. It can honestly appear anywhere it wants to with such an ability and has left the residents of this floor in a pretty desperate state. I activated my presence sense but it was hard to get a good idea of where it was with just by a 2D display in my view. It also apparently had an ability to secrete some type of toxic gas that stuns individuals giving it the opportunity to devour the victims while they are still alive. Seeeehhh SAAAA! Hearing the strange noise it made a small green vapor started floating into my view and I looked below the floor at something trying to bite me. The Boden monster attempted to bite my leg but my defenses were much to strong for it to penetrate. Before it had the opportunity to flee I activated lightning step and crushed the top of its head like one of those wack a mole games you¡¯d see in an arcade. The moment the sword blade touched the head of the monster, it splattered completely with the neck area being slowly encroached with icicles. It was a one hit kill. ¡°Hey I went up another level!¡± Karma started to show her mom her status and everyone was now in a much less tense state now that all the enemies were killed. They had each killed several bat type monsters as well as helped take down this Boden Esser that we came across while hunting. We were using the party system with everyone here besides Hjokk and Meifeng. We were using this time to train the lower leveled people along with many other groups on this floor. Several of the other Reiki took other groups to go out hunting. If you register everyone in your group in a party every monster you take down share the experience with everyone registered under that party. Since Hjokk and Meifeng weren¡¯t really fighting but observing this worked out well for us. ¡°Hmm that appears to be quite the sword you have there Vali. May I have a closer look?¡± While I was looking at the drops an eel like monster would leave behind, Meifeng walked up behind me looking at the frost sword I had with me. She motioned that she wanted to observe the weapon more closely while I began to dismantle the large eel like monster in front of me. Meifeng promised to teach me sword mastery but today she has taken more of a backseat role and just observed me. She has told me the proper way to hold my sword and basic swinging motions but other than that she hasn¡¯t said much. She may still be upset about yesterday. Since the eel monster was stuck in the ground I had Reinma wrap her threads around it so we could pull the rest of the dead monster from the dirt. ¡°This seems to be quite the strong sword, it may even have some special abilities added to it.¡± ¡°Yah but even though it¡¯s a legendary weapon it can¡¯t even cut the fur of a Fomorian.¡± ¡°Hmm...are you sure? It definitely feels strong enough, perhaps you weren¡¯t using the sword properly.¡± After Meifeng said that I remembered that I still don¡¯t have the sword mastery skill yet. After raising my hand to hand combat skill, it said I wouldn¡¯t receive any penalties when holding weapons but maybe that doesn¡¯t apply if I don¡¯t even have a sword combat mastery system. I just used it essentially like a saw to see if it could cut any of the meat but it couldn¡¯t cut past the thick dark fur. A legendary and even an ancient class weapon is strong enough that kingdoms would move to acquire one. Maybe Meifeng is right and I just couldn''t pull out it¡¯s true power yet. I guess I won¡¯t know until I gain a sword mastery skill of some kind. Thinking of this I continued to dismantle each of the monsters along with the pixies and Arachnee in my party. Even though each of them were low level they worked quite well together already and brought unique abilities to the party. Though we didn¡¯t have any Jiji with us today, I was learning more and more the benefits of having a demi human party. Many of the Jiji race who didn¡¯t go out to level are actually working in the city right now. They used the leathers from those bull like animals from yesterday¡¯s feast and made blankets and clothing out of them. Even though the material weren¡¯t that great they also used it to cover the outside of their shacks to help with ventilation. The Jiji race don¡¯t look very strong physically but it¡¯t amazing to see the things they can make using such odd materials. I believe they are the race that is responsible for creating that big wall, maybe even those odd cannon shaped weapons. I must say out of all the races I¡¯ve met down here they might be the most phenomenal. They are a race of little tinkers that have even built houses with items resembling trash and kept their homes standing. After we collected all the monsters leather and meat we decided it was time to get back to Anfang. Amongst the drops from the monsters were just the meat, leather, mongoose claws, and some weird oil like substance that came from that eel. I gathered the hearts as well and decided I would eat them later while we prepared another meal for everyone. Since we weren¡¯t the only party that went out hunting today, and there are more Reiki who are fighting on other floors we should be able to have enough food to feed everyone again. If not I guess it wouldn¡¯t be so bad to have Hjokk go gather some food again, but I don¡¯t think she likes being sent to collect things for me very much. ------------------------------------------------------
Congratulations! You have learned a new skill! Echolocation
Congratulations! You have learned a new skill! Vampirism
After eating the hearts of the two bat creatures from earlier I gained two new skills. I then dug into the other two hearts from the mongoose monsters and creepy eel from earlier.
Congratulations! You have learned a new skill! Wind Claw
Congratulations! You have learned a new skill! Burrow
Congratulations! You have learned a new skill! Eclipse View
While everyone gathered around the bonfire and filled their bellies with the bountiful feast, I snuck in few hearts while no one was looking. The skills I was given all seem quite interesting, but I didn¡¯t get that incredible phasing skill that eel used. If I had an ability like that.....well, it could definitely come in handy. But the ability I received from that eel was called Eclipse View. When I activated it my entire vision under my mask became distorted and a bright color began to fill my view. I took off the mask and everything in the darkly lit dungeon were all covered in an odd assortment of colors. It almost looked like heat vision but it felt different, like I can actually see life wherever it is. Even weirder.....Whenever I close my eyes I can still see the same images of Eclipse View. ¡®It¡¯s such an odd skill.¡¯ This is the first time I¡¯ve felt disappointed at receiving an ability from a monster though. I guess this is the first time I didn¡¯t receive the skill I was hoping for. I always assumed that was due to my high luck stat coming into affect but maybe that isn¡¯t how it works. I guess some of these skills can be quite helpful though. Echolocation allows me to view my surroundings similar to a sonar that bats use, and it works differently than my presence sense. I also have an interesting vampire bat trait that allows me to replenish a small amount of health from drinking the blood of a monster or person. Burrow allows me to dig much quicker while Wind Claw I¡¯m not sure what it is. The party I¡¯m with did a good job at wiping out the monsters on this floor and we didn¡¯t get a chance to see all of their abilities. The mongoose monsters weren¡¯t much of a trouble to the residents here, its that eel like monster that is the most dangerous. But I didn¡¯t get a skill I wanted from it. I guess it¡¯s good that the skill works even if my eyes are closed......¡¯Hm....maybe this is how this creature sees when passing through walls?¡¯ ¡®I mean it would be weird to think how something could see what¡¯s in front of it while pushing through solid matter maybe this is how it sees what¡¯s in front of it?...If that¡¯s the case and I didn¡¯t receive this ability first I may have tried walking through a wall and wind up getting stuck somewhere.....Maybe my luck stat does work.¡¯ I guess today¡¯s profits weren¡¯t so bad. I didn¡¯t gain any levels since all the monsters down here were too low level but I did get some interesting skills I could try out later. I also gained 2 levels in mastery for my cooking another large feast. Not as many levels as yesterday but it is still a good gain. ¡®If this dungeon only gives double the experience for a week maybe I need to start fighting on the higher floors for the next few days. That could be better.¡¯
Wisdom + 1
¡®Hah!....Oh yah I forgot, you can gain stats for something as simple as figuring out a new method at something.¡¯ This world is interesting. I guess even if my growth isn¡¯t quite at what it was yesterday that¡¯s fine. I can go level a lot tomorrow and hopefully have some of these lower floor members level with the Reiki as well. I need to learn sword mastery from Meifeng as well, but I guess I can do that while I fight down here. After defeating her in the match put together by the alliance yesterday she promised to teach me sword mastery. I guess she¡¯s a woman of her word. Looking over at her she was sitting next to a couple of the Annunake race and eating together. She as well as them still eat my food even though they still seem quite weary of me. I also heard that some of the Annunake race took some people to go level as well today so maybe they¡¯ll come around soon too. ¡°Ah...ugh....Vali. I umm....wanted to give you this.¡± Walking up slowly to me was Karma. Her spider legs moved cautiously towards me and she was holding something in her hands. ¡°Oh...what¡¯s this?¡± ¡°I umm....made it for you. To say thank you....For saving my mother yesterday.¡± She handed me a small bracelet. It had very colorful rocks and even a small red claw connected to it. It looked similar to one of the mongoose claws but it had a different color to it. She said she made it using her own spider silk and wanted to give it to me as a gift for earlier. I couldn¡¯t help but smile at the nice gesture as this little girl only wanted to reward me with one of the only ways she could. ¡°Hm....thanks Karma. This looks cool! You made this?¡± I put it on and Karma just smiled back up at me while nodding. It wasn¡¯t a bad looking bracelet even with the odd claw on it. I thanked ¡°Mmm you have such a beautiful accent sir Vali.¡± Walking up next to Karma was her mother who commented on my accent. I wasn¡¯t aware I had one. ¡°Oh...I didn¡¯t know I had an accent.¡± ¡°Oh well you speak Spinne quite beautifully. I don¡¯t believe I¡¯ve ever heard it spoken so well from another race.¡± ¡°Spinne?¡± As I questioned Reinma about what she had said, every race in the dungeon can speak one language that they all use to communicate between one another. The arachnee however have another language they only speak amongst themselves which is called Spinne language. I wasn¡¯t aware of it but apparently whenever I speak it gets translated into whatever language the person understands the most. ¡®Hmm....I wonder what language Ari heard whenever I first spoke to her. She couldn¡¯t speak real well but she looked to understand me just fine.¡¯ After talking with Reinma and Karma for a little while longer Malfius and several other Reiki appeared with a large assortment of food, weapons, armor, even clothes and blankets. They brought a lot of materials I had never seen before and had packed it all in large wagons. Amongst the materials he brought were a lot of liquid containers with a dark red fluid and I even see several magical cores amongst the items he brought for me. I wanted the people down here to be well equipped and well fed while they stayed down here. I¡¯m not sure about the living conditions of the other floors but if it¡¯s impossible right now to move these people out of this floor I wanted the conditions to be a lot better. I told anyone who was still sick to come forward and made it quite clear for all the pixies to line up. Even if they don¡¯t care to come ask me to get healed I need to see if it is possible to heal everyone right here and now. If we can get rid of the rot maybe the disease as a whole will become eradicated and become possible to reunite with the rest of their race. I started grabbing several of the blue and green magic cores and started using my freya ability on all of the pixies who still were inflicted with disease. Last night 3 of their own had died from this rot. I tried not to look up to see them but I couldn¡¯t help myself. I found several new bodies hanging from the cave ceiling that weren¡¯t there yesterday. I don¡¯t feel guilt for not being able to save them, but I do feel some form of remorse. My memory is one of the cognitive functions I feel has increased the most. It¡¯s why learning to read in this world came so easily to me. But now I can remember the faces of those who were laughing and smiling just last night, and are now.....they¡¯re decorating the walls of the dungeon.......this prison. ¡®I can only imagine the amount of heartache it is to live here amongst them, to lose those you fought with, you survived with. To see their grim appearance hanging there only as a sick reminder of where your trapped. Reminding you of what you¡¯ve known your whole life.....A life trapped behind these walls.¡¯ The pixies were very depressed when I first came down to see them today but they have an interesting way of getting over grief. Crash! ¡°Ah!...Wha...again!¡± As I went to sit down on a large stone I wound up crashing on the ground. ¡°hehehe¡± Pixies enjoy mischief. I guess you can say they enjoy.....pranking people. It¡¯s how they show they like someone I¡¯ve come to find. I¡¯ve already had two situations where I¡¯ve tried sitting down on an invisible chair only to find the chair was all an illusion and crash down on the floor. But it¡¯s not only me they play pranks on....they equally do it to each other as well. It¡¯s such an odd behavior but it¡¯s how they¡¯ve come to find enjoyment in living down here. I looked up and saw that the one who did it this time was Cyanin. So as she started to fly away I opened up the space she was flying into to open up an inch from the ground. Bam! ¡°Owe!....Hey!¡± ¡°AHahaha¡± ¡°hehe ehe how¡¯d Vali do that?¡± I and all the pixies started laughing and it eventually made Cyanin start laughing as well.....They really are odd creatures. After using several of the stones on the pixies, the dungeon floor began to light up like fireworks. Each pixie glowed in their own unique ambient light. They shined and lit up the surroundings while they flew and each danced in happiness. Even after Aurora was healed, she continued to live down here with Tanin. She came and fought with us regardless if she would only become sick again. Tanin said she was much farther along than he is and was originally against her coming down but when I told him he would be cured soon the energy in his eyes began to show again. It was now his turn to get healed and I reached in to grab a stone. I actually saw a yellow one in here. Huh this is one that is the same level of magic power as that purple rabbit from before. Hmmm As I grabbed the peculiar stone and observed it I thought what the hell and activated it on Tanin. OOHHHMMMMMMM! In a bright a brilliant light a bright red and orange aura began to flow out of Tanin like a gushing waterfall of fire. The light shined much more wildly and bright than all the other pixies. The light had an intense heat to it at first but after the surge of energy flowed from the stone and into him the light that surrounding Tanin looked more like an intense flame. It eventually dimmed down a bit but there was still a difference in light between him and the others. ¡°.....Woh!¡± Tanin spread his wings and they spread out like a butterflies with feathered points. His wings were translucent like the other but they appeared to be made of actual fire. His hair turned a bright orange and even his skin color almost looked gold. ¡°What....what happened just now.¡± I asked him to open up his status and his stats had increased dramatically. Not only that but he had a natural fire element added to him from the stone. ¡°Everyone come open your statuses!¡± After looking through everyone who had been healed by the green or blue stones and they all had their stats buffed in some sort of way. The magic cores aren¡¯t just healing these pixies, it¡¯s doing something to each of them. The ones who I gave the green stone had a large increase in health and some in strength. The ones I gave a blue crystal too got a large increase in their speed and some in everywhere else. Tanin also now has a small auto heal ability. He now recovers 100 health a minute. I¡¯m told that magical crystals are the cores of monsters with high magical affinity. The cores are used in some magical ingredients and weapon making. I never knew if used on a pixie could give it such nice buffs ¡°Hey can each of you continually receive buffs with these cores, or can it only be used once?¡± They each looked up at me confused and telling me they didn¡¯t know...¡¯...I guess they wouldn¡¯t know would they. I don¡¯t know why I asked that question.¡¯ After I continued to heal the rest of the pixies Malfius came up and gave me an odd purple crystal. ¡°We¡¯ve been doing a lot of training on a floor with a peculiar spider type monster known as an Adamantine Spider. It poses as one of the highest defensed monsters we¡¯ve found in this dungeon. This came from the top of one of their heads.¡± ¡°You sure you don¡¯t need this to make strong armor or weapon?¡± ¡°To those titans, armor¡¯s useless. It is simply added weight to make you easier for them to devour. As well as the Reiki weapons are their paws.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Looking back at Malfius he started to look around the large crowd that had gathered and a small smile appeared on his face. He said that he too wished for a better unity between the races. He also wanted to let those stuck in floor one to be allowed to live on a higher floor but it wasn¡¯t agreed on by the rest of the council. He mentioned he wished that he could move everyone here up to floor 45 but the land they live in there is actually quite small. The Reiki found a small patch of terrain on that floor that was protected from the rest and could support a small village. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Thinking over this I grabbed the small crystal and looked for next person in line....¡¯....And looks like Cyanin gets to recieve this buff. A bright purple hue shot out from the crystal and a wave of blue light starting pouring out from Cyanin. Her hair glowed much similar to her name, and her wings grew back and shined in a brilliant royal blue. Her eyes started to shine the same color as her hair and the light began to fade down Her wings looked to be made of glitter, and where much larger than the other pixies. Her skin now turned a bright metallic color. The bright light from her wings made her skin show to have a unique shine to it. I touched her cheek but her skin showed to be quite soft...I then looked at her status and her defense had shot up by 500. Cyanin¡¯s wings can now be used as weapons too as they also look quite strong. and sharp. Her¡¯s almost look made of diamond. She started to run off and dance with the others but she came back and hugged me. ¡°Thank.....you Vali.¡± She had tears forming in her eyes and then jumped into her friends and started hugging Aurora and everyone else still standing in line. They had grown close down here on floor 1. They all probably thought this was the end of the line for them, being told your just going to be healed I guess you wouldn¡¯t truly believe it till it happens. I then asked Malfius to go gather some more of these purple crystals if he could because I would like to test if some of these pixies can continually receive buffs or magical traits from these cores. If that¡¯s possible then the pixies race¡¯s potential is truly something to fear. Essentially these cores could work similar to my own absorption ability as some of them even take on some of the traits from these cores. I¡¯d really love to look into this more. ¡°Ah...well you see you got to find one of their nests and hope they¡¯re are some with the crystals imbedded in their heads. Plus taking a raid party on a spider nest right now I would have to assemble a large number of the Reiki. ¡° ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you were already training on that floor?¡± ¡°Yes...we are attempting to invent a new technique to take on those furry bastards. I¡¯m quite close to perfecting it. But an adamantine spider nest regardless of what floor we¡¯ve cleared needs to be handled correctly. Many of died on expeditions through their nests not many go to floor 48 for this reason. ¡± ¡®Hmmm....I¡¯m guessing because it¡¯s getting late it would be hard to assemble a lot of people to go to such a location. Hmm I¡¯d really like to go level there right now actually, but I still have quite a bit of people to heal here. After losing 3 people just today from this disease I feel it necessary to see if it¡¯s possible to purge this disease entirely.¡¯ I told Malfius to take Hjokk and motioned to the purple bird sitting on my shoulder. ¡°What!¡± ¡°Huh, your bird can talk?¡± Hjokk finally voiced her opinion and outed herself in front of Malfius and a couple of pixies. ¡°It¡¯s ok Hjokk...I think we can trust this guy. I need to stay here and finish healing the pixies. See if you can go with Malfius and collect a bunch of of those purple crystals with him.¡± She glared back at me and wanted to protest but I don¡¯t think killing monsters in a dungeon is going against the rules of the treaty between the god¡¯s. ¡°So Hjokk is going to help fight the spiders? I have been curious about that birds level. Is it an item?¡± ¡°I am a Valkyrie of Odin. Servant to the God Loki, and overseer of his champion Vali, as he grows in middle earth. ¡° ¡°......A what now?¡± Hjokk looked back at me and seemed annoyed but I just smirked back at her. I guess you can¡¯t blame him for not knowing much about the outside world. I mean I¡¯m not even sure if these people worship any Gods as they have been trapped in the dungeon by a fallen one for centuries. ¡°Hehe...I¡¯ll let her explain, you guys should hurry up though.. Hjokk we have curfew soon and after I¡¯m finished here I wanted to see if we could test more with those magical cores before leaving. ¡° ¡®Tomorrow I¡¯m seriously going to level hard in this dungeon and try to gain as many levels as possible for the next week.¡¯ ¡°....Ugh fine....Last time!¡± She started to fly over to where Malfius was and spoke in contest to me. ¡°Oh come on....All you¡¯ve done all day is sit on my shoulder and eat my food....might as well contribute.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not suppose to get involved! I have strict rules just to watch...Oversee!¡± ¡°Listen, you¡¯ve clearly already done wayyy more than just watch or oversee.....Did you even look at the entrance to this place? Besides is killing monsters in dungeons in anyway breaking your treaty?¡± Malfius started staring oddly between me and Hjokk. Not only him but Cam has just walked up and now stops at our conversation. ¡°....Fine, but stop thinking of me as some pack mule for you.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think of you as my pack mule Hjokk...Your my bird companion who¡¯s always chirping away in my ear and eating my food.¡± ¡®I don¡¯t know why but it¡¯s always fun harassing Hjokk. She¡¯s such a proud Valkyrie acts kind of high and might sometimes. I don¡¯t blame her....she¡¯s strong. But she talks of being so high and mighty but she¡¯s actually quite simple. ¡® Today she¡¯s just sat on my shoulder and ate some of the food I cooked. She would use her feathers to bring the meat to her beak and was eating the entire time we were here actually. She¡¯s been eating since we arrived, she¡¯s been eating when I was hunting, she¡¯s also been eating while I was healing all the pixies.....All day long while sitting on my shoulders. Yet she¡¯s still this small little purple crow. ¡°.........Keep it up child.¡± After they left I continued to heal the rest of the pixies and gained 2 more levels putting me at Novice Level 2 in Freya Soul Recovery. The Recovery skill now has an area of affect likeness to it and can heal multiple people at once....¡®Yes....now I can start using this in battle with a party.¡¯ I healed roughly 150 pixies on floor one and there was just enough to heal every sick pixie down there. They all had such dull and tired looks in their eyes before they were healed. Even though they were hugging one another some of them were too weak and simply smiled while holding those that were healed. Each of the pixie race is amazing as they all share in one another¡¯s happiness. Now that each of them has been healed the entire dungeon floor looks like an artificial sun has been created on the dungeon floor. The number of different lights shining in dark dungeon produced a bright white light that covered the entirety of the dungeon. Each and everyone in attendance looked at the bright rainbow light that shined down on all those below. It was a warm light the touched the skin in a different way the the bonfire did. The light tickled the skin slightly and felt almost like a refreshing gust of wind had rushed over me. Looking up at all the pixies flying overhead they all started flying straight for the ground floor at a tremendous speed....No...they¡¯re flying towards me. Within seconds I was swarmed by hundreds of small pixies and was being hugged and thanked by each of them individually. ¡°Thank you Vali!!!¡± ¡°Tha..thank you Vali!¡± ¡°Thanks Vali!¡± Each of the pixies including the three who I hunted with today were in tears and continued to wrap their tiny arms around body. My my arms, legs, waste, head, pretty much my whole body was covered and being hugged by every pixie that was living on floor one. I didn¡¯t really know how to respond to the instant swarm of so many people touching me but it was incredibly hard to bring myself to push all of them off of me. Each of them were crying and many of their tears were rubbing all over me, some of them were still had dirt covering their bodies from working hard today. I just let them basque in their own happiness for now and let them celebrate in their own way.
You have received a new title! Beloved One of the Hildr Pixies
¡®Huh...I got a title....Hildr....that...that word I believe translates to war, or battle.....War pixies?¡¯ Looking at each of the small delicate hands that wrapped around me embracing me like a small child would, I looked at each of their crying and delicate faces. They were now shining in a brilliant light and the warmth from each of them washed over me like nothing I had ever felt before. It felt like a cold breeze that sent shivers across my skin....I¡¯ve just....never been thanked in such a way before. And just like that...I started to wrap my arms around many of them and smiled....¡¯...Neh....couldn¡¯t be.¡¯ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ After all of the pixies had finished embracing me many of them flew off dancing through the air. I started to look around at everyone eating their fill or making something with today¡¯s spoils. I still need to go through some of the things that Malfius brought. I¡¯m sure even if armor is useless against the Fomorians they can still be used someone whose leveling up in this dungeon. I walked over to the large wagons and started looking through everything. Originally I saw Cam and a woman standing here guarding the wagons, but I see they¡¯re both now sitting with Meifeng and eating with everyone else. I see some Annunake there as well. Each of them were eating and I could see Cam was laughing and seeming to enjoy his meal. As I was looking over there every one of them looked up at me...¡¯...Ugh...that¡¯s awkward.¡¯ I then started looking through all of the armor and weapons and noticed some very interesting weapons. There were swords, spears, axes, daggers, bows, helmets, chest plates.... There were a lot of assortment of leather and iron armor..¡¯Hm what¡¯s this.¡¯ I brushed off a pale blue armor and inspected it. It had a light weight but looked to be rather old....¡¯...Is...is this mithril?¡¯ The moment I brushed off the top of the breastplate a gentle blue hue came out from the armor. It had a slight glow to it. ¡®Hmm that¡¯s cool.¡¯ ¡°Hey Aurora come here...¡± The armor appeared to be for females so I was going to see if it fit a pixie. The moment Aurora touched it and tried to put it on it somehow magically contorted to her body and fit as if it were molded to her own body....¡¯...Huh?¡¯ ¡°Hey what are you guys doing over here.¡± Cam and some of the others had noticed the odd display and walked over to us. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you guys had something like mithril. This armor¡¯s old but it looks to be quite strong.¡± When Aurora put it on a bright glow started to shine out from the mithril giving it a dull glow that it didn¡¯t have before. ¡°Wha....that cruddy armor? It¡¯s about twice as strong as steal but nothing too spectacular in terms of defence....I¡¯ve never seen it glow before though.¡± Cam told me his thoughts on the shining blue armor Aurora was wearing and I started to inspect it myself. ¡°Those are artifacts from the elven race. We tried wearing them once but they weren¡¯t all that strong.¡± The woman who was with Cam said as she walked up next to him. ¡®Hmm...I started inspecting the armor surrounding Aurora and I¡¯ve noticed her defense has risen by +650. That is clearly more than any ordinary armor. I can¡¯t see if the armor has any attached stats since I don¡¯t have an appraisal skill yet. I can¡¯t quite see if there¡¯s any information I can gain from this. But Cam said they tried using it before. Well if this belonged to the elven race from long ago maybe this armor is only at its strongest when worn by someone with high magical affinity. The pixie¡¯s are clearly a race of magical beings as ambient light gushes out of their skin depending on their mood. I ended up telling Aurora to make all the pixies wear the blue armor and let them pick out between themselves. There wasn¡¯t enough for all of them so they played games to see who would get it. Even if one lost they each laughed and enjoyed having a good time. We¡¯re going to need to distribute a lot of these weapons and supplies to everyone else here soon as well....¡¯...Maybe I can leave that with Malfius after I leave.¡¯ ¡°Oh hey Vali! My your food earlier was so delicious, thanks for the meal.¡± The voice of Akino walked up and stated while getting rather close to me. Her bright silver eyes looked back into mine as our heights were actually quite similar. I was fairly tall so for her to match my view is something. ¡°...Anytime.¡± I started looking around at everyone enjoying helping themselves to the large broths I made for everyone. It fed everyone in the dungeon and I even gained 3 more levels of mastery in cooking. Putting me at Novice Level 6. The flavors that I can pull out of the meat now is actually incredible. The flavors that come from my hand I don¡¯t know how tastes so good but it has a flavor that I can¡¯t quite put my finger on. It feels as if there is an added boost in my cooking in this world now. I guess this is how chefs or cooks raise their levels in this world too so it makes since. I didn¡¯t however raise any overall level doing this as experience for making a meal and hunting monsters is much different. ¡°So.... I¡¯m quite impressed with all you¡¯ve been doing down here for those of us on floor 1. I feel bad I treated you so poorly before.¡± ¡°....No problem it¡¯s nothing.¡± I don¡¯t know why but Akino kept getting closer to me. Since I haven¡¯t really spoken to her much yet the vibe I¡¯m getting from her just is off. I don¡¯t know if she can tell but I¡¯m on to her schemes. She tilted her head and her bright white hair cascaded down to the side. I can tell this girl doesn¡¯t trust me at all. Hell that Adimar guy and his buddies are all still staring at me from afar. Obviously she¡¯s just trying to get me to warm up to her so I let my guard down. I guess she wants to see if I¡¯m trustworthy or not. ¡°But no! I want to show you how thankful I am to you! Please come with me!¡± Before I had any chance to reply I felt her skinny soft hands grab the side of shoulder and a strength that I don¡¯t know where came from grips me tightly. It almost felt like the meat was being hard pressed to my bones. My weight was almost non existent as she ran holding onto me through the darkly lit city. I asked her what she was doing but she said for me just to hold on. I used my spatial magic and appeared right in front of her and she gave up. She said she wanted to take a walk with me and show me the histories of floor one, so I agreed and followed alongside her. We rounded a corner of the street and many of the residents were walking around and seeming to collect supplies. Though a larger number of those on floor 1 were still back at the bonfire. Still the city streets were quite busy. We ran through the city streets through the crowd at an alarming speed. We in no time arrived to a large opening to a structure that had many large monuments inside of them. 9 to be exact....no there¡¯s 10. Looking at the old statues I saw large scale rocks carved into each of the 10 races that were all trapped her. 9 of them were still in tact but one of them had been demolished entirely. It was the human one....¡¯...Well Malfius did say the humans were the first to go for their greed.¡¯ I walked past Akino and looked at the artwork left by sculptors trapped her centuries ago. They looked to have shown unity here. But sometimes grand artwork like this rarely shows the reality of some of the things that go on. Even outside this dungeon, art work such as these depict the world the way the artist wants it be, not the way the world actually is. Each art work was starting to crumble and has barely managed to last the test of time. Though due to their large size and having to stand far away to view all of it. It was still quite an amazing display. If only the species showed the same unity as it did in this statue. Akino got close to me and wrapped her arms between mine and tried to push her cleavage into my arms. She saw me looking at her and only smiled back up at me....¡¯...Is this chick being for real.¡¯ ¡°So your quite strong yah. You even beat Diaga so simply. You have quite the amazing talents.....human. Mhmhm.¡± ¡°....Can you not get so close.¡± ¡°Oh...what¡¯s wrong...Don¡¯t you find me attractive?¡± I started to look at her oddly as I couldn¡¯t figure what she was all about. Just something off about her. Her eyes keep wondering around and it almost looks like she¡¯s trying to be sexy or alluring.....¡®Did that Adimar guy tell her to do this?¡¯ ¡°For the love of!....Akino, perhaps I should have just had another girl from the pack do this....You clearly can¡¯t be alluring at all!¡± ¡°Wha!....Yu huh! He was totally ready to jump my fur if he wasn¡¯t an undead!¡± ¡°....Ugh I don¡¯t want to hear it. That display earlier....Please follow me and then don¡¯t give him any chance at a response. Is that how you normally find a mate hahahaha.¡± Walking out from the dark was a large figure with silver eyes. It was Adimar. He started to walk up to me while Akino let go of my arm and walked towards Adimar seemingly more interested in her debate. ¡®Wait...did they just call me an undead?¡¯ ¡°So....Vali. How are you enjoying the city of beginnings?¡± ¡°....Quite well Adimar, thanks for asking.¡± I turned on presence sense and noticed it was only the 3 of us here...¡¯...Wasn¡¯t the city streets just filled with people walking through it.¡¯ I activated echolocation and then found two more points that weren¡¯t there roughly 20 meters behind me...¡¯...Hehe...so...they set up a trap for me?¡¯ ¡°Why don¡¯t you take off that mask human. I wish to see your face.¡± I smiled back at him and removed the white mask I had forgotten I was wearing up until this point. I got use to the night vision that I was using. After removing the mask I activated Eclipse View. My eyes started to glow red and there I saw it. There standing in front of me were the bright figures of Adimar and Akino standing only several meters away from me. But what I saw behind them were maybe 50 new heat signatures. Eclipse View didn¡¯t just see heat but saw life force even past layers of solid rock. ¡°So....are we inviting anyone else to this little dance of ours or is it just gonna stay the three of us?¡± I commented to him and the large white wolf chuckled to himself while there behind him walked up several more large figures. Each of them were large white wolves similar to Adimar but he stood a head taller than each of them. Walking up beside him was Akino and glared back at me. Their eyes still shined in the darkly lit room coming off their life signatures. ¡°Hehe....You know your the first human anyone down here has ever seen....We had to look through old ruins and artifacts of old just to see what humans looked like. We went through old bones and saw that they weren¡¯t much different than us demi human tribes......is that true.¡± Guessing he wanted to have some small talk I flattered him because I was curious what their beef with humans would be considering they¡¯ve never even met one before. ¡°That¡¯s true. In fact other than animal like traits I think we¡¯re not much different.¡± I answered him back sounding bored and looking around my surroundings. Each of the white wolves standing on two legs were around 270. They each looked to be quite strong and each stood a head taller than myself. They were all members of a legendary race of demi humans made by god long ago. Though now they¡¯re just stuck here like all the other races. ¡°You see ya say that......but I don¡¯t think your human.¡± ¡°Huh?....Why¡¯s that? Listen is this about me dropping your boss out of the battle yesterday?¡± ¡°Haha No...We all thought your little display with Diaga was quite funny. This is about something else entirely boy.¡± ¡°Oh...enlighten me.¡± As I tried to press the wolf further he and none of the other wolves moved from where they were standing. They continued to stand quietly back at me. Adimar smiled and continued. ¡°You yourself said that humans and our race are quite similar, did you not?¡± ¡°...I did.¡± ¡°And yet your bones are black, not like any of the other white bones from the ancient humans we found. We had to dig quite deep into the sands of floor 2 just to find them....Your bones don¡¯t have the same color...in fact they remind me of another creature I¡¯ve sen before......He also held that weapon you happen to be holding.¡± ¡°Yes.....tis convenient don¡¯t ya think.....human? Or are you still going by Malthiel now?¡± With that I glared back at them noticing now what this entire situation is about.....These people think I¡¯m that King Reaper. ¡°....You all think I¡¯m Malthiel.....Listen, I know it¡¯s hard to believe but I¡¯m really someone from the outside...¡± ¡°And what about your heartbeat?¡± Adimar then contested before I could finish speaking. ¡®Huh...what is he talking about?¡¯ ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Cling! ¡°You don¡¯t have one....¡± Appearing right next to me was the visage of Meifeng. She had appeared so close to me it was startling as I couldn¡¯t notice her presence with any of the tracking abilities I had turned on. Presence sense, echolocation, even eclipse view. Nothing picked up her presence standing next to me. She then something very odd and walked off and stood next to Adimar and the rest behind him. ¡°I don¡¯t....what do you mean?¡± ¡°What do you think it means?.....I think it tells me you aren¡¯t who you say you are Vali. The convenient story about being a human from outside, his scythe, those bones, no heartbeat......I think it tells me your not at all who you say you are.¡± ¡®Maybe I acuqired more traits from Malthiel than I originally realized.....Absorbing something like him. Did it really change my body to such an extent that I don¡¯t feel a heart beat. I always wondered why I could never feel my own pulse with Death Grip.....I just thought it was some safeguard against backlash from the ability.¡¯ ¡°.....Although I didn¡¯t know about the heartbeat thing.....I can explain. I¡¯m a human from outside this dungeon. I¡¯m not Malthiel.¡± ¡°Oh I¡¯d love to hear all about it.¡± Cling! Adimar raised his large fist and attached a small black shackle across his wrist. It was then I noticed it....Attached to the black shackle was a chain. Following down the chain I saw a long trail leading up to.......my hand? ¡°See told ya Akino, I can subdue males better.¡± Meifeng stated this and my vision started to blur and distort. I felt a slight pain pierce my brain, and it began to become hard to breath. I just kept hearing a loud rattling noise.... ¡°Umm.....I have a thing about chains.¡± ¡°Oh do you Malthiel...Sorry....Vali. I¡¯m just using this as a precaution you see.¡± ¡®I ca(rattle)n hardly he(rattle)ar what he¡¯s saying. (Rattle) He thinks I¡¯m (rattle) Malthiel?¡¯ (Rattle) ¡°Im tell(rattle)ing you (rattle) I¡¯m not(rattle) him.¡± I activated Dark pressure for the first time as a warning for each of them to submit or things were about to get ugly. Immediately upon doing this I could see the hairs on each of their furs stand on end and their eyes started to glow brightly. After only a few seconds they each shook their thick coats and bared their fangs back at me. Each of their growls echoed in the dark room. It was hard to hear though....The sounds of rattling just kept filling my ears. It reminded me of unpleasant memories. It reminded me of being to weak. It reminded me of losing them. ¡°That¡¯s quite the first attack. Allow me to show you ours.¡± HOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!! A piercingly loud battle cry from the practically ruptured my ear drums echoing against the solid walls made of rock surrounding us. I could hear the sounds of the walls shaking and with that all my hairs began to stand on end.
You have heard The Cry of the Wolf You have been struck with fear! Due to your resistance to fear some effects have diminished. Strength reduced by 10% Agility Reduced by 5% Ability to perform skills reduced by 7%
And with that loud howls came from the white wolves standing behind them and each of them began to rush me. Their speed was incredible. Lights on my display began to flicker and now I notice I¡¯m actually being surrounded. Within only a second everyone converged on my location. I activated my spatial magic and appeared just behind Adimar. ¡®What....Where is..¡¯ I turned around and Adimar was standing behind me. Though he should be standing just behind him on his flank. ¡°Haha! You know I didn¡¯t think this trick would work but Izzie said we had about a 40% chance of this working.....Try to jumping around now.¡± With that Adimar gripped the chain that was connected to me and wrapped it around his forearm. He started back at me grinning his fans. ¡®Apparently when I move between spaces, I open up the space I¡¯m in. Somehow with this wolf attached to me he can come with me. But if I were to use spatial magic I couldn¡¯t get closer to him as he would just come along for the ride appearing the same distance away from me again.¡¯ He branded his large fists and glared at me begging me to fight him. I activated flicker and dashed towards him. ROARRGHHH! A large white beast attacked my shoulder from the side and suck his fangs deep into my flesh.
You have been struck by Vicious Assault All movement speed decreased by 30% for 30 minutes. Mana has been decreased by 6,000 Stamina has been decreased by 20% You have received 750 damage. All movements will be tracked now within a 100 meter radius of the pack
¡®What. UGHH!!!¡±¡¯ I grabbed the back of this things neck but it had a good hold deep into my flesh. I tried to yank him off me but he appeared to be quite strong. Then suddenly a sharp pain pierced my other side. Then my legs. Then the sides of my neck....A flurry of lightning fast attacks began to scratch and pierce through my tough flesh as if it were paper. Blood burst through the tears in my skin and an intense pain rushed up my spine and into my brain. The term mind mind numbing comes to mind as each of the lacerations sent shockwaves through my body.
You have been struck by Moonlight Paw Mana has been decreased by 9% Stamina has been reduced by 4% You have received 950 damage
You have been struck by Crescent Cleaver Mana has been decreased by 2,000 Stamina has been reduced by 6% You have received 1100 damage You have received an additional 1200 poison damage
You have been struck by Blood Moon¡¯s Descent All Recovery will be reduced by 50% for the next 10 minutes. All Mana Recovery will be reduced by 33%. You have received 1,200 damage
You are bleeding, you will lose 20 hp per second until wounds are healed. Due to the nature of the cuts, mana will continue to deplete until healed
¡°AHHHHHGHGH!!!¡± The pain rushed through me with each attack. The white wolves had surrounded me and continued their relentless assault. Whatever their claws and fangs are made of feels like a paralysis poison as it is honestly so painful just to receive their attacks. My skin has now been opened up and my body has been torn apart, but I don¡¯t care. I activated Freya¡¯s soul recovery to slowly heal some of my wounds. The pain was somehow magnified straight to my head. I activated it Demonic awakening and everything became much slower. A surge of energy washed over me but it didn¡¯t feel the same as the last time I used it. It felt like the first time back in that castle.. I was filled with rage. I grabbed the back of the wolves head tearing him away at my my skin and threw him. As I gripped the back of his head the skin he had sunk his fangs into began to peel off along with him. I tossed him into an in coming wolf and advanced towards him!....Towards the leader! BAM! My entire body then was rushed by several wolves at the same time. My arms, shoulder, legs, and the side of my ribs had one of these large wolf men biting or clawing away at my body. The pain was unbearable. I tried to reach up to pull Abgrund out of my inventory. ROARGGHHH!!! Another white furred wolf man lunged and sunk his fangs into my forearm and yanked it down. My whole body was being turned into ribbon by these things. Sensing the crisis I activated one of my trump cards. My only area of effect skill. ¡°Abysmal Mist!¡± A small dark cloud began to overlap my body and the wolves that were sinking there fangs into me took on the full force of my darkness. RAHHHH! Many of them began to be eaten away by my attack but continued to dig their fangs even deeper into my skin. I started grabbing and throwing each of them away from my body only to tear more of my own body with them. I gripped their thick forearms and snapped them with my overpowering strength and threw them back at rest of the oncoming pack. I continued tearing each of them away and activating lightning step to parry or counter any oncoming attack. Some attacks got through but I continued to gain ground against these animals. With my Demonic Awakening my defense has been raised so it¡¯s much harder to tear at my skin now. My strength was barely enough to overpower them before but now I¡¯m simply landing blow after blow. The mist covers my blind spots as anyone who wishes to attack me from the back will only get enveloped by the power of the abyss. I continued towards Adimar at a much quicker pace. ''Flicker!''
Congratulations Flicker has now advanced to Grade 2
Flicker had finally passed the beginner stage. After activating it looked like there were around 3 images of me all dashing into different directions. The speed of my dash has also increased to some extent. Then I saw Akino dashing towards me. Her appearance had changed and now had much bushier hair as well as her hands were covered in white fur. She darted towards my ankles and paid no mind at all to the other images of me. I was about to react whenever a large attack exploded on my back. Shing!
You have been struck by Moonlight Claw Mana has been reduced by 12% Stamina has been reduced by 8% You have received 2,000 damage
BAM!
You have been struck by Mantra Bomb! Your internal concentration has been greatly affected. - All Mana has now been reduced by 33% - All skills have been cancelled - You have received 6,000 damage
My vision went dark and all I could see was the darkly lit city of Anfang. We were still in the monumental room but with that last attack my vision now went back and my Eclipse View was canceled. I could feel the breathing on those surrounding me. I was about to be attacked by the pack again. I looked and attached to Adimar was the chain that was still attached to my arm..... I activated spatial magic and opened the space up on the roof of a building next to this one. ¡°...Just me and you now.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t have it any other way boy!¡± He tightened the chain around his arms and I activated flicker towards him. I won¡¯t deny these opponents are truly terrifying. My hp right now is at roughly 40%. I tried healing some of my wounds but my recovery is somehow been reduced by their oddly sharp fangs. My mana was at about 50%. I sealed up all my cuts and open wounds and continued towards Adimar. I activated Flicker and lunged towards him. Regardless of the increased speed or other images lunges towards his direction, he never broke eye contact with me. Bam! I swung my fist and it landed on his open palm. It was much larger than man and stopped the impact entirely. I knew he would deflect so I landed my second strike into his ribs while activating lightning step. BAM!!!! GUAHH!! Blood flew out of his mouth as I felt the bones in his ribs were crushed by the increased velocity of my swing. Activating demonic awakening along with lightning step is incredibly. My cognitive functions almost feel.....to have doubled. With my stats risen along with lightning step, the effect was incredible. I continued to unleash strike after strike into his tough stomach. Even with my increased strength his exterior gave a lot of resistance to my punches. I started using my claws and opened him up. RAAHHH! He swung his arm like he was going to strike me but caught my forearm with his claws. He swung his other claw at my throat and I ducked. And swung my claws at his thigh. He somehow managed to stop my movements in lightning step with his claw. He then flung his large mouth into the direction of my neck and chest.
Critical Hit! You have been struck by Alpha Fang Mana has dropped by 10% Stamina has dropped by 5% You have received 8,000
¡°Ughh!¡± ¡®These stupid notifications are getting distracting!¡¯ I swung my arm at his left eye and activated lords earth shattering smash. CRACK!!! RAHH!!! The force from my blow sent the wolf man flying towards the other building.. My chest and shoulder that his fangs had torn into was torn off with him. Their fangs are so strong that it can even pierce my strengthened defense. The image of him flying towards the next roof leaves my site...¡¯.Ha...serves you right....¡¯ Chink! When a heavy force began to yank my right arm I forgot that this person and I.....are chained together. I flew along with Adimar and landed on the roof next to this one...¡¯...Ugh....I keep calling myself a genius. I really need to stop that.¡¯ I stood up and faced Adimar who was breathing hard. His left eye looked to have been completely destroyed. Blood was coming out of his head but he still stood tall. His hp was at about 50% after that last attack on his head. Mine was at about...25%? What how? My hp just keeps dropping. I activate Soul recovery and increase my mana to put my hp and stop at about 50%. My mp is started to get dangerously low. I have about 15% left. Me and Adimar faced off again. We lunged at each other with everything we had. I¡¯ve never had a battle like this in my life. Everything was laying on the line and I wasn¡¯t thinking straight. I just wanted to beat the opponent in front of me. I¡¯ve already lost so much already, I want to see just how much I¡¯ve grown. I¡¯ve realized that with my abilities I am sort of a cheat. I never got to see just how strong some of these fighters are due to my cheat like abilities. These aren¡¯t just a normal race either. Not a lot of time has gone by since this battle has taken place....Maybe 2 minutes tops, I don¡¯t know it¡¯s all been a blur. And they have drawn me to such a state. They aren¡¯t just strong their highly intelligent. They¡¯re a race that has lived a long life of trying to figure out the weaknesses to certain monsters or bosses in this dungeon. They have actually made a life out finding the weaknesses of other creatures to survive down here. They only watched me fight once and figured out a clever way combat my unique fighting style. I can activate spatial magic but it would only bring along him for the ride. All because of this odd durable chain. I landed another lords earth shattering smash into his ribs and now I¡¯m positive I¡¯ve broken them. After landing to solid hits to this spot I can only imagine the type of internal damage I¡¯ve done to this wolf. After landing the hit his hp dropped by 20%. . He then gripped tightly only my arm that had landed the blow and wrapped his incredibly large fists around them. RAAHHHH!!! He then took me to the ground by bending my arm in an odd way. My strength was much higher than his in this state but he managed to take me to the ground. He then began to sink his fangs into my arm.
You have been struck by Alpha Fang Mana has been reduced by 4% Stamina has dropped by 3% You have received 3,000 damage
His chest was write in full view while he continued to gnaw at my arm. I sunk my arm deep into his side and twisted my hand. His fur was strong. It actually caused me light damage whenever his hair would brush against mine. But my claws in this state became able to pierce threw it. ROOUGHH!! He thens swung his arm backwards and the claws crashed through my face. The claws dug through the skin and peeled away quite a bit of meat along with with hit. I can feel my vision is already distorted by some of my loosely hanging skin. I started swinging my free arm into his chest and began to open up a wound of my own. I continued tearing away at Adimar¡¯s chest while he tried to continue tearing away one of my arms. He felt more like an beast than a demi human at this point. The pain was unbearable but I continued to open up wounds and activate fireball. RAAHHH!!!!!! AHHHH!!!!!!! We continued to tear away at each other as our hp began to decrease percent every second. His hp was at about 20% and mine was at about 8%.. I don¡¯t know why but my health just continues to drop for some reason. I looked over at my arm and the meet from my forearm to my fingers has been torn away. Only a black skeleton hand remained. Some flesh hash had lingered in place but it was literally be picked cling by this wild animal. I then decided to activate one of my new abilities. I then grabbed his free arm sunk my own fangs into his arm.... ¡®Hey an arm for an arm!¡¯ I then activated vampirism and started to chew away through his deep white fur. My hp wasn¡¯t going up very well as the blood rushed into my throat it had an almost wine flavor to it. It had a kick to it and I could feel a slight increase to my health. But my health was still decreasing at too rapid a rate. My mp was at about 4% now. I can¡¯t die here. I then decided to tap into my second trump card. I activated death¡¯s grip and tapped into his pulse. His movements began to freeze. Beat....Beat....Beat..Beat.Beat.Beat beat beat beat. His heart began to race and I could feel the flow of his blood being sent through the veins and arteries lining his body. He really was made quite similar to humans. His anatomy isn¡¯t very different from ours actually. I then started to change the rythms of Adimar¡¯s. I channeled the blood flow with the effects of death¡¯s grip and vampirism and began to drain this wolf of all of his blood. My hp was now at 12% and his was at 10%. My vision started coming back to me as I got out of the critical condition I was in. I drained him until he was at about 2% and tossed his limp body away from mine. I staggered up as I saw that I was actually surrounded this entire time. All those who had attacked me before were now surrounding me. Only now there was also several Eis Nekos and that same blue haired woman from before. Alysteir yelled..¡±Sic em¡¯¡± Everyone brandished their weapons and lunged at me. The Annunake there each leaped into my direction and were flying through the air. They each showed looks of rage at me defiling their leader. Wooooosh!!!!! The sound wind blowing past my face as I stopped everyones movements with death¡¯s grip. I decided if they came to kill why shouldn¡¯t I use death magic as well. I can¡¯t find Hjokk or Malfius right now so I¡¯ll have to explain later. I was actually quite tired. This Adimar guy and those white wolves tore at me like a scratching post. My entire left arm is gone and I have no idea how my image must look. I¡¯d heal myself but I need to use what HP I have left to end them. Everyone then began to hover above the ground. I staggered towards Alysteir and floating next to her were Akino and Meifing. ¡®Akino and Meifeng, one pretended to want to be close to me while the other swore to be a teacher....Rattle. Not that I have a thing against killing women (rattle) but if you were to kill me then.....I wouldn¡¯t be able to save Kaylan from this place. (Rattle)¡¯ ¡®Rattle....rattle....¡¯ I began to clutch onto each of their life forces. I remember Meifeng¡¯s being difficult to grasp at first but I¡¯m thinking quite clearly now. Lightning Step, Demonic Awakening and Death¡¯s Grip.....All at once my mind is actually quite clear. If it weren¡¯t for that constant rattling. I gripped much tighter and those floating in front of me all began to hope for air and clasp their chests. The Annunake, the Eis Neko¡¯s. Everyone there with a pulse was within my range of death magic. They.....are all going.....to be executed! As I gripped around their life forces my vision began to become dark. My vision became dark. a bright light shined at the bottom of my vision and my consciousness started to fade away. Sp: 0% MP: 0% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Akino¡¯s POV ¡°Seriously Alphi, you should be in bed healing. That monster nearly killed you.¡± ¡°No...I need to be here for this.¡± ¡°Yes...I understand Adimar.....Though watching something like this is never good for the eyes.¡± ¡®Yes...we had finally managed to subdue the one we believe to be an affiliate with Malthiel if not the disgusting undead himself. It took us roughly ten minutes to subdue him but the injuries we faced at taking him down were staggering. Those of the pack that had latched onto him receiving the full brunt of that black mist have been horribly disfigured. The ones who have survived are currently covered in bandages receiving treatment but it¡¯s not likely they will all survive.¡¯ Maybe we can get him to heal them. He did show to have healing magic along with his other abilities. ¡®It¡¯s hard to believe things came to this. But after receiving the information gathered from Alysteir it is highly likely this person is not who he says he is. He claims to be human, and yet one of the boys hands hands has been entirely torn off. Only a black undead like arm remains. After looking through some of the bones we excavated....human bones are white....same as ours.¡¯ ¡°Ohhh.....You are quite strong aren¡¯t you Mr. Vali!¡± Shing! Alysteir began to dig a short dagger made of the same material of their swords into Vali¡¯s chest. His appearance was nothing like when I saw him for the first time yesterday. He honestly didn¡¯t look much different than us Annunake¡¯s. He had shaggy white hair but was much shorter than the males in our race. He however was incredibly strong. Regardless of showing a level of 165 he managed to take on the entire pack of Annunakes still loyal to the alpha Adimar. We were once the elite¡¯s of this dungeon. His movements were odd, not like any warriors I¡¯ve ever seen before. But the white haired boy moved like a storm through my brethren as if we were dogs. He wasn¡¯t large but he he was incredibly durable. Anyone who gripped onto him were tossed away and the extent of Adimar¡¯s injuries cannot be over looked. He is the alpha, and he almost died by this man. It¡¯s obvious the pack wants him to pay for his crimes here.....But Alysteir is the one taking charge of this situation......It was agreed that, she would torture him, to find out who it is.....But this is just.... I started to look away from the boys grizzly appearance. I remember only a few hours ago we were on floor 1. I was eating a meal he had prepared for everyone one who wished for it on floor one. He didn¡¯t ask for payment and simply made it all himself. Anyone who was hurt or injured throughout the hunts from today were all healed by his bright touch. It almost resembled the same touch of the hands we knew most...... He even managed to heal so many of the pixie race who are practically extinct down here. They were just too small and without any powerful magic they were simply food for the devourers....Even with our presence here on floor one, deaths happen everyday. So seeing Vali save many of those who were only going to eventually become a new decoration of this place was..... ¡°Mmmmm!!!!¡± He finally made a noise as his whole body flinched when Alysteir began to flay one of the boys fingers. His entire left arm up until his elbow was missing. His face was now had three gashes and some of the bone from his chin and face can be seen......They¡¯re also black.....Just like this eyes were....Although, the majority of those injuries came from Adimar. We just don¡¯t know if this person is Malthiel but he does appear to have the same weapon. After hearing the reports and gathering data it¡¯s just impossible for this person to be who he says he is. The black bones, the same magic. Meifeng said she never once felt a heartbeat coming off of him as they hunted together today. After the information we received we needed to find out who these people are. It is been wildly known that their is most likely a traitor in a ranks. It is one of the reasons that Adimar decided to move away from the higher floors as he feared treachery would only end our race. Malfius says he believes the boy has the ability to help us escape this place......Ha!....Maybe once I would have believed that sort of thing. I tried to smile but....looking at this site really is bad for the eyes. Even if he is an undead, his appearance of a boy smiling just a short while ago, now being skinning in front of me.....He hasn¡¯t said much since he woke up. He just grinned and looked back up at all of us surrounding him. He almost killed everyone on that rooftop. We found him and Adimar fighting one another on even terms and then the fight turned into trying to remove the others limb. It¡¯s a normal fighting technique our kind has performed for centuries. If you take away a limb you reduce the combat risk of the opponent your taking on by roughly 40%. . But regardless of what weapon or our claws....he just kept plowing through us. Going after Adimar. Alysteir tried cutting the bone with her sword but not even it can cut this persons black bones. With a level like 150......well the evidence just speaks for itself. Maybe in this body his powers have deminished to some extent. But he wasn¡¯t mindful of his surroundings. He didn¡¯t take notice of the poisining we attached to our weapons......¡®One of the old spider queens venom......still quite potent.¡¯ ¡°Oh come on Vali. I need to you to focus.¡± Alysteir then sat on Vali¡¯s lap and started to tear his chest open. Anytime he was about to bleed out she would use a strange tool to heal him. She said this helps in her torturing. Alysteir was always.......like that. He didn¡¯t respond. He only stared straight into Alysteir¡¯s eyes. He then blinked and looked up at me. ¡°Oh come now, we don¡¯t want you getting distracted.¡± She then had one of the Annunake scratch Vali¡¯s shoulder. She continued to do this after every few minutes. She determined that Vali had a large mana pool. We¡¯ve faced plenty of high class monsters in this dungeon that can do quite a lot of damage with only a little mana. We can¡¯t see just how much mana he has but we determine since his body is that of someone at 150 he can¡¯t have as much. Anytime his mana would start to rise to a certain point Alysteir would have one of our brethren strike him. Our claws were blessed by the wolf god Amarok. They deplete magic and decrease healing abilities with every scratch. It is what has made us so dominate against bosses of this dungeon. Only after a few minutes the monsters mana will be gone and their stamina would be non-existent. That must have been what happeend to him. He went brain dead when his mp hit 0. It¡¯s something that we¡¯ve seen from the Elkia race before. They wake up later, we used it as an opportunity to transport him to a room on floor 52. Some wanted to just kill him there but Alysteir wanted to find out information on him. Adimar actually agreed to this as well but I can¡¯t know why. The extent of his injuries......His left eye is gone. His chest down to his stomach has massive scars covering his body. We used as much treatment as we could but his wound is still open. We wrapped his stomach and arm up with bandages and he said he needed to be there for the questioning. He continued to keep the chain attached to him. He said he couldn¡¯t let this person escape if he¡¯s what he thinks he is. If he is malthiel this could be a great opportunity to take him down. If he¡¯s just some subject of his then we can gain any information we can off him.....And if he really is a human...... ¡°Come on you didn¡¯t think I was going to let you zap out of here did you. I only let you gain a few mana here and there to crush your hope later....Now why won¡¯t you talk really. ¡° ¡°......¡± ¡°What? Who are you?¡± ¡°....I¡¯m someone from outside this dungoen. I found ....¡± SMACK! Alysteir stood up and back handed him. ¡°What did I tell you about lying Vali....tsk tsk¡± She walked back to the table with sharp and odd torture devices. She¡¯s used these a lot considering the shape their in. She¡¯s the strongest in this dungeon and wasn¡¯t always. She too use to live on the lower levels once. I don¡¯t know what caused her to become like this but she seems to enjoy torturing people. ¡°Hehehe¡± Alysteir turned back at the laughter. It was Vali. He just kept staring at the floor and laughing to himself. He looked back up at us and his eyes weren¡¯t blue anymore. They were black. Just like when the pack attacked him. ¡°Oh..Are you finally starting to have some fun with me Mr. Vali?¡± Alysteir continued looking at more torturing devices....Did....did she already break him? A large portion of the skin on his face has been torn away. His jaw shows his white teeth connected to a black jawbone. His left arm was missing and now a large majority of the right hand was gone as well. It was hard to look at him. Red blood was dripping down his arms dripping off his bony fingers. Blood continued to drip down his legs and made a small puddle at his feet...¡¯....But ...but he stole that blood from Alphi. He deserves this!¡¯ Anytime he was about to die, she would heal him. After all of the agonizing pain he never once showed a face of pain. He would at times flinch but hardly ever made a sound during the heinous acts that were being enacted on him. Most of the wounds he held came from the fight with Adimar however. His entire left arm, his face. Going toe to toe with an Alpha and he somehow managed to survive.... ¡°No....I just think it¡¯s going to get interesting in a minute.¡± ¡°Oh!...How so?¡± She asked him nonchalantly as she started digging away at the meat on his legs. He looked up at me, then moved his vision over to Adimar, then Meifeng. He then lazily looked over at Alysteir and smiled. He looked to barely be hanging on. I don¡¯t know how he has survived everything that has happened to him so far. How was he acting so confident in such a situation. BAM! Crashing through the front door was Malfius. Flying above him was that strange bird without the level that was on Vali¡¯s shoulder all day. The purple bird flew in and looked around the room until her vision met with Vali¡¯s. The eyes of the purple bird widened and froze while her her wings started flapping quickly. ¡°Wha...What have you done!...WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!¡± Malfius¡¯s voice yelled when he saw the extent of the wounds the pack and Alysteir had put on him. ¡°Oh Malfius....It¡¯s just you.¡± Alysteir didn¡¯t seem very interested and raised her large saw towards the right leg of Vali. ROOOOORORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A loud roar shook the building and the ceiling began to cave in and crash into those in the room. Debris and dust began to fill the room. Wha...who¡¯s making that noise. Everyone covered their ears as the sound that was rupturing our ear drums sounded like loud horns that have immobilized all of us. I started looking around frantically and noticed the source of the sound was....the...the bird? The sound that was being emitted by the bird was so loud that it destroyed the building we were standing it. A bright purple light started being emitted from it and it flew towards Vali.. ¡®No...I cant.....let....him ......escape!¡¯ I started trying to crawl into his direction but that sound was so loud.I¡¯ve never felt an attack like this before. It felt like my head was going to explode. ¡®...What did he say about that thing.....I thought it looked tasty he said......it was scarier than he was?¡¯ ¡°I won¡¯t.......let you!¡± The chains covering Vali were crushed and the bird picked up the weight of Vali who couldn¡¯t hold himself up. The loud sound continued to ring and Vali looked up at me. He smiled and glanced over at Alysteir with his same dark eyes. ¡°See...told you it¡¯d get interesting.¡± I used quick paw and every agility buff I had and lunged towards Vali at the fastest speed I could manage. I felt the form of Adimar fly past me and I gripped onto his tail to slingshot me. ZAP! Wha.....What? Right now the image of Vali and his purple bird are standing right in front of me and Adimar, but everything else has changed. There¡¯s a large open area. A large battle occurred here. Theres clouds and a......Moon! It looked nothing like the crimson moon on the floor we use to live on. It¡¯s.........so beautiful. ¡°Wow!¡± Adimar stood next to me and was swept away by the gorgeous sight in front of us.
You have bathed in Moonlight All stats rise by 300% when under the light of the full moon
It was a buff we of the Annunake received when under the light of a moon. But it¡¯s never buffed us so high before! ¡°Now....now that were outside shall we have a decent one on one?¡± I turned my head and there standing was Vali. Not the same Vali I saw just a few minutes ago but one that has been entirely healed....Ho...how? RRRRrrrrrrrr! Adimar glared his fangs and showed we didn¡¯t have time to enjoy the view.....¡®He said outside?¡¯ We have to work together to take this person together. With the power of the moon....we¡¯ll tear him apart! ¡°VALIIII!!!!!!!!!¡±¡±¡± ¡°Wha....Lilly?¡± ¡®Huh...where¡¯s that voice coming form?¡¯ I turned my head and running towards Vali is a ..........an ....an Annunake? ¡°Alphi...tha...that girl!¡± ¡°What!.......¡± The small white haired Annunake girl was running away...from......Are those Baums? Large dark tree monsters that slither across the ground were chasing her. There were at least a 100 of them all around level 100-120. Why are there so many. The girl was roughly 300 paces away. I leaped and covered the distant in an instant and gripped the girl tightly. She was......healthy. Such a beautiful little Annunake girl but what was she doing out here? Where is here. She looked up at me curiously and I pressed our noses and foreheads together. It¡¯s a sign of love and admiration towards your fellow wolfman. It¡¯s how you show your a friend. ¡°Eh...umm....who..who are you?¡± The little girl looked up at me and then back at Vali. He too was looking at me oddly. He gave me an odd face then looked towards the encroaching monster heard. He squared his body towards them when a white flash zoomed past me and him. ROOOOWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRR!!!! Adimar had leaped into the incoming hoard of Baums and landed right in between the monsters and me and the girl. ¡°Hehe...I¡¯m Akino, you?¡± ¡°...Lilly.....Wha...Vali?!¡± ¡®Huh...I saw the image of Vali now flying through the air. Attached to his wrist is still the chain that bound him to Adimar. He crashed next to Adimar and stood up wobbily. Adimar continued to slash the bark easily away between every oncoming Baum while taking notice of Vali. He however didn¡¯t face Adimar to fight him. He just held his head and looked back towards me. No he¡¯s not looking at me. ¡°HJOKK!!! You forgot one of the chains!!!¡± ¡°SORRY!¡± The purple bird was now.....talking? ¡°AHHHH!!!¡± He then turned around and starting fighting the Baums.....alongside Adimar. ¡°Who are these people?¡± End of Chapter. I''ll start editing and redoing some old chapters now. Rate my fiction guys and tell me what ya think in the comments. What do ya think of the legendary Annunake race. Or maybe the Hldr pixies? Chapter 14: No Allies Hey guys...Sorry for the long wait on this chapter but good news. This is half of what the original chapter was suppose to be. I split it into two parts simply because it was all getting too long. So for those who waited so long for a new chapter, expect the next chapter around the same length to be up by......sometime tomorrow. Also I updated past chapters with the changes I made. For those of you who want to reread it I added some new stuff here and there. I still plan on editing and redoing chapters later like I said because even I know I''ve made plenty of mistakes in writing this out. It''s still like a rough draft of sorts. Though I won''t make a change like that again to the story again I promise. I feel it was important to add characters like Sasha and Tierra later and change their characters some so you can also see the changes in treatment between slaves and how they each relate to the MC in different ways. When they all got introduced at once I felt like you didn''t get a good idea how each of them looked at the MC or got to see how they each treated him. Lily was close but then backed off due to her brother''s warnings. While these next two I plan on reintroducing next chapter, also have other stigmas. Lily and Noah were only in slavery for a short while, while others may have been in much longer. It''s like if you abuse an animal for years and years do you expect that it would have any notion of trust towards a human when it met one. Then you have someone like Ari who accepts the MC unconditionally regardless of her past. But we also see that her past to her and how she has been dealing with it is almost that of a distant memory. I''ll go into detail why that is later but hopefully your getting to see how each character effects or relates to the mc. Shout outs to my editors you guys are amazing. I had someone clean up old chapters and he''s going to help me clean the new ones along with some other guys. So thank you I4MD347H and Kronos! Well...expect the next chapter say tomorrow....Working on it now....and enjoy. Chapter 14: No Allies It took roughly 10 minutes to take down every surrounding Baum monster. They were quite tricky to deal with. If you didn¡¯t jump and avoid their roots that came up from below the dirt you¡¯d become tied up in vines. Their roots weren¡¯t too strong for only being around level 70- 80 monsters but if enough of them surrounded you it would be bad. I assume they had tough defense but each monster only took a few swings before they¡¯re entire body crumbled away. It may have taken much less time to kill them but. Ching! This stupid chain kept getting in the way. No matter how much I tugged at it it wouldn¡¯t budge. So anytime that wolf would leap into more baums I would get drug with him. Honestly I have no idea how Meifeng got this on me without me noticing. It made it difficult for both of us but eventually we took down every last monster that was chasing after Lily. It¡¯s amazing how this wolf chained to me was so close to death only hours earlier from the state I had left him in, was now fighting so exceptionally. Even though his left arm and entire lower body was covered in bandages, his eye looked to be completely destroyed. It along with the left side of his face were also bandaged up. His state didn¡¯t look to be in the best condition but you wouldn¡¯t know that from the way he was fighting. Every swing tore through the Baum¡¯s wooden exterior as if it were butter, killing the large tree monsters with every slash. ¡®Why is he fighting anyways?¡¯ After all of the surrounding tree monsters were destroyed Adimar, who was still chained to me, faces me while breathing heavy. He lowered his eyes and glared at me as if telling he was ready for round 2. I turned over to where Lily and Hjokk were. I used my spatial magic to appear closer to their location. ¡°Vali!¡± Lily came running towards me and hugged my leg. She was still shaking a bit. When I kneeled down I noticed she had small cuts on her legs and wrists. She had dirt on her clothes and face and looked to be quite warn out. I grabbed a cloth out of my inventory and started to wipe the dirt from her face. ¡°...Lily what are you doing out here. How long have you been running from those things?¡± ¡°Ugh....since you left this afternoon. I ugh... wanted to follow where you go. I¡¯m sorry!¡± ¡®She had came to find me? So she¡¯s been being chased by these Baums for quite a while then. It almost looks like she may have even gotten caught at some point from the cuts on her arms. Some of the vines from the Baum monsters have thorns coming off of them.¡¯ I activated my Soul Recovery on Lily. My healing ability is now at Novice level 2 after gaining 2 levels from healing the rest of the pixies, my healing magic has become capable of healing multiple people at once. But by using direct contact the healing affects are much larger. Her small cuts covering her body began to seal over and wash away. The similar bright light continued to shine from my hands and surround her body until her wounds were all gone. ¡°....Poor thing. But you shouldn¡¯t come out here alone like that. This place is dangerous. ¡± When I made my tone more serious on that last part she just nodded while holding onto me. Her hands are furry like the first time we met and her small claws are still not retracted and are digging into my leg. If I didn¡¯t know she was from this same race who has caused me so much trouble, I¡¯d probably be perplexed at how she could scratch me. ¡°Huh...Ugh, Alphi we have to get her away from him. Maybe....she is being brainwashed or something.¡± ¡°Ha....Ha....Maybe...But because of this chain....we won¡¯t be able grab her and escape. We can try and knock him out. His wounds seem to all be healed, but with the added effects of this moonlight, let¡¯s defeat him!¡± The voices of the two who tagged along on Hjokk¡¯s weird warp ability start to speak up. I don¡¯t know how they came a long with us, but Hjokk¡¯s ability doesn¡¯t work like the spatial magic, it works as a sort of tether to a specific place and can be warped to on invoking the ability. I guess because I was still chained to Adimar they two some how came along for the ride. I straightened up my poster and faced them. Akino glared her fangs at me while Adimar standing next to her breathed heavily. His postures wasn¡¯t at that of someone healthy enough for a fight but he continued staring at me as if prepared to fight.....¡¯....Seriously how stupid are these people!¡¯ ¡°Alphi line formation follow right be...¡± BOOOOOM!!!! ¡°Silence dogs!¡± A lightning strike struck the ground a foot away from where Akino was standing. Hjokk in her bird form flew over in front of me and Lily. ¡°The...the bird?¡± ¡°.......¡± Akino immediately froze in place, while Adimar continued to look between Hjokk and I. He continued to breath heavy but the look of fear I could finally see for the first time was instilled in him. ¡°Disgusting mortal pigs......you call yourself descendants of Amarok! Puny inbreed muts! I should smite you here!¡± HJokk continued her threats and I don¡¯t believe I¡¯ve ever heard this tone from her before.....I guess the site of my appearance may have triggered something for her. ¡°Umm He...Hjokk?¡± Lilly started to question Hjokks rash behavior which she¡¯s never seen from her before. Other than beating me up she doesn¡¯t see the theatrics ¡°Lily¡¯s right Hjokk....You¡¯d be taking my fun away of beating them both.¡± ¡°Wait...no ugh....¡± Lily now seeming surprised at my comment looked up at me as I stared intently at the two standing in front of me. ¡°...Step away from the girl.¡± ¡°....Perhaps before we fight. If the child can step away to a safer location.¡± Akino began to growl in our direction while Adimar tried to notion with me. They don¡¯t appear to understand the situation at all. ¡°I recall telling you dogs not to speak.¡± Hjokk continued flapping her purple wings and staring down the two Annunakes. I still haven¡¯t decided what I¡¯m going to do to all of them yet. Death isn¡¯t enough.... ¡°You each seem to be misunderstanding the situation. First off....stop acting like your the ones protecting Lily, you don¡¯t even know her. Secondly.........¡± I then turned my status display on and flicked it over in their direction.... ¡°......¡± Each of them stared at the display reading my status. I¡¯m told the the world is tied to this status. So everything that lives on this world has to have one in some way. It is impossible to manipulate something like this and usually people keep their own status¡¯s to themselves. It not only shows your level but all of your stats besides the skill¡¯s list. But since these two wolves are only going to die soon I don¡¯t think it matters. Name: Vali Race: Human Age: ? Level: 165 Class: N/A Title: Lord of the Forest, Slayer of Death, Death Canceler, Beloved one of the Hildr Pixies Health: 132,889 Mana: 346, 430 Strength: 14, 998 Intellect: 17,440 Stamina: 12, 115 Wisdom: 9, 880 Agility: 10,010 Defense: 14, 110 Luck: 17,240 Magic Resistance: 25% Poison Resistance: 7% Immunity to Fear: 33% Elemental Resistances: Fire: 28% Earth: 3% Dark: 25% Lightning: 4% Water: 1% Wind: 4% Light: 8% Void: 8% Each of my stats had risen a slight bit from raising my levels by 15. This is due to my growth correction by Loki I assume. In the game if you leveled up your character your stats would each rise based on what class you decided on. It would allocate the stats gained per level to certain stats to build your character. Since I don¡¯t have a class my growth correction just allocates stats equally for now. ¡°Heh....so your agility is only this much and yet you can keep up with Alphi and me? So what, your strong.¡± ¡°.....So you really were.....human?¡± I continued to stare at them. I just haven¡¯t quite decided what I¡¯m going to do with each of them yet. Perhaps I should eat this Alpha¡¯s heart in front of her. I clearly didn¡¯t instill enough fear into this race. I offer my help to them, and they surrounded and mauled me. They turned me into their own personal chew toy and due to my own stupidity I didn¡¯t see it coming. I knew they weren¡¯t trust worthy and and I almost died for it.....¡¯If I died.....Who would look after my mother. I¡¯d never be able to reunite with my family again. I can¡¯t be stupid anymore......Kill or be killed....(Rattle).¡¯ I grinned and looked towards them. ¡°Yeah....so now you....¡± Hjokk then cut me off and emerged in her Valkyrie form and was wearing the same stunningly bright armor as before. ¡°Ah....can you shut that off or something! Geez!¡± ¡®You always ruin moments!¡¯ The bright light shimmering off her armor began to dim to a pale light but she didn¡¯t look at me. She continued staring daggers at the the two wolves in front her. She pointed her spear at the both of them. ¡°You worthless dogs! He came to help you, to free you from your prison cell and you spit back his good will back in his face. You filthy vermin!¡± Sparks started to come from her spear and shot forth. RAHHHHH!!!! AHHH!!!!!!!!! A bright pale blue lightning streaked out from the tip of her spear and shot forth towards the two wolves. They began crying and howling in agony...¡®Hmm....this chain doesn¡¯t appear to be able to conduct electricity at all.....Is this even a metal?.....Wait....did Hjokk even know that before she shot off that attack?!¡¯ I glared up at Hjokk in her Valkyrie form and start to feel a tug on my leg. ¡°Ugh....ummm stop!¡± Lily then ran out in front of Hjokk and put her arms up in the air. Her face and eyes were still flush from running from the Baums for so long. ¡°Please...They....they were nice to me....they they don¡¯t seem like bad people?¡± Lily must have not been able to handle the brutal howls these two were making. She never really was a girl who enjoyed violent things. She¡¯s more of a curious child. Chasing flying bugs or always watching me cook. She doesn¡¯t really have the heart to watch someone hurt another. They didn¡¯t move much, smoke just continued to come from their charcoaled bodies. Their alive though, I can sense that much at least. I¡¯m not even sure if Hjokk is allowed to kill a mortal, so maybe this is just venting. ¡°..Ugh...Rapid Paw!......Moonlight Claughh¡± I pulled out Abgrund and activated dark pressure. I made it to where the pressure wouldn¡¯t target friendlies and the full brunt of it went to Adimar and Akino. Her movements stalled and she then collapsed on her knees. She looked up at me and started to shake in terror. Her eyes were much different now. Before they showed rage, but now they show fear. She continues to growl while looking up at me. ¡®Yah...I should have used dark pressure with this scythe when I was surrounded. The added affects of dark related magic gets a tremendous boost from using it.¡¯ Adimar behind her stood up. All of his hairs were standing on end. A large dark charcoal stain covers the front of his torso. A large tear from his left shoulder to his right waste has become hard and crusted. Without the use of healing magic the skin would be beyond repair by my world¡¯s standards. I got to give it to him, for an Alpha this guy does take a lot to kill.....¡¯I wonder what sort of abilities I can attain from this strong wolf. After letting that psycho tear into me......¡¯ While my mind began to fill with thoughts of what I wanted to do to these two something strange happened. ¡°.....Yield Akino....we were wrong...¡± Adimar then kneeled where he stood and looked up at me. Akino turned her head and looked back in half amazement. Do they both think this act will save them? ¡°Alphi?¡± I started to walk forward to the two frozen wolves and stuck Abgrund to Adimar¡¯s throat.....I wonder what abilities I could gain from a wolf like you. ¡°I....I offer you my life for our mistake....Please save them..¡± Adimar continued breathing heavy but never once broke eye contact. Whether their going to die or not this race does seem to be that of warriors. Accepting death so readily.... ¡°...And what makes you think death is enough?¡± ¡°.....I¡¯m sure it won¡¯t make up for our sins. But I ask that you spare those trapped in this horrible place. If my life can make up for it....Whatever it is. Please don....¡± ¡°You don¡¯t get to ask anything dog!¡± Hjokk then spoke up from behind me. Akino then decided to enter into our conversation. ¡°....Al...Alphi?¡± ¡°....He isn¡¯t Malthiel, Akino......He was simply a man trying to help us all here.¡± ¡°............¡± As if finally realizing I wasn¡¯t that evil monster she finally went silent. ¡°But....But his bones.¡± ¡°Ah...not that it¡¯ll matter in the long run. Why don¡¯t I show you both something.¡± I then pulled Abgrund from Adimar¡¯s neck and activated my spatial magic. I ripped through the wreckage of the dead Baum¡¯s lying around the ground and found two oddly shaped cores. It almost looked like a seed in the shape of a fruit. It glowed slightly crimson and had a tough coating. I then reactivated spatial magic and appeared back in the same place. ¡°Ahh..¡± Adimar then fell over and I had then realized we were still shackled together. ¡°Ah....Hjokk....could you take care of this please?.¡± After flashing the chain at Hjokk who was standing by the frightened Lily, I then lifted the core in front of Adimar and Akino. I then chewed into the tough core with my fangs. It was crunchy but had a soft gooey center.
Congratulations! You have just learned a new skill! Root Vein
Congratulations! You have just learned a new skill! Tough Exterior
The two Annunakes started to look up at me now puzzled. After reading through the skill list I activated one of the new abilities I¡¯ve obtained. Immediately bursting through the ground were a pair of dark green roots with small thorns attached to them. I thought about wanting to strangle them with it and in an instant the vine launched out of the ground and attacked the two like a viper. It then coiled around their necks several times and then lifted them up in the air. They were probably strong enough to rip through these roots but in this state their in, along with the shock they probably can¡¯t fight back real well. Rattle......Rattle.... I watched them convulse for a bit then deactivated the skill. The roots then withered away and sunk back into the dirt. It¡¯s an interesting skill. But it is impossible to use unless my feet are kept planting on the ground. The moment my foot lets up the skill will deactivate. They both grabbed their necks and breathed hard continually...They had small cuts here and there and and some blood started to form over their shoulders and chest. I then reactivated Dark Pressure while holding onto Abgrund.....I should have used this when I got mauled by their whole pack. The effects of Dark Pressure and Abgrund are too. It¡¯s paralyzed them. Though if I used this weapon when I was on floor one who knows the amount of damage I could have done. I could have even caved in the whole floor killing myself in the process. ¡°....That¡¯s how I got these black bones.....When I eat the cores of my opponents I absorb an ability. In Malthiel¡¯s case it was also apparently some of his traits......Although I didn¡¯t know about the heart thing.¡± ¡°......¡± ¡°......¡± ¡°Now that we got that out of the way.¡± I then pointed Abgrund back towards the two indicating it was their time. I¡¯m going to kill every one of them. I just haven¡¯t decided how yet. My life I feel is slowly being wrapped away by vengeance towards others.....But they dragged me into this....(Rattle) I pointed the scythe closer to Adimar¡¯s throat. The black aura that surrounded it began to cut and singe off the already rugged fur. It was already covered in blood and partly burnt off from the extent of what Hjokk had already done to him. ¡°But!¡± Lily tried to reach out while Hjokk tried to turn her away. Beat......Beat.....Beat...Beat..Beat..Beat...¡¯I could hear their beats racing.....¡¯ ¡®Feed.....Feed....Feed.....feeeeeeed meeeeeee!¡¯ I started to hear strange voices as well...¡¯..Coming from.....Abgrund?....This weapon too wants these two to face death.....(Rattle).¡¯ I looked into the eyes of the one whose life I was about to take and noticed something that took me out of the sort of trance I was in. His eyes never once yielded....¡®Does he not fear death?¡¯ ¡°...Al..Alphi?!¡± ¡°.....Please save them.¡± ¡°.....Do you not fear death?¡± ¡°......I believe we all must face death someday. I have lived a long life.....filled with regret and sorrow. But in death.....I believe I may be able to reunite with my happiness.....¡± ¡°.........¡± I stared back at Adimar. He said his words as if trying to sound stoic. Death....being able to reunite with his happiness huh. I too once believed death could be a beautiful thing....But right now, I can¡¯t allow myself to die. If I did....I will never be able to see my family together again. Back then....because of these two.........I almost lost everything! ¡®....But he¡¯s right.....Even I have thought death can be a beautiful thing if you choose to see it that way......¡¯ Why should he get off so easily....¡®Huh?¡¯ I looked down and something was tugging on my leg.....It was Lily. I guess I shouldn¡¯t just murder these two in front of her. What was I thinking...... They¡¯re too dangerous to leave alive though....¡®Ugh.....I moved Abgrund away from her and put it in my inventory. I don¡¯t want this thing anywhere near her. I looked up at Adimar and contemplated what I was going to do with them. I patted Lily¡¯s head and then felt something heavy graze her head. ¡°Huh.....Hjokk....Why haven¡¯t you cut these chains yet?¡± ¡°....Ah about that. That isn¡¯t made of just any metal. I can¡¯t break that without possibly killing the two of you in the process.¡± ¡°What?¡± What she said was mind boggling. She¡¯s a Valkyrie...What is this stupid thing? ¡°What do you want from me it¡¯s Adamantine?¡± ¡°Huh?.....You where did you get this?¡± I then pressed Adimar for answers but he seemed kind of weirded out he was still breathing. He managed to somehow spill out that the chain was from some incredibly strong ore they found deep inside the dungeon caves. In the game the two strongest metals that a blacksmith could make armor from were Mithril and Adamantine. It was rare materials you couldn¡¯t find anyplace and took a long time gather enough gold or ore to make a useful weapon or armor with it. It¡¯s strange how these demi humans have both in such a convenient place. ¡®If I can get enough of this material are you saying I could make armor out of it........It¡¯s even strong enough to take Hjokk¡¯s spear.......¡¯ With that thought my eyes widened as if forgetting everything else that has happened up until this point. ¡®As I am right now, I can¡¯t even compete with Hjokk. She has been abusing me ever since Malthiel. If she finds out that I walked into that trap practically knowing it was about to happen.....Yah maybe I can make a helmet or something.¡¯ ¡°I know what your thinking....And it¡¯s not that amazing.¡± ¡°Heh...it could stop your spear....¡± ¡°Yah....Adamantine is supposedly what titan¡¯s fangs are made from. It¡¯s durable....But it doesn¡¯t have nearly as amazing affects as Orichalcum armor the Siren¡¯s use or even compared to something like Zeus¡¯s breastplate Aeigis......What I¡¯m saying is it won¡¯t last that long against me.¡± We glared back at each other. ¡°Umm......Is it over now?¡± Lily looked up at me and was still holding onto me. I feel bad, I put her through something bad....I can¡¯t do something like executing someone in front of her....I killed someone on the day we met and she¡¯s just starting to warm up to me. She stuck close to me when we were in Aldain but once Noah started to live with us she started to be more cautious of me. With Ari¡¯s influence though she has been approaching me more now. The only reason she ran out here was because of me. I guess if I were to kill this wolf I would be dragged his dead body around with this strong chain until I got the key. ¡®Ugh....¡¯ ¡®Maybe I can wait to kill these wolves whenever I get back into the dungeon.......I could even get the effects of the double experience if I wait to do it.¡¯
Wisdom + 1
¡®....I guess that¡¯s a sign.¡¯ ¡°If only we could bind them somehow.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t plan on killing them?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s good for Lily. Besides...This one is an Alpha. Same rank as some of their race leaders I believe too. If I just off him here without giving him back to his superiors there could be problems with getting everyone over to joining us.¡± ¡°I see.......Then perhaps we can use an item Loki gave me should Fenrir ever get......too rowdy.¡± ¡°What? What are you talking about?¡± Hjokk then walked up to me and pulled out a shining golden rope. It had a sort of blue light coming off of it as well. It was.....a color I had never seen before in my old world. It was hard to describe the color it was emitting but it definitely looked to be the product of a divine being. ¡°Loki calls it....Gleipnir....It¡¯s suppose to act as a sort of leash for Fenrir should he ever get.....well yah.¡± She handed it to me and it had a heavy weight to it. She then pointed the other end of Gleipnir to the two and it entangled their bodies like my vines previously had. They encircled the two of them to where no body parts showed at all then swirled around to where their necks were. The shining golden rope wrapped around their necks individually and tightened. The thick golden rope then shrunk down to the size of thin golden thread. It continue to glow in the same pale blue light. ¡°And this is suppose to......bind them?¡± ¡°Yes, it will tighten and choke them should they ever disobey or attack you. It also has an interesting feature. Watch this......mut!...¡± ROOOoooooooorrrrrr NNNNNnnnnnnn Each of them howled in pain for a brief moment and then lowered their shoulders. They looked back up at Hjokk with wide eyes and then back at me, not being able to realize the situation. ¡°Loki said he programmed it to shock them at a voice command..........I prefer mut.¡± ¡°....Oh this will be interesting....¡± Looking at the two of them I think they finally started to give me the look that I was looking for. After the betrayal, this isn¡¯t enough....but it¡¯s a start. It¡¯ll at least be amusing for the time being. ¡°Mut....Mut..mut!¡± ROooooOORRR Ahh...AHhh ahahaha Hearing them squirm with each shock was like music to my ears. Such an amazing thing Loki gave me for Fenrir....Luckily he¡¯s a good wolf. I¡¯d never need something like this for him. Ruf!...Ruf! I can almost hear the sounds of him barking right now. Ruf.....RUF! ¡°Fenrir?¡± Fenrir came running up and came next to me and Lily. Lily still confused was holding onto my leg but pet Fenrir whenever he got closer. Fenrir somehow has managed to get close to all of the slaves, including Noah. I guess it¡¯s his odd cuteness when he¡¯s this size. I started to pet his head when I realized something. ¡°Wait. Who¡¯s watching after the cabin?...¡± ¡®I left Fenrir there to watch over everyone. I guess with Lily missing they sent Fenrir to find her.¡¯ Deciding it was about time to get back we ventured back to the cabin. The unlikely group of myself, Lily, Hjokk in her bird form and now to Annunake¡¯s began to venture back to . I¡¯d activate my spatial magic right now but I¡¯ve found out another weakness to my spatial magic if that wasn¡¯t enough of a pile on to my failures. I need to know where I also am to use spatial magic. If I¡¯m not aware of the space I¡¯m in, it¡¯s difficult to move to another space that isn¡¯t within my field of vision.....¡®That¡¯s why I couldn¡¯t warp out of that torture room even if I tried.¡¯ ¡°Um....Where are we going?¡± ¡°....To my cabin. I don¡¯t have time to take you both home right now...... By the way your currently standing outside of the dungeon.¡± As I said this each of them gave me looks of unbelief. The words I said were the truth. I said them clearly and continued to walk back home. I warned them that if they didn¡¯t follow me the collars around their neck would start to shock them again. I warned them what would happen should they disobey me. They didn¡¯t listen...¡¯.They just looked at the ground and then kept looking up at the sky. No...The moon.¡¯ Akino shed tears and Adimar said nothing. Lily stopped and looked at what they seemed so interested at. I guess they are from a species of wolf. Maybe the moon hold some special meaning to them. Lily looked back at me smiled. She ran over and held my hand as we continued to walk home. ¡°You guys might want to keep up. If you disobey those collars will shock you again.¡± These Annunake¡¯s with me have given me a lot to think about. Other than Lily I don¡¯t know about the others of her race. Even after Malthiel I still made bad decisions. I should have never ventured off with these people and trusted them so easily. During the fight I should have gone all out. I relied too heavily on my top tier skills but without Abgrund my Abysmal mist wasn¡¯t nearly as powerful. The Annunake are an absolutely vicious race and I felt that personally with my flesh. They tore my flesh down to the bone. Some of them ate me. My entire left arm was peeled away piece by piece. Only my black bones remained. They had been licked clean. My chest and ribcage had bite marks in it and most of my inner organs may have been removed. If that wasn¡¯t enough my face was partially torn off by their leader. Before I knew what happened my mana and stamina had been completely drained as well. I don¡¯t know how I honestly survived such an assault.The torture afterwards was honestly like an ant trying to bite an already severe wound. The Annunake¡¯s........They are dangerous. ¡°Um....Vali. So....You were only trying to help us all. What you must think of us..¡± ¡°Yah. If you guys may have used your brains you might have thought the ¡°undead¡± who couldn¡¯t possibly be performing healing magic might not be the bad guy.¡± ¡°....We wouldn¡¯t know anything about undead monsters. Malthiel is the only undead we¡¯ve ever came across in Dark Eden.¡± ¡®The dungeon is a 100 levels of all sorts of different terrains and monsters. Your telling me in 100 levels you haven¡¯t come across a single undead type of monster? They were quite frequent types of monsters in the game.¡¯ ¡°Still, you didn¡¯t have to surround me and turn me into your own official scratching post.¡± ¡°You attacked first...¡± Adimar finally budded into our conversation. ¡®What is he talking about! He and his wolves surrounded and mauled me.¡¯ The memory plays back in my head and I remember Adimar saying something about that being a good first attack, then he howled. I even got a bunch of de-buffs to my stats from the skill he used. ¡® Could he be talking about Dark Pressure?¡¯ ¡®I guess an intimidation skill being used that decreases everyones abilities can be considered an attack. I don¡¯t even know the effects of my ability on them. But no they were much higher level and they surrounded me. They even put shackles on me. ¡°Listen Vali....We are not going to make excuses for what we did. Our mistake cannot be forgiven with words. I know this..¡± Adimar straightened up his posture and walked towards me. His body was still smoldering from what Hjokk had done. He looked me in the eye continuing. ¡° ....I only wished to hear what you had to say. This chain was only so you wouldn¡¯t be able to escape, could you have been Malthiel or one of his pawns. Whenever you released that....skill....it let the pack know we might have to get rough before you started talking. ¡° ¡°..........¡± ¡®And so everything after that was what?......This wolf is only starting to make me angry. I won¡¯t deny given the same situation, from their perspective the idea of someone outside of that dungeon suddenly appearing with all my characteristics would be ¡°Um so.....Vali, what do you plan on doing with us?¡± Akino walked up to me and Lily. Hjokk was now resting on my shoulder having had to wait so long. Fenrir was up ahead chasing something. ¡°I guess for now have you follow me till I figure that out. I¡¯ll see what Malfius wants to do.¡± ¡°....Even if you don¡¯t wish to hear it.....I am sorry for ¡° ¡°Your right I don¡¯t want to hear it.¡± ¡®I don¡¯t want to talk about this anymore it¡¯s only going to agitate me more. ¡® ¡°If....There is anything we could do to possibly...¡± ¡®You could let me tear out your hearts.¡¯ I just started to ignore Akino and walk back to the cabin while holding onto Lily. Scenes of my mistakes continued to show into my head. How I could have handled the situation differently. But it only made me angry at myself. What happened to me was my fault. But that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m going to let them off the hook for what they¡¯ve done. Each of them will...hm? Looking down something soft kept tickling my left arm. It was Lily¡¯s ears. They were furry and since they kept twitching it would gradually tickle my forearm. It was kind of distracting. She was holding onto the hand that had been ripped off by that wolf only hours ago.... She just looked up at me and smiled. ¡®These kids may be healing me some in their own way.¡¯ ¡°Ow...¡± I turned around to see Akino was struggling with walking. She couldn¡¯t really walk real quick and I was wondering what the problem was but I guess it due to her legs being scorched to such an extent. Hjokk aimed for the wolves chest, but this ones legs. I guess she aimed for their most favorable points. She wanted to wound them pretty badly. ¡°It¡¯s ok...Vali can heal you! His magic is amazing!¡± ¡®Or maybe these kids can be something entirely different than a healing process for me.....¡¯ I got guilt tripped into healing Akino but also did it due to us needing to quicken the pace. I don¡¯t like the idea of the cabin being without someone to guard it. There are obviously people out looking for me at this very moment. I noticed something weird coming out of the top of Akino¡¯s head....¡®Hmm¡¯ When I brushed the top of her head away I could see ¡°Wha...My.........ears? Tail? My TAIL?!¡± Tears began to well up in Akinos eyes and I too was kind of surprised. When I first met her I mistook her for a human since I didn¡¯t see her animal ears like the others. I didn¡¯t even see a tail coming off of her. I can¡¯t differentiate where the healing takes place so I guess everything got healed. It¡¯s strange though, I didn¡¯t think my healing ability could reattach limbs? Maybe if it¡¯s something like a partially torn off appendage like part of a finger, or part of an ear in this case. The other part can reattach? ¡®I need to ask Asher¡¯s about this when we meet. Maybe I can gain some knowledge on this skill. They are essentially the ones who gave it to me.¡¯ ¡°Alphi.....¡± She smiled up at him and cried and looked back at me as if saying can I heal him too? ¡°He can walk just fine.¡± I pointed at Adimer and then turned around and continued walking back to the cabin. Akino later tried to come thank me but I didn¡¯t want to hear it. It was dark. ¡®Definitely past curfew. Mom¡¯s gonna be mad again for sure. I don¡¯t blame her, I¡¯ve been worrying her quite a lot I¡¯m sure....If I told her I was going to train in a dungeon created by a dark god all day she would flip. I wouldn¡¯t be late if I was tied up by that woman. I glanced down at the small Lily walking beside me and looked at my other hand. It was the hand I wore that Arachnee girls bracelet. It got ripped off when I got swarmed. Only a few minutes ago this hand was nothing but bone. The effects of whatever that was Hjokk made me drink was incredible. Everything got replenished in a moment. The liquid vial I took was orange and glowed a bright red when she poured it into my mouth. It was strange though....When she cut at me. No blood spurt came rushing from my wounds. I had an entire arm missing and I should have lost enough blood to kill me but.....I didn¡¯t die. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s cause of that woman either. It¡¯s not because of my cross this time either.....¡®That crazy bitch has it.¡¯ She took the one item I have left from my mother away while she cut at me. She saw the fight lights pouring out and decided it was too bright. That woman....Alysteir. The look in her eyes are that of an insane person. She enjoyed tearing my skin away. Flaying my hand layer by layer. It hurt....It was agonizing. I could feel the pain attacking my nerves numbing my mind from anything else. I had thoughts of Kaylan, Hayden, my mother, Elyria.....I even thought of Ari and those I have gotten close to in this world. Even Hjokk. But every memory or image that entered into my mind was always immediately cut away by that woman. Shocking me back to reality. ¡®......Alysteir....(Rattle)...What you did to me.¡¯ Ari POV ¡®VALI!¡¯ ¡°I SAID SHUT UP!¡± ¡°AH....My tail¡± The mean man who entered our house with several masked strangers yanked my tail and pulled me away. -------------------------------------------------- Whenever they got close to the cabin Elyria told me and Noah to hide in the bedroom under the bed and let her handle it. Loud noises erupted outside and the whole cabin shook. Lights coming off the same magic that Elyria had shown me shot out passing by the windows. I heard the sound of several men yelling and fighting with Elyria and the fight lasted a few minutes. I shook the entire time. I knew he would come. I knew he would come rescue us. Just like he rescued me. If I could just walk....I could help Elyria. Noah then held my hand and told me he was going to go help Elyria, he said all he had to do was buy some time until Vali showed up. But they both were beaten only a few minutes after that. Several large men in dark robes and two very suspicious characters entered the house after that. They each had weapons and blood on them. Elyria and Noah were with them.....they each had bruises on them but no blood. Maybe that¡¯s not their blood? Elyria and Noah were both unconscious. I just sat there under the bed and cried. A large man with long black hair pulled my tail dragged me out from under the bed. He picked me up by my tail and threw me on the bed. I tried to run over to be with Elyria but he pointed a bright light spark came from his hands and he warned me if I tried anything he was going to kill them. I just sat there.....Helpless....They kept noah in one corner. Elyria in the living room and me in Elyria¡¯s room. They kept us all three separated and I could now also hear there were even more people outside. Maybe Vali....Maybe he shouldn¡¯t come back home. He¡¯s....He¡¯s such an amazing person. He never asked for anything in return for all he has done for me....He saved me when I asked for help. He healed my wounds, he would even feed me. I started to remember the first day that we met. He held me so close to him and would bring the large spoon of the soup he had made to my mouth.....He always treated me so special. I felt bad that I couldn¡¯t walk, I mean as a slave I thought I should be the one who cooked and cleaned. I even tried to clean up for him once but.....he just picked me up and....and....said he¡¯d help me....sob...sob.. ¡®Vali....I wish you were here right now.¡¯ ¡°Hey.....everything¡¯s going to be fine. You don¡¯t have to cry.¡± ¡°VALI?!¡± ¡°Ugh...No....I¡¯m Sting. But what¡¯s your name.¡± A tall man with long green hair walked into the room. He had black leather armor on with a long black spear hanging on his back. He had a black hood on over his head and when he revealed his face he looked to be around the same age as Vali. He kind of gives off a similar atmosphere to Vali. ¡°It¡¯s ok....I¡¯m not going to hurt you. And don¡¯t worry I know all this looks pretty bad but......No one¡¯s going to get hurt I promise. Now....What¡¯s your name.¡± ¡°.....Ari.¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s a pretty name.¡± ¡°Thank you....¡± The man Sting then sat down on a small chair that I had watched Vali make himself.. He then leaned back and looked at me. ¡°Umm....You said no one¡¯s....going to get hurt. Does that mean Elyria and Noah are..¡± ¡°Safe....Yes both of them are fine.... Not as much as I can say for those Aldain guys.....Well I gave them a mild poison that temporarily knocked them unconscious.....I¡¯ll give them the remedy to wake up soon. That Elyria woman packs quite the punch. Her level threw me when I heard what it was, well....that¡¯s a mage type for ya. ¡° I stared back at the man with long green hair. He was a human. Just like Vali, but also just like every other human I have met. Can I believe him? ¡°Why did you have to knock them out and why are you separating us?¡± ¡°Ya know your human speech is superb for a girl your age.....Ughhh...I had to knock them out so as to stop them from fighting with Laxus or some of those Elliot characters. They have no problem maming women or children. And um to your second question it is because I hear this Vali character has quite the knack for jumping around. And it¡¯s the way Yuri Elliot decided we would get him to cooperate.¡± ¡°But...Vali¡¯s a good person why would you all be here to hurt him.¡± ¡°Mm...I¡¯m not sure if they mean to harm him. I think the guys from Aldain do but I think this is something like a job request. I wouldn¡¯t know this is essentially my job too. I only got hired as a guard of sorts. But I¡¯m not sure if your Vali friend is completely innocent....I mean he did demolish an entire colosseum full of spectators and murdered a bunch of guards in cold blood.....Well I guess I can¡¯t judge I wasn¡¯t really there was I....¡± ¡°....That was the day he saved me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry did you say something?¡± ¡°I said......That was the day Vali saved me.¡± ¡°Was it now.....hmmm...¡± ¡°WOH!¡± ¡°What the...Swords OUT!¡± If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.Shing Shink shink Sounds of weapons being drawn in the living room and everyone in there started making sounds...Snif...snif.......... ¡®It¡¯s him!¡¯ ¡°.......What the HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!¡± ¡°Oh my if the main guest hasn¡¯t arrived.¡± - Yuri ¡°Oh here we go!¡¯ ¡° - Laxus ¡°Val...¡± ¡°Shhh....Wait here. I¡¯ll make sure nothing bad happens.¡± The man with green hair then entered into the room where Vali was. Vali POV ¡®These bastards!.....I¡¯m going to rip them apart.¡¯ When we arrived back at the cabin I saw multiple dots that surrounding the house. Not only that but inside the cabin as well. The one thing I feared most happened. All because her......Alysteir! I told everyone to wait outside the cabin. ¡°Fenrir. Anything that runs out of that cabin......eat it.¡± I activated spatial magic and appeared inside the cabin with Hjokk on my shoulder. I scanned the room and here in my living room were roughly 20 armed men. Some in Aldain colors and the others are wearing black cloaks. What was the name of that family again? Each of them started talking to me but I wasn¡¯t really paying attention I was trying to see if everyone was ok. And there I saw it......The image of my mother tied to chair. Her face was bruised, her right side as a large purple bruise on it and I can see she¡¯s missing several teeth. Her eyes are closed but she¡¯s still conscious. I can still feel her pulse beating...It¡¯s beating just fine actually. I see Noah in the corner but I can¡¯t find Ari. I look back at the image of the woman who has cared for me since I came to this world. The woman who took care of me when I couldn¡¯t take care of myself. Fed me with her own milk when I was only a stranger to her.......(Rattle) I looked up at and saw the individual who was standing next to her. It was a man in a black robe. ¡°I see you brought an ally. Well you gonna start talking? Or keep looking for a way out of this? We took the liberty of separating everyone so you won¡¯t be able to save them all should things get ugly.¡° ¡°...Where¡¯s Ari?¡± ¡°Oh you must mean that little demi human. She¡¯s alive....just in the other room right now. She didn¡¯t fight back nearly as much as this one. So she doesn¡¯t have any injuries.¡± If these people had wounded Ari in the way that they have my mom. I¡¯d skin them. I activated presence sense and found she was alive and her heartbeat was racing but she was ultimately fine. ¡°You know....I have a thing about intruders in my home....¡± ¡°Hahaha! Well I¡¯m afraid we aren¡¯t just going to leave son. We don¡¯t care even if you did bring someone to help you.¡± I then noticed the chain was still attached to my hand. Adimar is also here. I warned him not to get involved and only to watch. The chain was luckily long enough that the chain shouldn¡¯t be a problem. I also told Hjokk to watch out for the others. ¡®They are going to feel the pains of their sins here with my fists.¡¯ ¡°Oh leaving? No....It¡¯s too late for that.....¡± I started to walk around the cabin as I remembered the clan name of those I killed recently. I snapped my fingers as if realizing it and pointed at him for confirmation. I was definitely being sarcastic. ¡°Hmm...what was it again...snap...snap.....Elliot¡¯s....right?¡± These people really have the worst luck....Here I am just begging to let out some steam after all that¡¯s happened and these people come here into my house. I focused my vision towards everyone and found that there¡¯s only two people in this entire cabin that have levels anywhere close to mine. The one with long black hair is 194 while the spearman with long green hair is 177....Regardless...After what happened, I won¡¯t be making the same mistakes I¡¯ve made before. ¡®I¡¯m going to tear each of their limbs off.¡¯ ¡°That is correct. I am Yuri Elliot. Now son how¡¯s about we have a talk ya? No one has to get hurt.¡± ¡°.....Think we¡¯re already past that aren¡¯t we....I mean. Just look at what ya did to my mother there. Surely you didn¡¯t think you were just gonna walk outa here and all things were gonna be peachy did you?¡± Everyone started to look around at each other and smirk. Haahhaha ¡°Clearly you don¡¯t seem to grasp the situation clearly son. One false move and it could be the end for your loved one¡¯s here....Now it doesn¡¯t have to end bad. We just have a sort of business opportunity for ya.¡± ¡°Haha!.....You must be joking.¡± ¡°Oh no we of the Elliot family would be hon......uh huh?¡± AHHHH!!!! What the f!!!@ RU Aughh! KILL IT!!! Shing! Shink Sounds of swords swinging and men screaming began to come from the outside....When I was snapping my fingers earlier I wasn¡¯t just trying to be snarky. I was also signaling Fenrir. Their were a lot of guards outside, he¡¯s simply cleaning them up right now. As far as what I¡¯m concerned with what¡¯s in here.....It should be a cake walk for him. He¡¯s already at level 68. After being in my party in the dungeon and hunting so many monsters, his level is slowly catching up to mine. He may actually have a faster growth rate than me. Everyone¡¯s eyes continued to look around at each other while I stood there staring back at the man in the dark robe....I smiled at them. I locked eyes with the man standing weapon drawn over my mother until they all realized just where they were. ¡°Mmm....You all see now.....I¡¯m not trapped here with you.......Your trapped here with me.¡± ¡°Hehe....Looks like the kid wants a fight then after all.....Perfect!¡± ¡°Listen....Vali. We don¡¯t need to turn this into a fight if you¡¯ll just list....¡± The dark long haired man¡¯s eyes started to shine and shoot out like electricity. The green haired man next to him tried to persuade me but I think we¡¯re all past that now. They just picked the wrong day cabin and the wrong day to come here.....that¡¯s all....Now...Who first? ¡°Yes Perfect!....I¡¯ve been wanting to get back at him for what he did to Elija!¡± A tall man in armor and a black robe walk forward. He has a clean face and short brown hair. He removed his hood and grinned at me. ¡°.....He was my cousin boy.¡± ¡°Oh....was he the one Fenrir ate?¡± ¡°ATE!.....Oh I am so gonna enjoy beating you kid.¡± ¡°Nobody touch him he¡¯s mine.¡± ¡°Fine Laxus! After you beat him I want a go at him!¡± ¡°No, Edwin has told us that we came here just to ta...¡± ¡°He¡¯s already past that Yuri. It¡¯s what he said. Let¡¯s get him for what he did to our cousin.¡± Several of the Elliot¡¯s began to argue with one another. ¡°Yah!¡± ¡°WOO! Your in for it kid! This guy¡¯s brother is the Lightning god, Donner. One of the 12 Grand Saints! Their blood is from a strong mage family that stands at the foot of the god¡¯s themselves.¡± ¡°Hahaha!....I hate to break it to ya.....but his brother could be the freaking god of miracles and second chances.....that still won¡¯t save you .¡± At my comment the surrounding clamor died down and I thought to myself how I¡¯m going to kill each of them. The Elliot clansman whose cousin I killed walked towards my mother. ¡°Ha....yah...and when we¡¯re done here we¡¯re going to take that weapon of yours too! Then I¡¯m going to defile this mother of yours....Right in front of your....¡± BAM! Splat! The sound of the Elliot man¡¯s eyes bursting from his skull resounded over the clamoring of clansman and the fight outside. His body contorted and looked like it had shrunken in from the Death¡¯s Grip. His head tilted back and blood started to drip out of his mouth. It¡¯s as if crushing this man¡¯s heart sent all the blood flowing out of whatever opening in his body there was. He remained standing....lifeless. Since I was still using death grip on him his body I deactivated it and his body hit the ground. Everyone was no longer looking at me but the dead Elliot clansman. The one called Laxus widened his eyes and turned his head back at me with a grin. The one with green hair only widened his eyes. ¡°Mmm....he was getting a little loud. Now I can think........What to do?¡± The Elliot clansman, Yuri, standing over my mom now has a look shock but then contorted to fear. I locked into his pulse first.....And activated death grip and clasped onto his heart. His movements froze, but I didn¡¯t kill him. I activated my spatial magic and reappeared in front of Yuri who was holding a dagger to my mother earlier. He seemed to be the leader. I grabbed his hand that was holding the weapon and applied pressure. Before he had time to react I jerked it to the side tearing it off entirely. His health took around a third off and he started howling. I then kicked him to the ground to wallow in pain. He screamed and howled but it was started to get difficult to hear. It sounded distant. Something else started to make sounds. It was Abgrund. I could hear breathing coming from Abgrund for the first time. He was giving me the power to slay these who have come into my home. They came here and harmed my family.....There is no forgiveness for that. I activated my spatial magic and then dark pressure. I took out Abgrund and swung it freely towards a group of clansman. Several heads then fell to the ground. The blade from Abgrund along with the strength of my swing, severed the armed men cleanly as if I were tearing through silk. The feel of it almost felt....Intoxicating. The feeling it gave when searing cleanly through meat was exhilerating. The dark aura surrounding it cut cleanly through their inferior armor, swords, and then their bones. Their open necks were each cut cleanly while blood began to erupt from the fatal blow and their bodies toppled over. Boom! The force however did go past their necks and blew through the cabin walls destroying part of the hosue. Everyone was still paralyzed by Dark Pressure. Seriously this thing is amazing. When their bodies fell over revealing my figure I smiled at those in front of me. There was now only 7 more enemies remaining. Killing things with Abgrund is actually rather easy. As long as I don¡¯t shoot off a skill or let it touch anything important to me.......It¡¯s an amazing weapon. The man standing next to Noah tried to make his body move cut him. BAM! I again activated my Death grip and ended his life. Laxus¡¯s body now continues to shine in a bright light....What¡¯s he thinking? ¡®Only around a two seconds have gone by since this fight has started and I¡¯m going to kill each of them one by one....I really needed this.Every swing severed a limb and ended a life. Taking lives with Abgrund was in all honesty the easiest thing I have done since coming here. It¡¯s as if the scythe is asking me to use it.¡¯ Laxus continued to shine and then stop. Sparks started to come from his body and within a second his body left my field of vision. BOOM!
You have been struck by Lightning Fist You have received 250 damage. Due to your resistance to lightning you have received an additional 50 damage
¡®Haha......is this it.¡¯ I won¡¯t lie for the amount of health that got taken off it did have a decent level of power behind it. But I¡¯ve already activated Demonic Awakening. My mana is at about 94%. Dark pressure is paralyzing the weaker foes here while I use death grip on anyone who might interfere. I¡¯m going to vent some anger here. ¡°Hjokk....Protect everyone.¡± I told Hjokk and she flew over to where Elyria was and activated a small light that then surrounded her. She then flew over to where Noah was and did the same thing while pulling him closer to where Elyria was. The man standing above my mother continued to stand there unable to move. Boom! Boom! Boom! Laxus continued to appear and reappear in and out of my field of vision. His speed is in all honesty much higher than mine. I have to use lightning step to keep track of him, but his speed may keep increasing. It¡¯s actually quite difficult to keep track of him. He had good strength but he just had no way of hurting me in this state. With my defense this is nothing. It¡¯s roughly close to that of a 300 level monster. ¡°Haha....that all you got.....lightning boy?¡± ¡°Ughhhhh!!! I¡¯m going to become something stronger than even the 12 Saints! Your nothing! I¡¯ve already killed 2 blessed beings! You think that confidence will save you!!! THUNDER CLAMP!¡± ¡°Woh...He can produce magic with such a short incantation?!¡± ¡°Yah, kill him Laxus!¡±
You have received 900 lightning damage. You have been bound by Thunder Clamp
A large bright orange wave of lightning wrapped around my body and continued to shock me. The sounds of his comrades thinking the fight is changing directions yell their excitement. The current was enough to singe my shoulders that absorbed the attack. It hurt....But with my defense right now this guy is nothing....He is nothing compared to those wolves. I shrugged my shoulders and the lightning binding me cracked and broke. Abgund¡¯s dark aura may have also canceled it out. ¡°I think maybe.......you aren¡¯t as good as you think are mhmhm.¡± I swung Abgrund downward towards Laxus¡¯s head and his vision then disappeared from my field of vision. His speed really was something. But as for his defense.... I anticipated this and delivered a blow right into his stomach. He¡¯s fast...faster than anything I have ever faced in my world....His technique wasn¡¯t even that bad. But when all your focus is on speed your technique might suffer. He relies too much in being faster than others. He¡¯s predictable. ¡°Guah.....¡± He put too much confidence in in speed which made him think he could get close to me whenever he wanted. So I took his hits until he made the mistake. I then gripped the back of his neck so he could no longer run away. His body let loose a barrage of sparks that started to singe and roast my skin. After all of his efforts he finally managed to take off around 10% of my health. ¡°You should have never come here......¡± I then lifted him up and severed both of his legs with Abgrund. I had to hold back it¡¯s power as much as possible not to blow past the environment. But even without activating any skill¡¯s, it cuts through things so easily. ¡°AHHHH!!!!!!! You...YOU! Guah!¡± I activated spatial magic and reappeared in front of the man in dark green hair. When my figure disappeared, Laxus¡¯s body was then pierced in mid air by spears and a sword just before hitting the floor. Some men broke free from their paralyzed states and entered the fight. I reappeared behind the men and severed them from their wastes. Three left....I disappeared and reappeared in front of the green haired man from before. I swung Abgrund towards his neck and his figure disappeared from my field of range.
You have been struck by Viper Lance You have received 200 damage You have been poisoned! You have received 3,000 additional damage. If not cured, you will receive 5,000 additional damage every 5 seconds
I activated Freya Soul recovery and saw that the health continued to fall. Hjokk called for me and threw me a purple stone I activated it and with that the poison was cured. ¡®Hmm nice thinking.¡¯ The green haired man was now pressed his back against a corner. He held out a large dark spear and didn¡¯t look at me. He was looking only a few paces above his feet....Why? ¡®Oh....this guy¡¯s clever. He¡¯s backed himself into a corner with his spear to stop me from appearing behind him. And he¡¯s not looking at where I am....He¡¯s looking at where I¡¯m going to be. He can still see me in his peripheral vision though¡¯ His look was that of someone absolutely terrified but he didn¡¯t break his posture he just continued to wait for my image to get closer to him. He was breathing hard and he took up a defensive stance. I activated Flicker and delivered a kick into his chest but he tried to use his spear to block it. The force from the impact was elevated by the use of the skill and hit the spear towards the center of the staff shooting the green haired man back into the wall and even much further. The cabin wall behind him was destroyed by the strength of my kick and sent him flying outside. I turned around and saw Hjokk was then staring back at me with an odd face. Noah and mother were still unconscious next to each other. She continued to flap her wings but continued to stare at me. I looked away and saw the carnage below. Body parts and limbs were cascaded throughout our home. There was a lot death, not even a minute has gone by. I should end this now. Wait where¡¯s Ari? ¡°Owe!...My Tail!¡± I turned wide eyed in the direction of the sound and there I saw Laxus holding Ari up by her tail and pointing a knife to her throat. Her eyes were in tears but she looked up at me, she didn¡¯t need to ask for help this time. This man produced lightning from his fists. His speed was amazing but I took that away from him, permanently. He started trying to say something and even the two other survivors started trying to speak but my vision distorted due to what I was seeing.¡¯ He wants to try and take something away from me? Your fists are why my mother¡¯s face was so bruised isn¡¯t it. You dare come into my house and put your hands on my mother!?¡¯ I raised my hands and grasped onto his heart. His arms began to tremble and his eyes started to look back at me. Death magic....other than that time with Meifeng....I haven¡¯t felt anyone know how to resist it. Laxus then lost his grip on Ari and she dropped to the floor the moment before she hit the ground she was then sitting right beside my mother. I didn¡¯t activate that skill this time, Hjokk did. She then put the same light barrier around Ari and flew down beside her. ¡°....You¡¯ll....You¡¯ll die for this you..demon.¡± I appeared next to him and lifted his upper torso into the air. I put away Abgrund. Guah! I delivered a punch to his stomach. The impact caused him to loose his breath. I then gripped him by his arms and looked into his eyes. I smiled at him and activated abysmal mist to pour out from my palms which were holding him. It ate away through his arms until melting through to his shoulder. A small dark cloud came from my hands eating away everything it touched. His now upper body broke away and fell onto the floor. I dropped him as if showing him how it feels to be one the one being abused. The one in control. I crouched over his now limbless body and activated healing magic on his shoulders. So he wouldn¡¯t lose too much blood. Something I learned from that woman....Healing magic to keep someone alive to torture them. Only in a world with magic. It looks like he already did something to his legs to escape from bleeding out. He was just an upper torso with long black hair now. I then delivered blow after blow to Laxus now open face. I swung my fists into his face and with every swing teeth would fly away on impact. I broke his jaw in the first swing. In the second and third broke his cheek muscles and eyes. I thought about everything that had happened to me. What is wrong with this world! My vision grew dark and I feel as though somehow somewhere I lost control. Everything just went dark. I could hear such familiar chains. I¡¯ve only came here to find my family and leave. I can¡¯t trust any species in this world, human or demi human. Each is filled with such deceit. Those back at the dungeon I helped. I fed them, Healed them. They think me an undead and almost kill me. That woman....She took my mother¡¯s necklace. But not before she tried to make my right arm match the damages done to the left one. She cut each layer off me into as little layers as possible to prolong the torture for even a second longer. It hurt. Not as bad as the rest of the body, but it hurt. It didn¡¯t hurt near as much as the pains I¡¯ve already felt. She tried torturing my body.....My minds been tortured for what has felt like an eternity...... I thought of my mother back home. I thought of my mother in this world. I thought of my siblings and how I could probably never return to them. I thought of my failures....My life was full of them. They ate away at me for months before I came here. The ways I could have done something better. Anything different than the outcome that came. Because of my weakness, those nine months awake or asleep, was a living nightmare. I nightmare of being wrapped in chains, too weak to protect those I cherished. It kept repeating itself, repeating itself....repeating itself.... Reminding me every second of the images I¡¯ve seen. It fueled me to become stronger, but it also may have broke something in me.... Those where what I thought about while Alysteir tore my chest open and skinned a large sum of my right hand. She would sit in my lap and seemed to enjoy torturing me. She just like this world just......enjoyed it. She laughed....Just like they laughed when the burned my family alive in front of me!....Like these people here....They¡¯d only laugh taking away the lives of those close to me! (Rattle) Why!...WHY!.....(RATTLE!) It was started to get hard to breath and my vision began to blur. Huh? Something soft brushed my cheek and I looked down. My vision came back and looked down in front of me. I see the destroyed corpse of the man I attacked. His torso up to his neck is motionless while there is no longer a head remaining. The wood on the floorboards must have also been destroyed by the impact. The entire part of his upper body had been blown away. I¡¯m still in demonic awakening........ But what was that? I looked down and there pulling up on my legs....... Ari¡¯s POV I knew he¡¯d come save me. I can hear his voice in the other room. I tried to climb down Elyria¡¯s bed and but it took me a while. I latched on to the blankets and climbed down. I tried to stand on my feet and walk to him but....Bam. I still can¡¯t walk yet.....sob...I have to be with him. I started to crawl. To the sounds of him and the men from before were fighting. The door had been had a someone laying in front of it. I tried to push the door further open but it was hard to budge. I¡¯m much stronger than I was when we first met but I¡¯m still not strong enough. The person was just too big. I continued to push. I wanted to be with the man who has been trying so hard to take care of all of us. To the woman who has tried so hard at helping me walk. I must be with them. I then squeezed myself through the small gap of the door and crawled over the man who was lying there. I saw shadows of figures fighting but I couldn¡¯t see him. Vali is.... ¡°Owe my tail!¡± I felt something grip my tail and lift me up into the air. But...I didn¡¯t get lifted that high off the ground. It was the man from before with long black hair. I dangled by him and I could see that he now no longer had any legs. His legs up to his knees are gone and seem to have been burned quite badly. ¡°You...You BASTARD!....You dare mame me! If you don¡¯t put your weapon down where you are now I swear I¡¯ll kill this little demi human right here! So stay right there!¡± I looked up and there I saw him.... Vali...He was looked right at me. His eyes were the same color as the day we met. ¡®Ah...huh?¡¯ The dark haired man who was holding me started to shake and he let go of me. Just before I fell I then found myself sitting on the floor next to Elyria. Her and Noah aren¡¯t awake. They have such horrible wounds. Hjokk then flew down to where I was sitting and her beak bent up showing she was smiling. ¡°It¡¯s ok, everyone¡¯s going to be just fine. Vali¡¯s taking care of it.¡± Boom! I looked over and there now Vali was holding the man who threatened me. He was hitting him and then dropped him on the ground. I felt my heart start to beat harder.....No one has ever, stood up for me before. Or even angry when someone would hit me. Even with Elyria, no one has ever tried to protect me before. I¡¯ve just never had anyone ever really...care about me. Never enough to get angry for me.... He was...crying again. For us...and me? ¡°Please....Ughhhh....Sto...gahhhhh¡± The man continued to scream and beg for his life but Vali didn¡¯t stop. He kept swinging and with every blow a loud sound rang out through the cabin.He just kept swinging until his fists went through the mans face entirely. The mans mouth got torn off and flew off towards the rest of the bad men and then stopped talking completely. Within only seconds Vali¡¯s fists began to crash through the floor boards killing the man who threatening me. He just kept swinging, with tears pouring down his face. He looked so sad....it....it made me sad. I started to crawl towards him since I still couldn¡¯t walk. I had to climb over several of the dead men who came here, but I had to get to him. When I gripped his pant leg he didn¡¯t react to me. His face just looked so sad. His eyes were black and filled with tears. I climbed up onto his lap and used my tail to wipe off his tears. I couldn¡¯t reach with my hands, and besides...I think he likes it when my tail touches him. He sometimes would smile whenever it would. ¡°See...It¡¯s ok...I¡¯m fine see....He only pulled my tail a little.¡± ¡°......Ari?¡± ¡°Yah we¡¯re all ok, you don¡¯t have to be so sad. See¡± I then tried to show him my tail to let him know I was ok. Before I knew what happened he had brought me closer to his chest. It has been such a familiar place for me these past few days. I didn¡¯t know how show how happy I was. My earlierst memory is when my mother....Or I think she was my mother, would lick her tongue over my head and face. It felt warm and really nice....I started to do the same to him. Maybe it could make him feel nice. It felt like it was only me and him in the world. It always felt this way. I could feel the warmth of Elyria now wrapping around us as well. ¡°Yes....you saved us Vali....Thank you.¡± Elyria whispered that into his ear and sand which me between them....This, is the warmest place I have ever known. I wish I could stay with them for the rest of my life. Vali POV Something just.....snapped. I¡¯ve never felt like that before. I¡¯ve blacked out before back at the gym in my world, but this felt different. But when I looked down at that man I had executed him a similar fashion than how I beat that instructor. Maybe with the added affects of Abgrund I feel like I lost it a little. But I can¡¯t use that as an excuse......When I put it away is when I blacked out. I feel bad I showed such a grizzly scene to everyone. After killing Laxus I was brought back to reality by the small girl I saved in a colosseum. She used her tail to wipe the tears running down my cheek to try and cheer me up....This little girl may have healed me more than I¡¯ve healed her. I was then embraced by my mother and Ari and I was brought back to reality that......I wasn¡¯t alone anymore. I could feel Ari¡¯s small cold tongue licking my neck and shoulder while my mother wrapped her arms around us both. Even though I haven¡¯t found my sister, I¡¯m not alone like I was when I was in my old world. ¡°Mmm it smells so good....¡± ¡°Yah mom made this? It smells really good actually.¡± Currently I¡¯m washing Ari¡¯s hair and giving her a bath. I insisted that everyone clean up from the mess but she didn¡¯t want to leave my side. Since I had to clear out all the dead men from the house I would have had Elyria do it but I guess it¡¯s not a problem Everyone¡¯s been through a lot tonight and I was honestly amazed by what she had said. I guess it¡¯s not a big deal because I¡¯ve given my siblings baths all the time. And Ari doesn¡¯t seem to mind. I took her outside and brought out a makeshift bath I made out of a tree. We collect water in buckets and I or Elyria use our fire magic to heat up the water. Even though she is healed entirely. Her body is still very small for her age. Even if she is gaining some weight and growing stronger and more healthy each day, her muscles are still too thin. Her legs were healed by Freya¡¯s Soul Recovery to become practically brand new. But it only repaired the damage. During times of extended starvation the body ate away the muscle after the fat just to survive. It was healed but she¡¯s still too thin too do much by herself right now. Luckily I have people now to collect my water and pile up the dead bodies outside the house. I have Adimar, Akino, and now a strange fellow named Sting. The green haired man with the spear I decided to keep alive. After I came to I decided to finish up the rest but Ari and even my mother insisted I didn¡¯t kill him. Apparently whenever my mom started killing and harming some of theirs Laxus stepped in. She got the upper hand on him which caused him to severely injure her whenever he decided to get serious. Seeing my mother¡¯s beautiful face brought back to such a state hurt me. Because of me again she was hurt. The skin that took the hit looked to have received lightning damage as well. I activated my Soul Recovery and healed her outer wounds but some of her teeth was still missing. I asked Hjokk for that strange vial she gave me earlier to heal all my wounds but she told me that they were incredibly rare. She only had one left and was only to be used incase of emergencies for me. I didn¡¯t think twice and told her to hand it over. I had to have my mothers face back to it¡¯s original light. It¡¯s something that gives me more strength than any skill. Her smile has it¡¯s own healing ability. I continued to brush Ari¡¯s hair with Elyria¡¯s brush and and she seemed to be relaxed. Amazing how this little girl is so attached to me. Amazing how this little girl is so calm. Even during that whole scene she was only worried about me...¡®Hmm...such a weird little girl.¡¯ ¡°Mmmm this water is so warm.¡± We continued to talk and Ari would tell me about what she did that day like she always did when I got home. Our relationship was an odd one, but I feel that these small moments are what keeps me attached.....Even I know there¡¯s something wrong with me. I smiled back at Ari and lifted her back out of the water and put a towel around her. She smiled back up at me and let me dry off her hair. She really was a cute little kid. Her flopped ears flopped back over and her tail now wagged back and forth releasing the water it had collected. I put the towel around her and carried her back around the other side of the cabin. Even though I had Fenrir drag some of the other body parts away. The ground here is soaked with blood and weapons. Such destruction. Fenrir didn¡¯t leave any alive outside of the house. He ate roughly 20 armed men, it was enough that it made Akino and Lily terrified. Though Lily let it go and came inside to be with Noah and everyone else, Akino has yet to take her eyes off Fenrir. He¡¯s now in his small silver form and is inside laying down. I walked around the house and saw Adimar and Akino sitting on the porch looking up at the sky. Sting is sitting only a few feet away from then staring at the ground. He said he was something like an armed guard but I don¡¯t trust him at all. I suppose with the bindings of Gleipnir he won¡¯t be able to harm me or any of those close to me without killing himself. It¡¯s the added effects from the strange divine bindings. Still....I can¡¯t have people like this here. I¡¯ve taken up his and the rest of everyone else¡¯s items and through them into my inventory. I¡¯ll have to look at them all later. Some of the items looked quite expensive. I¡¯ll probably wind up taking him to the dungeon as well and letting him die there. I don¡¯t plan on these three surviving much longer. If it weren¡¯t for this stupid chain around me I wouldn¡¯t have to drag a corpse around with me. Everyone¡¯s already clean but the house is a mess. Mom¡¯s room is still clean so everyone decided it was good to sleep in her room tonight. No one disagreed. I gave Ari to my mother and told her I¡¯d be to bed soon. I still had a few things left to take care of. She kissed me on the forehead and picked up Ari. She hugged her in tight and told me she loved me. I had heard my mother in my last life say she loved us sometimes but, somehow this felt different. I then shut the door behind them and looked at the gross scene that is in front of my view. Blood stained the wood and the walls were destroyed. Hjokk had left to speak with Loki but said she would return quickly. She needed to report on everything that had happened. I¡¯m assuming they have a lot to talk about. So do her and I, I¡¯m sure. After getting hurt from Malthiel she beat me and I have no idea what sort of ideas Loki is telling her to discipline me with now. I walked outside and called Fenrir. There was one more person alive from this night that I haven¡¯t killed yet. It was the leader Yuri. Whenever I woke up I had him tied up with more gleipnir rope to a tree a short ways away from the house. I told Fenrir to go stand by and guard him. It¡¯s not like it matters anyways. Even if he had friends to come find him....They would never be able to take that rope off. When trying to view the rope the only information I received was:
Gleipnir Bindings (Immortal Object)
I walked past the three who were bound by the same rope and headed towards where Yuri was. Whenever I got there he begged for his life. But I was honestly tired and didn¡¯t want to have the chat with him. I asked him several questions about who his clan were and why they were searching for me. ¡°Please...please I beg you. If you just let me live.¡± ¡°Sorry that¡¯s not gonna happen.¡± I told him if he didn¡¯t talk the journey until death would only get worse. He then started to warn me some, this one¡¯s pride seems to be a bit too high. He doesn¡¯t see this is the end for him. I snapped my fingers and Fenrir began to eat the man from his legs up. He screamed and begged for him to stop. His pride stopped the moment Fenrir began to tear into him. He eventually screamed out a few of the answers to my question and I found out that they are a noble family that works for a kingdom in the central continent. They wanted to make me their ally but due to their hostilities a fight happened. They also said they wanted to see my weapon but it¡¯s obvious they were only out to kill me for this weapon. They didn¡¯t want to be my allies. At least the Annunake tried to be sneaky about it, these rats are cowards. I then told Fenrir to finish up the meal and left him there begging for his life. I didn¡¯t want to listen to what he had to say only because I have already heard and seen plenty of unwanted things for the day. I just wanted to get to sleep. ¡°Sto....STOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPP!! Please..... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH¡± I walked away while listening to his death throws and took out the heart of Laxus that I had collected earlier.
Congratulations! You have just learned a new skill! Thunder Jammer
Congratulations! You have gained 1% in Lightning Resistance
¡®Hmm this skill seems interesting. I was assuming I¡¯d get one of his skills that made him move around so quickly but I got something that seems different. Thunder jammer appears to be a disruption based skill. It shoots sparks of lightning off my flesh and can even stop a skill if strong enough. Skills like these came around a lot in the game. Disruption skills were a large component of the game but very rare to find one useful that could be used in the middle of a battle. If you found a strong one you could potentially stop even a boss monster¡¯s special attacks with it. This skill doesn¡¯t seem to have a lot of power to it though. It can¡¯t shoot out of my hands like you see in the movies. Only small sparks appear to buzz around my skin and then stop crackling all together. Maybe it¡¯s due to my low lightning resistance. That Laxus guy was even able to use lightning to make him run faster and punch harder. That must be how he was moving around so quickly. I continued to walk back around the cabin and I saw three figures. I was still chained to Adimar by yet another strong chain so I can¡¯t stay too far away from him. It was weird but the three I bound from earlier don¡¯t appear to be moving. In fact....their heart beats aren¡¯t beating at all? I walked right past them and they appeared to be frozen in time. I then started to hear a familiar laughter and walking out of the cabin was Loki. In a construction hat and overalls he walked out of the cabin holding a tool kit.....¡¯...Um...what are you doing.¡± ¡°.....Honestly I don¡¯t want to deal with it right now I¡¯m going to bed.¡± ¡°Oh come now aren¡¯t you going to thank me for the repairs to your cabin getaway?¡± I peaked inside and it had been completely repaired. It honestly looked better than new and had a small shine to the surroundings. It¡¯s as if the whole grim scene from before never happened at all. The walls were repaired and the wood even looked to be given a new fresh coat of paint. ¡°....You say that but didn¡¯t you just wave your magic around and fix it all. I mean, how long did that really take you.¡± ¡°Seriously, for a human you sure are disappointing. You could at least act impressed once in a while.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s so easy for you to do it, why do you seek so much credit for it? And anyways why are you even dressed like that? Couldn¡¯t you have just waved your foot like before and fixed everything. Why dress up at all?¡± ¡°Huh, oh yah cause that¡¯s just as fun....¡± Loki then made a dissatisfied look and walked past me he waved his hand and two chairs and a table appeared in front of him. He opened up a glass and poured out a bottle of wine. ¡°Come on come sit down....let¡¯s have a chat. This wine I stole from Ponchius¡¯s secret divine vineyard.....He still doesn¡¯t know I know where it is. Let me pour you a glass.¡± Loki then sat down and poured a glass of wine and ushered me to sit down. ¡°Now....I know you must have a lot to say. And I wouldn¡¯t disagree with some of the things you need to get off your chest. But how¡¯s about we sit down and have a drink.....Like bros?¡± ¡°Yah maybe some other time....I¡¯m tired. And you can¡¯t just show up after everything happens and act like we¡¯re peachy Loki!¡± ¡°Mmm....I see. Your probably right. But I even told Hjokk to wait to come back so we could have some bro time!¡±¡± ¡°..........¡± I just looked back at him as if uninterested. Honestly after this day I just want to go lie down next to the ones who have been there for me. It¡¯s not that I¡¯m tired just.....mentally need a break. Sitting here and talking with Loki would only be a pain. I¡¯d have to put forth all my efforts into talking with him and putting up with his weird personality. ¡°Oh come now....Are you going to let those scars of yours define you. Now, how¡¯s about we try playing a drinking game? ¡° ¡°Not interested, and I¡¯m still pissed at you for leaving me in the dark about Kaylan.¡± ¡°Hmm....Ugh I guess your right, but if all I do while we hangout is answer your questions I feel it would grow boring. We could be here forever answering all the things you wish to know of this world, so how¡¯s about we make a compromise hmm? How¡¯s about we play a game.¡± With that Loki snapped his fingers and began to sip on his wine. Appearing in front of him was a chess board. He smiled and leaned back into his chair. He was still in his construction outfit and was waiting for me to take a seat. ¡°.....Yah. If I wouldn¡¯t drink with you why would you think playing a game of chess would change my mind?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s change the rules a bit huh....Let¡¯s play it to where for every piece you take from me.....You may ask me one question....So....interested?¡± He smiled and looked up at me. He then leaned over and poured another glass of wine for himself and ushered me to sit down. He smiled and laughed to himself and continued guzzled down the wine. I looked around and saw that the 3 from before were still frozen in time. Loki must have erected this barrier so we can talk alone again. I walked over to Loki and sat down to have a quick game. Tomorrow I have a meeting with the king of Asher, but I suppose I could stay up just a little while longer. End of Chapter Don''t forget to review and rate my fiction. I enjoy reading your comments so please give a shout. Next chapter out hopefully tomorrow....thanks for waiting and as always thanks for reading! Chapter 15: Dark Ties Hey everyone...Sorry for the wait on this chapter but for those who waited I decided to reward you. This chapter I put quite a bit of effort into and added a lot of information I wasn''t going to reveal until the next arc....but I guess I can give you each a taste of what''s to come. I''ve even thought up some amazing and powerful characters the MC will meet that are both villains and heroes. I''m also going to make some that are equally as cheat like as our troubled MC. So the story will only grow bigger. If your wondering why the MC has gotten so lucky well just think about who the god who blessed him is. The mc is a guy who has a god who goes out of his way to make his champion grow as fast and as strong as possible, but he also wants the mc to grow with his own power to learn humility. Loki''s really a genius in that he picked the perfect place for the mc to meet good allies and grow stronger quickly. The story will take twists and turns but like I said before I hope you all stay along for the ride. This is a world where anything is possible so it''s not always the end for some things. I''ve even got emails from people threatening to drop the series if certain things didn''t happen. Just wait and hopefully you stick it out because it''s going to only get bigger. The mc does still have a long way to go but we''re finding out that there''s a lot more to him than meets the eye.... Well....hopefully you each enjoy Chapter 15: Dark Ties ¡°Mmm that¡¯s more like it. Now drink up!¡± I sat down next to Loki and took the first move by taking out one of my pawns. I then took the glass he handed me and took a sip. It felt like an attack was sent to my mind. I felt a rush of wooziness and then it subsided within a few seconds. It had such a rich and lush exterior that the flavors the came from the grapes are just too flavorful. It was amazing wine, but I¡¯m not sure I can drink something that is so alcoholic. I was never much of a drinker back home. Loki then started to play the game and talk with me about everything that had happened to me since my time here. He spoke about how upset that he was and worried but his speech was started to come out slurred.....¡¯Is this guy seriously already drunk? You better answer my questions!¡¯ ¡°So....quite the day. Wish to talk about it?¡± ¡°Not with you...¡± After taking his first pawn with my own I got to ask my first question. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you bring me into this world close Kaylan?¡± ¡°....Experience I believe drives a man Vali. I wished for you to grow stronger in this world, as she is currently doing herself. I didn¡¯t want you to rely too heavily on each other when you got here. Which could stunt your growths...As well as I wanted to give you a different reason to fight.¡± ¡°So you reincarnated me in this sick place to learn just how twisted it is here? Putting me into a situation where I was forced to see the cruel acts performed on the woman I call my mother? Where I was forced to kill!? What kind of sick freak are you?¡± ¡°....Although that is much more questions than I said I¡¯d allow.....I chose your mother for different reasons than just that. And just so we¡¯re clear....Even though I am a member of the divine, I cannot see the future. So it was impossible to know what was going to happen to you where ever I dropped you. Just like it was impossible to predict any of the things that transpired to you today......though, I am sorry for ...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t give me that...¡± I gave up and trying to understand his sick reasonings for bringing me here. I¡¯m not sure if the other continents are equally as depraved as this one. This continent though.... I feel like in most stories and movies about this sort of thing I would think I¡¯d be transported to somewhere like the central continent. I¡¯m at least told it has some sort of government structure. This continent¡¯s human settled kingdoms don¡¯t seem to follow any at all. He claims it was all for the experience, to drive me somehow? He started to pour another glass and look at the large full moon above us. It was much larger than the moon from my world and appeared much closer to this planet. I took another piece. ¡°Is Kaylan safe?¡± ¡°Yes, even though she travels quite a bit I¡¯m sure she¡¯s safe. She¡¯s becoming quite strong in this world.¡± ¡°Where is she?¡± ¡°Come now Vali you need to take another piece to ask another question. But so you don¡¯t waste it, like I said before I¡¯m really not sure but I assure you as a divine she¡¯s safe.¡± ¡°Just like for me right? Does she have someone around to protect her....like Hjokk?¡± ¡°......Huh you mean Skuld? Yah well....she¡¯s kind of mean though. Your really not playing along with the rules of this game huh.....Fine...A freebie. ¡° I moved my knight around and took his bishop. ¡°What is Abgrund?¡± I then pressed him questions on my scythe. Whenever I was using it earlier.....I could have sworn it was talking to me. No it was....breathing? So, it definitely felt alive in some way. ¡°Oh Malthiel¡¯s weapon hm?¡± He then moved one of his chess pieces casually and answered. He seemed to becoming more drunk in his behavior. ¡°That¡¯s quite the peculiar weapon you got your hands on....VALiiiii. But to answer that question I feel you should rephrase it some. It¡¯ll be much more beneficial to say .....¡± ¡°Loki!¡± ¡°Oh bla bla bla.....Fine. To answer your question you shouldn¡¯t look so much at the weapon but more so at it¡¯s previous wielder.¡± ¡°Malthiel?¡± ¡°Such an interesting name you decided to give that weapon....Abgrund? Hmhm....What¡¯s the matter, worried that after using the weapon of a monster you¡¯d become one yourself?¡± ¡°....just answer the question.¡± ¡°Mhmm....You really don¡¯t know just what sort of thing he was, do you?...We¡¯ll I guess you can say beings as old as us have been around for quite a long time. We each have survived a battle royal between all gods, so you can imagine that those who have remained are something to be feared, especially to mortals.....We¡¯ll Malthiel was once considered to be one of the Four Death Kings. Beings so dangerous on the battlefield they were thusly given the Title of Death itself. Each of these beings with the title of Death fought on different sides, but each one was quite powerful. I honestly had to look a lot of this up just recently so the information is still fresh but.....¡± He stopped to pour himself another glass. He had the same cheeky smile as before and was humming to himself.....¡®Seriously...are all gods like this?¡¯ ¡°Well anyways I have only met one of the Death Kings before but he was something close to that of a Lich. Such a dreary fellow. Really annoying voice too.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that what Malthiel was?¡± ¡°Mm...No not exactly Malthiel is something else entirely. A lich is more like.....an undead king among necromancers. And are more lords over death and bringing back the corpses to do their bidding. Malthiel was in all honestly a being made from death. Once an agent for Hades, but now he appears to have a new master. But they¡¯re nothing compared to the other two King¡¯s of Death I¡¯m told. I never did meet them to be honest.....Well, back to your original question....I¡¯d say in the Universe¡¯s Power Rankings, all beings from mortal, monster, and divine.....Malthiel probably ranked...Oh I don¡¯t know, 400 something. And that weapon of his was his main tool for laying so many to rest. So how¡¯s about you don¡¯t just go flashing it around so much....Some greedy eyes might be watching. I mean...it¡¯s a weapon even capable of passing through my divine barrier.¡± ¡°..........¡± I just stared wide eyed at him. I took another sip of the delicious wine. Loki is getting talkative and forgetting his one question rule. ¡°....Yes, he was quite strong. Strange how a being like that would call someone like Balor master huh? They we¡¯re never allies to begin with. Well Balor was something of a mad god.......he seemed to have even given some special traits of his to that scythe as well. The blade itself is actually made from a rare material known as ¡®realm severer¡¯ but it also appears to have a darkness attribute powerful enough to even break my divine barrier.......Truly fearsome mhmhmhm... Well...I guess we¡¯re just lucky Hjokk was there then hmm?¡± He just smiled up at me as if pressing me to respond, he¡¯s drunk....¡®What do you want you clown?¡¯ ¡°Yah, if she didn¡¯t deliver that finishing blow I would have never survived either.¡± ¡°Yes....Well, you must keep in mind that that woman is still quite young for a divine. To you she¡¯s ancient but I was there when big daddy Odin and the others helped create her. She was always made for battle so she never got to experience much else....Don¡¯t do anything stupid like pick a fight with something of Malthiel¡¯s level again, she¡¯s been given strict orders to descend should the need arise.....Which could ultimately change her very long life. And with some of your actions I honestly feel it necessary to warn you as such....and as your....You know big bro god Loki.¡± ¡°................ And wouldn¡¯t that be your fault? Just don¡¯t give her the order.¡± ¡°...It is...necessary.¡± He burped and moved another piece. ¡°Well...so your saying I could kill god¡¯s with such a weapon.?¡± ¡°Wuhahaha.....Ugh you still don¡¯t get it do yo? You don¡¯t comprehend what gods are. ¡° ¡°Just really old immortal beings.....who can also be annoying. How old are you anyways?¡± ¡°Mhmhmhm.....You don¡¯t know the half of it. To even ask our age you clearly don¡¯t understand. I guess even since Malthiel fell, the weapon still contained quite a bit a lot of it¡¯s old power. I guess it could potentially harm a divine though with that added ability....guuupp......Well....To answer that first...illegal question....If you were to take that big bad scythe of yours out and cut my head off what do you think would happen?¡± ¡®What is he saying?¡¯ ¡°Umm I would probably feel some sense of relief and go to bed?¡± ¡°Wuahaha....Well let me rephrase the question...Do you think I ¡®a god¡¯ can survive even without having my head attached to my body?¡± ¡°.......¡± ¡®Well when he put it that way I guess it wouldn¡¯t seem impossible to think a god could survive without its head. But this thing has the ability to potentially hurt him? Right?¡¯ ¡°...Oh and and f.y.i. that¡¯s where the term ¡®mortally wounded¡¯ comes from mhmhmhm. ¡° ¡°Hmm.¡± I started thinking about all of the information he was telling me. It was a bit to absorb. ¡°Well, just be careful with that thing is all....¡± ¡°What¡¯s the matter Loki....Afraid I¡¯ll become a monster in your world?¡± ¡°Mhmhmhm.....Yes monster is such a relative term isn¡¯t it...To something like a bug, a human is a monster. The term hero is also rather relative....To that small girl you care for I¡¯m sure she thinks of you as her savior....while those you yourself have torn apart call you demon......Interesting isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°No....not really. ¡± I took another piece with my knight while taking another sip of wine. I could feel my vision start to get blurry again. ¡°Hm well, the term god is also quite relative....¡± ¡°Who is Balor?¡± I cut him off and he seeming not to notice started to answer my question. ¡°Mm....Just an old dark god I thought was dead. But this is how the world is....dead doesn¡¯t always stay dead here.¡± ¡°Is he stronger than Malthiel?¡± ¡°Mm....Yes I¡¯d say that he is, but then I¡¯d also say that he wasn¡¯t. Even though I wish for you to gain some information about him I don¡¯t wish for you to seek a fight with him if you can avoid it. Even as a fallen....he¡¯s dangerous. Regardless of your traits.....He is something different entirely. Balor isn¡¯t anything like he is portrayed in your myths. He was always depicted as a monster in your stories. Sure his appearance may have looked grim, and his horns are strong enough to kill gods....But he was a god revered for his genius...brilliant really. More of the mad scientist type. He wasn¡¯t always a mad god though. He even used his darkness attributes to create some amazing things.....And now that same dark god appears to be alive again. I guess I should really check my sources more hmmm.¡± GUuuup! Loki burped and then continued. ¡°Mm...Perhaps you can have some of these fellows over here help you in gaining information about what he¡¯s been up to all this time?¡± ¡°Eh don¡¯t plan on them being much help. They don¡¯t think things through very well and are too dangerous to be kept alive. I plan on giving them back to their race leaders but I might honestly kill them before we get there. If it wasn¡¯t for this stupid chain attached to my arm I¡¯d have probably already done the wolf in. I suppose I could just kill him but then I¡¯d have to lug this chain around.....¡± ¡°Oh yes hahaha. When I heard everything that happened this evening happened while attached to one of Amarok¡¯s children I had a good laugh. Well about the second part....the first part I was truly furious for. ¡° He moved another piece. ¡°Well that stuff is adamantine...probably best to wait till you get the key for it.¡± ¡°Couldn¡¯t you just loosen them for me?!¡± ¡°Possibly....That stuff isn¡¯t man made it¡¯s a material that came off a titan.....Some could even be older than us. No body really knows though....¡± ¡®Loki get¡¯s scatter brained when he drinks. In my world the term for titans were mythological beings that were something of parents to gods. But Loki talks as if they are just really old beings unrelated to them.¡¯ ¡°So your saying god¡¯s would even have trouble with armor made from it?¡± ¡°Mmm, it¡¯s durable that¡¯s for sure. But it wouldn¡¯t be enough to stop a divine....¡± ¡°And this chain is made from one of those ancient beings fangs? That sounds pretty creepy.¡± ¡°Haha...truly....They really were cosmic beings. Well I say were but there are still some of them alive and sealed up today.....Hell your world even has titans in them.¡± ¡°Shut up! I think I would have seen it.¡± I started to forget my anger towards Loki as the drink he provided was delicious. I didn¡¯t believe the words he was saying entirely but I guess he had no reason to lie. This wine is just so delicious though. ¡°I¡¯m serious! The damn thing was sealed up at bottom of your atlantic ocean. Your texts said it would be in the pacific but it was much closer to the Bermuda triangle. I was actually going to take some of it¡¯s cells for a base for one of my pet projects but the magical wards and seals surrounding it were too extreme. I couldn¡¯t even get close to it.¡± ¡°..... Your saying there¡¯s a titan sealed up in my world?¡± ¡°Yeah....I think your people called it....cat something...Ct..hulhu....I don¡¯t know it was definitely a titan though. And to answer your earlier question about removing those chains.....Mmm....no your being rude. But I might consider it if you do me a favor!¡± ¡®Now that I notice how is Adimar attached to me and not pulled into the space with us?¡¯ ¡°And I¡¯d actually prefer it if you didn¡¯t kill those Annunake¡¯s....I believe they can be beneficial to have around....Besides.....I kind of ugh......owe a favor to Amarok so that could totally help with impressing him.¡± ¡°......Why should I do something like that for you...These people ripped me apart!¡± ¡°Desperation brings out the worst in a person. Truly it is powerful enough to rot the soul. Living an eternity for them in such a hell, the ideas of a hero are nonexistent. But wouldn¡¯t keeping them alive to torment each day for their sins sound a little better than just ending their lives? Come on Val... are you going to let all those scars define you. Or are they simply going to become carvings on your soul...while you march forth to victory!¡± He started to speak in a rhythmic tone and sing. Yah...He¡¯s wasted. ¡°You said that once already!¡± ¡°Oh did I? Well anyways Vali, I would just prefer it if you kept them alive for now. If you were to do this for me, it would help to me, it would help me. I mean Amarok is the one who gave Fenrir his blessing......and in return I¡¯ll.....mmm.....Oh, I¡¯ll return all of the things Malthiel dropped.¡± ¡°....You bastard! You did take more things.¡± ¡°What?...You didn¡¯t even technically kill him anyways so stop complaining. I just feel a little uncomfortable giving someone so young weapons of mass destruction. ...You know what happens when a baby goes out and makes a mess in public...They don¡¯t blame the baby...they blame the parent!¡± ¡°Your calling me your baby now? What happened to big bro Loki?¡± ¡°I¡¯m both! Now....MMmmmm......I move here!¡± He moved his pieces around and I then noticed something....Loki hasn¡¯t taken a single one of my pieces yet. ¡®You¡¯d only soon the god of games would be good but he must be too drunk to keep up. My mind has definitely become much sharper due to my increased intellect, but with the added effects of the alcohol...it¡¯s my win. ¡°....Checkmate!!!!!¡± ¡®Wait what?¡¯ Loki started laughing as he declared victory and stood up and started stretching....Wait how did he do that. I had just taken his queen moments ago. I had the win. But he simply moved one his only remaining pieces left to trap my king in a box around several of my other pieces. ¡°....You see...Sometimes it is necessary....to sacrifice a few things to attain victory......Don¡¯t you agree Vali?¡± He looked down at me and smiled. He then glanced up at the moon and I didn¡¯t answer him. He just laughed and told me a quote from a book he read in my world known as ¡®Of Mice and Men¡¯. ¡°A guy goes nuts if he ain¡¯t got nobody.....Don¡¯t make difference who the guy is...I tell ya.....a guy gets too lonely....... an¡¯ he starts to get sick.....¡± ¡°What are you saying now?¡± He started to walk away to the house to look at the flowers. I now see the grass and the terrain has been completely repaired in the space we¡¯re standing in. ¡°Just saying.....Your not alone anymore Vali. It¡¯s ok to enjoy yourself here. Even if your goal is to reunite with Kaylan and ultimately leave this place. I¡¯m sorry for all that has happened to you in your life, I am sorry for all that has happened to you here since. I take all the blame......But if I can quote a famous biologist from your world.....It is not the strong who survive, nor the smart.....it is those most capable of adapting to their own environments who ultimately survive.....¡± He smiled and moved his hand around the flower petals. He wanted me to learn a lesson from my mistakes I¡¯ve made so far and learn from them rather than lose my self in vengeance. I lost control, and I can¡¯t do something like that with ¡°You¡¯ve chosen to play by the rules in a world that lost the directions.....I think it¡¯s time to create our own rules from now on then shouldn¡¯t we!?¡± He looked up at me and then disappeared. The space we we¡¯re in distorted and came back to real time. ¡°Woh...look at the ground.¡± ¡°The blood¡¯s....all gone?¡± ¡°......¡± They then noticed me and I didn¡¯t say anything to them. Wait....that bastard didn¡¯t break my chains to this wolf! ZAP! Suddenly everyone¡¯s figures froze again and I heard giggling. I turned around and there was Loki. He picked up the wine bottle and waved at me before disappearing again....No wait!!!! ¡°Ughh....he¡¯s so drunk he forgot!¡± ¡®Maybe I should just cut this wolves arm off?¡¯ Snap! Right then a loud snap and the chain around me and the wolf broke as if Loki just remembered. I put the chain in the inventory, then walked back into the cabin and told everyone they would be sleeping outside tonight. If they for any reason try to run, attack me or my family, the magic in the bindings would go off and kill them. I activated it as a quick reminder what would happen if they disobey me. ¡°What we can¡¯t sleep in your house?¡± ¡°No I don¡¯t want your fur getting all over the house. We just cleaned....¡± I answered Akino while looking right at Adimar. It was true the house was now clean since Loki had been here. His abilities are rather convenient. I guess for all that¡¯s happened that¡¯s the least he could do. Akino and Adimar just looked up at me puzzled. Fenrir ran past me and into the house to lay down on the animal skin couch. They then gave me and even odder look. ¡°What?.....Now sleep.¡± Sting didn¡¯t say much and just sat down in the corner and put his back against the wall. I¡¯ll have Fenrir guard the front door tonight while we get some sleep. His senses are much better than mine. He as well as the other two no longer had weapons. The Annunake¡¯s claws are incredibly sharp but if something happens and they attack again. I¡¯ll kill them with my death magic immediately. I don¡¯t believe they¡¯ll try anything, but I don¡¯t trust any of them. I don¡¯t have the luxury to trust any one in this world. I walked into the house and pet Fenrir¡¯s head. I guess he¡¯s tired, he¡¯s had a big meal of all those who were standing guard outside. They along with a few of the members inside were already injured by my mother so he took them each down quite easily. Whenever they heard I was inside they didn¡¯t think to turn behind them. I wonder how many abilities he¡¯s absorbed.....Hmm... I decided I¡¯d wait till tomorrow to eat some of the hearts of those that were inside the house that I killed. Maybe they might have some interesting abilities. I walked towards my mothers room and could hear voices coming from the inside. ¡°Why!...Why do you trust in him so much! He¡¯s human....the same as the people who killed our whole family!¡± ¡°No Noah!....He¡¯s not like the other humans....He¡¯s...He¡¯s nice to me. ¡° ¡°But.¡± ¡°No Noah!....Whenever I was being chased by bad people he saved me. Whenever I was scared....he¡¯d hold my hand., just like you do.....And whenever I asked him to save you...He...he did it without even asking for anything in return.....I believe can trust him Noah.¡± ¡°Lily....¡± ¡°Yes...It¡¯s ok to be guarded. It¡¯s what has kept you alive for so long Noah. But you needn¡¯t worry about my son. He is genuinely a kind man who enjoys taking care of others....He protected all of us today.¡± ¡°Yah...he saved us¡± I then could hear my mother and Lily speaking up for me. ¡°Ok....Ok...I¡¯m sorry. ¡° ¡°It¡¯s ok Noah....We don¡¯t blame you for your feelings about humans or my son. But in time....I hope you¡¯ll each learn that he is going to continue protecting this cabin and those who live in it.....We cannot just souly rely on my son¡¯s strength forever, but together we can live and grow together......as a family.¡± My mother began to console Noah with her words. I could even envision her hugging him just as she does me....She called them family. I guess to her having those around she cares about, anyone who¡¯s left in her life she loves to the extent of family. I want to protect that for her. ¡°Right...Elyria says we¡¯re all a family.¡± I heard Ari¡¯s voice as I started to open the door. I could see everyone was now on the floor in a group hug. My mother had Lily and Noah in her arms while arm was in her lap. Everyone looked up at me and Ari tried to get up. I walked over to her and she stood up. She wobbled a little but she was standing. She had been with us for less than week and already she is able to stand. She can¡¯t walk for very long due to her muscle strength but seeing her healing and rehabilitation warms my heart. Even with the power of my healing it couldn¡¯t immediately cure her. It¡¯s taken time. Her muscles were repaired like the rest of her body. But it was still to thin to support the rest of her weight. But slowly she¡¯s starting to fill out along with her cheeks and stomach. Even when I was giving her a bath earlier I noticed her ribs weren¡¯t showing like they had been before. Of all the people in this world who should fear me....It¡¯s this girl....After everything that I did in front of her....I really did snap. And yet, she doesn¡¯t judge me in the slightest. She accepts me, just like my mother, just like.....these two have also been coming to do. I would imagine after losing control in front of Ari, she¡¯d not want to stay as close to me. But she just looked up and lifted her hands up to me as if signaling she was about to be picked up....She trusts me. This girl just....Has a way of healing me. With the loss of my siblings I lost two of my supporting pillars in my life. I also lost two roles that were predominant throughout my whole life. That of a sibling, and almost a parent to brother and sister. They were my whole my life.... ¡®Loki¡¯s right...I¡¯m not alone anymore. This is much better than searching for Kaylan or my siblings killer...alone.¡¯ I hugged Ari close to me and I could feel she was lightly licking my neck again. As if she was wiping away all past wounds herself. I looked up and there standing was Noah. ¡°Tha....Thank you for saving Lily....Thank you for everything!......¡± He bowed his head to me and and his ears drooped to the side. ¡°Alright....stop saying weird things before we¡¯re about to sleep weirdo...¡± I looked up and sitting on the bed were my mother and Lily. They both looked up at us with a bright smile and we all got in bed. Between me and my mother was Ari. On the other side of my mother was Lily and then Noah.... And just like that the 5 of us lied down together and shared in each others warmth. It had been an eventful day for all of us....Events all of us wish didn¡¯t happen but they did. We only just started to realize it was safe to fall asleep and share in the warmth and comfort of one another. It was....oddly peaceful. Maybe what mom said was right, this is our odd little family. It isn¡¯t a comfort I¡¯ve felt since sleeping with my family when I was back home. I looked down at Ari and she whispered good night to me. My mom was already passed out. They each looked to be equally as comfortable. I patted her head and she closed her eyes. If a girl that has been through as much as she has can find still find happiness and peace in this world, why can¡¯t I? Just like that I got some of the best sleep I¡¯ve ever had, in this world and my old one. I was so comfortable my head found the pillow made from layers of cloth felt like heaven itself. Thoughts of how I could find such comfort after so much has happened only was a grim reminder to myself moments before drifting off into sleep. I glanced at my wrist which once held the chain around it, which once was pealed off right in front of me. Just as my consciousness faded away I heard slight rattling noises. But I was so comfortable I simply drifted asleep. -------------------------------------------------- ¡°Umm...Why of all places would you want to come here?¡± ¡°I need information on a few things....Besides this trip has multiple purposes to it. Also I thought I told you to stop talking. ¡° Sting started to question my plans. His surprise wasn¡¯t wrong. Currently the image of the Aldain kingdom was in our sites. When I woke up this morning there was a lot on my mind. It¡¯s already been such an eventful day and it¡¯s still just starting. First I woke up early to the wonderful site of those I fell asleep with didn¡¯t have any trouble sleeping. Even myself, I feel somehow refreshed today. I guess letting out some of that anger may have helped. I then started the morning with a light workout and training while Fenrir stood by and watched. I would have liked to eat the hearts of all those who came here to get a large assortment of skills but.....Fenrir ate them all.....Everything! I was slightly annoyed and walked past the three who were asleep on the porch. The three that I currently have bound by Gleipnir didn¡¯t talk much this morning. In fact even now, Adimar and Akino haven¡¯t said more than a few words to me. After the images they saw last night....of Fenrir....of me. I think they¡¯re growing to learn to fear me. Which is best. During my workout I even had Adimar come and spar with me. He wasn¡¯t nearly as strong as he was in the dungeon. Nor was he as strong as he fought last night. In fact the separation of the two is like night and day. He¡¯s sluggish. It¡¯s as if the toll of his wounds are finally starting to show. The beating I gave him was to the extent of several broken ribs and a shattered shin bone. His movements as an alpha was still exceptional. He just couldn¡¯t keep up with me now that I was free of those chains. Along with the extent of his wounds he took a real a beating. Never once did he complain or stop though. I feel as though I¡¯m becoming a bully. But they won¡¯t receive any mercy from me. Their lives belong to me now. In a world without government, why should I play by the rules. ¡®Loki was right.¡¯ We continued to walk closer to the gates of the Aldain kingdom. There was a long line waiting to get into the city and I could see even from this distance it would take forever to get in. I eventually had to heal Adimar of his wounds from training with me. The scars that Hjokk had left on him looked like they were done roasting and started to fester. He could¡¯ve just as easily died from that. It¡¯s not as kindness from me, I¡¯m simply prolonging his life. Loki wants me to spare these people but I can¡¯t say I¡¯ve come around to agreeing with him. Regardless of being chained by Gleipnir, they¡¯re dangerous. I let out enough steam last night but I felt my blood was just starting to boil when I saw these three again. After letting a bit of repressed anger on them I calmed down. I healed Adimar of his wounds and the open gash had started to seal up and repair like new. I had to extend a bit of extra magic into this ability but the affects of my healing magic now as an area of affect are tremendous. I¡¯m not sure though if this is possible on this skill level yet. I¡¯ll need to ask that from the king later. Everything other than Adimar¡¯s eye that had been completely destroyed was still missing. The eye I delivered a Lord¡¯s Earth Shattering Smash towards must have came out of his skull. I can¡¯t reattach limbs so he continued to keep the bandages covering his eye. The wound from Hjokk left on his chest however remained. It looked like a dark skar that extended diagonally across his chest and abdomen. Even with my healing ability it didn¡¯t heal everything entirely so it remained as just a scar. He kept scars from the two of us. I ended up cooking everyone a meal after that. Ari and Lily helped and they even made extra for the 3. I guess I didn¡¯t mind it. I learned quite a bit from Sting though. Once he started talking I swear he wouldn¡¯t shut up. My mother asked him things about his life and he was getting oddly close to her. I activated dark pressure with him as the soul target. He eventually gave up but didn¡¯t give up on talking. He is apparently an intermediate level adventurer in the central continent and was hired as an ¡®escort¡¯ of sorts to help in bringing in new ¡®talent¡¯ to certain kingdoms there. He was hired by a kingdom off the coast of the central continent to come help the Elliot family seek out and speak with me. When they heard of what happened in Aldain the Elliot¡¯s were sent by that same kingdom to only talk to me, but due to their arrogance the whole meeting turned into a massacre. He also said that Laxus psycho was the brother of an incredibly powerful mage in the central continent. I do seem to recall him going off about his brother being a god or something, but maybe that was just a title. Well it seems I might have more people gunning for me now. I pressed him more later for information but he seem to preoccupied with eating his meal that I made. I don¡¯t think he realizes the situation he¡¯s in at all. After breakfast Hjokk arrived with a small chest of items. The amount of things in this small storage container was too much to count and most of it looked like ingredients to things that I want no part of. They were the collection of items that Loki had taken from Malthiel. Their were several books that seemed interesting and even items that looked cursed. But there was a lot of jewelry and magical items in there as well. I still couldn¡¯t view most of the stats for them as I didn¡¯t have a skill to. ¡® Is it really that hard to obtain a skill to observe items in this world? In the game that skill came with every character, but in this world I can¡¯t even view all the stats on Abgrund. I feel that the only reason I can see so much is due to me being regarded as the current wielder. I could only view certain things of each item as it was too high class to know just what they were exactly. I however did see two items of which I put on immediately. From the few words I gathered from them they each came with abilities I couldn¡¯t resist.
Midnight Gauntlet (Divine Item) (Unknown Maker) Magic Null -Usable Skill: Dark Aura Duration: 10 Minutes Cool Down Time: 13 Hours Absorb the darkness around you to to erect a wall of darkness for you and your allies. Dark Aura will provide a barrier of darkness that absorbs all incoming damage. Max number of individuals can be used on: 6 -Option Skill: Midnight Aura Duration: Only available during the night Cool Down Time: 24 Hours Use the gift of the night to increase the power of Dark Aura. Allows darkness to absorb more damage and last longer
Infinity Ring (Celestial Item) (Unknown Maker) High Magic Recovery Status Hide (Higher Tier) - Usable Skill: Mana Bomb Skill Cost: 50% of Mana Cool Down Time: 10 minutes Fire a bomb of concentrated magic at your enemies. 50% of total damage will then be converted back into your own magic
¡®Yah....these are cheat items. If I had these whenever I got surrounded, they wouldn¡¯t have stood a chance. This looks like the same ability Malthiel used to absorb all of mine and Hjokk¡¯s attack......YES!¡¯ Walking closer to the crowded line, I looked closer at the amazing items that boss monster dropped. Well calling him a boss I feel now is an understatement. He was a very old, very powerful being...¡¯..And currently I¡¯m wearing some of his equipment! If I use this gauntlet ability, for 10 minutes I could become unstoppable. If it was at night.....even longer. Then there¡¯s this other ring that looks to be equally as interesting. ¡®Heh...with this I really am going to look like the villain.....Well like Loki said, it¡¯s all relative. To Ari she looks up at me like a hero....to this city.......I am going to be the demon who killed them all.¡¯ But I need to do this correctly. I¡¯ve already seemed to have gained several enemies as is. After killing that Elliot clansman last night I¡¯m aware now that there are people looking for me. Even a kingdom I¡¯ve never heard of before. After killing Laxus I may even wind up with a few new enemies on my hands. I would have never left the house today if my Hjokk didn¡¯t also bring a peculiar item back from Asgard. She said it was something she had been working on and it was an item that looked like a vase. Lily and Ari eventually put flowers into it but it¡¯s actually an item that has a peculiar barrier magic intact. When Hjokk activated it, it extended almost a mile around the house. That barrier is suppose to make it impossible now to find this house. The only way in now is if I use spatial magic. Anyone can exit, but it is now impossible to enter without Hjokk¡¯s access. Well she did give the item to me so I guess anyone in the house can use the item to let someone through the barrier. But everyone¡¯s been warned about it. I left Fenrir there just incase. I¡¯m still not comfortable leaving that house right now but Hjokk insured me other than being the Valkyrie of storms she is a master of barrier magic. It is her job as a bodyguard to the gods to be adept in such. Well right now it¡¯s the three soon to be dead companions, Hjokk and myself. Adimar and Akino still haven¡¯t said much. Even when he was taking that beating he just stood and took it as if trying to atone for what he did. It didn¡¯t move me in the slightest. Akino however made some angry faces towards me. She didn¡¯t however say anything. When we got to the line there was a carriage and wagon with merchants and groups of people trying to sell things while waiting in line.It didn¡¯t take long to get here. I made Adimar carry Sting and Akino ran behind me. Even though Sting is is higher level than me his agility is only 2600. His stamina is even less than that. Speaking of the stats of Adimar and Akino were somewhere close to my own stats. They were much higher level than me but my strength was slightly higher than their¡¯s. Their speed though were each higher than mine. I still don¡¯t get though how if I¡¯m much stronger than them Adimar managed to take me down and hold me to the ground for so long. He showed to be much stronger than the rest of that pack. Sting said he was considered an intermediate level adventurer but his stats were just ridiculously too low compared to mine. He only laughed and said ¡®well yah, I¡¯m not a hero or some blessed being.¡¯ I then heard him mumble something like me being a monster after that but I didn¡¯t listen. He says his strengths are in poison and fighting with a spear. That¡¯s how he put my mother and Noah out before they could get hurt any worse. He also hit me with a poison attack I had to heal with a magic stone just to get rid of it.....He was smart though. The way he fought, he could think so clearly with all that was happening so quickly around him. Regardless if his stats are low, he thinks quite quickly on his feet. I¡¯ve thought about just killing him here but I¡¯ve decided I¡¯m going to give him an opportunity. I¡¯m going to see what kind of people these three are. In my mind their lives are dangling by a very thin thread. ¡°Sting...does anyone in this kingdom know you?¡± Thinking of this man maybe thinking of trying something I ask him. My family said he wasn¡¯t like the other¡¯s in the house but I can¡¯t just put my trust in him, regardless if he has that binding around his neck. ¡°No....We met the Elliot¡¯s in another kingdom. Though there were members of Aldain who met with us as well, most of them you and your dog killed.¡± ¡°He¡¯s a wolf actually.¡± ¡°That thing is a monster....¡± ¡°Haha.....¡± I remember what happened last night. I kicked Sting through my cabin wall. He must have flown outside to where Fenrir was eating all those outside....I did however tell him to eat anything that ran outside. I wonder why he didn¡¯t eat this guy. ¡°Hey....Hey boy!¡± I turned around tot he sound of some arrogant person yelling in my direction. I turned around and a big heavy set fellow walked up to me. ¡°You....How much you want for that demi human girl behind you? I¡¯ve never seen such a beautiful and fit slave.¡± ¡°........¡± Grrrrrrrrr Adimar behind me started to growl towards the on comer which made the man and several people behind him only became startled at his appearance. I mean, he is roughly 7 feet tall. Regardless of his bandages, he could easily tear these people apart. Hell....I bet me and these three could probably kill this whole small kingdom here if I wanted to. But I can¡¯t do that. It needs to be handled better than that or other kingdoms are going to just think I¡¯m so psychopath and come to this kingdom to find and kill me. ¡°Hey....What kind of demi human is that!....It just growled at me! ¡° Everyone in the surroundings looked at Adimar with anger and some with fear. I looked at him to calm down as if not to draw too much attention to ourselves. ¡°Yes....sorry he can be quite a pain sometimes......Not too worry though he has a leash.¡± I then activated the shock and they saw him howl in pain for a couple seconds. He looked up at me and I ushered him to play his role. ¡°And anyways....sorry but I won¡¯t be selling these slaves. I¡¯ve worked quite hard at raising them you see....¡± ¡°Oh yes, yes I can see that. Your clearly quite the slaver! Well if you ever change your mind come find me...I¡¯ll pay you 2 gold for the wolf and 4 gold for the woman.....What do ya say? Sure I can¡¯t change your mind?¡± ¡°No...sorry.¡± I waved him off and he seemed kind of annoyed by my display. I looked past him and saw that the line was slowly dwindling down. The kingdom of Aldain is honestly a disgusting place. Even the wall they¡¯ve erected is made of wood and tree branches roped together. Looking forward I see something that catches my eye. There standing in the distance are stakes driven into the ground, and resting on these stakes, are corpses. There nailed to the stakes look like deformed bodies that have been mutilated before The bodies were skinned.... There had to be at least, 20 bodies all skinned and nailed to the stakes. What city puts this in front of their gates? ¡°What sort of place is this Vali?¡± Akino looking where my eyes were drawn gave a voice of disgust. Adimar and Sting too seemed to think the site was also unpleasant. Looking through the bodies it was hard to tell, men/women it was impossible to know, they looked like elves though. Blood was still dripping down their legs but what was even more odd is no one else in the line seemed to be distracted by it. You could even see kids in the distance running around and playing not a few feet away form them. Is it really that normal for kids to not be bothered by it here? ¡°This is the city I wanted to show you both....¡± They then turned and looked at me with an odd face. I wasn¡¯t lying. Even if I wasn¡¯t sure about killing each of them yet, I wanted them to see the state the world was in. They haven¡¯t been outside that dungeon in their entire lives. After somehow killing Balor, those people won¡¯t be able to just leave and settle on this continent without more problems. If we aren¡¯t united, then we may end up in the same state as my mothers tribe. I want these two to report back what they¡¯ve seen. They¡¯ll at least listen to this wolf, he is or was their alpha at one point. ¡°Why?.....¡± Akino then looked at the last two corpses on the line. They were small and tiny. They¡¯re bodies looked much different than that of a humans and it was obvious that it was a demi human species. The bones didn¡¯t match up to a humans. They were.....they were children. I clenched my fist seeing this site....This city. This whole city will pay for what it¡¯s done. I started to walk away and have them all follow me. I needed to take a breather. I feel I was going to lose control again. This damn kingdom! ¡°I guess that is what happens when just any guild is allowed to run a kingdom.¡± ¡°Wait what?¡± Sting just said a ludicrous comment. Their not royalties? I then learned from Sting that this entire kingdom is actually a kingdom that is currently being run and operated by a guild. The man who calls himself the King of Aldain is not a royalty but someone who was a guild master on the continent and became an Earl for one of the kingdoms in this continent. He then defeated a famous dungeon and became a king over a small area. This is one of the areas the king controls. I still need to find out all the information of Aldain that I can from the king tonight. If it¡¯s possible, I need to figure out all allied nations and groups of this kingdom and their nobility. Those in charge of this place need to be sent to hell. I need to know all who would take up arms should this city be destroyed. My mother was always the christian woman. When I read certain stories from the bible researching demons I came across a city that was said to be so evil God himself rained down fire to burn it. Killing an entire city.....would it really be so evil? ¡°The only reason I brought you along was to see this place with your own eyes. ¡° This is the reason I wanted to make your people my allies, but due to your stupidity. I¡¯m probably going to have to grovel to another kingdom just to protect my family. I¡¯m not going to trust these so called Asher¡¯s but due to these circumstances I need strong connections and authority right now. If I have a strong figure backing me I can probably gain rights to land in this place, since I¡¯m human. Though...I may have to become a sort of vassal type figure for their kingdom. The princess wanted me to become her knight? I guess a vassal is a sort of knight in it¡¯s own right. A vassal in olden times were men and women who swore fealty to a lord and promised to defend them in exchange for land or power. This world¡¯s social structure I believe may work that way with the royalties and nobility. I¡¯d assume from what that Elliot and Laxus guy were implying is that my weapon and my power is coveted. The idea of an overly strong individual with an army of powerful demi humans promising to take up arms to defend them in exchange for some land and a little authority. I¡¯d assume a king in such a world would want strong allies. I don¡¯t plan on becoming a conqueror for them, but hopefully the king of Asher is a different man than the one of Aldain. I don¡¯t plan on pledging allegiance to any king here, but maybe with this princess I can somehow gain some allies in this world. I may need to show off a little....hmm but how. I need to make them want to become my ally and never to cross me..... We continued walking until we walked around the side of the wall. It extended far past into the woods miles into the distance. I¡¯m told this isn¡¯t a large kingdom but it looks like a decently large city. Ugh...I guess I have to go wait back in line now huh. I wish I could just....wait why don¡¯t I just move into a space inside the city............ ¡®Damn! I wasted money when I came here the first time!.......This city shall face my wrath!¡¯ ¡°Damn this CITY!¡± ¡°Yah....disgusting really.¡± Sting then interjected. Ugh he¡¯s been talking a lot today. When we stopped at the halfway marker by where we first met Lily he tried talking the whole time. I don¡¯t think Adimar and Akino understand him though. I keep forgetting that there¡¯s language barriers in this world. I just don¡¯t always notice it. Just like I don¡¯t notice I have an ability that warps me through space at will and I don¡¯t even use it to skip lines and gate fees at will. It¡¯s really not that hard. After talking with Hjokk about the barrier I used my spatial magic in a way that set certain locations to move to. I got the idea from her strange tether ability from before. I just make a set space my own and whenever I want to go to that location I open it up and place it over the open space. I set the locations at my cabin and the place where we met Lily. It is a location quite close to where we will meet the King later. I told each of them to hold hands and then activated my spatial magic to warm inside the gate of Aldain. ¡°Wah!¡± ¡°Woh that was cool!¡± ¡°.....¡± Akino, Sting and Adimar each gave their own odd facial expression at moving through space through the first time. Or well first for all but Adimar. We started to walk through the city and through the streets spread with merchants and customers. Some one stop and stair and Adimar and Akino. Voices would clamor at seeing such a large and strong looking demi human, while others would clamor at the beauty of Akino. If what sting says is true....the majority of this city is basically an entire guild that calls this place their kingdom. The nobles here, such as the Tyrule¡¯s are nothing more than financial backers for them. Running a kingdom I assume can gain individuals a lot of money but this kingdom is rotten. The city streets are dirty. Though there are sites of kids running and playing. People buying weapons, armor, and clothing. There were some stalls that sold food but the quality all looked bad. The entire place just looked dirty. But maybe this is my own convictions about the place. We continued walking through the crowd and Sting nor the other two tried to run away or run away from me. Not that they would survive long but, just surprised they haven¡¯t tried anything at all. I walked into a store that wasn¡¯t open the first time I came here. It was a larger building than that red haired man¡¯s shack but but was roughly the size of my house. Not my cabin, but my house in the old world. It had a large assortment of weapons, shields, and armors. After getting clawed at I¡¯ve been meaning to think of getting some form of armor to protect my body but none of this looks to be of great quality According to what I¡¯m told this armor wouldn¡¯t do anything anyways. I then went to the clothing section and picked out a few sets of shorts and shirts for everyone else back at the cabin. I got sizes for everyone and enough spare cloth for mom to make something for everyone should she wish it. She has a knack for being very creative with the things she makes. I also got everyone things like underwear and shoes, some of them have never even wore any. It¡¯s not a skill, she¡¯s just a very resourceful woman. I got a few extra outfits for Ari because I can remember my siblings when they started to hit their growth spirts. They grew out of clothes so quickly it just, became expensive so maybe I can grab some items should these kids start growing as well. I then walked over to a wall that looked to sell magical items. There was a ring with a small blue ruby. Mana Recovery 20 per Minute. A green dagger that has added poison damage. ¡®Hmm everything here is crap.¡¯ The prices are insane. 2 Gold....10 gold? It¡¯s in a case as if it¡¯s important? I then walked over to a shelf that had several small crystals. They looked like......What magical cores! There was 4 magical cores. 2 blue, 1 yellow, 1 red. Yellow is the same level that gave Tanin his fire ability and they even have a red one in there. The amount of skills he got just from absorbing one was amazing. I grabbed the four stones and collected them as well. They didn¡¯t have a price tag for them. I then grabbed a few other water stones that are magical items that have water stored in them and when you release it you can use it as drinking water. I went to the front and the cost for everything was 97 gold....I used negotiation to see if it worked. But he said the magic stones are too valuable and he would lose profit. He lowered it to 80 gold coins but he wouldn¡¯t go lower. I then activated dark pressure and tried it again and I got him to go for 47. He also appeared to have wet himself. I turned around and saw that Sting was looking at women¡¯s clothing. No....children¡¯s clothing? ¡°What are you doing?...Don¡¯t tell me your one of those guys.¡± I then realized I had just purchased several articles of women and children¡¯s clothing. But what¡¯s he thinking, I practically own him right now. He then laughed and commented on what I had just bought and I had no response. We each left the store and the store owner and those in the store wouldn¡¯t stop staring at the 5 of us. I guess we do look like an odd group. I even have a purple bird on my shoulder eating something. She said she was going to be more strict with me from now on which I don¡¯t even know what that means. I guess she figured it was partially my fault what happened in the dungeon. I walked into that trap. I can¡¯t be stupid anymore but I have no idea what level of threat that is by being more strict? She¡¯s just been eating on my shoulder all day. Well...I guess it¡¯s not like she can do too much to me without being in risk of descending. I wonder how she was allowed to kill someone like Malthiel without descending. Maybe it depends on the conditions, like if he attacked her first? I continued thinking of this as we left the store. We walked through a large crowd and we could hear a a man yelling over the crowd. ¡°Who will give me 60 silver for this demi human child. Strong enough to do work. Very docile!¡± ¡°Eh...here I¡¯ll give you 60.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll give you 60 and 1 large copper!¡± Crowds started to bid on a young demi human child. I was simply a head taller than everyone else so I could see through the crowds. There roughly 30 people ahead a young girl was pulled from a black iron cage and yanked away from another. She had grey short hair and appeared to be around Lily¡¯s age. She was small, she was more feminine then Lily. The girl look terrified.... ¡°61 silver!¡± ¡°Ah! I¡¯ll have her work my farms 70 Silver!¡± ¡°Sa...Sasha!¡± The young neko girl continued holding onto a ribbon in her hand that fell as she screamed for someone else. She reached for the ribbon and picked it up only to have her tailed pulled once she grabbed it. ¡°Alright sold!¡± The little girl was then drug away as she started to shed tears down her face. She was shaking and being ushered down a small staircase towards a man and peculiar dog. It had dark brown fur and a large head. It wasn¡¯t any bread I¡¯ve seen in my world. Perhaps it¡¯s a monster? It started barking and glaring it¡¯s teeth at the small girl as she walked down the steps. She continued to shake and cry to where words she was saying didn¡¯t make since anymore. ¡°Ah.ehwawwaw¡± Akino behind me started to show tears in her eyes as I could hear Adimar starting to breath louder. I can¡¯t have them act up here. But I too can¡¯t continue to watch this. Snap! RUF! RUF! RUF! I used my spatial magic to warp the space the dog was in towards a peculiarly rich fellow a few meters away. ¡°AHh what! Kill this wretched thing at once!¡± The men surrounding the man stabbed and swung swords down at the dog and severed it¡¯s head. The man standing next to it then turned around and noticed his pet was now killed and I guess in anger didn¡¯t realize that magic was just used. He started screaming and yelling at the nobleman and it was at this time I snapped my fingers again. This time I warped the space of the small girl who was still standing at the foot of the staircase confused. ¡°Wah....uh.¡± ¡°Shhh..¡± I ducked and wrapped Malthiel¡¯s cloak around her just like I had for Lily. I hid her and let her stand behind the large body of Adimar. We continued to stand there as we watched the men fight and argue. The man on the small wooden stage then started to talk again. ¡°And now we got a rare find today! A rare Fuchs race! Who here will give me 3 gold!¡± ¡°Ugh...shut this kill this idiot old man. I¡¯ll give you 3 gold right here!¡± I could slightly hear the sounds of the background people yelling. None of them seemed to care about the small girl disapearing and the man who just bought her was just murdered. They just cut him down in public as if it was nothing. The guards and everyone around didn¡¯t even move to stop it from happening. The man¡¯s head then fell to the ground. I looked down at the small neko girl to quiet her down. I told her it was all going to be alright now. She looked up at me with her mouth open and didn¡¯t know how to respond she just continued to hold onto the ribbon in her hands. Tears were still falling down her dirty face and falling onto her bruised up hands. Her foot was purple and looked to have been from twisting her ankle pretty bad if not from the shackles around her legs. I put my hands on top of her head and her ears drooped to the side. She flenched and clenched her ribbon but she didn¡¯t run away. She was as if accepting whatever was coming to her abuse or..... A small light pressed from my fingers and onto her head. She made a slight nya sound and she really did resemble a cat. It wasn¡¯t just the ears or the tail even her mannerisms by how she brings her hands to her chin and wiggles her body. ¡°Ok so 5 gold can anybody here give 5 gold!....Rare Fuchs race!¡± ¡°Sasha!¡± The small neko girl then started to shake and cry she couldn¡¯t see over the crowd but she must have been talking about her friend. Wait...Fuchs race! I looked up and there standing was....a girl who resembled my mother. She looked to be around 14 or 15. Her hair was short brown with orange bangs. She was wearing the same rags as this small girl below me but she looked to be much cleaner. ¡°10 gold!¡± I bid on her. I was stood up and had Akino hold onto the girl behind Adimar. ¡°WHAT!....YOU!.....11 gold!¡± The same nobleman from before looked at me with cold eyes and tried to outbid me. ¡°...15 gold.¡± He then gave me a look of shock...I don¡¯t know how much 15 gold is yet in this world. The magic items in that shop were way over priced it seems. I think to the conversion rate 5,000 gold should be able to buy you a castle. But this kingdom doesn¡¯t appear to have a very rich economy. This guy here doesn¡¯t belong. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Hjokk then whispered into my ears. ¡°You can¡¯t save the whole world Vali? Listen I know you want to play the hero route but you can¡¯t just keep rescuing every stranger in trouble you see.¡± ¡°No....but I can at least save two girls.¡± He then tried to bid 20 but I activated darkness pressure. I made it towards him and him alone. I¡¯m not sure if other¡¯s can see if a skill is being performed but if it only shows to the person it¡¯s used on then this could be used to my advantage. ¡°15 Gold!....Anyone else.........Ok sold 15 gold to the white haired gentleman there. ¡° I walked up closer and I saw it was the same man from before. The guy who tried to buy Akino. So....he¡¯s a slaver. I guess that¡¯s why his manners were nonexistent. He is a dirty man. I went up and gave the man 15 gold and he gave me some odd certificate and took the chains off the girl. ¡°Alright.....let¡¯s go.¡± She came up to about my shoulder. I can¡¯t make a habit of saving slaves. I wouldn¡¯t have bought this girl if she wasn¡¯t a Fuchs. I can¡¯t just spend gold to free all the slaves. But I feel that what¡¯s coming to this kingdom anyways won¡¯t matter. They can have their gold I¡¯ve given them. I¡¯ll take much more from them later. And with this girl I can maybe bring my mother some more happiness. She may be from my mothers tribe. She may even know where Iris is. I grabbed her hand and started walking through the crowd. We got back to where Adimar and the rest of the group was and continued to walk through the town. The small neko girl was still in a hood and was being hidden behind Adimar so the two couldn¡¯t reunite just yet. I didn¡¯t want them to see me with the slave I hadn¡¯t bought. Who knows if someone saw? We walked around a building and I handed the girl some clothes to change into. She gave me a dirty look and I told her to just change while no one was looking. It was between two stores and with the added presence of Adimar it¡¯s hard to see around him. I turned around and didn¡¯t let the two reunite yet. She changed rather quickly but continued to give me the same dead eyes. We just left the dirty cloth on the road. We then walked into a building nearby. It looked to be a large tavern. There were large groups of adventurers and groups of people sitting at tables having a drink. Many were eating and sitting around tables having a laugh. We entered into the tavern and walked through to sit at a table. Eyes continued to look at us. I don¡¯t know how rare something like Adimar is. But maybe coming here was a bad idea. They do keep looking at Akino though. Maybe a bar wasn¡¯t the best place. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Why hello adventurers! I¡¯m Seagan! What can I get for each of you! Might I get you our soup special? Granny¡¯s soup is a world delicacy!¡± I ordered us each a bowl of soup and Sting tried to order a bear so I backhanded him. He seems to forget I took all of his items besides what he¡¯s wearing. I made him empty his inventory for now and have placed it all in a folder with his name on it. I haven¡¯t decided what to do with it. He seemed surprised when I told him I was currently holding everyones stuff and all that I¡¯ve bought. I think a blessed being has some advantages over regular people. ¡°SASHA!¡± The small girl finally took off her cloak and crawled over me and Adimar to get to her. ¡°Ti...Tiera!!!¡± The two then continued to hug and cry together. ¡°I¡¯m sorry...I¡¯m sorry!...I¡¯m sorry I fell and made us get caught!¡± ¡°No Tierra....No...It¡¯s not your fault...I don¡¯t blame you!¡± Sasha then looked up and gave me a confused look. It was about that time that our waitress came over and delivered several bowls of soup and drinks. The aroma from the soup was actually quite plain. Their was meat and very few spices in there. I took a bite because I was actually curious about the culinary of this world. It was........Amazing! I continued to dig in to the bowls and it was truly delicious. This soup! It¡¯s I don¡¯t know why but it tastes similar to the old man back at the diner could do. No....it¡¯s better. I don¡¯t know what this ingredient is but the chef is world class. I looked up and everyone was looking at me. The small cat girl made a garggled noise. She started to look at the meal in front of her with envious eyes. ¡°You two should eat up. We¡¯re leaving soon. Oh by the way....I¡¯m Vali. What¡¯s yours?¡± Sasha looked up at me with the same dead eyes as before and introduced herself. ¡°Yes, I am Sasha, master! ¡° ¡°Ugh!....and I am Neko, master!¡± The two bowed their heads but the small cat girl continued to stare at the food awkwardly. ¡°Well it¡¯s nice to meet you both....Eat up. I ordered that for each of you. ¡° ¡°Huh!?¡± The small cat girl continued to look at me strangely. Why won¡¯t she eat. I ushered her to eat up but she just looked back at me scared. She really was a scaredy cat. ¡°Listen eat up, you must be starved. It¡¯s ok, you better hurry up or this bird on my shoulder may eat through her share and eat yours...¡± I smiled and she looked up at me oddly. She smiled and then started eating....But it was how she was eating...... She stuck her face down into the food. And started eating with her face. Does she not know how to eat with tableware? ¡°Um! Master...May Neko please eat with her hands?¡± Now Sasha is saying something weird? ¡°No...here... ¡°YOU!!!!!¡± Something interrupted our meal and a loud yell resounded over the tavern. The same man from before in luxurious clothing started walking straight towards our table. He had 10 men with him each holding weapons. ¡°How dare you!...Purchase something that already belongs to me!¡± Sasha then started to tense up and hold onto Tierra¡¯s hand. They both stopped eating and looked up at the man in front of me. Do they know this person? ¡°Sorry but I already have the paperwork to prove that¡¯s false...¡± ¡°Well I....I purchased her before and they ran away! I found you! You¡¯ll never get away from me girl! I was going to wait till you were legal to become a sex slave but lucky me this kingdom doesn¡¯t have those kinds of laws!....I¡¯ll show yuahhh¡± I activated Dark pressure again...Not just on him....On everyone in that diner. I made sure everyone present was aware not to start a fight with me. I can¡¯t do this. Not here. If I go off and start killing people things will only get difficult. But maybe I can make an example here. Dark pressure appears to be a skill not many people have defenses against. Other than those in the dungeon, the only other two who have gotten out of it were Laxus and this odd green haired man beside me. I stood up to face the nobleman. He was now looking at me as if I were a monster. I¡¯m not sure the effects of Dark Pressure but it apparently uses your stats as a way of sending terror to your opponents. If they physically can¡¯t compete with you......they can¡¯t handle the pressure. BAM! I landed a punch into his gut while holding his weight down. I whispered in his ear that if trash like him were to ever cross my site I would kill him. ¡°If I see you again.....That¡¯ll be it for you little man.¡± ¡°YOU!....Don¡¯t start fights in my taverrrrnnnn!¡± ¡®Huh¡¯ I turned around and standing there was a large burly woman, she looked old. Wait....how is she handling my dark pressure? ¡°I said....Take your fights outside right now boy!¡± She then walked up to Seagan and tried to calm her down but I guess she must be the chef. I laughed at the oddly strong people in this world and put 3 gold on the table as a tip for the great meal. I gave her my regards and thanked her for the meal. An old granny that can somehow handled my dark pressure....something this noble trash couldn¡¯t even do. Such an interesting world. I then threw the man into his men and we each left and walked over him. We left the tavern and started to walk quickly through the crowds. We need to get out of here. We haven¡¯t been here long and already were making enemies. This whole city is garbage. We rounded a corner and my hands holding the two girls hands. I didn¡¯t want to get separated from either of them, they may try to flee. I activated presence sense and could now see a group of dots following us through the crowds. It was the same nobleman and his men. I then gripped them tight and walked in a dark alleyway between two buildings. We started to walk into the alleyways a bit and I was going to activate my spatial magic. ¡°YOU!¡± ¡®Ugh geez¡¯ A country hick walked up and started clamoring about how I stole his slave too. ¡®Could he be talking about neko?¡¯ He must have saw her face in the crowd and chased us here. ¡°That girl my brother just bought to work our farms....She¡¯s ours! The last one died from getting eating by a monster so I won¡¯t let you take her! Now give it over or I¡¯m turning you into the guards! I have the paperwork right here nnya!¡± Just then the nobleman and his followers came into the narrow alley and trapped us in the alleyway. They each drew their swords and the nobleman grinned. The two girls who were holding my hands continued to shake. They were terrified of this man. ¡°Hahaha! I don¡¯t know how you keep doing that but you aren¡¯t going to be able to do that again! I¡¯m going to kill wahh! Only noises of him making sounds of astonishment as I warped the entire space of the alleyway to a point I had made earlier. We had appeared at the same location I had met Lily. I brought myself, Hjokk, the 2 slave girls.....and every other person in that alley way. ¡°Wah....How did....Where are we just now.¡± The nobleman and armed men behind him started to scatter and clamor with concern. They still had their swords drawn but continued to figure out where they were. The 2 slaves below me who were closing their eyes now opened them and seemed amazed at the new surroundings. They almost forgot we were outnumbered. ¡°.....Mmm.....Far away from where anyone can hear now.¡± I grinned and looked at the men. This man was apparently ok with having sex with children. Though in this world I¡¯m sure that might be something that could happen. Woman were just considered adults at a much earlier age back then, and this world seems to share some of those world views from back in my world¡¯s past. He however said it was a law....a law that he was ok breaking just to torment this girl.....Sex slaves. Just the idea of it makes me nash my teeth at this man. He came here to buy here for just that purpose.....What is wrong with the world? A man who calls himself a noble would say stuff like that in public and act like he¡¯d get away with it. Back home every surrounding spectator who heard such idiotic words would group up and probably beat the man close to death. I let go of the girls hands and appeared in front of the man he swung his sword at my neck and it collided with my cheek. Clink! ¡®Yah....this man is no warrior. He doesn¡¯t have nearly enough strength to stop my defense. I have the flesh of a boss monster after all.¡¯ ¡°Wha...¡± ¡°Impossible!¡± Sting behind me clamored and showed disbelief. While Akino and Adimar showed no acknowledgement at all. They already knew what I was capable of. Sting didn¡¯t get to see just how much. I guess a human who shows abilities such as these are rare, to the Annunake they even thought I was a monster based on how I fought. I guess I can consider it a compliment in it¡¯s own right. The men started to back away but I was holding the nobleman¡¯s sword so he couldn¡¯t escape with them. I put my hands on his cheek and activated Abysmal Mist. ¡°WAHAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!¡± His skin started to melt off and decay. It surrounded his whole body and started to eat him away. I then appeared in front of the hick farmer. He said a slave of his had just died working his farms....and he was willing to make this child go do the same. I then sunk my arms into his chest and tore his heart out.... ¡°A farming ability will be useful....¡± He just looked up at me with dead eyes as I put his heart into my inventory. I¡¯m sure he stayed alive for around a minute....slowly faded away into darkness, forever. ¡°YUhhhh!¡± I man lunged at me with his sword from my right flank. Woosh! ROUGHH!!!!!! The site of a silver flash passed my vision and the image of a small wolf dog tearing a man¡¯s arm off could be seen. It was Fenrir. He then changed into his large black wolf by using the skill he got off a Fomorian. I need to to think about going Fomorian hunting tomorrow. Though I have much more to think about once I enter that dungeon. It didn¡¯t even take a minute for the rest of the men to be mercilessly ripped apart by Fenrir. What are you doing here! Hjokk then whispered in my ear that it was ok due to her barrier being strong enough to protect them, she swore on it. ¡°Gug....gug...¡± I walked back to the group and could see the decaying corpse of the nobleman I had melted. He hadn¡¯t quite died yet.... ¡°All because......You just couldn¡¯t walk away...¡± I then did exactly what I said to him and walked away. I left him to die an agonizing death. The Abysmal Mist didn¡¯t kill him. But it left him in such a state where death is certain. Shouldn¡¯t take long now. Blood began gushing out of the open holes that have been created throughout his face and body. His death throws would have sounded horrific but the damage of my mist seems to have destroyed his throat, he¡¯s having trouble breathing. I walked back to the group and Fenrir had ran up beside me. The two girls just looked over at the man who was dying. They didn¡¯t say anything. They just held each others hands and watched the man die..... I ushered em that we should leave and I went to a small river by the tree that Lily and I had first met. I don¡¯t know why I chose this place as a location for spatial magic. I guess it¡¯s just a good halfway point to set up operations. It¡¯s surrounded by a lush forest with decently strong monsters for the surrounding kingdoms. Which is pointless for me because I think the Lord of a Forest skill may pertain to all forests. But I¡¯ll never know until I meet another titled lord. I had Fenrir go hunt up some horned rabbit and I made the two girls some soup with it¡¯s meet. It was more of a meat broth and wasn¡¯t anything spectacular....Nothing like that delicious soup that granny made. I wound up making enough for everybody so even Adimar, Akino and even Sting got some. ¡°MMMmmm! I say Vali you yourself could be a famous chef!¡± Sting started to compliment me while Akino and Adimar remained quiet. Tierra and Sasha when I gave them their food they each bowed and thank me. But it was Tierra that gave me the strangest look. ¡°Wh...why....Why are you so nice to Neko.¡± The girl called Tierra asked while referring to herself I guess to Neko. Didn¡¯t Sasha call her Tierra? ¡°Isn¡¯t your name Tierra?¡± ¡°Uh...no master! Master said Tierra was a disgusting name so he said neko was easier.¡± ¡°Hm...Well I kind of like Tierra...Mind if I call you that? And here it¡¯s ok just eat up. Use this spoon this time¡± ¡°Ugh...but...no master...cuz if I don¡¯t eat it off the floor...I¡¯ll get spanked....¡± This little scared girl has seen some rough times. What she must think of humans? She continually backs away when I make any movements at all in her direction. She honestly resembles a frightened animal. Earlier she ate the food without utensils, this must have been why. Her old master would make this one eat off the ground. But Sasha¡¯s treatment seems to be completely different, I assumed they both were owned by that same man. Maybe his treatment of them was much different. I could definitely see some scratches on her back through the slave cloth they made her wear. But right now she¡¯s still wearing the cloak over her. Those wounds should be gone now. ¡°Who¡¯s going to spank you......¡± To my question she just looked up at me cautiously. She didn¡¯t answer. I then grabbed some utensils for her and showed her how to eat it. I sat down on the grass next to her and ate my soup with her. Whenever I would dip my spoon in I would bring it to her to show her how to use it. Believe it or not some kids don¡¯t just learn by observation. You need to show them certain actions are ok, especially those who have been abused. She looked up at me and ate silently and but seemed to be happy. Her ears would twitch and her tail would curl around in circles. She looked to be a very feminine little girl. She was still dirty from the meal so I got a bucket and a wet wash cloth and had her wash her face and hands. She played her hands through the water and splashed it on her face. For part cat she doesn¡¯t seem to have any problems with water though. She does make that nya nya noise a lot however. Sasha just keeps staying quiet while she eats her food. ¡°Crazy how we use to think you were a monster....If only we weren¡¯t so blind before.¡± Adimar then spoke up as he looked at the scene in front of him. I wasn¡¯t going to disagree with him. He was right, if they may have stopped to think they wouldn¡¯t be in a place where their life hangs in the balance. They let a woman carve into me and probably have damaged my already broken psyche. Akino then looked over at us and smiled. Sting was oddly quiet now. Whenever he eats food he likes he finally shuts up. ¡°Well....Can¡¯t change things now. What¡¯s done is done.¡± ¡°Mmm....indeed. A cruel fact that I myself have learned all too well.¡± Adimar then started to lean back into a tree and look up at the moon. It looked the same as the moon from my world but it was much bigger. In the distant of the horizon their appears to be another moon but it¡¯s hard to see from where we¡¯re sitting. The moonlight glistened down and made Adimar and Akino almost shine. Their white hair started to glow in a peculiar white shine and they each were drawn to the moons beauty. ¡°I¡¯m guessing the moonlight holds some strange power for your race?¡± ¡°Hmm.....Oh well...Yes. It gives us boosts to our abilities and grants us it¡¯s power. It is a blessing from the god wolf Amarok.¡± He seemed distracted by the moon to stay in the conversation but he eventually breathed a deep sigh and looked back towards me. Is that a tear in his eyes? ¡®But what he said now answers some questions. I was wondering how he was so strong killing each of those Baum¡¯s from before or could manage to hold me down for so long. But there was no moonlight in that dungeon.¡¯ ¡°Is that how you managed to get such a surge of power during our 1 on 1?¡± ¡°....No....that came from something else.¡± It was then that I saw him rubbing his large hands together. There on his ring finger was.....A bright platinum ring. I don¡¯t know why I never saw it before. Could that be an item? Or is it a wedding ring? ¡°What¡¯s that ring you got there.....Don¡¯t tell me the big bad wolf is married? Is she hideous?¡± I don¡¯t know why I continued to talk with Adimar but he hasn¡¯t given me much trouble since he found out I¡¯m human. I guess it¡¯s just hard being mean to someone who stays docile towards me all the time. I guess he can¡¯t hurt me even if his abilities are raised right now. ¡°I don¡¯t know what married means....but if you are implying if she was my mate....Then no. I was given this ring by my the man who was to become my brother in law.¡± ¡®So they don¡¯t have the idea of marriage but the have the ideas of brother¡¯s by law?¡¯ ¡°So your wearing the ring of another man? Hmm....Let me see it....Don¡¯t forget you offered your life to me.¡± Once I figured out it wasn¡¯t some symbol of marriage I took the item from him. I took all items from each of them for a reason. Something these people may have collected in this world could potentially hurt me. He rubbed his hands together and sighed before handing me the ring. Akino looked at him disapprovingly but she didn¡¯t interfere. She still hasn¡¯t talked much to me today and I haven¡¯t figured out why. I¡¯m assuming the treatment I¡¯ve given her she doesn¡¯t approve of but she too hasn¡¯t voiced any complaints towards me. She did however look moved by what she saw in the city. When she saw those dead children. Adimar gave her a disapproving grunt and now she¡¯s just sitting down with the two slave children and eating with them. I guess she decided to let us both talk. I then looked at Adimar¡¯s ring.
Annunake Alpha Ring Ancient Class Stamina boost (Medium) Mind attack protection (Medium) Usable Skill: Mana Absorption Duration: Infinite Take in all the magic absorbed by the pack and convert it to various stats or infuse your claws with high powered magic attacks
¡®Hah.....¡¯ This ring is yet another unbelievable find. It was the ring of the alpha, and now that this alpha¡¯s life has been offered to me. I¡¯m going to make use of him and his things. It really is an amazing item. ¡°This ring is amazing! So this is how you received such an explosion of power.¡± ¡°Yes....The one who made it was a genius. And where did you think all your mana was going in the first place?¡° He was right. All my mana was being cut and cleaned away and being sent right back to him. This small item gave this wolf the power to overpower the strength of demonic awakening for a short while. I maybe have beat him but the Annunake are quite difficult to deal with as a race. If they are more wolf like this guy, you don¡¯t have to just watch out for their claws or weapons....you have to watch out for their fangs as well. It¡¯s like fighting a person with an extra arm. Quite the fearsome race. He continued to look back up at the moon above his head and now I was sure he was crying. Only one of his eyes were showing through the bandages, but he was definitely crying. His silver eyes shimmered in the night but the tears running down his face did as well. ¡°What...the site of that moon really that special for ya?¡± I don¡¯t know why I asked but I oddly wanted to know more about this wolf. He hasn¡¯t attempted to struggle or fight me once since he saw my status. In fact he even got on his knees and told me he¡¯d give me his life if it meant I¡¯d save those back in the dungeon. Just what kind of person is he. I know life in such a place is hell, but that doesn¡¯t become an excuse for the sins you commit. ¡°Ha...it is. A site I promised I would see one day with another. And yet....here I am, and here she is not.¡± ¡°Oh what was she like?¡± ¡°Ahh......¡± Adimar sighed and made a short grin. He looked up at the moon as if remembering happier times. ¡°She was a warm hand in a cold world.....Mmm.. A bright light that shined over such a dark place. Her skin was soft as spiders silk, her hair was golden and smelled of flowers.. And her horns were a majestic force that calmed all those who were near.¡± ¡°Wait horns?¡± ¡°Yes....ahaha.....You didn¡¯t think my mate was another Annunake. No....she was a member of the Elkia race.¡± When I gave him an odd look he just laughed and looked away. ¡°I know what your thinking, wolves and elk wouldn¡¯t normally get along.....Well that problem never existed between the Annunake and the Elkia.....In fact. We were born for the soul purpose of protecting the Elkia race....¡± ¡°Oh....Why¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Centuries ago in a far away place the god wolf Amarok would hunt and kill all who was ever unlucky enough to be drawn in his mighty gaze. He hunted indiscriminately and he hunted alone. He was always feared even by the gods. A war that engulfed the universe broke out and somehow the god wolf was injured. Due to being a lone wolf he became strong by relying on himself but he collapsed.....Just before he thought he was about to face death after a long life a female Elkia came and saved his life. When Amarok had asked why such an action would come from someone he himself had devoured many from their own race. She smiled to the god wolf and told him he may have eaten the good, but he also ate the bad. He kept the lands they lived in for centuries safe and as such she thought of him as a vital existence to their race.¡± ¡°......¡± I stayed quiet as I listened to the histories of the Annunakes. ¡°Amarok was moved but such an act of generosity and offered a blessing to all of the Elkia race for that. He fell in love with the Elkia maiden and provided their race gentle and healing race with one to protect them....Thus our race was born, to protect those who always stood at our backs with their warm hands.¡± ¡°So the Annunake¡¯s and the Elkia were always close due to you all still fulfilling your duty from Amarok.¡± ¡°....We just......got along them and us. They were our teachers, our healers. They were our reason for existing.....and now they''re gone.¡± Adimar finally shed that tear that refused to fall up until this point. I guess I never would have guessed the mate he was talking about was an Elkia race. That means, his mate is now deceased, he did say was when describing her. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to hear about your loss....¡± ¡°Mm.....don¡¯t be. This world is a cruel one to us all. Even outside of that prison this world is still rotten. I guess there was no paradise outside that place after all.....¡± ¡°Yah, I choose to see it as every race has their good and bad. So, living on floor one must have been hard.¡± He then turned his head and sighed while looking back up at the moon. I didn¡¯t mind talking to this wolf. He had clearly been through some horrible times. ¡°Indeed....and living on floor one was actually much more peaceful than what I¡¯m use to. The stench of death is overpowering, Balor¡¯s choice of decorations was a grim reminder of my failures. It¡¯s not a great life, but it¡¯s been much more quiet.¡± It almost sounded like he had given up. ¡°So after that....accident that happened with the Elkia, you all just decided to call it quits on getting out of there?¡± ¡°.......I¡¯m just.......Tired.¡± He looked down at the ground in front of him. He was a war torn individual from a legendary race, who made it to the Alpha of his entire race at one point....A race of individuals who are masters of conquering dungeon floors and killing monsters, and these were the ones who stood on the front lines. And here he is....done. ¡°Fomorians are just that strong?¡± ¡°Mm....Yes they are truly frightening.....But there are equally more terrors that lurk in Dark Eden....Things that should only exist in nightmares....¡± ¡°Like what?¡± ¡°....Soul Devourers.¡± Akino then came and sat beside Adimar. She leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes while joining the conversation. I remember monsters called Soul Eaters in the game, they were an odd race of monster that had a complete resistance to physical attacks. They could only be killed with using magic. They shot out their tentacles at you and if you couldn¡¯t get away in time all of your life would be gone, but they weren¡¯t very strong at all from my memory. ¡°Soul Devourers....Quite the ominous name.¡± ¡°Yes well.....the name is rightly suited......¡± He looked away while answering me. He clenched his fists and twitched his jaw. ¡°I take it...¡± ¡°If you were going to ask if a Soul Devourer killed my mate or not.......then I¡¯d tell you....¡± He looked up at me and made eye contact with the one eye was using. ¡°It¡¯s none of your fucking business......¡± He then turned his wolf head to gaze back up at the moon with Akino. ¡°So...after we die. Do you intend on helping all those back in the dungeon?¡± Akino then asked. ¡°Well I hate to break it to ya....But you don¡¯t get to kick the bucket just yet. Not till I say so. Your life belongs to me now....but I was already planning on going back there.¡± ¡°Mmm...Yes I suppose your right. What do you plan on doing with us by the way...not that it matters.¡± ¡°Well I was originally planning to eat your heart...Well I still do. But for now I¡¯m going to see what Malfius wants to do with you. ¡° I didn¡¯t tell him about Loki. He¡¯s now seen Hjokk but I still haven¡¯t revealed I¡¯m a blessed person to anyone other than Malfius. I¡¯m told that just isn¡¯t something you do. ¡°Haha.....I see. Well.....should be an interesting fate for an old wolf then.¡± He didn¡¯t argue with me at all. Maybe he really is just tired. I don¡¯t know if he¡¯s planning something. Just looking at him it doesn¡¯t look like it. He just continued to look into the moonlight. Thinking of past memories... ¡°So then...Why are staying here then?¡± ¡°I plan on having a meeting here with the King of a country soon. Hopefully I can get him to want to be my ally...I just don¡¯t know how I¡¯m going to do it.¡± I then looked over and saw Sting was trying to get Tierra to pet Fenrir. It was a weird site and I was originally going to react but he wasn¡¯t being aggressive. Tierra was originally afraid of Fenrir but she was even more scared of sting. He did look to be kind of creepy figure. Sasha then jumped out in front as if protecting her. I told em all to calm down and eventually Tierra did end up petting Fenrir. He is playful in his pup form. She started to slowly approach and run her hands through his fur. She smiled and looked over to Sasha who was standing there. The fox girl then made a warm face and then looked away. Tierra then ran over wearing the same Malthiel cloak that is now fitting her body and I could hear them whispering. ¡°But...Sasha they seem nice. He let me wear nice things. He even feeds Neko.¡± ¡°Listen...I know it¡¯s hard to explain. But some humans like to pretend to be nice only to watch your pain when they abruptly take it away.......We need to run away tonight.¡± Hearing that I figured it was time to go over. When I approached each of them jumped and became startled. ¡°Calm down....Listen I¡¯ll make a deal with you.¡± They each looked at me and froze they didn¡¯t know what I was going to do. ¡°Ah...Master!¡± ¡°Sorry master yes what is it?¡± ¡°.......First off just call me Vali. Secondly....You aren¡¯t my slaves. I didn¡¯t buy you to be my slaves. Honestly I only bought you to gain some information. If you give me some of that information I¡¯ll grant you each your freedom. In fact I¡¯ll even give you money and send you off. But you have to promise to at least visit my house before you decide to leave. If you run away....there are dangerous monsters around as well. So wait till then.¡± They each gave me an odd face. Even Sting and the others didn¡¯t know how to respond. ¡°Now....Do you happen to know a woman named Elyria.¡± I directed that question the girl Sasha and one of her large fox ears twitched. But she only shook her head no. ¡°...How about Iris?¡± She then looked at the ground for a moment and just shook her head. I don¡¯t know if she is afraid to answer or she in all honestly doesn¡¯t know. I¡¯m told the Fuchs race is rare. ¡®Hmmm....¡¯ ¡°WOW! ..... Look at him. He looks amazing! And so does she! Hi Vali! We¡¯re here!¡± I then heard the voice ring out from a familiar princess. She didn¡¯t act proper for a royalty and seems distracted. But then again most nobleman I¡¯ve met so far just wear the fancy clothes. They may be educated but most are trash. This girl however.....She seems different. Cassandra POV: Tonight is a big night. Currently myself and a small select guard ordered to escort his highness and princess Lucy to the meeting place of that man. Vali, I¡¯m not sure what he has been up to since last we met but a lot has happened in the kingdom of Asher. We are currently on the brink of war with other kingdoms. The kingdom of Myro who is currently at war with the elves is the strongest kingdom in the continent. They are a bordering country that is connected to one of the strongest empires in the central continent. One of the Vassal¡¯s of the king in Myro is also a blessed being who wields the legendary weapon the Spear of Lugh. Rumor has it the blessed being, Adel, is blessed by the god Lugh himself. The spear is so powerful it is said to bring the wielder absolute victory in battle. I¡¯ve seen the weapon once....It constantly dripped blood. It was so hot, it even needed to be kept in water when not in use. This kingdom is our enemy. They along with the kingdom of Aldain have seen us as weak.I originally thought the king of Aldain was furious with our refusal in attempting to apprehend Vali. So they went to war. Over such a ludicrous reason. His highness believes it was inevitable regardless of the reason. Those that choose to fight for such reasons obviously had more in it than just that. They want to take command of our troops. The war with the Elves have been difficult for them and they¡¯ve lost many, but they had attained victory in taking down one of their blessed beings recently. However that is also one of the slaves Vali helped escape. We didn¡¯t receive that intel until after we met with him. Now the kingdom of Myro had a reason to hunt for Vali. Their is now even a new king in Aldain. A coup recently occurred and the king who was once a guild master was assinated. Now the kingdom of Aldain is under control of the kingdom of Myro and are prepared for war with Asher. Honestly between Adel and Vali....I¡¯m not sure who¡¯s stronger. Believe it or not. With Ponchius and Aldus gone, a war will be difficult. The kings guard are some of the strongest in the kingdom. Some even stronger than Aldus. But none as strong as Vali. This person who fell into our backyard may have been a blessing in disguise. His enemy, just happens to be ours. War hasn¡¯t started yet but our intel in other kingdoms have gathered this much. War is coming... We had planned the meeting to go professionally. His highness was even planning on offering the man gold and a title. He was going to do pretty much anything to see if we could become allies. The enemy of my enemy is my friend as the queen says. She too is with us. She insisted she be here. I forget that she was a powerful adventurer once as well. When we arrived at the meeting spot it was nothing like we had imagined. He didn¡¯t even care to wear anything decent to meet the king. He was wearing the same apron from before. There were several new demi humans I have never seen before and a shady character who was getting growled at by.....that same wolf. That monster is here too? The King however did not hesitate and greeting Vali without missing a beat. He remained in his proper demeanor even at this ludicrous site in front of him and introduced himself. ¡°Ah...You must be sir Vali? I am King Asher. Lucy¡¯s father...This is my wife Liriana.¡± Watch it there your highness. He doesn¡¯t really treat royalty very well. ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you your highness. I am Vali.¡± He bowed his head and made the pleasantries as if he were educated in etiquette. ¡°My that¡¯s such a lovely bird, and I like that apron you have there sir Vali. ¡° ¡°Why thank your highness....This is Hjokk, and my mother made this for me. I like it.¡± Queen Liriana then complimented him on the apron he wore the day he slaughtered all those from Aldain as if it was a nice outfit. He then said he was just using it to cook a meal and offered all of us there a meal. ¡®What is going on?¡¯ He then made dishes for everyone, including the kings guard. The 11 royal knights then smiled and also ate up once the King ushered it was alright. It was delicious. Just like the first meal he made for us. The queen thanked him then the rest of us did as well. We didn¡¯t dig straight into business. Maybe Vali is looking for a way to start this conversation as well. Only sounds of the crackling fire and people enjoying their food could be heard. Lucy who had been sitting next to the large white wolf who was now here then interrupted the quiet. ¡°So Vali......I was hoping you could come to Asher soon. And we could all hangout and play! Adimar is so cool! So how¡¯s about it will you become my knight?!¡± Cough Cough! Everyone then started coughing up their food as this was not what was agreed on how we would handle trying to bring over Vali. We couldn¡¯t act like we were begging him to come to our side. We did however want to entice him into coming to our kingdom after he warmed up to the idea of joining the kingdom. We weren¡¯t the strongest kingdoms but our continent has always had good ties with the central colonies. We also don¡¯t involve ourselves in the war with the elves. The war with the elves and the humans has been going on for so long we simply have stayed out of it. Sure there are still a lot of bad blood there, but we don¡¯t see the need a needless war with them. They have left us alone so their is no reason for war. My father once was friends with the elves. But alas they don¡¯t take too kindly to other humans so I never got to meet one ¡°We even gathered all the information you wanted from Aldain. Like their noble families, how they have a new king, all their businesses.¡± ¡°LUCY!¡± Her parents then yelled and it cut her off. ¡°You said they have a new king?¡± Each of them then noticed Vali¡¯s question and the queen then answered him. ¡°Why yes. A coup occurred recently. The new king there now is a nobleman of the house Tyrule.¡± ¡°No shit!...I mean...excuse me umm really. So Tyrule is now the king..Funny how things work out.¡± Vali then apologized for his poor choice of words in front of the queen but she seemed to not mind. She simply smiled and went back to eating the meal out of the finely carved wooden bowl. Everyone has these bowls and table wear. They¡¯re not crudely made like I would assume from someone who eats outside under the stars. Vali and the king then started to talk for a while about the king in his past days as a military man and now is running a kingdom. He was the third son in line but somehow attained the crown due to his power but he was later injured in battle. He has now been living his days happily with his wife and family. Vali seemed to also be interested in the conversation. It¡¯s not an attitude I had assumed from our first meetings with him. ¡°Well you see Vali...We as the king and queen of Asher would like to...¡± Shink! Fenrir¡¯s ears twitched and he jumped up and started looking into the distance. Then the large wolf man and demi human woman also stood up and started growling. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°.......Something¡¯s coming.¡± ¡°It¡¯s more than something. I¡¯m picking up the scent of a large number of humans.¡± Vali asked what was up and the two answered while looking into the distance. They¡¯re senses were that of an animals. Fenrir too seems to have picked up on a sent of something. I looked around and one of the knights already had her katana drawn. She had an ancient class weapon Baku. It was said to have been made from the bone of a sea war beast. It can sever several humans away with one swing. She along with the other 9 royal knights also picked up something I hadn¡¯t. ¡°Protect his highness!¡± The royal knight Sumei screamed in attention and everyone surrounded the king and queen at her commands. ¡°Hmmmmm....perfect.¡± Vali then said an odd thing to the situation and put down his bowl of soup. He then took off his apron, then stood up and said to follow him. ¡°What are you...¡± ¡°Cassandra....Tell them.¡± Vali then looked at me and spoke for the first time. Just who does he think he is he can address me so casually without even acknowledging my presence until now!....Ugh but I can¡¯t get frustrated with him right now. He¡¯s right I need to assure them that regardless of how many enemies their are....I honestly don¡¯t know if they would be to kill such a man. ¡°Your highness, I believe that it will be alright.¡± We followed Vali and his companions. He even brought along two young children with us. Regardless of my confidence in his strength. I too had my weapon drawn. We followed him through the dark woods away from the light of the fire. The ground was dark, only light from the moon came through the trees above and lit up the dark woods. We walked for a short ways and then entered into a clearing when we saw a small army. It looked like a legion of at least 300 men. All in armor from Aldain, did they know of the meeting? ¡°Hahaha....So you come out of the safety of the woods......Quite valiant of you. Foolish....But valiant.¡± ¡°I am his highness King Asher. What is it you are doing here?¡± The king addressed the leader who was riding a horse. He wore a different color armor than anyone else. His armor was black and sleek. It was smooth and shiny and had three spikes coming out of his right shoulder. He wore a dark red cape. He had long brown hair and I believe I¡¯ve seen him before......I think he¡¯s a high ranking officer in Myro army. He¡¯s said to have crossed into the expert stages of spear mastery. His level was over 100 but I couldn¡¯t be sure by how much. He however wielded an ancient class trident that was once used by a legendary boss monster that would kill and eat dragons. This person was powerful. Is this an assassination attempt? ¡°Well isn¡¯t that obvious your highness? We¡¯re going to kill you here at your little meeting. Kill the freaky white haired guy over there. And take your army and lands for ourselves!¡± The man with long hair just said his intentions as if it didn¡¯t matter telling us at all. ¡°Are you from Aldain? Cause you got the same cocky attitude as all those from Aldain do.¡± Vali then stepped forward past the king and called out to the man on the horse. What is he thinking? I know he and his wolf are strong but against so many opponents....There¡¯s going to be casualties. I turned around and saw Lucy by my side. The royal knights stood around the queen while Sumei stood guard at king Asher¡¯s side. Vali then stepped forward and faced grinned. What was he planning. ¡°Oh...So your the first challenger. Another duel again why not? I guess I should have some fun while off running errands for Adel.¡± ¡°......¡± He didn¡¯t say anything Vali just continued to look at the knight in front of him. ¡°Well then..... I am general Lestat Valentine. Knight of the kingdom of Myro and one of Lord Adel¡¯s Four Horseman.¡± ¡°........¡± ¡°Well....Aren¡¯t you going to announce yourself and title, that is what they do in this sort of thing..... What are you just shocked speechless at my awesomeness!¡± The man Lestat then swayed his hair. One of the female soldiers standing next to him fawned when he did that. He¡¯s not that attractive. Sure he is something of a pretty boy but he¡¯s clearly too into himself. And he¡¯s here to kill all of us. ¡°No just trying not to laugh at such an intro....Four horseman huh.....Well I guess I should just pick a title then.....mmm.....I¡¯m Vali...Slayer of Death.¡± ¡°Wah...hahaha! I see your confident. I¡¯ll clearly beat that out of you with this. WAhhh!¡± ¡°Mmm kill them lord Lestat!¡± Lestat laughed at Vali¡¯s odd duel introduction and swung his trident high in the air. A crimson light came from the black trident that resembled his cape. Warning appeared in my mind as everyone around me started to tense up. Sumei then stood in front of the king. She too feared the incoming blast. Lestat then shot a crimson beam of light from out of the trident that looked like a comet. A bright red light surrounded it and was large enough to kill everyone here. The heat started to already reach me from here. It then came into contact with the ground in front of us and a large explosion erupted over the forest. A bright explosion came crashing towards us. We each tried to run but there in front of us stood Vali. He didn¡¯t move an inch. ¡°Midnight Aura!¡± A dark aura began to surround Vali and he stood in front of the oncoming attack. There I saw through the flames something that amazed me. It amazed the king, Sumei and everyone there. Vali put on a strange looking gauntlet. It was silver with red and gold jewels imbedded into them. It glowed in a....almost dark light? I had never seen light that reflects black. It was different than his scythe. This item looked to be enchanted. He even had several other items that had a faint glow to them too. There standing in the brilliantly bright flames and devastation from the attack was Vali and his wolves. They each had a dark aura surrounding them....Wait it appears the king and everyone here does as well. ¡°Interesting.....If it was daytime it may have not sustained all of that attack for everyone. Well....This aura will act as a defensive barrier for everyone. It will absorb any and all damage coming towards you while the skill is active.¡± ¡°............¡± Everyone stopped their clamoring when they heard what impossible thing had been said. What is this magic? It¡¯s enough to protect himself and all of us at the same time? We¡¯ve seen mages before but this is something quite powerful to absorb an attack like that with no damage to anyone at all! I looked and there in the flames surrounding us everyone was unharmed. Lucy standing behind me was also not harmed at all by the flames that surrounded us. ¡°How are you doing this?....¡± Sumei then interjected to the impossible outcome to this. She too knew of the power of one of the Four Horseman of Myro¡¯s army. ¡°Well..this skill will only let me use it on 6 people during the daytime. It acts as a barrier that absorbs a set amount of damage.....But when it¡¯s night. The barrier recovers itself with the darkness surrounding it. So..¡± ¡°What the HOW!¡± Lestat then screamed when viewing that no one was harmed by his finisher move. ¡°How did you manage to survive my Grand Comet!¡± ¡°You clearly have a ton of fancy things and titles, but you just picked the wrong place to come to at the wrong time. I¡¯m guessing your each looking for me...¡± ¡°Who...ah so your the masked monster those Elliot¡¯s have been clamoring on and on about....My you are strong....Good, I love a challenge!¡± Lestat then road forward and everyone started advancing behind him. He treats war as if it¡¯s a game....Maybe this guy is just in all honesty that strong. The purple bird then flew over to the two young girls and Vali took out that same weapon he did the first day I saw him.....That weapon. A tingling sensation that attacked my skin when I saw it didn¡¯t happen this time. I guess whatever ominous miasma that leaks off that thing is bad for the body. ¡°Dark Sever.....¡± YEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! Vali swung his scythe downward and a loud screaming cry pierced my eardrums. It sent shivers down my spine it felt as if something dark and tortured from the underworld had just been unleashed. I bent over since the sound was so loud. I and Lucy both ducked and held onto our ears. We looked up.... BOOOOOOM! ¡°..........¡± A loud noise happened and the earth started to shake. There standing only a league away was Lestat riding his horse. The image of them both then split in half and toppled to the ground. The blood from their corpses sprayed onto the desolated, charcoaled earth as their organs began to spill out. Looking up there was even more destruction. Of the remaining 300 soldiers only around half remained. When they saw the attack some lifted their swords in anger while others were paralyzed with fear. I too stood there in shock. Never before had I seen an attack like that.......with one swing. Behind Lestat those that were caught in the wake of the attack along with the earth surrounding it were gone. The forest behind them, all that was left was a black desolated battlefield. No...his execution grounds. After that happened he ushered the wolves to go out and fight beside him. Within only a few minutes....Every single man of that elite legion.....Were mercilessly slaughtered. Their white hair each flowed through the wind and shined from the light of the moon. They looked like divine beings... He ran past Lestat¡¯s corpse and started swinging his scythe at those attacking. Any weapon that collided with him or the wolves couldn¡¯t penetrate past the dark barrier surrounding them. Those that came and attacked Sumei have also been unable to cause any harm at all to her. Though she seems to be cutting them down with ease. Fenrir then grew into his beast form and then jumped on those trying to escape. The two white demi humans each jumped into oncoming warriors and would rip the opposing knights armor with their claws. They would go for the weak points in the armor then tear at their necks. The wolfman would even use his fangs to bite one of the knights heads off. These we¡¯re all monsters. I have never seen those fight so ruthlessly. He defeated a powerful enemy as if it were nothing and treated as trivial. That¡¯s sadly how this world is though, death happens quickly on the battlefield. The strong die everyday. After everyone of them had died he came back to greet the king. Everyone was speechless at this point. Vali was the most powerful man I had ever seen. My mind felt paralyzed by what I had sees from him...... "............." He then deactivated black aura surrounding us and gave us a proposition. ¡°...Seems your kingdom is about to go to war with Aldain......Hm...How¡¯s about we help each other. ¡° He then proposed that he would become something of a vassal for the kingdom of Asher. In return for land and some authority, he would come to defend Asher in times of crisis. He would however never conquer for them. He then had two other additions to the deal if we were to become allies. ¡°Now I think you should talk more politely to his highness!¡± Sumei angrily glared at him but she did not try to provoke him. I don¡¯t think she wants to anger him at this point. ¡°Now, now it¡¯s fine. He has an interesting proposal dear. I believe we could possibly accept such an offer.¡± ¡°Yes, we could be willing to do that......Though taking Vali in as one of our retainers would be difficult. The masked man welding a scythe is known by the Elliots. They could spread word of this to the inner kingdoms.¡± ¡°Then we¡¯ll simply lie to them is all dear....We¡¯ll tell them Vali is a nobleman. Whenever the need arises then he brings that big bad weapon out. I personally favor him over trying to reason with those of Aldain or Myro. ¡° ¡°....Yes that could work.¡± The king and queen began discussing this with one another in front of Vali which appeared to annoy him. The king and queen can be odd if your ever around them. Their not like normal royalties, they will get in arguments about needless things in front of guests at banquets and events. Though they love each other and are loved by their kingdom. ¡°Well you guys do whatever you want with coming up with lies. However these two additions to the agreement are absolute. If you do not adhere to them.......I will terminate our partnership.¡± Lucy then rushed over to hug his leg. She had assumed it was already set in stone that Vali would be coming to the Asher kingdom. Vali however didn¡¯t seem to mind it. He then told us what the two additions would be...One was doable....the other.....impossible. But the queen still agreed. The knights all looked at the queen who answered for the king and Vali then smiled and shook her hand. She laughed at the gesture and shook his hand back. He then shook the kings and said goodbye to Lucy. ¡°Goodbye to you as well Cassandra...Thanks for earlier.¡± He brought out his arm to shake my hand but I only awkwardly shook it back. I was still stunned from seeing the extent of his power. Men this strong don¡¯t act like he does. He then waved goodbye and and made everyone in his group hold hands Fenrir then jumped up into his arms who was now in his small puppy form. The same purple bird sat on top his shoulder and a group of demi humans and one shady character surrounded him. A bright light appeared and each of them vanished. ¡°.............¡± Every one didn¡¯t know what to say at everything we had witnessed tonight. Never did we assume this would be how the meeting would go. Lucy then started giggled to her mother holding her hand. ¡°See......Told you he¡¯s strong hehehe!¡± Vali POV ¡®Ugh...it¡¯s time to take these bastards back to the dungeon.¡¯ I¡¯m walking right now back to the dungeon. Last night couldn¡¯t have gone more perfect. A group of idiots showed up to the meeting and gave me the opportunity to show my worth to the royalties of Asher. Well I guess in this world there are idiots everywhere in this continent. That guy was oddly casual in a battle though. Maybe he was actually really strong, but you wouldn¡¯t know with what I had done. In the daytime he may have been a decent opponent, but at nighttime the power of a divine weapon cannot be ignored. According to Hjokk human¡¯s don¡¯t possess items such as these to her knowledge, if someone did then she would have probably heard about it considering items such as this are so powerful. That attack had a large impact and exploded the ground when coming into contact with the dark barrier. It was enough to probably kill most of those there. But due to the divine item, during the night I¡¯m practically un killable in this state. I can use it on only 6 people during the day but a larger amount during the night. It uses the darkness around it to erect a barrier that absorbs all incoming attacks. During the day it has a set time and won¡¯t absorb as high of a set amount of damage. Though at night the barrier continues to become replenished by the night so regardless of how much damage it takes, it wasn¡¯t enough to destroy that barrier. The pretty boy knight Lestat died a horrible death, but it was a death he chose. He came to assassinate a king, he must have been prepared for what would happen if his plan failed. He just seemed casual, as if battle was normal to him. Well, he was dumb. I can¡¯t blame him I¡¯ve made some pretty big mistakes too.... We continued to walk towards the dungeon entrance. I even brought along Sting with me. I don¡¯t want him staying at the house, and I¡¯m still trying to decide whether he is a decent person or not. I still can¡¯t be sure about trusting him. He wined about wanting to stay and rest today but eventually got up whenever I activated his collar. He got plenty of rest tonight....Hell he even got to sleep inside. Everyone got to sleep inside including Adimar and Akino. Whenever we got home yesterday the site of Elyria made my mother moved to tears.....It was a site that even now brings me joy. Apparently Sasha is my mother¡¯s niece. Whenever Sasha figured out that I was Elyria¡¯s son she didn¡¯t understand but Elyria said it was all true. She just kept hugging onto Elyria. She finally started to smile. As for Tierra, well....she¡¯s still a scaredy cat. When we got home it was dark so I ushered her to originally come inside but she looked up at me like I was lying to her. ¡°In...inside?¡± ¡°Yes now come on....¡± ¡°Vali.....¡± She slowly started to take each step towards the front door when Ari started running towards the door. bam! She never stops trying to run when I get home. She ends up always falling on her butt. But now she wobbles up and can stand. She looks up at me and lifted her arms up signaling me to pick her up. She¡¯s just accepted that I¡¯m always going to do it. I guess it reminds me of getting to hold my siblings whenever.....Ari has a way of missing my old life just a little less. When I picked her up Tierra looked up at me oddly and then Ari. ¡°Hi...I¡¯m Ari.¡± ¡°......I¡¯m nek.....I¡¯m Ti..erra.¡± She looked up at me each time she was about to speak but I only smiled back. Tierra then got closer and the two locked hands as if trying to say hello. Tierra appeared to be able to speak human language and the two can understand each other quite well. Ari still small enough to fit over my arm smiled and clasped her hand and shook it. Tierra then smiled and slowly came with us inside. ¡°Oh Vali, I um....Uh...made you...this.¡± Ari was acting shy and then pulled a small object out of from under her shirt. It was...... ¡°Oh.....Ari.¡± ¡°Do you like it?¡± ¡°I....love it.¡± This little girl had made me a small necklace. It had several tree branches bent around with string and resembled the same cross necklace my mother had gave me. The same necklace I had lost. ¡°I noticed your necklace was gone and you seemed sad....so I made you another one.¡± I patted Ari¡¯s head and she just looked up at me with her rosey red cheeks. The act from this girl had almost brought tears to my eyes. She had noticed that my mother¡¯s necklace was gone and went out of her way to make me a new one so I¡¯d feel better...Children have a way of bringing light to the darkest of places. My siblings are what made me get through life when I was back home, and now this girl is trying to do the same....¡®Such a sweet little girl.¡¯ I put on the necklace and she smiled up at me. Due to the new house guests, Sasha and Tierra wound up sleeping along with my mom. I slept in the other bed and Ari slept curled in a ball next to me. Lily and Noah slept in my bed as well. ¡°I can...sleep inside?¡± ¡°Of course! Vali wouldn¡¯t make anyone sleep outside. Tierra asked and Ari wound up answering for me. Well....Whatever The other three got the couch and the floor. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ¡°What happened here.....¡± ¡°If you can believe it the bird on my shoulder did it.....¡± I then answered Sting and continued to walk towards the entrance of Balor¡¯s dungeon. We continued past the entrance and once we entered Sting started to talk more and more. It was rather loud. We walked down the cliff wall and I pointed to sting where the city these people have lived in reside. As I point though I see something that catches my eyes in the distance. It sticks out in front of the floating land masses and is hanging from the ceiling. Their bodies....Their hanging from a chain that looks to be coming out of the orange sky....Are three bodies. They have each been mutilated beyond recognition and are impossible to tell who they are. I thought the dead in the dungeon are first buried on the floor, then the walls and ceiling were only because of space? We continued down the rock face and started walking towards the forest towards the gated wall. There however was something on my presence sense monitor. I had finally managed to advance it to it¡¯s second stage and I can now see much farther and perceive more things. I can now sense heartbeats, body temperature, killing intent, and magic flow. With eclipse view I can even see a person¡¯s life force I suppose. I then saw a small dot advancing on our location faster and faster.... ¡®Are we being attacked?¡¯ ¡°VALiiiiiii¡± A small yellow blur flew past and crashed into me. It was Daisy. She was one of the pixies I healed on floor one. I know after being healed they may have moved to another floor. She along with the other pixies were sent to get stronger on floor one but I have no idea what she¡¯s doing up here on floor 52. Daisy was also not much of a fighter if I remember. She was someone who said she likes to stay in back and shoot off what they call their ¡®spark¡¯. It¡¯s a small form of light magic but it doesn¡¯t do a whole lot of damage to the monsters down here. She continued to hug me and tears fell from her eyes. I guess she may have heard some things about what happened. ¡°I was so worried about you!....They¡¯ve said such horrible things!¡± ¡°Calm down Daisy...As you can see I¡¯m fine....Now what¡¯s happened.¡± ¡°He....He....killed her....He killed them!¡± She then started to cry and ball her eyes out in my chest. Who? Who did they kill? ¡°Who killed who?¡± As I tried to get Daisy to start talking Adimar and Akino too were interested in what she had to say. Hjokk continued to stare pearched on my shoulders. ¡°Ba...Balor came down to this floor and said he wan.....wanted t..o warn us about trying to escape.......He came down here with an army of Fomorians and he....he killed Cosmia, and Malfius!!!!¡± Right then Akino and Adimar made a gasp and looked up into the sky. There I too followed their line of site.... Their dangling from the ceiling here on floor 52 of a dark god¡¯s dungeon, were the mutilated and chained corpses of those that had once believed in me. End of Chapter! Don''t forget to comment or rate my fiction, Id love to hear what you guys think. Maybe even write a review. As always thanks for reading!..... Chapter 16: The Away Team Hey guys it took a while on this chapter as I was trying to make everything set up correctly for what''s happening next. So I waited till the next chapter was hashed out. Expect the next chapter hopefully by like Sunday, hopefully. These next two chapters were originally going to be one long one so if it feels different than other chapters or unfinished, it''s cause there was so much to talk about and explain. There should be another chapter on the way soon. Hopefully this tides you over until then. A lot gets revealed in the next few chapters so hope you each enjoy! Again...think of all of this as my rough draft. I did say I want to go back after I finish this arc to make it all cleaner, and the story just flow better with more dialogue and what not. I also want to add more comedy in there too and make some scenes more dramatic. So remember I''m just posting my rough draft out so each of you can enjoy it and I get to hear what some of your thoughts are. Don''t forget to rate my fiction and comment! I always enjoy reading your comments. Chapter 16: The Away Team It took a long while until I could calm down Daisy. Whenever Balor touched down on this floor, all residents of the dungeon were then warped to floor 52 to listen to his warnings. He said if anyone tried to escape he¡¯d execute those involved and to make an example of it killed Malfius, Cosmia, and another race leader known as Griphlocke. He was the huge bird like Adler I fought in the 3 on 1 duel. After he did this it enraged many of those present and many tried to attack Balor. His Fomorians then attacked and every race clamored for safety. I can¡¯t imagine the number of casualties. Daisy then ran away in terror and hid in a tree ever since. Whenever she felt what she called my ¡®magical signature¡¯ she flew as fast as she could to find me. She cried for a long time, she wasn¡¯t like the other pixies, but I think Cosmia may have been a sort of special existence for them. She wouldn¡¯t calm down no matter what I tried to tell her so eventually she said she would calm down if she could......hold my hand. ¡°....So what¡¯s with all the children who warm up to him like that?¡± ¡°.......¡± I could hear Sting whisper something to Akino but she only gave him an odd then annoyed look. I don¡¯t think Sting has figured out yet that Akino and Adimar don¡¯t speak human language. I forget this sometimes but he¡¯s attempted talking to them quite a bit and doesn¡¯t seem to mind if they don¡¯t answer back. He must hear me speak human language whenever I speak to them and just assumed they comprehend human speech. He seems to think Daisy is a child too. Believe it or not pixies may appear child like but Daisy¡¯s face looks to be in her early twenties. She like the other pixies are a couple feet taller than the jiji race. She also has a small yellow glow surrounding her but her wings look different than the other pixies. They¡¯re small and rounded but also are transparent like the rest. Her¡¯s however look like small flower petals. I¡¯m guessing this is why they named this one Daisy, she sort of resembles a flower. bam ¡°Owe.....¡± ¡°..tehe.¡± A stone appeared below my vision and I stumbled over it when my foot collided. It wasn¡¯t there before but I¡¯m guessing this was Daisy¡¯s work. She like all the other pixies are adept in illusion magic and also enjoy playing games or pranks to get over their grief. I heard Aurora say it was so they can find some sense of fun in this world. They know their families who have left them would be upset if all they did with their lives was wallow in sadness. I could hear her small voice giggle when I tripped and I just decided to let it go. Her state right now isn¡¯t a good one. Her face is covered in dirt and tears from before, it took forever to get her to stop shaking. In all honesty, I have no idea what to do at this point. The two leaders I relied on in this place are now gone. Outside of this dungeon is growing more and more complicated. For what my plans intended I needed allies here. Whenever this dungeon is conquered it¡¯s not like any of the residents would want to stay here so they would all wish to leave. Whenever they left I was hoping they would live in a territory under my authority. Though due to the actions of those inside this place I was practically forced to ally myself with Asher. I however don¡¯t believe Asher will cross me now. I¡¯m not sure how strong that guy Lestat was but considering the power level coming off that trident he must have been one of the strongest on this continent. I would have enjoyed taking his weapon but it was completely destroyed by Abgrund¡¯s skill. Midnight Aura just absorbed everything. Not only on myself but the 18 others present including Fenrir. All damage that was done was just absorbed and replenished by the darkness surrounding us. I¡¯m not sure the power of this during the daytime but during the night, it¡¯s no wonder it¡¯s a divine item. I however can¡¯t show off such items around now. From what Loki and Hjokk have warned me, it¡¯s never a good job to show off all your trump cards. I learned that quite easily from these Annunake¡¯s following me. They saw me fight just once and figured a counter for it almost immediately, whenever I went for my weapon they stopped me. But I won¡¯t be making the same mistakes I¡¯ve made before. ¡¯Balor moved.....The only thing strong enough I can think to hurt him would be Abgrund. It was enough to pass a divine barrier surrounding Loki....Maybe it¡¯s enough to hurt a fallen god? A god that falls has to adhere to the laws of this world, as such it¡¯s given a status as proof. And he himself seemed to have tampered with this weapon. Hmm... I¡¯m going to need to grow this scythes abilities as much as possible in this dungeon over the next 3 days. But the state of those in the dungeon right now might make that difficult.¡® Loki and Hjokk both warned about showing off my weapon to others. I won¡¯t deny that is probably best in this situation. The Elliot family is looking for a masked man wielding a powerful scythe. They have connections to the inner continent. Kingdoms would move for a ancient or legendary weapon. That¡¯s why those with powerful weapons like Aldus usually become vassal¡¯s to kingdoms for protection I assume. If they heard about someone who had a weapon far more powerful than those that shaped their empires.....They would probably each move to kill the individual and acquire it. I can¡¯t just pull that weapon out whenever I want to outside the dungeon right now, but inside.....I can use it as much as I want. These people only know this as the weapon of the monster who helped trap them in here. ¡®Ugh things have gotten more complicated. Luckily I killed all those who saw the weapon from Aldain. How did they find out about that meeting anyway? Hopefully I can trust these Asher¡¯s. They seemed like good people. Nothing like that idiot who showed up from Myro. He treated war as if it were a game. Was he really so powerful he was able to do that? He clearly had been through many battles. He just didn¡¯t seem too smart, no....he just seemed to confident. Too much confidence can kill you, Malthiel is a prime example of that. I however need to learn from my mistakes and continue to grow stronger. Like Loki said, it¡¯s not the strong or smart who survive, it¡¯s those most willing to adapt.¡¯ ¡°Damn...¡± ¡°What are you going to do now?¡± Hjokk then whispered in my ear after I had voiced some of my frustration over the situation worsening. ¡°I don¡¯t know yet. I need to see who survived first. With Malfius gone this..... this may become difficult. I think I¡¯m going to....Oh my guh....¡± As the stench of blood and death floating through my nostrils I covered my face as I saw the devastation in front of me. As we passed the clearings of the forest of the tall trees I see a decayed and barren earth. The dungeon floor has a cleared path that looks to have been decayed and rotted. The grass looks as if it hadn¡¯t received water in thousands of years. Just a ways away from the decay I see several large dark fomorian bodies littered throughout the battle ground that has been soaked with blood. A very big fight happened here. There are only 32 dead fomorian giants lying tattered on the ground, but the ground is soaked in blood as if it had rained down from the sky. I however didn¡¯t see any dead bodies of the residents here. Only a large stretch of land littered with dead giants and blood from the fallen. I felt Daisy clench my hand tighter. ¡°What the hell are those things.....?¡± Sting looked at the sheer size of the fomorian and gasped. Walking closer I can now see the images grow larger and larger. They must have been over a 100 feet tall while standing. I never got a good look at them from falling from the wall but these beasts really are large. Each of them had several long red gashes in them and their bodies looked to be in tatters. The residents here must have clamored to kill these things but got overrun. Daisy did say Balor had an army of them. ¡°Dark giants known as Fomorians....I was planning on hunting some today but....Things seem to have changed.¡± ¡°You were going to hunt these....?¡± His facial expressions always showed disbelief. I was. It¡¯s not like I originally planned on him surviving this place. I¡¯m still trying to figure out what this Sting guy is all about. He doesn¡¯t seem like an awful guy, just odd is all. Ari and my mother told me he seemed good. I guess I¡¯ll just wait and see if he slips up, he can be an outlet of knowledge to the central continent for now. I use to think Hjokk just wanted me to learn this information all myself but I¡¯ve come to understand she knows very little about the world itself. She apparently doesn¡¯t come down here too often, and the vibe I get from how she spoke as if most of the god¡¯s don¡¯t really pay attention to much down here is all. ¡®Well....I only have around 3 days left on the double experience bonus this dungeon will give me. I didn¡¯t even come to the dungeon yesterday so I need to get all the benefits I can here. I was even going to skip sleeping but things just keep getting in the way.....Why did Balor have to make a move?¡¯ I started walking closer to the wall whenever I noticed something moving on my radar. It was....coming from where one of the dead fomorians was suppose to be. I stopped and looked diligently towards the dead corpse. Everyone stopping at my actions seemed puzzled but with my seriousness seemed to also stare intently at the dead giant. There a small figure appeared next to one of the dead fomorians and started to walk quickly towards us. Wait.... ¡°Commander Cameron?¡± Akino asked. As I saw Cam¡¯s large body he started walking towards us. As he saw me his eyes became wide. ¡°Be quiet!....Vali cover your face now!¡± ¡°Wha....guahh!¡± BOOM!
You have been struck! You have received 8,000 damage
Cameron just walked over and punched me in the gut.....What....the.. ¡°I said be quiet....Now please cover your face, you too! Hurry!¡± He stood over me and rested his hand on my back. He ushered Sting as well to cover his face. The blow from his fists hurt a ton. Honestly, it hurt worse than Master Fe, it hurt worse than Meifeng. ¡®I didn¡¯t know Cam was this strong. That wasn¡¯t even a skill, just his fist did all that damage.¡¯ I felt like my spleen had just ruptured but I had then covered my face with Loki¡¯s mask as I saw other people now approaching us. ¡°Adimar?....And Akino....So you both survived too huh?¡± ¡°Yes....We¡¯re good here I found a few stragglers but I¡¯ll take em with me back to base.¡± Cam then nodded towards the two men who approached us wearing a black uniform. They each looked at Cam then all of us. Their eyes both went and observed those present but mostly were admiring Akino. It¡¯s as if they weren¡¯t even looking at me hunched over like this. They each walked by after that smiling back at her. She simply stared at them oddly then looked back towards Cam. ¡°Cameron....What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°Adimar....You and I are going to have a long talk later. Vali...I need you all to come with me immediately, I¡¯ll explain later.¡± He ushered us to follow him and simply walked off before we could give an answer. His tone was serious and I could feel the atmosphere has changed. Adimar and Akino didn¡¯t know how to respond so they simply followed behind him. Daisy seemed like she was still scared and I gripped her tighter and nudged her it was ok to go. His back was towards us and he started to turn left before we reached the city gates. He started walking to another forest deeper into floor 52. These floors really are massive. And the races here couldn¡¯t all just coexist on a few of the floors? Now that I look at it Cam is rather big. His back muscles are bulging out of the thin red cloth he and his race wear. His arms are behind his back and he seems to be very tense. ¡°Uh...Va...Val...i..¡± I could feel Daisy clench my hands tighter as she whispered....¡¯Is she still scared? It must have been a frightening experience for her.¡¯ ¡°What is it Daisy?¡± ¡°Tha....that¡¯s....no...not.....Ca...Camer...on.¡± ¡°...............¡± What did she just say? My heart started to pound as my senses went on high alert. My head started to heat up. Could this not be Cam? Daisy then flew up to the shoulder opposite of Hjokk and sat there while whispering in my ear. She said she isn¡¯t sure who it is but she¡¯s positive an illusion barrier has been set over this person. ¡®I guess a pixie would be able to tell if an illusion had been set.¡¯ Cam then stopped walking and turned his head to the side. ¡°Something wrong child.¡± ¡®What did he say? Cam never referred to me as a child before. In fact he¡¯s not even that much older than me if I recall.¡¯ ¡°...Who are you?¡± At my words Adimar and Akino both glared their fangs while Sting seemed puzzled at the development. ¡°...In due time Vali. Now come.¡± ¡°No...I think we should talk.¡± ¡°Oh...Do you?¡± Cam then turned around and stared everyone down. The woods were dark due to the shade from the tall trees. Behind him stood a rich dark forest while one of the only things shining were his bright blue eyes. I then started to see multiple images on my radar pop up and start to advance on our position. I looked back at Cam and he simply stared back at me before turning his head to the side at those approaching. Heheeheh yuhyuhyuhyuh Deep echoing noises started approaching. A small figure then jumped out from the woods. It looked disgusting. On the status it says it was a Gnoll level 217. It looked nothing like gnoll¡¯s from the game. It didn¡¯t have a face. It didn¡¯t have eyes either. It had a small humanoid body but it stood on all fours while having a few long hairs coming out of the top of it¡¯s head. It was dark grey with lime green hairs coming off its balding scalp. GUAAAHHH GUAAAHHHHHHH! It started making a noise and then all the surrounding dots converged onto one point. I took out Abgrund and swung at the first oncoming gnoll. and landed my scythe right into its neck. It severed straight through with the power of my swing and cleaved the gnoll straight through, ending its life. ¡°Wah!....I need a weapon!!!¡± Sting started wining as all the small animals started to jump around and lunge towards us. A gnoll then jumped towards Stings neck. It¡¯s face opened up as an eery looking mouth ripped open to bite into Sting. I activated Flicker and appeared in front of the gnoll and swung Abgrund down in front of it. That¡¯s when I noticed that it wasn¡¯t moving.....In mid air? It started to twitch but I could see now it¡¯s movements have been stalled. Looking more closely I see now attached to the gnoll are very finely thin wires. It was squeezing the gnoll to the point its flesh was pushing through the openings of the thin wire. I turned around and there standing was Cam with several gnolls also frozen in place. There are also several gnolls who have the same shiny wire wrapped around each of them. SHRINGGG SPLAT Each of the gnolls bodies then burst and severed into many large chunks of meat. The wires then showed to be all over the forest and the trees. They glistened in the darkly lit forest and dripped with the gnoll¡¯s bright red blood. While I went to observe one of the wires the lines loosened and seemed to have been retracted. I activated echolocation and then saw that their was several other large figures in the forest. They started to walk out from the trees. ¡°....Cameron.....You shouldn¡¯t be wondering around so closely to the entrance.......You know thissss..¡± It was an Arachnee. Their voices sounded much different than the other species. She looked different than the one¡¯s I¡¯ve seen up until now too. She had a much harder and sleeker hide than the other arachnee women. It was black and looked to have very sharp legs. She had short black hair with the length different on one side than the other. I then could see there were several other archnee women emerging from the forest and were all gathering here. She too called this man Cameron. He ushered them not to be concerned and tried to usher us all to follow him but it wasn¡¯t happening. I need to know who this is now, and if we¡¯re walking into a trap. He want¡¯s us to leave the city and come out here? Daisy also seems to think he isn¡¯t who he says he is. ¡°....Back at that again are we...Hmm...I said I wou...¡± ¡°Vali?....VALI!¡± A small blue blur blinked on in the dark forest and flew towards me. It was Cyanin. Her sleek and crystalline look was unmistakeable amongst other pixies. She flew quite quickly towards me and pushed her face into my chest. ¡°Everyone...It¡¯s Vali!...He¡¯s BACK!¡± Blink. Blink. Blink Blink blink blink ¡°Look and he brought Daisy with him!¡± Red, blue, pink, purple, the forest began to light up as dozens of bright lights started to shine. Pixies began to flash and dart towards me and hug me like before. I must have looked like a damn christmas tree. ¡°Daisy!¡± ¡°I¡¯m...so glad....everyone¡¯s alive!¡± ¡°I was...so scared, something happened to you.¡± Pixies began to crowd around Daisy as well while Cyanin then whispered to me with the other¡¯s she was happy to see me. Daisy was in tears and began to hug everyone around her. My eyes were drawn elsewhere though. It was Cam, he just continued to look towards me. Boom! The image of one of the Arachnee women jumped a span of several meters within a second and darted towards me. She then stopped and turned her head to the side while looking towards us. I was currently wearing Loki¡¯s mask, and Sting was in Malthiel¡¯s cloak standing behind Adimar. Her movement¡¯s were ridiculously fast for something her size. She¡¯s about 2 feet taller than me with her spider body but her movements with her feet could probably match my flicker skill. She just tried to observe who each of us were then clicked her tongue back at Cam. ¡°Mm...he¡¯s always so warm!¡± ¡°Not as warm as Tanin tehehe!¡± ¡°Hehehe!....Ugh....¡± The pixies then saw Cam who was giving them an angry look and tried to usher me to follow him quickly. I tried to tell them no but they then covered my mouth with their small hands. They said to trust them and just follow them immediately. Cam then told the four Arachnee women with us to follow along as well. Since most of the bodies of the gnolls were in pieces I just had Akino collect the one heart from earlier. She gave me an odd look but then agreed to it willingly. We went through the forest for a short ways whenever the scenery suddenly changed. What was once a deep forest now lies a brightly lit space where even the leaves and grass glow. A small pond connected to a serene waterfall doesn¡¯t fit the dungeon floor around it. Cam and the others continued to walk through the pond water and then passed underneath the waterfall behind it. The pixies continued to pull my arm and pull me in with them and I followed along. ¡®Why can only Daisy see the illusion? ¡®The Arachnee however stood behind us waiting for us to go in first. Some of them gave us curious looks but one of them looked directly at me. It was as if she was staring straight through my mask. Her hair was light blonde and wore a similar hairstyle as the arachnee next to her. She had short hair on one side while the other side grew to her shoulders. In all honesty regardless of the spider legs she is a gorgeous woman.....¡®Wait am I into that sort of thing? No...I can¡¯t think about that right now.¡¯ We walked past the waterfall into what appeared to be a wall but now I can see there is yet another illusion barrier set up. What we walked through appears to be a cave entrance. There may have been over a 100 people in here. Arachnee, Reiki, pixies, even some Eis nekos are here. Some of them stared towards us and made different looks all together. Some gave us looks of anger while some just gave looks of not caring at all and returning to what they were doing. Cam walked towards a small door built into the cave wall. He walked past everyones gawking stares and towards the door. There stood two Eis Nekos I had¡¯t seen before. One was a guy roughly 6 feet tall and short spiky hair. The girl next to him had short blue hair that reached her shoulders. They both appeared to be in the same military as that woman but they wear a completely different black uniform. It¡¯s different than the black ones I¡¯ve seen from those other Eis nekos. They each have a crest on the front of their shirts. It¡¯s the same as the one on the back of their hooded capes. It was a the skull of a cat plus two criss crossed white swords underneath them. They saluted Cam and gave a peculiar knock on the door. I started to look around and noticed some eyes were still on us. But they weren¡¯t on me.....they were on Adimar and Akino? ¡°...Oh...Who is it?¡± ¡°For the god¡¯s sake....Izzie open the damn door!¡± Cam sighed then shouted at the door. Chink.. Chink.. Chink...chink.. ¡°Hold on.....There¡¯s quite a bit of locks on this door......Just a second.........Almost.........ok done!¡± Cam then just started to shake his head in frustration angrily. The pixies around us started to giggle and chuckle amongst themselves. ¡°My my Cameron, did I keep you waiting nya....¡± Peeking out of the cracked door was a thin neko woman. She had long blue hair in a pony tail and had the same cat ears like the other nekos. She wore glasses and unlike those at the door only wore one sword at her waste, it was silver saber with blue crystals on it. She looked up at Cam who only gave a mean look back. ¡°Oh...and who might these young fellows be......¡± Her eyes scanned who was by the door and then she smiled while twitching her whiskers. She closed her eyes and opened the door for everyone. We each walked inside behind Cam. I had a huddle of pixies surrounding me, while I walked into the room there must have been 30 plus people inside. Many I¡¯ve never seen before and some that look familiar. The Arachnee queen is over in the corner with a few of her guards. Her large white exterior is hard to miss. There is also a large table in here much similar to the war room I was in before, however there are boards up with paintings and writings on them all over the place. There in the center of the table is also what appears to be a mapped out design of this floor with several figurines on top of it. They all seemed to be finely carved and designed to look like different races. Click I turned behind me and the woman Izzie had just locked the door behind us. The Arachnee woman there behind us also seemed perplexed by this. I then turned around to survey the rest of the room. Sitting at the head of this table, was that same grey haired Jiji that was a race leader. He didn¡¯t seem interested in us entering. There were several Eis neko¡¯s and Reiki crowded around the table talking amongst themselves. When they noticed our entrance they each stood at attention. ¡°Vali?.....Daisy!.....¡± A small pink spark turned towards the table and started to run towards me. I honestly don¡¯t think I¡¯ve met this one yet. Beside her are also pixies I¡¯ve never seen before. They look much more muscular than the pixies surrounding me. They even have spears and equipment on them. The pink girl flew up and towards me she put her head into my stomach and hugged me. She then looked over to Daisy and wrapped her arms around her. ¡°Daisy....I thought....I thought.....¡± ¡°.....¡± Daisy looked at her oddly and tilted her head. She was still teary eyed from seeing all her family just a minute ago. ¡°It¡¯s me Daisy....¡± She then flipped her hand over and showed a very bright crimson ring on her right hand. ¡°Co...Cosmia!¡± Daisy then wrapped her arms around the pink headed pixie with tears in her eyes. ¡°Wait....What?¡± As I said that Akino and Adimar also made strange voices of concern as we didn¡¯t understand what we were hearing. ¡°Do you see now child....¡± I turned over and looked towards Cam. He had his hands behind his back and stood at attention. The way he speaks is different than any of the others I¡¯ve met in this dungeon. His dialect and the sounds he makes whenever he says some words are just so familiar. ¡°.....Malfius?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°......¡± At my question Akino and Adimar both showed looks of disbelief. How is this possible? He nodded his head and smiled. ¡°How?¡± ¡°Perhaps I can explain that.....¡± A tall eis neko man stood up from where he was sitting and walked towards the one claiming to be Malfius. ¡°Hello....I am Commander Erwin Locke. Leader of the Away team, of the Dawn Bringers Corps. ¡° He presented his arm to shake it. He may have been the first person in this world who has done that. I shook the mans solid grip and he appeared to be in his late 20s. He had a very sleek look and looked very dignified. ¡°Yes...I¡¯m Vali. Nice to meet you.¡± ¡°Yes... I¡¯ve heard all about you Vali. It is pleasure getting to meet with you finally. ¡° Commander Locke''s attitude was a very serious one. He spoke very clearly about the events that had lead up until this point. ¡®Well....at least he doesn¡¯t make that ¡®nya¡¯ sound nearly as much as the other ones. Locke spoke about how the Away team is a group of multiple races who continue to hunt past 52 floor. They continually search for ways to push the Fomorians back to continue their journey of escaping this place. The eis neko units in this cave as well as a few other races are what is left of the Away team. While the away team was out on a mission past floor 52 they were doing scouting on floor 59. The small villages that were just starting there were barren and destroyed by the appearance of the fomorians not so long ago. Since no one really other than the away team goes past floor 52 they thought it odd when they came across a meeting there between two individuals. They couldn¡¯t make out their race but from what they gathered was the evidence of someone trying to escape the dungeon. The culprits were Cosmia, Malfius and they were being helped by a human from outside this place. He spoke of them talking about a meeting of the race leaders and those that could be involved in trying to escape the dungeon. When they relayed the information to Commander Locke, it became the obvious choice to rescue the two race leaders. Any and all those who have attempted to escape this dungeon have been executed by Malthiel in horrific ways. They have only met Balor a handful of times whenever they have conquered certain dungeon floors and he presents himself to tell him of what lies beyond it. When revealing the information originally to Cosmia and her elite guard, one of the pixies proposed a body double. He then took place of Cosmia against her wishes. Cam who was also present during this meeting with the Away team offered his own life in exchange for Malfius¡¯s as to protect their own race leader. Malfius who was not present for this was unaware of the meeting entirely so he couldn¡¯t object to this idea. Balor killed them at the beginning of his speeches and didn¡¯t give much warning. It all apparently happened too fast. ¡°But how was it possible to switch their bodies without Balor finding out?¡± ¡°That¡¯s.....that is because of this.....¡± Cosmia who¡¯s head was still hanging low took off her crimson ring and presented it to me. I couldn¡¯t view much about it at all. But after reading it I could understand how it could have worked.
Pixie Queen¡¯s ¡®Illusion Maestro¡¯ Ring (Ancient Class)
I couldn¡¯t see any skills attached to it but I¡¯m assuming it has some. She then told me that this particular crimson ring was passed down to her from her mother and the rest of her family. It has the ability gifted to them by a being similar to a god, which sets up an illusion that is impossible to see through while the illusion is active.. Though it¡¯s cool down time for the skill is two days. These illusions however are what has kept the pixie race alive for so long. Balor acted so quickly that she thinks the illusion didn¡¯t really matter But to have a ring that is capable of fooling a fallen god, but not Daisy? She then noticed me staring oddly at Daisy and shook her head is if understanding what I was thinking. She said the illusion that we are currently seeing is just her own magic. ¡°Then.....Why don¡¯t you turn back to you Cosmia?¡± Daisy then asked but she looked back at her with even sadder eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Daisy. We couldn¡¯t tell everyone about the plan, we didn¡¯t know Balor would execute those pretending to be us but.....He killed them so....so quickly....sob¡± Cosmia then started to cry while looking at the floor but Daisy only pushed her cheeks forward towards hers. ¡°Don¡¯t be sad Cosmia.....I would have done the same for you....Your our queen.¡± The two small girls then hugged and cried with one another over the loss of their brother. ¡°Ohhh....I¡¯ve never seen an Arachnee woman before......So beautiful....And oh look at these blue haired cat people?.....Hello I¡¯m Sting....What¡¯s yours?¡± I turned to the side and saw Sting was approaching one of the Eis Neko woman from the away team. He tried to talk to her but she just kept looking at him oddly. ¡°Umm.....Why is this thing trying to talk to me?¡± The neko girl then tried to look away as if giving him the hint that she couldn¡¯t understand him. I guess she could feel that he was attempting to flirt with her but a lot of these eis nekos look to be quite serious military men and women....Nothing like those oddball knights from Asher. ¡¯..Oh gosh I completely forgot how awkward that meal with them was....Truly the weirdest group of people I may have ever met in both of my lives and I feel as though I might now be of equal rank to some of those characters now. Well....at least none of them seemed like horrible people, and the King and Queen seemed to have raised a nice child. But I don¡¯t have time to replay the memories of those weird knights....Ugh well at least things are starting to look up wit the appearance of Malfius and Cosmia now. I¡¯m no longer on alert and now have the freedom to think things out rationally for a bit.....¡¯ I smiled lightly back at the two in front of me while telling Sting to can it. I then walked over to shake Malfius¡¯s hand. It was honestly great to see him considering the circumstances. ¡°I must say... I did not plan on ever seeing you again child. But I am thankful.¡± Even though Malfius currently resembles Cam I can tell with the particular facial expressions he does appear to share the same mannerisms. ¡°So Cam is gone huh? I¡¯m sorry for your loss.¡± The idea of Cam¡¯s death affected me. He was someone I had only known for a short while but he seemed like a good person. He was even willing to switch places with Malfius here even if it meant he could wind up dying. ¡°Yes...If I had known, I wouldn¡¯t have allowed such a thing. He has a wife, a child...And yet he put everything on the line for this. For me, and for you.¡± ¡°Why?...Did he have such faith that I¡¯d be able to kill Balor?¡± ¡°You...are the first good thing this place has seen in years. It was not just faith in you being able to slay Balor. It was faith in you being able to reunite the remaining races together under one person we could whole heartedly put our faith into.¡± ¡°...I don¡¯t understand. Why would Cam hold such blind faith in someone he didn¡¯t even know? Are you trying to guilt trip me into helping you or something?¡± ¡°No Vali. It is because you were an outsider everyone in this room can be able to unite behind you with trust. Everyone in this dungeon can unite behind you. Because you aren¡¯t from this place.¡± ¡°Why? Listen is it because of me helping kill Malthiel. Listen I...¡± ¡°It is because there are things much more dangerous that lurk in this dungeon than just monsters. ¡° Commander Locke then stepped into our conversation and continued to try to sway me. The way all of the neko¡¯s in this room including the Reiki looked at me was much different than before. Each of them continued to look at me diligently while Locke continued talking. ¡°Vali...Dark Eden is a place that won¡¯t even allow those that die here to escape its clutches. All the souls of those who have fallen in this place, remained trapped here. We do not only seek freedom from these walls, we seek liberation for all those who have fallen in this twisted hell. Balor owes us a blood debt. And we intend to pay him back in full.¡± ¡°I knew it...¡± Hjokk then made a whisper in my ear before Erwin started continuing. She didn¡¯t seem shocked at all at his comment. Why didn''t you tell me something like this if you thought that! ¡°Those who die in this place...Don¡¯t always stay dead. Malthiel would bring back the dead and uses them as his puppets throughout some of our ranks...Even those that died centuries ago will suddenly appear as a hero on the battlefield today. Many mistakes have been made in the misplaced faith in these puppets. It was impossible to prove this but we¡¯ve had this suspicion for several years now. With this confirmation with Balor coming down to the 52 floor, we now have solid evidence to take action without the need for the other race heads approval.¡± ¡°...Damn.¡± Balor really is a sick freak. Everyone in this dungeon who dies here stays here. Not even their souls get to move on to be with their loved ones. To me that is a fate worse than death. ¡°That is why I tried to place a gag order on all those present at the leader¡¯s meeting with you the day we met Vali.. If you happened to not be another puppet of Malthiel¡¯s and word got out that a human was actually from the outside attempting to set us free, everyone may have been executed for such talk...It is because Balor has taken away our ability to trust in this place.¡± Adimar then interjected. He however said it in a polite and upholding tone. He wasn¡¯t making an excuse for what had happened to me, he was simply saying his views before learning the truth. Erwin then continued off of what Adimar had said. ¡°For centuries, all those who have attempted excavation projects to leave this place have been viciously mutilated in front of the publics eye by Malthiel. For centuries this dates back. All the projects were public knowledge of the time, and always it was Malthiel who did the executions, not Balor. However 60 years ago several men from the jiji race attempted to build a private tunnel and escape. They told no one of this but eventually it got out. Malthiel came down and executed them all...They however had been digging the tunnel for roughly 6 months before they were killed. It was then that we had our first suspicions about their being a leak in knowledge to those who have trapped us here. With the intel we gathered along with Balor came down personally, we thought the word around the garrison of a white haired human thought to be Malthiel, may actually have killed the son bitch.¡± Locke continued to talk about some of the strifes these people have had to go through while trapped here. It¡¯s impossible to trust anyone in this place. It¡¯s also why Adimar said many of his pack left to floor one. To escape from the treachery. This may have been what caused that accident on floor 44 they each don¡¯t enjoy talking about. ¡°But can their souls just be recycled like that? Do the people not come back the same?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not them that comes back. It¡¯s merely the shell of their bodies, their souls are simply trapped inside. The Elkia who was my brother in law, he was one of Malthiel¡¯s puppets. He must have died at some point in this dungeon without any of us knowing. It¡¯s impossible to know how long he wasn¡¯t really him. But one day we followed under his command, whenever he saw the great beasts known as Soul devourers, he told all those present the intel they were simple opponents....We walked into a slaughter. We lost...so many. I stood at the back with my brother in law leading the pack. He merely laughed...laughed at the chaos he created. It was a laugh I have burned into my memory. It was the same as the monster who wielded that scythe you killed...¡± Adimar then continued to speak while all the other races in the room looked at him with sad eyes during his story. However the Arachnee and Reiki present hadn¡¯t heard this story before judging by their reactions. ¡°When I questioned him what was the meaning of this. He looked towards me and smiled. He smiled as the creature clutched his soul and tore it apart in front of my eyes.....It was most definitely not my brother in law.¡± Adimar then looked like he wanted to continue speaking but he did not. Looking at me I can see it pained him to speak about. I then looked towards the other person who helped mutilate me in this room. Akino looking towards me with sullen eyes. Her ears drooped to the side and her eyes fell to the floor. Locke I think may have originally been telling me this story to eventually ask for my help, I think that woman at the door¡¯s name was Izzie. If I recall Adimar here said that name just before that pack pounced on me. If what this guy says is true, it¡¯s now hard to trust everything he says as true either. Hell, how do I know everyone in this room isn¡¯t a puppet right now, including the small yellow girl still holding my hand. ¡°We know what your thinking...Those in this room are the few that have been proven to not be among the dead. Those on floor one we believe Malthiel or Balor would have had no use putting a spy towards, most of those there were cleared of suspicion.¡° ¡°That wasn¡¯t all I was worried about. How can I just trust any you. Izzie was it?...If I recall that was the name this wolf over here said came up with the interesting plan of surrounding and attacking me.¡± ¡° Hey!..I had no idea those mangy muts were going to swarm all over you without at least questioning you first! Those stupid..¡± ¡°Izzie...Stop talking...¡± ¡°Vali...You cannot put the blame onto the Away team. They were unrelated in the matter of questioning you. We got our information from other nekos. Izzie simply gave her analysis on the data that was provided and gave her opinion on the matter. She held no merit to what happened to you.¡± Locke tried to quiet Izzie down while Adimar then interjected with trying to help her case. Is he really so sorry about what happened? If I recall none of these neko¡¯s were in the room the day of the meeting with the race leaders. Perhaps this team isn¡¯t that high enough in rank to do much. They don¡¯t seem to be lying. They¡¯re a small unit that continues to go past the floors that have been taken from then and try to escape this place. If they were lying they wouldn¡¯t have attempted to save Cosmia and Malfius. ¡°Yes Vali, our sins are our own. We don¡¯t expect you to forgive us. Nothing can make up for what happened to you, but please don¡¯t hold it against all those in this place.¡± Akino then spoke up and then kneeled on the ground with Adimar. They stood their chests out towards me. Many of those in here gasped at this action however. Even the small grey jiji at the end of the table stood up to see this action. Akino and Adimar looked like they were accepting death. ¡®What are they doing?¡¯ Looking towards my confusion Locke then told me this is a form of submission to the Annunake. An alpha doing something like this is unheard of over the hundreds of years they¡¯ve been in here. They were presenting their lives to me. I guess it¡¯s about that time to decide on what to do with them. Malfius and Erwin then both spoke about the fact that the two and those involved all needed to be punished for moving without the proper consent of all the race leaders. The crime was something they asked if they could choose the sentencing for. I wasn¡¯t sure how I felt about it, I don¡¯t want any of these people getting off easily. They won¡¯t feel just death. Loki said he wanted me to make this race submit to me. He spoke as if it were the same as making something like Fenrir see me as a master. Are these races so similar to animals? How can I trust them? [I think you can trust them Vali. I believe they were telling the truth about the souls being trapped here as well.] Hjokk¡¯s voice began to whisper throughout my head. How is she doing that. [I can use this as a means of talking to you through your thoughts. I think you can trust them. They¡¯re telling the truth about the souls being trapped here.] [First off....I would like to know how long you¡¯ve had this skill and why haven¡¯t you used it until now? And why do you say that?] [It doesn¡¯t matter to those who have already seen me talk in this dungeon. But Loki has given me strict instruction to not interfere but guide you. I can only assist should a dire need suddenly arise. But to answer your question. Isn¡¯t it amazing that no other god¡¯s or even Hades have found out about this place yet. So many souls trapped on middle earth by a dark god. One race is even from a divine being. Why do you think Amarok hasn¡¯t come and tried to rip Balor¡¯s head off yet? If he heard of the deaths of his tortured descendants would he or other gods not move to have this place destroyed.] Hjokk continued talking in my thoughts with her odd skill. She said that Loki too was puzzled by the emergence of such a dungeon because other god¡¯s would obviously have become aware of such a place. It would be a place were people died everyday and the souls would then go to the afterlife in this universe. God¡¯s like Hades who is a god over death wouldn¡¯t tolerate such an act, as well as other god¡¯s would have probably moved to destroy him by now. If the souls were trapped here however, no one would know of what was happening inside. ¡®Why did Balor create such a place?¡¯ Hjokk may have just been saying some of this to convince me to abide by Loki¡¯s wishes at allowing this race to survive. I won¡¯t deny the idea of having a race such as this under my will is something that appeals to me. I need to be able to provide a place that can protect my family. I may even need strong individuals to help me with that. I need someone I can trust, but with the bindings of Gleipnir, I don¡¯t need trust. They¡¯re forced to obey. Considering everything, I need a strong force to protect what is close to me. There¡¯s war happening outside this dungeon. Having these strong races unite together with me would be beneficial. For now...I¡¯ll leave the sentencing up to Malfius, they are still under the authority of gleipnir so anything they do cannot harm me. When I spoke of allowing the sentencing of these two to be up to Malfius they agreed and I was then motioned to use my hands to scratch both Akino and Adimar¡¯s stomach by Erwin. It was the ending of the ritual they wanted me to do. According to them me doing this was a sign of dominance over them and the Annunake¡¯s way of saying they submit. Dogs do this to one another. When dogs show submission to their master or to a more dominate dog they show their most vulnerable spot, their bellies. They presented it to me and I was suppose to scratch it as a way to show I was now these two¡¯s alpha. If I decided them to die, they would even have to obey it. I don¡¯t intend to make their lives pleasant at all. I will however show them I am the dominate one in this relationship, should they cross me again. I¡¯ll make an example out of them. I then scratched their stomach and whispered in their furry white ears. ¡°Regardless of what Malfius and the others decide to do with you...Your lives belong to me now.¡± They both nodded seriously and didn¡¯t refuse, they don¡¯t look like they are wanting to try anything. They may even be truly sorry for what was done to me. Who knows they may regret those feelings later? ¡®Living in such a place, it can drive a person crazy. How can you trust anyone? But I don¡¯t intend to forget everything that has happened between us at all. I believe they too have a blood debt they will each pay in full. The rest of the wolves I may be able to make submit to me through this alpha¡¯s actions. That woman Alysteir will not be allowed such a kindness.¡¯ Erwin and Malphius then spoke to me about the plans for what we were going to do further. Under Erwin and Izzie¡¯s suspicions we can assume at least one of those present at the meeting I had with the race leaders are one of Malthiel¡¯s remaining puppets. We need to acquire information from one of those puppets as to what it is Balor is doing here. If he doesn¡¯t have a way of knowing if people leave and enter this place, it can be possible to warp everyone outside of this dungeon. But if we move to gather everyone to escape he will easily find out about it and come stop it. We need to find all of his puppets remaining in this dungeon before we move forward.Only those present at this base have been cleared of suspicion, while those in this room are the only ones who know of Malfius and Cosmia not actually being dead. They have determined many who aren¡¯t puppets already. Most of those on floor one or individuals who stay out of battle have been deemed people that can be ruled out for now. Puppets from Malthiel only started popping up several years ago. They would appear only to cause chaos to stop the advancement of further floors. They believe this was due to them being the strongest generation and conquering dungeons at a much quicker pace than before. This halted their advancement speeds drastically. Those on floor one wouldn¡¯t have much intel or worth to do so and those that have been deemed puppets by these people already have been strong individuals who have sought only destruction to the advancement of floors. It has only happened a handful of times but each time the individual had lead many into a slaughter or started a feud between races to stop further advancements. The Arachnee queen and her subjects have been out of battle for a long time. Of every race, the Arachnee don¡¯t really get along with other races. For any of them to be a puppet to gather intel would be useless. They live on a floor alone and they each have the fastest growth rate. They also have high birthing rates so many of their species were forced to live on floor 1. They tend to not look kindly towards other races though those on floor one got along well with the Jiji there to my knowledge. They then spoke of the Jiji man in the room. The small grey haired Jiji man was known as Pek. Even though they say not really many people can communicate with him he¡¯s still revered as the leader of their race. However he wasn¡¯t necessarily a race leader he is just looked up as the genius amongst his race. According to Henly, the Jiji race don¡¯t really have any form of government or infrastructure in their race it seems. They are just a bunch of families amongst the same race that live amongst one another. They¡¯re essentially a race of fine artisans and don¡¯t enjoy battle since they are so small, as such they don¡¯t really have much power or say into the inner workings of this dungeon. Pek was once revered for his brilliance and was the one responsible for making those canons. I¡¯ve been seriously wanting to talk to him since I heard about this discovery. Henly told me the tale of the discovery by Pek. He had been working on some kind of ore that when heated would explode. The small metal rock then flew straight through his wall and outside his house at the time. It was then he had the idea for something I thought was quite similar to a gun. He then gave up on the idea considering it needed to be bigger to cause any considerable damage so the idea for a canon was drawn up. Truly someone in a world without knowledge of something like that thinking up ideas like this is truly brilliant. People like Einstein or Teslav didn¡¯t have outside knowledge and later invented things that changed the world for their ideas. This little furry guy lives in a dungeon and came up with a truly amazing idea that ultimately changed my world drastically. He and several of the Jiji are also responsible for a lot of the architecture around here. All they have done, is for the advancement to escape this place. They even dug up and found old blue prints from human housing and used it¡¯s knowledge to build some towns. Regardless of every other amazing race I¡¯ve seen in here, these little furry creatures may in fact be the most phenomenal. ¡®They can make things, their similar to what engineers are in my world but their incredibly crafty. Are they just naturally smarter than other races? Why would a race that could do so much be looked down on?¡¯ The Jiji as a race also tend to not enjoy very bright environments. Henly actually said other than the smell, lack of food and the floor one devourer¡¯s it wasn¡¯t a horrible place to live for them. Pek however and a lot of Jiji lived on floor 52 under the protection of the other races there. They lived their because it was much safer for their families and he was only allowed to take some of with him. He apparently lost many of his own today. Locke then began to go over some of the targets they have identified and planned on pursuing tonight. They even had set plans on what the targets did each day, with who and even had specific times. These Neko¡¯s seem to be very thorough. I look at the large blocks of wood that have dark colored paint with names written out on them. Each of them are the names of those suspected of being puppets. Some of them have already been crossed out. There are honestly quite a lot on there. Meifeng is even one of them. Wait..... ¡°Why the hell is Alysteir¡¯s name marked off!?¡± ¡°.........¡± ¡°.........¡± Everyone remained quiet at my comment. Even the pixies quieted down. They had been lively throughout this whole time during this talk. Many of them even looked at Adimar and Akino with rage during most of our interactions from before. Each of them I¡¯m guessing where aware of some of what happened to me. They just stood beside me the whole time. They at this comment however only widened their eyes and froze. Even the arachnee made odd faces. Locke then spoke up. His whiskers twitched some and his mannerisms began to become more catlike. ¡°Though she will pay for her crimes for what she has done. We don¡¯t believe her to be one of the remaining puppets....Nya, she is well...¡± ¡°That woman has been that way for a long time child. She is however the strongest of us all. She also wishes to escape this place more than anyone. She herself is the one who has conquered more dungeon floors for us than any other. Whenever Balor touched down it was her and her unit that allowed so many to escape the Fomorian¡¯s onslaught.¡± Malfius then cut off Erwin to speak about that insane woman who tore into me. This is bullshit! ¡°That could easily be a lie to set you up! She helps only to make her image look to be that of someone helping you all!¡± ¡°......¡± They each just made troubled faces. ¡°Listen Vali, we aren¡¯t denying it¡¯s possible. I think what Malfius and Erwin are saying is that, Alysteir is guilty of tearing away at you...Not Balor. She¡¯s also not someone who gives orders. She simply fights to kill things. She wasn¡¯t always like this I¡¯m told, but it seems this place may have already claimed her mind.¡± Adimar then spoke up. He walked over to me and made a troubled face. ¡°Well that won¡¯t rescue her for what¡¯s to come.¡± ¡°...I do not deny that she needs to answer for her crimes this time. She however is a woman who only moves when ordered to by Malaki. He is currently also on our list. I¡¯m not saying we aren¡¯t going to make her answer for what she has done...We only wish to go after these names first.¡± ¡°Why?!¡± I then questioned Erwin at why this was so. I¡¯m not waiting on these people. ¡°Should some of these people on the list be trustworthy...they could then assist us in bringing her in. She is....very strong.¡± ¡°Yah I get it the strongest of you all. I don¡¯t think she will be able to put up much of a fight whenever I¡¯m through with her.¡± I then answered him and everyone in the room became silent at my words. Everyone looked around the room in shock at what I had just said. Then Adimar spoke up. ¡°Vali, do not underestimate that woman. She is frighteningly strong.¡± ¡°You saying your frightened? An alpha of a godly wolf race, scared of a thin blue haired cat girl? Your pack can¡¯t take her?¡± ¡°....If our whole pack went at her at once, I don¡¯t know maybe. You have the added benefit of moving wherever you want with magic, she can move at a similar speed with just her legs alone. She just moves too fast. She has multiple items from bosses she¡¯s claimed and anything that gets within 5 feet of her gets torn to shreds.¡± ¡°Big bad wolf huh. Well you guys are gonna help me take her down then. I guess we can wait if you guys think it¡¯s that necessary... I¡¯ll wait and just go hunt for a while then.¡± They all nodded and agreed. The neko¡¯s and reiki present however showed a rather grim appearance. ¡°She really that strong?¡± ¡°We roughly put her skills equivalent to two floor bosses and three field bosses combined. She has just reached the expert stages of sword mastery and is considered the strongest one in this dungeon by a large margin. Other than the Adler race, the neko race has risen to one of the strongest races in this dungeon thanks to her sword.¡± The woman Izzie then spoke up. She appeared to be something similar to a sports analyst, but spoke similarly to a scientist in game speak. ¡°Wait the Adler race? They are one of the strongest races? That big bird dropped easy.¡± ¡°The Adler¡¯s are actually as a whole considered the strongest race in this dungeon. Their versatility is enough to probably even overwhelm Alysteir.¡± ¡°How is that?¡± The cat woman named Izzie then became excited at my question. ¡°Well you see nya, the Adlers as a whole aren¡¯t necessarily Adlers at all. It is just the name we use to classify them all since they have so many different species amongst them. Some have blade like tipped wings and fly at super sonic speeds, some are great at archery, while others have enough strength to even overwhelm a full grown Annunake in close quarters combat.¡± ¡°What? How is that?¡± ¡®I¡¯m beginning to think this term ¡®Legendary¡¯ title the Annunake have is starting to sound like a load of crap.¡¯ Izzie then became more enthralled at my question and her tail and ears began to move around. She seems like Loki in the since if you act any at all interested they¡¯ll respond more enthusiastically. ¡°Oh well the dead Adler king Griphlock was actually from a race of bird from legend nya....It had the head and wings of a bird and the body of four legged beast....Oh and it¡¯s tail!...¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough Izzie! Sorry if you seem interested in anything she says, she¡¯ll talk your ear off all day.....trust me. Now come on Izzie, we need to prepare for what comes next.¡± Commander Locke then walked over and grabbed Izzie by her tail and pulled her with him to go over plans over some of those they were going to go after tonight. I¡¯m not sure how they plan on figuring out if they are actually puppets or not but they said Malfius may have a way. I however would not be going with them. I will be going to level in this dungeon and hunt strong monsters for now. I only have a few days left. I will however assist in them going after those responsible for attacking me whenever they have prepared for it. ¡®Could she had been talking about a gryphon? Well that would make since how it would be so strong then, it was half lion and half bird. The Adler¡¯s could actually become quite the allies here if they didn¡¯t seem so stubborn.¡¯ Cyanin who was originally talking to one of the other pixies then looked at me and gave me an odd look and then looked at Daisy who was now holding my hand again. She then looked to her then darted towards me. ¡°Hey...Why do you keep getting to hold Vali¡¯s hand...Vali! Wanna hold my hand!¡± She then latched on to my hand with her tiny fingers and smiled. Her bright turquoise aura around her brightened as she glistened looking up at me. ¡°Wait...I want to hold his hand too!¡± ¡°Vali let me hold next!¡± Several pixies then rushed me. Girls and boys which I found strange. They didn¡¯t seem to think it was weird at all and were clamoring to see who would get to hold my hand. Before I could say anything Cosmia walked up. ¡®Ugh...thank you.¡¯ ¡°Now, now everyone will get a turn to hold Vali¡¯s hand. Everyone form a line, after I have had a turn everyone will....¡± ¡°Cosmia?¡± ¡°Oh sorry...Everyone we have to wait to hold his hand later he is going to level!¡± ¡®That¡¯s....that¡¯s not what I meant¡¯ Some of the pixies made noises a child would and flew away solemnly. They however continued to bump into each other while flying away. It kind of resembled aerial bumper cars...Really such an odd race. Malfius then turned to me and said the pixies here are actually all quite young compared to the other races. Each of them including Cosmia lost their parents not too long ago from another floor accident. Their strongest members died and only a small number of elite pixies have remained. They each however all revere Cosmia as their queen even if she isn¡¯t the strongest or the oldest. Which is something I found strange originally but it¡¯s just how their race is. They don¡¯t look at the strongest as their leader. That¡¯s not how the dynamic with their race works. Malfius then asked me for either Adimar or Akino since he needed to ask them questions over everything that had happened. I do need them to provide Malfius with what had happened outside this dungeon. I¡¯m guessing he is asking me as I am now looked at as in charge of them. I can¡¯t understand quite what that odd ritual is they made me do but I told them both to fill him in for now. I then walked over to the pixies as if remembering something just then. ¡°Hjokk, did you and Malfius ever gather a lot of those purple crystals?¡± ¡°Yes, I gathered 44 of them.¡± ¡°...Geezes how many of those things did you have to kill?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, 20 thousand something.¡± ¡°.......¡± Calling Hjokk a monster at this point doesn¡¯t even apply. I¡¯m glad to know I have something like that always sitting on my shoulder. She however is against the idea of collecting things for me anymore, her reasoning is to always stay at my side after what happened. But like Loki said, I can¡¯t rely on her. If I think about it, her fate is linked to mine. I have to learn from my mistakes, but I think I have an interesting way to make up for my shortcomings before. I¡¯m going to take some of these pixies who have been loyal to me and take them power leveling. I think I have just the way to aid them as well as myself. I¡¯ve been thinking up new ways to fight ever since gaining those new items from Malthiel and Adimar. Because of these items I have the ability to fight differently now. I don¡¯t have to just be the aggressor anymore. I think with my spatial magic I can even become a new type of player on the battlefield entirely. Not just for myself...but for those I use it on. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Cosmia come here.¡± ¡°Oh...wha...what is it Vali?¡± She looked up at me shyly and I could see the red light around her became even more crimson. I took out all the crystals I had bought at the shop in Aldain, I then had Hjokk take out all the purple crystals she had gathered. I explained to them what the purple crystal would do and pointed at Cyanin. I wanted each of them here in this room to take one, and to decide amongst themselves who would get the others. I also had these 4 other crystals, 2 blue, 1 yellow, one red. The yellow one would be equivalent to the one I gave Tanin while the red one would be more than that. Their mouths opened wide at hearing my descriptions of what these small magical crystals could do for them. ¡°I however don¡¯t believe it will necessarily give the same abilities as Tanin. In all honesty I have no idea what abilities each of these four will give you but I believe that these will each make you stronger.¡± ¡°Ugh...but. Are you sure you want to give us such treasures?¡± I nodded and she just smiled back at me. The four pixie guards behind her were green, purple, magenta, and silver. Each of them had animal leather armor and held small spears or weapons that look like an animal horn. They looked slightly older than Cosmia and each held a strong demeanor while looking at me. However upon hearing this they each looked at each other oddly. I hadn¡¯t met any of these four yet to be honest. Cosmia and the others began to clamor each to one another. The purple pixie then stepped forward and said that Cosmia should receive a crystal that could boost in her defensive abilities. Then the green one said maybe they should give the yellow one to Tanin to help him receive a stronger fire, or should they give it to another? Each of them clamored about how they should distribute some of them as the idea of a game over these seemed to be a bad idea to them. Tanin however wasn¡¯t here, he and Aurora were down on floor one defending the residents there from monsters. They said Tanin has become something of a hero down there. Apparently he burned through an entire nest of those devourer¡¯s down there with his fire. If I recall I did get an oil like substance from those creatures, fire is probably bad news for them. I then noticed Daisy was still attached to my arm. I guess I forgot she was standing there. I asked her why she wasn¡¯t joining the others and she said she didn¡¯t need to be one of the ones who received a crystal since she wasn¡¯t good at fighting. If I recall Daisy was one of the ones who actually won in one of the games to receive a mythril armor, but she gave it away after winning. It¡¯s why I remembered her name so easily. I thought the action was amazing at the time, here in a world where people covet power this race gives it to one another like they do with their own life force. They share in everything. The silver colored pixie then spoke up and said ¡®Yah! We should give the yellow one to Daisy! Then she can become stronger like Tanin...If we each become a little stronger we will all become strong together!¡¯. A lot of them clamored and agreed. Cosmia nodded at me. I then grabbed the yellow crystal and activated it on Daisy without her response. The same noise came from the crystal like it did with Tanin and a bright yellow light gushed out of the crystal and showered all over Daisy. Her wings became like larger and covered in what looked like small flower petals. Her short yellow hair began to shine with a yellow glitter while the rest of her body beamed a bright yellow throughout the room. Her eye color even turned a brighter yellow than before and her whole body glowed. She then looked up at me as if still trying to say it should go to someone else. ¡°WAh....But!¡± I then told them all this wasn¡¯t an option. It wasn¡¯t for them to be able to fight, it was for them to become stronger and to survive. This world is a ruthless one, and this race is one that is strongest when it is together. If I think about it what that silver pixie said was spot on, don¡¯t strengthen one link in the chain strengthen every link together. She then looked at her hands and wings and cried a bit. Her wings were still see through but it looked like hundreds of small flower petals made up the entirety of her wings. Many of them then began to pick off and float beside her. They twirled around and floated to the other pixies around her. One then flew to me. ¡°Tehe....Thank you Vali.¡± Wait what? The sound I heard from Daisy came off from one of the flower petals in my ear. She gained an ability to communicate with these small flower petals. That¡¯s amazing. She then giggled and explained that wasn¡¯t the only thing it says she can do now. The flower petal started spinning and bright yellow mist floated from it and onto myself and the other pixies.
You have received Sun Kissed Boost! Strength has risen by 3% Stamina will increase by 20 every 10 seconds. Immunity to poison has risen by 2% Sun Absorption is in effect. Effect of Sunlight will increase buff from the sun flower
¡®Well, I guess that mean¡¯s it¡¯s possible to use multiple stones on someone. Woh, she found some interesting abilities too. Ha! What luck, her abilities were related to a freaking flower. It¡¯s not all that strong but to her whole race who fight together this could be something truly strong. They are a species that can heal one another by sharing life force, when Tanin gained the ability to heal himself they even used that as a way to continually heal one another. Now they even have someone who can buff them from the back.¡¯ Plants have unique abilities. Even though they can¡¯t move that doesn¡¯t mean they can¡¯t communicate with one another. In fact plants can communicate with bugs with particular scents to lure in predators of other insects. She now has the ability to strengthen her allies, I can only imagine the type of monster that gave such a trait. ¡°I guess your lucky the ability came out flower related. ¡° ¡°Huh! Why what does that mean?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, what if you got something weird like a tentacle ability or a tail, I¡¯m just saying it¡¯s ironic because your name is Daisy.¡± ¡®What? I¡¯m not lying, the purple crystal was 1 level over the yellow one and only gave a trait and no skills. While the yellow one Tanin gave him a fire element. They didn¡¯t just take skills with some of the crystals some gave them traits. But the skills were something they could individually increase such as the skills I gained according to Tanin.¡¯ ¡°...Eww....Are you saying I could have gotten something gross like that from one of those things!¡± She tried to run away but I grabbed her and activated one of the purple ones on her instead. She forgot that I said every pixie in here should receive one of these purple ones, including herself. She tried to resist but a loud noise rang out and again everyones eyes were on us. Her body began to glow an intense yellow that the light in the room didn¡¯t compare to the bright aura surrounding her. Her flower petaled wings became hard as diamond. The shapes of the petals then turned to yellow crystals that shined in their own unique light. The skin began to glow a bright yellow and then subsided. It looked to be finely smooth and had a small yellow glow to it as well. Her hair looked similar to yellow glass however it was still soft to the touch. Daisy then made a confused look as her wings even began to take a new form. They each elongated a bit and reached upward over her head making a ¡®U¡¯ shape. She looked in all honesty pretty cool. Just like Cyanin, her skin is smooth to the touch but maintains the same durability as her wings. Now her defense has only risen by 500 so it won¡¯t stop much, but this is an amazing start. All the other pixies began to clap and admire her new look and she began to blush and hug everyone. She became very bright, much brighter than all the other pixies in fact. She currently had a yellow, purple, and even a blue crystal in her from the first time I healed her. Her defense now has increased by roughly 50 levels while her other stats have also increased by a lot. Mostly in wisdom and strength. While she can also still use her form of communication through her petal like skill. The petals just now have a hard diamond like surface surrounding it. She will become quite valuable to the future plans of the pixies from now on. [This truly is something Vali. These pixies are not normal.] Hjokk began to whisper her thoughts through my head. [Yah, they¡¯re called Hildr Pixies. Their potential may even be stronger than my own.] [WHAT! These are Brynhildr¡¯s pixies? I thought they were all gone!] [Can you not yell in my head...And who is Brynhildr?] [She is the strongest Valkyrie of all the daughters of Odin. She is a master in all weapons and forms of combat, and prides herself in being just as strong as a divine. In the war of the gods many divine beings had followers that fought alongside them, these things fought at her side. I just had no idea they were the same kind of pixies. They¡¯re small but were an undeniable force to be seen on the battlefield that changed the dynamic of the fight the moment they entered....I should tell her of this discovery.] I continued to look at the child like pixies after hearing Hjokk talk about them. It was true, these little lightbulbs have amazing potential. They are even similar to me in the aspect of absorbing traits and abilities. Even if they have to collect rare magical crystals to do it, it¡¯s enough to make them something truly frightening late game. You wouldn¡¯t expect such things from the way they act. I noticed everyone else in the room may have become distracted by our light displays up until now. The pixies however did not care and then decided the red one should go to Cosmia. ¡°Seriously are you guys going by colors now?¡± ¡°What! Of course not! I¡¯m simply saying we should also give our leader who is still young something strong!¡± ¡°........¡± I don¡¯t believe them. I thought they were originally clever, they may just be picking it according to color. I¡¯ve given up and just decided to use these crystals now as I¡¯m not wasting anymore time with this. I activated the red and purple crystal at the same time on Cosmia. WOOOOOOOOHHHHMMMMMMMM!!!!! A bright purple and then piercing crimson color flooded the entire room. The entire cave started to shake.The light was so intense everyone in the room became blinded by it. The light surrounding Cosmia was so bright I had to shield my eyes as it would not stop pouring out from her. The power of a red crystal is not to be ignored. The power I felt leaving that red crystal felt as hot and intense as the beam coming off that idiot¡¯s black trident. It wrapped around her and she began to look at herself. She too had wings of diamonds but her¡¯s actually began to grow longer and form spikes. I could see her hair now had a red crown of diamond surrounding her head. It was large and spiky and resembled the look of ice. It even had faint frost coming off of it. The temperature in the room has even become much colder. ¡®I wonder what kind of monster dropped that red one anyways.¡¯ I looked around and now everyone else was in awe of what I was doing now. I didn¡¯t pay much mind to them and started grabbing purple crystals and activating it on the other pixies. They weren¡¯t even paying attention to me as they were each looking at Cosmia¡¯s new profound look. Now that I think about it it has gotten a lot colder in here now that I¡¯m siting next to her. According to her, each of her stats have all risen by over 200 and she has received an increase of 850 to her intellect. Her defense rose by a total 750 as well from the two crystals. Since I didn¡¯t want to waste time so I continued to use the other crystals on everyone else. That red crystal was what made the price almost a 100 gold when I bought them. The merchant who sold it to me even made a comment that it was a material too difficult to work with so he got a good price in another kingdom. ¡®Hmm, now I wonder if using it on Cyanin again would only raise her defense. Or would she only be able to absorb one of these crystals of the Adamantine spider....Let¡¯s see.¡¯ I activated it on her and her wings began to grow much larger and fling over her head resembling Daisy¡¯s. They grew much thicker and the aura surrounding her changed to brighter and lighter turquoise...¡®Yep, that clearly raised her defense. She showed me her status and even her strength has risen by some but is still less than 200. Her intellect has risen by some as well since I last saw her. Her defense however rose by another 500, she has mithril armor on and yet her status shows her defense is now slightly above 1900. I don¡¯t know how her defense has risen to such an extent but it¡¯s also clear now the mythril armor might be effected by the level of magic of the wearer. This one has had two purple crystals from a very strong defensive monster used on her. Her wings now even look to be even more sharp. ¡®With the added affects of the mythril armor, they are going to become like little flying tanks. All thanks to Freya¡¯s Soul Recovery. Gah I completely forgot to ask the Asher¡¯s about this skill.¡¯ ¡°Hey!....Some of these skills look really creepy!¡± Cosmia then yelled while looking over something with her finger. I¡¯m assuming she is reading a skill tab. I wonder what skills she got. Tanin now is constnatly engulfed in fire from a yellow crystal and got a skill from it plus an auto heal ability. While the purple crystals only added defense by a lot. I can¡¯t imagine what that red crystal could do. One of the pixies tried touching her and his finger turned blue as if it became too cold upon touching her skin. ¡°Everyone run! Vali¡¯s crystals are bad! ¡° Cosmia and the other pixies began to scatter and run away. I got frustrated at this as I have clearly said I¡¯m in a hurry and would like to go hunt. ¡®Ugh...¡¯ I then began to use my spatial magic and activate each crystal as I came across another pixie. They ran away laughing as if it had become a game of tag for them. Some of them got to the door and flew outside. I activated my spatial magic outside the room where all the race leaders were and into the space of multiple races outside. Everyone then became wide eyed at the development of me chasing and holding down pixies before breaking purple crystals over each of them. ¡°AH!....He got me!¡± ¡°Hehehe! Oh no run Mauri!¡± It only took a few minutes but eventually I used a purple crystal on every one of them. I even used two of the blue ones on Cosmia¡¯s guards. It rose their intellect and agility by about 200. Now I have 6 purple crystals left. The light surrounding each of them now looks much more dense now. Each of the pixies are now shining much more brightly making a white glow cover over the entire cave room. After I finally finished playing games with the pixies I told them I would use the rest on those they decide to later. They agreed to go gather the other pixies and decide on that later. Cosmia gave me a very dignified look and the rest of them came over and hugged me with her in the center. She was cold at first but she started to warm up after everyone crowded around us. It was just like they had done on floor one. They each thanked me from the bottom of their hearts. This is why I enjoy helping the pixies. They¡¯re in all honesty very simple creatures, if your nice to them...they¡¯re nice to you. Not much more complicated for them than that. ¡°Wow! I¡¯ve never seen magic like that before. Truly what did you do to all those little things? I ignored Sting for now as I¡¯m kind of in a hurry to go hunt. I don¡¯t have a lot of time left on hunting in this dungeon to receive its bonuses. I plan on hunting all night. Which is why I should use my spatial magic to go home for a bit. I should tell my mother and everyone I¡¯ll probably have to return for breakfast tomorrow. ¡°Vali....May I have a word with you before you go leveling?¡± Walking up to me was then Commander Locke and Izzie. They looked at me strangely and told me if it was possible to come back inside for a minute, they needed to discuss something with me. ¡°Nya...So magic crystals can do all that nya? Well, I always thought it was only used in weapon manufacturing or magical elixers but that really is fascinating!¡± ¡°Yes...What Izzie said is true we were unaware crystals could do something like that. Tell me, could you do something similar with say a magical core? Like from the belly of a boss monster?¡± ¡°Wait what? Aren¡¯t they essentially the same thing?¡± ¡®If he¡¯s talking about a magical core. He may mean something similar to the core I received from Malthiel.¡¯ ¡°Well not exacto6 nya! Magical stones are simply crystals packed with magic to help a monster control large amounts of magic they wield. While a magical core is essentially a collection of the monster¡¯s magic but some of their lifefroce as well from after they die. It is what remains from monsters who are classified as boss type¡¯s and have overwhelming high magical affinity in them that when they die it all gets stored into one place. ¡° ¡®Hmm, I did¡¯t know that but if what they are saying is true a magical core is essentially similar to a crystal. This may be something similar to Malthiel I could probably eat it.¡¯ Erwin then handed me a large black egg with bright purple veins surrounding it. ¡°This came from a monster that was pretty tough to take down. It took the entire Away team to kill it, but we essentially got lucky.¡± ¡°So it was strong?¡± ¡°Not really, it¡¯s lack of defense is what ultimately did it in. But the things it summoned were damn near hard to deal with. It was a high class dungeon boss on floor 54. It could summon hordes of ghost knights that were each immune to any and all physical damage. They however did have a slight weakness to magic.....Well we couldn¡¯t find any way to use it in anything but maybe it can become use to you.¡± I then grabbed it and observed the dark egg. It still felt, alive. I took a bite of it in front of them. They each didn¡¯t however seemed surprised. I¡¯m guessing Adimar and Akino have already discussed with him what they saw outside the dungeon, and how I acquire abilities. They however don¡¯t know I am a blessed being. I assume a Magical Core is essentially similar to the core from Malthiel and doesn¡¯t have a 24 hour timeline to absorb the skill. It¡¯s not even a heart in that it has bits of the monster¡¯s life force dwelling inside of it. Until I ate the whole thing a skill finally appeared.
You have learned a new skill! Dullahan Creation
You have risen in darkness resistance by 3%
I activated the skill and there appearing in front of me were two large dullahan knights. They were two heads taller than me and carried large square shields. They each had large claymore type swords in their hands and didn¡¯t move an inch. The two dullahns resembled ghosts but both shined in a dull, light purple glow. Their heads were detached from their torso. Their shoulder pieces were detached from the gauntlets that held their weapon and shield. They however stood there with each of their limbs hovering next to each other. ¡°NYA! Look at this! It¡¯s incredible! They look different from the ones we faced but wow!¡± ¡°Izzie......Ugh, well that surely is incredible. Clearly your uses keep increasing. Your a good ally to have Vali.¡± Izzie then began to inspect the ghost Dullahans beside me. I landed a punch into the shield but they didn¡¯t budge an inch. They also didn¡¯t appear to be sentient. I tried to create another dullahan but the amount of mana I needed to use was close to half just to create another one. The skill cost says it¡¯s only 15,000 mana to use the skill and 200 mp per minute after that to keep them active. I guess even with the extent of magic manipulation I can¡¯t produce more dullahan¡¯s efficiently without raising the skill. It¡¯s just too much of a cost. Still...this skill will become very useful to me. I thanked them and Izzie didn¡¯t pay much attention while she continued testing out the ghost knights. Erwin only just shook it off and said to think nothing of it. Due to my assistance with them they wish to help me as in return. I then activated Demonic Awakening. I even activated Toughened Exterior and Abysmal Mist by only a small amount. I looked at my mana and currently it was only going down by 20 mp a second. Other than the initial cost for all of the skills my mana is hardly going down at all. In my demonic awakening state my mana pool has also increased by another 25% making my availability of magic much more than before. ¡®Interesting...I can keep all of these skills active for quite some time. This isn¡¯t just my own passive buffs in mana recovery per minute...It¡¯s got to be the Infinity ring. The ring on my finger gives a high many recovery along with possibly the reduction to magic cost for skills. I first noticed it whenever I would activate a skill and not as much magic would be used.¡¯ I however can¡¯t see anything about this ring, I should have a guy like Pek look at this item for me later. Now I can keep all of these skills active for a long time. That along with the effects of the midnight gauntlet I can now fight differently than I have before. I can even use my spatial magic to make myself or allies appear anywhere on the battlefield of my choosing....¡®I¡¯m becoming dangerous but I can¡¯t get confident. With the wars outside and the mad god inside, I have to continue to get stronger. I then had Akino give me the heart from the gnoll and also took out the heart from the farmer.
You have gained a new skill! Pheromone Excretion
You have gained a new skill! Farming Beginner Level 1
¡®Hmm, the farming ability I get but Pheromone Excretion? Pheromones are chemical hormones that are secreted in sweat and are assumed to affect the brain in terms of sexual arousal. I got this from one of those gross things? I don¡¯t even want to activate that here of all places with everyone around. Who know¡¯s what it would be like?¡¯ After hearing about Daisy¡¯s new abilities Commander Locke asked her if she would be able to help them in communications through their missions over the next few days. She seemed shy about it but eventually agreed when Cosmia said it was a good idea. I however wanted to take Sting, Adimar, Akino, Cyanin and Cosmia to go level with me. Cosmia¡¯s guards insisted on the protection of Cosmia so they wanted their sister Vale to join us as well. She was the silver pixie. She now glows in a slight glitter and shines in a bright and platinum light whenever she¡¯s happy. Her hair is however longer than the others and she keeps hers in a pony tail. She was one of the elite pixies ordered to guard Cosmia after each of their parents had died. She was also considered to be one of the strongest of the pixies until Tanin and Cyanin gained their new abilities I decided then to leave Sting and take along Vale. He seemed however completely ok with that and continued to try to talk to some of the people there. I honestly just let it go, they can deal with it. I was originally only going to take 5 people with me as Dark Aura would not protect more people than 6. But several members of the away team said they would come with us as escorts. Malfius would also be working with the rest of the away team in finding and questioning people who are possibly some of Malthiel¡¯s remaining puppets. They were immediately promoted due to their new unique traits. Cyanin was to become a body guard to Cosmia while Tanin would become stronger while protecting those on floor 1 with Aurora for now. This pixie Vale however appears to be decently skilled with a spear for a pixie. Now she even has a much stronger added defense. Each of the pixies here have at least gained 50 levels in added defense for a common human so this should help, but if it all starts to go south I¡¯ll just use my spatial magic on them. The Away team wanted to pick a location that wouldn¡¯t have others who could potentially find out who we are, we needed a location that no one would be. I then decided the perfect location to go level. The few in my party did not make a very nice smile towards it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ¡°Everyone keep the formation tight. You two go set up a grid of your spider thread around us. You two scout ahead!¡± The one laying out the orders was not me. It was a reiki man. He had long white hair with black bangs and bright blue eyes. The tension of everyone currently was high. We weren¡¯t in safe territory. Currently we were on floor 63. The floor where the first fomorians were sited. The floor where I¡¯m sure a lot of them will be. We had to use a warp key given to one of the race leaders to travel between floors that have been conquered. He looked like a pretty boy but his muscles were dense. His level was 265. Those in his group were around 20 to 30 levels below him. I was honestly amazed whenever the Reiki guy first introduced himself to me. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ¡°Hello there! Might I shake the hand of the guy who whooped my sisters ass!¡± ¡®Huh?¡¯ ¡°Hehe, hey how¡¯s it going. I¡¯m Ollierion, Most folks just call me Ollie. I¡¯m a Captain in the Dawn bringers corps and Meifeng¡¯s older brother! I heard you gave her quite the whooping.¡± This Reiki was the brother of Meifeng. I also found out another interesting detail from him. Their father....Was Malfius. ¡®This makes my revenge plans for these people seemingly difficult. But my friendship with Malfius will not make up for what has happened. He understands the weight of what they¡¯ve done. I plan on paying back Meifeng for what she did regardless of her intentions or who she¡¯s related to. I may even make it to where they are never allowed to escape this place.¡¯ ¡° Yeah, it¡¯s nice to meet you I¡¯m Vali.¡± ¡°Oh I know. Father told me everything. Might I say, for the first time in years I can finally feel my blood start to boil again. All because of what you have done. Living now, these are truly the days of our redemption!¡± ¡®He seemed quite excitable. He too seems to have this misplaced trust in me. I did not kill Malthiel, I simply assisted in his death. But I don¡¯t believe they all care about that. Malfius said the reason Cam put so much faith in the idea of me was to have someone the rest of the races could put their faith in. Someone who was in no way a puppet of Malthiel, but someone from the outside, unrelated but only wishing to help. They believe with the death of one of the ones who trapped them here there is a possibility of escape.¡¯ ¡°You seem to have a lot of faith in me too...¡± ¡°Well why not? Wouldn¡¯t be here on floor 63 if we didn¡¯t. You managed to take down Malthiel, gave the leader¡¯s council a piece of their own medicine, and even got ol¡¯ alpha Adi to submit to you. Surely, these are interesting times!¡± He just started marching off happily while laughing to himself. ¡°So Dawn Bringer¡¯s huh?¡± ¡®I remember this was the second time I¡¯ve heard this word.¡± ¡°It¡¯s what the Eis Neko¡¯s named their swords. The weapons that will bring forth the dawn for us all. It is also what they named their faction. We are actually a small unit that stemmed from them actually, but we are the only groups who continue to fight past floor 52 currently...The Away Team¡± ¡°To the DAWN!¡± Several of them began to raise their hands up in an odd salute. They brought their fists to the air and raised them as they continued to march forward. I then looked around at the small unit of the Away team. None of these members were present during the leader meeting. They were away fighting on higher floors at the time. He had two eis neko¡¯s with him as well. They each wielded the same twin swords at their sides. Ollie or however he wishes to be called, wielded a massive Guan dao that looked to be enchanted. It was a large pole type weapon with a curved blade similar to a sword on its edge. It was large but he had it resting easily on his broad defined shoulders. Their was however two other reikis here who had bows and arrows. The two arachnee woman also in this unit who came had twin spears but they are mostly used for recon or crowd control missions. I told each of them whenever we encounter a monster to stay back behind me. This was not only for me but for them. We formed two parties of seven. We were going to try power leveling. But I guess Hjokk didn¡¯t count in our party system so 6 for us. I wouldn¡¯t need to use the Dark Aura for her but I will leave her with Cosmia. Cosmia and the pixies have always tried to pet Hjokk calling her pretty. She keeps trying to imply to me she isn¡¯t a bird but I¡¯ve only told her that was her fault to begin with. Before leaving my shoulder she pecked at me. If things get too dicy I¡¯ll simply use my spatial magic to warp us all out of here before Hjokk would have to use any emergency maneuvers. I won¡¯t do something to cause her to get too involved. She says since this is for myself to grow stronger she won¡¯t just jump in. But due to the rules of the treaty, I doubt she can help her champion defeat something like a dungeon boss. Hell she doesn¡¯t even know just how far she can go, that¡¯s how obscurely it was written. I¡¯m not even sure how it¡¯s enforced, but she does assume she may be forced to get involved if Balor were to appear. If I remember she was attacked first with Malthiel. I then told everyone the plan and explained the details of the aura that I was going to use to surround them. I explained how we would fight. I wished that I could use Midnight Aura but it only works at night. I told them not to engage until I gave the order. All the plans of the formation were set until Ollie started to interrupt. ¡°You just said ¡®Midnight Aura¡¯ only works at night correct? Is that gauntlet anything like other dark attribute related items?¡± ¡°....I don¡¯t know, why?¡± Ollie then looked towards one of the arachnee next to him. Now that I notice many of those in this unit seem to have many different types of peculiar items on. They don¡¯t just use their fists like the other Reiki, or common twin swords like the other Nekos. They use the weapons they¡¯ve forged and items they¡¯ve acquired in this dungeon. The arachnee with short black hair then told me something that completely changed how I was planning on fighting today. ¡°Are you kidding...?¡± She shook her head at me and smiled while describing the affects of the ring on her finger. I couldn¡¯t believe what she had just said so I had to try out something. ¡°Midnight Aura!¡± A large dark aura then surrounded all of us. Not only those in my party but I could with those in the other party as well. How is this possible? This floor isn¡¯t greatly lit, it¡¯s similar to a swamp but we appeared only in a corner of floor 63. Even outside this dungeon it was daytime. ¡®Incredible....What the arachnee had told me was that her ring had a darkness attribute to it that would give buffs in the night. They found out that in this dungeon, all items with the darkness attribute gives buffs at all times through day and night, regardless of the time. I then remembered in the game Loki created, the same rules applied. Inside a dungeon, all darkness attributed classes like assassins would receive buffs at all times in dungeon. It buffed their darkness attributes as well. This also applied to all monsters in the dungeon being nearly twice as strong than the ones right outside. It made being a dark related class so strong for fighting in dungeons. I simply forgot about it because I figured the game didn¡¯t apply in this situation. But Loki seemed to have made the game more similar to his world than I thought. ¡® That means Midnight Aura which can only be used at night can work 100% of the time I¡¯m in here. Now we can hunt to our hearts content in this place. Balor really shouldn¡¯t have given such interesting toys to Malthiel.¡¯ The darkness aura is thick and solid. It can absorb any and all attack and will continually replenish itself. It is as powerful as it is during the night. I then took out Abgrund and the aura surrounding us even began to increase. I forgot the scythe benefits all dark related magic. Malthiel really was a cheat himself. The barrier surrounding us is now three times stronger than it normally would be. ¡® It increased it¡¯s originally capacity by 200% due to the effects of this scythe. I wonder if the effects will grow when I unlock other tiers?¡¯ ¡°Oh...Things are surely interesting with you around!¡± ¡°Ooooh. Look Vale!¡± ¡°...Mm it¡¯s like a warm blanket.¡± Ollie proclaimed his astonishment while observing the dark aura surrounding him. While Cyanin and Cosmia continued to talk nonchalantly. BOOM! The ground started to shake. BOOM! Another tremor. Where is it coming from? BOOOOOM! ¡°Somethings coming!¡± One of the Arachnee started pulling on her wires and yelled. ROOOOAAARRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!
You have heard the roar of the Fomorian! You have been stricken with fear! Due to your resistance you have lessoned the effects of fear. Strength has been reduced by 40% Agility has been reduced by 33% Ability at holding a weapon has been decreased by 12%
Just up ahead from us the two reiki that went out scouting jumped out from the large trees and began to run across the soft dirt. ROOOOAAARRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!! A massive 30 meter fomorian then pushed the trees down in front of them and swung towards the two running away. They then split apart from each other and started sprinting across the thick swamp water. The swamp water behind them sprayed behind them as they ran for their lives. They moved quickly. CRASH! A large arm swiped towards one of the reiki running back into formation as another Fomorian showed itself. He jumped towards a tree and used it as leverage to launch him forward. He continued to run back into formation. The other Reiki woman then began to jump towards the soft dirt in between us and sprint towards us. Just then a large shadow towered over her. YEEHEEHEE YYYAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! Another 30 meter fomorian jumped on all fours towards the reiki girl. Their speed was unnatural for their size in this swamp. BOOOOOM!!!!! A large crash rang out as the sound of the fomorian crashing into the ground. Water began to spray around and a mist began to float into the air. The fomorian began to look at it¡¯s feet for the reiki below her but was troubled when it couldn¡¯t see anything there. ¡°Ha..ha....thank...you...¡± I had activated my spatial magic and warped her to our position. I then did the same for the other reiki running for his life. Now that were in formation. ¡° Stay back...Dark Sever!¡± YYEEEEEAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! An earth shattering cry filled the dungeon floor as a large beam of dark light flew towards the oncoming giants. The horizontal slash flew towards the three fomorians severing their torso¡¯s in one swing. They in no way tried to dodge the large dark slash coming towards them and severed each of them. This however did not kill them all. One died and the other two began to crawl towards us.
Your Level Has Risen... Your Level Has Risen...
Our levels slowly began to rise. Everyone then voiced their awe in what I had done. All other than those who have seen it. ¡°Such power!¡± ¡°Vali¡¯s amazing!¡± ¡°Wow!¡± ¡°Their wounds aren¡¯t healing....¡± ¡° Everyone shut down the other two. Surround it and kill it. Don¡¯t allow it to grab you. Regardless of this barrier I don¡¯t want any casualties today!¡± Ollie then barked orders and we each ran towards the other two Fomorians. The Away team surrounded the two fomorians and within one minute the beast had died. I have no idea what they did but it wasn¡¯t just the neko¡¯s who took it down. They let the Arachnee get close to them and bind them up while the others began to sever at the giants vitals. Ollie ended one of their lives by crashing his weapon through one of their skulls. The power coming off the tip of the blade cracked through the tough fur and I think it¡¯s due to the help of the aura surrounding him to pass through. Even he seems amazed at his new found power. They however never gave the fomorians a chance to lunge at them. Regardless of the barrier they fought in a way to stay alive.
Your level has risen! Your level has risen! Your level has risen!
Everyone¡¯s levels continued to rise. The most levels someone gained was actually Cosmia. She and Cyanin both gained over 20 levels. Even if they didn¡¯t attack any of the fomorians. I had gained 5 which is only due to me having double experience being an outside discoverer. Cosmia and Cyanin are just such low level. Vale originally was 107 but now she¡¯s 116. It was a good idea to bring them indeed. I walked over to take out two hearts from the dead beasts. ¡°VALI!¡± BOOOOOOM!!!!!! A large shadow appeared overhead and within a second my body was grabbed and thrown out of the way.....Akino? BOOM! The image of her body was then sent flying. Her body crashed through into the rock wall behind her that was connected to the Mountains of Jheroki. The barrier surrounding us took a hit and roughly 5 percent was taken off the barrier with just that attack. However within just seconds the barrier then rose again back up to 100%. None of her health had gone at all. She huffed and puffed and got back up. ¡®Why did this girl jump in front of me? Doesn¡¯t she know about the barrier. She seemed to have forgotten about it as she¡¯s looking at her body in disbelief. I then warped her back into formation. The 10 second cool down for dark sever was over and I activated it again this time splitting the fomorian in half.
Your level has risen!
¡°Sorry...I forgot about the barrier, seeing those things brings back bad memories.¡± She then drooped her white ears and looked away from me. Her long puffy tail even curled up under her legs. ¡°This isn¡¯t going to make things better between us or anything you know.¡± ¡°Yes...I know it won¡¯t. And I doubt I can make up for it with my own life, but I wish to try. If you wish to end our lives you may. But you are our alpha...We will remain standing at your side.¡± She did not seem to be trying to sway more or lie. I guess not even I know what would happen if one of those giants tried to eat one of us with this barrier in tact. On all fours those large beasts can cover a very large distance whenever they leap. It¡¯s much more than I previously predicted. She looked away from me and then stood towards our flank. ROOOOARRRRRRRRRR Another fomorian then ran on all fours towards us. I then activated Dullahan Creation and had my two ghost knights stand at my sides. I told them to stand in front of the Away team for added protection. ¡®Seriously what kind of ritual was that I did with them? She has not been able to look me in the eyes since she found out I was human but she¡¯s even trying to save me now? I¡¯m not going to lighten up on their punishment even if they are sorry though.¡¯ BOOOM! A large explosion hit the large fomorian from the side. I turned to my right and saw one of the reiki had shot some special type of explosion arrow towards it. The blast was barely enough to burn past the tough dark fur. The wounds then began to heal almost immediately. These things apparently can heal their wounds quite easily but I haven¡¯t seen much of that. It must be due to this scythe. It did belong to one of the wardens of this prison. I then appeared over the side of one of the fomorians and tore at it¡¯s shoulder while also activating Abysmal mist. It felt like tearing through paper. The intense feeling you get when tearing meat with Abgrund is mildly addicting. The large limb then was torn off the fomorian and it crashed into the swamp below. It then began to turn around to grab at me with its other arm. He was then only engulfed by the large cloud forming around me. It then ate away and ripped his body apart. Yah...If I had this scythe out whenever I fought those wolves, there would have been no chance. ROORaah gaggagagg It then hit the ground and was then surrounded by members of the away team and and then killed. The eis neko¡¯s on their squad move similarly like other acrobats. They along with Ollie were the only one¡¯s who could do any real damage other than me. ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR! HEEEHEEEHHEHEHEE! BOOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! ¡°Ugh, what is that?¡± Ollie then noticed that the roars were much louder. Loud eery laughs can be heard screeching through the swamp. It hurt the eardrums upon entering them. Looking in the distance of the foggy swamp I see what looks like the trees moving. I then look even higher up and what seems to be walking our way is a heard of fomorians. Maybe 30 or 40 of them. A large heard of Fomorians must have heard all destruction from Abgrund and decided to come see if it¡¯s food. Well we do have Midnight Aura. But can a skill like that really help if these things try to grab and eat any of them? ¡°Dullahans! Shields up!!¡± At this they each raised their shields to their heads while also continually holding their large claymores forward. At my comands at standing in front of the away team they don¡¯t even budge at the oncoming heard. They don¡¯t have sentience so they follow orders wonderfully. This should aid in protection for now, if their shields and body have 100% physical damage resistance then the Fomorians might not even be able to hurt them. I¡¯ll need to use my spatial magic with everyone efficiently during this. If things start to get sour, I¡¯ll just warp everyone outside. ¡®There¡¯s too many of them. I need to wind their numbers down.¡¯ They began advancing towards us and I noticed many of these fomorians were over level 500. They were much larger than these too. Fomorian¡¯s I¡¯ve noticed aren¡¯t at all smart monsters, but they aren¡¯t something I can call slow for their size. The ground continued to shake and tremble at the advancing giants. We all remained tight in formation. The fomorians began to get closer and I activated my spatial magic to appear over them. I had to drop from high up since even on all fours these giants are still too big. I then activated a skill I have been waiting to use for quite a while now but while I¡¯m in this dungeon, I should raise my mastery with such a weapon. Even in the mist of all of these dark giants . With Midnight Aura Aura, Demonic Awakening, Lightning step, Toughened Exterior, and Abysmal Mist all active I dropped in between all of them with Abgrund. A dark black cloud descended behind me and I could feel time slow down to an almost stand still. These things can heal pretty easily other than with a Dawn Bringer or Abgrund. It even halts their healing ability until they end up dying by everyone else. With midnight aura surrounding me I activated the skill. ¡°Wrath of Balor.¡± An intense black glow began to pour out from the miasma surrounding Abgrund and centralize towards the base. I could feel the intense magic energy was enough that I was in all honestly scared to use it due to the after effects. My hands began to shake pointing my scythe but I could feel Abgrund almost whispering to me to use it. To use it¡¯s power. To feed it. To feed myself. To take everything away as my own. ¡®Feeeeeeeeeed!¡¯ I then pressed the base of Abgrund onto the dungeon floor. CRAACKKKK!!! Crack BOOOOOOOOOOM! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A loud deep scream centralized along with thousands of screams from others began to cry out from Abgrund and everyone began covering their ears. The ground began to decay and rot away while it then rippled and tore apart. The walls even the ceiling began to fall apart and crumble away. It felt like the entirety of Jheroki was crumbling away. It was then that I regretted using such a skill. A dark intense pressure began to erupt from underneath Abgrund and exploded the floor below us. It¡¯s as if the ground became dust and decayed right there. The current from the blast split across the dungeon floor and broke it all away. A large crack on the ground ripped towards the Fomorians and they fell into the darkness below. Darkness began to flood into the floor and everything became pitch black. Everything...Covered by the darkness the continued to flood from the scythe and surround us all. Nothing could be seen in the entire floor. Only crashing sounds of everything being absorbed and eaten away by darkness. The feeling of myself falling and I could hear the sounds of everyones screams. They however could not drown out the sounds of the cries coming forth from the scythe. The pressure continued pouring out until the entire floor was covered in darkness. I looked up at midnight aura was still active. I activated Eclipse view and heat signatures of everyones life force began showing. The pixies looked much different as their life force was the color that surrounded them naturally, Hjokk looked like a small purple star, but she shined much greater than the others. I activated my spatial magic and began to grab onto them. We then linked arms and continued to do that throughout the darkness. We continued to fall but we did not know for just how long. I could hear the sounds of some screaming but whenever we would appear and lock arms they would quickly catch on and latch their arms together. I could even feel the Arachnee shooting their webs to each of us to keep us in tight. The away team were quick learners. We gathered everyone from both teams and held on to one another as the surroundings around us crumbled away and all that surrounded us was darkness. The debris from the floor above us I could hear cracking and breaking apart. I warped us to a higher location and we continued to fall. The floor had been completely destroyed and engulfed in darkness. I looked into the distance and saw several of life forces through the pitch black dungeon fade away as if they were never there at all. With Midnight Aura surrounding us we fell. The three pixies then shot bright flares of their spark towards the ground that cut through the dark ness surrounding us. It hit the debris on the ground. The arachnee then began to throw as much web as possible out of their fingers to make a bed to catch us as we fell towards the floor below. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Effects of Midnight Aura have been canceled
Cough...Cough... I looked up and still surrounding us was a thick darkness. I however could see a feint light pouring in from the sky. Or no the ceiling. This is a world where light and darkness can coexist. So the pitch black darkness surrounding is being split in half by the light pouring out from above. I looked through and I could now see towering above us the walls to the dungeon have been cracked and destroyed. It has broken out to the outside of the Jheroki mountains and the light from the sun is pouring into the dungeon for the first time in its history. I stood up over the bed of webbing that was created for us and looked at my feet. All those that were with us were uninjured. The midnight aura surrounded and protected all of us from the attack of the skill while the webbing made a nice cushion for the fall as well... They each got up and looked at the devastation surrounding us. The rubble filled up around and underneath us that spread across the entire dungeon floor. I glared on my vision and we were currently on floor 62. Looking up the sky to this floor looks broken and extends much higher up than the previous floors. It doesn¡¯t look like a floor at all after that attack. It¡¯s been partially destroyed. But floor 63 is completely gone.
Your level has risen! Your level has risen! Your level has risen!..........
Notifications continued to blink for what felt like a minute for all of us. I looked at the experience we gained and I was shocked my level had just increased by 44. ¡®What?¡¯ Everyone else was also staring at their status¡¯s in disbelief. ¡°Wha....what happened?¡± ¡°I think we all survived the fall. Status?¡± ¡°Everyone survived sir...We are currently on floor.....sixty.....sixty two? ¡° ".................." ¡°So that last attack destroyed the whole floor?¡± ¡°Not just that....I think floor 64 might have also collapsed as well. Just look at this mountain of debris we¡¯re standing on. ¡° The away team began to clamor to one another. I continued to look at the tremendous amount of experience I just gained. It was in the 9 digits place. It should have been distributed between the party system right? Regardless if I get double experience or am a blessed being this is ridiculous. My Dullahan Knights are now also missing. ¡°...........¡± ¡®Did everything on floor 63 and 64 really collapse onto floor 62?¡¯ "Look at what he did. Malfius was right....we can leave this place." "Amazing!" The away team then began to look towards the light shining in from the whole high up on the mountain wall. The light shined down cutting through the thick darkness and warming our skin. Looking towards each of their faces. I can even see tears in some of their eyes. Each of them smiled and looked at one another. The possibility to leave this place had existed, they saw it right before them in the symbol of a large whole in the wall. "Ha....There''s the dawn!" "It''s....beautiful..sob" Ollie began to smile while the others continued to bask in the light. Even the arachnee who don''t show emotions as much as the others couldn''t help but cry at the sight of the true sunlight their races have been depraved of since birth. She then turned to look at me and smile politely towards my direction as if saying with her thoughts ''thank you for this.'' They have lived a long life of pain and struggle, getting signs of good news comes around rarely. ¡°WOH!....Cosmia....Look I¡¯m level 94 now!¡± ¡°Tehe..Well I got you beat, I¡¯m 98!¡± ¡°I got you both beat...I¡¯m 154.¡± The pixies began to dance and clamor to one another. The light surrounding them has gotten increasingly brighter than before. The Away team then looked at them in half amazement. Akino and Adimar didn¡¯t seemed too surprised however. Just speechless. ¡°Vali, I know we just started hunting but we will need to leave soon.¡± ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± Olli then walked up to me with his weapon now shouldered again. He warned me that increasing your level past a certain point without rest is dangerous. You will burn through your stamina at roughly 5 times the normal rate and can be very dangerous in such an environment. After resting you will then gain the appropriate stat gains from your large level increase. They were amazed at such a development for them but they needed to get back and speak to their commander about what has just happened. Even if it cut the hunt short they too received some moderate level gains as well. They must be doing this for those in my party. ¡®I guess this world has some limitations too.¡¯ ROOOOOARRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!! KYAAAAA KYAAAAA KYAAAAA SSSSSsssssssssss SSSSAHHHHHHHHHH Appearing before us was a large heard of maybe 50 fomorians. To our right.... ¡®Is...Is that a Hydra?¡¯ There slithering up was a very large 6...7...no 8 headed hydra. Each head was a different color than the rest. They were each damaged severely and even a few of its heads had been crushed or severed. Each and every one was slowly healing and repairing the damage that had made their body look in such a horrible state. The health of the beast slowly got back up to 100% within a few seconds. It could even be faster than the fomorian¡¯s rate of recovery to repair limbs so quickly. ¡¯..Such an interesting ability. Each head has a small crystal imbedded into them....4 blue, 2 yellow, 2 purple.¡¯ I then turned to my left and there was a large snake like monster. It had strong looking outer shells but a lot of them looked to be heavily damaged. It grew and grew until it towered almost as tall as the fomorians. It was long and covered in sparks of lightning shimmering and coming off its broken and destroyed flesh. It¡¯s health however was at around 45%. It even had an overly large purple stone attached to its head. ¡°These must have been the two floor bosses that fell.¡± ¡°Damn, we are so screwed.¡± The away team began to look at the approaching enemies and widen their eyes. I just now remembering that Midnight Aura is not in effect need to make a move. I however can¡¯t resist such an opportunity. That hydra, it¡¯s level is 497 and its title is King Hydra. It has a small crown next to it¡¯s name telling me it¡¯s a boss. In the game a king hydra was a boss even amongst bosses, but I¡¯ve never seen one that looks like that. Since it¡¯s a boss monster it will be much stronger than a normal one at that level. The hydra even had multiple magical crystals imbedded in each of one of its heads. It¡¯s abilities in all honesty make me not even think of the fomorians and the other boss monster right now. Each crystal could have tremendous effects to the pixies, and killing all of these monsters here will make everyone rise in a lot of levels. Each head is breathing a different element and snarling at us angrily. Not only does this thing probably have a heart for me , I can¡¯t even imagine what abilities they could gain from those crystals. Everyone began to look at my serious face and I thought everything over. I activated lightning step and thought out everything. I thought out leaving, I thought of fighting. I thought of how to handle this. Things were moving much slower but not slow enough I had a lot of time to myself. Looking around everyone was staring at me in a much slower state. They each wouldn¡¯t be able to go very long. But if we work together maybe we can take down these monsters and take home a bigger prize....¡®Hell I bet if those hydras regrow heads so quickly, they would regrow the magic crystals too....That damn thing would be a fountain of gold!¡¯ If only I had midnight aura, too bad the skill got deactivated by the light from the outside...Wait!. I then smiled to myself and deactivated lightning step. I then activated Dark Aura and a similar dark aura surrounded us again. It worked even after using Midnight Aura, it wasn¡¯t nearly as strong but it was enough to cover those of my choosing. I selected some of the members of the Away team and Adimar and Akino. The others then stood next to the pixies and Hjokk put up a small barrier of light to surround them all. I guess she can at least do something of this much. I plan on using my spatial magic a lot in the next few minutes for all of us. ¡°Vali...Why do you wish to continue to fight?¡± Cosmia then asked and I told her my intentions. That hydra slowly growing closer could be incredibly valuable, those crystals could make them very strong. Each of the pixies then made a determined face and asked me if they could fight as well. They pleaded saying they didn¡¯t want me to be the one risking my life for something for them. Cosmia even told me she has an interesting way she can help. Well...Maybe I can work something out with this.They clearly aren¡¯t frightened at all. Something that surprised me, but I can¡¯t let anything happen to them. Their race would never trust me again. I can use aura to make sure they can at least gain some extra experience. The party system splits of experience rather evenly whenever fighting a boss monster in a dungeon. These things were already way over our levels, the experience gain for both parties will still be great even if they don¡¯t touch the things. I can use my spatial magic to people in and out of battle. I¡¯ll use it to warp us out if we start to lose. It won¡¯t be easy, but I won¡¯t allow any casualties... I¡¯m going to make sure all of these people go home safely tonight. I then re-activated the Dullahan Knights and had each of them stand at 3 o¡¯clock and 9 o¡¯clock blocking all those behind them. They were big, I doubt they can last against the magic of a hydra but I can use them for emergencies with these other monsters. I stood at 12 o¡¯clock while everyone else stood in the center. Ollie and the rest were only a few steps behind me. ¡°The illusion has been set Vali!¡± Cosmia then smiled her red lips and flew back towards Vale, Cyanin, and Hjokk. They were all in a small bubble around them that the Arachnee and even Reiki are in. They each looked at it in surprise but I guess they thought the skill was from me. Ollie then commanded the other members who were surrounded in darkness and they each got in formation behind me. The snake with the scaled armor looked badly wounded. We can end it¡¯s life quickly. We have 10 minutes. I told them all that I would take care of the fomorians while they concentrate on the boss monsters but to stay away from their mouths for now. Not to get cornered and always stay within my field of vision. I have healing magic as well, as Cosmia¡¯s illusion has now been set. ¡®It¡¯s time.¡¯ ¡°Ugh....You really are crazy. Are all humans like this?¡± ¡°Eh...My old master told me I had a problem when to stop training. Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯re all going to go home today. If you guys aren¡¯t sure about this I can warp you all out of here.¡± ¡°We all gotta go someday. Your out here risking your life for us in here, the Away team won¡¯t run.¡± ¡° Well alright then. Try to take off as many heads of that thing as you can before your 10 minutes is up. Regardless of this barrier around you try not to get hit, the barrier won¡¯t last if you take too much damage.¡± ¡°Got it, to the DAWN!¡± Ollie then flashed his large staff towards the King Hydra with two eis neko¡¯s. They however had two large Dullahans now out in front of them for added protection. While Adimar and Akino stepped towards the injured snake coming in from the left. The two reiki prepared their bows and arrows while the arachnee stayed back with the pixies for now. The countdown timer of Dark Aura then began to count down from 10 minutes.... End of Chapter. (How many of you get super excited for a chapter in some fictions to find it was an explanation chapter when your done. Well I plan on making up for that with the next chapter!) Please rate my fiction! New chapter soon! Chapter 17: The Grootslang Hey everyone! I finally finished the long long chapter last night and am currently having it all edited. As you can see part 1 because I''m going to post the second part later tonight. That is because if I posted this whole chapter it would almost be twice as long as my longest chapter. So i''ll post the rest of it tonight. So think of chapters 17 and 18 as being together. I just wound up writing out each of the scenes and the story got so long I wanted to however get through it to a particular point. I also do this because I enjoy getting to read all of your comments and I''m told if I have more chapters that''s a good thing. Well enjoy and expect the remaining chapter tonight! I''ll even throw in a Character Page and what not at the end for you guys since you asked! I''ll post some pictures of what the Grootslang and Balor sort of look like in my head too. I found some interesting depictions. As always remember to comment and rate my fiction! Chapter 17: The Grootslang Cassandra¡¯s POV ¡°And... and that bird was still eating the whole time!¡± ¡°I believe you¡¯ve had enough to drink master. And yes I will take be taking that.... but I agree, that was a very peculiar bird. But then again what wasn¡¯t weird about that man?¡± Sumei took the bottle of wine away from Master Shen as he was laughing wildly. It was rare to see the two of them in the same room at the same time while away from the king or queen. However, tonight some of the other royal knights are standing guard and we each have the night off. Master Shen suggested we relax in one of the palaces luxurious large baths and have a drink. I¡¯ve been given offers to come here with prince Dominic that are too many to count, but I will admit the water is quite soothing. Sitting here with Sumei and Shen we continued to talk about the events of what transpired only last night. It really was too much for words. Shen however after finishing off his first bottle of wine has been talking non stop about it. He wasn¡¯t anything like what I would assume the Sword Master of Asher would¡¯ve been like when joining the royal guard. He was a legend throughout the whole kingdom as one of the few expert level swordsman on the continent. No one in Asher had ever seen him lose. He was an unbeatable force with his sword but he has never once seen battle. He doesn¡¯t find war appealing to him in the slightest so he never offered his sword to any kingdom. He simply enjoyed other things. Shen however somehow got along with King Asher back when they both lived in the central continent and he eventually settled down here in the main city. It was due to them adventuring together when they were younger according to Sumei. Master Shen may have just turned 44 this month but he in no way looks like it. He has short turquoise colored hair and is very muscular for a man his age. He wasn¡¯t even as high a level as Aldus, since he didn¡¯t hunt monsters very often, but he was respected as the strongest sword in the kingdom. Shen had many deep scars up and over his body from a monster attack. He had some scars on his face and one over his eye. Shen was also missing his whole right arm but he had a metal prosthetic one replaced. It was a gift from the king actually. Regardless of these injuries he still remained as the strongest in the kingdom when he arrived here under the king. He may have also only been an expert but the few who knew him refer to him as Master Shen, since he to this day has never lost a sword duel. When Lestat had originally appeared, Master Shen originally expected to be the one to have to fight but Vali had stepped up instead. It may have been for the best, according to him he always had wondered who would have won in a duel with him and Lestat. They were both experts in their weapons and known to be some of the strongest in the continent, but with Lestat¡¯s Ancient class weapon and higher level, Shen wasn¡¯t sure if he could have won against him. The power of high class weapons can cover great gaps in skill. Aldus with the power of his Frost Sword was something that made him one of the strongest if not the strongest in the kingdom before being injured. We never did get to see that fight either to determine the rankings. ¡¯ I doubt the ranking order will be the same now anyways. ¡® Due to Shen¡¯s injuries however and his new position, he doesn¡¯t level as much as he is always guarding the king and queen. Well, even if he would have killed Lestat, Shen wouldn¡¯t have been able to kill the rest of Lestat¡¯s troop. Even a man of his strength was in aw to what Vali had done. After everyone calmed down we left and later arrived back at the kingdom after about a day and a half journey. I then noticed Shen started rummaging around in the water by where he was sitting. ¡°Ahh...Here we go.¡± ¡°You had another bottle under there this whole time?¡± ¡°Of course... Sumei always takes my second bottle away.¡± Sumei then turned her head and glared at him. Shen then grabbed the wine bottle from somewhere underneath the water and uncorked it, then began to drink. We had been relaxing here for a while now and the wine is starting to kick in some. I was never really much of a drinker, father let me have a taste one time I just didn¡¯t enjoy it much. Shen however loves the stuff. Really for a master and student these two really are odd. One would never think seeing them in such a state they are the two strongest of the royal knights. Even though my talent with a sword allows me to spar with Sumei I admit, she¡¯s better than me. Shen¡¯s sword style is hard to counter but I am from the famed Kraiser family, we too are famed for our talent with a sword. Our style differs from theres entirely though. ¡°Mm...gulp...Well I mean and who are we to talk really. Not like we knight are all that normal anyways.¡± ¡°Hmm...Yes, I¡¯m sure someone like Shakko probably freaked him out too.¡± ¡°Oh are we talking about me.....¡± There almost appearing next to the bath edge was Shakko in large white towel. This was one of the other oddities of the royal knights of Asher. Even though we were off duty he continued to wear his mask that resembled a jester. Along with this his voice is very. I had personally never seen his face before but according to Shen his face was horribly disfigured when he was younger. Now he wears this mask to hide it, though I¡¯m not sure if I should believe Shen or not. He has pranked me with saying false things before to make me look dumb when bringing it up later. Shakko then stepped into the bath and grabbed the bottle of wine from Sumei before continuing. ¡°Yes...I would agree though, that guy Vali did not seem to take too kindly to me.¡± ¡°Why do you say that?¡± Sumei then asked at his statement seeming perplexed. I guess she didn¡¯t notice. ¡°I honestly have no idea, but every so often I would catch him glaring at me quite oddly...Real uncomfortable.¡± It was true, I saw it too. Every now and then I would catch Vali turn his head and glare at him from time to time, it was almost as if ¡°Oh, you would think since you both share the same taste in accessories you two would get along. ¡° ¡° Oh ¡® ha ha¡¯ ¡± At Shen¡¯s comment Shakko made a sarcastic laugh and drank out of the bottle....¡®Wait, how is he drinking that?¡¯ Shakko too was an odd ball for a knight. He didn¡¯t fit the profile of a someone who was a royal guard, he honestly resembled more of a court jester. He had become a famous vigilante in the continent and hunted down and killed murderers and criminals who terrorized the kingdom. Not much else is known other than that. Shakko however is very skilled with daggers and hidden weapons and is ranked 6th in the royal knights who are amongst some of the strongest in the kingdom of Asher. Everyone continued to talk while I listened and enjoyed my glass of wine. Since I was still a new knight in the kingdom I¡¯m still getting acclimated with everyone. ¡°Are we sure we can just trust him like this. Making him into a vassal seems a bit...¡± ¡°Well, Sumei if you look at the facts, he¡¯s a person willing to interrupt a battle between kingdoms simply to save those in need. You wouldn¡¯t expect such character with such an ominous looking person, but he appears to be good natured. Besides, after what we witnessed I¡¯d rather have em as friend than a foe. Even with my sword, I doubt I could take on such an opponent.¡± ¡°Yes...According to the reports from his highness as well as what happened during the duel we can assume as such. But are we sure he did it just to rescue all of those demi humans? The reports said a high ranking elf was stolen from their barracks. Isn¡¯t it possible it was all a diversion to acquire her. He could be allied with the elves. If that¡¯s the case then we could get wrapped up into their war.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t believe that¡¯s true.¡± They then looked at me towards my statement. ¡°Well, at his cabin he had the same demi humans living with him. His mother is demi human as well I believe.¡± ¡°But reports said he was human...Heh, Asher even said his eyes were black. Well, I guess we can just chalk it up to he is a mystery of sorts. But yes Sumei, what she is saying is true.¡± ¡°How would you know master?¡± ¡°The Aldain guards also said something interesting, there was food they kept for monsters missing from one of the cages down in the barracks of the colosseum as well as the high elf.¡± ¡°...So he stole food, meaning we can¡¯t trust him? Gup...Oh excuse me.¡± Sumei then burped while retorting sarcastically towards her master. She became more open like this whenever she drinks I¡¯ve come to find. ¡°You don¡¯t get it Sumei...In a cage, monster food...To a place like Aldain slaves who are too weak to work are considered monster food to keep their colosseum running...Truly an appalling place indeed...¡± Shakko then answered with his own opinions on the matter while sounding disgusted. It was true, the King later told me personally he saw Vali holding a small frail girl who looked to be half dead at the time. Whenever he was in his house he was always holding a small girl who couldn¡¯t walk yet. ¡®...It must have been that girl. The one who was possibly abused in Asher. Her name was Ari.¡¯ Sumei and Shen then began to talk to one another while I listened in on their opinions of Vali. Even Master Shen agreed to his overwhelming power. It was even enough to take down an opponent such as Lestat so easily while ending the lives of all those directly behind him. He even has the ability to absorb any and all damage with his incredible magic. I mean, how can you fight an opponent like that. ¡°Do you have any issue in him becoming a fellow knight Sumei?¡± ¡°Mm, I wouldn¡¯t say that Shakko. It¡¯s not that I¡¯m against allying with such a person, I simply am not sure how other kingdoms will react to such a person. Or better yet how he would react to other kingdoms. Can you imagine what he might do if he visited any of the neighboring kingdoms were not at war with? Or better yet if any of the central continent¡¯s royalties were to visit and meet him. ¡± ¡°I don¡¯t follow?¡± ¡°Gulp...What Shakko couldn¡¯t you just see it? Ha! If a kid like that is willing to proclaim war himself on the kingdom of Aldain for their actions, what do you think is going to happen if he met other kingdoms say not as friendly as ours to demi humans. Hell according to what he says if his two ¡®propositions¡¯ aren¡¯t met he may even become our enemy.¡± ¡°.......¡± I agree. I still can¡¯t believe the propositions he gave his majesty. One was simple, after the war with Aldain was done, Vali wanted a particular piece of land that was around where his cabin was. I think he was wanting to start a town for his family to live in. He was already going to receive some land and gold for becoming a vassal for the kingdom of Asher. The queen suggested we say he is of noble birth in our kingdom to other nobles and title him with baron over his territory. So this much was doable. The other....He wants any and all slaves that are children in the kingdom of Asher be released into his custody immediately upon the war ending. There are a lot of slaves in the kingdom of Asher. They are all demi human. However, it is not like there aren¡¯t some demi humans who live freely in our kingdom¡¯s cities as well. There are even some demi human run villages who reside in our kingdom. But many slaves come from the aftermath of wars with human kingdoms, committing certain crimes, or not being able to pay off debts. In some regions in the kingdom, husbands would even sell their wives into slavery to pay off their debts. Some regions of this kingdom just aren¡¯t ran very well. Truly something disgusting my mother would tell me about when I was younger. It¡¯s why I always yearned for someone who would would cherish me as the king does for his queen. Not like his son treats a woman... In the inner city of Asher it is illegal to mistreat slaves and must be treated humanely. They are not thought of as items as they are in some other kingdoms, and must be given all the basic necessities of life. I¡¯m sure not all citizens of this kingdom follow this however. Our races just haven¡¯t gotten a long too much before, but in our kingdom there are at least laws that are set in place for them. However not many demi human species are allied with the human kingdoms. In fact very little. We can make laws in our inner city but to say we can prevent and outlaw slavery of all demi human children throughout the entire kingdom would be difficult. It would receive a lot of backlash from the nobles in this kingdom. In fact a lot, most of the nobles of this kingdom do trading with the inner kingdoms and to say we would interfere in their business would also create problems with other kingdoms. Even if we and Aldain have completely different laws concerning the treatment of demi humans, Vali claimed in his eyes we would be the same... ¡®And to go in and make it so that all demi human slaves who are children or illegally enslaved be set free immediately after a war... I can¡¯t imagine the public outcry. Nobles and merchants in their own way run the kingdom. Does the Queen really have an idea to handle it all?¡¯ ¡°Well what do you think about him Cassandra? Your the one who has known him the longest. He¡¯s powerful I¡¯ll give him that, but do you think we can trust such a man?¡± All three then looked towards me towards Sumei¡¯s question. ¡°Honestly it¡¯s hard to say. I don¡¯t believe him to be a bad person..It¡¯s odd, I once thought him to be a monster in the woods, but he¡¯s surprisingly simple. Aldus told us the words he said just before he passed out from shock in the medical wing of the Aldain¡¯s best doctors. He said he was just a decent man, doing a decent thing. ¡° ¡°Oh, how so?¡± Now Shakko too seemed interested in what I had to say. ¡°He plays the big bad guy with the scythe and mask...no offense Shakko. But in all actuality, he¡¯s just a man who¡¯s trying to use his strength to protect those he cherishes and do what he believes is correct. I also think he might be someone who just innately protects others.¡± ¡°Well when you put it like that. I guess whatever problems he may stir up in the mean time with the nobles could be interesting. All I¡¯m thinking about is how we got a new chef!¡± - Master Shen ¡°Tsk, Master you kept asking if he could keep cooking which made it difficult for his highness to discuss business with Vali!¡± - Sumei ¡°Oh whatever!...That was better than some of the royal chefs in the kingdom and he made it out of a pot and animal he hunted! You just don¡¯t get men Sumei!...Gup! Men gotta hunt! And men gotta eat. And sometimes....Men can like the finer things too, such as Shakko and his cutesy little mask.¡± - Master Shen ¡°Hmm...Getting a little drunk are we metal man...¡± - Shakko ¡°You wish you had something as sweet as this thing! ¡± - Master Shen Splash! Splash! ¡°Hey! Stop splashing Shakko!¡± - Sumei Shen began to flex his metal arm while Shakko began splashing water on him. Water then splashed Sumei and they each began to argue. Now the three oddball royal knights of Asher began bantering as they normally do. If I remember they did this around Vali too, he didn¡¯t really know how to respond to them so he just simply ignored them while he finished cooking. ¡®Vali...You may be the strongest person I¡¯ve ever met. The other knights have seen incredible power before, which is why they must have not been as shocked as I was when I saw what you had done. It¡¯s to the point it scares me. But I believe you to be good...You wouldn¡¯t have treated your mother so kindly. You wouldn¡¯t have held that girl so warmly. He¡¯s kind to demi humans...And he¡¯s very kind to woman it seems. I wonder how he would run his territory he would be receiving. Becoming a Baron is something of the lowest level of noble but he will receive a decent amount of land according to this agreement. Can a man as powerful as Vali fight against a Blessed One? Well, I guess I¡¯ll get to be seeing more of this mysterious man in the woods soon. ¡¯ BANG! A loud banging noise sounded as the door from the large bath was opened suddenly and there standing was one of the royal guard Emanuel. ¡°What is it Emmanuel? Your being loud!¡± ¡°It¡¯s the king!¡± Each of us stood up at attention at Emmanuel¡¯s look of urgency. ¡°What...What happened! Speak!¡± ¡°...The king¡¯s been...Assassinated.¡± ¡°............¡± At those words the four of us stood in shock at what was just uttered. The king, one of the greatest leaders on the continent, is dead. ¡®...No.¡¯ Adimar¡¯s POV ROAARRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The sounds of the dark giants advancing continued on our position. ¡®Ah Joslyn...looks like I¡¯ve found myself on the battlefield once more. I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t keep away this time. Here I was ready to leave this body and see you again but, it seem¡¯s we¡¯ll be postponing our meeting for a little while longer. Wait for me...One day I shall feel your touch again.¡¯ Life has been hard since you¡¯ve gone to that next place. I miss your wisdom...I do not know where this path may lead me, but I¡¯ve chosen to follow this man who walks in front of me. I believe it to be the right thing to do. I tried to live out my days, I tried to enjoy a peaceful life Joslyn, I did. By Amarok...I truly tried. But the time spent here, being drowned in the constant grief of my failures. I failed you. I can no longer remain here. I can no longer tell our young to accept this life they were born in. I must end this, but even if it takes me an eternity...I will one day find you again. WAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Vali then disappeared from my vision and let loose an attack that sent shivers down my spine. It felt as if the whole dungeon was going falling and crumbling away. Darkness came from the cracked and destroyed floor and gripped the giants pulling them into the abyss below. ¡®Well Joslyn...Looks like I may see you sooner than I thought.¡¯ The power coming off that attack is the most powerful thing I¡¯ve ever felt in my long life on the front lines. It turned the ground around us into dust. The power swept past us and blew through the walls caving in the ceiling above. Everything began to be eaten away from the power of his weapon. I felt the feeling of falling. The darkness has fully swallowed me now. That kid really is something. The magical power I felt released from that skill was the strongest level of magic I¡¯ve felt in my long life as an Alpha. Our species normally lives to be around 300 or so but in such a place, no one lives long here. I however just turned 87 not a few months ago. I was the youngest Alpha in the history of our clan. Then again, we can never be sure how old any of us really are in here. I wonder if Akino made it out alive. I can smell her. But I can¡¯t see anything. Even with the eyes of a Moonlight Warrior, I can¡¯t see through this vast darkness. Everything has been destroyed by what he has done. Perhaps we are all already dead now... Vali...If I die, I pray to Amarok for your strength and courage to continue on here. To do what we so called warrior¡¯s could not, to save our poor trapped souls. ¡®I can never forgive myself for what we allowed to happen to you. We had received intel from the elite neko unit that it was highly likely you were a puppet trying to receive favor from the alliance¡¯s council only to lead us into a slaughter. Alysteir hadn¡¯t even shown up until the end and ordered you be taken in and questioned. We were only suppose to talk and see if you were who you said you were. But I can¡¯t make excuses now, I may have even wanted you to be a puppet. I have wanted for nothing more than to sink my fangs into the one responsible for pulling such strings...You did not deserve mine. I can see now you are simply another tortured soul like I.¡¯ I wouldn¡¯t have noticed it if not being chained to the human. The way he fights is similar to an Annunake, we do not yield ever. Vali fights with a violence and a willpower that outweigh any strength. His will to survive is what makes me know he has something worth living for. Vali attacks to kill, it was a miracle the ex elite Annunake¡¯s who once fought on the forefronts against any foe were able to suppress such a human. The abilities he wields are dangerous, but he is still young. He needs to learn to utilize his strengths and not draw confidence in his own power. This world, everything has a weak point. Though, regardless of this he is still a terrifying opponent....He defeated me. A man that made it to where only a few of us could destroy an entire legion with no damage whatsoever. He did it without batting an eye. He wants others to think he¡¯s ruthless but he¡¯s not... I¡¯m still alive, Akino¡¯s still alive.We were the cause of his pain suffering, and yet we remain. While the men who harmed his family were brutally and mercilessly dealt with. They weren¡¯t given honorable deaths either. I¡¯ve seen the same look before as he killed those men. It¡¯s obvious he¡¯s had to go through loss as well. Hence the reason he¡¯s more lethal in terms to those who show violence towards his pack. When his eyes go dark, he gets serious. I still remember whenever he showed me those eyes the first time. That along with the effects of his first skill, I had honestly thought him to be my enemy. I¡¯ve never seen another intimidation skill like it. It was only when I was chained to him around the second time he used it on those intruders, I finally understood.
You have been paralyzed with fear from a dark soul. Due to the effects of your Courage your paralysis has been withered. All stats have been reduced by 8% Mana recovery has been reduced by 5% Attack if you dare!
Never had I seen an intimidation skill that invited the opponent to attack him other than monster. It was enough of a skill that even could do so much with his low level. If it were not for the ¡®Courage¡¯ stat all the Moonlight Warrior¡¯s class have then we wouldn¡¯t have been able to fight him at all. ¡®Courage hmm....I really haven¡¯t felt courageous in quite a while in fact. It¡¯s a stat that remains so high as a once alpha, and yet I feel I have lost so much of it. When high enough it even adds in our strength but I¡¯ve always wondered if it was truly linked to one¡¯s courage from the soul. ¡® I surely thought then with that skill he was my enemy but now I know. As my brother in law would always say, we all have our demons. I feel as if we are still being wrapped up in darkness. Can we possibly survive a fall from this height? If we do...I¡¯ve decided to continue the fight, to continue the struggle we once boar...together. ¡®I believe this man may be able to save our people Joslyn. Even if I have to to wear the shame of a denounced alpha. Even if I must continue to wear the shame of submitting to another, to wear a collar. Even though I told you I would never yield to another...I will wear the shame with pride. None of it compares to the shame of failing you. I¡¯ll bare it...If it means our people can one day see the beauty of the moonlight in this world, I¡¯ll bare it. It is truly a sight I would have enjoyed seeing with you. I do not know where my journey will take me this time my love, and I don¡¯t think I can promise I¡¯ll be a good wolf by the end of it. With the way of the world outside, my time as a soldier may continue, to protect those we both held dear. It may take more time until we¡¯re reunited. And if my journey may change me, I pray you accept me when we meet again.¡¯ Even in such a dark place, I can feel the warmth of your light still embrace me. The hands that were always at my back, you healed me on and off the battlefield. We were always together you and I, and you gave this old wolf his reason for existing. I enjoyed our time together in this world, you are what made the time here so pleasant. If you only knew how precious every second together had been to me. It wasn¡¯t because we were sent by the god wolf to protect your kind, you were the best part of me. You were my whole world. ¡°Gotcha!¡± SPRING! My body then became grabbed by someone, Akino. She latched on to me and I could feel there were a number of each of those in our party connected to one another. I can now see through the pitch darkness four bright lights that appear through the dense smog. They are the pixies and Vali¡¯s bird. Everyone survived. He must have found a way. I could feel everyone huddle together. Our bodies became intertwined and wrapped tighter and tighter. Akino is holding onto my arms and barring her head into my arm waiting for the impact of landing. Poor thing. Still just a cub. As my niece it was my job to take care of her after her family passed. She was actually going to marry the man who was going to be my brother in law. The shock of finding out he was a puppet destroyed her. Destroyed the hope she once had. She tried apologizing to Vali but she just doesn¡¯t get males yet...You can¡¯t apologize for something like that. The weight of our crimes our not dull. Hopefully this human is a good one. Not like the ones from the stories. I only noticed by what Joslyn had once said, ¡®Oh they would look kinda like an elf! But their ears would be short and rounded. Very interesting creatures the humans. They were a race that wasn¡¯t as strong physically as the other races, but when united together they became quite fearsome.¡¯ What she said was true, but greed is what ultimately lead to their demise in this place... SPRINK! BAM! We then collided in a stream of webs that caught our weight and decelerated our descent. We then crashed into the floor below us. Cough...Cough... I stood up and started to brush off my fur. Somehow we had all survived. I thought the ceiling was falling over us but we appear to be standing on the destroyed floor below. So right now we must be on 62. The effects of Midnight Aura have been canceled. ¡®That¡¯s Vali¡¯s skill that stops all attack....¡± I then saw a piercing light that swept through and touched down in front of us. The walls of the dungeon are partially destroyed and the light from the outside is showing in the dungeon. It pierced through the overwhelming darkness that surrounded us and shines the surroundings bit by bit. It¡¯s as if the light is eating away the darkness around the floor below. Everyone then began to clamor about their levels and the destruction to the walls. I think it¡¯s even possible 64 was all destroyed in the monstrous attack. I can¡¯t even believe we all survived it. It felt like the entirety of the dungeon was enveloped by that attack. ¡®Vali¡¯s strength may be able to save this place. That bird who was actually a woman, she said he was something of...a weapon of a God. He is the best chance we have at leaving this place, he even appears to be someone who has the best interest in mind for our people as well. I guess since I lived, I¡¯m going to continue on and follow this human...Joslyn, please wait a little a longer.¡¯ I began to hold onto the handkerchief that was left to me from my mate. It always brought me strength and warmth in such a cold place. I¡¯m at level 306 now. I can¡¯t believe I gained close to 20 levels just now. ¡®Hmph....Vali I will put my faith in you. You are going to become the new Alpha.¡¯ ROAAARR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The same ear shattering roar that shakes the debris were standing on pierced through the destructed floor. We then became surrounded by two floor bosses that had somehow managed to survive the fall of the destruction. A large heard of fomorians, the species that have brought our races close to extinction, and two floor bosses on unbeaten floors. But we are the Annunake...We never flea. I began to bear my fangs, readying myself for the fight at hand. I then felt the warm of the same dark aura surround me again. -You are under the effects of Dark Aura! All damage will be absorbed by the darkness. ¡®Hmm, well it¡¯s not the same as the light coming from your horns Joslyn, but it¡¯ll do. I think you would have enjoyed meeting a person like Vali if you were still here. I think you would want me to fight alongside this man¡¯ . Vali ushered me to take on the boss snake on the left. It looks to be heavily armored but practically covered in damages. Blood is soaking out of its open gashes and most of the armor surrounded it are crushed. This monster is practically on it¡¯s death throws. Killing it will be easy. But if any of the other monsters interrupt, me and Akino may have trouble. SSSSAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!! CRACK! BOOM!!!!! Lightning began to rain down from the sky as the clouds above began and shatter the debris we stood on. SSSAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! This thing, may be still be dangerous regardless of this barrier magic. Vali then stuck out his hand and instructed no one to advance. ¡°The illusion is set Vali!¡± ¡°Alright...No one move!¡± What?! What are you thinking. Swing your scythe! You stupid boy!!! I trusted you! I looked up and the long black snake began to get larger and larger. It looked to be looking straight at us and then turn its head away. It then turned it¡¯s towards the large 7...no 8 headed hydra to the right. It was just seven heads only a second ago. Each of the 8 heads then began to snarl and show looks of being enraged. SSSAHHHHHHHH!!! GGAKKKK!!! Suddenly a large black blur crashed into the snake towering over us and crashing into the earth. What just happened? One of the fomorians must have leaped to take down one the snake. It then began ramming its claws into the snakes armored hide and tried to rip through its neck. SSSAHHHH!!!!!!!!!! BOOOOM!!!!!! Lightning began to rain down from the clouds it had generated and rip through the Fomorian on top of it. The snake then coiled around the Fomorian and struck at it with its long fangs. It must have struck the fomorian 4 or 5 times within a second. SSSSAHHH!!!!!! Lightning began to engulf the snake and the fomorian it had been strangling and the fomorians health and gone down to zero in only a few seconds. It then threw the dead body towards the king hydra to the right. The snake then glared towards the oncoming heard of fomorians now making screeching sounds towards the death of their ally. They aren¡¯t bright creatures but I do think they understand when to take an opponent seriously. It then began to slither towards the fomorians. Not even paying any mind to us at all. Why is that? I then looked over and Cosmia had high-five¡¯d Cyanin. Is this an illusion? ¡°Cosmia just set up an illusion barrier around us, each monster that was looking at us had the image of the other stepping in front of its view. They are now all paying attention to the larger opponents in front of them. Now, those in the aura are you ready?¡± This is incredible. We all nodded in affirmation to his request. He had told us the plan but not that an illusion would be set. We then prepared ourselves to attack the beast before us. SAHHHH!!!!!!!! I then appeared next to the snake with Akino. We each then leaped on top of it began to tear away at the large snakes remaining health. It really didn¡¯t look like a snake at all. It¡¯s face may have been deformed but the front of it looks like a beast. Something different, this clearly isn¡¯t a normal boss. It¡¯s venom melted the fomorian it just bit. The lightning that engulfed it was enough to overwhelm the giant¡¯s outstanding healing abilities....What is this thing? I look up towards it¡¯s head and gaze at its title....Grootslang? I have never seen a monster like this before but it¡¯s quite vicious. Moonlight Claw! I then began to tear through the great beasts tough armor. With the power of the moon, our claws ignore all defense. If the enemy doesn¡¯t have a thick barrier to protect them, our claws will only eat away at their health, mana, and stamina all at the same time. Within minutes, you¡¯ll be nothing standing before an Annunake. I began to tear away and away at beasts flesh along side Akino. ZAP!!! Sparks began to fly and erupt around us both that was coming off the strange beasts armored plates. Not online that but the clouds surrounding it are also producing intense lightning strikes that shower all over the snake. The lightning was thick and regardless of the barrier surrounding us. The heat from it was enough to make my thick fur sweat.It was a very intense heat. I could even feel the rumbling under my paw of all the electrical current that is getting absorbed by the darkness surrounding. ....¡®Vali...You are a strong foe indeed. ¡® Wecontinued to tear away into the large beast. If this barrier wasn¡¯t here....I doubt I would survive swinging at this thing for extended periods of time. Every swing with my claws only bring forth more and more lightning from the dark plated shells on its hide. It¡¯s an armor that has an effect that could outweigh our claws. If we didn¡¯t have this barrier around us our claws would be useless against him. We would die before we killed him. Most monsters pride themselves in hard defenses but against us that is useless. Our claws ignore all defense. ¡°Dark Sever!¡± YEEAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! A familiar scream is let out and I feel the wave of dark magic fly past us and towards the fomorians advancing towards us. It killed many of them who didn¡¯t try to avoid it but some managed to get out of the way or leap over it. Many then began to crawl faster towards the Grootslang and us on top of it. It didn¡¯t seem to pay mind to us at all. His health right now was at around 39%. His health must be very high. We¡¯ve continued to tear away at it but it¡¯s health just took a lot to take down. His mana however is dropping quite sharply. Hopefully whenever it¡¯s mana runs out it¡¯s defenses will drop. ZAP! I then was warped from on top of the snake and now I am standing behind a small patch of dirt surrounded by red spikes of ice coming forth from the debris below us. It was in a complete circle around the small patch of ground we stood on. Who did this? ¡°Sorry I can¡¯t let you guys get close to that thing anymore. It¡¯s lightning caused so much damage, the barrier wouldn¡¯t last another minute.¡± Vali then walked up to me and Akino and then stared back at the long peculiar creature slithering towards the Fomorians. Did he just worry for both of our safety?..... I then began to look at the percentage of the dark aura surrounding us and it was now at 41%. ¡°...Hjokk, What the hell is that thing?!¡± SSSAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! ----------------------------------------------- Vali¡¯s POV ¡®Seriously...What the fuck is that thing?¡¯ It¡¯s level was 523 and I¡¯ve never seen anything like it. I was acting too greedy and stared at what the wealth of the king hydra would give me I didn¡¯t even think of what the other boss might be. The top of its skull resembles an elephant and had two large tusks coming out from it¡¯s jaws. But its mouth and rest of its body resembles a snake. It was hard to see at first since it looked practically deformed at first glance. It¡¯s entire body is wrapped in cobalt armor plates that look to be quite tough. The Fomorian¡¯s claws seemed to tear away at it but it¡¯s health must be monstrously high as hardly any health went down at all. It¡¯s level is higher than the Hydra but not the surrounding Fomorians. Not only that but moment anything touches or tries to scratch at it large bursts of lightning attack whatever it is. If all that wasn¡¯t enough the fomorian it just dropped, melted after being struck by whatever venom those black fangs have. As we looked at this thing rain havoc on the fomorians only a ways in front of us we looked at its title. Grootslang. I activated Lightning step to think. ¡®...That name, I remember reading about something like this. It¡¯s a really, really old creature from african myth. It¡¯s name literally means big snake. Other than that, I have no idea what that thing is. How much health does that thing have to survive so many slashes from the Fomorians and the Annunake. That thing is seriously dangerous. That¡¯s why I yanked everyone back into formation. Sitting on top of it tearing away at it¡¯s mana reserves may have been nice but the damage to our barrier was too serious. We wouldn¡¯t last the 10 minutes of the skill. Hell it probably wouldn¡¯t have even lasted another minute. ¡® ¡°That snake is very strong.¡± Akino then voiced her opinion of the monster striking and tearing at the fomorians. They began to surround it and slash away at its skin. The damage taken was roughly a couple percent each time. But with every slash more lightning rained down from the clouds surrounding its flesh. Engulfing everything surrounding it in lightning. ¡°Yeah, It may be better to do damage from a distance. You guys still managed to siphon some mana away for me. I¡¯ll use something else.¡± I then pointed my hand towards the heard of monsters in front of us. I activated the one skill on the Infinity Ring. After using this skill my mana will drop below 30%. I have been using a lot of skills but I continued to restore mana at a very quick pace. The cost of all my skills wasn¡¯t as bad either. The presence of the Annuke siphoning magic from that creature even for a short period of time got me quite a bit of magic. This skill however takes half of the available mana to use this skill. It then uses all that magic and condenses it into a ball. ¡°Mana Bomb!¡± ¡®.............¡¯ A small ball of light began to grow and grow and grow. It extended out past my palm and grew into the size of a house. It was a giant ball of intense bright white energy. My mana began to deplete down by a half immediately and stopped at around 23%. After using Wrath of Balor, I lost 30 percent of my magic from using it. While Dark Sever takes around 7 percent with every swing. However, before I pulled the Annunake away they managed to syphon around 14,000 mana from that thing before I had to pull em out so my mana is still manageable. The large white ball of condensed magical energy then shot forth like a comet towards the heard and crashed into their center. Everyone began to shield their eyes as the light from the ball of light was almost blinding. BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!!!! The light from the blast blinded everyone for a split second as everything was dyed with white light. The health of everything in that blast took a large hit. The fomorians each lost about 30 percent of their health in that one attack. But they then began to heal their wounds slowly. The Grootslang then lost about 10 percent of its health. The wind from the blast then blew in our direction and pushed loose debris to rain through the sky. ¡°Vali...Seriously are you trying to destroy another floor!¡± Hjokk then screamed in my direction. Yeah she¡¯s right, even if I¡¯m inside this dungeon I can¡¯t just fire off skills randomly to build my mastery. These weapons really are too powerful for that, but considering I can¡¯t let people outside see me with such a weapon, though I need some test subjects to use these skills on. I then checked my mana....¡®Woh, my mana is currently over 400 thousand.¡¯ My mana now practically quadrupled. I thought it would give 50 percent of my magic back to me but I didn¡¯t think I would receive more than my maximum amount. The total damage that was done to everything in the wake of that attack was then returned and recycled to me in the form of magic. My mana was now much higher than it would be if I was at full strength. Some Infinity Ring, I could just sit back and level opponents and absorb more mana at a time. I then told everyone to stay inside the zone of ice created by Cosmia. She really has such an incredible ability. Not only did she initially help us by diverting each of the monsters attention. The entire barrier surrounding us has small red spikes created from ice. They emerged from the ground as she used her powerful ice magic. The best part is that these spikes are also part of the illusion, the monsters cannot see them. If they could they would probably destroy it considering she is much lower level than them, but if they can¡¯t see it and were to slip on the icy ground, I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll do something. Whatever abilities she gained from the red crystal truly is something. I¡¯ll have to ask her about it later, whatever monster it was, was probably quite dangerous. I then looked over to my right and I could see the Away team too was having some difficulties. Only 3 heads had fallen but now a small yellow barrier is surrounding the 8 hydras that is quite similar to the dark aura surrounding us. It however seems to just be increasing the hydras overall defense to where it¡¯s making it difficult to cut through to the flesh. The health however many percent it drops continues to rise back quickly to full health. Each of the heads have regrown back. The nekos jumping between the heads have yet to be caught but can¡¯t seem to sever any more heads with that yellow barrier surrounding them. The skill is thick enough to stop the blades of a Dawn Bringer from severing their heads entirely. Since it¡¯s too dangerous to continue with cutting off the head they have to continue evading the remaining heads. Looking at each o the hydra¡¯s heads look to have their own unique ability. The two on the outside are yellow and each have a yellow crystal on them. The two next to them both have blue crystals but each have a different colored head. The two next to those are both green and I can see are spitting a noxious gas from their open jaws. Yellow on the outside, followed by green, then one fire, one ice, and the two in the middle are white and black. Even though the 4 heads using fire, ice and poison only have a blue crystal on their heads, they are still causing a lot of trouble it seems. SAH! One of the nekos then jumped from the green heads and landed on the ground in front of the King Hydra. The head then lunged at the neko. CLANK! SAH? The red hydra head then looked at the neko oddly. There standing in front of him was a transparent Dullahan with his shield raised. I then used my spatial magic to get the neko out of the site of the rest of the heads. The Dullahan then began to swing its large claymore towards the hydra and swung its sword towards the barrier. It too began to do a small amount of damage but not much health was taken off. And even then the heads keep reappearing. Already over a minute has passed and we¡¯ve only received 3 heads. 1 yellow, 2 blue. The heads were each cleaved by a member of the Away team but immediately had to disperse as the difficulty in cutting each head became increasingly more difficult. When one head would drop the other¡¯s would then circle around it and become alert to the positions they landed. Cough...Cough.... I then started to notice Ollie and the other neko¡¯s who were attacking had started to show signs of taking damage while jumping through the green cloud of smoke. SAH! The red hydra then began to blow fire from his mouth. The blue crystal shined and fire erupted from his mouth. The stream hit the green air surrounding them and then erupted in a ball of flame. All air that was engulfed in green smog was then turned to fire. It almost resembled napalm. Before anything could happen I then warped each of them away before the fire could engulf them. Luckily they both stopped moving for just enough time. I told them to pause their movements every so often on the ground and I would be able to get them away in times of crisis. I wouldn¡¯t betray their trust. The fire surrounded the Dullahan and the ghost knight had melted away. Now only one more Dullahan remains at the side of Cosmia and the two other pixies. The 8 Headed hydra then began to slither towards us. I elongated my scythe to roughly 4 times its normal size. The glyphs on the blade began to shine and elongate at my will and grow to my preference. The size now larger I again activated dark sever in the direction of a the heard as well as the hydra. YYEAAAHHH!!!!!!!!!! The screams poured out from my scythe once more as the dark magic released from my blade flung out in a much larger slash than before. It also used up roughly three times the amount of mana to use it, luckily I have a much larger mana reserve. This Infinity Ring definitely helps in coming up with new ways to fight. It then severed the yellow and green heads on the left of the hydra that was advancing on us and continued towards the fight in front of us. The attack then severed the Fomorians and Grootslang in one swing. Luckily Fomorian¡¯s don¡¯t seem to understand avoiding attacks, they each seem to think their healing is so superior they can do that. Honestly I wonder what would happen if creatures like this made it out of this dungeon, only weapons that are legendary or above can harm them. Looking at the away team I see that some of their weapons including Ollie¡¯s Guan dao has bits of the dawn bringer¡¯s diamond around it¡¯s edges. If they hadn¡¯t made that discovery of the strange diamond, their entire race could have been destroyed. Such a peculiar stone. I then gripped onto the cross around my neck that Ari had made for me. It wasn¡¯t the same one I was accustomed to, but holding onto it gave me the reminder and strength I needed. Your level has risen... Your level has risen.... Notifications began to increase and I saw that most of what took my blast died. Activating Eclipse View however I see that some of them are still alive only fighting amongst themselves. I looked to my right and the barrier surrounding the hydras is down. ¡°Good the heads that are cut can¡¯t heal. The yellow barrier is down, attack!¡± Ollie then barked the orders and the Away team advanced again. The Dark Aura remained surrounding us. The remaining heads began glare at me with hatred as I had severed their brother¡¯s head. Abgrund has amazing curse magic that cancels out healing or at least halts it to some extent. The blue head then bit down on the yellow head that had been severed. The severed neck then turned to ice cubes and shattered. The yellow head then began to regrow again. ¡®Heh...Smart monster. But you don¡¯t realize your only helping me.¡¯ ¡°Ok now my magic is enough...Vali! Watch this.¡± Cosmia then raised both her arms up and the red light surrounding her body began to grow dark crimson. ¡°Icy Grave¡± SAH! One of the heads began to snap towards the Away team when it collided with a pillar of ice. Large red spikes began to grow from the ground and surround the hydra. A large prison of red ice began to emerge from the ground floor and erupt through the broken debris we stood on. The King Hydra was now trapped inside a large cage of ice.. Each head began to snap towards the pillars and it didn¡¯t look like they would take many strikes. SAH.kkkk... Now the heads began to become severed with every swing. Not paying attention to the enemies surrounding it, the hydra¡¯s heads began to fall one after the other. The barrier was removed and the Away team began to sever each of the outside heads. They realized the yellow ones are the one¡¯s that sets up the barrier. It also has a tough exterior but with the blades of the nekos and Ollie¡¯s weapon they are starting to win against the monster. However upon being severed a new head would grow back almost as fast as it took to cut it off. The King Hydra¡¯s movements appear to be much slower now too. Before the Hydra heads would be able to keep up and make it difficult for the the Away team to focus on cutting a head but now their movements truly look slow. ¡®Cosmia gained and area of effect skill?¡¯ Cosmia then flew towards me and giggled while she told me about her new skill. Her magic will slow down the enemies movements by 35% while within in the prison of ice. It can also cause 100 ice damage ever 10 seconds to enemies within the skill. She looked quite proud at that. The floor in the zone of red ice became red ice itself and made it hard to move in. Since pixies fly it doesn¡¯t effect them as much at all she thinks. She however can use this to slow down an enemies movements. She can also make the ground within her zone ice. Even though Cosmia currently had pink hair and pink lips, the color of her eyes remained deep crimson. The light surrounding her also remained a deep red. She giggled as she explained that not only can she do all of this, if she waits until her mana fills back up, she can also mask this skill with an illusion. SAGuhhh! One of the hydra¡¯s heads then began to swing it¡¯s head towards the female neko. She then jumped and flipped over it, kicking off it¡¯s neck to pounce towards another head. The head she kicked then flung back into a large red spike of ice sticking out from the destroyed ground. It pierced the green head making it easy for the other neko to cut it¡¯s head. Each of the heads showed strong abilities and worked well together. However they didn¡¯t work nearly as well together as the Away team. The neko¡¯s footwork is so incredible, their evasion skills are top tier. Even in the icy environment they move practically unfazed.Such amazing footwork. ROARRRR!!!!! Black magic then began to erupt out of the black head and surround the away team. It¡¯s head has a purple crystal, it must be a strong magic attack. I then zapped them outside and they said that within that black smog it reduces their abilities by quite a lot..It must be curse magic. I then instructed Adimar and Akino to join the fight, alongside them. If we can tear it¡¯s mana away, it won¡¯t be able to use any more skills and it¡¯ll be easy. Just like what they did to me, we¡¯ll make that thing brain dead. SAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! BOOOM! A loud roar came as a lightning strike then struck the floor not a few meters away. It was lightning raining down from the clouds that were surrounding the Grootslang and began to shower all over it. It¡¯s size was now roughly a third of what it was and I can see now that a large part of it¡¯s body has been cut off. It¡¯s health was now at 32% and it looked at me as if I was the only thing that existed in the world. Yeah, it knew I was the thing that attacked it. SAHH!!!!!! It then shot forth like a viper towards my direction and its speed was enough to stun my already strengthened state. I pulled Abgrund out in front of me and the large beast only opened its jaws wider. I put my hand on Cosmia and warped her back by the other pixies around Hjokk. Grootslang snapped it¡¯s jaws down towards me. SHING! SSsssGUAHHH....GAH...Ghghghgg The Groot slang then slammed it¡¯s jaws around me. At the last moment I made the blade of Abrund retract upward in the shape of a spear and the serpent had then bit down onto the cursed weapons with me at its center. It¡¯s jaws must have had tremendous strength. I could feel such heat coming from it¡¯s rancid breath and from the size of this things jaws I know it has the ability to crush me. But biting down on Abgrund....It was not a good decision. With every bit of pressure Abgrund¡¯s blade, Loki knew as realm sever goes further into its unarmored brain. ¡°VALI!!!!¡± ¡°NO! Vali!!!¡± I could then hear the sounds of everyone clamoring outside and the serpent then slammed its head into the dirt as if trying to shake me out. I heard the sound of thunder tearing through the sky outside and I can¡¯t let this thing rain havoc with the away team right now. I then began to hear a rumbling in his stomach and before he had a chance to do anything else I activated Abysmal mist. The power of the abyss began to tear and eat away at this ancient snake and eat him from the inside out. I didn''t want to give him a chance at shooting that venom that melted the fomorians. Now with the power of Abgrund and my mist coming off from me is destroying the insides of this monster. It¡¯s fangs and tongue are being eating away. The roof of it¡¯s deep red mouth are now starting to blacken and rot. It¡¯s making noises of intense pain and anger. GUGHGghhgAAHCK! Some form of toxic sludge begins to flow from the innards of the monsters deep throat and shoot through abysmal mist that surrounds me. The power of the Abyss thanks to holding Abgrund is thick, but some of this oddly smoking substance is able to get through and touch my skin. It starts to touch the dark aura and melt around it. It¡¯s fangs began to rain down a shower of the same dangerous venom he used to melt the fomorians and shower over me. Some of it was ate by the abyss surrounding me but due to the pressure of this giant snake not all of of me is protected. Dark Aura has now been canceled. Bits of the sludge began to break through my mist and touch pieces of my skin. My flesh began to melt and seep through to the bone as if this venom were a corrosive acid. My skin began to singe off and I can no longer move my legs. Looking down even my feet are starting to melt from standing on this beasts wet acidic tongue. I could feel it struggling for it¡¯s life too however. I could feel it throwing it¡¯s last ditch effort possible to get me free from it¡¯s mouth. He knows now I was not an enemy to eat. Knowing the crisis and obviously in a lot of pain it began to shake violently. I then increased the weight of Abgrund and it¡¯s head sunk like to the floor as if it had been knocked by a freight train. It then crashed into the dungeon floor and continued to be eating away by the power of the abyss. I couldn¡¯t see it¡¯s health but I knew I was hurting it equally as much as it was hurting me. It was honestly hard to tell though, my health was quickly starting to drop standing in here. The mist has now become my barrier of defense but I won¡¯t survive a battle of attrition with this thing. I have to end this snake¡¯s life immediately. I continued to keep Abysmal mist activated and then checked my skill tab. The cool down for dark sever had finally ended. With my strength practically tripling with Demonic Awakening I dug the blade of Abgrund through the roof of the monsters mouth. It was quite sturdy and thick. But the blade of Abgrund simply singes whatever is front of it as if it were paper. I got a good grip on Abgrund and activated dark sever while retracting its blade. Stolen story; please report. YEAHH!!!!!!!!!! A loud scream echoed throughout the large gaping mouth that had fully engulfed me. It erupted and a dark slash ripped through the entire serpent from the back of it¡¯s skull to it¡¯s remaining body. The monster now in pieces then fell to the ground having just had its life ended...Abgrund was hot, I could feel it...vibrating almost. Like it has a pulse. Your level has risen! Your level has risen! Your level has risen!.... ¡°VALI!¡± A turquoise blur then flew up to me and hugged me. It was Cyanin. She even left her duty to protect Cosmia and flew to see if I was ok. I then looked and the head of the Grootslang began to move again...¡¯No....¡¯ Just then the head rolled over and out walked out was Akino. She then moved the beasts head and peeked to see if I was alright.....¡¯...Thank God, I thought this thing was still alive.¡¯ We then emerged out from the dead serpents jaws and it could see the devastation behind what I had done. I looked to the right and all those behind the barrier were looking at me warmly. The away team who were still fighting then turned their heads to look in my direction. The Arachnee have now also joined the fight. Each Arachnee had one of the pixies next to them while they each wrapped their webs around the fomorians dead bodies and the remaining king hydra heads. Each arachnee even looked at me with a warm smile and then continued to look back at the beast before them. Ollie made a smile then went back to fighting the boss even without the protection of the dark aura surrounding him. Cyanin was holding my hand and had helped me walk back into formation. My leg strength felt to have reduced by a lot considering most a lot of my muscles were so damaged. 1 of the Dullahan knights still remained. I used up half of my mana to create another one to protect the other members of the away team and tried to use my remaining mana to heal some of my wounds. My health had gone to 55% in the short time I was in there. My mana however is high enough I can manage to help us finish off this beast. I needed to join the fight alongside them. Dark Aura is now down. All the fomorians are now dead. I activated Eclipse view to makes sure and they are gone now, that Grootslang must have killed the injured ones. That thing really was a bitch to deal with. The wounds on my hands and legs began to slowly heal but it wasn¡¯t as quick as normal. This venom is strong, but it doesn¡¯t have any poisonous affects, just corrosion. Cosmia¡¯s area of affect skill is still in effect. ¡°1000 Grand Illusions!¡± Cosmia then just waved her hands and the heads began to snap in odd directions. Each of them aren¡¯t even getting close to the Away team slowing down their movements even more in the prison of ice. The debuffs from the black magic have almost made the fight even but now, heads continue to drop. The Away team are quite good at only attacking when necessary but with the help of the arachnee holding down some of the heads with the fomoriands dead bodies, heads are contnuing to stack up on this monster. Regardless of the barrier dropping the number of heads that remain alive at given time are around 3 or 4. They don¡¯t give the boss a chance to let loose any skills. I then instructed Akino to join Adimar in trying to wear down it¡¯s remaining health but to be careful. She smiled at me warmly and nodded. Without the effects of the barrier, regardless if my injuries are being healed right now, I can still try help then warp out of there. Cyanin who was helping me stand then ushered me to sit down. My legs must have looked awful. I could still smell the scent of my burnt flesh from what that monster had done to me. If I didn¡¯t have the power of the Abyss or this weapon. I may have never been able to kill that thing. The fire head began to blow fire towards the green smoke but was then severed immediately. Ollie then tried to lunge towards the white head which is amongst one of the heads that haven¡¯t been piled on the ground yet. The two heads with a purple crystal are protected quite well by the other heads. But the white one hasn¡¯t attacked once. The heads that regrow, do grow back the crystals, this was to our benefit. The yellow heads can form some kind of barrier and their exterior appears to be tougher than the others. The blue one almost looks to be made of ice and shows ice magic towards whatever¡¯s in front of it. The red head breaths fire but has a blue crystal similar to the blue and green heads. The yellow heads share yellow crystals, while the white and black heads have purple crystals. Now that the heads are confused. They are losing focus and falling quite easily. ¡°Tiger¡¯s Rage!¡± Ollie¡¯s eyes then began to glow and he swung his guan dao and severed the white head partially. it then began to regrow back almost immediately but before it could an explosion happened from the tip of Ollie¡¯s weapon and blew off the white head entirely. The head then hit the ground and the health of the King Hydra just dropped by 30%. ¡®The white head must be the one that has the healing abilities. The other heads aren¡¯t growing back nearly as fast now.¡¯ As the Away team seemed to also notice this they each began to cut the other heads off while making sure to avoid the still grown heads. Whatever this illusion that has been set the heads can¡¯t get any idea of where the away team is and now even the black head has been surrounded and chopped off by two of the neko¡¯s. I see Adimar and Akino towards it¡¯s flank tearing away at it¡¯s sides and it¡¯s mana bar next to it¡¯s health is also starting to wind away. The heads aren¡¯t growing back nearly as fast but the white head has already regrown back. Each of the heads are starting to grow back at a much quicker rate but now that Away team has captured its movements the Hydra cannot gain any ground. The heads continue to be replaced as quickly as they are severed but once the white head drops all remaining heads start to quickly fall one by one. The red head then emerged and spat out fire towards Akino. I then jumped to her location and wrapped my cloak around her. She was about to jump she saw me standing over her she simply pressed her body against mine. She then looked out over my shoulder. ¡°The green is blowing its smoke again.¡± Just then a burst of fire erupted around us and I stuck my hand in the air. The head was intense even through Malthiel¡¯s cloak which had 100% magic resistance. But the hit began to become dispelled and dissipate as if it were never there. Akino then looked towards my raised hand. I stuck it directly in the flames over head. The Midnight Gauntlet is however has the innate skill of Magic Null. Truly a divine class item indeed. The magic was then stopped immediately and cancel around us causing the fire to slowly fade away. The red and green heads both looked at their flanks in awe of what they had seen just before getting severed off entirely. The other heads however were still un repaired or simply are dealing with the other members of the Away team. I then warped back to my original location and Akino and Adimar jumped towards different sides and began to tear away again the large mythical beast. My wounds were still not completely healed so I continued to use my healing abilities to heal the remaining melted off flesh from my body. They haven¡¯t been able to stop the Annunake on their sides and I can see this is what is doing this creature in now. After a few minutes the King Hydra is no longer fighting the same way it once did. No more skills are being shot out from the beast as it is using it¡¯s remaining magic to support the healing magic of the white head. No more fire, or ice is being shot from the heads. And all the other area of affect attacks by the other heads have also ceased. This battle is easily in favor of the Away team regardless of the amazing level difference of the large mythical beast. The effects of multiple skills and teamwork, this legendary boss is getting beaten senseless. SAHkkk.. The black head then growling in anger tried to bite at Akino but was then hit with two explosive arrows from the two Reiki standing far away. All members of the away team are now helping in taking down this great beast. If they didn¡¯t have the ability to initially sever it¡¯s heads before it erected that barrier. This thing would have been a real bitch to have to fight. Abgrund...You really are the unsung hero of this day. ROOOARRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!! I turned to me left and there standing was level 550 Fomorian. It¡¯s head and body were surrounded in a black mist. Its claws even looked much longer than the other fomorians. Heeeeee Heee HAAAAAA It was far away but it began to run on its four legs. BOOOOM!!!! Something then fell behind it. BOOOOM!!!! BOOOM! I looked up and falling in the sky were large black giants. I had to look quite high up to see what was happening. But apparently fomorians from higher floors must have heard the destruction and found a whole in the mountain wall. They walked through it and have fallen roughly 3 floors below. Their large bodies are crashing into the floor and causing the entire ground to shake. More and more continue to fall. There was starting to be a large pile of them on the ground now. They only get back up as if it had done hardly any damage at all to them. They continued to make their squealing laughs and grin their large thin fangs towards us. AHHHH!!!!! They then began to run on all fours towards us. They were on the other side of the floor but due to the debris cascading through the place it won¡¯t take long to run through such a barren environment. I looked towards the Away team and even though some continued to look towards the fomorians they continued to try to kill the beast in front of them. They never let up on their attacks. I think they have understood now it is just best to kill it but they don¡¯t seem to be able to. Regardless of the Away team, the Annunake, and the pixies efforts they can¡¯t seem to finish this beast off. The white head regrows at such a fast rate that regardless of how many times they try to gain ground it continues to fight back and heal itself. It¡¯s health is currently at 65% but it heals at almost a percent a second. While only any real damage comes to it whenever it¡¯s white head has been severed. Once it regrows the other heads almost get brought back immediately. I¡¯ve had enough of a break. I stood up and told Cyanin to go to where Cosmia was. Hjokk was still resting on her shoulder from before but it¡¯s best to have her there for support. I then activated Dark Sever towards the oncoming fomorians and used my spatial magic to jump in towards them. I need to end this quickly to help the others. I attempted to use my Death Magic. I concentrated on constant flowing of life coming from the oncoming fomorian but, it was difficult. It felt like in all honesty like trying to push on a bowling ball with just my arm strength. It started to falter and stumble as it ran, but continued to run towards me. It however didn¡¯t leap it only clutched it¡¯s chest as it advanced forward. I then activated lightning step and Demoninc Awakening and using both arms I crushed it. Seeing the image of its rib cage crushed then dropped to the earth as it slid towards me. It¡¯s body was lifeless. Checking with Eclipse View is always a good sign but using that skill on the Fomorian used up roughly 15% of my mana. I then tried to use it on the hydra before the oncoming fomorians got any closer... The heads began to twitch and their movements slowed even more but....I couldn¡¯t kill it. I tried to focus as much as I could but the life force was in all honesty even stronger than the fomorians. I can¡¯t use death magic on it...¡¯Is this the extent of magic manipulation? My skill is still in the beginning stages but I can¡¯t even use my magic to kill this monster quickly.¡¯ I then looked forward at the oncoming threat and decided I needed to end this all quickly. The fight is getting out of hand fast. I can¡¯t let any mistakes be made, I can¡¯t use a skill like I had used before either, the impact from that attack could have potentially killed everyone in my party including me. My mana was currently now at 78% of what it was originally. The effects of the Infinity Ring along with the Annunake Alpha ring are tremendous. As the Annunake are tearing away at the King Hydra¡¯s incredible mana reserves it is only fueling me more. It is also starting to dull the legendary boss creatures outstanding healing capabilities. The number of heads currently on the floor number in the double digits easy. I then dropped in using my spatial magic over the top of some of the oncoming fomorians. I had Abysmal Mist, Demonic Awakening, Toughened Exterior, Presence Sense, and Hide Presence all active. I even activated Pheromone Secretion to make my scent attract them to my general location. If they get my scent, they may pay attention to me and not the fight behind me. My mana regardless of what I have been doing is hardly falling at all. It¡¯s actually growing steadily. I then landed on the back of the head of one of the 40 meter giants and swung Abgrund quickly through its spine. Regardless of the thick fur that covers it, this old weapon cuts it as cleanly as if it were a goblin. The fomorians health dropped dramatically and hit the ground. It then shook the dungeon floor and several other fomorians began to surround me. The Abysmal Mist continued to engulf anything that got close to me and it was hard to see me in the dark cloud the jumped from fomorian to fomorian. I began to use my spatial magic to attack at the fomorians flanks while they continued to lose track of where I was. They were quick, but not as quick me. I would also activate Lightning step at the last second to deliver a critical blow and jump to a different location. The mist surrounding me continued to do incredible damage that also stopped the healing abilities of the 40 meter monsters. They weren¡¯t healing their wounds and their high health didn¡¯t rise at all. They would be tough opponents but they have no skills, they hardly have any brains at all. They just mindly attack and have no regard to their surroundings. They won¡¯t even avoid an attack that is coming in on them. I then activated dark sever around a large group of fomorians to my right. It cleaved through several of the heads and torsos of large beasts and a shower of blood began to rain down on me. I flew from back to back and continued to cut through the oncoming titans. Each swing with the scythe wouldn¡¯t kill them but it would immobilize them completely, if they were cleaved by dark sever, their lives however would be ended. [MMmmmm.........Feeeeeeeed] I started to hear the sounds of Abgrund¡¯s breaths and now I¡¯m certain of it. It spoke. The voice that came from this weapon was very dark, very ominous. It sounded very old and even as a whisper, it echoed in an unearthly tone. I then lengthened the staff and blade and severed a Fomorian¡¯s head entirely dropped it¡¯s body to the ground. I then activated spatial magic and appeared on the back of yet another fomorian. - By letting your death bringer drink the blood of the fallen. ¡®Blood Wake¡¯ is now available. ¡®Huh...I got a skill. I then activated lightning step and jumped out to another location. The skill on this says blood wake. I don¡¯t know if using another one of this weapon¡¯s skills right now would be the best option. The situation is starting to turn sour but, it might be best to just jump everyone out of here soon. The effects of some of these skills are in all honesty quite hard to control. I can¡¯t put the rest of my party in danger like I just had. Wrath of Balor is unusable right now, but Blood Wake would take quite a bit of my magic just to use it. [Use it.....] ¡°Abgrund?¡± [Mmm....Is that the name you¡¯ve given me human....Interesting. Even my last wielder never gave me a name.] ¡°Your...Your the scythe? Are you alive?¡± [Such a human thing to say....I was created by Hades himself. Given to his most prized subordinate before this world was....I am neither alive, nor am I dead. I simply am.] ¡°Well, how are you talking right now? Why haven¡¯t you spoke up before.¡± [I have child...You were simply too weak to hear me. Hmm for a tool such as msyelf to be in the hands of a mortal, these must be some interesting times....] ¡°I take it, you don¡¯t like that.¡± [Hmm...I don¡¯t believe I have the capacity to have emotions for such trivial things. I was simply created to take away the living and grant them death, whoever they may be....] ¡®Abgrund seems to be very old. A weapon forged by a god just to end lives. It¡¯s such a powerful weapon it even has a conscience. It wouldn¡¯t be crazy to think this thing wouldn¡¯t like the idea of something like me holding it. I¡¯m the thing that killed it¡¯s original owner. They had been together for a long time.¡¯ [Mmm on the contrary I am simply a tool. No more..No less, just a weapon made from death.] ¡®Can Abgrund hear my thoughts?¡¯ [Yes human...Your hands are currently gripping onto me, I and your conscience are one. Now, do you wish for power? Is that why you wield me? ] I looked up and saw that the fomorians were slowly approaching me. ¡°I wish to use your power to save those people. I¡¯m going to use your power to hopefully protect those close to me. ¡° [Using my power to protect...You are indeed a strange one human. Nothing like my previous wielder. Are their lives so important?] ¡°They are.¡± [Mmm...Well then human, how about you simply use that new skill you just unlocked from feeding me so much blood....Should be more than enough.] ¡°Is it dangerous to the point that any of my people will get caught up in effect of the skill. If that¡¯s the case I can¡¯t use it.¡± [Simply make sure none of your allies have any cuts on them...They should be fine then. Good luck boy....] ¡°Oh, and by the way its Vali.¡± I could hear a faint laugh and then feel his conscience fade back into the scythe. Abgrund has sentience, I guess in a world like this that idea isn¡¯t crazy. I can still feel the weapon has something of its own pulse, its own life force. But he is no longer talking. I looked over to the group and the Away team was still severing heads. They looked to be quite tired now, the amount of time hasn¡¯t reached 10 minutes but the Dark Aura got taken away long ago. I can see several of them have cuts and scrapes over their bodies. I used my spatial magic to move each of the away team members and everyone else away from the King Hydra. We were all standing in a group and the hydra now being able to move freely is now recovering all of its heads. The mana however it had currently was less than 16%. It¡¯s body began to slowly heal but you can see the Annunake still did a number on this beasts hide to take away so much of its magic. I then activated Freya¡¯s Soul Recovery in a small circle surrounding us and made sure no one had any open cuts. The Fomorians now number close to 50 now. They are much larger than the others and have all continued to march towards our direction having smelt my sent from my pheromone skill. I then activated ¡®Blood Wake¡¯. Abgrund began to vibrate and an intense heat began to come from the scythe. Only a loud rumbling noise began to come from it. The glyphs on the scythe glowed a bright white light and began to bleed blood. The blade of the scythe then became dyed red and drip with freshly cut blood. Blood began to seep from the open cuts on the hydra and drain it¡¯s life away. Blood from the ground, the dead and injured fomorians. Even the dead Grootslang, blood continued to gather and swirl around the blades of my scythe. It then looped around the red blade and extended into large red sphere above our position. Everyone began to huddle together not being sure what to think of a new skill coming from this weapon. It however didn¡¯t have the same intense atmosphere as the two other skills. It also didn¡¯t have any scary screams coming out from it. The sphere of blood began to grow and grow until gaining a size that rivaled the mana bomb from earlier. The hydra however healed it¡¯s wounds in time and began to slowly heal its health back up. The fomorians now moving slower continued to advance on our position. The blood from the sphere began to break apart and compress into millions of tiny drops of blood. They each glowed a red crimson. Then before any of us knew what happened the sphere exploded and a rain of blood began to scatter over our surroundings. Each red drop of blood shot forth like a bullet and pierced through the all the enemies surrounding us. The King Hydra¡¯s health was now at 45% but after being shot with thousands of tiny holes it¡¯s health quickly began to fall rapidly. Each of the heads began to garggle and fall to the ground. The health began to chip away at each passing head and the massive creatures no longer appeared to be healing their wounds. The fomorians too had been pierced by this ability and each have fallen to the ground. Their health continued to drop until hitting zero only moments later. ''The blood had been poisoned by coming into contact with Abgrund and being pierced by tiny drops of poisoned blood, it halted their outlandish healing abilities.'' Your level has risen! Your level has risen! Your level has risen!......
For slaying enemies much higher level than yourself, you have received a new stat! Fighting Spirit
For continually fighting under critical conditions and defeating a much more powerful foe, you have received a new stat Courage
You have received a new title! Hunter of the Grootslang You have slain the legendary monster the Grootslang known as Grevelgn. A being that was created when this world first came to be. Once thought too strong and dangerous by the chief gods and were thought to all be exterminated. However some survived and live in dangerous and dark places throughout the world still. Grevelegn hunted any and all who came into his territory and coveted priceless gems above all else. For sending Grevelgn into his final slumber you will be revered as one who hunts the dreaded Grootslang, an S rank monster: All stats rise by 8 Fighting spirit rises by 50 * All stats for those who participated in the battle have stats increased by 5
You have received a new title! Slayer of the King Hydra A being who¡¯s healing was so vast it was once thought to be immortal. For an unsurpassable achievement of defeating an A Rank monster: All stats rise by 5 Fighting Spirit rises by 35 * All stats for those who participated in the battle have stats increased by 3
You have assisted in clearing floor 63 by defeating the floor boss The King Hydra. Your name will now be written on the Wall of Heroes!
You have assisted in clearing floor 64 by defeating the floor boss The Grootslang: Grevelgn! Your name will now be written on the Wall of Heroes!
Notifications continued to shoot past our visions as we all sat back down from where we stood. The battle had finally ended. The Fomorians who all fell from the higher floors are now are dead as well. Everything is however blanketed in a nice coat of blood. The three pixies then flew over to me and put their heads around my body as if saying their happy to be alive. They each hugged me warmly and sat down beside me. Hjokk then flew over to my shoulder gave me a smile. We had made it all out without any casualties, that is the best profit of all of this. ¡°Vali was so cool!¡± ¡°I know, that big snake tried to eat him and was torn in half! So strong!¡± ¡°Ehehe...Vali did you see me use my illusion skills!¡± ¡°Oh, I helped too!¡± Each of them continued to clamor between the other while trying to get me to show them each attention. For girls they don¡¯t seem to mind the blood that is surrounding us. They are similar to Ari in that retrospect. She was willing to crawl over dozens of dead and mutilated bodies to get to me when we were separated. All to let me know it was ok. These pixies don¡¯t seem to be scared of me either, nor does violence seem to do anything to them. If my siblings saw such a sight, even if I did before coming here....I don¡¯t know. Maybe this place is changing me. You would think with such a look they would scared but they don¡¯t seem to mind. I just always found it odd...I never took lives in my last life, and living here I¡¯ve taken so many already. I just always thought it would have a bigger effect on me, and yet, I feel nothing. The pixies continued to look through their stats and what not to see if anythings changed and they also appeared to have received titles for helping hunt those large monsters. The Away team now as if realizing they are alive start to smile and laugh. I won¡¯t lie, I put them through a lot just now. Even if we all made it out this time, I can¡¯t let others join me if I¡¯m planning on doing such a thing again. It seems this isn¡¯t a weapon I can use so readily even in here. But I¡¯m sure if I didn¡¯t use it today some if not all of us would have died. I guess I can just take the ¡®3 chain gang¡¯ fellows as my support from now on. The Annunake really are nice to have in battle. Their abilities to siphon mana may be one of the most incredible physical traits in a species in this crazed world world. But the pixies I believe I want to keep close to me from now on. Regardless if they can¡¯t cause much damage at all, the moment they enter the fight the battle changes immediately. In all honesty Cosmia may have had the largest effect in this fight compared to the away team and even myself. She is what kept everyone safe with her illusions and slowed down her opponents. Whatever those other monsters where seeing it made it to where we could fight them all individually instead of all at once. If that Grootslang interfered in anyway. I wasn¡¯t even paying attention to the damn thing at first. It only had one purple crystal so you just assumed it was weaker than the hydra. The health of that thing was in the yellow when I first saw it. I can¡¯t just continue to take things lightly in this world. ¡®Going over the mistakes I made in my head begins to give me a headache. I need to learn to think things through, this world is a cold one. Hjokk told me their aren¡¯t many heroes in this world, simply because the strong die everyday. They die by the stronger. I must become stronger, and I need learn to do that without this weapon as well.¡¯ Cosmia was sitting on my right thigh while Cyanin sat on my left. Vale was sitting cross legged to our right. Looking out there was a lot of destruction. I didn¡¯t notice but letting loose so many Dark Sever¡¯s around the place did a lot more destruction to the surroundings. I looked over and both Adimar and Akino were looking in our direction with a smile over their face. I guess they too were happy to be alive. Ollie then walked over and sat next to me while looking up at the whole in the wall thousands of feet into the sky. ¡°Damn, sure is a lot crazier having you around. But wow, Heh! No one¡¯s going to believe this. I can hardly believe it all. I mean what do you say to seeing something like that.¡± ¡°Trust me I¡¯m sure someone noticed. This whole place felt like it was bout to go down at one point. I guess I gotta be more careful with this thing. ¡° I looked up and all the Away team were looking into my direction. They smiled back and looked at the ground in front of them. Almost amazed at what all had happened. Some had even looked back up towards the large whole in the wall. I then put Abgrund back away into my inventory. He was unspoken hero of the day. ¡°But it was worth it. Not just in what we gained from it, it¡¯s what you¡¯ve shown us. This cage isn¡¯t as strong as we all thought...If you only knew what it felt like to be stepped on and hunted your whole life. " Looking back at me he only looked proud with his words. "As the Away Team, we pledged to become the hunters. To turn this prison into the grave to the one who made it. Gah! I just can¡¯t get rid of this excitement Vali. Our people will one day leave this place, and you¡¯ve shown us that.¡± ¡°.......¡± I guess noticing I don¡¯t know how to handle compliments really well he continued. ¡°All I¡¯m saying...We¡¯re with you. ¡° I smiled back at him and nodded at me. The rest of the away team members were staring at us as they each sat down. They each nodded at what Ollie had said. It¡¯s good to be trusted for once. Each of them then looked up and towards the big whole in the wall and stayed quiet for a few minutes. The away team has seen probably the worst of the worst. They continued fighting even after their races were brought to near extinction. Other races have even given up. They still continue to fight against monsters in all honesty, I have no idea how they would have survived if it weren¡¯t for me. If it weren¡¯t for Cosmia. Where do they get such courage? Fearlessness even I¡¯m in awe of. It¡¯s not just the effects of Abgrund on me. Using that weapon just....Makes you feel truly powerful. Like an angel of death I decide who¡¯s life ends with such a weapon. It¡¯s not good to drowned in such power. But if it weren¡¯t just that...There¡¯s always the small purple bird on my shoulder. It¡¯s what gives me the courage to go into the dark places of this world, simply because the strongest woman I¡¯ve ever known is right there. It¡¯s hard to be afraid when you know you have a cosmic being in your corner, watching. I know that causes me to make rash and stupid decisions at times. This entire fight went sour almost immediately and if I didn¡¯t have divine equipment.... I need to become strong, without relying on these abilities to make me strong. I gained a lot of levels today, but I need to work on building my skills as well during my time here. I need to learn more about this world. To become strong, I need to sharpen my mind. One of the neko¡¯s started talking about the battle and reenacted some of the scenes. ¡°Whatever...That wasn¡¯t a tuck kick you just slipped!¡± ¡°Shut it nya! It was a kick, and the head then flew into the green one which knocked Ollie¡¯s weapon off him. Then he just started strangling the damn thing AH!¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t strangling it idiot. I was holding on for dear life. I saw Yuma swinging her fucking swords at him so I was only trying to shield myself.¡± Everyone from the Away team then started cracking up. Then one of the arachnee woman starting telling a story of how the Grootslang had darted through the air nearly 30 meters away and within a second they saw it appear in front of us. At this point she thought it was done but she then saw that the Grootslang had something in it¡¯s mouth. When Cosmia and Cyanin started screaming for me. It then jumped another 20 meters away and started driving its head through the broken up dungeon floor. When Dark Aura turned off that¡¯s when they thought it was all over. But the beast kept swinging it¡¯s head around and something looked to have been eating its face off. The elephant looking beast on the top started screamining and blowing out blue smoke and yellow lighting. But before it could finish it¡¯s attack the whole body then erupted and split in half. She then laughed and said I guess that snake didn¡¯t like Vali''s taste. Everyone there continued to talk about different scenes and laugh about how they managed to take down floor bosses. Something their kind hadn¡¯t done in quite a while. Something many races had given up on. And now they had conquered two in a day. I didn¡¯t really know how to react to Ollie¡¯s constant praise so I looked away. He seemed quite eager about the way things were going. It wasn¡¯t going to be an easy fight at all, considering how strong Malthiel was I knew that. But this is the first bit of good news they have probably had in a long time. The pixies on my lap began to smile back up at me when I didn¡¯t handle the praise very well. The Away team members began to stare at me kindly once again. I guess none of them knew how to react as well as myself. Cyanin hugged my stomach which caused Cosmia to do the same. Vale even though she has warmed up to me, is a little more reserved than the other pixies. She however was smiling brightly back at me. ¡°Right! Thank you Vali. That 8 headed lizard became so weak against my new skill!¡± Cosmia seemed in all honesty quite ecstatic. Pixies haven¡¯t fought on the front lines ever if I recall. Maybe when they first arrived here but not for a long time since. Since most of their parents died their histories have been for the most part lost to them.They were however thought to be the weakest race. Even the Jiji had more strength than them. So they always had to rely on their illusions and one another to survive. These creatures don¡¯t even have the concept of having a last name. Since their entire race is a family. Now that they are becoming strong they are slowly starting to feel excited that they can help as well. And now they can protect their family. ¡°I can honestly say I¡¯ve never seen any magic like that Queen Cosmia. I had no idea you pixies could do such a thing. Truly incredible those crystals. What¡¯s amazing to think is its the illusions that did the most damage. Those damn things had no idea where we were. Do you think these crystals will give something interesting as well Vali?¡± Ollie looked over to the mountain of severed heads that have been littered where the red cage of ice use to be. The large red pillars are now gone and faded away but the stench of death remains from the intense battle. Looking around the Away team really did a number on that monster. These are some of the elite units in this dungeon but I had no idea they held so much power. The King Hydra was way over their level. But combined with Cosmia¡¯s magic and illusions, they managed to sever possibly over a hundred heads. It¡¯s hard to tell in all honesty. The heads grew back so quickly and once a yellow head appeared they would immediately deal with it. I even see a handful of white and black heads in the mix. The arachnee helped in taking down a lot of the yellow heads as anytime one would start to emerge they would fling their threads around it to slow down their movements more. Not only the heads but the entire hydra itself wouldn¡¯t be able to move as the outside heads were being held in place. The other heads would try to sever the thread but they would be severed before they¡¯d have a chance. The effects of so many factors was too much for the King Hydra to handle. So many crystals.... ¡°I can¡¯t imagine the profit of what we¡¯ve acquired today.....Wha¡¯d you get in your drops from those things anyway?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± I then looked over at Ollie and he stared at me oddly. ¡°What are you looking at me like that for? Check your drop list. All field bosses, floor bosses, and high level monsters always have things like inventory. They always have something interesting. I¡¯m just curious cause those monsters were not normal at all...¡± ¡°.......¡± My eyes began to widen at what he just said. He then replied...¡®Well isn¡¯t it obvious to check your drops after a fight?¡¯. Think about what Ollie just said I didn¡¯t even imagine. It makes since though because in the game that was true. Some high level monsters dropped inventory and the one who delivered the final blow got all the items. It worked similarly in this dungeon according to Ollie. He then told me where on my hud the drop menu would be and there I saw it. It had a small red star next to it but I had never thought to click on this part of my hud before. It hadn¡¯t even appeared since I killed that monster on floor one. ¡®Thinking back it did say I would acquire the best drops from meeting certain monsters for the first time. If it were any other monster they would just drop what they were holding or their meat and leather. I wonder what these things ha.......Holy shit! I¡¯m RICH!¡¯ Looking through my drop list I may have acquired millions of different kinds of rubies, emeralds, sapphires, jades, jewels of all kinds. They number so much I wouldn¡¯t have the time to look at them all. But stones like these were always quite valuable in Divine and Conquer Online. Some enchanters could put magical properties into them and place them on equipment and accessories. Having so much could come in handy down the road, or I could just sell them. Nothing else was however in it¡¯s inventory. I also acquired roughly 20,000 gold from the King Hydra. I¡¯ll have to split this with the Away team, they worked quite hard. It also gave some odd things known as, the Hydra¡¯s eye, Hydra¡¯s Core, and rare ultra grade quality meat and leather. I then told the away team about the drops and they each seemed excited. I guess gold is given in this dungeon as well and they use it as some form of currency. On floor 1 however I was told it is mostly bartering. The upper floors use copper or gold pieces. I split the gold with them and I received 2,000 gold and split the other 8 with the away team and the Pixies. The Annunake however didn¡¯t seem to mind that I didn¡¯t offer them the gold either. I guess they know they are being punished, this does make things easier I guess. Their The pixies however didn¡¯t know how to act towards my jester so they seemed kind of odd to accept it. They then just gave up and decided to hug me. I then told everyone it was time to collect the spoils aka the crystals from the hydra. Ollie thought it was a good idea to take some of the meat, leather, and fur we could from what wasn¡¯t damaged to much and I too thought this was a good idea. We can take a little time if there aren¡¯t any enemies nearby. The arachnee too asked if they could try to extract some of the venom from the fangs of that large snake monster. They say they strengthen their poisoning by absorbing certain other monsters venom but they aren¡¯t sure if they¡¯ll be able to. They would however like to take back some samples. Each of us then went to cut and gather as much of the materials as they could while I went to collect the beasts hearts... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elyria¡¯s POV ¡°Mm....It smells good nya!¡± ¡°Mhm, we should add some salt!¡± Right now I along with Ari were cooking a meal for everyone. Life has truly changed for me. I never thought I would be able to smile like this again. To feel like this again. I can breathe easy. I¡¯m holding the beautiful little girl my son brought home with him, while cooking a meal for my niece and the rest of those my son has saved. Everyone in this cabin has been saved by Vali. Truly, how did I raise such a great son.... I started to chuckle to myself as I realized I hadn¡¯t really. My son is from another world. He¡¯s someone who came here to save this place. And I was even saw fit to be the mother to such a man. Truly I am blessed. ¡°What are you cooking?¡± Such a interesting man my son. So strong and yet, quite simple. ¡°Um, can...can I have some.¡± ¡°Mhm have a taste.¡± I put a small amount of food onto the wooden spoons Vali had carved for us. The small neko girl began to close her eyes and twitch her small pointy ears in excitement at tasting our food. I¡¯m not sure if its as good as my sons but I think it does smell pretty good. I decided to cook a meal for everyone and hopefully Vali for when he returns from hunting today. He said he had quite a lot to prepare for. He had really works so hard for us all. He really should take a break soon, he wakes up before all of us and cooks for everyone. He even went out and bought everyone clothes and underwear for all of us girls. I can¡¯t even remember the last time I wore underwear and judging by some of the girls reactions they hadn¡¯t worn any before. I can still see Tierra scratch her rear as it is a new feeling to her. I personally find the feel of an underwear quite comfortable. ¡®I really must find a way to thank Vali for all he has done for us.¡¯ Tierra and Ari then walked over to the table to eat their food. Noah and Lily were outside exercising. I guess they both are trying those odd exercises my son is always doing. Sasha is sitting on the couch and just staying quiet with Fenrir lied out on top of her. She seems to just enjoy relaxing with Fenrir. ¡®Mmm she¡¯s just like her sister. Us Fuchs¡¯s enjoy relaxing. It is why we enjoy living in the forest amongst nature and sleeping all day if we could.¡¯ Not only has he saved me and these other slaves. He¡¯s reunited me with my dear sister¡¯s daughter Sasha. The horrible torments enacted on these children by humans is not a small one. You can just see how much by how they each act. Sasha cried in my arms last night as she slept in bed with me. I can only imagine all the troubles she¡¯s had to face until now. I know from what she has said that her and Tierra were enslaved by a rich noble from the Asher kingdom. There was originally four of them who escaped but Tierra and Sasha were the only ones who managed to stay alive. One was used as as sex slave and died not long after due to abuse. It was then my niece decided to flea with the other two slaves she was friends with in that household. They ran for several days when their other friend was killed by a monster. It wasn¡¯t long after that these two were found by slavers of that horrid Aldain kingdom. ¡®Well...now they¡¯re here. Vali won¡¯t allow them to go back to such a life. I won¡¯t let them either. I will stand and defend these children alongside him. I can¡¯t rely on my son to do all the work, I was once a high shaman that was equal in strength to the strongest druids in our clan. I have been training just as much as my son has, if he only knew how strong his mother has gotten while he is away. I haven¡¯t just been looking after these kids and enjoying my time with them. I am currently a six tailed fox now....Mhmhmhm, I guess I¡¯ll keep that piece of information until it¡¯s ok to let him know. My magical affinity burst forth after such a long absence of being suppressed, I¡¯ve even gained two tails as proof of my overabundance of new power. All those years in chains, I attempted to control my magic but it was hard to use being suppressed to such an extent. I learned to feel the magic in the earth on the most minute scale....I will also be here to help my son when he needs me. ¡°So umm, what sort of person is master?¡± I then could hear Tierra talk to Ari. Ari seems truly happy as she seems to have a new friend to play with. Poor thing still calls my son master though. I can¡¯t imagine he likes that. ¡°Vali? Hmph he¡¯s the nicest man in the world. But he doesn¡¯t mind if you just call him Vali.¡± ¡°Nnn...Well umm, what sort of stuff does he like?¡± You could tell just by how Tierra talked it wasn¡¯t easy for her to not call him by such a name. I can¡¯t imagine what sort of cruelties the humans have done to this one. But what Ari says is true, my son is truly kind hearted. He doesn¡¯t ask for much either for the things he does, he simply does what is correct. I then began to smile and look down at the pot in front of me. I continued to cook everyone else a meal while listening to the two little girls conversation. Sometimes moments like these are truly healing for everyone. ¡°It¡¯s ok, just call him whatever¡¯s easiest. He doesn¡¯t mind. And umm....he likes all sorts of stuff. He likes to cook, he likes my tail...Oh he likes Elyria¡¯s chest.¡± ¡®.............¡¯ Eh what? I then stared back at Ari who giggled while talking to Tierra. ¡°Ari, what are you saying now?¡± ¡°What it¡¯s true! He stares at it all the time.¡± ¡°..........¡± Oh my hmhmhm. I hadn¡¯t even noticed. Has Vali actually noticed his mother is a girl as well. Well I guess Vali is a man. Ugh what am I thinking! Shame on me...Shame! ¡°Oh and he enjoys it when you do nice things for him. He looked so happy whenever I gave him a new necklace.¡± ¡°Umm...Ari, how do...ugh how do you get master to pick you up?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± The girls continued talking as if ignoring my reactions entirely. That is probably for the best. ¡°Well ugh...Master um picks you up a lot. I was just, wondering nya...¡± ¡°Just lift your arms up like this....Then he¡¯ll pick you up.¡± ¡°Re..really...¡± ¡°Uh huh...You don¡¯t have to be scared of him, he¡¯s really nice. He even let¡¯s me sleep with him. ¡± ¡°Eh..You...you sleep with master?¡± ¡°Mhm...Every night. Vali¡¯s really warm.¡± ¡°....Nya?¡± The small cat girl seeming very interested in the conversation while asking about Vali. Ari continued to wag her tail as she was happy to talk about the boy who always held her so close. Those two have grown quite close it seems. Even Sasha seemed interested in that last statement from Ari. I guess I don¡¯t blame Tierra for being so interested. Young girls usually imprint on strong males. This one always had to sleep outside and was treated the equivalent of an animal most her life by humans. He¡¯s the first man in her life that treats her so warmly. ¡®Mm...But my son always treats everyone like that. I guess I couldn¡¯t blame the little girls for starting to get so attached to him.¡¯ ¡°Hey everyone! I¡¯m home...¡± ¡®Oh...Vali?¡¯ Fenrir then got up and ran towards him along with Ari who got up from where she was sitting. She started to run and made it almost to the door before stumbling. Fenrir then stuck his head out from underneath her to catch her from falling on her butt again. Such a sweet little girl, she seems to have taken the most liking to Vali. Upon seeing her he leaned over and picked her up as he always does. She then hugged him tight and welcomed him home. I don¡¯t however seen the green haired man from before or those White Lycanthia people. When I asked him he simply said the Annunake were busy while Sting was tied up at the moment. Sasha then Teirra then both ran and stood side by side. ¡°Welcome home master!¡± ¡°We...welcome home....master.¡± He then looked at them both with an odd look. ¡°Welcome home....¡± He smiled at Ari and looked around the cabin. ¡°Wow you two look different. Even you Tierra....Your hair almost looks silver now. ¡° ¡°Ah...uh yes. We all got to take a bath. Oh and umm.. Thank you for letting us wear such pretty clothes master.¡± Tierra looked quite happy as she looked at herself in the mirror earlier. She is quite the cute girl. When we first met her, her hair was gray but now it has become a bright silver. It almost looks like an elves. Vali smiled and walked past the two while patting the shy Tierra and came over to me. ¡®Mm well never did take compliments or being thanked very well mhmhm.¡¯ Vali looks different than normal. His hair cut looks different too. I can¡¯t put my finger on it but he just looks different somehow. ¡°Vali...Did you cut your hair?¡± ¡°Oh that...You don¡¯t want to know.....Mmm...What¡¯s that your making it smells good.¡± Vali then walked over to where I had been standing and I smiled and greeted him home as well. He kissed me on the cheek and took a bite out of the bowl. For a man he knows how to make a woman feel special when arriving home. ¡°Mm...This is delicious mother. I hope you¡¯ve made enough for me.¡± ¡°Oh mhmhm...Of course let me get you a plate dear.¡± ¡®Such a sweet man my son turned out to be. I remember I tried cooking for Lord Tyrule once. It was around the time when I was trying to make the best of a bad life...He tried a bite however and only said it needed more salt, and to leave the cooking to the kitchen staff he said. It feels good to know my son enjoys my cooking.¡¯ Looking back at my deer child eat alongside everyone at the table I can see just how much my life has changed. Vali is now eating at the table with Tierra and Ari. Lilly and Noah have also came in upon learning of Vali returning. Fenrir ran over to him too and he began scratching his ears and sides. Everyone was excited upon him returning. He always can pop in just whenever he wants to it seems. ¡°Vali! Your back.¡± ¡°Hey Vali...I got to Beginner Level 6 today....I think I can get to to level 10 by the end of the week.¡± ¡°Seriously? That¡¯s fast Noah. Keep it up.¡± ¡°Me too, I started training today too!¡± Lilly too became excited and wanted to see what Vali would say upon her hard work. He patted her on the head and congratulated the two. He really is quite good with children, no I think he¡¯s just good at comforting others. Even when he was still a baby he would try to wipe my tears away. I really am lucky woman to have met such a man. Even as a baby he would protect me. To be allowed to be his mother, I have been blessed by the gods. I can only thank Loki for sending him into my life. I continued to smile while looking back at the warm site I hadn¡¯t been able to enjoy before meeting him. It seems like it¡¯s been so long since we met in the forest that day. But I know that meeting Vali was my destiny in this life. The gods themselves saw to it for us to meet. If I had to live just a small part of my life in torment by humans to learn just how nice a human can be, then I can be ok with that. I rather enjoy my life right now. If only my other child could be here to enjoy this amazing life with me. As a mother I can only think of her absence everyday. I pray that the gods will see fit to allow me to meet with my daughter once again. Tierra then began to walk over to where Vali was sitting. She looked startled at first and didn¡¯t know how to talk to him yet it seems. She stuttered and called him master which made him then look over to where she stood. Tierra was holding onto her tail and drooping her ears as she looked up at him. She then lost the ability to speak which made Ari only smile and nod her head that it was alright. She really hadn¡¯t been use to others being so kind to her other than Sasha. She responds well to me but that might be because I¡¯m demi human as well. ¡°Um Master...ugh....n..ya...¡± Tierra then slowly began to raise her arms towards him shyly. He gave the small cat girl an odd look and continued to look at her strangely while chewing his food. She then started to make a scared look and didn¡¯t know what to do. He then leaned over to where she was standing. ¡°Eh....¡± He then picked her up and sat her down on his leg while he started to eat from his bowl again. He then continued to hold Ari over the table so she could eat while still in his arms. This was a site I hadn¡¯t gotten to see in my life as a slave. A man who cherished his family and the people around him. He would treat everyone with such kindness, and I can¡¯t say I take credit for him learning that....I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯ve ever seen a man who was so affectionate, and yet so ruthless to those who try to hurt his important people. Tierra began to become very red but you could tell she was quite happy. She was sitting right next to Ari as they both began to eat their dinner. It was a sight that warmed my heart. I then walked over to the table with everyone else and sat alongside my dear son. He has ultimately changed my life and I¡¯m forever thankful to him for that. He¡¯s protected me time and time again, and I see that he is still now trying to do the same for us. Even if this is never the life I had envisioned growing up, it is one I am truly thankful for. Tierra¡¯s ears continued to twitch and Ari¡¯s tail would wag around excitedly as they ate their food next to Vali. Tierra would eat so quickly that I sometimes worried she would choke on her food. Ari never had that problem. I know that as a slave the idea for when your next meal is something that is always on your mind. Tierra couldn¡¯t help but stuff her face any chance she was given permission. Ari however was always fed by Vali or me upon arriving here. She learned to eat slowly due to his influences of being so gentle with her I believe. Since Tierra was around Lily¡¯s age she was much larger than Ari so her ears were somewhat getting in the way of Vali¡¯s face. He then put his hand on her head so she would calm down and stop eating so frantically. She froze upon being touched but when Vali started scratching her head she made a funny look. He always did seem to find my fur quite soft. He always wanted to play with each of my tails too if I recall. I wonder if demi humans live in his world. Tierra started curling her tail and smiled brightly while bringing her hands to her cheeks. Looking at Sasha she gives the scene and odd look but ultimately I think she too wants to let Tierra have her moment. Lily too was starting to wave her tail around while she ate and it began to hit Noah. Vali then dropped his fork and looked at Tierra oddly. ¡°What?....No.....No.....¡± ¡°What is it sweetie?¡± ¡°........Nothing!.....Just...great food!¡± He then picked up the spoon and continued to eat frantically. It¡¯s almost as fast as Tierra was just eating. You think my food is that good? Such an odd boy. ¡®Mm men can be so strange sometimes. I¡¯ve never really understood them. But Vali has been a truly amazing son to this old Fuchs woman. I¡¯m lucky to have met such a man from another world. He doesn¡¯t talk much about his old life but I wonder what sort of life he lived to be so giving. Such a peculiar man.¡¯ If only my sweet Iris could get to meet such a man. I¡¯m sure they would both get along. I think about her everyday. ¡®I know one day I will see her again. I don¡¯t know how long it will take, but wherever she is right now I hope she is in her own way finding happiness like I am.¡¯ I am truly a lucky fox. I only pray the same luck has been passed onto her. ---------------------------------------------------- Part 2 Later tonight!!! Chapter 18: Puppet Chapter 18: Puppet Vali¡¯s POV Currently I¡¯m walking back to the dungeon on foot. I would have jumped back but me not thinking to set a location with my spatial magic within the dungeon, am now forced to take the long walk back. Also...Hjokk is gone for the moment delivering a message to Loki. She said she would meet back with me very soon. So now I have to walk alone... I should¡¯ve thought of that before I left earlier but I wasn¡¯t really thinking clearly. So much has happened today. Honestly I¡¯m beginning to think it just comes with traveling to a new world. But I feel as if my life is becoming more and more complicated. Loki....if you found out about any of this you¡¯d probably just laugh. ---------------------------------
Congratulations! You have just learned a new skill! Petting
¡®What....what the hell is this.¡± ¡°What...No....No!¡± ¡°What is it sweetie?¡± ¡® ! ¡® I then continued to eat from my bowl frantically. ¡®Petting skill! Are you bull shitting me! I have to pet and scratch Fenrir every day, and I get the petting skill the moment I scratch that little girls ears. This world has skills like that?..¡¯...I called Loki a pedophile once...He will never find out about this!¡¯ Ugh... I was trying to be nice to the little girl. Now I¡¯m getting a freaking status update petting a child?. I even let her sit on my lap. Well what the hell else was I gonna do with her standing there like that? If I probably rejected her at that moment she would never trust me again. Mom was also staring at me so I couldn¡¯t just let her stand there awkwardly. When I picked her up it made my mom smiled with joy and her tails even began to sway around. I wonder if she notices that. they do it quite often in fact now. Since there¡¯s so many they take up quite a bit of space. Well whatever I guess.... I thought of just this one memory of todays festivities. Well...As complicated as my life may be getting it¡¯s at least not boring. ¡®Ugh...it is kinda lonely out here. With the title from Lord of the forest most animals and small monsters in this area seem to avoid me. I would normally be on more alert right now but I¡¯m probably the highest leveled thing in this area right now. I may have enemies outside this dungeon. In fact I have a lot more, but I haven¡¯t left any alive who know of Abgrund other than those from Asher. All else are dead.¡¯ The air tastes more fresh as it seems. I did get to sleep for a few hours so maybe that was also it. Weird whenever I did sleep it was always in brief spurts of time. Sleep deprivation is in all honesty a horrible torture in it¡¯s own right. But I¡¯ve been sleeping comfortably the last few days. Whenever I got out of bed I woke Ari up but I told her to go back to sleep. When I left the cabin she got out of bed while trying not wake up Noah and Lily. I almost didn¡¯t even know she was following because the sound of her feet were so light. Pat...pat..patatptapt. bump ¡°Ohff...¡± ¡°What are you doing Ari. ¡° ¡°I wanted to come with you.¡± ----------------------------------------------------------- ¡®That little girl was always fearless. I however couldn¡¯t let her come with me. The places I go are just too dangerous for her. She seemed quite adamant on wanting to come with me though. She once told me ever since she slept on my chest she has had the best nights sleep in her whole life. She would match her breathing to mine and slowly drift to sleep. She wanted to be with me to protect me....So that she could continue to do that from now on.¡¯ Such a crazy kid. I told her whenever she¡¯s able to run and strong enough to pick up a weapon, then she can come with me. This is usually a way to get kids to listen, simply tell them as long as they wait patiently they may be able to join someday. She smiled up at me and nodded her head excitedly. She then said she was going to go sleep with Elyria and that she¡¯d wait for me to return. I hugged her and helped her walk back inside. With my support she¡¯s even able to walk properly....I won¡¯t lie it¡¯s a sight that even brings a smile to my face. It makes me wonder what Kaylan¡¯s doing right at this moment... Whenever she walked into Elyria¡¯s room she waved back at me and went in. I can¡¯t become a father to all the orphaned children of this world. I simply don¡¯t have the ability. When I was a parent to my siblings it took all of me just to take care of them. But how can I look at that face and turn her away. She looks up at me as if she has the utmost faith in me. She would probably do anything I told her too. The idea of that is what pains me. I can¡¯t become something people of this world become too attached to. I never intended on staying here forever. The route Loki wants me to take is to become a god? I never had the intention. I simply wish to find my family and find a way to get back home. Or...I wanted to, at least originally. I have a mother now. This is her family, which also makes it my own. I have to find a way to protect that too before I leave. I won¡¯t turn my back on the few that have been quite kind to me. They have nothing else and yet they treat me with so much love. I¡¯ve never known such kindness.... I can¡¯t become a parent figure for all of these kids, but I can create a place for them that they can hopefully live in peacefully. It won¡¯t be easy. But I have strong individuals beside me that can help. I even have my mother, she¡¯s even someone I¡¯m finding enjoys being something of a parent to these kids. I have to find her daughter. I was hoping Sasha knew something about it but she said she didn¡¯t. She also said she didn¡¯t know Elyria so I¡¯m hoping she was just lying for some weird reason or not trusting me. It would make since if Sasha didn¡¯t know Iris, she was born after Elyria and herself were separated. But she was a member of my mother¡¯s tribe. I couldn¡¯t help but defend them. Sasha doesn¡¯t seem to trust me fully yet but hopefully my mother can see if she has seen Iris in any of the cities she has been in. She said she came from a city in Asher. Hopefully there are other Fuschs there. At that moment I began to hear trace footsteps. Stopping where I was I could no longer hear a thing. I had presence sense on there in the corner of my radar were 3 dots. It¡¯s probably just a monster but...Strange there¡¯s so many in the same place, especially for me. I haven¡¯t seen a horned rabbit in forever. I stared to walk towards the three dots. I¡¯m not very afraid of what lurks outside this dungeon but I am still alert. I gained quite the interesting set of abilities in that god¡¯s dungeon today....Abilities that will make me terrifying to deal with. I doubt there are enemies in this particular area that can deal with an opponent like me. I guess I shouldn¡¯t say abilities. I guess I should call some of them traits. I originally did not take kindly to these newly gained ¡®traits¡¯ either. --------------------------------------------- ¡°You stupid! Furry...Bastard!....I look...Like a fucking idiot!¡± I continued to kick and kick at the dead fomorian with the maximum amount of strength I could achieve. The fomorians however being lifeless and towering roughly 20 meters over me didn¡¯t seem to budge much at my kicks. It was the corpse of a level 534 monster. It was a giant. A giant covered in thick dark fur. I would assume a monster of this level would have some interesting skills but no....It didn¡¯t give me skills at all. It gave me a freaking makeover! Whenever I ate the fruits of my labor the Away team were still collecting all the salvageable goods from the monster''s remains.
You have gained a new skill! Fomorian Claw
You have gained a new skill! Fomorian Hair
¡®These aren¡¯t skills!¡¯ My hair then began to grow out long and down past my shoulders. It kept white but it became long and luscious. It started to get in the way and blow in the breeze. I looked at my hands and thank God I didn¡¯t have huge freaking nails. Looking down at them they look much different. They have a metallic look to them and shine brightly off the light from the son. They almost have a charcoal shine to them that makes them look shaded in. If my nails grew to an absurd link I think I would honestly just kill myself. My hair however...Is freakishly long. It gets in the way and now everyone has been looking at me kick this stupid thing for what seems like quite a while ¡°Umm...Is everything alright sir Vali?¡± One of the arachnee¡¯s walked over. She stood around a foot taller than me and was the same blonde woman who was guarding the entrance whenever we first met the Away team. ¡°Everything¡¯s fine. Just kicking this stupid monster for turning me into a a freaking shampoo commercial!¡± BAM! I continued to kick into the monsters hide. ¡°.....Hmm cow...mersh eal...Your speech is so strange for a human. But you speak Spinne quite wonderfully. It¡¯s truly nice to speak in my native tongue for once in a while. I just wanted to come over here and...Thank you for all that you have....Your umm, your hair is ugh¡± The arachnee who stood a few inches taller than myself began to swat my long gorgeous locks of white hair. It swayed in the breeze like the mane of a horse. ¡® I really have to get rid of this. ¡® I then asked the arachnee for a knife but it wouldn¡¯t cut my freaking hair. I then remember the Away team uses the Dawn Bringers but they said they each produce a piercing white heat. My whole hair might singe off then... I then began to kick the stupid fomorian once more.¡¯ I don¡¯t know how long I¡¯m going to look like this but I¡¯m going to beat the hell out of you Balor.¡¯ Ollie then walked over and complimented my new look. ¡°Nice...Starting to really pull that whole Annunake thing off well.¡± ¡°Shut up Ollie.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you just cut it?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t it¡¯s too thick.¡± ¡°Yah I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s what all the fuss was about. We collected all the useable remains now and are ready to go. We may have to make many trips though....Ya know if it¡¯s so long why not just make a hairstyle out of it. Or you could always rent it out to the pixies to play jump rope.¡± ¡°Shut up Ollie!¡± ¡®This clown reminds me of Loki!¡¯ ¡°Haha...I¡¯m just messing. I knew you absorbed skills but not traits of the beasts you consume. Didn¡¯t you get another skill from them?¡± ¡®Oh yah!¡¯ My eyes widened and I had just remembered. I also got the fomorian¡¯s claws. Why didn¡¯t I just think of cutting it with that? I then grew my nails out slightly and began to cut my hair. It wasn¡¯t the best look I¡¯m sure but I use to cut my siblings hair all the time. I learned to cut my own but I usually had scissors. My claws were definitely sharper. They were claws that could even rip through mithril armor as if it were nothing at all. The fomorians didn¡¯t appear to have any skills so I gained their traits instead. My defense has just risen by 40%. I can¡¯t imagine how lethal these claws can be now. I then remembered I did have a claw skill that I received on floor 1. From those weird furry monsters... I then turned towards another dead fomorian and activated Air Claw. WHOOOOSHH!!!!!!! Like a stream of knives 5 large gashes ripped through the air and sunk halfway through the fomorian¡¯s large body. Dark black blood then flung out of the open gashes and rained down on each of us there. Fomorian fur is definitely strong. And I now apparently have Fomorian hair. I just hope I don¡¯t grow into a freaking furry. It however just seemed to be the top of my head. Mammals have hair covering their whole body so many all my hairs are now fomorian I just can¡¯t tell. My arm hair is oddly hard to pull off. I guess it¡¯s hard to see but my defense is definitely improved. Not only my defense has improved but I¡¯ve just acquired quite the lethal skill combination. The cool down on Air Claw is 5 seconds. If I can get that down I can¡¯t imagine the effects of this skill. Hell...The Annunake¡¯s have a rare claw trait too...Their claws ignore defense. Thinking of these possibilities...I¡¯m simply waiting for one of the Annunakes to slip up in front of me. If I had these skills when they first attacked me, I would have turned those wolves into finger paint. I was originally mad about the Fomorian¡¯s traits but now I see an interesting effect with using my skills and new traits together. Finally hunting in a god¡¯s dungeon I¡¯ve come to acquire some interesting things indeed. I¡¯m starting to wonder if Loki new of this place when originally dropping me here, this dungeon is in all honesty the best place for something like me. --------------------------------------------------------- I continued to walk towards the three dots. I activated Eclipse View and there in the distance were three white bright lights that shined through the rich dark forest. It was incredibly bright to the point I could see them through hundreds of feet of large trees. They shine so brightly all else paled in comparison. I turned on Hide Presence and continued to walk further towards them. When I got to a clearing I saw a small fire had been put out. The three bright lights then scattered and moved to separate locations. They knew I was here. Since that cat was out of the bag I simply walked into their small camp site still with my hide presence active. I then activated a very new skill I acquired from a very peculiar snake. I walked closer and neither of the three lights moved to attack me. They know I¡¯m here but they might not be able to see me. ¡°Spirits of the wind grant my feet your power to glide!¡± I heard a faint sound from a woman and there moving faster than I could react to appeared within a step of me. There standing a foot from me was the same shining white light. Shink! ZAAAAPP!P!!!!!!!! My active camo came off as the white light swung a large blue saber towards my shoulder. I turned off my Eclipse view and there I can see it¡¯s a woman. I held on to her arm that held the sword and lightning continued to flow out of my flesh and attack her. ¡°Zazaazahahh!¡± She then dropped her bright blue sword on the ground and began to shake and pulsate rapidly. Small surges of lightning began to spark and shoot through her body causing some of her hair to smoke. She then hit the ground and couldn¡¯t move. The effects of my new skill ¡®Lightning Armor¡¯. Any and all physical damage done to me causes the enemy 50 damage with a 10% chance of causing paralysis on them. It¡¯s not a lot of damage, but it¡¯s still only at it¡¯s first level for the skill. However when she attacked me she received the lightning continuously while I held onto her. It¡¯s percentage goes up to cause momentary paralysis much quicker. That snake used that skill to create lightning. and wrap it around his flesh. I can do that to an extent that constantly surrounds and protects me. Whenever I¡¯m attacked lightning will shoot out from my body whenever I have the skill active. It however currently only takes 500 mana per minute to keep on. With the effects of my Infinity Ring, it¡¯s not going down at all. The two other white lights then began to chant magic and fire off several attacks my way. BOOM!
You have been hit with wind magic! Due to your strong defense You have received no damage
You have been hit with with fire magic! Due to your strong resistances You have received no damage.
Small blades began to shoot past me and attack my skin but none of it was seeming to even cut me. I have 25% magic resistance along with my toughened defense, this is nothing. I turned off eclipse view and can now see these white lights are in fact elves. Each of them are wearing bright shiny gold and silver light armor. Their hair is silver and all their equipment seems to be enchanted...They then dropped from the trees and began to surround me. None approached me now when they saw I wasn¡¯t taken any damage at all. They realized quite quickly they shouldn¡¯t have attacked first. I however don¡¯t have a problem with elves, I was hoping upon meeting them to talk. ¡°Calm down...I¡¯m not an enemy. I simply was passing through when I saw you.¡± ¡°Quiet human! We will hear none of your words. I do not know how you manage to speak our tongue or block our magic! But for what you¡¯ve done to Faylia I will cut you down! Spirit of the forest grant me your blessing to conquer your foe. Oh power of Medeina ruler of the Forest head my call and come to me..¡± The elf man¡¯s eyes began to glow red and I could feel a bright intense heat flourishing from his body. A bright green light surrounded him and he brandished his blue saber towards me. He then appeared in my vision and swung his sword at my neck. It¡¯s heat was incredible. It felt like it had been given large burning effect. Each of the elves have bright golden armor on and carry these sabers. These aren¡¯t ordinary elves compared to the ones I saw before. BOOM! Several tree branches erupted around me and began to try to wrap and coil around my body. I then used spacial magic and appeared behind the man. ¡°Hey...Seriously I don¡¯t want to fight. I just wanna talk.¡± ¡°AHhh....Human!¡± I grabbed him so he couldn¡¯t move and the other two elves cried for me to let him go. The forest around me even started to wrap and surround me as if warning me to let the small elf person go. The forest¡¯s alive? I turned on eclipse view and everything had lit up. The whole world was different than it was a moment ago. I¡¯m surrounded. The trees, the vines, the plants, everything is lit up and appears to be moving. The elf then started to cast intense magic and a flurry of attacks pouring from has palms. An intense heat started to come out of his hands and then the rest of his body. This elf appears to have a high fire tolerance like me. The fire however turned green and started to eat away at my flesh and start to burn through with ease. It was enough to even cause me around 15% of damage within a second. I can¡¯t see the level of this elf but regardless I don¡¯t want to start a fight here. I have the title ¡®Lord of the Forest¡¯ and yet this entire woods looks as if it¡¯s about to attack me if I kill the elf. ¡°Wha...he¡¯s no human?¡± ¡°What...are you?¡± ¡°Gale...just leave me..run this monster¡¯s too strong.¡± The elves began to clamor as they looked at my face. I let go of the elf as he had stopped attacking me and now had realized I also wasn¡¯t threatening him. My wounds all over my body had healed almost immediately. This elf in front of me, I cannot see what his level is but I doubt he is higher level than me. He however does appear to have an amazing power over magic. Whenever I was in eclipse view his whole body lit up brighter than the sun. Everything around him glowed and in intense green light it was in all honesty quite intimidating if I hadn¡¯t gained certain new abilities. Their life forces were a bright white light with a green glow that I couldn¡¯t stare directly into. Even though I¡¯m the one surrounded they are each backing away from me. The one elf who is momentarily paralyzed is even trying to get them to run. My abilities have turned me into something of a mystery. ¡®Hydra Regeneration...It is truly an incredible skill. It has only one flaw I¡¯ve noticed. It is a passive ability and is thusly always turned on. It at all times will use my magic to work. I cannot control it yet so it constantly heals me until I am at full health. If it does that then it can constantly take away from my magic reserves. But I guess it¡¯s not always horrible to have full health.¡¯ However regardless of this flaw that King Hydra gave me something probably even more valuable than the Grootslang. Hell probably more valuable than all the jewels that stupid thing kept with him. I¡¯m much different than the hydra. The one thing the King Hydra had going for it was it¡¯s amazing regenerative abilities along with the uniqueness to the heads that protected it. If it didn¡¯t have those abilities it would jut be too big and too slow. It could be destroyed with magic from a distance.The hydra and I differ in one other way that I think is what is going to make me something even more fearsome than it ever could be. ¡®I have the bones of Malthiel...Hydra¡¯s are like snakes, they don¡¯t have bones. The hydra¡¯s head had hardly any defensive capabilities either. Besides the yellow and black one I¡¯m told, the other heads would become severed with one swing if they had a running start. Since the creature doesn¡¯t have a great defense it had to rely on it¡¯s outlandish healing ability to continually recover it. If I could¡¯ve received any skill it would have been this one the only problem is I can¡¯t use it on anyone else. Such a monster...¡®Thought to be immortal?¡¯ My body naturally now has a healing ability to it. It will heal itself almost immediately upon receiving any attack. This along with my bones being unbreakable has turned me into something quite unique. They¡¯re right...It¡¯s probably not right to call me human anymore. I then activated my Freya¡¯s Soul Recovery on the small paralyzed elf girl. Regardless if she attacked me, it¡¯s hard being rough with a woman. My father was...Or well the man who hurt my mom roughed up women. I saw what it did. I however won¡¯t take it easy on those who have attacked me. Right now I simply want to talk to these elves. ¡°You have healing magic!¡± ¡°No cast time at all...He simply waves his arms and casts magic so easily?¡± ¡°You must be one of those sages from the human armies?¡± ¡°No nothing like that....I just simply live close by. I was just out for a stroll when I came across your little campsite I was curious what you were all doing out here. I didn¡¯t mean to alarm you. ¡° The elves then each looked at each other and looked around. They seem to be pondering over what I had said. I know that elves and humans are at war so they won¡¯t just believe me if I say just this. ¡°Well...I was also going to ask what it is you were doing way out here. It is quite close to where I live. But I have no problem with elves. In fact I was hoping to see if you knew someone.¡± They then looked at each other more oddly. ¡°Where did you learn to speak Elven? Are...You a friend of the forest?¡± ¡°Umm...I¡¯m the Lord of the Forest does that mean anything?¡± ¡°.............¡± Each of the elves then cocked their eyes at me and looked at me strangely. ¡®Ugh, that¡¯s what I get for trying to look cool. Yah, I thought so, those titles are bullshit!¡¯ ¡°Well anyways. I¡¯m Vali....I wanted to see if you could tell me if two of your fellow elves are doing alright. One¡¯s name was Tiffania, and I didn¡¯t get her sisters name.¡± At what I said their eyes became wide as if what I said was an impossible statement. ¡°...Tiffania doesn¡¯t have a sister human. Nor would she ever give out her true name to someone.¡± ¡°....Who are you Vali!¡± The woods began to again creep up closer towards us alongside the elves. They didn¡¯t dare attack me but they did press me with urgency. ¡°Woh...Calm down, I just simply came across them in the city of Aldain and helped them along their way back home. I had my bird take them home not too long ago. I guess Tiffania lied about the sister thing then. Well, whatever the elf who was a Blessed Being. Whatever those two, I simply wanted to see how they were doing.¡± ¡®Man elves really are weird. They look kind of cool to be honest but the way they act are alway just kind of strange. Most elves from stories are frail and nimble creatures who live in the woods. But these elves are fully armored in gold and silver and have enchanted items. They each carry mithril sabers and finely crafted equipment. They also are quite weird about their names...I¡¯ve noticed they don¡¯t usually introduce themselves if ever.¡± ¡°You....You saved them?¡± ¡°.....¡± The male elf said that as if in shock. He dropped his saber and looked at the ground in disbelief. The other two now huddled together were looking towards me as if it were not true at all. ¡°Vali....I¡¯ll remember the name. But I feel as though we must leave immediately and spread this to our superiors. ¡° ¡°Wait just a ...¡± ¡°Tell me is your bird with you right now?¡± ¡°...No Hjokk, why?¡± The elf then looked at the other two elves with serious eyes and then looked at me. ¡°Can your god hear your conversations if the bird is not here?¡± ¡®This elf somehow figured out I was a blessed being just now. I guess the two elves told them. But then why are they acting so oddly. ¡°Umm no...I don¡¯t think so.¡± ¡°Listen Vali...If the words you are saying are true I thank you. From the bottom of heart, to the depths of my soul, I do. But I cannot just trust the words you say as fact. If you are lying, I will kill you. But if not...I will call you friend. We must leave now.¡± ¡°Why did you ask about Hjokk?¡± ¡°...The bird that was seen returning with the two elves of which you speak, was the only information we received from what had happened to them. All they have memories of are being thrown in chains and then returning with a purple bird in the forest. No memories of anything that happened to them in captivity amongst the humans for days...Powerful magic was used to erase those memories it would seem. Only could be the work of a powerful being trying to hide something. It turns out it was simply another blessed being who didn¡¯t want his identity realized...I look forward to seeing you again.¡± ¡°So their entire memories were wiped of it huh?¡± ¡®Mm well maybe that is for the best. I had no idea Hjokk would do something like that without telling me but I guess I can understand her reasoning. Those elves saw Loki. They knew who I was and maybe having my identity attached to him isn¡¯t a good thing...I have enough enemies. And if they forgot some of the horrid things they had to see or go through then all the better. Still weird Hjokk wouldn¡¯t tell me about it though. Did she really think I would get upset over a couple elves not remembering who I was?¡¯ ¡°Well...We elves have ways of undoing even the oldest of magics...So maybe in time we can gain those memories back if they so desired to. It seems someone wanted to hide your identity from us. I don¡¯t suppose it¡¯s the best idea to continue looking.¡± He smiled and turned his head and ran off. The each said some enchantment and began sprinting through the woods at incredible speeds. It¡¯s even faster than mine. Within seconds they are out of my field of vision entirely. It¡¯s almost as if the forest moved out of the way for them to run through it....Truly incredible. ¡® Their mastery over magic even effects the forest around them. All I have is a useless title...Elves are cool.¡¯ Watching them in Eclipse View is even more impressive. Their souls shine much brighter than ours. They shine even brighter than the pixies. I don¡¯t know what that means but they¡¯re life forces and magical affinity appear to just be leaps and bounds more than our own. That¡¯s the reason the humans of this continent can¡¯t say they¡¯ve completely conquered this one. According to my mother the sacred forest they all live in is considered impenetrable even to the gods. No existence gets in without their say so. With the way the world moves with them...I can understand how what my mother said could actually be true. The world almost looks to try and protect them. Unbelievable how power and strength have so many meanings in this big world... My mother once told me that elves are more of spiritual beings than physical ones. Something like their bodies are simply physical vessels they use on this plane to live. They are in all actuality something that only live in these bodies during their time on on this planet. They are simply ancient beings themselves. Classifying them as demi humans seems strange to me. I can¡¯t understand that but they did appear to each be quite strong. The forest around them even appeared to come alive at their call. It was incredible even if they couldn¡¯t hurt me too much. His ears were long and pointy and he had strong fancy equipment. He even showed to have some incredible abilities. The two elves next to him showed to have some incredible talent that rivaled some of the demi humans inside the dungeon. They weren¡¯t as strong but they moved at such incredible speed it was almost as if they fought at the same level as those dungeon conquerors. They can even wield a wide array of magic to infuse themselves and their weapons. Those elves do seem crafty. I smiled and continued walking to my destination. The moon on this planet is large. It takes up almost half the sky. The constellations in the sky are each shining brightly in different colors. This world really is quite magical. I¡¯ve seen some of the most incredible things. My journey is starting to become a long one...Just to find her again. I keep telling myself I need to become stronger to protect her. I once told myself I would to do anything to become stronger to avenge those I lost. It was all I thought about every day and night. I never thought I would actually receive anything from such wicked desires. ¡®....I really am becoming something different now. That elf even called me a monster hmph. I think I might be turning into something too....My bones are black, my heart doesn¡¯t beat. I was torn to shreds and blood rained out of me....But I didn¡¯t die. It makes since with my heart not beating I wouldn¡¯t bleed out...¡¯ The only decent nights sleep I¡¯ve gotten has come when I have killed. It has yet to affect me...Why doesn¡¯t it affect me? I feel as though if I had to kill in my last life, it would have been difficult. Now...I¡¯ve killed so many. With all the death that surrounds me I can only pray that it does not surround Kaylan. This world is just a dangerous place, for all. I¡¯m trying to become stronger, I still need to continue on. When I find Kaylan I¡¯m going to need to be strong enough to protect her from anything. I need to make a home that she can live and enjoy. I need to do so many things and it¡¯s just, complicated. The people I need to put my faith in is an unknown kingdom with a bad track record with its nobles and a dungeon full of people who have already attacked me once. Each of them are apparently struggling for their lives at this point and I¡¯m somehow in the middle of it all. They desire my strength. Something that hasn¡¯t ever happened before. I admit I am becoming a bit of a monster now. I opened up my status and looked at how far I¡¯ve come. Thinking how could I ever hope to defeat a dark god.
Status Window
Name ValiLevel 229
Race HumanAge ???
Class N/A
Titles Lord of the Forest, Slayer of Death, Death Canceler, Beloved One of the Hildr Pixies, Hunter of the Grootslang, Slayer of the King Hydra
Health 214,840Mana 501,330
Strength 16,956Intellect 18,240
Stamina 14,230Wisdom 11,880
Agility 12,450Defense 24,870
Courage 24Luck 17,350
Fighting Spirit 91
Magic Resistance 25%
Paralysis Resistance 3 %
Poison Resistance 8%
Immunity to Fear 33%
Elemental Resistances:
Fire: 29 % Earth: 3% Dark: 35 % Lightning: 7%
Water: 1% Wind 4% Light: 9% Void: 8 %
Ice: 1%
Skill List Divine Blessing of Loki: Spatial Magic Universal Language Acquisition Racial/Acquired Skills: Decaying Mist (Abysmal) (Semi-Passive) 98/150 Bite (Active) 0/50 Burrow 0/50 Dark Pressure (Semi-Passive) ii 252/550 Death¡¯s Grip (Active) 87/150 Demonic Absorption (Passive) Demonic Awakening (Semi-Passive) Dullahan Creation (Semi Passive) Grade D 17/350 Echolocation (Active) 24/150 Eclipse View (Semi Passive) 36/150 Fire Ball (Active) 49/100 Flicker (Active) Grade 2 110/350 Fomorian Claw (Passive) Fomorian Hair (Passive) Hide Presence (Semi-Passive) 41/100 Hydra Regeneration (Passive) 12/500 Lightning Armor (Semi Passive) Grade D 2/500 Lightning Step (Semi-Passive) 121/150 Lord¡¯s Earth Shattering Smash (Active) 35/150 Magic Manipulation (Passive) Pheromone Excretion 14/150 Root Vein (Semi-Passive) 3/100 Sense Presence ( Semi-Passive) Grade 2 157/350 Tool Creation (Passive) Tough Exterior (Semi Passive) 44/100 Thunder Jammer (Semi Passive) 2/150 Wind Claw (Active) 4/150 Vampirism (Semi-Passive) i 22/100 Learned Skills: Cooking Mastery: Novice Level 5 Added Flavor (Passive Boost) Farming Mastery: Beginner Level 1 Freya¡¯s Soul Recovery: Novice level 6 Hand to Hand Combat Mastery: Intermediate Level 9 Powerful Strike (Active) Stunning Blow (Active) Quick Fists (Semi- Passive) Ingredient Identification Mastery: Intermediate Level 5 Negotiation Mastery: Beginner Level 2 Petting: Beginner Level 1 Scythe Mastery: Intermediate Level 3 Slice (Active) Staff Strengthening (Semi-Passive) Combined Skills: (Decaying Mist) + (Darkness Affinity) = ( Abysmal Mist)
It had grown so much in the short time I¡¯ve been here. These skills are what have kept me alive in this world. They¡¯ve also helped me save my family. But I¡¯ve also used them to end many lives. The effects of Air Claw and Fomorian Claw now I can¡¯t even imagine the havoc I could rain down on others. I might not even need to bring out the scythe outside the dungeon now. I have Hydra regeneration now which is even more spectacular. I can heal wounds now almost immediately without having to focus on casting recovery on myself. I wonder however as it does have a way to improve it, it seems. That healing along with my bones...It¡¯s going to be very difficult to take me down completely if it were another person. With Abysmal Mist people can¡¯t even get near me. With spatial magic I can appear next to someone before they could even react. I cannot rely on these skills to become stronger though, but I can rely on them when things start to go bad. It¡¯s good to have these back up measures in a world like this. They can keep me and others alive should the need suffice. My stats have all risen quite steadily each from the level gains. The stats I guess just went up evenly from where they were originally set but my defense has gone up by a whole lot. The effects of Fomorian Hair really is amazing. When you think of my body down to my bones I¡¯m practically a perfect killing machine. I even have abilities quite related with ending lives. I¡¯ve even seemed to have gained new resistances as well. Absorption really is too much of a cheat. Things that would take decades of study for mages takes me a simple afternoon. I however have to take on incredibly dangerous opponents to acquire something of true value. Floor bosses give slight resistances upon absorbing their cores it seems. That King Hydra gave me a slight boost to several resistances as well. I even have new stats entirely. I wonder what Courage or Fighting Spirit actually does? I continued to walk over the destroyed and broken field that Hjokk had once destroyed. With the effects of my skills to humans or anything else I am most definitely a threat. I doubt anything could survive Wind Claw, this skill could probably tear through a tank. If I were to acquire the abilities of an Annunake, people would die before they knew what went through them. I keep thinking my skills are strong butt to a fallen god? I¡¯m not so sure. Arguably however to anything else I would be quite the difficult opponent to deal with. I do need to test out these new abilities more to see just how much I can utilize my new skill sets in battle. It is also why I have walked out in this forest unafraid without Hjokk at my side. I believe she is discussing with Loki how I may no longer need her to protect me. But she said how she will stay with me during our run through this dungeon. I can only hope and continue on for now. I continue for Kaylan. I continue for my mother and all those under my protection. I¡¯ll continue getting stronger. I then entered into the cave walled entrance and journeyed to the hidden base behind the waterfall. --------------------------------------------------------------- ¡°MM!...MMMM!!!!!!...MMMMMMM!!!!¡± Walking into the base I kept hearing loud moaning sounds was someone in pain. I entered through the waterfall and no one had even noticed my presence. They were all doing their own things and working diligently it seemed. I then saw a large huddle of individuals and several pixies. ¡°Hehehe....¡± ¡°Boom!¡± ¡°MMM!¡± The pixies continued to hurl sparks of light towards Sting who was currently hanging on the cave wall. I completely forgot I had left him there. ¡°MMM!¡± His health didn¡¯t go down whatsoever but the web firmly tied him in place to the wall, even his mouth was gagged. I completely forgot I had left him there to go have dinner and sleep. He¡¯s been up there for a few hours it seems and the pixies have been playing with him. If I recall someone said he attempted to touch the Arachnee Queen ¡®s leg and the other arachnee freaked out tied him to the wall. I guess Sting has a thing about boundaries. I instructed Cyanin to take off his gag as he was trying to talk. ¡°VALI!...What the shit! Come on you leave me here and go eat without me.¡± ¡°Oh yes my mother made the most delicious dish. I wanted to enjoy it with just us though so...¡± ¡°Ah come on! I¡¯m starving!...I¡¯m going to tell your family about this now! They like me!¡± I then winced my eyes and instructed Cyanin to put the web gag back over him. All the other pixies giggled and came over to hug me. ¡°VALI!¡± ¡°Hi Vali!¡± Each blinked in a different light. Cyanin then ushered us to the door where the private war room was. She also collected all the other pixies who were present together to follow. Sting continued to stay there making loud noises. I¡¯ll let him down soon I just need to handle a few things first. That fight took longer than expected and collected all the raw materials left after the fight, there is still a lot to do. The two guards knocked on the door and Izzie came and ushered us in. She smiled up at me and invited me inside while telling me to be quiet. She put her finger up to her mouth to all the pixies to quiet them down. There inside were most of the same groups as last time only now the arachnee queen is not here. Pek however is still sitting in the same spot as before. There stood Commander Locke with Captain Ollie at his side. There were also Malfius, Adimar and Akino. All members of the away team were here. ¡° What you are each about to hear is top secret. It will not leave this room. Approximately two days ago...Two of our own escaped these walls for the first time in our history. We have come to find just how weak this prison that has held us down for so long is...And now...Not hours ago those roars and quakes you felt was the destruction of the higher floors. ¡° Everyone who was unaware of this began to clamor at look at one another. ¡°Do..Do you mean?¡± Ollie began to nod his statement and Commander Locke continued. ¡°Floors 63, and 64 have been conquered. It has been written on the wall of heroes on floor 1. News will spread quick!.They were destroyed in it¡¯s entirety by the so called branded ¡®Puppet¡¯ that has been named by the council! We will march forth we will reclaim what we¡¯ve lost. Finally...We will taste freedom!!!¡± The surrounding members of the Away team continued to look at each other in amazement. ¡°¡±¡°OHHH!!!!!¡±¡±¡±¡± ¡°This bastard has forced us into the pits our whole lives. Who here¡¯s sick of being the hunted? Who here¡¯s sick of telling your children to accept it? To accept this life! Finally the time has come for us to leave this place! We will find a way to get our civilians out before we continue forth. Our journey does not end here!¡± The Away team continued to nod in agreement to his words. Anger began to rile up inside each of them. ¡°Balor has toyed with us for far too long. He has even taken our rights to die in this world. Let us turn this this prison of his into his Crypt!¡± ¡°AHHHHHH!!!!!!¡±¡±¡±¡± The roars began to shake the very foundation of the cave wall. ¡°We must first find his remaining puppets! We will stop his games once and for all, then with the help of our new ally....We will get all our people to safety.¡± Commander Locke then pointed his arms towards me. ¡°The man you know as the Puppet. The man we know is Vali.¡± Everyone then turned their eyes to me. Some of them I hadn¡¯t seen before. There was around 55 people here in total from the away team. Including the pixies there are 115. ¡°Vali is our Deliverer. He is the one who has dove into this dark place to save our trapped souls. Let us salute him...¡± Malfius then walked forth and bowed. I guess he thinks I may be thinking of backing out of this. Everyone remained there saluting. These are what remains of those willing to go forward against Balor. Many of them began to salute me. Each of them didn¡¯t break their eye contact however. Men, woman, all demi human looking right at me. Adimar and Akino were looking towards me and smiling. They each bowed their heads. Cosmia is in here as well. I now see that Tanin and Aurora are both in here as well. It¡¯s hard not to notice the constant flame over in the corner. In the pale quiet I can hear some murmuring and chatter amongst the pixies. Cosmia seems to be getting annoyed with Tanin¡¯s flames and pushing it away from her with cold air. Cosmia did say they have the power to turn off the effects if they want. I walked over to where he was and stated in front of the large group of demi humans there. I never thought I¡¯d be leading people but I guess I should show them I¡¯m with them in this. ¡°We will all leave these walls.....together.¡± They each nodded and smiled. It then grew quiet again. Ollie then stepped forward and raised his fist. ¡°To the DAWN!¡± ¡°¡±¡±¡±¡±HOOOOOO!!!!¡±¡±¡±¡± The men and woman began to cheer causing the pixies to become excited and do the chant as well. Many of them just however starting flying around and dancing with their fists out. It resembled a dance move in my world actually. Commander Locke then went over the plans of the next targets who they would be going after. It was a three way target. Meifeng, Kirah, and Wyatt. They were attacking all three at once in separate locations. They¡¯ve found a perfect time that has marked to where they each are without many guards and are their most vulnerable. Malfius is going on the unit that is going after Meifeng. Ollie and his group are going after Kirah. She is of the Adler race. And now currently the head of the entire race of Adlers. After Griphlocke died there was a large gap in power to who would receive the title of king and apparently she earned the top spot. They are sending a large group after her. I however am being asked to take down Wyatt. He was one of Alysteir¡¯s top knights in the Eis Neko elite unite. He was ranked 6th in the entire dungeon. Kirah was thought previously unranked but now is sitting at the top spot of her race who is one of the strongest races in the dungeon currently . She is the daughter of Griphlocke and for whatever reason her older brother Griff is not the king currently. Show however controls the strongest army in this dungeon. Meifeng was currently ranked 3rd in the dungeon. She however is actually ranked fourth. Her father Malfius is still alive which is something the public does not know. The rankings now are currently all up in the air. As a lot of strong people have died and many today from the away team have received a large increase in levels. They are going to surround the targets and attempt to take them in for questioning. If they believe things are going to turn bad they are going to essentially do what the Annunake did to me. Only they are going to use a particular paralysis poison they received from the Arachnee Queen. It¡¯s apparently quite strong. They even gave some to me should I need it but they told me quite specifically to not let it touch any open wounds. Once it enters the blood stream it will shock my nervous system and make it impossible to move or use magic for 2 minutes. It will however take a small bit of time to work. ¡®Quite useful that Arachnee Queen. I wonder why she is not here now.¡± I then decided to go and give all the pixies the spoils of todays hunt. I have already given Cosmia, Cyanin, and Vale their shares already. They each decided that they would receive two crystals each. And everyone else who hasn¡¯t received a purple crystal from Vali can pick first on what they wanted. I even saw in the corner they made a pile of the crystals with the pictures of elements next to them. They really are quite simple creatures. They then said anyone who hasn¡¯t received a purple crystal yet to go first and told them each of the amazing effects each of them gave. They even showed off their new skills in front of everyone. Cyanin then glowed a bright turquoise that shined around her and 3 others. It made their lights around them much thicker. It also produced a small turquoise glow that surrounded them. She then waved her hand and a dark smoke produced around a small area. Within that area is what she received from her second crystal. Cyanin accepted one yellow crystal from the yellow head that produced barriers. While also receiving one purple crystal from the black head that was advanced in curse magic. When I stepped inside of it, it even decreased my stats by 10% while standing within it. It also decreased my healing ability by 12%. Quite something for just two crystals. Vale and Cosmia also received a yellow crystal from one of the yellow heads and attached a red and white bubble around others. It also seemed to cover more pixies through a sort of chain affect. The numbers added up to more than if they used it by themselves which is pretty convenient. I guess this is just the effects of synergy within their species. Their magic understandings are amazing to do such things. It would be incredible if they could each protect the others with multiple barriers though. Their life assistance skill is already incredible enough. It makes me wonder if you¡¯d be able to kill one of these things if the others were also there. Cosmia then pulled out a small white dagger. It was made of the Dawn Bringer crystal. She then scratched her hand. It then immediately healed back up after cutting through her defense. She even asked one of the elite guards to come forward and have him cut him. The purple pixie stuck his hand out proudly and didn¡¯t even flinch as he was cut. The purple pixie out of all the others in fact looked the most dangerous. I don¡¯t know why but I think it is just because he looks the toughest even if he doesn¡¯t have the skills or high level. He too was healed almost immediately. The effects of her crystal allow her not only to heal herself but the other pixies as well. She links her amazing healing ability with her innate ability as a pixie and can heal multiple pixies at once with incredible speed. It is in all honesty much faster than my healing skill. She however can only use it on other pixies it seems. Now they don¡¯t have to rely on just Tanin when I¡¯m not around. To have an auto heal ability in this world is in all honesty quite rare. Even after passing level 100 it seems all creatures gain such an ability but it¡¯s very small. Priests and healers in this continent seem to be few so this is something that makes these things quite special now. There are going to even be multiple pixies who have that white heads ability now it seems. Can they regrow their heads if decapitated like that hydra I wonder?...Could I? Vale and Cyanin both received some healing effects from each of their crystals as well just not as strong as Cosmia¡¯s it seems. Each of the skills they gained however were quite superb though. They each gained such tremendous abilities it outweighs the level gains by a lot. Vale gained a purple crystal from the Grootslang while Cyanin got a purple crystal from the black hydra. Vale can now produce lightning and shoot it from her fingertips. It¡¯s actually quite destructive for her but she says she thinks she can make it stronger if she raises her intellect. She also believes raising her level and mastery with the skill will increase its effects. Already it is enough to damage me as even I don¡¯t have enough resistance to stop it. The lightning shooting out of her hands are in all honesty much more cool than the lightning armor that shoots around my chest. Her lightning is even silver. Her aura has grown quite a lot since her level raised. She is now 167. Their strength hasn¡¯t risen much at all though. But their intellect and wisdom rise by a little it seems. Each of their stamina as well increased by a large margin from their rise in levels which gave them each quite a lot of health to work with now. They aren¡¯t as frail as they once were it seems. The crystals along with their rise in levels they are already growing to be quite useful. Regardless I¡¯ve come to find each of the crystals are completely random in what they give it seems. Blue I would think would only raise a couple of stats, but the blue crystals from the boss hydra gave skills too. The blue crystals from the red hydra gave fire, just like the blue hydra gave ice magic. Each of the pixies had received 2 blue and 1 yellow, or 1 blue and 1 purple. These were the pixies who weren¡¯t there to receive the defensive crystals before. I also had 6 of those left. In total there were roughly 367 pixies in total left in this dungeon. All of them however are not here right now. I¡¯m told all but 7 of the 9 pixie elite are currently here right now. Now with the power of the crystals however they all believe they can become elites that can protect Cosmia together. Each of them have all been looked down on for a long time so when they heard I was going to be taking on Wyatt with Adimar and Akino they each said they wanted to join. I can¡¯t take many of them but...I believe I can take a few that I can protect with my skills. As I¡¯ve said before it is always nice to have a pixie around. The effects from Cosmia were incredible. Her abilities are in my mind quite dangerous in all actuality. I don¡¯t know what sort of monster that red crystal came from but I can only imagine it¡¯s something I wouldn¡¯t just want to run into casually. Some of the pixies began to create small balls of flame or shards of ice in their hands and play. The one¡¯s with fire and ice weren¡¯t nearly as powerful as Cosmia and Tanin but it was enough to shoot small bursts of fire and ice magic. They even cause a small amount of damage. Considering the pixies aren¡¯t a race that should be on the front lines these kind of skills are good for them as well. With poison and the effects of that curse magic they can even stack on their abilities. It seems. In the game curse magic was always difficult to deal with. In the batch of hydra heads there were only 5 white heads, and 9 black heads that were collected. There were however plenty of other crystals for everyone to get at least 2. They however I noticed were saving a small batch in a corner for some reason. Each of them came forward and sat on my lap as I activated the crystals for them. I don¡¯t know why they kept doing that but once the first one did it, well...everyone else did. ¡°Hey Vali! Crushing a whole floor...Just making all us down here look so pitiful mhmp.¡± Aurora and Tanin both walked up next. ¡°I¡¯m excited to see you Vali, but did you have to come back with Cyanin being level 121 now! What¡¯s with that? Now she won¡¯t shut up about it!¡± ¡°Tehe! I¡¯m stronger now!¡± Cyanin then stuck her tongue out and pointed at Tanin. His flames then started to grow lightly and he shook his head. This guy had become something of a floor one hero. His level currently was 34. he had risen a lot since I last saw him. He must have been training quite extensively on floor 1. I¡¯m starting to notice however level doesn¡¯t mean a whole lot. It¡¯s just a base reading of your skills and stats. But they are just stats for your particular species. Each race has a completely different scale on what is strong and weak I¡¯ve come to find. What is strong in terms for a human are completely different for say stats for something like an ogre at my level. The pixies have hardly any strength at all. I can¡¯t think of a way to raise it other than the crystals. Their defense is the same way. But I wouldn¡¯t have found that out if it weren¡¯t for Freya¡¯s Soul Recovery and the pixies being sick. It really was just luck. Tanin then handed me one purple crystal from the Adamantine spider and one yellow crystal from the hydra head. There were roughly 107 of them. The most heads however were the heads with the blue crystals. There were around hundred in fact. The green heads were too many to count. The Away team apparently wouldn¡¯t let any of the green or yellow ones live for very long. This however worked to my favor as defense is something they desperately need above all else right now. And they get a small bit of magical skills along with it, all the better. I activated the crystals on Tanin and his fire began to burst and flutter around as his wings turned to crystals like the other pixies. His body still however remained engulfed in fire. His wings too were quite appeared to be made of fire around the tips. It¡¯s made of some strange material that is flammable but also quite dense. ¡®Honestly I¡¯ve given up on understanding how the pixies do whatever it is they do with these crystals. I doubt they even understand it themselves. It is interesting to watch though I guess...¡¯ Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. His eyes then glowed orange and he smiled while gripping the flame in his hands. He had then turned the flame into diamond and smiled. ¡®Tanin really got a boost up this is not what I expected from him at all.¡¯ He then smiled and tried to use the same barrier magic Cyanin had just used before. Seven Pixies then had an orange barrier surround them but what was incredible was that Tanin¡¯s fire surrounded those pixies as well. He can give their barrier¡¯s fire properties? ¡®These pixies are truly incredible...Their abilities with magic is phenomenal to understand the new magic so easily. That¡¯s the benefit of learning skills with absorption but they are actually melding their magics together. They act like it¡¯s so simple though.¡¯ ¡°AHA! My skills are cooler than yours!¡± Tanin then stuck out his tongue and laughed at Cyanin who just kept shaking her head. She then blew black smoke at him and the rest of the pixies began to fly around and shot off magic at one another. It didn¡¯t do a lot of damage considering the low level but they were each enjoying their new magic they had never had before. ¡®And this is what they do with new magic..Well thinking about it it¡¯s an amazing skill we both share. Absorption...It lets you use magic without actually learning its basics. These guys may act childish but they are actually very dangerous. They even show to know much more than I do.¡¯ Tanin then turned the small flame in his hand into a shard of diamond and shot it towards Cyanin. Bink! ¡°Ha...Can¡¯t hurt me flame boy!¡± The small orange shard only bounced off Cyanin¡¯s much tough defense. She simply flicked it with her wings. Tanin then started chasing everyone around and shooting small flaming rocks at them. These guys play around too much... I caught one of the rocks and it was quite interesting. It hardly did any damage but it had a unique fire element to them. He can now shoot these at people? It kinda looks similar to Daisy¡¯s ability. If this is an attack then he can pierce them with this and light them up. Everyone¡¯s abilities each rose but the strongest pixies of them all were Vale, Cosmia, then Cyanin. The other elites now no longer can compete with these three. However Cyanin and Tanin each look to the purple and green pixies with quite a lot of respect it seems. Not as much as their queen though. Cosmia is a master of illusions and has incredible healing and ice magic now. But Vale¡¯s higher level gap and ability to use attack magic makes her undoubtably the strongest right now. Her lightning attack causes more damage than my lightning armor easy. She said she could even increase it¡¯s output by training more. They as a species have just became quite strong together. Aurora and Daisy both wanted a purple one from the white head. While Daisy also wanted one of the blue ones from the green head. I actually talked her into that one. I mentioned how it was much more like a flower. Aurora also got one that had ice abilities but it wasn¡¯t nearly as much as Cosmia¡¯s. Whatever monster was in that red crystal Cosmia got must have been terrifyingly strong to make her abilities rise so much. Her magic received such an incredible boost she is clearly in front to be the queen it seems. Her ice affinity seemed to be much stronger than all of the other pixies combined. Her area of effect skill even sealed a legendary boss monster¡¯s movements for quite some time. Granted it wouldn¡¯t have lasted long if the Hydra destroyed those pillars, but the effects Cosmia has on the battlefield is in all tense in purposes the strongest of anyone else, maybe even me. Even her illusions make them incredibly difficult to deal with it would seem. Now however each of these pixies are having fun just playing with their new abilities. They don¡¯t even understand yet just how powerful they¡¯re becoming. Each of their stats had risen by quite a bit. The black head even gave a nice addition of 350 in defense along with an incredible 650 in intellect. The white head however gave 2500 in wisdom and 600 in intellect. It was the head the others tried to protect the most....They simply had no chance against the onslaught of the Away team. Even without my Aura they severed hundredds of heads once that barrier dropped. All of them now can heal cuts pretty well themselves too now. There are also going to be 5 of them now who have outlandish healing abilities that compete with my own. ¡®Damn these things are going to become something incredible...¡¯ I only cracked a smile at thinking I was strong. I myself may be strong in my own right but these little guys are the real monsters. They¡¯re ability to link their life force is what ultimately makes them something truly frightening. If you don¡¯t kill them all, you probably couldn¡¯t be able to kill even one of them. They gained an ability that even I know in this world is incredibly rare. We each gained something truly strong. It was then time to leave to find and hunt down the man now Wyatt. I decided that it would be alright to take a small number of pixies with me. They each laughed and seemed excited to come along with me. The group that decided to join us was the same party I hunted with today. We each walked out of the war room saying goodbye to all of the pixies. Most of the away team have already left it seems. ¡°Bye Sting!!!¡± ¡°Boom Sting!¡± ¡°Mm!¡± The pixies now started hurling their fire and ice magic towards Sting as we left. It did practically 1 damage to him with each strike. Considering his much higher level they didn¡¯t have a chance at hurting him. But they continued to hurled small balls of magic at him. The ice magic even appeared to be something that looked like a snowball. ¡®They can even do that?¡¯ I may need to talk to some of these pixies on how they use magic it seems. But I can¡¯t right now since we must leave. I however think this site in all honesty.... ¡°Mmm!!!¡± ¡®Is fucking hilarious.¡¯ ¡°Sting!¡± The pixies continued to fly around and Sting and try to play with him. I guess Sting doesn¡¯t understand pixies do this when they like someone. You just being tied up makes you an open target...Tough luck Sting. I also had Adimar and Akino with me in my group as well as the 3 pixies. The Neko man Wyatt... He was said to be an excellent swordsman and told not to allow him to escape. His level is currently expected to be at 307. However even Adimar¡¯s level had risen to 309. He is currently wearing a black eye patch over his eye that makes him look quite dignified. He almost resembles a character from an old game I use to play. It¡¯s kind of funny to look at him now. He however has yet to have his repaired from when I had crushed it. This is apparently the extent of my healing magic so he¡¯s just having to deal with it. The black eye patch was in all fact a gift from my mom. I felt odd when giving it to him but it was something requested from my mother. It was something she had made for herself once...I however wouldn¡¯t let her wear it. ¡®Such a thing was blocking such a beautiful face. I couldn¡¯t bare to see it covered. Adimar however accepted the gift kindly. That¡¯s just the sort of fox my mother is. Constantly caring for others before herself...She is in all honesty one incredible woman to continually show me such love and I¡¯m not even her real son. .¡® The group followed behind me as we continued to hunt for Wyatt. He should have a minimum of two guards alongside him. Poor sting will just have to wait till we¡¯re done. I¡¯ll apologize later, but I can¡¯t have his loud speaking alert the target. Wyatt, 3rd Commander in the Elite Eis neko unit. Known in the dungeon as Swift Death. He¡¯s a speed type but I¡¯m told his technique is second only to Alysteir. He however is not as strong as Malaki who is their leader. We were currently on floor 16. It was a floor with a large garden in the center that looked like a castle. Out extending past that were fields of flowers and beautiful scenery but also engulfed in rabid plant type monsters. However there are many locations that some choose to go to and relax. It is also a floor I¡¯m told the races come here to go on dates. The floor at night is even aesthetically pleasing. The plant life glows from the light of the pink moon and onto the floor below. It glistens throughout the brightly colored and glowing plants that make even the water run in a different color. The water is turquoise but it looks to almost resemble Cyanin¡¯s bright color. We went to the location where Wyatt was said to be. It wasn¡¯t a floor that had any cities or anything built. But there are still structures built here like Gazebo¡¯s, benches. It was in all honesty beautiful. I had never seen nature so pleasing to the eye. Some of the bugs that flew in the night even glowed in multiple colors resembling the pixies. They were small firefly type creatures. ¡®I guess I can see why many come here on dates. It isn¡¯t a bad location. I¡¯m sure my mother would love this place.¡¯ We then began to creep up on the location of where the 4 individuals were. One was sitting on a park bench. He was sitting cross legged and admiring the view in front of him. There were 2 guards standing behind him while there was also another person there with them. I know that person...It¡¯s Ecclaire? We each tried to walk in stealth with whatever abilities we had and contnued quietly. Hide presence currently masked my scent, body temperature, image, and killing intent. ¡®Which is apparently a thing.¡¯ We continued to draw closer to the group of people there. Each of us were outfitted with our own weapons. The Annunake had their claws and the pixies with me had a new kind of a weapon I found for them. The unlikely person to help us with this was Pek. I then began to hear the bantering of the group in front of us. ¡°Just leave already would you....Your really destroying the mood here Eclaire.¡± ¡°Just wondering what it is you plan on doing is all.¡± ¡°Oh I plan on sitting right here and enjoying my view here. It is how I pass the time. You are ruining that, please leave.¡± The neko man sitting on the bench began to get agitated towards Ecclaire who was sitting on the next bench over. The man on the bench had a cape and white gloves. He also had several ornaments around his chest but he didn¡¯t look like a military man at all. His look was more of a pretty boy in a man¡¯s clothes. He wasn¡¯t big either, he was maybe 6 feet tall at most. Maybe shorter. ¡°Vali.....¡± I then turned around and there sat Vale who was trying to pull on my sleeve continually. Does she know not to make any noise! I whispered in her ear what and she put her hands up over her mouth and whispered in my ear. ¡°Ecclaire....she¡¯s....she¡¯s a puppet.¡± When I looked at her whisper to me she noticed my look of shock. How could she know this? She then before I could say anything whispered something else that made my eyes widen. ¡°...I saw her get eaten....¡± I then turned around and looked at everyone in our group. They didn¡¯t hear that but they are waiting for my move. Vale had then told me that she saw Ecclaire on the front lines trying to protect those who were fleeing Balor¡¯s army. She was seen cutting down a few Fomorian¡¯s before she was seen by Vale being devoured. Vale continued to shake and look forward. I guess seeing the dead would be hard. I was unaware of Ecclaire even being dead. I guess a lot more than I¡¯m aware of may have also perished. ¡®It was obvious now. There are puppets in this dungeon and we have to move. No one can escape if they can someone tell Balor of our plans.¡¯ ¡°Are you all going to come out now or just continue on spying...¡± ¡®.....¡¯ The man Wyatt didn¡¯t move as he said this and just continued to stare off into the dimly lit sky. Well he knows we¡¯re here so I might as well start this off early. I then warped towards him and tried to grab him. His reaction speed was incredible. He then kicked my hand and flipped off of it. He put his feet on top of my wrist and flung himself backwards in one fluid motion. His body weight practically felt nonexistent. He was very quick and knew martial arts of some kind as well...This one¡¯s good. He even moved like a cat. He then pulled two swords out and twitched his neck while looking at us... He grinned and looked towards us all with both swords in hand. He then started to make an odd look around. His breaths began to become visible. He could see now the temperature has just dropped by quite a lot. Cosmia¡¯s area of effect skill is currently active. All enemies within it¡¯s borders are under it¡¯s effects, they however have no idea where the borders of the skill are, considering the illusion has also already been set. She gained that ability after absorbing more crystals which increased her mana by quite a lot. ¡°Pixies huh...Hah who d¡¯ve thought. You wish to come towards me.....human.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s Freki!¡± ¡°Yeah...and Uri, and Jana! We know they¡¯re alive!¡± Several of the pixies began to yell. Wait green, purple? Where did you guys come from? There standing were two new pixies next to Cyanin and Vale. The purple and green one¡¯s are elites too if I remember. But they aren¡¯t nearly as strong as Vale anymore. Her level increase was too much for them to compete with now. She¡¯s the strongest of the pixies in a fight. They however won¡¯t be getting involved in this fight they will only be assisting. Why did these two tag along? ¡°Why would I know ya damn dwarfs with wings! ¡± Wyatt then snarled at them while looking around at all those present. Ecclaire got up and from her seat and got closer to the body guards that were beside Wyatt. They each got into a small formation and continued to stare daggers back at me. Cosmia then apologized but the elite unit insisted they join us. They too have lost many but what they seem to mean is that they know they have some of their kind who are alive in this dungeon. Somewhere trapped here but they cannot find them. According to them whenever a pixie dies they can no longer feel their magical signature anymore and can no longer share it with them. It¡¯s also why she said Balor wouldn¡¯t revive her kind, they simply would be able to tell based on their magic with one another. They however seem to have been sharing their lives with several pixies for a long time now that they cannot see. They know them to be barely alive which is why they have never stopped searching. That must be why they kept a small pile of stones in the corner....They even kept a pile of crystals for those who went missing. These two wanted to come here to find out the truth of where their family was. I however can¡¯t let them get involved in this fight. Regardless of their level in crease they aren¡¯t going to be actually fighting here. I turned around and now I saw Aurora standing next to Cosmia and Tanin now standing next to Cyanin, Vale and the other two. Tanin. Seriously guys this isn¡¯t the time for games. I then stepped forward to not let them think they were fighting on this one. ¡°AHAHA! Surely not...Those weak little bugs want to try and fight me! Please don¡¯t make me laugh so hard I choke up a fur ball!¡± Wyatt continued to laugh towards the pixies. They each however only made looks of anger back. I was about to say something but Cosmia however spoke up first. They weren¡¯t really listening to me right now. They wouldn¡¯t even let me stand in front of them. ¡°We have decided we won¡¯t allow Vali fight for us anymore. If he is going to fight, so are we! Vali showed us....We were never the weakest. And we are tired of having ours being taken away from us. We want our family back! If you don¡¯t....¡¯ ¡°Or what Red? And I don¡¯t have any idea in what your talking bout seriously. I¡¯m even surprised the Red Queen survived and the human would emerge back to come attack me? Such interesting developments...That is a change to Balor¡¯s plans it seems. No matter I... just have to kill you now.¡± He swayed his two swords while cocking his head to the side theatrically and smiling towards us. Wyatt thusly saying that signed his death warrant. He just declared himself as someone who can see through Cosmia¡¯s illusions and him being here with Ecclaire. Something¡¯s off though. None of them seem disturbed in the slightest. ¡°Give us our Family!¡± ¡°Or what bugs?...Surely your not going to do something?¡± Cosmia kept staring down Wyatt and before I could do anything something happened. The four pixies then swarmed Wyatt and the 3 others before I had a chance to stop them all. Tanin then flew up into the sky and blew fire out of his arms like a flamethrower. ¡®No...You can¡¯t!. ¡® Wyatt waved his arms and swung swiftly towards the green pixie who was in front of him. Clink! What!...There standing in front of the green pixie was Cyanin. Her thick light blue wings blocked the sword right on its hilt. Wyatt then smiled and swung swiftly with his other arm and came down on Cyanin¡¯s neck. The sword cut straight through Cyanin¡¯s torso as if it weren¡¯t a tough defense at all. It had cleaved her shoulder to the bottom and split her body in half. Cyanin then stopped moving and fell. ¡°GUAH!!!¡± ¡®What just happened!¡¯ Cyanin¡¯s body that fell is now gone and I see Cyanin clearly now several feet away actually swinging her sword towards one of the guards. Wyatt however has just been stabbed in the base of his neck by purple pixie who was engulfed in small flames. His eyes glowed bright purple and grinned with a blood thirsty smile as he sunk the smooth slender spike deep into Wyatt¡¯s shoulder. It went in easily and pierced straight through and out his back. He was holding a small tooth pick shaped weapon roughly the size of a forearm. It has a small black grip on the bottom and has a distinct silver shine. It was Adamantine. We also received something else from our spoils today. Upon bringing home a lot of the leather and premium meat we had acquired, I placed a lot of it into my inventory to store and carry. I however had to use my spatial magic to move most of it. We received roughly 300 plus hydra heads. Several Fomorians that¡¯s fur was still good for making blankets or clothes. There was also roughly a third of that Grootslang that wasn¡¯t completely destroyed from Abgrund and had materials we could extract. I¡¯m lucky I have so much of it, because it is what I used to win over a person like Pek. He is what has gifted Cyanin, Vale, the purple, and green pixie with such interesting tools. Upon bringing home all the crystals I¡¯ve come to understand just how valuable the meat and leather might also be. I learned this from Pek. He states that to him he thinks that he can make some very high quality leather armor with this. Since most people in this dungeon who wear armor are those on the lower floors there was never interest in things such as armor. It was also why Pek decided to build other things. For the pixies however this is a fantastic idea....No one can seem to understand Pek very well, the Jiji speak in a very odd dialect that not many can comprehend. The only reason they are called the Jiji is because that is a noise they make quite often when they speak it seems. Even with my abilities, Pek¡¯s hair gets in the way when he¡¯s speaking. So it¡¯s still difficult to understand him at times. It¡¯s similar to a large mustache that stops him from talking. Well...Pek said he¡¯d be able to possibly make something with it and was willing to barter with me. I then noticed the small silver rod on his waste. When I offered a trade he simply said it was too valuable. I eventually worked out a deal. The Jiji only had 5 of these strange spikes in total. They spoke as if it were their most prized treasures even if none of the other species thought so. The Jiji were right to think that. These are said to be the remains of of the fangs of a being as old as a god. It¡¯s very durable. Pek managed to get the small amount sharpened down enough after months and months of hard labor. He eventually even made a handle on it. It doesn¡¯t have a lot of attack power simply because it is shaped like a rod with a pointy end. It¡¯s essentially a rapier but looks more like a thick toothpick with a handle. It however is perfect size for a pixies. It¡¯s piercing power is in all honesty more than I would have ever imagined. Wyatt¡¯s look of disbelief was shown when he had realized what had just happened. After blocking his attack Cyanin left an after image to and flew towards another pixie. She was never in the location I had previously thought either. The sword must have stopped for some other reason though...Cyanin was never in that place it was just an illusion. Cosmia then raised her arms and her light shined brightly. A deep red pierced through the floor flashing through the scenery of flowers and rivers. Her red ring started to shine once more. ¡®Wait...shouldn¡¯t that ring still have a cool down?¡¯ I looked out there and several of the guards continue to swing their swords but their movements get halted almost immediately. They then get pierced in the ribs, the chest, all over their legs. The elite¡¯s keep appearing at the exact moment and using their small Adamantine spikes to drive through neko¡¯s weak defense. The pixies continue to fly around and are no longer laughing. All four of the neko¡¯s seem to be getting overwhelmed by just 5 pixies and I can¡¯t grasp why. Their swords keep moving slowly and at odd angles. Are their movements really slowed down that much? I see the black smog and even some other colors I¡¯m guessing is poisonous but the effects of the skills are way too extreme. Their magic shouldn¡¯t be able to match the abilities of the hydra from the start, these are just the beginning stages. I wanted to jump in or activate my gauntlet but I was frozen at how these small pixies who were considered weak were overwhelming opponents several hundreds of levels higher than them. They aren¡¯t even using much magic. BOOM! Tanin began to fire his shards of red diamond towards the four while he flew above. It would slam and erupt on impact against the fours nekos in front of us. Adimar and Akino only looked in amazement at what they were just seeing. It would then cause additional fire damage along with small amounts of damage from being struck as well. They aren¡¯t causing a lot of damage in all honesty but the fact that the pixies are slowly shaving these elite¡¯s health away is clearly happening right now. ¡°What!...My...My magic¡¯s weakened!¡± ¡®What....Why did Wyatt say that? That must mean the poison is starting to take effect but Wyatt is an Eis Neko he shouldn¡¯t have magic should he? Maybe he has certain items that can use magic? The reports showed none of these people knew anything about magic. Ever since the Elkia left they haven¡¯t seen it since.¡¯ He then performed some weird area of effect skill with his two swords and a bright light blinded everyone present.
You have been struck by Rainbow Sword You have been blinded! Agility has been reduced by 16% Ability to perform skills has been reduced by 12%
Wyatt then swung his swords wildly and large whips of light flung out and hit everyone in the surroundings. That''s quite the debuff skill for a high leveled person. It''s then that I then saw something very strange. Chink! ¡°AHhhhh!¡± The image of a magenta colored diamond flung in my direction. Looking towards Wyatt a small magenta colored pixie had just fallen on the ground next to the purple pixie. Part of her wing had just been clipped off entirely and flung back in my direction. There within a second her broken wing started to heal and repair itself. She looked back up at Wyatt smiling menacingly. Wyatt then got mad and swung back towards the pixie on the ground. Just then a bright aura had surrounded her and his swing had become disrupted. Then just now I saw blood fling out from the side of his neck. His health also just took a large chunk off by about 5%. What is happening to them? Wyatt then flipped in the air and swung his dawn bringer downward towards the small pixie. He cut right through her. Then the image of her body disappeared. But no health went down at all. Is this an illusion too? I then activated Eclipse view as if having an idea. It¡¯s odd that magenta pixie wasn¡¯t here before either.....¡®Oh wow!¡¯ It¡¯s not 4 on 5...It¡¯s 4 on 80. There surrounding the 4 nekos in the middle, were dozens of life forces that I hadn¡¯t seen until just now. Did all of these bastards wind up coming out here ? Looking at what was happening I could see now just why their movements were so strange. He was known as Swift Death? His movements were really slow and seemed really awkward for someone who was one of the strongest in the dungeon. He even has the ability to see through Cosmia¡¯s illusion. But he cannot see what is going on in front of him. They must be able to combine their magic somehow.This is amazing! The 4 in front of us are all around level 300. The pixies aren¡¯t even over 75. But their are so many of them that it¡¯s just impossible to swing your weapon whenever you get struck in the flank by one of them. They don''t nearly have enough defense to shake that off. Even if they all don¡¯t have those short spikes they all have spears and even mythril armor on. They are surrounded by pixies. Each of them in the front have been given the purple crystals from the adamantine spider and are slowly circling the 4 nekos. Everything I was seeing just now wasn¡¯t happening at all. These neko¡¯s are just getting slaughtered, even the ones who don¡¯t have the Adamantine spikes are flying around and slashing at their backs and legs or shooting off poison. I can even see so many new colors. Each of the pixies with poison leaks out a different color that is surrounding the nekos to where they can¡¯t even breath. The same black smog from the King Hydra is also completely surrounding them now. All within the effects of Cosmia¡¯s area of effect skill. Wyatt and the other elite nekos aren¡¯t able to escape this onslaught of torment. I may not even need to step into this. Looking towards the 4 in the middle they each showed looks of intense rage as they couldn¡¯t seem to cut down any of the pixies. Any in the center have barriers set around them and toughened defenses. Even if their defense can¡¯t take on a Dawn Bringer they simply don¡¯t have to get hit. Even if they did apparently Cosmia and the one¡¯s on the outside are healing them without even entering the fight. These cats have no chance. It was then I looked towards the man known as Wyatt and smiled. I wanted him to bare in the shame of what he earlier had said. I don¡¯t even need to get involved...He¡¯s simply going to be beat by a bunch of pixies. His look of anger only increased and I could see his aura begin to shine. I then noticed something very strange. His life force. It looked like long strands of hair began to fly on end towards the sky. They were long. The three¡¯s life forces were bright!...Very bright! It was then I realized something...It was as if lightning had just hit me on the head and I had figured everything out just now! All the answers to the questions of what has been going on down here can be answered. I know how Balor is controlling so many puppets at the same time. They aren¡¯t even all puppets! I then took out my scythe and used flicker to dash towards them while immediately activating dark pressure. On my action the two wolves followed me behind me.
You have been cursed by King Hydra''s Desolation All stats have dropped by 10% All healing has been reduced by 12%
You have been cursed by King Hydra''s Desolation All stats have dropped by 10% All healing has been reduced by 8%
You have been cursed by King Hydra''s Desolation All stats have dropped by 10% All healing has been reduced by 3%
You have been poisoned by Pixie Dust You will continue to receive 35 damage per second while in range of the pixie¡¯s poison.
¡®That skill from the black hydra?...Curses can stack together like this?! The further I walked in the cursed dropped my stats by a third by the time I got to the 4 in front of me. Wow... No wonder they have been getting beaten so easily. Whatever their level is have been roughly dropped by a third. Along with getting pierced by tiny holes laced with poison, these 4 didn¡¯t have much of a chance. It however takes longer than a normal paralytic poison should.¡¯ I swung down Abgrund and just then a large burst of fire erupted from the hands of Wyatt and towards me. ¡®You idiot!¡¯ BOOOOM!!!!! ¡°AHHHH!!!!¡± A large fire tore through the surroundings as the multiple rainbow colors surrounding him was the same noxious gas from the King Hydra....It¡¯s incredibly flammable. Fire then rained down on the four and began to melt their skin. I pointed my gauntlet towards the flames and dispelled them before the flames could go any further past me. Some of the pixies were caught up in that blast just now but each of them are now several meters away surrounding the group. They didn¡¯t appear to take much damage from that at all since their small barriers seemed to be surrounding them. They didn¡¯t even need my gauntlet ability now. Wyatt¡¯s body was smoking but his health had only gone down to 45%. He then swung his sword down and his sword had turned a bright blue. Wing magic began to fling from the sword blade and towards me. I then moved my hand over and swatted the wind magic with my arm. He looked up at me in awe at me receiving no damage to myself at all. There he saw my Midnight Gauntlet. With its magic null...it appears to nullify any and all magic, regardless of what it is. It¡¯s even stronger in defense than the cloak in that aspect. I then gave him a solid jab to the jaw and and heard the cracks of his bones breaking. He then flung to the ground and held his mouth which was now coughing up blood. He began to spit out loose teeth and stare back at me with intense rage. At this action all the pixies then backed away from where Wyatt was. Even Adimar and Akino were stunned by all of his actions. I can understand why they are startled. They are seeing magic being used by someone other than me. He then tried to fling more magic towards me but it looked as if it were a lighter that were slowly loosing its fuel. It went out before even coming to my face....¡®The effects of the poison are in effect now. I guess I¡¯m lucky it had the added effect of blocking magic as well as causing paralysis. It must take a little bit of time before it works.¡¯ Wyatt began to wobble and look up at me with hatred. He continued to fling his arms around wildly and it started to just look sad. ¡°How? How can you use magic Wyatt?¡± Akino then voiced her shock. ¡°Yes...Are you really working along side Balor. As an Eis Neko you would dare go against what your kind has sworn to fight against!¡± Then Adimar growled and yelled back at him. The pixies were still surrounding Wyatt but the magic energy that came off of him just now was not small. It was in fact enough to burn my skin off. And I have a natural affinity to fire magic. ¡°Shut your MOUTH DOG! And your only half right!¡± Wyatt¡¯s eyes began to glow. Even though he couldn¡¯t wield magic it was obvious he has incredible magic power. And Wyatt was right, Adimar was only half correct. I believe Wyatt to be working alongside Balor. I however don¡¯t believe Wyatt to be an Eis Neko at all...Wyatt, is an elf. His two guards are as well. Their life forces shine so brightly its almost unmistakeable. Just like those elves from the woods had. They however can¡¯t use magic. If we didn¡¯t have a paralysis magic like this we wouldn¡¯t have been able to suppress them so easily. These aren¡¯t just eis neko¡¯s they are elves who have survived down here and have apparently been pretending to be Eis Nekos this whole time. However Ecclaire just appears to be what we assumed her to be a puppet. She however has only stayed quiet and tried to attack alongside Wyatt during the whole fight. She hasn¡¯t even talked much since. Wyatt¡¯s eyes started to glow red and and he huffed and puffed in my direction before dropping to his knees. I along with the two wolves ran towards him and held them all down. The paralysis was finally starting to affect their strong bodies. If these things are elves, it¡¯s no wonder why poison would effect them differently. They¡¯re old...Older than all of us. These things have been inside here for a long time...They never died at all. They probably aren¡¯t anywhere close to the levels we think they are either. How has something like this gone un noticed for so long? Wyatt and the others began to growl and move around but they could no longer control their bodies. Being pierced repeated by the fangs of a titan, alongside the paralysis poison of a queen spider. However high level they are their defenses aren¡¯t much...They¡¯re just elves. ¡°They¡¯re elves....¡± ¡°.......¡± They all then began to look at me in awe in trying to understand what had happened. All the pixies are now visible and Adimar and Akino are binding those who have fallen. Each of them had no words to what I had just said they only looked at those on the ground in awe. They wondered at how elves could have survived down in this prison for so long without any of them knowing. This worked in our favor, it¡¯s way too convenient to say the paralysis poison worked perfectly considering the circumstances. Paralysis poisons should work rather quickly, that¡¯s the whole point of it. If those were all elves and they could do what that other one could I would have had to get serious. Wyatt however made a mistake. If he were to become serious early this may have also turned bad, but he simply mocked the pixies thinking them to be easy opponents before he was simply surrounded. I need to have a talk with that Arachnee Queen as well. She knows something... We then knocked them each out and decided to take their now weakened state back to the base. Now is when we learn just what is going on down here.... -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ¡°Hey...Wake up¡± Smack! I back handed the Elf who was posing as Wyatt the eis neko. He then shook his head and began to look towards his surroundings. There sitting beside him were his two guards and Ecclaire. They had each also been woken up and have come to find where they are. Upon returning to base and telling Commander Locke of what happened we took these 4 to a completely different location on another floor. It was on floor 52 floating on one of the large land masses that overlooks the city. We had to use some kind of warp key to get to the top as the floating mass appears to just be floating by magic. Large spikes of ice surrounded this place and it sort of resembled a fortress of solitude. This is however the Away Team¡¯s location that is similar to a max prison. It¡¯s walls are made of hard rock that resembles diamond. It also has Adamantine bars installed to stop any from getting out of here. Another invention from Pek I¡¯m told. In the room were Erwin, Adimar, Akino, Cosmia, Cyanin, Malfius and myself. Malfius and his men weren¡¯t able to find his daughter Meifeng and Ollieron¡¯s team haven¡¯t come back yet. ¡°Wha...What¡¯s going on!...YOU! Human!¡± Wyatt then looked up and growled towards me. ¡°What¡¯s up elf...¡± Then at what I had just said had silenced him entirely. He looked towards his two other guards and made a terrified impression. I wonder how these elves did it, how do they make themselves look like Neko¡¯s? Do they have illusion magic too or is it something else...Well I plan to find out regardless. They¡¯ve been in here for hundreds of years posing as Neko¡¯s...Why? Wyatt then lost his scared demeanor and tried to play it off and look back at me. ¡°So...You¡¯ve figured it out have you human! How ever did you figure it out? And wha are you trying to do with us here anyway...Going to try and torture me now are you? You humans were so eager to enjoy such things...¡± ¡°You know...I¡¯ve met some elves before. It¡¯s what allowed me to see who you really were. I have no idea how you managed to fool everyone else for so long though. Well the elves I had met seemed to be powerful the forest even seemed to move as they did.¡± ¡°HAH!..You think I¡¯m a wimpy Wood Elf? Mhmhm....I am a dark elf human. Something else entirely...¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how long it¡¯s been since you¡¯ve seen a wood elf but they don¡¯t seem so wimpy to me.¡± ¡°They haven¡¯t nearly the amazing skill set that comes with becoming one of us. Hmph...Do you think all you are doing here is going to somehow rescue you all? Ha! You have no idea what is coming to your world outside this place! This world shall all be devoured ! AHAHAHAHA!!!!!¡± He then began to laugh like a deranged lunatic. It wasn¡¯t something I had expected to come from him at all. The loud excessive laughter caused Adimar to deliver a solid punch to his face. I didn¡¯t say he could but I was in all honesty going to do the same thing. He then just started laughing with blood coming out of his nose. Adimar then punched him again. He seemed to be quite furious but Wyatt continued to laugh with blood coming out of his mouth from the heavy blows. ¡°AHAHAHA!!! You¡¯ll ALL DIE! All of you will DIE...Even you dogs! None of you will ever see the light of day EVER AGAIN! WUAHAHAHAA!!!!¡± Adimar continued to deliver swing after swing into the lunatic causing Akino to now pull him away. I looked at this elf oddly and couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of what was happening. What are they planning? How have these dark elves managed to make themselves look like Neko¡¯s for so long without anyone noticing? Why would they even do it? Zap! Hjokk then came in and appeared on my shoulder. She used her warp ability to finally come back and has come in on this situation. ¡°What?...What is happening?¡± ¡°A lot has happened since you¡¯ve been gone...Listen Balor has somehow...¡± ¡°MMmm....You must be....the humannnn¡± ¡°......¡± ¡® What the hell was that voice just now?¡¯ A dark and deep echo rang out loudly in my ears and shook the small cage we¡¯ve found ourselves in. Everything then wen¡¯t dark. My eyes looked to have blinked without my saying or just everything is now back to normal. The room just turned pitch black and is now lit up again. But that voice....The sounds of it were not human at all. It sounded like a monster. I¡¯m shaking...Why..Why am I shaking? ¡°Mmmm....You must be the one who defeated Malthiel. Yesss?¡± I then turned to the location of the voice and there sitting on the chair with chains and arachnee thread surrounding her is Ecclaire. She is looking directly at me. I remember the first time I met Ecclaire. She looked at me like a predator ready to jump on it¡¯s prey. But right now is much different. Her eyes are pitch black and she is giving a hungry smile towards my direction. ¡°...Balor?¡± At my question everyone in the room began to look slowly towards Ecclaire as well. No one made a move. ¡°....Correct.¡± Ecclaire then smiled and looked directly towards me. Everytime she spoke a loud deep echo followed her as if she wasn¡¯t the one speaking at all. Her hair however was covering most of her face and the entire area around her is dark. Balor must be able to talk through his puppets. Can he possible attack us right now? She then suddenly moved her head up and opened her eyes wide at me. She blinked and then her eyes turned red. ¡°Interesting....So Malfius and the Queen Pixie live...How I was unable to see that before is beyond me? It does however intrigue me...¡± Ecclaire began to talk with the sounds of a deep dark echo trailing behind her. Just then Cosmia then hid behind me. Ecclaire then looked up towards me and smiled. ¡°Vali....Such a peculiar thing you seem to be....You appear to be a divine¡¯s champion as well. But what God I wonder?....That too is an interesting bird on your shoulder. Tell me mortal....What God do you fight for?¡± I then stared back at the woman speaking in front of me. Or the thing. I don¡¯t know what Balor is but he is not human at all. You can tell by the voice. It¡¯s enough to make it to where my body won¡¯t stop shaking. I can¡¯t seem to speak. [ Vali...Whatever you do..Don¡¯t tell him you are Loki¡¯s champion!] ¡®Hjokk?...Yah I wasn¡¯t planning on it, this guy seems to hold grudges. Is he going to attack to us. Should we do something?¡¯ [NO! Don¡¯t do anything! If he wanted to attack us he would have done it already! We need to leave noa......Oh no...] Hjokk then started looking up towards the ceiling and turn her head back and forth. ¡®What? What is it?¡¯ [I...I don¡¯t think I can warp us out of here anymore!] ¡®.....¡¯ ¡°Mmm....The bird seems to be getting it. The moment I saw it I thought...A crow....You wouldn¡¯t happen to be a Norse would youuuu......?¡± Hjokk then started to clench my shoulders tightly while sitting on top my shoulder. The girl then smiled and looked at us while tilting her head. Is Balor so powerful he¡¯s made it to where our magic can¡¯t get us all out of here. I was going to make a move to grab everyone to try and try my spatial magic when out of there a large magical force threw itself towards me. A large 10 foot figure stepped out in front from where Ecclaire was sitting and stepped in front of me. It was huge, his shoulders are wide. It appeared to be made of darkness but it had no face at all. It did however have two large horns that came out in front of its head resembling a bulls. They were however much, much larger. His eyes were now yellow and he appeared to be wearing armor made of darkness. His whole body appeared to be made of darkness. It looked just like a large black shadow with eyes. It wore the darkness like a large cloak that fluttered around as it stared down at me. I could feel my body continue to shake while staring back at this horrific appearance. It was enough to make me not want to move. I don¡¯t want that thing attacking me at all! Even though what was standing in front of me was not the actual Balor. I think this is what his form looks like just a lot smaller. He is slightly see through making me think he is not going to attack me. He¡¯s just sitting there staring down towards me. I can¡¯t see a face to speak of. ¡°Wuahahha!!! You see now human! You are all going to DIE ahaha! I told you dirty dogs, you would Guahhghghg¡± The dark figure then turned to his right and raised his arm. A large hand came up from the ground that looked to be made from the darkness of this dungeon. It then grabbed Wyatt by the throat. ¡°Bu...but Bal...ORrghgh!¡± Balor then flicked his wrist and the dark hand broke Wyatt¡¯s neck. Just then his body then disappeared and disintegrated into the air. It was the first time I had seen someone die in this dungeon actually. It must be what happens to those who all die here.They¡¯re....trapped inside here, even after they die. The two body guards then began to shake and try to get out of their restraints. The large dark figure I¡¯ve identified as Balor was standing over me. A large mouth then appeared on his face and long fangs were shown as he stared intently towards me. ¡°Hmph.....Your all trapped here now...¡± End of Chapter! Don''t forget to review and rate my fiction. Leave a comment as I love getting to read long comments about what you all think about where the story is going. So what do ya think of the Annunake, or the hildr pixies? How about the Oddball Knights? Or the emergence of the new species...The dark elves. Or the possibilities of his new powers? Let me know all that you guys think of the story so far. I honestly check these so much just to read what you guys write as it is a nice motivation to write more. I hope your all enjoying the story so far. Here is a character page. It is not complete or up to date but that is because I will put it together with a description page later. It will be updated as the story goes forward but I will try to keep some spoilers out of it. I have 2 pictures to show you guys of Grootslang and Balor. They are however just general shapes and designs and not exactly how I''ve said what they are in my fiction. I however can''t find a way to post pictures on here if some one does. I''ll post it on my description page whenever I make one. It will have several other pictures possibly of characters soon as well too. Character Page Humans: Vali- Our troubled hero. Travels to a distant place simply to find what he¡¯s lost. All so he can return home and reunite with that he holds most dear. The hero however quickly finds this new world of magic and make believe is never what he originally thought to be and is a constant tug on his already fragile heart. He craves for power to protect those he wishes to save only to walk down and even more dangerous road. The time spent alone for him may have been more damaging to his psyche than he currently realizes but continues on to hopefully one day reunite in heaven with his family. Vali however is finding his journey to becoming a god is a load quite less traveled. Unranked Vassal Cassandra Kraiser: (Female Knight): Blond hair and blue eyed and considered to be the beauty of the royal knights. She is not the highest level of the knights in Asher but she is quite well known for coming from a prestigious noble family that has long sense been revered for their masteries in the sword. Rank 11 Master Shen: Turqoise short spiky hair with scars riddled down his face and body. He however wears them with pride and thinks they make him look quite cool. He also has a large metallic arm that is a prosthetic and was given to him after he was in a horrific monster attack. Regardless of his injuries and being the oldest of all the royal knights however. He is known to be the strongest in the entire Kingdom of Asher. Though he has never seen battle, he has never once lost in a 1 on 1 duel, which is why everyone just refers to him as Master Shen. When kingdoms and guilds sought out his strength he simply sought for a life of simplicity. He became a royal knight to the King of Asher who was his childhood friend. Becoming a royal knight allowed him to not accept the hundreds of duel requests he would receive daily and considered it the only way to have people leave him alone. He soon found out however that there was a lot more work in becoming a knight but has learned to enjoy his role as the kingdom¡¯s strongest. Rank 1 Sumei: Not much is known about this mysterious woman who has been taken under Shen¡¯s care as a student. She however takes her role as a Knight of Asher as great honor and uses all of her strengths to protect the King and Queen. She has long black hair and wields a black katana that was said to be made form a sea war beast. Rank 2 Shakko: Another member of the Royal Knights of Asher and is considered to be ¡®the oddball¡¯ of the knights. No one to this day knows what he looks like since he always wears a ceramic mask to cover it up. He is however a master of daggers and hidden weapons. Once an vigilante in the kingdom of Asher he hunted down and killed criminals of the kingdom with his own hands. A lot of crime families around the kingdom want his head which is why he agreed to become a Knight of Asher and to protect the King and Queen. Rank 6 Sting- Adventurer from the central continent who was defeated and bound by Vali. He is an expert with poisons and is known to be quite skilled with a spear. He has long green hair and is considered to be a nice man by Ari and Elyria. King Queen Lucy- Thought of as a tomboy princess but in all actually just doesn¡¯t obey rules very well. Vali doesn¡¯t know how to treat her currently but she finds him to be fascinating and wants him to become her own personal knight. Kaylan: Vali¡¯s sister and currently somewhere in the new world that Vali has found himself in. She too has been on adventures too and according to Loki has taken many adventures. He however said she wanted Vali to come here alone to find strength in his own way before reuniting with her. --------------------- Divine/Demi Devine¡± Loki-God of Mischeif and Trickery. Has chosen Vali as his champion but also found a loophole in the ancient treaty amongst gods finding a way to have two champions. His other being his sister Kaylan. He is a master of spatial magic and wields the might staff gungir. Hjokk- Valkyrie of Storms and watcher over Vali during his time in becoming stronger. She was made for battle so she doesn¡¯t comprehend human emotion quite as well but is slowly understanding more of it being close to Vali for so long. She continues to stay in her small purple crow form even after Vali has pointed out she doesn¡¯t have to anymore. Arachnee: Arachnee queen Reinma Karma Fuch Race Elyria- Vali¡¯s mother now that he has arrived in a new world but not much is known about her life in the forest. All Vali has come to know so far is that his mother was once considered to be something as a high shaman in her village but he thinks her understandings with magic are the most he¡¯s seen in anyone yet other than Loki. Sasha- A Fuchs slave that was once in the same tribe as Elyria. She was once bought by a rich and powerful noble who would use his power and authority to buy and abuse slaves for his amusement. She eventually decided it was enough and tried to flee with her fellow slaves but two of them died before her and her fellow slave Neko were later captured. She was then bought by Vali. Iris- Elyria¡¯s daughter. She was separated from Elyria not long after birth and sold into slavery. She is roughly around 8 years old. Jiji Race Henley- Jiji on floor 1 Joxen- Henley¡¯s daughter Pek- Looked at as the leader of the Jiji race even though they don¡¯t have any social order of leaders in their society. He is however revered as one of the more brilliant minds to have ever lived in the dungeon. Not many people can understand him which makes him a grump but compared to the other jiji his speech is even more difficult to understand. Adler Race Griphlock Karah Annunake Race Adimar- A once proud warrior who fought on the front lines in a dungeon. He is a member of the legendary god wolf race and appears to be a large 8 foot tall white wolf. He stands on two legs and appears to be a humanoid wolf with high intelligence. He has been through constant wars and fights and once rose to the highest rank as Alpha of his entire race. He was then stripped of all authority after an accident that happened on one of the floors of the dungeon. Akino- Adimar¡¯s neice. She is 19 with long white hair, ears, and a tail. She prides herself in being among the fasts of the Annunake. She was once in line to marry Adimar¡¯s brother in law who was also of the Elkia race. Due to her mate later turning out to a puppet has effected her with men. Lilly- Small slave girl around 10 years old. She has the same features as other Annunake but doesn¡¯t seem to enjoy violence as she was once a slave for a short period of time with her brother. She was the first person Vali met in this world other than his mother and has slowly grown attached to him. Even with her brother¡¯s initial warnings she always saw Vali as a nice person. Pixie Race Cosmia- (Red Pixie) Queen of her race and is a master of illusion magic. She is however young and not the oldest of all the other pixies. She however is coveted as the queen of her race and is looked at as royalty in her race. Regardless of this however she still seems to act similarly to all the other pixies. However after receiving the magic from the red crystal she has easily become one of the strongest pixies in the dungeon. She thinks of Vali as also a part of their family. Cyanin- (Turqoise Pixie) Once an inhabitant of floor one Vali saved her from the beginning stages of a powerful rot that diseased many of the pixies not long after their family had died. She after receiving 2 purple magic crystal from the Adamantine spider, 1 yellow and 1 purple from King Hydra she now boasts in the highest defense of all the pixies. She prides herself in this and thanks Vali for making her this way. She has now been promoted to a Pixie Elite and is the personal guard of Cosmia. She holds Vali in the highest of esteem. Tanin- ( Orange Pixie) Inhabitant on floor 1 and is the only pixie who received a yellow crystal from a monster that must have had strong fire ability. He can shoot out fire like a flamethrower out of his hands and now with the effects of the Adamantine spider his fire now has a new trait. He has now been promoted to a Pixie Elite after conquering several Floor One Devourer¡¯s Nests with his powerful fire. Vale- (Silver Pixie) Vale is one of the few Elite Pixie¡¯s left in the dungeon. She was amongst the stronger pixies who were set to guard their Queen. Whenever Cosmia became the new queen Vale as well as the other pixies have joined in protecting her. She currently now is the only pixie with a lightning ability and is now revered as the strongest with the highest level as well. Daisy- (Yellow Pixie) She doesn¡¯t enjoy getting up close in fights and scares easy. She however like all the other pixies enjoy playing games with everyone and playing pranks. To Vali he believes Daisy to be the gentlest pixie. Whenever the other pixies would play games for new armor or weapons that were given to them, she gave her rare armor away to those that could use it better. She however now has a unique ability that Vali says is ironic towards her name. After absorbing the white King Hydra¡¯s purple crystal, her healing abilities on herself and other pixies is unmeasurable. She always tends to stand next to Vali whenever he is around. Reiki Race Malfius Meifeng Ollerion Eis Neko Race Alysteir Ecclaire Commander Locke Malaki Other characters Ari- A small slave girl who has been in slavery for the entirety of her young life. She was separated from her parents at birth and has what has caused Vali to slowly forget some of his past pains. When first meeting Vali she thought him to be the one who was taking her away to die but was later saved by him instead. She had extensive wounds and a skin eating disease that left her face and most of her body ruined whenever Vali first met her and she was so small that she could no longer stand. To her no one had ever gone as far to touch her or treat her so warmly as to feed her that she quickly warmed up to Vali sooner than all the other slaves. Ari sees Vali as the most important thing in her life while Vali sees her as someone that has slowly began to heal his past wounds. Comparing his life to hers makes his last problems seem not so bad. Ari and Vali have now grown very close over their constant time staying up late together Vali and teaching her to speak. Noah- Older brother of Lily but did not inherit the same genes of the Legendary Annunake race as his sister. He along with Lily were both attacked with their families by slavers from an unkown kingdom. They were then sold into slavery not long after. Before they could be separated however Noah managed to kill one of the slavers and allow for his sister to escape. He was later saved by Vali and reunited with his sister. Pictures soon whenever I figure it out. Chapter 19: Tears of a Titan Part 1 Hey guys sorry it''s taken so long to update. These next two chapters I broke up into two parts simply because it was so long. I however am keeping it as Part 1 and Part 2. It really goes well with the title and the overall theme of these next two chapters. It however is simply too long to condense into one post I feel simply because these two chapters combined topped a 100 pages. Now a lot of it is dialogue but it still adds up to be a long 2 chapters with development not only for the story but largely for the characters as well. Thank you so much for reading and rating my fiction! ''Those Who Aspired to Become Gods'' Is now ranked 48 in the top 50 and it''s all thanks to my readers! Thanks for reading and as always thanks for your nice comments and great ratings. Even though there are some complaints about the quality but hopefully this chapter will be much cleaner as well. I know my fiction is a lot longer than most out there, especially on RL. And I know I haven''t quite ''hit'' every scene in just the perfect way I want. I know some scenes I may get wayyyyyy too descriptive like with the pixies last chapter or not enough dialogue in some places which I trying to get better at. But I''ve come to find I don''t want to have short ''light novel'' type chapters and even if that means I won¡¯t get ranked in the top 10 due to frequency of chapters who cares.... I don''t want a 30 minute episode style of reading that is like a show you wait for a week to watch with hardly any development at all. Waited a full weak to read a filler chapter....I want that hour long ''game of thrones'' style level of chapters. Where it has a lot of development for the story, the world, and most of all its characters. In the next few chapters you will hopefully get to see a lot of that and it will, take well a big step..... Also thank you to I4MD347H. He helped edit this fiction for me and considering how long it is I can only say he''s obviously a glutton for punishment. Thanks as always to my proof readers as you are each awesome! Chapter 19: Tears of a Titan Part 1 Vali''s POV: There standing only a foot from me was the thing that started all of this. The monster who trapped so many lives in a prison for thousands of years. He¡¯s big. Around 10 feet tall but according to everyone his true height is much, much larger. His whole body is practically made and surrounded by darkness. It surrounds him like a dark mist but also makes up the armor and tough exterior that he exudes. His eyes are yellow and his two horns come out far past his chin. With his long thin fangs grinning he stares only at me...This thing is Balor. Did he wait until Hjokk arrived to trap us in here? It only happened not long after everything that happened on floor 63. We may have walked into a trap. ¡°BALOR!¡± Commander Locke then bared his fangs. Grrrrrr Now both Adimar and Akino both began to do the same. Do they show no fear to this entity? This one was Malthiel¡¯s master. Balor¡¯s yellow eyes continued to gleam back at me. Hjokk continued to stare back at Balor waiting for what was going to happen next. She clenched my shoulder tight and I felt it necessary to now take out Abgrund. I could immediately feel a surge of hunger awaken in me upon taking it out. It¡¯s as if it also wanted me to devour this thing in front of me. As if seeing the fire being ignited in my eyes while staring back into him. ¡°Mmm....So the little one did manage to somehow slay Malthiel...What a laugh, such a weak and useless undead. How a human could manage such a feat is beyond me...And yet...¡± Balor¡¯s two eyes blinked and then turned a dark crimson. He continued to look me up and down without paying any mind to any other. ¡°Such a peculiar thing you are. So weak...and yet, your latent potential is something truly frightening. Mm, tell me Vali the human...Won¡¯t you join me?¡± ¡°Join you?¡± ¡°Yes...Become my Champion...With my power, I can even grant you the world to devour.¡± ¡°.......¡± ¡®What is this thing saying now? He can obviously determine my abilities somehow. He thinks I would join him? As if...The only reason I¡¯m even in this prison is to gain strong allies and hopefully do the right thing. For my future plans I need them, I however won¡¯t allow myself to die in such a place. If I wish to be with my family again, I can¡¯t die here. I could still feel Abgrund vibrating in my hands, as if ushering me to attack. I however held back the urge, Hjokk told me not to attack. I can¡¯t do something stupid that involves her any more than I already have. ¡® [Feeeeeeeddddd] ¡°Umm...Vali?¡± I then felt something tugging at my shirt tail. Looking down at my side stood Cyanin. She was looking up at me eagerly. It was then I realized I hadn¡¯t responded to Balor¡¯s question and everyone was staring at me. I sometimes forget I¡¯m not in Lightning Step and everyone seems to have been waiting for my response. Malfius and Commander Locke gave me grim expressions while Adimar and Akino only gave me serious looks. ¡°Sorry...Not interested. Devouring the world just isn¡¯t something I¡¯ve set out to do. Devouring you seems like it could be interesting though...¡° I could feel as if Abgrund was giving me unspoken amounts of strength. It was telling me to feed from Balor and to feed it Balor¡¯s blood. Upon my answer Balor twitched while looking down at me. Cyanin and Cosmia now smiled brightly up at me and then glared back at Balor. Everyone in the room then sighed in relief at my statement, where they really assuming I¡¯d join this nut job? ¡°Oh...you don¡¯t have the power to tame the darkness that dwells within me mortal. A darkness unlike any other, that is so vast you would need my divine eye to see through it at all! How you¡¯ve even managed to take in so many and stay put together for so long is beyond even my eyes. Though due to your skills and affinities I¡¯d assume you¡¯d relish the idea in joining me.¡° Balor then smiled and looked down at me. He was sizing me up as if asking me to attack him. ¡®But what did he mean, how I¡¯ve managed to stay put together?¡¯ ¡°What are you talking about Balor?!¡± Hjokk then yelled towards Balor causing many in the room to now look towards her in shock. Many weren¡¯t aware she could speak. Balor however showed no reaction to it and stood unaffected. ¡°Ha!...You tell me you don¡¯t even know how his abilities work then. Such a laugh...You Norse claim to be geniuses, with such intellect and masteries in magic and yet you¡¯re all dreadfully droll. It was really so simple to trap you both here. I¡¯m assuming the crow is something of a Valkyrie or other. Their teleportation magic was always so simple to halt. Simply cut the tether and your magical equation gets stopped.¡± ¡°Who ever said I was a Norse?¡± ¡°You did BIRD! When you didn¡¯t deny it!¡± Baler¡¯s voice echoed to the point I doubt anyone on this floor didn¡¯t hear his shouts. Hjokk then clenched my shoulder and started to shudder. Is she afraid? I¡¯ve never seen Hjokk act in such a way. Balor then turned to me and laughed. Cosmia and Cyanin I could feel standing behind me and shaking as well. ¡°Answer mmmmm¡± Hjokk then tried to speak when a large hand made of the same darkness erupted out of the ground and wrapped around her beak. She tried to speak but was being held shut. ¡°Quiet bird...I was talking to him.¡± He smiled while turning his eyes towards me. ROAHHHHH!!!! AHHHHH!!!!!! Adimar and Commander Locke both lunged toward Balor. Commander Locked swung down his dawn bringer but he simply passed through Balor. Adimar too flew past him glided across the ground trying to stop himself from slamming into the wall. They each just phased right through him. I swung my fist and activated Wind Claw and it too passed straight through him. It went for about 5 feet and then grazed the side of one of the elves. ¡°AHhhhhh!¡± The elf¡¯s right leg along with the wooden chair were both completely cut off causing the chair to tip over with him still tied to it. He then started to cry in pain as his health had dropped by around 15%. He however started to lose health gradually while he started to bleed. Balor however received no damage at all. He didn¡¯t even have a health bar now that I think about it. [Vali! He¡¯s not really here right now! Attacking him would be meaningless, don¡¯t provoke him!] Hjokk being unable to talk tells me what is going on. Just then dark hands erupted from the ground and reached for everyone in the room. I used my spatial magic to warp myself along with Cyanin and Cosmia but before I had an opportunity a dark whip flung past my arm and attached itself to Cosmia. Then before I could react another had done the same to Cyanin and coiled around her. Everyone now has a dark hand strangling them and only I remain uncoiled. ¡®He¡¯s not even here? Then how is he doing all of this! If attacking him pointless then how do we kill him?¡¯ ¡°MMmm....You all seem to be forgetting your places here. Does this one give you that much courage?¡± ¡°We...aren¡¯t....afraid of you....anymore!¡± With a large dark hand forming around his throat, Locke continued to stare daggers towards Balor. As does everyone else. I look back towards Balor with hatred. ¡°Are their lives really that important human? Hmm, maybe you aren¡¯t worthy of taking Malthiel¡¯s place. A pity really but no matter. Your appearance in my dungeon is actually quite exciting for me really. ¡± Balor began to grin while he continued talking with everyone trapped in darkness. ¡°I can now make my grand debut to the stage while holding the head of those cruel god¡¯s champion. All while I turn their World into nothingness!¡± He held his hand into a fist and grinned his large fangs towards me. He didn¡¯t look human at all but his manner of speech and whole atmosphere portrayed eons of intelligence and knowledge. He however struck me no different than some psychotic sociopath. He would trap so many souls here for centuries to where they cannot pass on to be with their loved ones. For what? Why go to such an extent to destroy the world, to ruin these people¡¯s lives? It can¡¯t be simply because he¡¯s evil. Do villains like that truly exist in this world? I remember Loki once saying he wasn¡¯t always an evil God. I then asked the dark god what he was doing exactly. ¡°Why are you doing all of this? ¡°Why?....WHYYYY?.....BECAUSE I¡¯m LOSING MY MIND IN THIS PLACE that¡¯s WHY! I have sacrificed my entirety for those damned gods! Lost everything because of THEM and their LIES!..And they still call ME the mad god?....For so long I have been trapped down here. For so long I have been deprived of everything! Those foolish gods who have trapped me here, in their little sandbox for what has felt like an eternity shall soon know real SORROW. So I will merely bring it all to RUIN!!!¡± His eyes flashed towards me and a loud roar erupted across the dungeon floor itself, drowning out Ecclaire¡¯s voice entirely. It shook the very floating landmass we were standing on. Balor¡¯s mood had changed suddenly and yelled with an anger that shook the very foundation of this dungeon. The pressure exuding from his skin felt like small knives slowly piercing me throughout my entire body. Then within a moment it had faded after Balor sighed. ¡°...And you. ¡° ¡°Me?¡± ¡°And you follow those so called ¡®divine¡¯ beings....You!¡± Balor looked at me as if my image only enraged him more now. Only this time he seemed to be showing some restraint. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me....it¡¯s all to get back at the god¡¯s for causing you to descend and trapping you in this dungeon? I didn¡¯t think a beings as old as you and Malthiel would be so childish with their revenge.¡± ¡°AHahahaha!!! You think me...A god, trapped in my own dungeon?!¡± Balor then started laughing hysterically, which almost resembled that of the dark elf¡¯s from before. He is truly mad. ¡°Oh human you really are naive....I suppose that means your god or that little bird hasn¡¯t told you the dark truths yet. It¡¯s not that you fight for your Norse god you simply do not know the ways of this world....¡± His voice continued to echo alongside Ecclaire¡¯s only making the atmosphere more grim and eerie. I looked around and everyone has no way of getting out of their bindings. I don¡¯t know how to handle this situation. If I recklessly attack, I could hurt them. But no attacks seem to work on Balor and even Hjokk can¡¯t seem to free herself. What is Balor even trying to do?! ¡°Then enlighten me a little.¡± ¡®I must stall for time. I need to think of a way out of this or everyone might die here. Lightning Step! Ok now I can think...Hmm, It¡¯s strange but I think it¡¯s possibly Balor may not understand how spatial magic works. He wouldn¡¯t have said what he did to Hjokk earlier if he did. It¡¯s not like I¡¯ve fully understood how to use my magic like Loki¡¯s, but I do know it works nothing like Hjokk¡¯s warping ability. I think he may only know one of our teleportation methods, since the last time we left this place, it was from her magic or by simply walking through the entrance. I¡¯m not sure but this is my only bet. It¡¯s strange but regardless of time being slowed it still feels as though Balor is moving at the same speed. Everyone else is moving slower except for him and Hjokk in fact. I can still hear his breathing and it is going at the same pace as before I activated the skill. ¡¯ I deactivated Lightning Step as regardless if I have a lot of mana or not maintaining for longer than a few seconds is simply impossible for me right now. Balor continued looking at me with his now crimson eyes. Ecclaire who is still tied to the chair still remains lifeless other than speaking alongside Balor. ¡°Mmm...Done using your little abilities now? With my all seeing eye...I can see through even the abyss. Even the darkest of places are nothing before me.... ¡®Lightning Step¡¯ was it?..Hpmph.. I however can also see you and I aren¡¯t so different. Such darkness in you too....Well now that I¡¯m sure you¡¯re a Norse I¡¯d much rather wait to tell you the sick truths of your gods on your final breaths. How I do love watching those in true despair as they wither away....What? You don¡¯t agree, I simply wish for you all to feel but a taste of my own misery. ¡° This thing definitely has a god complex, but considering it I can understand why he does. I guess it¡¯s not much different than Loki¡¯s but at least he seems to in some way care for other¡¯s well-being. Balor is willing to destroy the whole world simply to get back at the gods? It¡¯s simply an old being throwing a tantrum. Whatever he did must have caused him to descend, though I can understand that in such a world that betrayal exists just around every corner, even in the heavens. I have to kill this thing. I won¡¯t allow myself to die here. I can¡¯t...If I die then I can¡¯t protect Kaylan, this thing isn¡¯t going to keep me away from her. He won¡¯t! I¡¯m going to find her and prepare a safe haven for her here and all the others who I¡¯ve come to meet down here. I don¡¯t know how I¡¯m going to do it but I won¡¯t die here. I don¡¯t care what you are Balor but I¡¯m going eat you just like I did Malthiel. Balor...you¡¯ve gotten it backwards...We aren¡¯t locked in here with you!¡¯ I could feel Abgrund continue to grow hot. It was asking me to attack even still. Even if Balor wasn¡¯t here I could feel this weapon feeding off of my anger. Holding onto this weapon is starting to become difficult. It¡¯s not that it¡¯s heavy. I simply feel the urge to always use it while holding onto it. It¡¯s as if I feel I can kill anything while holding onto Abgrund. Even though I told Loki and Hjokk I wouldn¡¯t use it unless the need arises for it but I believe there is no other way to kill this thing that stands before me. With Hjokk and everyone in here, we¡¯ll kill him. I started to stare back at Balor ready to attack him and hopefully get everyone in a group and use my spatial magic can get us out of here. Just before I was about to move Balor sighed and continued talking. ¡°I only gave you the proposition simply because I assumed you and I were similar. I¡¯d teach you to tame that darkness that dwells within you to give you unlimited power.¡± ¡°First you say it was incredible how I managed to stay put together and then offered me the world to devour. Now you think you and I are similar? Well I guess all that time of banishment from the god realms has finally caused you to lose it.¡± I then spoke up to Balor and raised my voice back at him. He stared back at me and twitched when I called him nuts. ¡°Just because you can¡¯t see how your skills work doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t¡­Tell me champion, did you think all you were getting from that absorption ability of yours were skills? ¡° ¡®What is he getting at?¡¯ ¡°Let me remind you, monster cores are said to have small traces of its owner¡¯s soul remaining in them, and you¡¯ve seemed to have gobbled those up too, didn¡¯t you? You¡¯ve took in a being who had killed more than your species has a number for...So the question is Vali, are you alone in that head of yours mphmphmph?¡± ¡®Could what he have said be true? I never thought of demonic absorption having any sort of backlash from using the skill. I don¡¯t think anything¡¯s wrong with me though...I mean, not any more than normal.¡¯ My eyes were open wide at the thought while Balor¡¯s laugh echo against the thick cell walls we stood in. Hjokk then turned and looked at me too. Maybe she¡¯s worried about such a thing. Is it possible, he could be saying this to try and mess with me? ¡°It is why I offered to help you human...But if you¡¯d rather die here with the rest of these test subjects then have it your way. Dark Eden will forever become all of your crypts.¡± After hearing this I could feel my chest tighten up. It¡¯s weird but I no longer felt frightened. It must have been the weapon, or maybe it was because everyone else was here as well. Even while Adimar and Akino have a dark fist gripping around their necks and hoisting them in the air they don¡¯t seem frightened at all. Like Locke said, they¡¯re no longer afraid of him. He¡¯s trapped them in here for far too long. Everyone is only looking towards Balor with anger now. If they won¡¯t fear him, I won¡¯t either. ¡°Yes I was always curious why you named the place Dark Eden. Wondering where you got the reference to Eden anyways...Dark Sever!¡± I then activated the skill on my scythe and shot it not towards Balor but towards the dark arm holding onto Hjokk I don¡¯t know what it was but it was enough to hold her down. Whenever Dark Sever came into contact with the dark creation it simply cut right through it and caused it to crumble away. It however managed to only cut through one arm that was around her and didn¡¯t fly much further. Hjokk now freed then decided to get serious. She turned into her Valkyrie form wearing her platinum armor that shined as bright as a star. The light coming off of it shined and split past all of the dark aberrations and cut through roughly a third of dark bindings that shot out from Balor¡¯s body. She then pointed her spear towards Balor. ¡°EDEN!....So that means you¡¯re from......¡± Balor didn¡¯t even look towards Hjokk and looked at me astonished. His eyes turned yellow and shined brightly as if shaking. Just now realizing that I¡¯m an otherworlder he seems to be contemplating something. He however didn¡¯t look towards anyone else or even show Hjokk he was paying attention to her. Before I could do anything else he just started laughing again. ¡°Mm, how splendid! Really, what are the ODDS?!!!... So tell me, Vali, the human from another world...Someone who can truly enjoy such a sight...Tell me...What do you think of my little ¡®Dark...Eden¡¯?...Mphmphmph!!!! Mmmahahahahaha!¡± Balor then raised both his arms in the air as if acting proud of this hell he had created. The entire floating landmass we stood on began to shake with his loud echoed laughter. He seemed to really want my opinion of the place, a place where souls are trapped here even after death, and since he wasn¡¯t technically here right now I guess he wasn¡¯t in anyway threatened of us.¡¯ I guess that¡¯s why he¡¯s being so talkative.¡¯ ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Oh what? Your world is what gave me inspiration to create this place...Such beauty I simply wanted to create something similar but one filled in the ever vast darkness.¡± ¡°You created this place simply for that purpose!¡± ¡°No human...I created this place to devise my plans for world destruction. This dungeon is simply housing the species I plan on unveiling to the world soon. Can you imagine how the public would handle fighting something like my Fomorians...Hahaha....Those so called gods wouldn¡¯t even know what to do with themselves as they watch their followers get butchered and eaten in front of them. So their choices are simple, descend or watch as their whole world burn away before their eyes...¡± ¡°Then why?!...Why trap us here for so long!¡± Commander Locke then yelled gargled while being choked. ¡°.....Test subjects. I needed to test out the Fomorians strengths and weaknesses. Even if it took thousands of years until you were all strong enough to reach them, I had the time. So I gathered some of the strongest races around the general region and trapped them here roughly three thousand years ago. I told them if they tried hard and worked together maybe they could get to floor 100 and taste freedom once again but alas....I never intended on any of you ever leaving this place. I never even intended on you making it past floor 63 but look at how that all worked out... I simply needed ¡®strong warriors¡¯ to test just how strong my creations were. I must say those weapons you all created were quite the surprise. But any weapon below a Legendary-Class weapon cannot cut through their thick fur. Do you think the heroes of this world will be able to save everyone? I think not....And even if they could, could they all save themselves? They really are quite the creations, even their fur came from a particularly odd race of yeti monster that is quite immune to most magics....Now if they just weren¡¯t so stupid. Truly a shame I can create so much but even when I was a divine creating something with substance...something....real....Always escaped me.¡± He continued to create shapes in his hands made of darkness. He showed to be very adept in creating things out of darkness as if it were as simple as having a thought. He almost sounded sad that he couldn¡¯t create more than the things he already had. The darkness in his hands began to take shape. It turned into a sphere, a sword, a shield. It then turned into a small man holding hands with a woman and small child. They were each made of darkness and then held onto each other tightly. They then began to get eaten by a larger monster that resembled the Fomorians. ¡°However, regardless for their stupidity or lack of abilities....They really are quite lethal.¡± ¡°Heh...I don¡¯t know about that. I¡¯ve tore through plenty already they weren¡¯t too difficult. Hell even that floor 64 boss wound up melting most of them for us before the fight even broke out.¡± I tried to get a reaction out of Balor again. His mood swings are odd but maybe I can get him into telling us something important about this place. He¡¯s definitely the mad scientist type but he¡¯s also apparently strong enough to be considered Malthiel¡¯s master. Something even Hjokk complimented they were never allies to begin with. ¡°....Yes...How you managed to survive Grevelegn is yet another mystery. But those Fomorians you¡¯ve fought so far were merely dogs, nothing like what inhabit the higher floors human. ¡± ¡®...Could he just be blowing smoke?¡¯ ¡°Why did you...make those puppets...Why even toy....with us!¡± Akino then struggled as she spoke up and squirmed in Balor¡¯s creation that was still attached to her. ¡°How else was I going to find out what your races were up to down here? Also you all began to clear floors much too rapidly, you were pressing my plans a bit too early but no need anymore. I plan on unveiling my beasts to feed on the world quite soon.¡± For whatever reason Balor continued to talk about why he created this dungeon, and why he trapped so many down here. It wasn¡¯t for sport, it was simply to develop strong enough opponents to test out his new creations. Even if it took thousands of years he simply waited until they were strong enough to get to the higher floors to test if they could survive his beasts before unleashing them onto the world. Somehow he has a way of making it to where even gods like Amarok and Brynhildr aren¡¯t even aware of their races down here. I knew something about this place seemed odd. I knew it couldn¡¯t have been random that there were so many strong races stuck in this dungeon. Each race almost has a particular trait or ability that makes them strong in their unique ways. Some in ways that make all those that live outside this dungeon look like small time. At first they only thought one of their races was said to be from a divine being but now even the pixies appear to have strong lineages. It wasn¡¯t random and was all intricately planned by this being. Loki called him something similar to a mad scientist, I sort of see that now. He¡¯s trapped thousands if not millions of people of the centuries and treated them all like lab rats in some twisted game. But if he lets those things out of this dungeon this continent would fall. As everyone continued to hear the dark truths from Balor¡¯s lips of why they were trapped here for so long, they all simply looked towards the floor in front of them. Their looks of fight and strength seemed to have left them now. Being told you were stuck in here your whole lives and it was never even in the cards for you to escape must have been a heavy blow. But I haven¡¯t given up yet. I will reunite with Kaylan in this world and nothing not even this thing will stop me. It also seems that if we don¡¯t stop Balor here everyone outside, including my family will be in danger. ¡°Why...Why tell us all of this?¡± Now finally Adimar spoke up. As if realizing everything just now himself. ¡°Because, the day I make my grand entrance outside this place is drawing closer. All of you won¡¯t be around for very much longer.¡± ¡°And you think all the gods are simply going to watch as you turn the world into your playground? I wonder what they think about you taking their beloved descendants souls and trapping them here for so long. ¡° ¡°Vali is correct Balor...I can¡¯t imagine the God of Death would be too happy about you trapping so many of his in this place.¡± Hjokk then joined into the conversation to warn Balor of his potential threat on bringing war to the outside world. She too knows we can¡¯t let him unleash such monsters into the public. ¡°Oh yes... I assume Hades would be especially angry with me for using Malthiel to bring so many of his back from the dead. But if I wasn¡¯t doing this to spit on all of those damned gods¡¯ soiled grounds then why do it at all?..Really is interesting these puppets. I can¡¯t control them nearly as good as he did but well...I guess that old geezer was worth something before leaving the stage. Sad he won¡¯t get to see the fruits of his labors for me.¡± ¡°Used Malthiel? So...The Death Master wasn¡¯t really working for you.¡± ¡°No...I eroded his mind before he had the ability to attack me Norse wench....I guess you could say he was my first puppet mph....What you don¡¯t believe me? Even old skeletons immune to mind attacks can be vulnerable to the darkness. My darkness eats away at everything until you are nothing. Nothing but an empty shell. Much like you will all soon be..... He however was quite strong, if I ever attacked him I¡¯m sure I would have had quite the fight on my hands. But he served his role all the way up until the end. ¡± Balor then seemed almost unfazed by what he said of Malthiel. He never had any allies, simply puppets. ¡°...One of your inventions.¡± Hjokk then looked as if she figured out how Balor somehow managed to control Malthiel. It sounds like they both found themselves descended to middle earth and ran into each other. Before Malthiel had an opportunity to attack Balor somehow managed to capture his mind and control him to do his bidding. ¡°Is that what you did with Ecclaire?¡± I then asked Balor of the person he was controlling. Whenever I looked at her in Eclipse View, she looked the same as everyone else. Her life force was still in there...trapped. ¡°Mmm...Simply some magic from a former death master. Quite difficult to pull off but I can handle at least one. He could control so many it was honestly quite the spectacle. But she like the other puppets, or whatever it is you call them, can all be saved. Aftermath of the magic it seems. So there is still hope for those who care about this one here.¡± He then turned his head and looked towards Ecclaire. Was what he saying true? ¡°You¡¯re lying!¡± ¡°Why would I need to lie to a lowly human? ...You¡¯re all never even going to leave this place. If I was going to bring back the dead it would be as simple as swinging your weapon to end this one¡¯s life once more. If it is impossible to save them then ending their lives would be quick and painless. But if there was a tiny possibility this shell of a once proud warrior could be among the land of the living again, then it gives those down here reason for hope. Now if it was possible to save that person wouldn¡¯t it be just amazing to know that small bit of hope is also destroyed in the end when they too die here.¡± Balor then turned his head and walked towards the dark elf who was still bleeding out on the floor. The other dark elf who was still tied to the chair looked up at him shaking. ¡°Mmmm..gahh....gah...¡± The elf with his leg torn off had a health of 30 percent and was slowly turning pale. ¡°We can¡¯t let this one gain too much before his time comes. So you two must now leave the stage...¡± Balor then looked towards the two elves who appeared as 2 Nekos and right before them two large dark aberrations were created from thin air. They each stood tall and looked to be made from the same dark mist that surrounds Balor himself. They however had no face or any defining features, they were just large black figures. The two dark aberrations walked closer to the elves and opened their mouths. They¡¯re faces became almost as large as their whole bodies as they grabbed onto the two elves and began to eat them in front of us. ¡°Ah,..No...no!!¡± ¡°Sto..STOP Please my lord! You mustn''t!!! PLEA......¡± The elves began screaming in agony just before being ripped in half and devoured by the dark beasts. They have neither faces nor emotions, and continued to chew casually until both of the elves died. The creatures then swallowed them entirely and stared back towards us all with no emotion. Balor then turned towards me and smiled. ¡°So you even kill your allies?¡± ¡°MMmm, the dark elves were never my allies.¡± ¡°They weren¡¯t?¡± ¡°....Fear is a powerful tool Vali, but hate...Hate can bring one to do nigh unspeakable things. It can unite those together to destroy a true evil...They learned of what I was after thousands of years ago and asked to join me on my quest of domination. As I¡¯m sure you will ask as well before the end...I guess I¡¯ll make my leave now Vali from another world... So much to enjoy in the coming days I can hardly contain myself... Ending a Norse¡¯s champion and even a Valkyrie will be a great way to showcase my power unto this realm. I notice your little ¡®XP¡¯ bonus ends in the next two days. How about we schedule all of your demises for that day. Make things interesting and give you a bit of hope before the end of the world as we know it...And before I leave champion, here¡¯s some simple words of wisdom...¡± Balor then turned around and his cape began to flutter as if there were a wind in here. Considering what Hjokk had told me he isn¡¯t even technically here he must be just communicating from another location. His eyes leered back towards me before he continued. ¡°I am not the villain of this story...Your gods are...Until we meet again human.¡± Balor then turned around and turned into a dark mist just before he disappeared. His tall dark aberrations too faded away along with him as if the grizzly scene they just showed us had never happened. The overwhelming pressure I could feel coming out from Ecclaire had now stopped and she appeared to be unconscious. Alice¡¯s POV: ¡°Yes my liege. The war with the elves currently is at a standstill. They cannot stand toe to toe with us on the battlefield and have lost tremendous numbers. We however cannot seem to penetrate their fortress inside their forest. I¡¯m sorry King Myro but even with the power of Lord Adel and his Generals the elven city appears to be surrounded by ever spinning winds that is several leagues in diameter. So far it has been impossible to penetrate my Lord.¡± ¡°I see....Well that is regrettable. But I¡¯m told they have lost quite a number of their leaders as well in our last confrontation at Trost. It shouldn¡¯t be long before we take their city and this war will be over.¡± Everyone then agreed to Gis Highnesses¡¯s words. Everyone continued speaking to the king as he sat on top of his high throne that was elevated over the great hall. The war with the elves has been a long one with the kingdom of Myro. Spanning since the kingdom was first colonized. Even I don¡¯t know what started it all. I however believe the cause does not matter much at this point. Humans always crave conflict. The Kingdom of Kairo whose kingdom¡¯s is one of the four strongest empires in the center continent technically controls this kingdom. King Myro was even appointed king from under his rule. So this war must be beneficial to them for profits or being able to fully lay claim to this continent once and for all. ¡®Why humans were given control of the world I¡¯ll never know. They really are such callous beings. I guess I¡¯m not really one to talk, my species has always been on the more evil side of the spectrum. Even most of the beings in my race that have been blessed are usually the evil gods. But I guess that¡¯s just the way this world is. Humans have even managed to obtain such items that turn them into gods themselves they say. ¡°The elves cannot stand up to the awesome might of those of Myro! This continent will soon belong to the human race! No more will we have to sleep at night in terror in constant wonder when the elves will come and slaughter us in our sleep!¡± One of his commanders had shouted in excitement while all the others in attendance agreed. I suppose they tell themselves it is a fight for their race to make them feel better about performing such cruelties. ¡®A vampire isn¡¯t much different than a human I suppose. Their origins are even said to be from ancient humans who would worship the goddess of blood Shezmu and would drink blood to gain its powers. Thusly turning them into a different race altogether. But then again I¡¯m nothing like a full blooded noble, simply a mix blood trash known to the humans as a Damphir. I was always looked at with scorn and fear of my deep crimson eyes. It is because of those eyes that the humans decided to ruin me.¡¯ I guess I never understood why, the vampire race mostly stay up north and keep to themselves. Considering there is no benefit to Myro to claim their territory it has remained out of this war entirely. I guess it doesn¡¯t matter after this war with the elves the Eastern Continent will become human territory. The Vampires are a frighteningly strong race but aren¡¯t really thought of as a threat to the humans due to their weaknesses to sunlight. If I recall they have been at war with another race in their territory since before the humans even came to this continent. Due to that as well they just stay in their homelands they¡¯ve lived in for centuries and don¡¯t venture out of the dark lands ever. ¡®Damphirs however don¡¯t have any such weaknesses to sunlight much like the humans. I guess whoever my parents where, I¡¯m thankful one of them was at least a human. That way I could enjoy things they all take for granted.¡¯ ¡°Now sire...I must bring something that has brought me a deal of concern to your attention! ¡° ¡°Speak Gallius, you haven¡¯t the need for pleasantries with me old friend.¡± Gallius of the noble house Ryse began to speak. Gallius and the King had been long friends since before he sat on throne. Gallius however had always been more of merchant that ran his families many businesses and large industries that extended even to the central continent. His trades with the central continents kingdoms are what have made the city of Myro flourish and grow to what it has today. Now it has become the strongest kingdom in the entire eastern continent. It is all thanks to this man. The man Gallius who I have pledged my life to protecting. I was nothing more than worthless child slave when he and I first met, and yet he has shown me such kindness over the years I have grown quite close with him. It was never in an intimate way, even after turning 27 to this day he has never laid a hand on me. He has however treated me like his own daughter. I¡¯m sure he treats me no differently than the child he once lost. I suppose that is why he bought me all those years ago. Whatever his reasoning, I am truly thankful to him for saving my life that day. He even bought me a prosthetic eye to replace the one that had been destroyed by those horrible humans. No...It¡¯s wrong to classify each of them by their race I¡¯ve come to find. Evil is evil in this world, and race has nothing to do with it. But Gallius is not that. I will defend him till my final days come around. He is even the one who taught me to fight, how to wield a sword. I will use my strengths given to me by blood to protect this man with my life. Gallius then began to speak of the horrendous actions of Commander Adel and giving General Valentine the order to assassinate the king of another country. There is also information and solid evidence that he was involved in a coup in the Kingdom of Aldain to gain their troops. Gallius has spies throughout the continent and has come to find out a great deal of information and it has started to become a cause of concern for him. I don¡¯t blame him, Lord Adel¡¯s actions here are too heinous to speak of. Attacking and waging war on a foreign kingdom without giving any knowledge to the King he serves under would be high treason. The kingdom of Asher has ties with the Rose Empire in the central colonies and simply attacking them while we¡¯re coming to an end with the war with the elves would bring a horrific outcome. The kingdom of Asher is the third largest kingdom in the continent and hasn¡¯t been going to war but simply providing resources to the central colonies. They will have a large number a troops but the likelihood of any of them being very strong is highly unlikely. Asher doesn¡¯t have any high ranking combatants in their armies nor do they have the power to stand against the Kingdom of Myro and our advanced magics and weaponry. However going to war with them it¡¯s possible the kingdom of Myro would also be inflicting war between the inner continents kingdoms and would receive heavy backlash. Why Lord Adel would advise an assassination on a royalty of another nation even now doesn''t make since but the facts speak for themselves. Just then the door to the great hall swung open and their stood Lord Adel and his peerage. Three of his generals he calls the 4 horsemen stood at his side without the 4th known as Lestat Valentine. The evidence that he is still traveling back from another kingdom now points even more towards his treachery. ¡°Oh hello Your Highness. Are we having a meeting without me?¡± ¡°Yes Adel...I¡¯ve heard word that you have sent one of my generals to assassinate the King of Asher. Is this correct?¡± ¡°Oh that....Yah why?¡± ¡°......¡± Everyone remained silent at his reactions. I looked over to Gallius and he too had his mouth wide open. He had just admitted to it all so simply. ¡°You...Why would you do such a thing?! Do you realize what your actions could bring to this kingdom?!¡± Gallius then yelled towards Adel who only looked at him casually. His golden long hair got into his eyes and he shook his head to get it out of his way. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with it? I simply know that once the head of the kingdom is dead the reigns will fall to the son of the Kingdom who is now currently our ally. We would gain all of the armies of Asher as well as now the armies of Aldain and Trost. The kingdom is already going to be ours...Now all of the kingdoms of the continent will all be united under one rule. The Kingdom of Myro!¡± His peerage began to become charmed by his words as if this was so simple. It goes much deeper than assassinating a foreign king! The potential threat this could pose to our kingdom is too great. We aren¡¯t even over with the war with the elves! ¡°Yes Lord Adel¡¯s actions are the correct one¡¯s your highness please see that for yourself. No one in that kingdom can compete with us and by attaining their kingdom ours only grows stronger with their troops. The crown prince Dominic is already an ally and will take the thrown. Same situation with Aldain. Now we can unite the human kingdoms in this continent together!¡± Everyone in the hall began to unite and cheer together. Only I, Gallius and the King did not join in the cheers. ¡°....Your actions Adel. Though they came to benefit this kingdom I feel it necessary you to tell me your further actions. If this wasn¡¯t handled correctly. The backlash from the central continent could have potentially brought this kingdom harm.¡± ¡®What? Why is the king forgiving him?¡¯ ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry my King. Soon Myro will become stronger than even empires in the central continent. I and my horseman will even be greater than the so called Kairo¡¯s Immortal Knights!¡± Everyone cheered towards Lord Adel¡¯s statements of war as if it had all been solved. Had he really gained the power of all the surrounding kingdoms of the continent overnight? I know Lord Adel to be strong. No one in the kingdom would ever say otherwise. He was said to be a genius even at a young age. Comprehending and mastering several levels of magic by the age of 4 and he then learned mixed martial arts under his father¡¯s orders. His parents were each once a famous adventurer from the central continent and had later settled in the Kingdom of Myro many years later with their titles and land. As he grew older he won multiple weapons¡¯ tournaments throughout the kingdom showing the overwhelming strength and prestige of the Noble family of Adel. This also showed himself to be deadly in all forms of combat. After conquering a once thought unconquerable dungeon he emerged after receiving the blessing of the sun god Lugh. Adel even emerged while holding onto the famous spear of legend. A weapon that was said to hold the power of the Sun god himself. It constantly radiates a heat off of it and drips blood once removed from its oceanic casing. It like all other holy artifacts cannot be placed in an inventory but will emerge in Adel¡¯s hand at his call. His weapon like other holy artifacts are extremely powerful and impossible to destroy while the god is still alive. Making some of these holy weapons even more powerful than some legendary weapons. It is the main reason the long war with the elves has started to turn into the favor of Myro. It is rare that a blessed being would also have a weapon comparable to a hero. Even with such a powerful spear for him to claim to be greater than the Hero of Kairo and his immortal knights is laughable. Surely he¡¯s strong but there is a reason that the 4 great empires in the central continent haven¡¯t been able to conquer the other over the centuries. It isn¡¯t because they are allied together like the kingdoms would have you believe, it is simply because fighting each other would be like fighting the gods themselves....Even the Hero of Kairo is said to wield only a shield but he uses it more furiously than any weapon. It is rumored to have a god sealed inside of it making him as well as those who follow him to be wilding the power of the gods themselves. Holy weapons I feel are already too powerful for humans to hold, and yet there are humans who wield weapons known as phantasm weapons. How can you kill a kingdom of gods? He speaks of war as if it were as simple as taking away a few pieces of the opposing members armies. Would the foreign kingdoms delegates not react to our actions if word had gotten out of this? Does he not think of how his actions could ultimately crumble the Kingdom of Myro? ¡®Why the god of such a beautiful sun would pick this one as his champion is beyond me. Adel is looked up as a hero in this kingdom and I just have never saw it. Then again most heroes are nothing like they are from the stories. Here stands the strongest leaders in the kingdom and probably the entire continent, each of them are no different. They simply look towards what will bring them each more gains. They care for nothing other than their own profits. ¡® The nobles in attendance cheered and agreed to the notion of acquiring more troops and resources as well as properties. Obviously if Myro were to then control the kingdoms of Asher, Aldain and Trost then there would be an influx of money coming in for everyone I would imagine. The increased trade and properties coming from hacking away at the resources of the other kingdoms. Humans, if it weren¡¯t for Gallius I would think they were all a rotten species. ¡°Well as long as word of this does not spread outside of this then we should be fine. If the kingdom of Asher and Aldain come into our rule then that would beneficial. We can even send their troops to fight the elves as well, relieving some of our armies. Speak of your actions first though, don¡¯t always be so against receiving council Adel.¡± ¡°Yes my King. It is not because I wanted to fool you, I just simply had everything handled before bringing it all to your attention. And try not to worry about war with other kingdoms. Regardless this war with the elves is coming to an end and with this our power will only increase. No one will ever learn of our involvement and even if they do the central continent will not care what happens in the bordering colonies. They let us rule how we wish as long as trade and commerce is not all interrupted. We can simply do business with the Rose and Kairo empires now and hopefully form peace for them as well.¡± ¡°Hmm...That would bring the kingdom of Myro a lot of support and aid as well. Good job Lord Adel, you have done well as a noble of your household and even as a knight under my rule. I shall now advance you and your family¡¯s titles to Count and give you rewards for all your accomplishments on the battlefield.¡± ¡°Oh king...¡± Everyone then began to cheer Lord Adel as he acted bashful towards the applause. Gallius and I continued to remain motionless to this. Do these idiots not understand how global commerce works? We aren¡¯t some company that does trade with kingdoms at war. We are a kingdom that is a branch of the Kingdom of Kairo. If we are found out to have assassinated the top of a kingdom that is tied to one of the four empires, the halting of trade with the inner continent will be the least of our worries. And yet, everyone continues to cheer and clap their hands. Even his peerage seems to act with joy and congratulate Lord Adel on his new title. Calling him the Hero of Myro. He simply smiles and acts to shrug it off but I see past his little facade. He lives for the attention and rewards he¡¯s given for his exploits. He smiles and pretends to be humble, but I see him for what he truly is. T ¡®Heroes really are nothing like Gallius told me they were from the stories when I was a kid. They are all however the same. This one gets adorned with cheers and applause and he is in actually a sociopath. Even the women around him that fight alongside him and his horsemen, they all are constantly swayed by the words of this man and pine over every word he says as genius. Although it¡¯s sometimes suffocating, I admit he is far more intelligent than I. It is what has lead him to being the right hand of the King and the strongest hero of Myro. He now commands all the troops under the King as his newest general. Even the Four Horsemen generals are similar to him, which is probably why Adel promoted them to be his Horseman. That and the fact they are the four strongest in the Kingdom next to Adel himself. One of the Horsemen is even a member of Adel¡¯s so called harem that always flocks beside him it seems. She however doesn¡¯t seem as mindless as the others. Although, looking at some of the women at his side do pain me to watch at times.¡¯ ¡°Yes¡­And now shouldn¡¯t we take care of those who wished to bad mouth Lord Adel Your Highness? I mean bringing some news to you and twisting it to make it sound as if Lord Adel had a rotten intent is heresy!¡± One of the Four Horsemen then walked up towards Gallius and lifted his large hammer and held it towards his head. Shink! ¡®Parry...Counter.¡¯ BOOOM! I moved my feet and slid underneath the general¡¯s large hammer and took out my crimson blade. Red thorns attached themselves to my wrist and connected to the center and began to drink from my blood. Increasing its attack power by 30%. I parried the Horseman¡¯s hammer and delivered a shot directly into the center of the general¡¯s chest. The power from the tip of my sword sent the Horseman back 10 feet and landing on his back. Everyone¡¯s eyes then widened and stared at who was the cause. There standing in between Gallius and Adel¡¯s general was me and my blood red sword. It helps being a Damphir and owning such a piece of rare equipment. It also lets me steal 10% of all damage I give back to myself. From the force of my blow the large Horseman¡¯s health only dropped by 5%. However I wasn¡¯t getting serious just yet. I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯m strong enough to take on a Horseman, but I will jump in to fight for Gallius regardless if I had a chance of winning or not. ¡°Do not dare threaten Lord Gallius lest you taste the tips of my blade again.¡± ¡°Oh my Bodin, getting whooped by a girl are we...Or no, you¡¯re a vampire right? Mmm, that¡¯s some power you got there. Any chance I could get you to join me, become my 5th horseman hehe? No? ¡° Lord Adel then started to walk closer to me while my sword still drawn. He then whispered in my direction. ¡°Or would you rather have a wanting at possibly standing at my side? Hmm? I always did have a thing for a girl with an eye patch and black leather. I think the whole look is sexy. I mean isn¡¯t it better to follow me than just some old merchant?¡± ¡®Oh you can¡¯t be serious....¡¯ Lord Adel is now trying to come onto me. In this situation. Being so strong I guess gives him the ability to stand confident in such situations. I however would never yield to such a man. Praised as a hero from the god of the sun but his actions are nothing close to a hero. I¡¯ve heard the screams coming from the halls leading to his quarters in the late nights. When Lord Adel became a blessed being he was even asked to move to the inner continent from other royalties but he declined all of them. He said he couldn¡¯t miss the opportunity at fighting the elves. Some saw this as valiant, but I and Gallius had discovered what he had meant as he had entered into the war. The few elves at his side are those he has made his prisoners of war. They look happy and even pine for him. But that¡¯s not how it was when they first came here. In fact Lord Adel couldn¡¯t even communicate with them which is why he.... ¡®I guess that¡¯s why he gave up on communicating with the elves altogether and decided to claim the prisoners for himself. The 3 elves at his sides are the same that once fought against him. It¡¯s almost as if he brainwashed them into becoming his pet slaves and followers. One day they would be cursing him in their own language, the next they would be pining for him like an animal in heat. He calls it his charm but I know the truth. He is simply like all the other heroes in this kingdom, he is like all other heroes in this world. Simply using their power to abuse the helpless and grabbing whatever it is they want for themselves.¡¯ ¡°Now, now, Bodin and Gallius there is no need for violence in my hall. I will not have it! Now as the accusation towards Gallius for speaking ill of Lord Adel is unwarranted and inaccurate. He was simply telling me of something I should have already been aware of. Do not take actions for yourself in this kingdom from now on.¡± After the atmosphere at cooled down I put my sword back into its sheath and stared back at Lord Adel and his peerage. They were said to be the strongest heroes of Myro. The ones claiming victory after victory against the elven armies. They even managed to conquer two kingdoms seemingly in a day. BAM! Just then the door to the great hall was swung open and a man in a dark robe entered into the throne room. He walked quickly until he was at the foot of the throne and kneeled. I think he is one of the Elliot¡¯s if I believe. ¡°Your Highness! I apologize for my rude entrance but there is something of import I need to show you.¡± ¡°Edwin Elliot? What is it you seem to be out of breath haha!¡± Elliot then took out a crystal and said it was a viewing crystal that he had placed on one of his family members. It came off an Elliot clansman who was with Lestat Valentine to assassinate the King of Asher. ¡°What! Destroy it at once! We can¡¯t allow anyone to see it. And wait? Why do you have such a thing and are arriving ahead of Lestat!¡± One of the high ranking nobles in the room began to clamor and looking towards Adel and his peerage they too seemed perplexed. Adel only looked back at them annoyingly. ¡°You don¡¯t understand! Lestat and all the troops that were sent to assassinate the King have all been exterminated. Wiped from this world as if they weren¡¯t even there.¡± ¡°Impossible! Lestat is one of the strongest in the continent. There¡¯s no way Asher would have anyone to stop him!¡± Bodin then voiced his opinion in concern as this plan of theirs may have backfired as they just claimed their rewards. If the king wasn¡¯t assassinated but instead Lestat was killed it would be a heavy bet that Lestat would be linked to the Kingdom of Myro and war with Asher is inevitable now. ¡°That¡¯s right it¡¯s impossible! Lestat went with over 300 troops with him from Aldain. He was level 214 himself...We received Intel the King would be in a secluded place with only a select number of elite guards during a meeting. None of which were even over level 100. There¡¯s no way they have anyone strong enough to compete with one of my Four Horsemen.¡± The crowd began to clamor and Gallius began to now argue what his true concerns were. The room became loud as everything seemed to be coming apart from the seams when Edwin Elliot screamed at the top of his lungs. ¡°THEY DO NOW!!! I¡¯ve been trying to communicate that with you people for so long. I¡¯ve been trying to tell that to my contacts in the central colonies but no one will listen to ME! Asher just made the beast in the mask their ally. The place I found this crystal at looked even worse than the colosseum form Aldain. The land, the trees, even the air....It¡¯s all toxic. The body of my clansmen was torn to pieces by one of his pets...Everything there was still smoking as if it had just happened. I have never seen such magic!¡± ¡°....¡± ¡°Beast in the mask? Oh wait...Are you talking about that lame viewing crystal that has been passed around the troops the last few days? Of that masked guy holding a scythe? Yah he destroyed a crappy colosseum big whoop? He¡¯s still not more powerful than...¡± ¡°Watch the Crystal!!!¡± Elliot then cut of Adel and everyone began to view the viewing crystal he was holding in his arms. The small images were hard to make out. It was there the Elliot clansman who had the crystal attached to him was surrounded by hundreds of warriors from Aldain. He too was in uniform. The entire video didn¡¯t last more than 5 minutes. But in those 5 minutes everyone present saw the horrible death of the once proud General Lestat Valentine. He was said to be a true hero but in all actuality he was no different than Adel in my eyes. A man with hair that almost resembled my own stepped up and challenged Lestat to a duel. In one attack roughly half of the coalition sent to assassinate the king alongside Lestat was killed with ease. Anything that received his first attack died instantly. Lestat who had received the attack head on had split in half along with his steed he always rode into battle with. The fabled Black Steele Stallion said to have as tough a defense as a smog dragon. Not only his steed and himself, but the entire 350 man legion that was alongside him were brutally torn apart without putting up so much as one casualty to those who opposed them. The attack of those three white haired figures alongside a large wolf showed that the Asher Kingdom did in fact have terrifying allies they had not yet revealed to the world. Most of which is this so called ¡®man in the mask¡¯. The sounds of the earth shattering screams coming from that weapon that gave me the feeling it must have been heavily cursed. The man however didn¡¯t appear to have any special equipment or armor of any kind but the weapon he was wielding had to at least be an ancient class. How he managed to take on Lestat¡¯s first attack unharmed is yet another mystery. ¡°Impossible....¡± ¡°Lord Valentine!!!¡± ¡°The general of the black trident is...dead?¡± ¡°...Hmm so the Asher¡¯s have someone strong as well. This will make things finally interesting for me.¡± Everyone in the room began to voice about the death of the once famed general when Lord Adel said something strange. He then claimed that to him war has become something so simple lately. Nothing can stand up to him so he has grown bored. Finding an adversary that seems strong he constantly wishes to compare his talent to theirs. ¡°You don¡¯t understand! Everyone keeps underestimating that thing! He has already killed everyone I have sent to investigate and speak with him. I even dispatched 2 pros from the central continent as orders from my King. One of them was Laxus, the thunder god¡¯s brother. I¡¯ve even tried on contacting him to let him know of this but I don¡¯t believe their family to be very close...Regardless this enemy should not be underestimated anymore.¡± ¡°Oh Laxus I remember him...He was here just a few weeks ago right? Yah I remember him he had some pretty incredible talent but I don¡¯t know if I¡¯d say he was anything impressive to our level? Are you saying you sent him to talk to this so called masked beast? ...I swear you Elliots are all the same. Constantly grinding for power, what will you do to gain it all I wonder?¡± Everyone then began to stare towards Edwin who was still kneeling before the king. ¡°....I have lost contact with Laxus as well as all of the men I have sent to speak with the figure in this image. As you can see through the crystal display, he is not someone we should take lightly. He has already slain one of your so called ¡®Horseman¡¯ as if it were as simple as swatting a fly. As I¡¯ve been trying to communicate with you, your highness. We need to kill this person and retrieve the power he wields. It¡¯s obviously threatening the very power balance of this kingdom! Your highness! We must dispatch a force necessary to deal with this person immediately!¡± Some nobles began to agree with the Elliot man to come and kill this man. Some are talking about the weapon he¡¯s holding looks to be at least an ancient class weapon they know that for certain. If I recall the Elliots have been looking for this one ever since that incident they witnessed in Aldain. I saw the crystal images of the incident and I too thought the one in the images showed some level of skill but the images I just saw here were something truly frightening. The ones he killed in Aldain were small time, not even over level 100. This was a 300 man legion who was led by one of the strongest men in the continent. If I didn¡¯t see the crystal display of what happened I may have not believed Lestat was dealt with so easily. ¡®This world truly is a large one. To think someone like that lived on the continent without our knowledge. This is full proof of why you shouldn¡¯t pick fights with kingdoms you know very little about. The man on the image alongside the other figures tore through their opponents swiftly and caused the remaining troops to panic and try to run away, only to be eaten by a large black wolf that looked to be as big as big as this entire throne room. The Elliot clansman who had been wearing the crystal had now just been torn to pieces by a large white wolf that fought alongside the white haired man. You could hear the flesh tearing as the large beast man ripped through the Elliot clansman that drowned out his cries and screams before dying immediately. ¡®Wait! That¡¯s a Lunar Lycan!¡¯ In the small amount of Vampire history I know, those things were said to be the dreaded enemy of the Vampire clan centuries ago and were thought to all be extinct. All vampires naturally move much faster than humans, but these wolves could move equally as fast. Their strength was even said to rival one of the 17 vampire pillars. Said to be the oldest members of their entire race. But those wolves¡¯ claws however has the effects of a ghost knight and would cut through any armor or shield as if it were never there to begin with. If that wasn''t all they would drain their opponents of their magical power until they are nothing but lumps of cut up flesh. Vampires and Lycanthias have never gotten along but those lunar wolves were their dreaded enemies, it¡¯s why they saw to it their whole race was annihilated in this world long ago. This was however one in the flesh and looked to have been incredibly strong. He stood 3 heads taller than all the others on the battlefield and would rip apart those with his fangs and bulging arms. My eyes widened at this realization and made me curious just to who these members of Asher really are. What sort of ancient power do they hold onto? Everyone began to clamor until Lord Adel then came up with another idea. He then proposed to everyone in the great hall if they call for a duel request with the kingdom of Asher. A duel between kingdoms is something that happens quite regularly in this continent. It is a way that some kingdoms escape war conflict and leave it up to their strongest fighters to determine the results of a war. Not always did the kingdoms adhere and obey the rules of a duel upon losing but I guess this is just a way to present our power over Asher and to make them not want to go to war with us. Everyone then began to talk amongst themselves about the duel request when Gallius said the one thing everyone seemed to have forgotten. ¡°Have you forgotten?! You¡¯ve already attempted assassinating their king. They aren¡¯t just going to accept a duel request, war is war! Duel Requests amongst nations are during peace time, you¡¯ve thrown those options out the window with what you have caused Valentine to do! Don¡¯t you realize what you¡¯ve done?!¡± ¡°.....What? Tournaments of this kind have always been held amongst kingdoms during times of peace. Asher currently is in a time of peace as they always been. It¡¯s how the rich nobles who don¡¯t fight in wars feel better about themselves...And they can¡¯t prove Valentine was acting in accordance with Myro. He was surrounded by nothing but Aldain troops in the crystal image and now he¡¯s dead...It is a shame for his death and I will mourn for him. There are other backup plans we¡¯ve had set in place in case the assassination didn''t follow through so no need to worry. But let us journey together to unite the kingdoms of the east and come together. If we can win in a duel we can show them our power and force them into an alliance with us. Their kingdom¡¯s citizens won¡¯t want to go to war with us when we whoop up on their champions some. Then we give them the terms to uniting under our rule. It is simple...We will show them just how strong Myro is and force them to unite!¡± Adel then paused and stated his solution as if coming up for it right there. It¡¯s not a horrible plan but considering the circumstances it¡¯s almost as if he is trying to make up for his past mistakes. He thinks it would be so easy. But then again...That¡¯s how most of these humans seem to be....Just very stupid. Gallius and I stood there as Lord Adel was adorned in applause to his genius plans to unite the continent under his power. Being a blessed being comes with holding the power that is comparable to the gods themselves. And yet all it does is add wood to an already large fire... Vali¡¯s POV: ¡°Vali look at my green feathers! Don¡¯t they look pretty?¡± ¡°Shhh!¡± ¡®Geezes pixies...They are incredibly useful but they are quite difficult to control at times.¡¯ Cyanin then stuck out her tongue at me as we walked through the cloud city. Currently I am disguised as an Adler species that resembles a hawk and am walking through a large town that was built on a floating rock. The buildings are all odd as not all of them are firmly built on the ground. In fact most of the houses and buildings are in trees or sit on smaller floating rocks. It was the oddest thing but this was the home floor to the Adler race on floor 22. Cyanin and Aurora have also come with me. I have Adimar and Akino along with Sting who are all as well disguised as Adlers. I simply decided to bring Sting along as long as he stayed quiet. I felt kind of bad leaving him up there for so long and I feel now is the time I need to start having an eye on him. We all have feathers coming out of the top of our heads and arms, they even felt real. There are also large wings growing out of our backs but they don¡¯t appear to be functional. The fact that all of this is all an illusion by Cyanin and Aurora just baffles me. It¡¯s so real. The reason we are disguised as Adlers is because we were instructed to hopefully extract Ollie and his away team from the Adlers¡¯ prison. We don¡¯t know what happened but we lost contact with Ollerion and the members of his party. Intel has them somewhere in one of their holding cells on this floor and we are going to get in quick and extract them. I¡¯ve come to discover my spatial magic works just fine. I however won¡¯t use it to warp outside of the dungeon just yet. If the off chance that I can do it, Balor may notice it and he WILL find a way to counter it. He already managed to stop magic as powerful as Hjokk¡¯s. The place they were said to attack Kyrah looked to have had a massive fight go down that left that entire part of the floor destroyed. Dead monsters and plant life remained and all that was found were broken weapons, including Ollie¡¯s Guan Dao. Kyrah was said to be a previously unranked person in this dungeon but her strength is apparently enough to overwhelm members of the Away team. Individuals I just saw turn an immortal monster into their own twisted whack-a-mole game. Something must have happened; she must have not been alone. Commander Locke, Malfius and Cosmia are going over everything that has happened and trying to come up with a plan of attack. We know war with Balor is only 2 days away now. We need to prepare for the fight that is coming, the fight that will ultimately become the fight of our lives. What makes this all difficult is that no one down here trusts one another, proving the so called ¡®Alliance¡¯ is just for show. Telling everyone that Balor threatened to kill everyone in only 2 days wouldn¡¯t be believed by people who are right now presumed dead and are working with someone who is currently viewed as a puppet. The puppet in question is me. Apparently word was spread of this after Balor summoned everyone and attacked. I also learned the number of losses was totaled in the 10s of thousands. Every race received a heavy blow from the attack of the Fomorians and have lost many, to the point that each race is nearing extinction entirely. The Adlers however have managed to maintain roughly 12,000 of their numbers. Those that lost the most however are the Arachnee. They now only have around 500 of their numbers remaining. This is also apparently why the Queen has been hard to communicate with as they moved the remainder of their species back to their home floor. It¡¯s hard to defend their home from monsters on their floor so they needed every member of their race to move to their location. When I heard of this I thought of the two Arachnee that I had met on floor one. Reinma and her daughter Karma. I don¡¯t know if they are alive but I hope so. They were quite kind to me. We continued to walk through the strange city. Bird people of all kinds were flying off in the distance land masses that floated in clouds. I¡¯m told this floor has many monsters on the floor but they also have some in the cloud cities but they are mostly easily manageable. They have strange yellow barriers that resemble the same ones from Anfang. The same ones the Elkia race were said to have provided. We were going to walk in unnoticed and attempt to extract them. We were however not going to try a fight here. That is simply for the reason of not wanting to start a fight now. Currently Malfius and the others are working on what to say to the other race leaders of what Balor had told them. I¡¯m not going to lie. Balor had said quite a lot. Sadly I just don¡¯t have time to think of it all...I don¡¯t care of what I absorbed has changed me...I¡¯ve come to accept that. But I have to get back to Kaylan. Whatever it takes, I will one day reunite with all of my family...I have to fight this thing to hopefully save her as well. Hopefully whenever I leave this place and gain some land I can go and look for her. Hjokk is back in her bird form and sitting on my shoulder. She too has been thinking a lot of what Balor had said. She has told me she is going to join me in this fight. We will have the full power of a Valkyrie in this fight but according to her she¡¯s not sure just how great that makes our odds here. According to Hjokk Balor is incredibly strong. Capable of creating armies of darkness within seconds. Comparing Balor to a being like Malthiel or herself just not possible. They were creations of divines while he himself was a divine. If it were the daytime he would be vulnerable but if it were night, it would probably take dozens of gods to slay him according to her. We in this dungeon only makes things worse for us. He has too much of an advantage in this place. When I asked if there was a possibility about other gods finding out about this and coming to our aid. Possibly if Loki had found out but she said Brynhildr wasn¡¯t there when she visited. Nor has she ever had any contact with the god wolf. Since gods can¡¯t meddle in the affairs on middle earth directly we cannot count on him. But Loki does know of this place. Expecting him to step in though at just the right time is pushing it but maybe other gods can hopefully come to find out about Balor¡¯s plans before it¡¯s too late. The odds would have really started to look grim if not according to Hjokk it isn¡¯t all game over yet. She still thinks we have a good possibility at killing him. When I asked her the reasons for this she simply said one thing...¡®Because he¡¯s descended. He¡¯s quite vulnerable now.¡¯ I¡¯m still not sure quite what descending actually means to a god, but according to Hjokk it means they drastically lose a large amount of their divine power. I¡¯m still not sure what that means yet but Hjokk explained it by saying his life is now tied to this world¡¯s laws. I guess she¡¯s saying he¡¯s basically the equivalent of some legendary boss monster in this world now. He isn¡¯t the same godly presence he once was. But I can assume his power is tremendous, enough to turn something like Malthiel into his own puppet. Really how did I find myself in this place, if I recall it¡¯s because Fenrir ran in here... ¡®Well no sense in blaming anyone I continued to come back in here. It doesn¡¯t matter, our fates are linked now. I started out simply by wanting to pull these people to my side by good deeds but they simply continue on pass the loss past the deaths. They continue looking towards Balor as their one true enemy and won¡¯t back down ever. I guess Courage counts for something in this world....¡¯ I honestly don¡¯t care as to the reason¡¯s Balor created this place neither. I¡¯m sure it¡¯s just another sob story, we all got our own baggage. You don¡¯t see me trying to end the world for it. I can understand his need for revenge, but not to the extent to damn a bunch of innocent people in the process. ¡°OWE!!....My knee...Owwww.¡± I then turned and saw a little bird girl holding her knee and rocking back and forth. Her legs from her toes to her knees resembled a birds. She however didn¡¯t look anything like the Adlers I¡¯ve seen so far. She didn¡¯t have any hands and her wings themselves were her hands. She looks kind of like a harpy? I then saw a small boy then fly over to her and pick up the toy he dropped. He then walked over to the girl and looked at her leg. While looking at this I casually walked over to where they were. I walked up to the little girl and stuck my hand close to her leg and activated my healing magic on her. ¡°Mmm...That feels nice! Wow!¡± ¡°Wha¡¯d you do mister?¡± [Vali¡­Aren¡¯t you supposed to be pretending to be an Adler?] ¡®Sorry I couldn¡¯t help it.¡¯ I could hear Hjokk speaking to me on my shoulder and I just shrugged back at her. I then turned around and started to walk back and saw the rest of my party who looked like Adlers give me an odd look. I guess it is weird stepping into a person¡¯s yard and healing their kids. Considering all the other houses are in floating masses or on trees this one is on the same floor as the city. This house and area seemed friendly enough that kids play outside I guess I didn¡¯t think it would be odd. ¡°Come on...We have to make this trip quick. We don¡¯t know how long they will be holding them for.¡± Akino then tried to remind me while the pixies giggled to themselves. Sting and Adimar however just shook their heads. I know I shouldn¡¯t use my healing magic right now but in all honesty it¡¯s quite easy to conceal now claiming it to be just one of those healing rings like Alysteir had. Telling the two bird children that made them both seem kinda excited but I waved at them goodbye and walked to step out of their yard. ¡°Eee....piii¡± As I was walking to step over the small white fence next to the house I saw a small child sitting alone by herself. She was watching the rest of the kids playing and flying around while she just sat there. ¡®.....What?¡¯ What happened to her? I walked closer to the girl and could see this little girl was horribly disfigured. How I missed seeing her is a mystery but there sitting alone, playing in the grass was a small bird like girl. Small odd appendages appeared out from her back and I guess they were supposed to be her wings. She was missing some of her teeth and almost all of her hair. She did however have a small strands of purple hair on her scalp and three purple feathers on top of her head. However even though she didn¡¯t have many feathers on the rest of her body, the top of her head looked to have been partially caved in. It looked like....Someone, abused this little girl. I walked closer to her and she looked up at me cautiously. She had bright purple eyes that also had a beautiful green color in them. She looked back up at me curiously but didn¡¯t say anything. Looking at this girl for whatever reason broke my heart. I don¡¯t know why though... I picked up the girl in my arms and put my hand on her to look at her condition. She shook and looked up at me oddly. ¡°Ooooo...Up...Ugh...¡± Even with my language skill I just...Can¡¯t understand her. I think this little girl may have brain damage. ¡°Hey what are you doing? Get your hands off that child!¡± I then turned my head and saw a large figure that stood slightly taller than myself. She had large grey wings and long grey hair and even a beak. She also had a very large figure. ¡® Heh..It¡¯s the mother hen.¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t know why I picked up the girl. I just wanted to try healing her. I don¡¯t know why I¡¯m going out of my way to do this either...¡¯ ¡°She has an illness where your feathers will all fall off. It¡¯s not safe to...¡± She then walked up and saw all of us and then seemed to have calmed down oddly when she saw me holding the girl. ¡°Well¡­I guess Ikaros does enjoy the fondness. That one doesn¡¯t get many who show her such attention these days. ¡° I looked down at the small bird girl in my arms and she looked up at me and smiled while biting her lip. The small girl looked nervous for some reason. I didn¡¯t even notice the looks of those in my party or Hjokk on my shoulder and used my Recovery ability on the small bird girl. A bright white light poured out of my palms and onto the little girl¡¯s cheek. The warmth from my ability left my fingertips and passed onto the small girl who kind of reminded me of Ari. ¡°Oh...eh.¡± Light continued to wash over her and her complexion began to change but I had to continue to pour out more and more of my magic. The process of healing this girl seemed much slower even while having my hands on her which seems to accelerate the process her wounds did not heal immediately. The mother hen then began to widen her eyes but only stared at the young girl in my arms. Ikaros closed her eyes but had a nice smile on her face. Slowly the top of her head began to repair itself and look to almost be inflating. Her skin had become healthier and was a nice peachy color now. She however remained to have only a few purple feathers left on her head. Ikaros continued to look at her hands in my arms and look up at me while smiling oddly. I still couldn¡¯t understand her very well. Just small pieces of words here and there. ¡°Incredible...You...How?! She¡¯s...You healed her!¡± The mother hen then ran up to me and observed the small girl and looked at her in amazement. She however didn¡¯t come to pick her up nor did the girl reach back for her. I then began to hear the story of Ikaros. Once the child of a high ranking member of their society, didn¡¯t adhere to the test of the warriors in their family. Birds have a habit of tossing their newborns out of the nest to see if they are strong enough to fly. Most bird species however would go and catch the falling bird if it couldn¡¯t fly quite yet. Ikaros was apparently a child with longstanding illness long before this and wasn¡¯t even able to speak let alone fly. Judging by this it seems possible this girl was born with a birth defect. They however regardless of this knowledge still dropped her from a large height which caused her to be in such a state. How she managed to stay alive is a miracle. Whenever she couldn¡¯t fly however the ones who dropped her apparently gave up on her. The mother hen was not descriptive of everything but I did learn quite a bit about these Adlers from her. Ikaros along with all of the other children here are orphans. Products of lost parents who died in the dungeon and this mother hen of sorts is the one who is in charge of taking care of them on this floor it seems. So¡­there are people like this too in this world. I guess it would make since they would need a place like this should losses occur in this dungeon. This house doesn¡¯t seem to be very large but I do see quite a lot of kids flying around and playing on the roof and inside. All of them were a race of Adler but none looked anything like Ikaros. Ikaros however is said to be one of the few remaining members of her race of Adler and yet... They would just...Toss her away. I¡¯m not sure what kind of bird race the little girl was from but if that race was about to go extinct would you not want to hold onto what little of your people you have left. The Adlers too lost many in Balor¡¯s attack but not nearly as many as the other races. This mother hen here apparently went out of her way to protect all of the children, even Ikaros who couldn¡¯t fly. I looked down at Ikaros who was looking back up at me. Her wings didn¡¯t grow back any feathers and still looked to be quite weak. ¡®Did I not heal her?¡¯ Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. She looked back up at me and smiled with a tear in her eye. She then started shaking oddly in my hands. This caused me choke up thinking she was about to have a seizure. Hayden had seizures all the time, it was a nightmare having it happen the first time. I didn¡¯t know how to handle it and with mom already gone I thought I would lose him right there. ¡°Chiiriiii¡± Two of the three purple feathers on her head then fell from her balding scalp and onto my arms.
You have received Feathered Grace Agility rises by 15 Wind resistance rises by 1% Skill Length: 2 Minutes
¡®A notification? ...She was performing a skill?¡¯ Ikaros then opened her big purple eyes and looked back up at me smiling to see if I enjoyed what she had done for me. She then started to cough. Cough..Cough... ¡®Just trying to perform that skill just now caused her to lose two of her feathers....The mother hen said she had some longstanding illness...Did I not cure it? If I had a crystal here I would but, even with my magic manipulation and my healing skill is it impossible for me? Why does this little girl¡¯s appearance break my heart so badly? It doesn¡¯t even beat anymore and yet, the idea of walking away from this girl without healing her just, pains me. It¡¯s as if I forgot I even had a heart until it clenched up upon meeting her.¡¯ Why would they throw such a beautiful little girl away? Coming from someone who¡¯s lost everything would know just how horrible an action like this was. I had everything I loved ripped away right in front of me. Brutalized...murdered right in front of me. I would have probably even traded away my soul to get them back if I could. And yet...these Adlers simply throw their own away as if they were garbage. I don¡¯t know why but my heart really broke for this small girl. Her outside wounds are healed but, for whatever reason I don¡¯t feel she¡¯s been fully healed. It¡¯s as if only her physical appearance has changed. It¡¯s a strange feeling but it¡¯s different than with Ari. It¡¯s as if whenever I used my Recovery skill I could still feel something was still wrong even after using the skill. I¡¯ll have to try with a magical crystal later and maybe that would work. Magic Manipulation is amazing, I¡¯ve come to the understanding it¡¯s probably what allows me to activate my magic immediately without any chanting like other humans. If I didn¡¯t have the ability I probably couldn¡¯t even perform the skills at all. But after trying to use Death Grip on that King Hydra I¡¯m aware that there are still some limitations to it as well. ¡°fer...ie end?..¡± Ikaros then looked back up at me and I made out one of the words she said....I smiled back down towards her. It may be possible this little girl still has brain damage, and it¡¯s not just an illness. I honestly don¡¯t know if my healing skill can wash away birth defects. I feel as if what my skill does is heal and repair until it is back to its original healthy state...I¡¯ve continued to pour out the skill on her back but nothing is changing. I just need to work on the skill more. Increase its mastery and maybe even one day I can repair something like this. People in my world were born with birth defects too. I imagine it¡¯s a nightmare for the parents upon learning the disabilities of their child. In a world where anything is possible I refuse to accept someone is born only to be thrown away. Thought of as useless... If magic is capable of doing anything, why not this. I then put my hand on the top of her now round head and activated my skill again while listening to the mother hen talk to me. Ikaros put her hands on my wrist and closed her eyes. She seemed to like the warmth coming out from the bottom of my hands. Ari said that was her favorite part about being held. My warmth. This skill does produce a lot of heat... ¡®You really are so simple Vali...Heh, a little girl calls you her friend and you¡¯re willing to bend over backwards for her. I wonder when I started becoming this type of person anyway. I was never a good guy, I was just a decent person who did his best providing for his family. I never really went out of my way for much else, I don¡¯t even think I had the ability to. Now I¡¯m being asked to lead so many and I can¡¯t even get over the tiniest things I walk by in the middle of a mission. I for whatever reason just don¡¯t have the ability to ignore this girl¡¯s pain in front of me. It¡¯s just that every time I see a child afraid or weak, I just wish I could help them. Since I couldn¡¯t really help my own family when they really needed me...¡® ¡°Well...I guess Ikaros made a new friend today didn¡¯t she. Sir whoever you are from the bottom of my heart....Thank you so much for what you have done. I don¡¯t know how you managed to heal this one, in all honesty I don¡¯t care. But I thank you for doing what you did.¡± The mother hen introduced herself as Mother Gwenelle but that we could all call her Gwen. She then started telling all of us to come inside and that we being outside probably wouldn¡¯t be the best idea. She then mumbled something under her breath about holding Ikaros just before ushering us inside. ¡°Hi Gwenni. I don¡¯t have much time today but I was hoping to come see...¡± A large shadow then appeared around me. I turned my head and there flying in our direction was a large muscular Adler woman. She had golden wings and bright golden feathers that sat largely atop her head. The tall Adler woman then stopped at our images and looked between Gwen and myself. She then looked at what I was holding in my arms. ¡°Get your hands off IKAROSSSS!!!!¡± WOoooosh! Within a moment the large Adler woman appeared inches in front of my face. Without flapping her wings she glided towards me with her nicely toned arms at her sides. She somehow managed to cover a distance of dozens of meters without me able to follow her at all. It¡¯s as if she sliced through the air without any resistance whatsoever. Her size makes it seem impossible she could move through the air at such speeds but its borderline as quick as my own spatial magic. She hovered around me before landing and stared at Ikaros in my arms. Who is this woman? When she landed two other Adlers flew and landed beside her. They stood tall, in fact much taller than Adimar in fact. Looking towards my party they then started signaling me they had to leave. They each stood behind the large Adler in front of me. They kept signaling to the large woman in front of me while trying to make out the letters with their beaks. ¡®....What? Are you kidding me? How the hell am I supposed to read your lips! You all have beaks. Why even pick the type of Adler without lips!?¡¯ I then started motioning towards them that I couldn¡¯t understand them. Cyanin then started trying to make letters with her body which prompted Aurora to do the same. Adimar and Akino then started shaking their heads and Sting has honestly finally decided to shut up. He hasn¡¯t said much since I let him down in fact. ¡°How...Her....Her head wound is gone!¡± ¡°....¡± The Adlers then started getting closer to me and observing Ikaros in amazement. This caused the small girl to get nervous and duck deeper into my arms but she looked happy to be getting all the attention. ¡°Is is...her illness gone. Can¡­Can I hold her now?¡± The large woman then reached her long arms towards me. Could this Adler be her birth mother? She doesn¡¯t look to be the same race of Adler as Ikaros at all. It was then that I noticed just how beautiful this Adler in front of me was. Everything she wore was adorned in gold much like her hair. Her clothes even her earrings were small golden crystals. She looked to be a divine herself. Her eyes were even golden which matched her tan skin. I then told her I wasn¡¯t sure if I had healed her entirely yet but I believed that I could in time. Her eyes widened at what I had said. She then twitched and glared back at me. Ikaros then had rose her head up over my arms and looked towards the girl in front of her strangely and back at me. ¡®I guess I shouldn¡¯t said that. By for whatever reason I was somehow given the blessings of a god in this world, someone like me who has the blood of the thing I hate most. I don¡¯t know what that really means exactly but what I do know is that it has given me the abilities to help people. I just always believed if I had such an ability...I¡¯d use it. I then stared back towards my party who continued to signal to me. ¡°I don¡¯t understand you...¡± ¡°¡¯Kyrah¡¯ you idiot. How can you not tell that this was a ¡®K¡¯?¡± Cyanin then stuck out her tongue at me while folding her arms. ¡®Wait...This woman?¡¯ The large Adler then turned around and saw everyone behind me then looked back at me and grinned her white teeth. ¡°Yah...So I¡¯m Kyrah. So what? Is this some way of trying to win me over or somethin? Trying to say you¡¯ll heal her completely if I do somethin for ya...Huh!¡± Kyrah then pressed even closer to me while sticking her fist towards me. She however tried to manage to stay cautious as I was holding the small girl in my arms I noticed. Her large golden wings extended outward and towered over me to the point of causing a large shadow over us and the rest of this small yard. Now that I notice it...What¡¯s that weird noise I keep hearing? ¡°No...Or maybe it¡¯s, you want to threaten her life! ¡° ¡°What?¡± ¡°Yah!...You¡¯ll say you¡¯re gonna hurt my baby sister if I don¡¯t fight for you! Something like that...Well I¡¯m onto your little games white hawk! ¡± Kyrah began to grow closer to me as she admitted to being her older sister. Both their feathers however are nothing alike. ¡°What are you talking about, just no¡­Listen...¡± ¡°What are you planning child!¡± I then got interrupted from another one of the large Adlers and it was in all honesty just really....uncomfortable. The tall Adlers then surrounded me and continued to make these odd noises that came out of their noses as they breathed outwards. Whenever they got flustered that weird noise would continually chirp whenever they spoke...¡¯It was kind of annoying honestly. I don¡¯t know what it is about the Adlers if it¡¯s just the way they talk, or their odd movements they make. They¡¯re just really...cooky.¡¯ ¡°CHIRP!¡± ¡®Ok what is even happening now?¡¯ ¡°Speak Hawk!...CHIRP!¡± ¡°Umm...Ok can we first calm down and talk? And umm stopping all that chirping would also be nice.¡± They then each looked each other oddly then back at me. Then everyone in my party too looked at me with an odd look. Hjokk then however just turned her head off as if feigning ignorance. ¡®Was it wrong to say?¡¯ ¡°What? That one just said chirp! There¡¯s no way I¡¯m the only one who can hear that.¡± Everyone then just began to shake their heads back at me. ¡®What? It¡¯s annoying.¡¯ Kyrah then began to get closer to me and stick her face next to Ikaros and forgot about me altogether. Ikaros then stuck her hands out and into Kyrah¡¯s larger hands. She resembled what I would assume an amazon huntress would look like. Kyrah said Ikaros was her baby sister? Then why is the baby sister of the King of the entire race living here? Not in some mansion somewhere. Especially if she cares for her as much as she said she does. But by looking at how the two of them are reacting to one another after Ikaros was healed, it¡¯s impossible to mistake this bond as anything else but the love between siblings... ¡®This person Kyrah was first thought to be a puppet. Judging by her behavior now I¡¯m just gonna rule her out on that one. I think it¡¯s also possible to sway her into joining us. Not that I plan on doing the methods that she so eloquently described but judging by her attitude she did want to get close to the small girl in my arms. She being the leader of her entire race we can then gain the combined strengths of the Adler race. This will be good. We can¡¯t be sure if everyone in her kingdom isn¡¯t a puppet. But at this point we need to move forward and prepare for war. There simply isn¡¯t enough time to play it safe anymore.¡¯ Mother Hen eventually walked over and invited us all into the house where she calmed everyone down enough for me to speak. It was there we told Kyrah just who we were and what we were there to do. We also tried to explain the incident that happened with her and the reasons for it. At first everyone was prepared to attack me at learning I was Vali. Apparently knowledge of me as a puppet has spread around quite a lot amongst the races. When Adimar and Akino both revealed themselves and claimed what I had said was in fact true. They even had said they had once left this dungeon. For whatever reason Kyrah and the two Adlers with her both acted quite hostile at first but whenever hearing Adimar¡¯s words and testimony they somehow trusted it unconditionally. I¡¯m not sure what kind of person Adimar use to be but apparently it was enough to hold quite a deal of respect amongst all the races. Even when he lost his title as the alpha each of the race leaders still show him a great deal of respect and listen quite intently when he talks. ¡°So...Balor¡¯s finally decided to call it quits on the whole thing huh? Well, I guess that means we should all prepare then. ¡° ¡°2..2 days!¡± ¡°....¡± Everyone in the room began to clamor but it was Kyrah who seemed the calmest. Gwen however took the most shock amongst those who heard. It was a lot to handle. We still haven¡¯t told them what Balor plans to do upon escaping this dungeon but we have told them we wish for them to come speak to Malfius and the other¡¯s so we can formulate a plan of attack. With her help we can hopefully unite a lot of people. ¡°Eh...Yah I might be the King but I only command roughly 1,500 troops.¡± ¡°What?¡± Kyrah then spoke about how regardless of her sitting on the thrown currently. There is a large divide of the remaining Adlers on who is thought to be the new ruler. Her father Griphlocke was the previous King and he ruled with an iron fist. He is also the father of Ikaros. Kyrah and she however have different mothers. ¡°Yah, my brother Griff leads the largest faction of around 5,000 Adlers. There are also other contenders to the crown but after they saw what I did to Griff they¡¯ve left me alone for the time being. But with this information I can hopefully unite the rest of Adlers and prepare for Balor.¡± ¡°Kyrah? You can¡¯t think we have a chance at beating Balor? I mean? How can we even be sure this is all real? What if he really is a puppet?¡± Kyrah then looked towards one of the Adlers who came with her and reached over to me and picked Ikaros up. She smiled warmly down at her sister while she sat across from us. ¡°But Kyrah! You can¡¯t. What about her illness?¡± ¡°Why would they have any reason to lie Luka? Why would a puppet go through all the trouble of healing Ikaros? Why do any of these things unless it wasn¡¯t all fact. And besides...If all I have is 2 more days of life left, who cares about losing all my feathers or being to fly again...Besides, I want to hold my little sister for the first time in my life...¡± Kyrah then began to hold onto Ikaros and hug her gently. It was a warm sight. Considering how the other Adlers are taking it she is the one who seems to have her feelings in order. The other Adlers then quieted down and began to think about everything that was said. Gwen then looked at the scene in front of her and forgot her previous feelings of hopelessness. ¡°..Ha...ppy...so..happy¡± ¡°...I¡¯ll someday get to speak to you Ikaros. We¡¯ll be together all the time and get to talk all day long¡­Finally getting to hold you after so long really is nice. I hope you know that Kyrah loves you, with all of her heart. Know that you have someone in this world who truly cherishes you, you¡¯re never alone.¡± This may be the first time they have been able to speak to one another. ¡®Hmm wait can they not understand each other?¡¯ ¡°She said she¡¯s happy.¡± ¡°...¡± Kyrah then looked up at me oddly. Her wings twitched back and I could hear that strange chirping noise coming out of her nose again. I then explained how one of my abilities works and how whatever race hears me, hears my voice in whatever their native tongue is. It even allows me to speak to those who don¡¯t know even know a language yet as it would seem. ¡°Yah watch...Ikaros¡­This here, is your sister. Kyrah.¡± ¡°...really?¡± Ikaros looking towards me turned her head up at the woman holding her as if realizing these words I had told her for the first time was truth. If they couldn¡¯t communicate, it¡¯s obvious this girl probably had no idea what Kyrah was saying either let alone being her family. ¡®Hell no one¡¯s ever picked her up how would she know who her family is in such a place.'' She then looked up at Kyrah and made a nervous face. ¡°Kee..ruh.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right Ikaros. I heard you!...I¡¯m your elder sister Kyrah!...Ohhhh I love you so much hehehe!¡± Kyrah hugged onto her sister tightly as she too could understand her sister¡¯s broken speech for the first time. She then forgot of everyone else sitting there again. I guess I¡¯ll give them their moment. I then asked one of the other Adlers if it was possible of releasing the members of the Away team they had in their holding cells and before he had a chance of answering Kyrah ordered them both to do it at once. She then instructed them to gather all their leaders in their race and bring them to their Warrior¡¯s Hall which is some large meeting space. Kyrah was going to make an announcement and try to gather all the Adlers under her influence. ¡°Well, you said Malfius and the Red Queen are still alive right? Well I think its best I go talk with them now and see what their plans are going forward. You two go gather everyone into the Warriors Hall and release the prisoners.¡± ¡°But..You must have a guard! What if....¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be fine Luka. Seriously think I need a guard? I already showed them why that¡¯s not necessary. Besides...¡± Kyrah then walked over to me and then...¡®Wait what?¡¯ Kyrah then put one of her finely-toned arms over the back of my head and planted a kiss right on my cheek. The very corner of her lips touched mine and it was enough to make me immediately stop what I was doing. I was frozen for some reason. It was a great first attack. ¡°I like this one...He¡¯s powerful enough to beat up my bastard of a father and kind enough to heal my dear sister. Now hurry along... ¡° ¡°HEY!!¡± ¡°Wait!¡± ¡°.....¡± Cyanin, Aurora and everyone else clamored as Kyrah had done that. She then winked at me which made the situation even weirder and instructed us to take her to our headquarters. I¡¯m honestly more of a take charge kind a guy when it comes to women but this is the first time I¡¯ve actually met a woman like Kyrah. She¡¯s just...Ugh I seem to be drawing a blank for some reason... I guess I just don¡¯t know how to react to such a person. Cyanin then darted towards me and sat on top one of my shoulders while holding up her hands. Then Aurora flew over and held me hand why trying to shield me from her. I looked over at Hjokk and for some reason her beak was remaining wide open. Was it really that big of a deal? I mean I just healed her sibling? I¡¯d be over joyous as well. [I don¡¯t trust this one Vali...She must be a puppet.] ¡®Oh calm down Hjokk. She¡¯s clearly nothing like Ecclaire was she was awake.¡¯ [No her actions aren¡¯t like a females at all! Skuld told me the girl is supposed to wait for the man to kiss her! You¡¯re supposed to wait!] Ok, I¡¯m not even going to respond to that anymore. She continued clamoring on in my ears for a bit and we each continued to back to the base on floor 52. It was honestly a lot noisier than I¡¯d like it to have been but there ya go... ¡°You¡¯re not allowed to kiss Vali anymore! If you want to kiss Vali you have to ask us first!¡± ¡®What is Cyanin even saying now?¡¯ ¡°Oh is that right hahaha. ¡° ¡°That is right. He is under our protection as per Cosmia¡¯s ord....¡± ¡°Shh!¡± ¡°Oh yah!¡± The pixies began to clamor around and I don¡¯t even want to know. What is that Queen pixie doing now? ¡°Oh protection is it...You know I do recall hearing something of the Annunakes claiming to have defeated you recently. Is that what this one is talking about?¡± ¡°Must be...¡± ¡°That¡¯s right! After we heard what happened to him on floor one when we weren¡¯t around it deeply upset us! Cosmia ordered us to make sure he always has a few guards wherever he goes from now on.¡± ¡°Right!¡± Aurora and Cyanin then started talking up to the towering Kyrah while walking next to me. ¡°Mmm yes. Would be a pity to get surrounded attacked when you¡¯re alone....¡± Kyrah then made a wise crack towards the Adimar and Akino but I think she may have mostly meant it towards herself getting attacked. ¡°Mmm Ikaros you¡¯re so pretty now. Such soft skin, almost as much as your late mothers...¡± ¡°Mm...Kee raahh..¡± She then continued talking to Ikaros while fading in and out of her conversation with the rest of the party. Ikaros too looked back at the large woman who held her gently caressed her skin. She was the tallest in the group and she had no problem being the center of attention it seems. Her large golden wings take up a lot of space even when she retracts them. She almost makes Adimar and all of his muscles look plain and simple. ¡°Yes Vali¡¯s amazing, he healed me too. He¡¯s the best!¡± ¡°Yes that is why we must protect him! He¡¯s our favorite so you can¡¯t just go touching him just whenever you want!¡± ¡°Yes, I seem to even recall something else happening after that little scramble of yours with these doggies. I must say ¡®Vali¡¯ seeing you here all put back together again alongside the very people who were said to have taken you down is peculiar. Trusting you is something in all actuality I would have never have done if it weren¡¯t for what you did for my dear Ikaros. It is for that alone I have chosen to put my faith in you...That and the moment you kicked my father¡¯s ass was probably one of the happiest moments in my life so you already had my favor mphmph.¡± ¡°Vali..What is she talking about?¡± I just shrugged and pretended to feign ignorance. I guess the pixies aren¡¯t aware of my full treatments after they surrounded me essentially the same as what they probably did to Kyrah here. I guess it¡¯s best if they don¡¯t know. Even though some of these pixies are older than me they have this innocent way about them, with their behaviors it makes me always just treat them as children. ¡°So your father was the one who thought it was ok to drop Ikaros even though he knew she couldn¡¯t fly?¡± ¡°....Yes. He was a bastard but he was strong so people followed him. Fathered sons and daughters he held no relation with unless they were strong. He wasn¡¯t even willing to take back in Ikaros after she failed in her right of passage. If Ikaros¡¯s mother was alive maybe it wouldn¡¯t have wound up this way. But he had his guards hold me down and let go of Ikaros right in front of me. If you only knew the....Well..Look at me singing my own sob story. Sorry to bore ya. Guess all I¡¯m saying is not everyone¡¯s mourning ol daddy Griphlocke¡¯s death.¡± This is quite the warrior clan. If you aren¡¯t strong enough, you¡¯re basically thrown away. According to Kyrah Ikaros wasn¡¯t allowed to live in the castle and considering her illness she wasn¡¯t even allowed to be picked up. So Kyrah made it to where she would live under Gwenn¡¯s care. Even after Kyrah became king after winning in a duel with her older brother Griff she couldn¡¯t simply move her half-sister into her quarters after the previous King forbade it. Apparently the whole situation is a little more complicated than I thought. She doesn¡¯t appear to hold the power of the largest army as we had once thought either. She does appear to be quite strong though and should be a strong ally. I was attacked in the same way as Kyrah but she came out of it completely different than I did. This bird woman here managed to take down her pursers and I don¡¯t see much of any evidence of a fight at all on her. ¡°I hope all the Away team members are alive? How did you manage to take them all down anyways?¡± ¡°Oh yes they¡¯re all alive. And in all honesty they had a clever plan at taking me down and making it impossible for me to fly anywhere in that little box they trapped me in with their web. But they simply made the mistake of thinking I wasn¡¯t equally as dangerous on the ground mphphph....¡± ¡®Hmm, so bird girl¡¯s strong huh. Says her level is only 303. It¡¯s weird to think but I guess she¡¯s from that so called legendary bird race. Balor really did work hard to collect an odd assortment of races. He really wanted to test the potential of his creations with the very best races who could fight against it. Who knew thousands of years later some of the races wouldn¡¯t even make it far enough to know the sad truth of it all...¡¯ ¡°You don¡¯t seem to be afraid like the other Adlers. Do you not fear Balor?¡± I asked Kyrah this as she pondered the question in her head. ¡°Heh...I think everyone in here is in some way scared of that evil bastard. But gods are cruel. They don¡¯t care if we hate em. So we turn that fear and hate into strength. Nobody in here would turn away at fighting him over staying in here forever. He¡¯s simply stepped on us like bugs for far too long to just drown us in fear any longer. I have doubts sure but I refuse to let them drown me any longer.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a nice way of putting it I suppose.¡± ¡°...Regardless if we win or not, we won¡¯t go quietly.¡± Kyrah then looked down at the Ikaros and smiled towards her as we all continued onward. I pondered through all of what Balor and Kyrah had said as we all continued back to base after gaining an unlikely ally. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- As we entered back into the base the entrance was practically barren. We however heard loud noises coming from the interior of the cave. As we walked through the waterfall it was then I saw the meaning for all the loud noise. ZAAAAPP ¡°Ahahaha...This is incredible!!!¡± ¡°Do me next!¡± Members of the away team were all surrounding Izzie and attacking her. She was wearing some strange cobalt colored armor. The breast plates looked to be made out of the shells of that Grootslang monster. Every time someone would attack a large streak of lightning would then attack the person who swung the weapon. ¡®No way they made it into an armor this fast?¡¯ I walked over and asked about what had happened and they simply laughed and pointed towards a small Jiji man. It was Pek. ¡°Like..momo..New armor..Really something....mm..momo...huh?¡± ¡°Yah no kidding....¡± I then looked at the armor and picked up one of the ones on the table. In the amount of less than a day they managed to put together an armor using the shells of that boss monster. It has a shiny silver trim and has a good weight to it. It¡¯s light, much lighter than I would have expected but it still has a solid weight to it. It¡¯s put together so well and the interior of the armor is made of some weird fabric I¡¯m unfamiliar with. The collar however has dark black fur on it that looks to be from the Fomorians. It goes around the neck of it for added protection. Balor did say their fur had a lot of magic resistance to them as well as being incredibly durable. I then tried to observe the armor.
Grootslang Shock Armor Durability 2200/2200 Strength Requirement: 120 Defense +420 Strength + 20 Lightning Resistance + 15 % Dark Resistance + 7 % Poison Resistance + 3 % Magic Resistance + 5 % Added Effect: Shock Armor: Any physical attacks will result in 150 lightning damage towards the attacker. + 10% chance of causing paralysis for 2 minutes. Additional Effects: This armor has been prepared and finely crafted by the hands of a skilled artisan. Quality of completion S rank. Fighting Spirit + 35 Strength + 10 Defense + 20 Stamina + 45 Due to the fine craftsmanship stamina will reduce 10% slower while wearing this finally crafted leather armor made from the once ancient and treacherous beast known as the Grootslang.
¡®Damn this is some armor. I can where this and add this onto my Lightning armor and increase its effects with this. It¡¯s even stronger than my current skill is but considering I can raise my skills and not this armor that¡¯s just a bonus. It¡¯s also a great profit because if we can make more of these it would be possible to give everyone a leather armor that attacks anything that would attack them. And 10 % of the time it would paralyze whatever attacked them. This is really an amazing piece of work. It even raises stats while wearing it.¡¯ ¡°This is amazing Pek...You made this in a day? It¡¯s incredible. Is it possible to make more of these?¡± Pek then looked up at me oddly and back at the armor. He then smiled and started talking. ¡°Heh..momo..I wasn¡¯t expecting that...reaction..mmo...Here I was planning on asking to somehow barter all of the leathers off you but, even you see...mm ...it¡¯s value...Heh...splendid. ¡° ¡°Obviously it¡¯s truly a great piece of work. It¡¯s almost as amazing as those Adamantine spikes you bartered with me. They worked incredibly well.¡± ¡°Hey...Ok no way...No way you can understand him. All he says is ¡®momo jiji momo jiji¡¯. I thought you were just playing around before but there¡¯s no way you can understand him right?¡± Sting then walked up and entered into our conversation. Wait..He was there when I explaining my language ability to Kyrah. Was he not even listening? He¡¯s done a good job at not talking much the whole time. I think it¡¯s because he doesn¡¯t want to get tied up again. ¡°I told you about my ability I can talk with anyone...¡± ¡°Yeah but still...Hmm what¡¯s this....Wow wait...What! This is leather armor? It¡¯s tougher than steel?! And what¡¯s with all these added effects? This is incredible! Did that little guy make this?¡± Sting began to clamor on and on and I asked him about the armors in the central continent. Apparently they have things like Mithril and even some metals I haven¡¯t heard of before but one that gave added 150 lightning damage upon every attack is unheard of. He¡¯s seen some armors that give maybe an added fire attack but only 10% of the time would the skill actually attack the person. This armor however activates every time the wearer is struck and even has a 10% chance of paralysis. For the Jiji and the Pixies who can¡¯t wear heavy metal armors leather armor may in fact be much better. Sting claimed this armor would go for probably hundreds if not thousands of gold to the right buyer. Pek then began to talk about the armor and seemed quite more talkative now that I complimented him on his work. I guess if you brag about a person¡¯s fine craftsmanship it¡¯s hard not to hate that person. I heard Pek had a bad personality but I think it¡¯s just because no one can ever understand him and also because he never gets much credit for his work. For whatever reason the Nekos never paid much attention to his inventions and never thought he was of much worth until he invented those canons. I asked if he could possibly add these shells to maybe the Mithril armor the pixies had for a possibly stronger defense but he said that was probably impossible for him. He¡¯s on multiple expert stages on many of his skills which allow him to work with some metals but working with but making metal armor is not one of them. All I got from him when I asked is ¡®We¡¯re not iron workers...we¡¯re artisans, mo....¡¯ He seemed kinda grouchy about it so I didn¡¯t ask him again. When I asked about the canons however he said that they were made by multiple small parts that they eventually assembled together. I was going to press him for more but then he wanted to show me something else. ¡®I think it¡¯s possible he too may understand just how powerful those weapons of his actually are. Even outside this dungeon I doubt the world had anything like it. In the game there were pirates who had canons but those on top of that wall looked completely different. They were meant for long range and capable of taking down giants. I¡¯m just curious about his work in that field too but I guess for now I should just continue talking with him and maybe he¡¯ll warm up to me. He then walked me over to the edge of the table and climbed up on one of the chairs. He then picked up the fabric and it looked to be a black long sleeve shirt. It looked to be made of snake skin. ¡®What is this?¡¯
Hydra Armor Durability: Auto Restore Defense + 20 Curse Resistance + 5 % Poison Resistance + 8 % Added Effects: Hydra Regen: Upon equipping Hydra Armor whenever the wearer is attacked the wearer will have their wounds recovered. Heals 50 health per second. Additional Effects: This armor has been made by the hands of a fine artisan and seamstress. From the leather used down to the thread, everything has been enchanted with strong magic and made with extreme care. Quality of completion S + rank. Fighting Spirit + 20 Courage + 10 Strength + 5 Defense + 35 Stamina + 15 Due to the fine craftsmanship and quality of completion from the Hydra Armor, Stamina will reduce 10% slower while wearing this leather that has been expertly woven out of the hide of a King Hydra. A being who¡¯s healing was so vast its flesh will still continue to heal itself even after death.
¡®...It heals 50 health a second? That¡¯s 3,000 health recovered in a minute. Isn¡¯t that a cheat in itself?¡¯ Never, even in the game was there an item as magnificent as this. The defense was higher than a normal shirt but the highest level item I remember from the game could heal something like 500 health a minute. Items like that or having my sister heal me is all I could hope for. Now we can arm all of ours in this dungeon with such an item since we provided so many heads. I feel as though I¡¯m starting to like Pek. Pek then told me about this armor as well. Upon wearing it, it will attach itself to the skin like a snake. It can heal this 3,000 in a minute it¡¯s possible to give quite a lot of people now a healing ability. I can even wear it and stack it onto my already accelerated healing I already have. It¡¯s even possible to wear under the Shock armor so this is truly something. According to Pek he doesn¡¯t take credit for this piece of work but it is actually one of the Arachnee, he however designed it and prepared the leathers needed to make this. The Arachnee however provided their threads that provide an added defense and even gave poison resistance. The added effects of being completed by master craftsmen and tailor have a tremendous effect on the stat gains of the equipment they make. Pek and the Arachnee have actually begun preparing a lot of these Hydra Armor¡¯s for both of their races since they aren¡¯t very strong defensively. He was originally planning on bartering for more of the Hydra heads and Grootslang but I surprised him when I asked him how many he could make for me. To something like me he assumes I would never wear armor like the other leaders of this dungeon but it wasn¡¯t just for me. It was for the pixies. Something like this is a god send, not only for people who don¡¯t wear armor but considering we don¡¯t have any healers besides me and the pixies this completely changes things. Apparently each head gives a small resistance too it as well so the possibilities from this are quite extreme. If I would have known that I would have had the away team take more heads off that thing before killing it. But at the time there really was no other choice. I was amazed at the speed the Jiji are capable of making items. He told me in times of war this is natural. Weapons and armors need to be made quickly and efficiently but Pek is incredible. He designs all of these things and even adds multiple bonuses by even bringing in the best materials from other races. I shook Pek¡¯s hand and made a deal with him and gave him control over all the Grootslang and Hydra leather and he would cut it up and give me back the meat. I was going to use this to cook later and he was also going to supply me enough hydra skinned and shock armor as he could not only for his races but all those gathered as well. He actually said since the Pixie¡¯s and Jiji are smaller the materials needed to make it to fit them would be roughly a third for any other race so they could potentially make enough to fit all of them and still have roughly half the materials left over to make for everyone else. He¡¯s not sure how many he and his family can make but according to him he can offer plenty Jiji or Arachnee for a job and they would join in to help. The Jiji then separated and went to go collect all the leathers that I had traded with them. Pek thanked me for letting him make armors for his family which I thought was odd since he was the one making it. I wanted everyone to be as equipped as possible and if all I have to do is give him supplies and he will make me an incredible profit as long as he can make some for his family and sell it to the other Jiji I¡¯m fine with that. In fact once we get out of this dungeon I may have a job in store for Pek if he could make things for me on a more permanent basis. ¡°It can heal the wearer? This is...This incredible. How did you put all these effects onto just a shirt? How much will you sell this to me for? ¡° Sting then began to pick up the snake skin shirt and hold it in front of Pek. According to Sting someone would probably give you a castle for something like this. Auto healing is rare in this world and according to Sting there is nothing like this on the market even in the central continents. He says he¡¯s seen armor with higher defense and powerful skills but none quite like this. It was true these were incredible items. I want to learn to eventually be able to make items and be able add stats onto things. Hopefully with this my ties with Pek will grow more and he will teach me how he makes things. I can now see Adimar, Akino and Kyrah even observing some of the Grootslang armor they left on the table and commenting on the craftsmanship. This was an incredible material and they made something incredible with it. Regardless if this armor won¡¯t stop a Fomorian some of these effects are too good to look over. ¡°Hey Vali! Come hit me!¡± Izzie then called out to me while everyone else had stopped. Some were either paralyzed or their health was too chipped away from wearing it. Sting then began to talk to me again while looking at the Shock armor in front of him. ¡°Seriously Vali...Just who are you? I get the weapon, the abilities, but even your allies are frightening. All I can say is that the Elliots and Myro know nothing of all of this. And I don¡¯t know what it is but you almost feel frighteningly more powerful than you were before this morning. I can¡¯t see your level anymore so I have no idea what that means.¡± ¡°Oh¡­That¡¯s probably cause of this ring I have on. It hides my status apparently. But I¡¯ve gained a few levels...And well to be honest, I¡¯m just as amazed as you are about some of these things I¡¯ve come to find down here. But are these items really that rare in the central continent?¡± He then began to explain it from his standpoint of having 3,000 health recovered in a minute seems incredible considering he himself only has around 24,000 health to work with. In 8 minutes he could heal his health fully after a long fight or jump back into battle. I was perplexed by this when he first told me, and I then became aware of just how different the stats were. In the whole room the one with the highest HP next to Hjokk was me. I guess this is because my growth was almost close to that of an undead¡¯s, my stamina and health are just unnaturally high for a human¡¯s. The second highest went to Malfius who had 85,000 which was a world of difference I feel. I also have a solid defense but I¡¯m amazed to find that I¡¯m not even close to having the strongest defense in this dungeon. That award went to Malfius who has roughly 47,000 in his defense stat. When I had asked about how much health everyone had they were at first perplexed but eventually everyone got over the idea of hiding their stats and began to open them up in front of me. It was incredible to say that each race¡¯s status windows looked completely different. The Reiki for instance didn¡¯t look to have very high of stats at first glance but there were multiple places where a stat was increased or multiplied for some odd reason. It adds up to holding very good stats for a tank. For monks they don¡¯t have low strength either well. In fact, amongst all the races they almost seem the most balanced. Malfius as well as all the Reiki also have multiple resistances built up from their strenuous training. In all actuality the whole idea that the highest resistances in the continent were around 30% was broken after looking at the Reiki¡¯s stats. Their bodies resistance to elemental magic is all around at least 20 %, with some of them even having over 40. They are an elemental tank class resistant to magics through and through. The pixies even seemed to have some magic resistance of their own. The highest agility obviously went to the Annunake and I was amazed to find that they have multiple stacking buffs. In their beast state which is when they look like wolves all stats rise by 150% whenever they were under the moonlight out of this dungeon it even went to 300% which makes them even more dangerous at nighttime. But what I was most amazed with is the one with the highest strength stat in this room....Kyrah. It was at around 46,000. Which only made my jaw drop at this woman. Only in my awakened state would I even be able handle her. She¡¯s almost 3 times stronger than me. According to Izzie no one even comes close to her particular races Attack Power. They covet themselves as having the highest strength in this dungeon, even the Annunakes fall short in terms of strength. I however was right in the middle it seemed. My strength was over all but Kyrah. My speed was faster than all but the Annunake. While my defense was better than everyone except for the Reiki. However I got to where I am through completely different methods. I just became this, they were forged into what they¡¯ve become with blood. I¡¯ve been called a monster but each of them should just as easily be able to call themselves monsters. Sting being around level 170 was only looking at everyone¡¯s stats in front of him in shock. Not only those over 300 but some of the lower leveled pixies even in front of him. They giggled up at him and would fly around to make it difficult for him. Even the pixies who were much lower level had some stats that were particularly higher than his. Cyanin¡¯s defense was even over his which made him speechless. ¡°So...that¡¯s how you managed to stop a sword with your face. ¡° Sting laughed at my high stats and told me it was either some magic he had never heard of or my defense must have been impossibly high for a human. He was however surprised to find that I was in fact a human but not surprised to find out I was a blessed being. He assumed that was the only way I could have such high stats or that ridiculous weapon. That and me being so young. According to Sting anyone who is a master mage or has my level of mastery in magic is usually not adept with fighting in close quarters either. Battle mages are amongst some of the rarest classes and usually to have such incredible magic you spend years of study. So mages rarely have strong bodies unless they studied in a particular magic for it. I also learned something interesting from Sting that made me think my previous thoughts on how this world registers an attack is flawed. I thought if the Defense was higher than the Attack Power then no damage would be done whatsoever. But according to him it was impossible that I received 0 damage without magic being used. Defense has to be at least 10 times higher than the attack power to receive 0 damage at all, and even then a person needs to train in particularly rare defensive technique or just a ridiculously high level. This was something that was puzzling him greatly when he didn¡¯t see any magic being used as that noble stuck me with his sword. I would assume he would have higher stats but according to him this is just normal for his level. But once an individual passes over level 200 the stat gains double upon each rise in level so that could also play a part of it. It would also explain how my stats all rose by around 2,000 each by gaining roughly 50 levels, but I forget all Champions have large growth corrections. Mastering skills can do the same thing, you get more and more stat gains the higher levels mastered. These races have been in this environment for their whole lives. It¡¯s why I also brought Sting here to meet them. I needed to gage his opinion of them for my future plans. At first he would think if some of these beings in this room are over level 300 it makes sense how their stats are so high even if they are demi humans. But now I think he¡¯s also coming to the conclusion the separation from himself and everyone here. ¡®These races are practically bread for war. Even with all my skills you can¡¯t gain a skill that is equivalent to the experience these races have gone through to gain such power.¡¯ The differences in stats from an intermediate adventurer in the central continent and those of this dungeon are like night and day. If he showed no initial reaction to their strengths then it could¡¯ve been possible that our power wouldn''t be comparable to some of the strong powers within the central continent. If that was the case then my initial thoughts of creating a colony with them as the support structure wouldn¡¯t stand as strongly as I had once hoped. But judging by his reactions to some of those in this room who showed their statuses, it¡¯s apparent there¡¯s a huge separation from an average adventurer from the Great West, and us. ¡®That¡¯s good; that gives me an inside look at the power balance on the central continent now. He hasn¡¯t seen these races fight yet but just by his attitude towards me and even this equipment I can maintain steady in my plan. Killing Balor is sadly only one part of it at all.¡¯ ¡°Psssst...Hey Vali!¡± ¡°Vali...Over here!¡± I then looked over and saw that Cyanin and Aurora were signaling for me to come over where they were standing. They put their hands on their mouth and told me to hurry. As I started to walk over there with Hjokk on my shoulder I began to say something when Aurora flew over to me and put her hand over my mouth. Cyanin then landed on my shoulder and whispered for me to be quite and to follow them. They then began to pull my hand hands as they both flew out of the war room and away from everyone playing with the new armors. I left Sting where he was and exited the secret base. As we walked under the waterfall I tried to ask them both where we were going but they kept ushering me to be quiet. Other than the flowing water I could hear feint laughter in the distance. ¡®Well¡­I guess I should get to the bottom of this.¡¯ We through some bushes on the edge of the illusion barrier that has been set here and there sitting in a huddle were dozens of pixies. ¡°Oh...look its Vali!¡± ¡°Oh. Shh...he¡¯s here!¡± ¡°Vali!!¡± ¡°Shh..Quiet everyone. Now let¡¯s all lock arms!¡± Cosmia then stood up and told everyone to stay quiet as she walked over to me. All the pixies had gathered together for something and each were acting strange. She came over to me and held me and smiled up at me. There next to her was Vale, Tanin and the purple pixie who greeted me and locked arms. Before I could say anything Cosmia told me she would explain shortly. She then tugged on my arm then held her hand over to Vale. ¡®Heh, last time a girl tried to hold my hand and pull me away somewhere I got betrayed.¡¯ WHhhhhhhhhooooooooo The image of the darkly lit forest changed and there we stood in another forest but the sun appeared to be setting on this floor. The trees in this forest all looked to be similar to Christmas trees and gave off a very nice scent. Everyone began to walk with me in the center and they continued to pull me as they walked continuing to shush each other. ¡®This is floor 5? Hmm¡¯ We got to a small clearing and there was a large lake. It was in all honesty the first lake I had ever seen in this dungeon. I actually hadn¡¯t seen any large bodies of water in this dungeon other than the small waterfall near the base. The pixies continued to fly around me and Hjokk. Whenever I would try to speak they would just put their small hands over my mouth to ¡®shh¡¯ me too. Cosmia mouthed that she was sorry but to just wait. Cyanin and Aurora however were both looking up at me smiling quite big. I guess whatever it is can¡¯t be so bad, I¡¯ll figure it out soon I suppose. They then all started to walk out onto the lake. Their wings weren¡¯t flapping nor were they using magic. It almost looked like they were standing on the water itself. They pulled me forward and I too began to walk on the water. There was a narrow walk way that appears to be installed under the water but I can¡¯t see it. ¡®Must be an illusion.¡¯ We continued to walk out into the center of the lake whenever Cosmia then appeared to walk up several steps over the water and if standing on air. Tanin then flew over to where was and even sat down close to where her shoulder was. ¡°You see Vali...We haven¡¯t been entirely honest with you.¡± Cosmia then dropped her head and all the other pixies including the two who were holding onto me flew out and stood around her and looked back towards me. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°...Well...You see Vali the thing is....¡± Cosmia began to look for the words to explain where we were or why we were here but just couldn¡¯t seem to get it off her tongue. ¡°We really like you Vali...¡± Cyanin then interrupted her. She smiled towards Cosmia then back at me. ¡°Yah, we¡¯ve never felt like this before Vali. For the first time in our lives in fact...We feel like we can truly make a difference. Like our existences actually matter. And that¡¯s all thanks to you.¡± Tanin then began to speak up while grinning back at me. ¡®What are these pixies getting at? It feels like they¡¯re trying to reward me somehow but I don¡¯t know why their getting so nervous.¡¯ ¡°Well, to be honest you¡¯ve all done that for yourselves. Each of you has the potential to become something truly strong in this world. To the extent that it even makes the other races pale in comparison. You were never in fact weak. I¡¯m even told your ancestors were beings that fought alongside the gods themselves. No one called them weak¡± Hjokk then looked towards me as all the pixies then began to smile and giggle to one another as they looked around. ¡°...Well, no one¡¯s ever thought about us like that before...And whenever you came here for the first time. Not only did you save our family, you even went out of your way to feed us when we hadn¡¯t eaten in days. You treated us like your own family...You even wanted to take us hunting with you...None of the other races had ever asked us to do that before...¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yah, they said they didn¡¯t want to waste the experience points...¡± The lime green pixie then spoke up which caused the others to all nod their heads in unison with him. Well I guess I can understand. Each of the pixies began to talk one after the other to me about their times before I came here. The times before I had given them their new found strengths. ¡°But every time you wanted to go hunting you always wanted to bring one of us along. You¡¯re the one who has given us so much strength...It¡¯s just¡­we were always so weak but...¡± ¡°That stuff never mattered to you. You, someone who¡¯s even strong enough to beat up all the race leaders would be so kind to us. You even worked so hard to give us all such great treasures and weapons to defend ourselves. Well...We were just wanting to make it official!¡± ¡°Make it official?¡± Cosmia then began to take over for Cyanin whenever I had then asked what they had meant. ¡°Well...We wanted to let you meet our most precious person! She¡¯s been really wanting to meet you too! I guess you can say she was the one who was supposed to be the queen other than me.¡± ¡°Oh...¡± I then began to become surprised as wherever we¡¯re standing on appears to be something of a house on the lake. Everything is invisible to the naked eye but they¡¯re saying that a pixie lives here. They then began to pull my hands and walk up the steps and opening a small door. I had appeared out of nowhere and I had to duck to get into it. ¡®Hmm, and here I thought I met all the pixies. They did say some of theirs were missing but I wonder why they wouldn¡¯t have told me about this one... When I had stood up I had noticed there was a medium sized room that looked to be a child¡¯s room. I looked around and I could see the purple pixie standing by a bed and sitting in a small chair was Daisy. There was also every pixie with us so now I believe there are 300 plus pixies flying around in this small room. ¡°Oh...Hi everyone! Oh it¡¯s so nice to see you!¡± Then I noticed a small girl lying in the small wooden bed. She looked nothing like any of the other pixies I had ever seen up until this point. She had a small white glow around her white a gentle face. She looked to be in her twenties but it was her hair that made me take such notice of her. She had so many colors in her hair it almost resembled a rainbow. She then rolled over and had the purple pixie help her into a small wooden chair. It had small wooden wheels attached to it and the purple pixie began to roll the white pixie around. She continually hugged and greeted everyone. ¡°Oh Tanin, Daisy was right you look so dashing now mphmphmph...Aurora! I heard you¡¯re all better now you look so pretty!¡± ¡°Hi Cari! It¡¯s so good to see you.¡± ¡°Everyone looks so amazing! I¡¯ve...I¡¯ve missed you all so much.¡± [A Bifrost Pixie?] ¡®What you know of them Hjokk?¡¯ [...Yes, they were the commanders of the Brynhildr¡¯s select guard and where vastly stronger than the other ones. In fact it took several of them to equal even one of these white pixies. ] ¡®I see.¡¯ So the pixies had a member of their race like this. It makes since whenever their lights combine it makes one white bright light. Hers however is kind of dull. It¡¯s interesting but she doesn¡¯t look the part of a warrior queen but according to Hjokk these things were truly ferocious. Pixie after pixie would walk up and hug onto the small white pixie gently and greet her as if it had been a long time for them. It was then I noticed they even treated this pixie much differently than the other pixies. They even treated her nicer than Cosmia. ¡®Is she injured? Her wings didn¡¯t have nearly the glow as the others. They almost resembled how Daisy¡¯s originally did but where white. One however appeared to be bent but she didn¡¯t look to be anywhere near the state of the pixies had been on floor 1.¡¯ Cosmia then apologized for keeping her from me. She looked up at me while still holding onto my hand and said she didn¡¯t want to hide anything from me after all I had done for them. She felt bad because it felt like she had been lying to me. But this may have been their actual queen.. Cari here was someone who they cherished more than any other. They were always said to be the wisest of all the other pixies and were always looked at as the leaders of their race. According to Cosmia they were never really stronger than other pixies but that sort of thing never mattered to them. Every generation had one of these so called Bifrost pixies but in their generation something incredible happened, there were 3. For the first time in their history there were three of these Bifrost pixies each of them held as being truly precious to them. They thought it was a godsend to help them during their troubled times only to end their hopes in tragedy. One of them died to that rot, another was kidnapped. Whenever the pixies figured out that other races may have coveted the Bifrost pixie as much as they did they made up a lie and said she had died. They then have kept her in hiding ever since. The purple pixie then rolled over Cari towards me. ¡°Hello Vali...It¡¯s...it¡¯s so nice to meet you finally. I¡¯m Cari...I, I feel I already know you so well...¡± The small pixie woman looked up at me and smiled brightly. Her hair had a natural glow to it and simply being in her presence gives me a definite presence of her magical affinity. Part of her white aura is even touching me and causing a slight tickling sensation. It feels much different than the other pixies. ¡°Oh...I wish I could say the same...Well it¡¯s nice to meet you though Cari. So you know about me?¡± ¡°Oh yes! Because of you I even get to talk to everyone so much more now with Daisy¡¯s new skill! I¡¯ve heard all about what you¡¯ve done. You¡¯ve helped us so much and.... And well umm...¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t mind it if you hug him.¡± Cosmia then spoke towards Cari and then I felt a light force push against my own. I looked down and Cari had leaned out of her chair and wrapped her small white arms around stomach. The purple pixie in front of me smiled warmly back towards me as did all the other pixies around us. I then accepted her hug and activated my Recovery magic on her as I¡¯m sure this is what they wanted me to come here to do. Pixie¡¯s have a habit for not asking for things from me. It¡¯s as if I have to be the one to approach them to use my abilities like they think I would ask for compensation for doing such a thing. ¡°Mmm....He is warm Cosmia hehe...¡± ¡°Not as warm as me...¡± ¡°Oh hush Tanin...¡± Cari¡¯s wing began to repair itself and look almost soft to the touch. All the pixies continued to dance and fly through the air. The entire room was so crowded they everyone only ran into one another. Each of them however cheered and danced without a care simply at the healing of their sister Cari. It was a heartwarming sight you would only see from this race. ¡°Valiiiii!¡± ¡°Yay!!!....Vali thank you!¡± ¡°Oh...What, hey my wing!¡± Cari then flapping her wings around happily. She however stayed seated in her chair as she observed looked at herself. She then hugged me again and said thank you. This only ushered everyone to swarm me again and hug me. It¡¯s almost as if they didn¡¯t think I was planning on doing such a thing which is odd. ¡°¡±¡°Thank you Vali.¡±¡±¡± I then noticed however Cari still wasn¡¯t getting out of the chair. She then waved off my concern upon seeing my reaction. ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry Vali. I was unable to walk since I was born. Even the Elkia with their amazing healing hands couldn¡¯t heal me. Don¡¯t feel so gloom Vali. I¡¯ve grown accustomed to it, I even have this nice chair Uncle Pek made for me. But now...I can fly again. I¡¯m truly happy! Thank you Vali... Everyone¡¯s right...you really are kind.¡± Cari said this with a tear in her eye but I honestly felt unsatisfied with this. It was the same empty feeling I felt whenever I couldn¡¯t heal Ikaros completely. It¡¯s not like I want to save the world or be the hero, just not being able to really do anything leaves a poor taste in my mouth. Especially when they act so thankful. Seeing my reactions I feel Cyanin and Cosmia knew also what I was thinking. I asked them for some of the crystals I gave them and they had already pulled them out before I had said anything. ¡°If you had those with you why didn¡¯t you just bring them out in the first place?¡± ¡°Well...We were going to ask you but well...Hehe you wound up doing it before we could!¡± They then handed me 1 purple crystal and one blue crystal. ¡°Here Cari! Now you can have ice magic just like me! We can learn it together! And this one here has such amazing healing abilities....It may even heal your legs!¡± ¡°....Oh?¡± Cosmia handed me the two crystals before I activated on Cari. WOOOOMMMMMMmmmmm A bright purple spark was then immediately interrupted by a blinding white light that shot forth out from Cari¡¯s aura. It was only for a brief moment but the light was almost as bright as Hjokk¡¯s armor she wears. That tingly feeling I felt as she was hugging me has now completely surrounded my body and I can feel my entire body almost surrounded by this small pixies presence. ¡°Ohh....It really does feel good! My whole body is tingling from those stones. Daisy you didn¡¯t tell me they would feel so nice.¡± She then started playing with small ice magic in her hands and held onto Cosmia¡¯s hand while smiling. They then ushered her to stand but...She couldn¡¯t. ¡®Perhaps it¡¯s the same as Ari. She needs time to learn to walk....No, she doesn¡¯t have any mobility in her legs at all. Wait, even with the effects of two crystals that were specialized in healing magic it still couldn¡¯t heal this girl?¡¯ Cari continually tried to use her hands to hoist up her body but her legs didn¡¯t move at all. All the pixies for the first time I could see a look of disappointment in their eyes. Cari then swung her white butterfly-like wings towards Cosmia and flicking it upwards. ¡°Oh what¡¯s wrong? I can fly again Cosmia...It¡¯s ok if I can¡¯t walk...It¡¯s not like I had my hopes up for anything either.¡± ¡°Yah...but...¡± ¡°Oh cheer up. Otherwise you¡¯ll degrade Vali¡¯s amazing gift!¡± ¡°Ok...You¡¯re right!¡± ¡°You¡¯ve done so well Cosmia. I¡¯m so proud of you. Everyone¡¯s becoming so strong now. I¡¯ve heard such amazing things. You have done such an incredible job at being our queen, and I know your sister would be so proud. Hasn¡¯t she done great everyone?¡± The pixies began to cheer and talk amongst themselves and congratulate Cosmia on her reign as queen. They really weren¡¯t like any other race. I feel that is maybe for the best though. Thinking about it this is a race where their Ranking order in terms of power could turn on a dime. With the effects of one crystal could potentially make the weakest of their race the strongest. If that sort of thing could happen with any other race in this dungeon they would have probably ended up killing themselves. These pixies however don¡¯t covet power, they don¡¯t even look at their strongest as their leader. They simply want to use the small power they have to protect one another. Cari eventually quieted them all down and waved to the purple pixie who was holding the chair. He most of all seemed to be the most disappointed. ¡°Kai push me over there please. Vali...I made you something. It was going to be a reward healing all of my family on floor one. ¡° She then reached for a dresser towards her bed and pulled out a small chest. Her hair that once had a feint glow now shines so brightly the white light around her makes me think I¡¯m in the presence of an angel. Hjokk has the ability to turn this off but she amongst the other pixies just has this naturally coming off of her. She pulled out bunch of small pieces of animal leather that looked like it had been painted on. Then she kept pulling out a large assortment of random items and placed it out on her bed. She had a Dawn Bringer dagger and a lot of trinkets and items that looked to be very old. ¡®That empty feeling is back. I think if I can increase my healing skill it could be possible to heal people like Ikaros or Cari. If there is a mastery system known as divine wouldn¡¯t it be possible to do things like that. I don¡¯t know how long it will take but I guess I can add this on a list of things to do whenever I get out of this dungeon and look for Kaylan. I suppose I can continue healing her like I did with Ari and maybe in time who knows....Umm....What is that?¡¯ Looking towards some of the things on her bed I see one of her paintings has three figures holding hands. There is a large white light surrounding the three of them. Two of them have hair similar to Cari, one of them has white hair and kinda resembles me. I wouldn¡¯t have known it was a depiction of me simply because it wasn¡¯t a very good drawing. It kind of looked like a child drew it. And yet there under the figure was the word...¡®Vali¡¯. I must have been making an odd face because when Cari looked back up towards me she looked towards what I was looking towards and dropped whatever she was holding. ¡°Oh don¡¯t look at that it¡¯s not finished yet!¡± ¡®Ugh....It¡¯s weird she seems to be the oldest of all the pixies. Not in looks but in her behavior. But I guess she¡¯s just like all the other pixies.¡¯ ¡°Oh Cari enjoys painting.¡± The purple pixie, Kai, then smiled as everyone watched her putting her paintings back into her chest. ¡°She has some really good ones but it¡¯s kind of hard to get paint. We traded some of the Jiji to make some for us for her birthday. You should see some of her other paintings they¡¯re real good!¡± Daisy then flew over and sat on the bed and looked up at me. It really did feel like I was hanging around a lot of children. But in reality these two in front of me are actually older. I¡¯d be willing to bet they have plenty more horrific experiences than I have in my life and yet they still can act in such a way at times. I guess it is a rather nice atmosphere though....For such a horrible place. ¡°Oh well I¡¯m only at Beginner level 3 but umm, I just painted from what they told me about you....But anyways ugh....Here, I made this for you...I wanted to say thank you!¡± She then handed me small item that looked to have small flower petals attached to it. The petals were white with small purple tips. When you would turn it, the light would reflect and show an almost metallic look to it. It was a small bracelet with lightly colored beads on it. The scent from the petals floated into my nose and I could feel a strange sense of warmth wash over me. ¡®It almost looks like the bracelet my siblings made me....Look at that.¡¯ It was hard not to crack a smile at such a thing. The small colored beads and whole look of it even resembled the way Kaylan would try to make things for me in class. It came as a set with their birthday card they made for me. Just remembering it... ¡°See...I told you he¡¯d liked it.¡± Daisy smiled towards Cari and everyone looked back up at me. Hjokk then had look towards me and I had then noticed...I had a small tear running down my face. I didn¡¯t notice anyone¡¯s gazes towards me and just gripped onto the small bracelet that was just given to me. For whatever reason I feel this rush of strength. I saw images of my siblings through my mind and gave me this surge of...faith. It was reaffirming me I was going to see them again. I put my hand up to the place that once held my mother¡¯s cross and smiled lightly. This wasn¡¯t the first time in this world a girl had made me an item to wear. I¡¯m wearing one around my neck as we speak... But this is the first time I have felt such an intense feeling washing over me. I have been constantly pressing my brain with doubts of fighting such a monster. But for whatever reason I feel that it¡¯s just going to be ok. Remembering those once good times lets me know if I succeed, I could see them all again. I viewed the item and then found out why it had given me such an emotional state.
Bracelet of Courage Durability: 20/20 Additional Aroma Effect: Upon smelling the scents attached to the enchanted flower petals you will be reminded of your home, of those you love, and what you fight for in such a dark place. Courage will rise by 30% for 1 hour. Cool down time: 3 hours
I put it on which caused Cari and all the other pixies to smile. My Midnight Gauntlet fit right on top of it and I could still keep it on underneath. These pixies were nice and I feel we really bonded down here. I don¡¯t know I guess I may just be more favored towards them simply because of what¡¯s happened with everyone else in this dungeon. Everyone then began clamoring together and dancing after they had saw me accept her gift... Cari asked if she could pet Hjokk which made her twitch but she actually agreed to it which was odd. She even shook her hand with her wing. This white pixie appears to be the kindest of all the pixies. You can see that in how she treats everyone. Cari then began to hug several of the pixies and talk to each of them. According to Cosmia, Cari hasn¡¯t seen many of them for a long time. She¡¯s been up here with usually one or two guards at most. Cari then giggled and everyone all looked up at me. Cari then clasped onto my hands while everyone else stood in close behind her. ¡°Vali...I was thinking. Even if we were to ever be freed of this place...Where would we go? I¡¯m sure most of the races would move out and go their own ways...But where would we go. We have always received the protection of other races for so long, we¡¯ve never really been very strong ourselves. After what I¡¯m hearing, you¡¯ve helped some of ours even grow strong enough to even take on floor bosses and giants! ¡° All the pixies began to smile and clamor. Looking into Cari¡¯s eyes she looked quite excited to talk about these things as if she were there. She kept clasping onto my hands and smiling brightly back up to me. Pixies do warm up to people quite quickly. Simply be nice to them and they shower you with love. ¡°....You¡¯ve done so much for us and given us so much strength...But strength is never something we ever clamored for like the other races. What is having all the power in the world if you didn¡¯t have your family? Balor may have all the power in the world but he doesn¡¯t have anyone... Nothing but his puppets...And you treat us as if we were your own family, and don¡¯t even ask for anything in return. You¡¯ve reached your hand into this dark place and attempted to pull us all out....Well¡­What we were wondering is well....Vali, can we come with you?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Can...Can we come with you? If we ever do leave this place. Can we all come with you? We really like you Vali. We don¡¯t seek for you to protect us. We wish to protect you....¡± ¡®Protect me?¡¯ ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re the type of person who would probably go to even more dangerous places...But, we don¡¯t care how scary it¡¯ll be...We want to be with you.¡± ¡°Right!¡± ¡°Can we come with you Vali?¡± ¡°Please let us come with you.¡± ¡°We want to be with you from now on...¡± Each pixie began to clasp their hands together as if pleading with me. I guess I don¡¯t blame them. Whenever they leave this dungeon what comes next. They don¡¯t even know where I¡¯m going or what I plan on doing but all they do know is that they want to be with me. These little things aren¡¯t really afraid of fighting either it seems. Doesn¡¯t even matter how large the opponent is either, they¡¯ve already shown me that already. I guess I never really did tell them my plans of what I wanted to do outside this dungeon once we stop Balor. This little white pixie seems to definitely be the wisest. She even thought this far ahead, she isn¡¯t even thinking about the fight with Balor. ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯ve been guarding you ever since you came back to us.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right! We¡¯ve always been right by your side and you didn¡¯t even notice. So we won¡¯t get in the way...¡± ¡°It¡¯s true... I asked for there to always be guards with you from now on. We didn¡¯t want to leave you unprotected as you have been down here. Last time you went off and we weren¡¯t with you...We...we heard you had been hurt severely for helping all of our family down on floor one. It broke our hearts....We had Reinma smell your blood and we found...so much of it in that temple. We just, didn¡¯t want anything bad to happen to you anymore....¡± Cosmia then started to talk with tears in her eyes. So this is the real reason Cosmia gave me the little guard detail. I thought it was for some school girl crush or something from the way Cyanin and Aurora had put it. But these little guys were actually protecting me in their own way since I got back to the dungeon. And not just when I¡¯ve been on floor 52 at the base either. They were with me when we were with Kyrah. And they were also many of them with me when we fought the Hydra and Fomorians. They were just all hidden in illusions. It was enough that not even Hjokk was aware of it all. ¡°Wait that¡¯s impossible...Your levels are different.¡± They each giggled to me and Cosmia flashed her ring and everyone in the room¡¯s level had changed. Each of them then had their levels raised within an instant in front of my field of vision. Aurora and Tanin each had a level of 95 and 98. Many others however were in the 80s while Kai, the dark green pixie and the magenta colored pixies, who were the elites, were all over level 140. Kai was even close to Vale¡¯s level. Every pixie in here had their levels increased by at least 60 within an instant. Cari however along with Daisy and a couple other pixies were under level 20. They were in this room in time of the battle and were communicating with several of the elite pixies who apparently had tagged along. They had stayed within Hjokk¡¯s barrier or stood beside one of the three other pixies without us knowing about it at all. According to Cosmia the ring on her finger had been passed down for longer than their race can even remember. Not only are they each at the advanced levels in illusion magic they say this ring is their races most sacred artifact. They also lied to the other races of just how special this ring is. They don¡¯t let other races know the inner workings of how their race works it seems after they had started to lose so much. ¡®This ring is pretty incredible. They told everyone it had a cool down of 2 days which was a lie. The cool down is 3 hours. The effect of whatever illusion they wish to cast lasts 25 minutes and to their knowledge the illusion that is cast has never been broken before in the entire history of their family. There are stories in their family that not even a god could see through it. She told me all of this simply because they trust me unconditionally now it would seem.¡¯ Pixies don¡¯t ever fight alone. I guess it makes since all their levels are quite close to one another. I just had no idea so many of them had come along with us when we were on floor 62. According to Kai pixies aren¡¯t like other species. They are actually allowed 22 in a party without losing much experience at all. The illusion they cast also allowed each of them who came with us to be added into my party. The illusion even hid their numbers from my party status with. If that¡¯s the case then midnight aura would have surrounded them regardless as I had it cover all my allies. Still that could have been dangerous if I wasn¡¯t aware of it. Still though, it¡¯s quite impressive. I started to laugh at the fact these little things had played me. This whole time, they had been playing me. Anytime their 25 minutes would be up they would all rotate around who would be near me. I just thought it was their odd behaviors but they had actually planned this all out. You think because they have childlike behaviors they wouldn¡¯t be so crafty but they have been lying to everyone for a long time now. They even each gained a large amount of levels just for casting illusion magic during the fight with the bosses, not just with Wyatt. I was right they¡¯re much stronger together. ¡°Teehee...Yep and you didn¡¯t even notice my level had changed today when we went to floor 22.¡± Aurora then spoke up. She¡¯s right I didn¡¯t even notice. I guess when they saw me laughing the atmosphere eased up a bit. They still however were looking at me with eager eyes. ¡°Yes...You can all come with me.¡± ¡°.......¡± Each of the pixies became silent and looked at one another with their mouths opened wide. ¡°...Valiiii!!¡± Before I knew it they all swarmed me. They even had Kai pick up Cari to come over and join the group hug. Hjokk started flapping her wings wildly as she wasn¡¯t aware of this. I guess what¡¯s the harm in letting these pixies come with me when we leave this place? I was actually hoping many of the races in this dungeon would live in the territory that I¡¯ll be given. It would be much easier to have them assemble for war should anyone ever attack my land. I would think some of these races would have some of the most potential this world has to offer. These demi-humans live in an environment that I would consider top tier in terms of a place to train and grow strong if you survive. These pixies are even from the strongest Valkyrie in Asgard, so having them around isn¡¯t such a bad thing. They even went out of their way to ¡®protect¡¯ me in their own special way when I came back to the dungeon. Even if they weren¡¯t all that strong the pixies all wanted to be together. They wanted to be with me. Cyanin was hugging my neck and even Daisy was trying to wiggle in through my arms. Each of them looked overjoyed, as if following me was such a good thing. ¡°See, I told you he¡¯d let us come with him!¡±
Congratulations! You have earned a new title! Family of the Hildr Pixies
¡®Huh...My old title¡¯s gone, or no it changed. Hmm family....¡¯ Thoughts begin to fill my head of Kaylan. I have a family...Somewhere in this world. Some big brother I am. I¡¯ve gone and gotten myself involved in something that could get me killed. But I can¡¯t back off now I¡¯ve already gone too far. I need these people and it seems they need me too. If I don¡¯t kill Balor then all it would mean is he would only threaten my very sister and families ¡®life. I¡¯m going to end him. I don¡¯t care if the words he said were truth, I don¡¯t even care if he isn¡¯t the villain like he says. He¡¯s threatening my family, so he has to die. ¡°Valiiii!!!!¡± Each of the pixies continued to hug me while I noticed Hjokk¡¯s stare towards me. She was giving me a look I hadn¡¯t seen before. She just look perplexed as if she was thinking deeply about something. The pixies however couldn''t have been happier and continued to dance around and play. "Thanks Vali..." Cyanin then whispered in my ear as she Cosmia, Cari, Daisy, Vale, Aurora and Tanin all hugged me with their small thin arms as the other pixies danced around us all as if forgetting we were all trapped in a dungeon at all. ----------------------------------------------------- End of Part 1 Please don''t for get to comment and rate my fiction! Part 2 will be released following this as well shortly. It won''t be as long...nor will it have as many scenes...It will however have a lot of character development. I wanted to keep the releases close simply because I wanted to hear everyone''s reactions and opinions on where the story is going , as well as I wanted the feelings and emotions to flow through each of these chapters as you see it all through Vali''s eyes. You''ll hopefully see why when you read them both together but posting it all on one post would just be too much.... Chapter 20: Tears of a Titan Part 2 Hey guys here''s part 2. It may feel incomplete without part 1 but it still has a lot of development added in for the characters. Thanks for those of you who rated my fiction my story jumped up two more spots and is now ranked 46! To boamorte10: You had the funniest rating this week and I just thought you should know it made me laugh and smile at your comments. I seriously love getting to read long comments and stuff you all enjoy about this fiction. And for those of you who rated and commented thank you very, very much you''re awesome! Some people on this website I''ve come to find will bash and trash a fiction in their reviews then in the last sentence say eh it was a good read though. But I''m thankful that the majority of my ratings are good so that must mean you all enjoy it which makes me feel very good. It''s also what makes me write such long, long, chapters.... **** Also I know I''ve introduced a lot of let¡¯s say ''loli'' type characters and I promise not to make a habit of it this is simply the characters the mc are meeting first. I choose to think of it not as if just anyone was thrown into this world but how would a person like Vali act when coming to such a place. How would it affect him? The pixies (who aren''t all loli by the way...''some are let¡¯s just say developed'') just accepted the MC so quickly that they were one of the first races I wanted to speak about. And all what happened last chapter was supposed to lead into this. I''ll get into all the other races soon and what makes them each special, and I promise to introduce some interesting new characters as well...Kyrah will be fun for the readers as well too. I have one really cool idea for a race I haven''t introduced yet but I''m excited because I have never heard of this particular demi-human race before in a light novel and thought it would be incredible to bring into the story later on. So just stay put and know the story will only keep growing and this is all just the beginning. Essentially this arc wasn''t even going to happen originally simply because I want to get to the good stuff that''s coming but according to yall, most people like the pacing so that¡¯s good....I also want villains who are strong enough to compete with Vali who the readers also love to hate and all the blood and carnage that follows...So just be ready for a long and enjoyable ride, I don''t plan on peaking early or making Vali get wayyyyy too strong too fast.....Don''t get me wrong he''s OP as fuck and a cheat, but you haven''t seen anything yet. This world is full of cheats and characters who too OP as well. The fight with Balor is going to be NOTHING like the fight with Malthiel and all I can say is be prepared because the fighting scenes I''ve already worked out will be epic! So without further a due.....Enjoy! And don''t forget to leave a long comment! Chapter 20: Tears of a Titan Part 2 Vali''s POV: After everything calmed down, we¡¯re all sitting on Cari¡¯s bed and talking about the future plans in the dungeon. Cosmia said they were still formulating a plan of attack against Balor when he plans on appearing on floor 52 again. Oddly enough none of the pixies were at all frightening of the realization of Balor''s imminent attack. They all even wanted to join in the fight, including Daisy. ¡°Well, I want you guys to help, but I don¡¯t want you jumping in and fighting like you all did last time. Two days isn¡¯t enough for you to try and fight those things but I believe we can formulate a plan in time where everyone will need to help out in some way. ¡° ¡°¡±Right!¡±¡± They all agreed with me in unison as they normally would with Cosmia. ¡°We can still formulate a plan against Balor. Like we did with Wyatt, with Kai¡¯s plan of attack. Force him into a corner. Surround him and pierce him! With everyone''s combined strengths, we can do it!¡± ¡°Right!¡± As the pixies talked amongst themselves and chattered with Cari I too began to think of plans at taking down Balor. The pixies plan of attack against Wyatt was similar to how some military operations attack a target in my world. They surround the target and push them into a sort of kill box. Due to their wings they naturally have an advantage of attacking from multiple locations at the same time. They aren¡¯t strong but they can grind something¡¯s health down without the victim even being aware of what¡¯s happening to them. Now however they have a whole new assortment of attacks that have made them dangerous. I¡¯m not sure if the pixies will be on the fighting end of this battle, but I know for sure they as well as all the other races will need to contribute and come together if we are going to succeed. I then began casting some of my recovery magic on Cari as she sat in her chair. I figured while we talk I can do this to raise my mastery and possibly increase its effects. Double experience still has to count for something. ¡®Balor...according to Hjokk you¡¯re vulnerable now. If what I think she is saying was correct. Balor would essentially become something equivalent to a boss monster himself upon descending. He isn¡¯t a divine anymore, so what does that mean? Well...What do I know about divines from Loki? They¡¯re loud, sociopathic...completely devoid of human emotion. But they have power that is beyond imagining. According to Balor and Loki however my potential is something to even be frightened of. Balor was talking about my absorption skill...But Hjokk said Loki thought Magic Manipulation had much more potential.¡¯ It does let me have immediate cast times with magic but I believe it¡¯s much more than that it has to be. Hjokk said I could bend any and all magic to my will and make it mine. If it was something even Loki was adamant about telling me it had to mean something. I use to think that meant I could just shoot off more powerful magic than the skill provided but it¡¯s I''m slowly coming to find it''s much more. According to Loki¡¯s idea, it¡¯s limitless. In terms of that what would that mean? I guess I could even meld my skills together like the pixies do, maybe even past that. I tried using my manipulation before on melding skills like the pixies had but it¡¯s impossible for me right now. It¡¯s just difficult. I tried to add Lightning Armor to my Dullahans but came up with no success. I thought if the pixies could meld their magics, why can¡¯t I? Since the Dullahans aren¡¯t a part of my own body it''s just not possible to add lightning armor to them but I need to stop thinking this world has limits. Loki shattered that idea when he showed me just how powerful spatial magic is....''Hmm spatial magic...'' ¡°Hmm..." I then felt I was sitting on something and reached under me and pulled out and oddly hard and heavy object. ¡®Oh...It¡¯s one of those dawn bringer knives. I guess Cari had one of these too. I pulled it out and observed it and it really did resemble the stone in my mother¡¯s necklace. It just produced a completely different light than the stone¡¯s in my mother¡¯s cross. If I had my necklace right now I¡¯d compare the two but I¡¯ll have to wait till my next meeting with that woman until I can do that. ¡®I have been waiting for that next meeting of ours...¡¯ These things are capable of cutting through Balor¡¯s creations and even killing them. Something even Balor seemed surprised about. According to Malfius, this is just something else that they have discovered in this dungeon. It just looks like a smooth, polished diamond but this dagger even radiates bright light and heat when waved around. Its white light cascades out and makes a faint rainbow trail behind it. Seriously what is this diamond made of, I wond... WOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "WOH!" ''What the hell was that!'' A bright blinding white light blinded me the moment my hand touched the blade of the dagger. An explosion went off and it felt like an earthquake was happening. The power from the bright light was so strong it shot past me and broke out the windows of the cabin and shook the room entirely. All I hear is a loud ringing noise in my ears as whatever happened felt like an explosion came off of the dagger the moment my fingers touched it.
Congratulations! Freya¡¯s Soul Recovery has just advanced to Novice level 9!
¡®What my healing ability rose...? By 2 levels?¡¯ ¡°Is everyone ok!?¡± ¡°Are we being attacked?¡± ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°Defensive positions! Check the exterior of the cabin monsters might have heard that, move!¡± [Vali...What was that?] Everyone began to clamor around until Kai walked up and directed orders. No one however could hear Kai other than me. Everyone kept rubbing their ears simply because the loud ringing wouldn¡¯t stop. Whatever happened didn¡¯t destroy this room or anything in it except the windows. It¡¯s weird but it felt like a grenade had just gone off but there''s no damage to anything. I then looked down at the dagger. Wait...Where¡¯s the blade? It¡¯s gone?¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t know Hjokk. But whenever I touched the dagger made of the dawn bringer crystal it exploded in my hands. Why would it do that?¡¯ ¡°The illusions are down!¡± ¡°Set it back up hurry the monsters on this floor are very scary....¡± All the pixies started flying and running around but sticking their hands up against the walls while pouring out their magic. ¡°Don¡¯t worry Cari...We can take care of them now...¡± ¡°Really Vale?¡± ¡°Oh yah.....¡± Tanin then clenched his fists together and a large fireball engulfed his arms. He¡¯d resemble a character from a comic book if it weren¡¯t for his wings. Cari then smiled and leaned back in her chair. ¡°Wait....! Cari!!! Your feet!¡± ¡°What...Did I lose a toe or something?¡± ¡°What? No...Look!¡± Everyone looked down at Cari¡¯s feet and saw her toes were moving. Wait...Her legs can move? I remember I was casting recovery when.....The dagger. It¡¯s made out of..., ¡¯A magic crystal.....? The dawn bringers are just magical crystals!¡¯ Cari then began to move her feet around and everyone then noticed just how different the Cari who was in the chair looks. The white light that gushed out and blew out the windows was this one¡¯s white aura growing in power. It¡¯s covering this whole lake now if not the entire floor. When she leaned over and saw her feet wriggling she couldn¡¯t help but have tears brought to her eyes. She then began to try to stand up for the first time. Kai then ran over and helped her stand up and surprisingly. She was standing on her own.
Congratulations! You have just earned a new title! Creator of Miracles You have performed a miracle and healed someone who was thought untreatable. You have produced a miracle and repaired something that simple magic cannot do alone. People will bow at the presence of those who are capable of performing miracles on those the world has given up on. For your tremendous accomplishments and creating a miracle: All stats rise by 5 Wisdom + 15 Intellect + 10 All Healing Magic receive a 10% buff
''.....Wow.'' ¡°Look...Look everyone! I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m walking.¡± ¡°Cari!!¡± Everyone began to run and jump around Cari and embrace her warmly. It was just like when those on floor one were healed, everyone jumped in joy and danced around their sister they loved. Even if Hjokk said her type of pixie was always the leader I can understand why now. It¡¯s not just how the pixies treat her, it¡¯s how she treats them. ¡°Oh thank you everyone...Thank you Vali.¡± She then walked up to me and wrapped her arms around me waste. Her leg the popped up and her light skinned small leg popped out behind her. Everyone else came up and formed another group hug around us celebrating in their sister¡¯s first steps. "Teehehe....Valiiii, thank you so much!!!" That dagger. The dawn bringer crystal...They¡¯re magical crystals. Not just that but they have to be of incredible power if it got this girl to walk. Something my healing ability and 2 crystals couldn¡¯t even manage. The highest graded magic crystal is Black. The dawn bringer crystal is white. I¡¯ve never heard of a white colored magical crystal. It¡¯s not like these races would even know what the magical crystal was but their swords are just large chunks of magical crystals from a monster? They simple said it was from a large chunk that was two massive to excavate at all. The small amounts they have now are from pieces that broke off. ''If it really is a magical crystal then Cari would have absorbed all the magical power so her stats should be much different if it is. '' To learn if my theories were correct I asked Cari to pull open her stats. ¡°Hey Cari...Do you have any new skills or have your stats changed any at all.¡± ¡°Um, hmm...Oooooh. My wisdom went up by 6500 oh...and my health went up by 14,000!¡± ¡®.....What?¡¯ ¡°That little dinky dagger did all that? It was even smaller than the average magical crystal and it gave you all that?¡± Everyone then looked at the dagger hilt in my hands and widened their eyes. ¡°The¡­The dawn bringers! So...Those are magical crystals too then, right Vali?¡± Everyone then started thinking of the possibilities whenever Cari made a blank face. ¡°What is it Cari?¡± ¡°I got a new skill...! Hm ¡®Pro...me...the...an March¡¯ look!¡± ¡®What?!¡¯ I then had her show me the skill she got. Whenever I got close to her she smiled brightly up at me. Her wings are now pointed up like Daisy¡¯s and Cyanin¡¯s. They¡¯ve grown too. But her hair now looks to be naturally flowing even without a breeze in this room. Maybe she¡¯s gained a tremendous amount of magical power. Even her eye color changed. Each of them match her hair, and I¡¯ve never seen anything like it.... I then glanced at the skill she popped up in front of her.
Promethean March: Engulf the very ground you walk on with the ¡®First Fire¡¯. A flame that was stolen from the gods themselves and given to man long, long ago.
Hjokk too was initially shock at reading her skill. Prometheus was a Titan said to have stolen fire from Olympus and gave it to man. He however was caught by Zeus and punished to have a crow eat at his intestines for eternity. According to Cari, her light and fire resistance has also jumped up by 8%. ¡°So what do you think those dawn bringer crystals actually are? It¡¯s obvious they¡¯re similar to a magical crystal but they¡¯re simply too big. All we know about them is they are similar to the stone in my mother¡¯s necklace.¡± [Hmm...According to Loki he believes he knew of the material that was used to make your mother¡¯s necklace. ] ¡°And what did he say he thought it was?¡± [A Titan¡¯s tear.] ¡°What, the cross?¡± [No, the very crystal itself. He believes it was from the tears of a titan. They don¡¯t cry a liquid but crystal. They aren¡¯t the same as crystals on a monster but they hold vast amounts of magical power that is equivalent to how vast the oceans of your world are. It¡¯s possible this dawn bringer crystal is similar. This dungeon already has a large amount of Titan¡¯s fangs buried here as well. This one must have been from Prometheus.] According to Hjokk the histories aren¡¯t as accurate in my world. According to her Prometheus wasn¡¯t bringing the first fire to the world to help it but to destroy it. He wanted the mortals to destroy themselves with such a flame that could potentially harm the entire world. ''A skill from a titan? Are you kidding me?'' After I learned of this I told the pixies including Cari not to discuss this with anyone just yet nor to use that skill yet at all. She giggled and agreed. She seemed oddly close to me now that she gained the ability to walk. She even stands slightly taller than the other pixies now but it¡¯s barely noticeable. ¡®14,000 health with just a small dagger. The effects of a white crystal were staggering and according to Malfius they have much more but it¡¯s simply too big to break off. That was one of the thing the pixies don¡¯t have besides strength, high health. The highest health the pixies had was Vale with a pitiful 3600. They simply weren¡¯t built with high vitality and stamina like the other races. If their health ever dropped they would just share their lives with the other...But this is more than what I could have ever hoped for. It even allowed a girl who had never walked before to take her first steps. This crystal even gave a skill from a titan, which has to be something good.¡¯ ¡®........¡¯ My mind continued to think of the possibilities. ¡®A divine skill...I don¡¯t even have something like that. It looks like it could be potentially pretty strong. Even if her level is 8 wouldn¡¯t it be possible that this skill could still be very strong. ¡°....Everyone...I can¡­I can feel them. I can feel everyone! Uri, Jana...Even...Even Bifrost. I can feel them all! They''re all alive! ¡° Cari then began to look out the window as if just feeling their presence for the first time. It must be from magical crystal, or titan¡¯s tear as it¡¯s called. According to her, each of her abilities have increased, meaning that she feels their links haves strengthened by quite a lot just now. She then ran towards me and fell. Just as she was about to hit the ground however she tripped into me. When I caught her she was stunned for a moment and then smiled. Ari¡¯s the same way so I¡¯m used to it. Cari then looked up at me then everyone huddled around me and pleaded. ¡°Please¡­Vali help us save our family.¡± ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ¡®Floor 8...This is where Cari has lead us to.¡¯ Oddly enough all of the pixies came along as well and they aren¡¯t acting anything like they normally do. All of their faces are serious, each of them are wearing leather or Mithril armor on and holding spears. Four of them have adamantine spikes, 22 of them have Mithril armors, while 3 of them now have the Grootslang armor. Believe it or not Pek and the other Jiji he had working alongside him had already made a large number of shock armors for their races and the pixies. It¡¯s weird but I think every member of these 2 small races might even get to where one of these armors eventually, not just because of the number of materials but they are the only races that seem to want to wear them. So for now we will give them armor first. Only a third of that Grootslang was even usable, if I knew how valuable his body would have been for equipment I wouldn¡¯t have ripped his body apart the way I did but no time to worry about that. Along going down there we also received the 1 Hydra Armor Pek had showed me before. When I had asked to give it one of the pixies even though this is the only one right now oddly enough Pek didn¡¯t argue about it at all and waved it was fine. I also found out Cari and Pek knew each other, he and the Jiji who knew her were shocked at not only seeing her alive, but to be walking. They didn''t even realize it was her at first. Eventually they all mumbled to each other and got back to work after some had come and greeted her. The Jiji are great workers, it¡¯s not just that they¡¯re good at it. I think they simply enjoy making things but right now being pushed for time they are working even more efficiently. We gave the Hydra Armor to Cari simply because her level was lowest. She however regardless couldn¡¯t wear the shock armor simply because her strength wasn¡¯t high enough. We also received 3 shock armors that were made small so we gave them to the pixie elite who didn¡¯t have any Mithril armor and should a fight break out they would be the ones on the front. It was agreed it would be given to Kai, Vale, and a dark green pixie named Jade. Believe it or not these other 2 pixies were on floor 62 with us during the boss battle, the one who even devised such a plan was Kai. According to Cosmia he¡¯s something of their strategist. Considering the majority of their race is around the same level he must be doing pretty damn good. Their growth isn¡¯t large since they always have to fight together but their unity in battle may even be better than the Annunakes¡¯. Whenever one of the pixies learns a new strength or skill they implement it immediately into a new formation as per Kai¡¯s orders. The 3 elites then passed down their old leather armor to those who didn¡¯t have any. This was simply for protection for everyone but I doubt we¡¯ll need any of it to be honest. It¡¯s not because all of the pixies have small barriers overlapped over the other...It¡¯s not even because I¡¯m overly confident in myself either...It¡¯s because we have Hjokk. She has thusly decided to get involved from here on out. It was odd when she had asked to help but I guess I wouldn¡¯t blame her. These pixies are practically like the children of one of her sisters. It¡¯s not a sense of pride she simply said since she is planning on fighting Balor there¡¯s no need to hold back anymore. There would be no more reason to do so. Hjokk said she thought it over very carefully and has decided to join the fight. She however is remaining in her bird form but that hardly matters at all at this point. Every pixie is currently moving in unison under the protected barrier made from a Valkyrie of Asgard. She then flew over and sat on top of Cosmia¡¯s shoulder in case should anything happen she could react quickly. I however won¡¯t let her fight in this battle either. If in the off chance she does something that causes her to descend before our inevitable battle with Balor would be a nightmare. So she is simply on the defensive for us all right now. We don¡¯t have the numbers right now to lose anyone. I agree that if this turns into anything I¡¯ll step in, the pixies won¡¯t be able allowed fight at all. Even if this is about them. It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t think they''re strong enough it¡¯s simply because of what I learned after coming to this floor. The reason for that was simple....This floor, is the home to the Annunakes. I would have asked Adimar and Akino of this but no one was at the base besides several of the Jiji and some members of the Away team. According to Izzie Commander Locke went to speak to representatives of their race and communicate with the Arcahnee queen while Kyrah had just left to speak to the leaders of hers. Adimar and Akino were also not back at base so it¡¯s just us right now. Sting also was missing oddly enough. ¡°The illusion has been set Vali.¡± Cosmia who was walking next to me donned in leather armor and standing next to Cari. They were both holding hands and had roughly every pixie surrounding them, but you wouldn¡¯t know it due to the illusion. All that could be seen right now was myself Cari and Cosmia with Hjokk on her shoulder. Cyanin stood at one side of me while Daisy stood at the other. Daisy wouldn¡¯t let go of my sleeve the whole time we marched. I could tell everyone was nervous, but if it¡¯s possible I will make sure all of their family is returned to them tonight. Cosmia and Cari have each lost a sister too it would seem, that might also be why they were always so close. We then walked up to a large stone wall. It had a large yellow-like barrier that looks similar to the ones on floor 1. Behind it stood a large mansion in the distance. It sat on top a large cliff a ways behind this gate and I could see it too had a large yellow barrier surrounding its entirety. I then told everyone to link arms and moved us closer to the mansion. When we appeared only a few meters away from the gated fence of the large building I noticed that there was no one around the exterior of the building. I¡¯m told this is one of the only habitable floors in the whole dungeon, but it¡¯s odd there aren¡¯t more defenses. I used my Eclipse View and could see dozens upon dozens of life forces inside. Cari then looked up at me and told me she can feel her family¡¯s presence more than she ever has since they went missing. She¡¯s sure...Inside this place is where their family is. I¡¯m told that Cosmia¡¯s sister was kidnapped roughly 6 months ago while Bifrost, who is Cari¡¯s sister, has been missing for over two years. ¡®Is it possible they¡¯ve been here this entire time? What are these Annunakes doing?¡¯ I didn¡¯t remember it at first but I should have noticed. The first words a pixie ever said to me....¡¯No, you can¡¯t take her¡¯. I should have known, I¡¯ve been told several times already that I kind of resembled a small Annunake. I should have put this all together sooner...The pixies said they were going to ask me to help search for them after I gained their trust. They just never imagined they would have been given the ability to locate everyone so quickly so they begged me to come along. According to them I guess we¡¯re all family now so they wanted to stay together.¡¯ It¡¯s strange though. Why would they kidnap pixies? For what purpose? Well I plan on figuring that out right now. Since no one was outside I used my spatial magic to move everyone inside the yellow barrier surrounding the mansion and the image of myself, Cosmia and Cari began to walk up to the mansion''s front door. They both looked up at me with eager eyes and then back at the large door. They looked nervous. "Well...Let''s go get your family back." The doors were large and looked to be made of polished stone. Everything on the door is sculpted and has images of wolves and deer. The door itself was made of golden antlers. It was a finely made door. BAAAAM!!!!! BAAAAAAAMMMMMM!!!!! BAAAAAAAMMMMM!!!! I banged my fists against the stone door to the point that cracks began to appear. The entire mansion shook from the power of the shockwaves I produced with my fists. I may have activated Demonic Awakening just to make an entrance. Cari looked towards my strength in surprise while Cosmia just continued staring forward awaiting to find their loved ones. The door however couldn¡¯t take it and eventually crumbled away and collapsed. Part of the ceiling of the entrance broke off as well but not enough to fall on any of us. A thick cloud blew through the entrance and into the mansion from the fallen debris and I ushered everyone to follow behind me. With Eclipse View I can see in just this mansion there are roughly 80 people. I however can¡¯t see any of the pixies distinct looking life-forces anywhere. ¡°We¡¯re under attack!¡± ¡°Who would do such a thing?! Moonlight waahg....¡± I began to hear everyone in the building clamor and assemble together, so I pulled out Abgrund and activated Dark Pressure as we walked into the mansion.
Congratulations! Dark Pressure has just advanced to its second tier! Skill Cost Reduction: 30% Give your enemies a taste of terror. Dark Pressure¡¯s range and output will increase dramatically. Your pressure will now send terror directly to victim¡¯s mind and paralyze them with fear.
I then walked completely through the crowd and saw roughly 50 Annunakes on their knees shaking looking towards me. ¡°Is...Is...Is it Ba...Balor....?¡± ¡°Wha¡­What¡¯s happening to...us......¡± Looking into the eyes of all those in here everything is staring at the three of us in pure terror. My level was much different the last time I fought this race as well as I didn¡¯t really get the chance to show my skills fully then. Like the skill said, they¡¯re looking at us as if we were the devil himself. Abgrund already triples the power of my dark related skills but this was more than I expected. Everyone in here seems to be rather high level too. ¡°Va...Vali...¡± ¡°Wha......What are you...do...doing?¡± I then heard a familiar voice and turned my head towards the corner and there shaking alongside each other were Adimar, Akino and even Commander Locke. There around them were several other Annunakes but each couldn¡¯t move a muscle against my will it would seem. I deactivated Dark Pressure and walked over to them. Cough...Cough... ¡°Vali...What is the meaning of this?¡± Locke then exclaimed while holding his throat and looking up at me and the 2 pixies in front of us. Upon seeing Cari however his eyes widened. Akino and Adimar both stood up as well and shared the same reaction as Locke. I now notice even Sting is here standing near Akino. ¡°Hello Commander funny running into each of you here.¡± Locke looked at me oddly as I glared back at him and observed all of the Annunake who are in this place. None of them have yet to approach me but I¡¯m mindful of them considering I know they enjoy to surround their targets as well. ¡°Vali...Why have you come here and destroy....A white pixie? I thought they were all gone?¡± ¡°.....Cari?¡± Akino then tried to talk to me until Adimar rudely cut of her off and walked out in front of everyone. There were dozens of Annunake now with weapons drawn in our direction and each of them looked at Cari with shocked eyes. ¡°Uncle Adi! It¡¯s good to see you again...But I¡¯ve been hearing such terrible things about the Annunakes lately.....What would Joslyn have thought if she saw you hurting someone who cooked for you and came to such a place for us all...¡± ¡°....You¡¯re...you were alive?¡± Adimar then walked over towards us and kneeled down in front of Cari. He lowered his head as if in shame. ¡°Yes...And you are right to think such things...Time has not been good to us all it seems....But I¡¯m trying to change that. Hopefully bring back the Annunake¡¯s lost self.¡± ¡°...Oh Adi...Well if that¡¯s the case. Then you should come help us find our family. They are somewhere in here.¡± ¡°...What do you mean?¡± Adimar looked perplexed at what she had said before a large number of Annunakes started assembling and walking towards us. I then noticed a much larger wolf man walking down the large staircase that leads up to the many floors of the mansion and down towards the floor below. ¡°What was that sound?! Who desecrated the sacred home of the divine wolves?!¡± ¡°...So Diaga, now you choose to show yourself.¡± Akino then retorted in his direction and now no one was looking towards Cari or me anymore. They were looking at him. There stood a large wolf beast man who resembled Adimar only with a much more crooked snout. This was the same race leader I dropped from the ceiling during out 3 on 1 duel. There were some other wolf beast man in the room behind him and several Annunakes who looked similar to Akino in that they are more demi-human like. ¡°The puppet...! So you¡¯ve come here to challenge the Annunakes once more! For what you¡¯ve done here...I¡¯m going to ghghghhghhhg...¡± I activated death grip immediately on him to shut him up and hold his movements in place. I told him and everyone the reason why we were here which made them only widen their eyes more. That or the fact that I froze their leader with such little effort might have turned them off on attacking me initially. ¡°Now...Right now there are a number of pixies of this race who have gone missing over the years...We¡¯ve tracked them to this location. Anyone mind explaining that to me. As you can see this situation is rather serious, so no games....¡± I have no idea what it is they¡¯re planning but just waking in and trying to start a fight wouldn¡¯t be wise. After saying this I gaged the actions of everyone in the room. Oddly enough most of the Annunakes looked shocked. However one of which gave a particular look towards Cari I honestly could not ignore. He looked at her with anger, he wasn¡¯t one of the beast man but simply a large Annunake demi-human. I activated death grip on him too freezing his movements. It doesn¡¯t cost nearly as much MP without finishing the skill but holding them here like this can decrease my mana at a very quick pace. I¡¯m not too worried at the moment because my mana pool is nothing like it was the last time I went toe to toe with an Annunake. When I¡¯m awakened my mana even goes over 600,000. I have enough to get the information I want. I activated Eclipse view and my theory was correct. Out of all the Annunakes in here....This one¡¯s an elf. I started walking towards him. Just as I was about to activate Dark Pressure again and ask my questions 5 Annunakes leaped towards me from my left side. As the skill activated they slammed onto their knees and began to shake. I have no idea just how much of an upgrade I got from this skills, but the Annunakes are helpless against it. Maybe it¡¯s just because I didn¡¯t have Abgrund out the last time I used this on them. Regardless I won¡¯t let any of them do as they please this time. Everyone then shut up again and allowed me to question the Annunake in front of me. ¡°Hey elf...Where are the pixies you kidnapped?¡± At my words everyone made odd looks towards me. The only ones who had a look of shock were Adimar, Akino and Locke. ¡®Judging by everyone¡¯s reactions they might not even be aware of anything going on here. Out of everyone here this one is an elf. It was stupid to think elves would only be in the forms of Nekos. I don¡¯t know how these elves are doing it but they are someone making their forms look exactly like one of these races. Pixies, not even Hjokk can see through it. Only I can. The only reason for this is simply because it¡¯s easy to distinguish their life-force from others. Their life-force simply look far too different from the rest of us.¡¯ Adimar and Akino then walked over to the elf in front of us alongside Locke. Erwin then drew his sword and held it at his neck. Diaga who I was still holding onto looked towards this whole situation oddly and gargled that it was impossible. Adimar then assured everyone that elves were currently living in this dungeon unaware to the other races knowledge and to not question what I was saying. The one I was gripping onto couldn¡¯t stop shaking but he was now showing a look of hatred towards me. Even if he couldn¡¯t move he started to grin and laugh towards me...It wasn¡¯t much different than that other one. Upon this everyone started looking towards the elf as his crazed laugh. ¡°You think...I¡¯m an elf boy...He¡¯s...A...puppet....kill...him..¡± ¡®Hmm, so we¡¯re going to play it that way huh.¡¯ Boom! I delivered a shot into his gut which split through the air to come into contact with him. I even activated Flicker and Demonic Awakening simply to give him a little taste of what¡¯s to come. GUahhhh The look in his eyes told me he couldn¡¯t handle it. He then shook and looked back up at me shaking. His health had just dropped by 8% with that and he has no way of moving. ¡°DIE PUPPET!!!¡± Several Annunakes who were standing behind him leaped towards me. I guess Dark Pressure can¡¯t hold them down forever... ¡®Wind Claw¡¯ I swung my arms towards the 4 Annunakes who came in and leaped towards me. Seeeeerrrrrr! Splat! The 4 Annunakes who came towards me froze in place and seemingly looked at me with pure fear. Within a second their eyes looked lifeless and their bodies fell to the floor. As each of them fell over their bodies had then split apart in several places and became hunks of flesh. Their HP bars dropped to zero before the skill even finished. Within a moment each of their bodies broke apart and turned into bright glass and shattered. It looked quite similar to how the elves had died from earlier. Several Annunakes then began to run towards me before seeing what I had done. At that moment I think is when everyone realized just what I had done. Four of theirs had dropped with a single move so they wouldn¡¯t jump in recklessly anymore if at all. I had a feeling this skill would be effective but not to such an extent. The wind claw traveled a distance of five feet but the size of the attack was long from the arc of my swing. The air claw extended to the wall behind them and covered it in blood. As I looked towards everyone else it was apparent no one was going to attack anymore. ¡°If any of you interfere, I¡¯ll kill you. Your race doesn¡¯t get the luxury of allowing me to go easy on you. If you jump in...You¡¯ll die. Simple as that.¡± I warned them. They were originally surprised at my words but none dared move an inch after what I had just done. Apparently they won¡¯t even listen to Adimar. I won¡¯t allow this situation to end up like the last time. There are too many pixies around and honestly killing too many would be a problem too. We need them in this fight coming up. Like Loki said...Some of these races are more animalistic than human. So I¡¯m going to make these wolves submit to me now. I then asked Cari if she had anyway of locating her family, and she only looked up at me oddly. She gulped while looking at me and said she thinks that they were in the back of the building. I then ushered for commander Locke and the other two to come with us. They would obviously need to see whatever we find as well. I roughly had enough to put Gleipnir on one or two more people and the one I chose was this elf. Now he can no longer attack anything. Sadly though I didn¡¯t have enough to fit around Diaga as well. We then started walking through the large mansion following behind Cari and Cosmia. They were still holding hands and I could tell they were restless to see their sisters again. Maybe that or they were frightened of my display earlier. ¡®Sadly I don¡¯t have the luxury to go easy on anyone anymore. I didn¡¯t take it seriously last time and these wolves tore me apart. I¡¯m not trying to come in here to kill everyone, we simply need to get to the bottom of this. I can¡¯t let a fight break out here. ¡¯ We walked up the stairs and took a right. This mansion was very large. There were so many rooms it was to the point I thought the whole race probably lived in here. But according to Akino the majority of their race lives on this floor but in a city. This mansion was once home to the Elkia and Alpha of their race...If that¡¯s correct wouldn¡¯t that make this Adimar¡¯s old house?¡¯ We walked through a long dark hallway. I activated Eclipse View and I still couldn¡¯t see where they were either. There were still a large number of Annunakes downstairs. They were ordered to wait there while we investigate this. Some Annunakes came along with Diaga but I told them what would happen should they try anything. I think the effects of holding this scythe really help with my intimidation. ¡°Seriously you think such heinous acts by the Annunake? You take the side of this puppet Adimar...I have half a mind of taking away your title as an Annunake entirely.¡± ¡°Shut up Diaga...If what we find out to be true you will face dire consequences for desecrating our home.¡± Akino then voiced her opinion while Adimar continued on through the hallway. He didn¡¯t talk much since he spoke to Cari. I¡¯m guessing they may have once been close, Joslyn? I wonder if that was his mate. Regardless right now he doesn¡¯t seem to be thinking clearly. Walking through his old home thinking if something like this is possible must sicken him. He¡¯s not like the other Annunake I¡¯ve come to find. He lived on floor one with many other Annunake who still followed him. They even were the main protectors of floor for all of those down there and protected all regardless of what race it was. Cosmia and Cari walked up to a wall and it was a dead end. Cari bit her lip and started to look around oddly. ¡°They¡¯re so close...I can feel it?¡± They then walked back and opened up a door. It was to a large bed room but no one was in it. We all walked into the large bedroom that had no one in it. Cosmia began to talk to Cari but they simply said they don¡¯t know...They couldn¡¯t find them. ¡°...Now are we done yet? To even suspect such a thing! Besides...There¡¯s no way that pixie is one of the rainbow ones. It has to be a puppet!¡± The elf began to clamor and growl in anger. Diaga then too started to agree along with several of the Annunake. Locke began to look around the room and towards me. It¡¯s not that he doesn¡¯t believe me but this isn¡¯t something that looks good. We come in here crashing the place down, kill several of them and attack their race leader. I was told they came here to discuss future plans of uniting together. They hadn¡¯t gotten around to telling them about Balor simply because Diaga didn¡¯t come downstairs until the building had partially gotten destroyed and then this whole mess got started. ¡°Why is it so impossible elf?¡± ¡°Grrr....I¡¯m not an elf!! And there can only be one Bifrost pixie living at one time so she has to........¡± ¡®....There it is. Stupid elf...¡¯ The elf got flustered and said something he may have not meant to. Regardless of his reasons he comprehends that there is only 1 rainbow pixie for every generation. However he was probably unaware of there being three in one generation simply because pixies don¡¯t share their culture with others so easily I¡¯ve come to find. Even if they seem childish they¡¯re actually quite crafty and intelligent. They''re also very cautious on who they let know their race¡¯s secrets. ¡°...Heh, that¡¯s where you''re wrong elf. This generation of pixie had a miracle happen in that more of those pixies existed at the same time. What I find interesting however is that you yourself said it was impossible for there to be more than one existing, when everyone from before was shocked to even see this one to be alive at all.....¡± When I said this everyone then looked down at the Annunake as he glared daggers at the floor in front of him. ''Yah...He realized he fucked up.'' He started grinning his teeth and looking back up at me as if I couldn''t prove anything. ¡°Listen...I don¡¯t know what Jhenson here is talking about and he¡¯s clearly flustered. I simply believe he meant that their last rainbow pixies were said to have died years ago. Diaga began to speak up and look down at the Annunake kneeling on the ground. Everyone seemed perplexed but sure enough they are starting to playback his words in their heads. The elf began to argue there was nothing they were hiding when suddenly a voice appeared at the corner of the large room. ¡°Here...Here Vali! There¡¯s an illusion here!¡± Aurora then appeared into view and was pointing towards the wall. The looks on Diaga¡¯s face froze at that very moment...¡¯So, you¡¯re in on this too then...¡¯ I walked over to the wall and activated Eclipse View....¡¯...Hmm I still don¡¯t see any....wait.¡¯ For a brief moment I saw small feint glows. It was almost to the point it wasn¡¯t even there at all. And then I saw a bright light, it was no different that this small bound elf here. I was staring intently at the wall and decided there must be some secret door here. According to Akino this building has been here for centuries and the building simply ends at this wall. All that is behind it is outside. Everyone began to look at me and watch what I was going to do next. I told everyone to back away and activated abysmal mist. It ate and blew through the wall in less than a few seconds. The wall withered away and behind it I saw a darkly lit room. It was narrow and there was even someone far off at the end of the room with a door open. It looks like an Annunake and he¡¯s dragging something. ¡®.........rattle.¡¯ ¡°Nn..no..please...not again..sob..ple..pleaseee... please don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Get off Sona!...sto...stop it!.¡± ¡°Plea....ple..take...mee....le..go.¡± The Annunake was dragging a small figure that had chains wrapped around its waste. It looked like a tiny human. I¡¯d say it was a pixie but it didn¡¯t have any wings. The small girl however was holding onto the chain trying to resist as much as possible but she was simply too small as she was slowly being drug away. I was about to move towards them when I was frozen in place by what stood in front of me. I was staring at what was at the end of the room simply because of its activity. But chained to the walls are several small demi-humans. Their color was completely gone like the ones on floor one. They were dirty, bruised, beaten....Several of the ones in the corner even had the familiar rot on their bodies. ¡®These are the pixies?¡¯ Each of their heads then turned towards us as the dark cloud from my abyss faded away and showed the light from the room behind us. Each of them had chains around their wrists, ankles and waists. Some of them were lying on the ground and not even moving. As they looked towards me and squinted their eyes it looked like they had lost every bit of hope just then. I walked further in and Cosmia and Cari sprinted out in front of me. The Annunake who was in front of me didn¡¯t hear us come in and continued to drag a small light blue pixie with ripped clothes behind him. The small girl who was shaking cried as she was being drug away as if she were going to be killed. ¡®What is happening here....?¡¯ I used my spatial magic and appeared just behind the Annunake, or it''s better to calm him an elf in disguise. I grabbed the chain he was dragging connected to the small pixie and gripped it. As he noticed the force behind the struggle had increased dramatically he turned around to see my face. This was all the evidence I needed to see. ''These fucking elves are going to pay!'' I delivered a shot right to the Annunake¡¯s bottom jaw. His wolf like head flung forward and he dropped to his knees. Before he could do anything else I gripped him by the neck and activated Abysmal Mist again. I held back as much as possible but since I was holding onto Abgrund it melted his body down to his shoulder within a second. I then let go as this appeared to have disabled him. He hit the ground and starting squirming in pain, he however couldn''t make much of a sound after the damage I had done to his jaw and throat. Everyone¡¯s looks towards me were frozen. The small pixies that were close to me in dirty and torn clothing didn''t know what was happening. Akino and Adimar too had their mouths open but looked to have been staring at the horrific state of the pixies in front of them. Some of them weren¡¯t even chained to the wall and had been thrown into a corner left to die. Looking at them it looks as if some of these pixies have that same rot I saw on floor one. These pixies however were just nearly hanging on due to their family constantly sharing their lives with one another. I turned around and looked towards the scene in front of me. The small light blue pixie who was sitting on the ground looked up at me and was still shaking in fear. Her face was dirty but that wasn''t nearly all. There to her left was a small girl with pink hair....She almost resembled that pixie Cosmia had pretended to be....¡®Could this be Cosmia¡¯s sister.¡¯ The small pink pixie too did not have any wings on her back. Her right eye was red. Not that it was bruised it looked like her right eye''s pupil was completely destroyed. She did however also look to have horrible bruises all over her body. The bruises that were most apparent were the ones around her neck. Just looking at the extent of her treatment caused me to choke up. It looked to the point she had been strangled severely. As someone who can¡¯t stomach violence towards women very well this was very difficult for me. ¡®What were they doing to them....?¡¯ I started to breathe deeply and it almost felt like it was becoming harder to breathe...I looked at the small girl in front of me and she too had a dead eye look similar to everyone in here. Similar to....¡¯My mom....¡¯ ¡®Rattle.....rattle....Rattle!!!!¡¯ [Feeeeeeeddddddd] I slowly turned my head to the right towards the elf who looked like Adimar on the ground in front of me. I picked him up and noticed his health was only 10% away from death. I healed him just to the point that his health would stop decreasing. ¡°Just what have you been doing to them....? ANSWER ME!¡± The Annunake however did not respond. He just looked back up at me with anger as he was still in intense agony. ¡°JANA!!!!.....¡± Cosmia had ran up to where her sister was and the look of her sister in front of her stunned her. Jana¡¯s lips were cracked her body was dangerously too skinny. She had cuts and bruises all over her to the point she hardly looked anything like the sister she once portrayed. ¡°....Jana....¡± Cosmia then kneeled on the ground next to her sister and Cari then appeared beside her. All the pixies are now visible and beginning to try and break the chains that were binding their family. There must have been roughly 20 pixies in here. Not all of them are girls either it seems. ¡°Cosm...ia?...I knew....you¡¯d come...¡± The look on Cosmia¡¯s face was that of someone who was heartbroken. Simply looking at the state of her older sister looked to have really scarred her. Cosmia then wrapped her arms around her weakened older sister and cried while embracing her. The small pink girl smiled and leaned her head back while putting her frail arm around Cosmia¡¯s back. She could hardly move she was so weak. Adimar, Akino and Locke were all frozen at what they were seeing. The sight in front of them wasn¡¯t a pretty one. The smells coming from this room lets me know they have been chained in here for a long time. The fact that some of them have this rot while the others don''t leads me to believe something seriously twisted has been happening here. Now that this room has been lit up. I see some of the pixies who are lying on the ground aren¡¯t even moving. There are plates of crumbs and a small pile of excrement in the corner. I reached for the pixie in front of me but...She was so frightened of me she fell down and backed away sobbing. She fell back into some of the other pixies who began to hold and hug her gingerly. When the small blue pixie realized all of her family was now around her you could see her look of disbelief. "Eh...but...Everyone! Oh I''ve missed you all soooo much!!!!" Shen then broke down on her knees and hugged each of them as they let her cry into her chest. Tanin who was holding the small broken down pixie looked up at me with intense rage. He too couldn''t stomach these heinous acts to their beloved sisters and brothers. ¡°Vali...I don¡¯t see Bifrost!¡± Cari then walked up to me and looked around the small room. Everyone had been freed and were being carried on the backs of the other pixies. Akino and Adimar tried to help them take off some of the chains but the other pixies were simply too terrified the moment anyone else got close to them. ¡°She¡¯s....in....back.....chamber.¡± I then turned my head and there lying on the floor with several pixies was a small golden pixie. I say gold simply because his hair is gold. He looks nothing like the other pixies I''ve seen simply because he has dark skin. I only knew he was a boy simply because he¡¯s not wearing a shirt. His state was almost as bad as that of everyone else in here. Probably worse simply because he couldn¡¯t stand on his own. His jaw looked broken and he was missing several teeth. He had scratch marks all over him and you can tell the Annunake did a number on him. He even has several gash marks going through his face ruining one of his eyes. ¡°Uri...Just...just what have they done to all of you?¡± Cari then ran over to where he lied next to the pixies huddling next to him. It looked like all of this had scarred Cari most from all the other pixies. She had been sheltered for so long and now finally after reuniting with everyone...No one had prepared themselves for this. ¡°It''s...the elves...they''re...alive....created the disease....here...using..her. I am so...sorry....My queen....I could not protect the..m. I¡¯m so...sorry Cari....Ple...ase..Forgive....m..e¡± Cari sat on the ground next to worn down pixie who was crying upon seeing his queen for the first time in months. Cari with tears in her eyes stuck her hand to his cheek. It was swollen and badly damaged. It looked like he had probably put up a fight and lost pretty badly. Some of the cuts all over his body made it look like he didn¡¯t have long. It did look like he had some cloth of some kind wrapped all over parts of his body. Cari however didn¡¯t say a word she simply had tears in her eyes upon seeing him and her families state. Most of the pixies right now are in tears. I started to fade in and out. It was getting hard to breath and my vision was beginning to become blurry. Why? The pixies never hurt anyone...Why is this world so broken? (Rattle) Diaga and the others haven¡¯t said a word upon entering here. Their looks were that of horror not much different than Adimar¡¯s. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. I then knocked out the elf claiming to be an Annunake on the floor and entered into the room he had just came from. There behind the door was yet another large bedroom not much different than the one before it. It however was about a 1/3rd its size. ''Hmm....this room looks weird. It has books and tables but it also looks to be like a hidden laboratory. There are vials with a dark black substance on a desk and even some books left open. I glanced towards it and skimmed over a couple pages.....''This is where they created that rot?'' ¡°Awaawawa...¡± I could hear something coming from this room. I walked a little further into it and activated presence sense. There in the corner of the room sat three dots. I walked closer and there sat a pink pixie and orange pixie as well as....a black one? I had never seen a black pixie before but her hair was solid black but short. They as well however didn¡¯t have any wings just like the others. I''m assuming they took them away to stop them from escaping. The small orange pixie had a small amount of blood coming out from the corner of her lip and bruises all over her arms. Her ragged and dirty clothes were ripped and it''s obvious she has been abused. Upon seeing my face she huddled into the corner holding onto the pink and black pixies and shook with tears in her eyes. ¡°Please...please just leave. Don¡¯t hurt her anymore...please..¡± It was then I noticed the pink pixie who was speaking was actually a boy. You wouldn¡¯t tell simply because most of the pixies have that ¡®pixie cut¡¯ hairstyle but this one¡¯s voice was a dead giveaway. ¡°I¡¯m not going to hurt either of....¡± ¡°Please no! Stay back...please...Frei¡­Freiki please....hold me...Not again, please not again, not again. Not again......Sob...sob please no sob...¡± ''.............'' The orange pixie¡¯s tiny voice cried out hysterically as she held onto the black pixie shaking in fear. The black pixie who had some small wounds herself only began to hug and try to calm down the frightened girl in her arms. Their lights were nonexistent like the other pixies but they were exactly like all the others. They simply cherish their family more than anything else.... Judging by their appearance only the black one is the only one with signs of that odd rot creeping up her back and sides. I tried to walk towards them and speak to them but they were simply too terrified of me....They¡¯ve each been abused to the extent of not fighting back at all but simply cowering in fear. ¡°It¡¯s ok Bri. It¡¯s gonna be ok...It¡¯s all going to be ok...¡± ¡°You...always say that..sob....Bifrost...but I...hate it here....I hate it! I want to go home! I want to see our family again...sob¡± The small orange pixie began to cry in the arms of the black one as she tried to console her and stop her from shaking. Their health bars were each in the yellow. The orange one was almost in the red. It looked like most of them hadn¡¯t eaten in weeks. The small pink pixie looked towards me with anger. ¡°You sick bastards! You Bastards! I swear I¡¯ll kill you for hurting my family. I swear to that god wolf you serve... I will fucking make you all pay for hurting my family. For making me watch you! I''ll make you all PAY!¡± That statement had frozen me. These elves or Annunakes have been abusing and raping these pixies for months now as well as attempting to test out some strange disease they cooked up here? Judging by the extent of their reactions each of them are already broken. That¡¯s why they kidnapped them...for this? Rattle...Rattlle...rattle...rattle....rattle.. It was hard to look at them. I couldn¡¯t even move from where I was while looking at the three frightened pixies. This small orange girl had bruises all over her frail legs and that large Annunake from before had hurt her severely while making this pink one watch. These...These bastards! I watched my family taken away from me and killed but if I had to sit and watch as my family were tormented like this I¡¯d...rattle I¡¯d......rattle! [Feeeeeeeeeeed] Snap! My whole body felt like it was shaking with rage. I saw how much grief just looking at me had caused on my mother...These...These sick little dogs have gone too far. I then turned around and dozens of pixies flew past me and towards the three on the ground. Upon this sight the pink and black pixies in front of me showed their looks of disbelief in what they had just seen. Every member of their family had emerged from behind me to take them away from this horrible nightmare once and for all. It wasn¡¯t a heartwarming scene simply because of the state of each of their siblings. Simply looking at their horrible wounds. Listening to their cries just by my presence. I can''t even imagine their treatment. ¡°Bifrost?¡± Cari then walked out from the rest of the pixies guarding her and walked slowly to the short black pixie in front of us. It was then I noticed they had each called this black one Bifrost. This girl with black hair and a bruised face was said to be the same pixie as Cari. She looks nothing like her. ¡®I remember seeing that painting Cari showed me. Bifrost looked like Cari. What the hell did they do to them?¡¯ ¡°Ca...Cari?...Cari? I must have finally died and passed on. My sister is even walking...¡± ¡°No Bifrost....It¡¯s...It¡¯s your sister Cari...¡± Tears poured down her face as she saw how hurt her older sister Bifrost had been. Cari didn''t look like she could handle any of this at all in fact and seemed like she was going to break down right there....Seeing her dear sister whom she hadn''t in so long, seeing the cruelties that had changed her appearance to such an extent....Truly broke her. Pixies celebrate when their family is healed as if they were the ones who had gained the ability to walk. Watching them all right now it''s as if they are all broken by what they''re seeing... The site was enough to choke me up at the pixies tears for one another. Pixies treat family as everything. They¡¯re no different from me in that regard. And those bastards have taken what¡¯s theirs and tormented them. And for what? I walked over to where they were. Upon seeing me get close to them the orange pixie as well as Bifrost and Freiki continued to shake violently. ¡°No..No Bifrost it¡¯s ok. Freiki, Bri...calm down...He¡¯s our family...You don¡¯t have to be scared he¡¯s here to help us take you from this horrible, horrible, place. Come on Bifrost...Let¡¯s...sob....let¡¯s all go home....¡± ¡°Ho...Home?...¡± Cari nodded and hugged her older sister. Bifrost looked back towards her sister and as if finally realizing this all wasn¡¯t a dream. She reached out her hands with a smile and hugged onto her little sister. Jade had then walked up to me and I grabbed the magical crystals out of her hand and activated my soul recovery towards the pixies who were with Cari. Since they wouldn¡¯t let me get near them I activated it on them as they were hugging one another. The light from the 4 crystals they handed me broke off and showered over the family of pixies as they each crowded around one another and held each other close after the long absence. Looking down towards them all embracing each other so warmly in tears I realized just how alike I am with these pixies. Family is everything.... I then turned around and walked back towards the others. Upon walking back Diaga tried to voice something but I shut up him with Death¡¯s Grip. I grabbed the elf and the injured Annunake from before drug them into the same room that we found all the pixies chained to the wall. As everyone gathered in here asking what I was going to do I simply stared at the two on the ground in front of me. The elf growled towards me and I raised my hand causing him to flinch. He remembers the strengths of my blows, but regardless you can¡¯t prepare yourself for what comes next elf. I then snapped my fingers and warped everyone in this small chamber of hell. Our vision changed and there we stood in a large living room area where the front door has been broken. There stood roughly several hundred Annunakes now who have gathered here. I¡¯m assuming word got out that there was an attack and many had ran here. ¡°I said listen boy! I didn¡¯t know anything about that place so...¡± ¡°Can it Diaga....That first room was your master suite was it not. You mean to tell me you had no idea THAT was just under your NOSE!¡± Akino then growled towards Diaga. Adimar was still frozen by the things he had just seen. It was as if the graphic scenes he had just witnessed had shocked him down to his very core. ¡°That¡¯s a lie! Diaga did this! He helped the elves tr-trap us...here... ¡° Freiki began to yell towards Diaga but then started to shake as he had looked towards him and sneered. It was obvious they had been involved in this. As all the pixies started getting rowdy and screaming towards the Annunakes I raised my hand in front of them and shook my head. I didn¡¯t say any words. Freiki then looked up at me gnashed his teeth. When I looked towards him he quickly looked away as if seeing my sight had truly disgusted him. He must be thinking I¡¯m going to let them get away with this....He¡¯s mistaken. BOOOM!!! Suddenly the floor close to Diaga exploded with a large white figure appearing there suddenly. There standing shaking with his fists clenched with pure rage was Adimar. ¡°I don¡¯t care if you all wish to hold onto your weapons or not...Regardless for what you have allowed to happen HERE...! For desecrating this sacred place. You dishonor the CODE! You dishonor our ancestors...You dishonor our fallen ELKIA!!!!.....So if you wish to fight back or not is your own damn choice....NOW GET IN LINE!!!!¡± He then stuck his finger towards all the Annunakes who stood in attendance growling and baring his fangs at Diaga. The look in his eyes were that of someone who has lost all sanity and was ready to pay in blood. As if telling them all to come in and fight him. They were the words of a once proud Alpha. Diaga even looked at this and smiled. I however ended this immediately, Adimar won¡¯t be fighting them. I don¡¯t want to hear some excuse as to why this one was allowed to live...He doesn¡¯t get that right anymore for what he¡¯s done. I then walked out in front of the center of the room and addressed everyone. I swung Abgrund and buried its base into the floor of the large mansion. The whole building shook as the weight shook the very foundation of this house. ¡°I challenge you to a duel Diaga....¡± Everyone then became silent at my words. I warned Adimar not to get involved. When he had tried to argue back I activated Dark Pressure just to let him know how serious I was. The surrounding Annunakes began to clamor and laugh. I however didn¡¯t respond to any of them. I simply stared back at him. It¡¯s taking literally everything to hold myself back and not attack him this very second. I plan on making him beg for death in front of his entire race while I eat his heart in front of them. ¡®(Rattle)....(rattle)....Ugh...that infernal (rattle) rattling (rattle) is back...It¡¯s so loud¡­rattle...I can¡¯t even hear myself (rattle) think!¡¯ It''s getting hard to breathe and I can¡¯t even think straight. All I can even see in this room right now is Diaga...It¡¯s as if I¡¯ve truly become numb with rage. Holding onto Abgrund is only making it worse. It''s fueling a fire and I don''t know if I can control it....It¡¯s taking all of me not to go over there and rip his throat out....with my teeth. ¡®Rattle...¡¯ I stared at him with a serious face when several of them all began to laugh. Diaga along with several of the others who had just joined the party and were unaware of why we were here. ¡°You want to fight me? Over them? Over these weaklings? Who cares about them! Yah so what so we took some pixies to relieve a little stress in this dungeon. WHO CARES! They¡¯re worthless existences and can¡¯t do anything here but take up space.¡± To these words some of the Annunakes in attendance looked at one another with odd looks and back towards Diaga in disbelief. I know the elves had been doing experiments with that disease, but this wolf just admitted to his crimes as if due to his strength it made it all justified. Such words only angered me more. I could hardly hold back. ¡°...Is the big bad wolf scared of fighting a little lower leveled human like me? You keep talking but all I see is you backing down from a challenge...How¡¯s this, no weapons just you...and me. ¡± I grinned and looked up towards him. This isn¡¯t a discussion. There¡¯s only one way I can honestly think of that could get him out of this. If he had every Annunake rush me and run away he could probably have a chance. However, if he accepts this fight, he''s going to die a horrible death here. All the Annunakes began to look towards Diaga upon my comment. I had just challenged him to a 1 on 1. Not every member of their race is probably aware of the last time me and this wolf met, and not all of them seem to take mine and Adimar''s side on the matter either. The pixies after hearing his words only stuck up their weapons and yelled back at him. ¡°Oh...Not going to use that cursed weapon are we? And here I thought you were too frightened to fight without jumping around from place to place....Fine...you wish to challenge a real warrior in a battle metal. HOOOOhhhhhhhhh! I will show you what it truly means to fight an Annunake!¡± Diaga trying to act proud in front of the other Annunakes who began to chant for him. Men and woman who weren¡¯t aware of his actions did however understand the situation in front of them. I had challenged their Alpha of their race to a duel. ¡°Oh no I won¡¯t be using Abgrund...He¡¯s far too sharp for you...I¡¯m not going to let you get away with what you''ve done with something so simple.....¡± He then grinned his fangs towards me everyone around him began to cheer. ¡°ROOWWWW!!!!!!¡± I then walked towards him as he howled and started to sprint towards me. He swung his massive claws right into my face. I activated Lightning Step, Lightning Armor, Thunder Jammer and Demonic Awakening all at the same time. I brushed off his swing and then gripped tightly onto the wolf¡¯s throat and clenched as hard as I could. He started to choke and then swing wildly towards me.
You have been struck by Moonlight Claw! Mana has been reduced by 2% Stamina has been reduced by 3% You have received 3500 damage
You have been struck by Moonlight Claw! Mana has been reduced by 4% Stamina has been reduced by 3% You have received 2450 damage
Critical Hit! You have been struck by Moonlight Claw! Mana has been reduced by 2% Stamina has been reduced by 7% You have received 11,000 damage
With every swing into me, he tore my stomach open ignoring my defense all together. I however continued gripping Diaga by the throat and hoisting him high over my head and applying as much strength as I could without breaking his neck. Blood began to erupt and fly out from my wounds as the wolf in front of me began to eviscerate me and rip through my organs. All the pixies gasped and motioned to step towards me but Hjokk had then held up her wings to stop them. ¡®He has been abusing these pixies for years and his answer....Unforgivable (rattle).¡¯ After around 8 or 9 consecutive swings while holding onto Diaga he had lost all control of his body and dropped lifeless within my grip. The paralysis had finally taken affect. He managed to drop my health by only 8 or 9% but he took away around 14% of my mana before dropping his weight lifelessly in hand. I however did not decrease even a fraction of my strength on his throat. I wanted him to struggle, to feel the pain of what he had done. This wasn¡¯t going to be a fight, it was simply going to be me killing this wolf in front of his followers. Everyone¡¯s eyes had then widened at my display. In less than a few seconds their leader was completely immobilized and unable to fight back without so much as me landing a single blow. My body was torn open from my chest down to my gut to the point that some of my organs had been ripped out and thrown onto the floor. But within an instant my body''s skin had begun to grow back and cover up the large gashes to my flesh without any effort to myself whatsoever. The few surrounding Annunakes who were still cheering for their leader had finally shut up. After seeing my health jump back up to 100% was something none of them had expected. "Legendary wolf huh....So....how''s it feel to be weak? To be useless....? Waiting for your inevitable end that is slowly creeping up?" Diaga who was still conscious began to growl towards me in rage. He had never been disrespected like this I¡¯m sure. ¡°Wow...¡± ¡°.....¡± Some of the pixies that had been watching my display could only stare in astonishment at how easily I was dealing with that monster who had tormented them for so long. ¡®You have tortured, and defiled a race that have done nothing in this world but try to take care of their own...(rattle)I¡¯m going to kill you like a dirty animal....¡¯ You could tell it had become difficult for him to breathe as he continually fought for air in while being hoisted above me. I then tossed him to the side as if losing interest from him as he lied there lifeless; everyone else had then became confused at what I was going to do next. I then walked over to where the elf and injured Annunake had been before. I threw them both next to the paralyzed Diaga and situated them both on their knees while I held onto the back of Diaga¡¯s head again. I could continually hear him growling at me along with the surrounding Annunakes but no one dared interfere. They simply stared at me to see what I was going to do next. ¡°Your-your eyes, what...what are you?¡± The elf who I had injured in that chamber began to shake upon him waking up. I kicked the bottom of his wolf like jaw that I had previously punched sending him flying backwards and landing on his back. I could feel the bones in the long wolf like snout crumble at the force of my kick causing him to cough up blood and slowly lose consciousness. It was already weakened slightly from earlier but now I''m certain I broke his jaw bone off entirely. It''s to the point that part of his face is hanging off in an odd way. Each of them were all frozen in place and completely immobilized. I didn¡¯t pay any attention to the words of everyone surrounding me. I could here constant yells and chatter but nothing came in. As everyone¡¯s paying attention to me, they saw me lean into the wolf-man¡¯s ears I had just kicked and whispered into his ears. ¡°I¡¯m those pixies family...¡± I then turned around and walked away from the three in front of me. ¡°Ha!...You¡¯re their family?! What does that even mean? So we¡¯ll all get yelled out by the race leaders...So what? Who¡¯s gonna care about a few worthless pixies?!¡± The elf man bounded by Gleipnir began to yell back towards me as if he thought his actions wouldn''t be punished nor would I do anything to him while he''s bound. ¡°Hahaha! ...He can¡¯t do anything to us and he knows it. He needs us Annunake to fight Balor mphph....¡± The elf then began to laugh towards me. It was enough that it had caused me to twitch. I however continued to walk away. ¡®Stupid elf...He shouldn¡¯t even know of Balor¡¯s attack yet but he keeps pretending to be an Annunake.¡¯ Everyone then stared at me oddly as I bent over and picked up a medium sized weapon. It looked like a sword but it was much wider and almost looked like a club with slightly pointed ends. I then walked over to where the three from earlier were when the same Annunake who I thought was unconscious had suddenly leaped away. AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He reached for Abgrund and tried to pull it out from the floor, only to howl and scream in pain. The Annunake dropped to the ground next to Abgrund. His arms and hands looked to be melting away as a dark crimson and black veins slowly climb up his arm. Everyone looking at this then looked towards me. I smirked and walked towards the other two. ¡°Hmph...I¡¯m afraid Abgrund has but one wielder...Wouldn¡¯t be smart to touch such a weapon.¡± I then turned around back to the three in front of me. One was unconscious while the other two were still immobilized. ¡®I remember the agony of touching that weapon...If it weren¡¯t for my mother¡¯s cross...this would have been my fate.¡¯ The Annunake continued to roll around on the floor in agony gripping his claws that had now appeared to have been melted off. The Annunake''s health steadily dropped dramatically and I activated recovery magic to stop him from dying but not nearly enough to fix his wounds. It''s as if Abgrund didn''t want him to die either... ¡°Ghh...ghh...ple....please...please.....¡± ''This elf had the nerve to ask for mercy. How many times did they ask for mercy? How many times did they beg you! You¡¯re the reason the pixies lost so many because of that disease aren''t you!'' I delivered a kick to the other side of his nose and with that the elf in wolf¡¯s clothing had finally lost consciousness. Practically his entire face is now broken but he for whatever reason hasn''t died yet. BOOM! The bottom of his jaw had already been broken. Now the side of this large wolf¡¯s skull had been crushed. It caused him to roll over but not die. My brutality had even caused the pixies in attendance to stop clamoring. ¡®Such a (rattle) high level you can clearly take a lot of abuse. (Rattle) In my world you¡¯d already be gone. (Rattle)¡¯ ¡°Va...Vali?¡± I ignored everyone and then walked to the two remaining wolves. Diaga who was breathing hard and still paralyzed looked up at me and growled. The elf who was still kneeling and being bound began to smile and look up at me. ¡°Mmmhphphphph.....¡± ¡®....(RATTLE).¡¯ That laugh. It''s as if that infernal laugh entered in through my ears and caused me to lose track of everything else. All I could hear were the laughs of Alysteir, of Wyatt, of this elf here....Of the demon who took my beloved siblings away. ¡°....Something funny?¡¯ ¡°Stop pretending...You can¡¯t do anything to us. Who would take the side of a pixie over the divine wolves?! We fight on the front lines while those bugs just sit in the back and take up space... It¡¯s funny really....You act like you¡¯re top dog here but who would cho..aghhhh.....ahhhhh.... ghghghghghhhg wha..whaha...ghhSto...p!¡± I then rammed my fingers into his throat and began to grip the sides of his mouth to shut him up. ¡®He laughed...Just like that bitch...! Just like those demons....(rattle) You think this is funny! (Rattle) You think (rattle) my anguish my suffering is funny! (Rattle) After what you did to them, you (RATTLE!) have the nerve to laugh for what you DID! (RATTLE.................)¡¯¡¯ ¡°You think that¡¯s so funny, you laughed?......Good......I¡¯ll make it so you smile for the rest of your life!¡± ¡°MMmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!¡± AGghghghghghg N...NO!....NNNNNNNNNNNNN!!! I began to apply pressure to the top and bottom of the elves mouth while jamming my hands further down his throat. He put up a resistance and tried to fight me off but with the bindings surrounding him....He was helpless...¡®Just like you made them (rattle) feel you coward! (Rattle)¡¯ Horrible cries of pain shrieked through my ears and shook my very core as the skin around his mouth began to slowly thin and tear apart. I however paid it no mind. Everything began to cloud and grow dark around me...All I could hear was this elf''s struggling and screams getting drowned out by the constant sounds of chains. He had finally given me the look I was hoping for. And from there....Everything just went black. -------------------------------------------------------------- ¡°MMMM!! Mmmmmm! Ghhhghg...St....p!!¡± Snap! ¡±MMMMMMMMM!!!!! Mmm...No...NOO!! Mmmm!!!!" WHACK! Various images began to flash through my head to the point I couldn''t recognize it all. Sounds of cries, unmeasurable torment.... all echoed along the constant rattling chains that have plagued my nightmares for so long. WHACK! "..........." ¡°Sto...stop...Ughhhh...Gr...ughgh...."
Congratulations! You have just learned a new skill! Sword Mastery: Beginner Level 1
WHACK! WHACK!!! ¡°GGr...gg...rr.....ahgh..egh¡± Whack! "...........eh.nn" Whack! Whack! ¡°K...Kill...mmm..eh¡± Whack! Whack! ------------------------------------
Congratulations! You have just learned a new skill! Moonlight Claw
A notification had blinked through the darkness and I feel as if I just started to breathe again. Was I unconscious? ¡®What..? I gained a skill?¡¯ I began to blink repeatedly as the skill did not make sense. ¡®How did I gain a skill?¡¯ I was breathing hard and my head was dizzy. I felt hot. I looked down and there I was holding something. It was a large red lump of bloody meat that has soaked my clothes and hands. I look down and I see the mutilated corpse of a large wolf man. The extent of his injuries are to the point where it is unrecognizable. Its health was around 4 percent% and then it began to shake. Whoever this was could no longer form words as he coughed up blood onto the floor. Within an instant the body then disintegrated and shattered into the air. ¡®Was that...Diaga? Wait...I lost control again...¡¯ I looked up and saw the blanket of blood that covered the floor of this large mansion. Above it I see every Annunake and person in this place staring towards me in a daze. No one made a move to attack me. They looked terrified of me? I looked around and not even the pixies approached me. As I turned my head around it was then I saw it...My appearance. Out of a small mirror roughly 20 feet away and walked over to observe my appearance. Blood was dripping off my white and dirty hair. My eyes were pitch black with tears streaming down my face. I had blood all over my mouth and in between my teeth as if I were some wild animal. ¡®I looked like...A monster.¡¯ I started to wipe the blood away but it only made the mess worse. It just...wouldn''t come off. I turned around and walked back to where I was. I could hear some of the Annunake and Commander Locke saying something to me but I just...Need to go. I picked up Abgrund and put it away in my inventory and began to walk towards the entrance I had destroyed. ¡°Why...? You¡­You dishonored such a great...warrior. You...Why?¡± One of the Annunakes who had watched whatever I had done looked at me in disbelief as he wondered why I would kill a race leader, especially if we were going to fight against Balor soon. I then turned and looked towards the crowd in front of me which caused them to clam up. ¡°....Because I said I would.¡± I answered while looking back at them emotionlessly and started to walk away. Akino then walked towards me and gave me a look of concern. ¡°But Vali.....wait-¡± ¡°But...Why?! You had to kill them? Surely with Balor coming we could have used him? Surely his crimes were...unspeakable but where was their trial? Why do such things in such a sacred place?¡± Some of the Annunakes began to talk over and interrupt Akino. I could see concern in her eyes but I needed to address these so called legendary dogs before I leave. I then stopped and turned my head toward her. ¡®What those three had done is unforgivable (Rattle). Whatever I did... (Rattle) No...No they deserved every bit of it!¡¯ I then faced her squarely and addressed the deathly quiet hall. ¡°....You call yourselves a ¡®legendary¡¯ race. With code...valor...? Why? All I see are a bunch of cowards. All of you, in your arrogance, allowed such atrocities and filth to occur in this so called ''sacred place''. Regardless if you were innocent or unaware, you would stand there and dare defend HIM!" Towards my loud yell no one answered back nor defended the dead Annunake. I was breathing heavy and still felt so dizzy. But I continued screaming at all of them. ¡°You can''t justify such crimes, else you are no better, else worse, than the traitors whose blood you¡¯re standing on.......You don¡¯t rape women....You don¡¯t harm CHILDREN!....Those are the RULES! ....Whatever world you¡¯re from, those have ALWAYS BEEN THE RULES!!!!!!!! " My loud roar echoed through mansion and forced everyone to freeze as if I had used Death grip on. I took a deep breath looked up towards the ceiling. "....Now if you wish to escape this hell, this prison we have to unite together if we hope to ever leave this place. Leave this dungeon forever... We¡¯re going to take on Balor...He will come to annihilate us all in just two days and this his goal is the world.... Are you all going to remain down here and clamoring about your once legendary pride... Or unite together to take down the monster who''s trapped you all here for so long...! We¡¯re going to need everyone if we have even a chance at victory. Every pixie, every Annunake....Everyone. But know this.... I don''t fight with scum!¡± I left them with a small speech and then headed towards the entrance. I then left that disgusting floor and went to grab some air. -------------------------------------------------------- ¡®...What¡¯s happening to me? Could Balor have been right...? That wasn¡¯t the first time I¡¯ve lost control like that but somehow.... It felt like I wasn''t myself at all. But judging by everyone¡¯s reactions I didn¡¯t give them the best example of being a leader. More of an executioner really...¡¯ How...How am I...Even going to be able to face Kaylan whenever I find her? Even if I ever reunite with her again, I¡¯ll never be able to reunite with my family... ¡®As if something like me could ever get into heaven... after doing such things. I¡¯ve even lost track of how many people I¡¯ve killed since coming to this horrible place....What¡¯s happened to me?¡¯ I turned my head over and tears started to fall from out my eyes. I remember when I had once promised months ago I would never cry.... I guess I''m not really good at keeping my promise. ¡®I¡¯m sorry Kaylan!...I...came here to find you and...I¡¯m afraid this place is beginning to change me. The things I¡¯ve done...I just don¡¯t think we¡¯ll be able to be a happy family again.....And I¡¯m sorry.¡¯ I must have sat on this rock for a while now. I left floor 8 and went back to floor 52. I wanted to get away so I¡¯m sitting on the large floating mass that floats over this floor. My feet dangling off I just...Needed to get away from it all for a while. ¡®Something really is happening to me...I guess I can¡¯t deny it anymore. I just wish I knew what I was. A hero....or a villain? An angel...? Or a demon...? And....sob.... why can¡¯t I seem to tell the difference anymore...?¡¯ ¡°So this is where you went to?¡± Hjokk then flew up beside me in her bird form and turned into a Valkyrie. She walked up behind me and then sat on my side. I wiped my tears and continued to look off towards the floor below. I didn¡¯t really say much. I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯m really up for talking right now. I always enjoy bickering with Hjokk but right now I just want some space. ¡°...Are you ok?¡± ¡°....I should be fine.¡± ¡°.....¡± Hjokk continued to look off towards the floor below as if thinking of something to say. ¡®She was always a little off with human emotion.¡¯ ¡°Listen Hjokk...thanks for coming here but I¡¯d kinda like to just be alone for a little while if that¡¯s alright.....¡± ¡°....¡± She then looked forward and made a troubled expression. She then got up slowly and looked at me with sad eyes and started to walk away. ¡®...I guess that was kind of rude. Oh well. I¡¯m not really in the mood for speaking right now anyway-....huh¡¯ Just then I felt a warmth on my back and two soft arms wrap me tightly. ¡°Hjokk...listen I.¡± ¡°No...You listen....We¡¯re going to be fighting together from now on. It¡¯s my job to protect you....I promise....I promise to get you out of here...I promise you¡¯ll be able to reunite with your sister again...I¡¯m with you¡± It was those last words that got me. Hjokk who was never good at presenting human emotion very well was now embracing me to help me feel better. Her light purple hair blew past my shoulders and her pleasant scent had a nice calming effect on my already broken heart. It almost smelled like that bracelet the pixies had given me. The one that reminded me of what I was fighting for and what I needed to do in this world. As that scent reminded me of the feelings I felt the first time it brought back a sense of purpose. My purpose.....to at least allow my sister that same opportunity. If it¡¯s possible to reunite with the rest of my family then we¡¯ll come to that bridge when we get there. ¡®I guess that niche quote may have been more accurate than I first realized...It¡¯s not so bad I guess...Becoming a monster.¡¯ I continued to feel the warm embrace of Hjokk behind me as we sat there and looked off into floor below. I could feel her large soft chest press against my back and it was almost calming. Her hug had a nice way of bringing me back... The smell from her hair continued to remind me of once good times. It really is a lovely scent. Akino¡¯s POV: Slowly the skin on the outside of Jhenson¡¯s mouth began to thin and tear apart. Blood shot out of his open wounds and flew into Vali¡¯s face as it drained down the sides of his mouth. Large amounts of blood continued to rush into Jhenson¡¯s mouth to the point the elf began to choke. ¡°Sto...Sto...¡± ¡°You dare ask me to stop! Come on...This is FUNNY!¡± ¡°MMMMmmmm!!!¡± SNAP! Vali¡¯s arms had ripped Jhenson¡¯s mouth open entirely, to where his skin tore all the way back until his cheek bones. Blood continued to gush out of his mouth as he no longer looked like an Annunake at all. I guess he never was an Annunake anyways. Jhenson was an elf and according to what we found, he and Diaga and this other Annunake. It is unforgivable the amount of shame they have brought onto the Annunake clan. Jhenson then hit the ground convulsing as his entire body had gone into shock. His mouth had torn open to the point he no longer even looked like demi-human but a monster. Just before he disappeared into the air upon his death he tried mumbling for Vali to grant him mercy. He however couldn¡¯t form sentences at this point and passed away slowly. ¡®Just...What is he doing? Is...Is this still Vali..? That thing Balor said, could it be true?¡¯ We know he killed Malthiel and absorbs abilities....Could it be possible absorbing such a tyrant could effect this man¡¯s personality? I pray to Amarok that isn¡¯t so. I know this man does not trust me, nor should he. But....He¡¯s different. He¡¯s kind. He isn¡¯t like this... Even if he has forced Adi and me into wearing a collar, he isn¡¯t evil. Vali then had picked up the large blade and walked up to Diaga. We were all paralyzed by the violence Vali had shown on Jhenson just before he died. Diaga looked to appear to be able to slowly be regaining his mobility though. The lightning that shot out of his flesh wrapped around Adimar until the point where his fur had begun to smoke. He then delivered a blow to Diaga¡¯s left kneecap. ¡°ROAHHHHHH..! You..! Grrrrr EMmmmm! You Grrr rrrr!!!!¡± Vali then walked up and kneeled beside him. ¡°...Me.¡± Diaga then leaned forward and held onto his broken leg. He growled and looked up at Vali in rage. All the other Annunakes were looking at this site in horror as they considered to jump in and rescue the alpha from immense danger. Ever since Vali appeared on this floor....He¡¯s been different. I still remember the loud roars of him emerging through front entrance of my once childhood home. He walked in with Cosmia and a pixie I had long thought dead. From there everything just happened so fast. ¡°So...You¡¯re going to kill me. The Alpha of the Annunakes! You think they would let you!!! And what happened to no weapons huh...As I thought this one doesn¡¯t adhere to the code of hon...mmmm.ghghg.¡± Diaga then started to freeze while Vali held his hand out towards him and held onto a sword with his other. It was the same magic he used on all of us just before losing conscious. Such powerful magic...How did we ever fight such a person? ¡°Yah I did say that...But the fight¡¯s over now. Besides like I said...¡± Whack ¡°Guahh..¡± Whack! Whack! Whack! ¡°..................¡± Whack! Whack!!! ¡°Abgrund¡¯s too sharp for you!!¡± ¡°St....st...nn...nnn.ehh..¡± Everyone in the room then became silent as swing after swing Diaga began to be chopped apart. The pixies, the Annunakes, Commander Locke, even that odd green-haired human who constantly talks had no words for what we were all seeing. Vali began swinging the large sword into Diaga as he tried to shield himself in his weakened state. He however could not move and continued to receive blow after blow from Vali. The depth of his swings forced the blade slowly into Diaga¡¯s thick fur and tear away at him piece by piece. He just.... continued to hack away at Diaga in front of him with such rage. Tears were even streaming down his face. This isn''t a duel......He¡¯s not killing him. He¡¯s...He¡¯s executing him. I agree...They should die for what they¡¯ve done. For bringing such disgrace into this sacred home! But...but this? His body had multiple wounds and gashes from being hacked at with the large blunt sword. Diaga¡¯s health was currently at 19 % and could no longer form sentences. His appearance was no longer of the once proud alpha that he was before. Part of his ears, nose, face, shoulder and limbs had been destroyed to the point where death was inevitable. Diaga however I feel was asking Vali to end his life. No one in the room had words for what they had just witnessed. He however looked to not even be aware of our presences anymore. He just swung his weapon like into Diaga until he was unrecognizable. Vali then picked up the fallen Diaga and ripped out his heart. The look of life popped back into him as he could feel his life slowly fading away. Vali even appeared to try to heal him as he was slowly losing health. Vali then dumped his lifeless body to the ground as if he thought of him as garbage and began to consume Diaga¡¯s heart in front of everyone. The Annunakes who were unaware of these three¡¯s sins can only look towards this scene in horror. Even I am at a loss for words. I however have no reason to step in and stop this. Diaga caused this. For whatever reason...Working with an elf? Tormenting those pixies. He is no Annunake, so he doesn¡¯t deserve to have a warrior¡¯s death... Vali then began to look around as if being disoriented. His behaviors were weird as he walked around the deathly quiet front hall. He then walked and began to observe his reflection. Blood and meat from Diaga¡¯s heart were smeared over his hands and face....He looks nothing like the day I first met him. He was nothing like this until.... I feel as though this is somehow my fault. My ears then drooped to the sides as I noticed Vali was trying to leave. ¡°Wait...Vali...¡± He then screamed towards me and everyone in the hall. ¡®You don¡¯t rape women. You don¡¯t harm children? Those are the rules...Vali wouldn¡¯t call pixies children. He seems to be aware even due to their behavior they aren¡¯t children at all...He must be talking about that little Adler girl... I remember now. He had went off mission to go out of his way and heal that small wounded Adler. I remember I even tried to hurry him along but he simply couldn¡¯t let go of the small wounded Adler in his arms. If he hadn¡¯t done that however he would have never gained Kyrah as his ally. Vali is...Different than any male I¡¯ve ever known. I was so scared of him after seeing he had the god wolf as his very pet. He called him Fenrir but...He looked just like the god wolf from the pictures of old. The one who was to be my mate showed it to me when I was young...But, it¡¯s honestly hard to trust anything that came out of his mouth. It¡¯s what caused me to be so cautious of Vali when I first met him but...That¡¯s just an excuse Balor took the ability for me to ever trust again. For how long was Jorren a puppet I¡¯ll never know. For how long was our time together a lie....? I¡¯ve had to think of that ever since he left us. Ever since he brought the Annunake to ruin. We aren¡¯t the proud wolves we once were. Everything I ever knew ended only months ago but I feel so much has happened since then. ¡°Him! You want us to trust him! He just desecrated this sacred place...He just...¡± ¡°No Hobber! Diaga had desecrated this place...Long before Vali ever came this dungeon.....¡± Adimar then walked up and looked at all the confused Annunake that were staring around. ¡°Adimar? You? This was once your home...How can you defend him after what he¡¯s done here? With that same weapon! You wanted us to follow him!¡± ¡°Yes...Regardless if this place was once my home...Diaga followed the wills of an elf for whatever reason. Even if he didn''t know of the elves plans, he still allowed such horrors to occur here. In the same hall we once shared with the Elkia themselves....Diaga and Jhenson did not deserve a warrior¡¯s death. He did unspeakable things along with this one here. ¡± Adimar then motioned towards the unconscious Annunake who we caught red handed in that....horrible torture chamber. ¡°But ...Can we really follow him?! That thing? To fight Balor he¡¯s just...¡± ¡°What....broken?....Which one of us in this dungeon isn¡¯t broken in some way....Diaga...for whatever reason was broken but he chose to go against the code we all share.. But not like Vali. I believe we can follow this human out of this dark place. To reclaim our once lost honor. And to leave this walls once and for all.¡± Everyone began to clamor around towards Adimar¡¯s words which only a few protested against. It was hard to argue against his words. Not only was the old Alpha gone and Adimar whose words use to be law around here, but after seeing Diaga¡¯s and Jhenson¡¯s behaviors was unforgivable...Like uncle said...We¡¯re all broken in here, but it all depends on how you take it. ¡°But...¡± ¡°No...For too long the name Annunake and legendary have all been one in the same. I feel as though those words hold no longer hold any meaning. I feel as if they lost that meaning long ago. This human Vali....He is not the enemy of the Annunake. He has come to this awful place to save us all in fact....I¡¯ve seen him lose it like that before too. I think it explains just what sort of person he is.¡± Upon saying that everyone began to quiet down and listen to what Adimar''s speech. Even the pixies who were crowded together in the corner walked up closer to hear what was being said about Vali. ¡°I was chained to him at the time...He had warped me and Akino out of the dungeon and showed us the world outside. He didn''t treat us as prisoners either, even after what we had done to him....But that very night there were intruders who attacked his home...His family. ¡° The pixies eyes then grew larger and looked towards one another listening in. ¡°It was then that one of those intruders tried to harm a small child in front of him....He lost it just like he did here....Like my brother in law use to say....¡¯We all have our demons.¡¯ We all have things we fight for too. But for Vali I think he just can¡¯t handle abuse towards women and children....Which just means one thing....¡± ¡°.......¡± Everyone then began to look at Adimar patiently until he finally revealed.... ¡°He too has met with extreme loss. He¡¯s no different from us in that aspect.....He...Is the new Alpha of the Annunakes....¡± Upon saying that all the Annunake began to open their mouths wide in astonishment towards his words. Another species has never been the alpha of our race in the entire history of our species. We have always been the fateful guardians of the race we most loved, but now...We just like Vali have lost so much. I¡¯m not sure what it is that Vali has lost, but I can only imagine. The look in his eyes wasn¡¯t that of someone who enjoyed killing. He wouldn¡¯t have been crying if he did. Why? Why didn¡¯t I see this before I had betrayed such a kind person....? He simple wishes to protect those he holds dear. How is that any different than what we try to do? He seems to have grown quite close with these pixies in front of me as well. They looked around as if worried. Many of the weakened pixies in the middle are being surrounded by hundreds of small pixies with diamond shaped wings. ¡°We have to go find Vali!¡± ¡°Right!¡± Everyone then looked down towards the pixies who all started to walk towards the entrance. ¡°Come on everyone let¡¯s hurry...Vali needs us.¡± ¡°Cosmia?¡± ¡°Jana...He¡¯s our family. He said it himself! He loves us, didn¡¯t you see when he was crying. Just seeing the horrible things they did to us, to you brought him to tears.....We have to go find him. Family needs to be together.¡± The pixies then began to clamor with one another and quickly flew off. I smiled thinking of the fact that the pixies had saw right through Vali¡¯s tough image before any of us did. It¡¯s really no wonder he gets along so well with the pixies. He naturally has this innate protective nature about him towards children. Like a beast and its child it will only attack when something threatens the safety of those it cherishes most...And there...the race he has grown closest too and even in a way resemble children were being tormented right in front of him which caused him to become so enraged. How can someone who protects children be bad.... ¡¯He can¡¯t be.¡¯ ¡°I agree...Vali is our new alpha! We will follow him to new glory of the Annunake. To reawaken our past selves. Diaga had it wrong, we are not warriors who were born to fight...to kill....We were born to protect. And that part of our lives ended the day the Elkias left this world. But that does not mean we do not have purpose. Let us walk together on this path. Let us leave this place together with all of the other races united as one. If we join together, with Vali and everyone''s power.....We will finally taste freedom!¡± ¡°HEOOOOOHHHHHH!!!!!!¡± The Annunakes began to howl into the night. It was the first time we had our eyes truly opened in what has felt like decades. We were once the pride of this dungeon and the protectors of all. Not just the Elkia but everyone and now we have fallen to such a cruel state. No longer will we hide in the dark. No longer will we waste away in this prison. Adimar then looked towards me and smiled. I then smiled back at him and ran off to go find Vali with the pixies. For years I have just been sinking away in doubts. Doubts of fighting Balor, of leaving this place. For so long I have just lost track of what I was fighting for. Vali, isn¡¯t a bad human. I¡¯d say he¡¯s not much different than an Annunake but I doubt he¡¯d like that... But from now on he will have the power of the once legendary Annunakes at his back. ---------------------------------------- I ran along and caught up with the pixies. They were oddly enough seconds away from warping off this floor entirely before I caught up with them. When I asked to come along not many of them seemed to be ok with it. ¡°No...You hurt Vali!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right! He needs to be with his family right now!¡± I thought right then they would leave me there but oddly enough Cosmia quieted everyone down and said it would be ok. We warped to floor 52 and everyone pointed up. ¡°He¡¯s up there¡­¡± ¡°Well then let¡¯s hurry!¡± ¡®Wait...don¡¯t just fly....away.¡¯ The pixies left me.... My ears twitched getting annoyed until I remembered I have a warp key to the top floating chasm in my inventory. It was a simple quest to find the warp key on this floor and was not difficult to find. However after the prison was moved up there many of them were taken away. I luckily still have mine. I activated the warp key and appeared on top of the floating chasm. I could smell Vali in the distance and ran towards him. As I got closer however it looked like he was fighting someone. As I quickened my pace I saw there was a third person standing there watching. When I ran up beside the female figure I turned to see who it was when my tail immediately stood on end. ¡®EH...It''s the bird!¡¯ The beautiful woman then turned to the right and saw me. She had some type of crown or armor on her head that came out of her hair and looked like feathers from an Adler. She however was more beautiful than other women I¡¯ve seen... ¡°...Mut.¡± ZZAAPPP!!! ¡®Ieeeeeeee!!!! Ugh....I forgot the bird doesn¡¯t like me.¡¯ I then hunched on the ground and held onto my tail before looking back up at her. She looked forward as if uninterested and there I saw Vali...He was fighting Malfius? ¡°Damn.......! You¡¯re really strong old man.¡± ¡°Haha! Have to be around my age....Now...See if you can learn to counter this......¡± Vali looked to be completely out of air. It looked like he had been hit several times by Malfius while his opponent didn''t look out of breath at all. I too had seen Malfius fight. In terms of fighting in hand to hand combat...there are no challengers to his mastery. ¡°Shit...You make it to where magic is impossible with every hit....How are you doing that? Is that a skill?¡± ¡°Mphmp child...This is simply a very old fighting art passed down from our ancestors. It was a technique that was created to fight against those who used magic. Now come.....ughh...¡± ¡°Valiiiii!!!!!¡± A small light blue color floated past and collided into Vali. Malfius who looked most surprised stop his lesson and watched as Vali got surrounded and swarmed by hundreds of pixies. Cyanin had wrapped her arms around his neck while many of the others flew up beside him and wrapped their arms around him as well. It got to the point where you couldn''t see Vali at all anymore. Many of them were still in tears while some were smiling at finally being reunited together again. ¡°Cyanin? Guys? What is it?¡± ¡°Why did you leave..?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Yah! Family stays together...Don''t leave like that again we were all worried!¡± ¡°Family?...¡± ¡°Yah!...We¡¯re family remember!¡± ¡°........¡± Upon hearing those few words Vali quieted down and received the warmth and tears from those he had all rescued... End of Chapter Don''t forget to rate my fiction and comment. I seriously enjoy reading long comments of your favorite scenes or races or twists... Tell me what you all think and as always...Thanks for Reading! Description/Character Page: Updated Warning! Contains spoilers for future chapters so do not read unless you''ve caught up. I''ve left other description and character pages at the end of other chapters so don''t feel the need to read it all here. I will try to keep this page updated throughout the length of the story. Wow! What to say? All I can say is thank you to everyone for your amazing comments and reviews you each wrote after the last twochapters. I can''t tell you how much I was trying to pull all the scenes together to give a considerable amount of emotion to the reader by the end of that last chapter. Honestly I''m speechless because I think I got the exact responses I wanted, more than that even. I love getting to read your longgggg comments of theories on the characters or the story. TriageX giving you a shout out because I even think you explained Vali in such a beautiful way I''m so happy that readers are feeling these ways about the characters. Last two chapters I was really struggling to wrap it together. The scenes with Balor or the ending with Vali losing it, just didn''t all feel right. It wasn''t giving the emotions I wanted which is why I changed the POV at the end....It didn''t give that shock/heartbreaking/heartwarming emotions I wanted. Luckily I have awesome PR''s and one of which I have to give a shout out too... I4MD347H Honestly the last two chapters wouldn''t have been nearly the same without his help. We bounced ideas off each other and helped make an incredible scene that just wouldn''t have been possible without him. I love getting to see just how other readers view certain characters, it honestly helps me write more simply because ''YOU'' as a reader can see them in ways even I didn''t see at first. SO without making this rant too long....Thank you. To my PR''s, to my readers who gave such great and long comments, such awesome ratings. Pandapoa thank you for yours....Shield Bro''s for life! ''Those Who Aspired to Become Gods'' is now ranked 37. Jumped up 11 places in just days and it''s all cause of you guys so thank you! It gives me the fuel and motivation I need to write more! Not all information has been added yet...Still tweaking it all but in time I hope to clean this page as well and make it a place where all the information is gathered...So give me time with this and I promise to make it much cleaner soon but for now it''s just a place for detailed info about the story. Description Page Magical Crystal Rankings: Green - > Blue - > Yellow -> Purple -> Red -> Black Weapon rankings: Normal - > Rare - > Unique - > Magic - > Ancient - > Legendary - > Phantasm - > Celestial - > Divine - Holy Weapons or Items are considered Pseudo-Divine and can fit in between Ancient and Phantasm. They also cannot be placed into any inventory nor destroyed while the God is still alive. Skill mastery: Beginner -> Intermediate -> Novice -> Advanced -> Expert -> Master -> Divine Races Confirmed: Human- Holds highest population in the world currently. Have many kingdoms and nations and are currently trying to expand to other continents. The central continent is where 4 great empires rule over the majority of the kingdoms and land there. Each empire was built by strong heroes and some blessed individuals that have shaped the entire continent. Kingdoms and guilds constantly fight for supremacy and to become the strongest by taking on unconquerable dungeons or fulfilling great quests that make a name for themselves in this large world. Elf- Race that is united under one elven queen in the eastern continent. Are a race that is said to not be a physical race but one that is more of a spiritual race. Said to live to almost be eternal. Very adept in magic and receive large benefits from earth spirits in the sacred forest where the majority of them live. Due to their strength in magic as well as warfare they haven¡¯t yielded the eastern continent yet fully to the humans, though for unknown reasons a majority have holed themselves away from other races for a long time. They are viewed as Demi-Human to all other races but Vali claims he finds that odd as they are simply too old and different from other demi-humans to consider them alike. He however has considered them to be...''Cool.'' However after meeting a few dark elves he currently doesn''t hold much good thoughts toward their race at all. Dwarf- Small humanoid like race that are adept in handcraft and blacksmith related work. Though small they have incredible strength. Large number of their population live under the rule of several dwarven kings in the western continent living deep within the mountains. Due to the strict environment surrounding the mountains, not many other races come into contact with them for a long time. Demon Race: A race said to be the ancestors of an old race of beings that came here long, long ago. They are extremely strong and durable to the point that all the Gods had to come together just to push them back and stopping them from killing them all. Loki considered them to be wild beasts roaming on the battlefield and causing havoc and claimed they killed many gods in the old war. Even with the power of all the gods uniting they were unable to slay the leaders of the Demon race which have now been looked to and revered as gods themselves. They live in the northern continent and stay to themselves. Alongside the western continent, the north has been unsettled in its entirety by the human population. They are however considered to be quite similar to humans according to Hjokk. They are under the rule of one Demon Emperor alongside his Demon Lord and several demon kings. They pass down special and unique abilities in their families clans that make them monstrously more powerful than the other demons around them. They are one of the main reasons Vali has come to this world to find out the truth of what happened to his life so long ago. To this day Vali has sworn vengeance on the one known as Asmodeus and thinks about the next time they meet everyday. He hates demons even though he himself is the spawn of one. Beast Man Species: Species much like Demi-humans but show their beast traits much more than demi-humans do. Sub Species: Aker Race: Race of humanoid lion-like beast man species. Very large and fearsome. Currently the Beast King in the southern Continent is ran by a member of this race, though not much is known about them at all. Arachnee Race: They are entirely female race and must mate with males from other races for them to survive. They have the lower form of a spider and the upper form of a human female. Though some show their traits more than others. Very strong and adept in close quarters combat and can see quite easily in the dark. Demi-Human: Hold second highest population next to humans. Has very many different subsets of their species but are still considered different than the beast man species as they are for the most part humanoid. Due to the large number of differences and social orders between them, they are not united as a whole and were crumbled by the united forces of the human race in the eastern continent. Sub Set Species Confirmed: Neko Race: Catlike race with many different kinds of different lineages. All lineages however have great eye sight and are said to actually adopt more catlike traits than human traits. Reiki Race: White Tiger Race, not much is known about them currently. Annanuke Race: White Wolf Race, One of the few divine races of Demi-Human said to be created by a God wolf long ago. Said to have fur tougher than steel and magic imbued in their claws and fangs. Adler Race: Humanoid Bird-like race. Has feathers coming out of hair and head looking similar to a war chief headdress. Has sharp talons and large wings giving them the ability of flight. Elkia Race- Deer like demi-human race known to be highly intelligent and majestic. They are noticed by their large white antlers that come out of the of their heads and give off a faint light. They are known to be adept in healing, and barrier/light magic. Pixie Race: Short demi human race that resemble thin hobbits with fairy like wings on their backs with pointed ears. Known to be quite mischievous and are adept in illusion magic, though are not very strong physically. Jiji Race: Race of small demi humans. Though their heads and faces are covered in white or brown fur, they have the torso and appendages of a small human. The hair is so bushy it is hard to distinguish a face as it looks like they have bushy facial hair as well. Their feet are quite big for their body and have patches of fur on their hands and feet. Though they are small and not powerful physically as a race, they are very good with their hands and enjoy making things. -Rufian Race: doglike race of demi human. Usually not known to be very adept in magic but naturally have a great sense of smell and tracking abilities. Vampire Race: Not much is known other than they live in the dark lands which is in the northern tip of the eastern continent. They don''t travel outside of their home but are considered to be very dangerous. Once ancient humans who would worship the blood god Shemzu, would drink blood to gain extraordinary power only to turn into a new race entirely. Damphir - a demi human race that is part human, part vampire. Not as strong as a pure blooded vampire but doesn''t share the same weakness to sunlight. Character Page Humans: Vali- Our troubled hero. Travels to a distant place simply to find what he¡¯s lost. All so he can return home and reunite with that he holds most dear. The hero however quickly finds this new world of magic and make believe is never what he originally thought to be and is a constant tug on his already fragile heart. He craves for power to protect those he wishes to save only to walk down and even more dangerous road. The time spent alone for him may have been more damaging to his psyche than he currently realizes but continues on to hopefully one day reunite in heaven with his family. Vali however is finding his journey to becoming a god is a load quite less traveled. Currently he is an Unranked Vassal for the Kingdom of Asher. Cassandra Kraiser: (Female Knight): Blond hair and blue eyed and considered to be the beauty of the royal knights. She is not the highest level of the knights in Asher but she is quite well known for coming from a prestigious noble family that has long sense been revered for their masteries in the sword. Rank 11 Master Shen: Turqoise short spiky hair with scars riddled down his face and body. He however wears them with pride and thinks they make him look quite cool. He also has a large metallic arm that is a prosthetic and was given to him after he was in a horrific monster attack. Regardless of his injuries and being the oldest of all the royal knights however. He is known to be the strongest in the entire Kingdom of Asher. Though he has never seen battle, he has never once lost in a 1 on 1 duel, which is why everyone just refers to him as Master Shen. When kingdoms and guilds sought out his strength he simply sought for a life of simplicity. He became a royal knight to the King of Asher who was his childhood friend. Becoming a royal knight allowed him to not accept the hundreds of duel requests he would receive daily and considered it the only way to have people leave him alone. He soon found out however that there was a lot more work in becoming a knight but has learned to enjoy his role as the kingdom¡¯s strongest. Rank 1 Sumei: Not much is known about this mysterious woman who has been taken under Shen¡¯s care as a student. She however takes her role as a Knight of Asher as great honor and uses all of her strengths to protect the King and Queen. She has long black hair and wields a black katana that was said to be made form a sea war beast. Rank 2 Shakko: Another member of the Royal Knights of Asher and is considered to be ¡®the oddball¡¯ of the knights. No one to this day knows what he looks like since he always wears a ceramic mask to cover it up. He is however a master of daggers and hidden weapons. Once an vigilante in the kingdom of Asher he hunted down and killed criminals of the kingdom with his own hands. A lot of crime families around the kingdom want his head which is why he agreed to become a Knight of Asher and to protect the King and Queen. Rank 6 Sting- Adventurer from the central continent who was defeated and bound by Vali. He is an expert with poisons and is known to be quite skilled with a spear. He has long green hair and is considered to be a nice man by Ari and Elyria. Lucy- Thought of as a tomboy princess but in all actually just doesn¡¯t obey rules very well. Vali doesn¡¯t know how to treat her currently but she finds him to be fascinating and wants him to become her own personal knight. Kaylan: Vali¡¯s sister and currently somewhere in the new world that Vali has found himself in. She too has been on adventures too and according to Loki has taken many adventures. He however said she wanted Vali to come here alone to find strength in his own way before reuniting with her. --------------------- Divine/Demi Devine¡± Loki-God of Mischeif and Trickery. Has chosen Vali as his champion but also found a loophole in the ancient treaty amongst gods finding a way to have two champions. His other being his sister Kaylan. He is a master of spatial magic and wields the might staff gungir. Hjokk- Valkyrie of Storms and watcher over Vali during his time in becoming stronger. She was made for battle so she doesn¡¯t comprehend human emotion quite as well but is slowly understanding more of it being close to Vali for so long. She continues to stay in her small purple crow form even after Vali has pointed out she doesn¡¯t have to anymore. Skuld: Valkyrie who was sent to protect Kaylan during her time on middle earth. Not much is known about her currently other than Loki thinking she was ''mean''. Balor: A fallen Dark God who has been given the title of Mad God. Capable of creating armies of darkness easily he only wishes to bring the world into darkness and ruin to get back at the gods. He plans on unveiling his creations and Fomorians loose on the world to cause the gods to either descend or lose everything. He however has the ability to see through anything due to his all seeing eye. He was even capable of seeing all the skills Vali had and knew how they worked more than he did. He asked Vali to join him simply because he thought they were both similar but now plans on holding Vali''s head in front of the gods as he destroys the world. Malthiel: One of the Four Kings of Death. Beings who fought in the Ancient War of the Gods and were so adept in death they were thusly given the name of Death themselves. Once a Reaper King which is similar to a Vaklyrie, though masters in Death Magic, and was the right hand and body guard to the God of the Underworld Hades. After being killed by Vali and Hjokk Vali absorbed his core into him and then took his weapon. Balor however warned Vali of this saying he was a being who has killed more people than his race even had a number for, and implied that he didn''t have the ability to contain such an ancient being. --------------------- Arachnee: Arachnee queen- Not much is known about her currently. Reinma- Mother of Karma and was saved by Vali on floor one. Karma- Reinma''s daughter. Fuch Race: Elyria- Vali¡¯s mother now that he has arrived in a new world but not much is known about her life in the forest. All Vali has come to know so far is that his mother was once considered to be something as a high shaman in her village but he thinks her understandings with magic are the most he¡¯s seen in anyone yet other than Loki. Sasha- A Fuchs slave that was once in the same tribe as Elyria. She was once bought by a rich and powerful noble who would use his power and authority to buy and abuse slaves for his amusement. She eventually decided it was enough and tried to flee with her fellow slaves but two of them died before her and her fellow slave Neko were later captured. She was then bought by Vali. Iris- Elyria¡¯s daughter. She was separated from Elyria not long after birth and sold into slavery. She is roughly around 8 years old. Jiji Race: Henley- Jiji on floor 1 and father of Joxen. Joxen- Henley¡¯s daughter Pek- Looked at as the leader of the Jiji race even though they don¡¯t have any social order of leaders in their society. He is however revered as one of the more brilliant minds to have ever lived in Balor''s hidden dungeon. Not many people can understand him which makes him a grump but compared to the other jiji his speech is even more difficult to understand. He however is in the expert stages of several skills he uses to make top class armor that has never before been seen in the outside world. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Adler Race Griphlock- The now dead king of the Adler race after Balor executed him. Kirah- Current king of the Adler race however there are still oppositions to the crown. She however is from a particular race of Adler that is said to be from a divine beast, the gryphon. Her strength like all other Adlers is far and beyond the other races and covets in having one of the highest Attack Power, in the dungeon. Regardless of her tough exterior she is considered to be breathtaking by the MC as she herself looks divine. With golden hair, eyes and wings everything she wears is also adorned in gold. She loves her little sister Ikaros more than any other and hopes to one day be able to leave the dungeon with her. She likes Vali for his willingness to heal her sister without any purpose to himself other than because he wanted to do so. Ikaros- Small Adler girl whom Vali attempted to heal. She has bright purple eyes and small purple feathers that have started to fall from her body. She lost the ability to fly when her feathers started to fall off and due to a birth defect was even unable to speak. Knowing this however her father Griphlocke threw her from a high location during her right of passage to test if she could fly or not. She however survived but was abandoned for not being strong enough. She however was rescued by her older half sister Kyrah and placed under the protection and care of Gwen. Her brain damage has now finally been healed and now gets to speak to her sister for the first time. Gwen (Mother Hen) - Gwen is an Adler woman who no longer fights but has chosen another role in the dungeon she has been trapped in. Gwen runs a small home for children who have lost their parents in Balor''s dungeon and takes care of them. Annunake Race Adimar- A once proud warrior who fought on the front lines in a dungeon. He is a member of the legendary god wolf race and appears to be a large 8 foot tall white wolf. He stands on two legs and appears to be a humanoid wolf with high intelligence. He has been through constant battles and struggle that has forged him into dignified warrior. He once rose to the highest rank as Alpha of his entire race, but was then stripped of all authority after an accident that happened on one of the floors of Balor''s dungeon. Akino- Adimar¡¯s niece. She is 19 with long white hair, ears, and a tail. She prides herself in being among the fastest of the Annunake. She was once in line to marry Adimar¡¯s brother in law who was also of the Elkia race. Due to her mate later turning out to a puppet has effected her with men. Lilly- Small slave girl around 10 years old. She has the same features as other Annunake but doesn¡¯t seem to enjoy violence as she was once a slave for a short period of time with her brother. She was the first person Vali met in this world other than his mother and has slowly grown attached to him. Even with her brother¡¯s initial warnings she always saw Vali as a nice person. Pixie Race Cosmia- (Red Pixie) Queen of her race and is a master of illusion magic. She is however young and not the oldest of all the other pixies. She is coveted as the queen of her race and is looked at as royalty in her race. Regardless of this however she still seems to act similarly to all the other pixies. However after receiving the magic from the red crystal she has easily become one of the strongest pixies in the dungeon. She thinks of Vali as also a part of their family. Cyanin- (Turqoise Pixie) Once an inhabitant of floor one Vali saved her from the beginning stages of a powerful rot that diseased many of the pixies not long after their family had died. She after receiving 2 purple magic crystal from the Adamantine spider, 1 yellow and 1 purple from King Hydra she now boasts in the highest defense of all the pixies. She prides herself in this and thanks Vali for making her this way. She has now been promoted to a Pixie Elite and is the personal guard of Cosmia. She likes Vali and enjoys teasing him. Tanin- ( Orange Pixie) Inhabitant on floor 1 and is the only pixie who received a yellow crystal from a monster that must have had strong fire ability. He can shoot out fire like a flamethrower out of his hands and now with the effects of the Adamantine spider his fire now has a new trait. He has now been promoted to a Pixie Elite after conquering several Floor One Devourer¡¯s Nests with his powerful fire. He currently is wearing Mithril armor that he too engulfs in his constant flames but doesn''t use weapons as his fire he shoots off like a flamethrower out of his hands. Vale- (Silver Pixie) Vale is one of the few Elite Pixie¡¯s left in the dungeon. She''s not much of a talker but is amongst the stronger pixies who were set to guard their Queen. Whenever Cosmia became the new queen Vale as well as the other pixies have joined in protecting her. She currently now is the only pixie with a lightning ability and is now revered as the strongest pixie with the highest level as well. She currently wears the Grootslang Shock Armor as well as an Adamantine spike given to her by Vali. Daisy- (Yellow Pixie) She doesn¡¯t enjoy getting up close in fights and scares easy. She however like all the other pixies enjoy playing games with everyone and playing pranks. To Vali he believes Daisy to be the gentlest pixie. Whenever the other pixies would play games for new armor or weapons that were given to them, she gave her rare armor away to those that could use it better. She however now has a unique ability that Vali says is ironic towards her name. After absorbing the white King Hydra¡¯s purple crystal, her healing abilities on herself and other pixies is unmeasurable. She always tends to stand next to Vali whenever he is around. Kai- (Purple) One of the Pixie Elite and the strategist of the Hildr pixies in Balor''s hidden dungeon. He currently wears the Grootslang Shock armor as well as wields an Adamantine spike given to him by Vali. Jade- (Dark Green)- One of the Pixie Elite and currently wears the Grootslang Shock armor and wields an Adamantine spike given to her by Vali. He however hasn''t had much interaction with her yet. Cari- (White) Cari is one of the few remaining Bifrost pixies in this dungeon, but was not given the name Bifrost as she is the youngest of the 3 while there had never been more than 1 Bifrost Pixie at any given time. She has a bright white light that surrounds her with long flowing hair that resembles a rainbow. She is cherished by all of the pixies and treated unlike any other. Since birth she has been unable to walk but after meeting Vali she was healed from the Tears of a Titan. Not only can she now walk but her abilities have drastically increased and currently is the only pixie or character to have a ''divine'' skill. She currently is wearing the King Hydra''s Armor given to her by Vali that was created by Pek and the Arachnee. Vali considers her to be the kindest and most innocent pixie as not only how she is treated but how she treats others. Bifrost- (Black) One of the pixies who was kidnapped and experimented on by the Dark evles. She was given the name Bifrost like all the other Bifrost pixies before her and looks similar to her younger sister Cari but now has dark black pixie cut hair. During her time in captivity the Dark elves used her and the other pixies to create a particular rotting disease that eats away at magical power. Since pixies are practically made of magical power this was a death sentence to their race. For years she had been missing from her race and after finally being reunited with her family she only wishes to be near them. She like all the other pixies who were kidnapped don''t like to be around any of the other races besides their own family. However Bifrost is curious about the man known as Vali and doesn''t see him like the other pixies who were saved alongside her. While the violent acts portrayed by him were enough to scare her, she looks at him as the one who has saved all of her family from the very pits of hell, even if she is cautious to tell him herself. Uri- (Gold) One of the pixie elite who went missing while protecting Bifrost. He has dark skin with gold hair and looks different than any of the other pixies according to Vali. After failing to protect his family, he couldn''t even look towards his Queen blaming himself for his failures that lead to his family to being captures, raped and tortured for months. Once hailed as the second strongest pixie continually would stand up and defend his family members who were being tormented in front of him only to take on the full brunt of aggression by his captors. When Vali and the rest of his family found him and the captures pixies he had lost the ability to even get up and had to be carried. Freiki- (Pink) - Though he is male due to his color he was mistaken for female when he was kidnapped. After being forced to watch as his family was wrapped in chains and received constant abuse it turned Freiki from his once happy calm demeanor. He hates the Elves and the Annunake''s for allowing such atrocities occur to his beloved family. Even though he was never a pixie elite he fears nothing anymore after what the Elves and Diaga had done to him. Though he does not trust Vali, after he executed those who had viscously used, and raped his family right in front of him, he was thankful for Vali stepping in and not allowing those responsible to get away with what they had done. Even though the other pixies who were saved are scared of Vali, Freiki was unaffected by the violence and was even thankful Vali had done the things he did. Jana- (Pink) - Once hailed as the strongest pixie before she was kidnapped along with her family and the one she was suppose to protect, Bifrost. She however through her time being tormented by the Annunake and Elves, remained the loving leader who tried to keep her family attached during their time in captivity. She is the older sister of Cosmia and is also the oldest pixie in the dungeon currently. She loves her brothers and sisters more than anything else and that is the only reason she was able to mentally survive her horrific time with her captors. Regardless of the amount of abuse, violence, and experimentation she continually would try to step in and protect her family even in her weakened state. She is curious about who the man known as Vali is and how he was able to turn the pixies into something so different from her memory. She no longer trusts any other races besides her own but due to her families actions she is slowly coming around to talk to Vali. Reiki Race Malfius - 2nd strongest survivor in Balor''s hidden dungeon and race leader of the Reiki. Not much is known about him other than he is the leader of the Reiki race and father of both Meifeng and Ollierion. After Vali''s first fight with Meifeng he admitted she was stronger than him if not for his skills and thinks of Malfius as someone who is potentially very dangerous. He poses as the second highest health next to Vali while holding the highest defense in the dungeon. He as well as all the other Reiki build their resistances to elements while training turning their white tiger race into the ideal tank class immune to magics. Meifeng- Daughter of Malfius but chose to take the path of a sword. She joined the Eis Neko''s Dawn Bringers Corps and rose to one of the highest ranking officers in the faction. According to Vali she has spectacular sword skills but it almost pales in comparison to what she can do with her fists. She promised to help train Vali in sword mastery only to betray him and aid in his capture with the fellow Annunake''s. Ollerion - Son of Malfius and also joined the Dawn Bringers corps and became a captain in the Away team. He as well as all members of the away team continued to fight past the Great Wall on floor 52 to continue the fight against the beasts known as the Fomorians. He has long white hair with a black streak and bright blue eyes. He is more care free than most officers in the Dawn Bringer''s though he fits in well with the other members of the Away team. Eis Neko Race Alysteir - Currently ranked 1 in the Balor''s hidden dungeon. Known to be on the Expert stages of sword mastery and can even move as fast as the Annunake. She has long blue hair and curvy body that doesn''t show to be as deadly as she truly is. She once took on a floor boss by herself and came out victoriously. Even if she has saved many and won many floor battles for them, Malfius however thinks even if she isn''t a puppet, the dungeon has already claimed her mind.This is why she has become the cynical person who even enjoys torturing others. She tortured Vali and even took his cross necklace away from him. Ecclaire - Commander in the Dawn Bringers Corpse. The first and only puppet that has been identified in the dungeon. Commander Erwin Locke - Commander of the Dawn Bringers Corps Away team. Regardless of the number of loss after loss he has received over his long life trapped in a dungeon he continues forward against giants with only his twin swords to some day bring he and his people the freedom they have never tasted since birth. Even when faced in front of Balor himself, Locke didn''t back down and even attempted to attack him which ended in failure. He along with some of the other racial leaders are currently working on a plan of attack against Balor. Malaki - Current Race head of the Eis Neko''s and 3rd strongest in the dungeon. Not much is known about Malaki currently but after forcing Vali to fight in a 3 on 1, he simply said he does not like him. Other characters Ari- A small slave girl who has been in slavery for the entirety of her young life. She was separated from her parents at birth and has what has caused Vali to slowly forget some of his past pains. When first meeting Vali she thought him to be the one who was taking her away to die but was later saved by him instead. She had extensive wounds and a skin eating disease that left her face and most of her body ruined whenever Vali first met her and she was so small that she could no longer stand. To her no one had ever gone as far to touch her or treat her so warmly as to feed her that she quickly warmed up to Vali sooner than all the other slaves. Ari sees Vali as the most important thing in her life while Vali sees her as someone that has slowly began to heal his past wounds. Comparing his life to hers makes his last problems seem not so bad. Ari and Vali have now grown very close over their constant time staying up late together Vali and teaching her to speak. Noah- Older brother of Lily but did not inherit the same genes of the Legendary Annunake race as his sister. He along with Lily were both attacked with their families by slavers from an unknown kingdom. They were then sold into slavery not long after. Before they could be separated however Noah managed to kill one of the slavers and allow for his sister to escape. He was later saved by Vali and reunited with his sister. He is currently learning to fight by Vali to be able to protect his only remaining family, Lily. Kingdoms: Eastern Continent: Kingdom of Asher - Not the strongest kingdom in the Eastern continent but has the third largest population. They have not been at war for a long time and are in times of peace. Their views on treatment of demi humans is what initially gave Vali the ok to join them but he is still weary of them currently. Kingdom of Myro- Currently at war with the elves and the strongest Kingdom in the Eastern continent. This is mostly due to their highest ranking Vassal Lord Adel who is a blessed being from the Sun God Lugh. He weilds the famous spear from the god himself and is a master in all forms of weaponry and even some magic. He was thought to be a genius strategist and is responsible for Myro becoming the strongest country with the help of his 4 Horseman Generals. Kingdom of Aldain - First Kingdom Vali ever came to when coming to this new world and where he met his mother. Vali hates the Aldain kingdom with every fiber of his being and compares it the city of Sodom from the bible. The new King is Lord Tyrule, a man from a fallen noble house who formed a coup with the help of the kingdom of Myro. Lord Tyrule is one of the few people Vali has sworn revenge against and has thought long Central Continent Kingdom of Kairo - One of the 4 great empires and said to be the home of the Hero of Kairo. He wields a Phantasm Class Shield and fights with it more ferociously than with any weapon. He and those that follow him are known as the Kairo''s Immortal Knights and have yet to see loss in battle. Rose Empire - Other than being affiliated with the Kingdom of Asher not much is known about this kingdom currently. (I''ll clean all of this in time and rewrite some of the descriptions for you just wanted to have it all in one place for now...) As always Thanks for Reading and enjoying this fiction! Chapter 21: The Calm Hey guys...Been a while since we saw each other last. Sorry this chapter took so long it was just a bitch to work with to be honest. What scenes go in this chapter/what goes in the next/ Was it too much explanations/blablabla Honestly there was so much I wrote that I waited to talk about until the next 3 chapters. Honestly like I said there is just so much to talk about in this arc I just didn''t know what to do with it all so I hope your long with a long chapter. Try 33K long hehe... Well like I said if it''s too wordy in some places I apologize just so much to explain. If I need to clean it I obviously will! It''s not like I''m not happy with this chapter but this chapter serves as mostly the set up for the rest of this arc so compared to the last one....Not as much action. But trust me you will get that by the bucket loads before this arc is done. So because of that I decided to give this chapter the title....The Calm...Because you know what comes next lol. So my fiction has now jumped to 25 Top Rated and 17 Best Active Fiction! Last we saw each other I was ranked 46th in Top rated so a jump of 21 spots I can only thank my readers. Again sorry it took long as fuck to post this. Honestly like I said it was just so many scenes I had to set up and half the time I just kept second guessing and wanting to just get to the best parts. So it took a while to get motivated to finish this one. This chapter however is close to the length of Chapter 19 and 20 combined. THIS WILL NOT BE THE NORM. The next time you see me however I will bulk release the remaining chapters of this arc. I however doubt it will take as long as it did for this one since my computer had been messed up the last couple of weeks, as well as the next few chapters get quite exciting so it will be much more fun for me to write! As always thanks for reading and enjoy..... Chapter 21: The Calm Boom!
You have been struck Due to your chi being internally disturbed All magic will be impossible to use for 3 seconds You have received 4200 damage
¡®Damn!¡¯ Boom!
You have been struck Due to your chi being internally disturbed All magic will be impossible to use for 3 seconds You have received 2350 damage
¡®Ha¡­Ha¡­.wow¡­.¡¯ Malfius continued to lay into me with hit after hit. Every strike from his large fists felt like they went right through me. The impact not only caused physical damage but also rocked my very core. If that wasn¡¯t enough, every swing made it somehow impossible to use magic for a brief period of time. Mostly all of my skills, including my healing ability are used with magic. This old man is just too fast for me. Even if my speed is higher than his he just moves like a cloth in the wind. I haven¡¯t hit him once yet; it¡¯s not just his speed but also his technique. He just blocks or deflects every punch I send his way. ¡®Ok¡­ You¡¯re tricky¡­Let¡¯s try¡­This! Ha!¡± I tried to use a feint and stepped forward and swung my other fist into his right shoulder. I felt an impact while Malfius simply slid off of it and rolled around my right arm. He then swung his fist into my right ribcage. BOOM!
You have been struck Due to your chi being internally disturbed All magic will be impossible to use for 3 seconds You have received 3110 damage
That one practically knocked the breath out of me. I spun around and tried to deliver a blow with my elbow but he ran a complete circle around me. ¡®I don¡¯t know how he¡¯s doing that but it¡¯s not a skill. It¡¯s as if he¡¯s attacking my pressure points and the moment his fist comes into contact with me I feel as though my insides are about to burst open. If I didn¡¯t have Malthiel¡¯s bones I would have probably broke something by now¡­¡¯ I then jumped back to get some distance. Believe it or not this old man is pushing me into a corner. I can¡¯t get a single edge over him whiles each of his strikes are devastating to me. His technique is flawless and even if I can connect with him he just brushes it off and lays more strikes into me! He¡¯s better than Master Fe, he¡¯s definitely better than Meifeng¡­. He is absolutely stronger than me and it has nothing to do with his high level. Who cares if he has high defense I can¡¯t even do anything substantial to knock him off balance. I tried to get some distance to somehow be able to give my regeneration ability to work or even gain the ability to use flicker but Malfius has yet to let up his onslaught and assault. He darted towards me giving me difficulty at responding in time. It was hard to lift my arms back up in position but I lifted them up and tried to spin and use my elbow to come down on his left shoulder blade. The image of Malfius then became a blur as I watched his image glide through the air and disappear from view. ¡®What the hell!¡¯ ¡°Guah!....¡± Whosh! I then landed on my back as Malfius had evaded my strike and took my legs out from under me. I¡¯m now lying down looking up at this floors sky and looking down at me is Malfius. His bright blue eyes are shining in the light of the moon on this floor and gleaming back at me. He¡¯s smiling down at me and then leaned over to reach his hand out and pick me up. ¡°Geezes old man, never thought you¡¯d be this strong¡­¡± ¡°Well what did you think the Reiki were just pushovers¡­¡± He grabbed onto my arm and helped me up. We had been practicing for around a half hour and honestly I feel I¡¯ve learned a lot. I kept thinking because my level was increasing along with my stats and skills that I was getting stronger. But now I feel like that¡¯s not the case. Sure I¡¯ve become physically more powerful, but I haven¡¯t really grown any. I knew I had to become strong without Abgrund and not rely on its power so much, but I honestly thought I still had come a long way from when I first arrived here. Malfius shattered those thoughts. He¡¯s not a normal tank; his outlandish strength and perfected techniques make him frighteningly powerful. I¡¯ve become strong based on my equips, skills and my stats. But have I really become stronger? Honestly if I ever had to get serious with him and he ever landed the first punch¡­¡¯No¡­yah I¡¯d definitely lose.¡¯ I looked over to my right and there watching me were Hjokk, Akino, Cyanin and Aurora. After the pixies had arrived earlier they had made it quite apparent that from now on we were family. It wasn¡¯t just a title that was thrown on my status window; they saw me as now just another member of their family forever. Wherever I go, they go. Even if the destinations I go are scary and dark places these little child like demi humans wish to only come with me. They had swarmed me like before and cried thinking I was going to leave them again. I could see that some of the pixies I had saved were confused by everything but they remained with their family who were equally as shooken up over what happened just a little while earlier. After that I had told them to go get some rest, as we would have a lot to do tomorrow. At first they hadn¡¯t wanted to separate but I had eventually convinced them it was alright. Each of them were quite in an emotional state right now and should take some time to go just help those they each were able to rescue tonight. Daisy however requested if she could leave one of her communication petals with us so she could communicate if need be. Since they wanted to get their rescued brothers and sisters home they agreed but had wished to leave me with a few guards¡­.Cosmia¡¯s orders. It was rather cute how these little pixies operate as regardless of what happens they don¡¯t like the idea of me or any other member of their family ever being alone. It was decided that it would be Cyanin and Aurora who would stay behind. ¡®Well¡­Or it was decided after dozens of them offered and was then turned into a game of who could stay¡­I¡¯ve just lost words at describing my feelings for these things anymore.¡¯ Very odd creatures and regardless of the situation or over looming fear of war, they never change. Even after everything that they¡¯ve seen tonight; with the elves¡­with me I¡¯d just assume it would be hard for them to stomach any of it. I guess I can¡¯t hold them to the same standards of humans, but it¡¯s almost as if all this violence and horrors they see almost doesn¡¯t affect them as bad as the other races. ¡®Pixies get over grief differently. It¡¯s almost to the point I can¡¯t ascertain it to a human¡¯s psyche. I was told they play pranks and games as to not lose sight of themselves down here¡­I can only imagine. If not maybe their minds would have broken long ago with seeing such horrors their whole lives. They¡¯re the youngest of every race in this dungeon and they in some ways handle everything much better than anyone else. It¡¯s as if the term ¡®war pixie¡¯ meant something much more than just a title.¡¯ Not long after they each swarmed me they all decided to fly back to their home floor. They each waved goodbye at me, well the ones I knew of. The pixies I had met tonight only looked at me with cautious and confused eyes. They didn¡¯t wave like the other pixies but I guess I wouldn¡¯t blame them. They don¡¯t look scared of me just weary is all. ¡®Now it¡¯s just us¡­.Watching me get my ass kicked.¡¯ ¡°Come child¡­try to understand when you swing. Follow through and immediately flow into the next. It¡¯s not about power it¡¯s about accuracy. It is about finding peace in yourself and releasing chaos into another.¡± ¡®Haha¡­Things a monk might say for $300.¡¯ Malfius stood me up and was moving my arms while I swung¡­He wasn¡¯t me he was just dodging my swings and then placing his large muscular arms on mine while guiding my fists¡­.¡¯Damn it he¡¯s not even acting like it¡¯s difficult to dodge my swings at all!!¡¯ Everyone continued to watch this embarrassing scene while I sparred with this white tiger man. I got aggravated and started swinging much more aggressively. Anytime my three seconds would be up he would evade and strike me while continually moving his arms in such a fluid and dance like motion. It¡¯s not that he was faster than me, his senses were just drastically quicker than my own. He would dance circles around me while constantly evading and teaching me things. ¡°Now I think that¡¯s enough. If we continue at this rate you¡¯ll never hit me¡­ Now I want to teach you to deliver a counter to something that evades like I do.¡± ¡° Well what do you expect? I honestly thought when dealing with tank type I¡¯d be messing with someone much slower¡­and are you going to teach me how to stop peoples magic too?¡± ¡°¡­Haha! Well what did you assume child. Just because of my high defense I¡¯d just let you hit me? You must first earn it¡­. And that move is something that takes more than a mere 2 days to learn child. You don¡¯t have near the accuracy to apply your power. Now keep your wrists locked¡­Lighten your grip on your fists¡­. follow through. ¡° ¡®I would assume he was a tank class but I could never even hit the bastard to see just how strong his defense was! He is truly a master of technique more so than any teacher I had before. It doesn¡¯t even matter that he has the toughest defense in the dungeon if you can never hit him. ¡¯ ¡°Do not try to connect with your fist but with the back of your palm. Rotate and apply force with your other to knock them off their trajectory. Then strike!¡± He moved my fists in a way that felt odd. The movement felt strange and gave me the belief as if I couldn¡¯t really apply much power to it at all. But as he moved my arm it felt lighter than air. It didn¡¯t cut through the air like before. It flowed¡­. I continued these movements over and over as Malfius continued to dance around me. Anytime my hand would go off path Malfius would correct it and direct me exactly how each movement was done. From my stance, to the steps I took, even in the way he wished for me to breath, which ironically took the longest to comprehend. All of it allowed my arms to somehow move in a way I didn¡¯t assume would be beneficial to me at all. Even if my movements started to quicken it didn¡¯t feel like I could apply much force to cause any real damage with these movements, they just feel too awkward. I continued breathing in the odd ways he showed me and diligently repetead the awkward movements for what felt like a long time. Malfius had me drop my weight onto the balls of my feet and straightened my back. The movements he wanted me to take with the balls of my feet were almost a windshield wiper movement with my steps. Malfius then began to evade and I began to see my movements catch up with his, that or I just predicted simply by his repetitive movements. As he absorbed the first shot and began to evade I side stepped back in front of him and applied force in the way he showed me. BOOM! The impact was much more than I originally thought possible but immediately it showed by blowing Malfius off his footing and forced him back several steps.
Congratulations! You have followed an ancient art of movements and breathing and learned to apply an ancient technique that is already an accessible skill. White Tiger¡¯s Thunder Paw Technique (Passive + Active) Level 1 (O% Completion) Passively will increase bare-handed attack power by 10% Passively will increase bare-handed attack speed by 15% Active 30 % increase in Attack Damage to bare- handed fighting techniques when Reiki Byakko Breathing Technique is learned
¡®What¡¯s this¡­.¡¯
Congratulations! Hand-to-Hand Combat Mastery: Intermediate Level 9 has just risen to Novice Level 1! Strength + 15 Stamina +50 Agility + 15 Defense + 20 Health + 500 Intellect + 30 50 % rise in Evasion and Attack Power while fighting without a weapon. 40% rise in Attack Speed while fighting without a weapon. Due to your knowledge in Hand to Hand Combat (Level: Novice) as well as Multiple Weaponry (Scythe Mastery) + (Sword Mastery) : 0.5 x Rise in general Attack Power will now be applied while fighting with a weapon.
¡®Hey look at that, Malfius is an incredible teacher and I gained some ancient technique as well¡­ Wait¡­While using a weapon, Yes!¡¯ In the game this happened as well but I wasn¡¯t sure what the conditions where in this world. Due to my multiple masteries and my knowledge in hand-to-hand combat my general attack power is increased by 50 percent now while equipping a weapon. ¡®So does that mean Abgrund¡¯s general attack power has increased by that much too¡­? Regardless I¡¯ve gained something quite beneficial. White Tiger¡¯s Thunderous Paw even passively increases my attack damage and speed with bare-handed fighting so that already adds on to my Hand to Hand combat as well..¡® ¡°What¡¯s up? You¡¯re starting to make a dumb face?¡± Malfius then commented and I told him about my mastery and attack damage increasing and my hand-to-hand combat increasing. He laughed and said that is something the Reiki have known about for years. The other races aren¡¯t aware simply because you atleast need to be in Novice of Hand to Hand while also having multiple other masteries. Malfius also says that¡¯s why his son and daughter have such high attack power compared to others who use weapons simply because of their masteries in hand to hand combat. It increases their damage to almost incomparable ways while holding a weapon but Malfius still says there is no weapon he thinks more frightening than his own paws. I then told him I gained the White Tiger¡¯s Paw technique and he just looked at me dumbfounded. ¡°Come again now?¡± ¡°Yah isn¡¯t that awesome?¡± ¡°I know my teaching skill is at a descent level but usually it takes several weeks if not months of training in our ancient movements to learn that technique. Even if I guide them¡­.Hm¡­ Well you already were quite knowledgeable in the basics which helped¡­ but I guess being blessed by a god has its merit¡­¡± As Malfius laughed he just waved it off thinking it was one of the two. It¡¯s also because of this dungeon currently giving me twice the experience in everything I do. Maybe I can get Malfius to teach others this. If we get out of here having everyone work together could hold a lot of benefits to each of these races. I remember looking at Malfius¡¯ stats before. It had so many of those places where stats were increased by a lot. It added up to be quite high even for his level. He must have accumulated a lot of those passive skills. I need him to survive this fight too he would make an amazing ally. ¡®Well¡­Only one thing I can do now¡­I¡¯ve seen the movies.¡¯ I then walked over to where Malfius was and in front of everyone I bowed. ¡°Malfius¡­. Please take me as your student¡­¡± His look was surprised. As if he didn¡¯t think that over the last few hours of him whooping me was enough to make me realize how powerful I thought him to be. I felt helpless to him and I feel if I were to learn more from him I could learn new strengths in this world. ¡°Haha you¡¯re bowing now?¡­. Ay child. I guess I can teach our Deliverer how to throw a less puny punch¡­. If only my son and daughter were as eager to continue their training.¡± ¡®What the hell!? Oh well I guess I should learn everything I can in this world. The Reiki are supposed to be known as a tank class and yet I look at him as being someone dangerous in all aspects of fighting. I never even got to see just how strong defensively he was. He is a true master¡­I almost want to ask what his skill masteries are. If I recall he said he has been stuck on the Expert Stages for quite a while.¡® Hopefully I can learn a lot from him over the next few days. I feel I should up my training not in levels but in mastery. This is a great place to learn and develop skills. I should try to train other skills in here as well while the experience is still doubling. Lucky for me I have a high enough mana pool to work on multiple masteries at once while I do any random task. After tonight we only have 2 full days to prepare for Balor. I don¡¯t plan on dying here. I won¡¯t die here. I need to learn everything I can and train in all of my skills as well. Hopefully we can formulate some kind of plan in time. But we have to stop him here we can¡¯t rely on any gods coming to save us either. Balor thought it right before when he said if gods meddled in the affairs of man they themselves would descend. ¡®Such a load a crap really¡­¡¯ Regardless¡­I can never give up and I can never lose in this world. One loss in this world and I will lose everything. There are those who rely on me, they would lose everything as well. For Kaylan I have to kill him, I won¡¯t run away. After we sparred for little more the pixies at the time had fallen asleep. Akino and Hjokk too were still awake however. I wonder why Akino¡¯s here anyways. I then saw behind them was a much larger group walking towards us. With them were Commander Locke, Izzie, Ollierion, Sting, and Adimar. They were also carrying the one Annunake beast man who I had determined was an elf. They were going to come place him in the prison for now and question him over all that he knows. Seeing them I walked over to where they were. I too wanted to be there for this. ¡°Ah...Vali, perhaps you should go rest. We will handle the questioning for now and get back to you in the morning. ¡° Locke then told me this and instructed me that I have been training and require rest. Yah, I can rest later. ¡°Perhaps he is right Vali. You yourself require rest. ¡° Now Akino was agreeing? I see¡­After what I did to the last ones they think it¡¯s probably a poor idea to have me in there. It¡¯s not like I can argue against it, I killed them and woud have probably killed this one as well if I didn¡¯t wake out of my¡­. Well whatever you call it. Psychotic break probably. I killed the last two before we could even find out anything. The Annunake in front of me has a broken jaw and is currently unconscious, I assume when he wakes up he¡¯s going to be in for quite the questioning. He¡¯s already in pretty bad shape but Izzie told me they¡¯ll find out anything he knows. Apparently Adimar is going to sit in as well to this. He did seem pretty enraged earlier as well. It¡¯s just they all looked at me with such pitying eyes it seemed. I guess I had forgotten what had happened after sparring with Malfius. Ki¡­lll¡­meh¡­ughghh Whack! Sto¡­Stoooo¡­.MMMMMMmmmmm!!! Sto¡­Stop him!!! AHhhh!!!! Constant images began to flash through my mind. I had tortured them. And yet¡­I don¡¯t feel guilty at all. Just, dirty is all. ¡°Here child¡­Have Ollerion take you back to our cabin. I¡¯ll wake you up early for the Reiki¡¯s special training bright and early since you seemed so enthusiastic to learn before.¡± Ollie had then walked over and greeted me. His appearance is what caused me to come out of the almost trance I was in. ¡°Ahahahaha!¡± Ollie had a bruised lip and black eye. It also looked like part of his long hair had been pulled out. There were also a few feathers sticking out of his clothes as if he hadn¡¯t noticed them at all by now. ¡°Alright¡­alright, get it out.¡± ¡°I guess the pixies instead decided to play jump rope with your hair huh?¡± He just smirked at me while everyone didn¡¯t get my joke. It¡¯s obvious that he took the full brunt of the whooping Kirah put on them. I guess this is what happens when you don¡¯t finish Malfius¡¯ trainings. ¡°Just keep it up¡­that bird¡¯s freakishly strong.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve told you before Ollierion¡­ Strength isn¡¯t about power. Nor is it about how hard your paws can hit. It¡¯s about how hard you can get hit, endure and push forward. It¡¯s no wonder you couldn¡¯t last against her for very long.¡± ¡°¡­Good to see you too dad.¡± ¡°For a tiger to get beaten by a bird...Honestly.¡± Malfius then walked off with Locke, Izzie, Adimar and the elf traitor. Sting and Akino along with the pixies came back with me to the Malfius¡¯s cabin on floor 45. Malfius threw a ring towards Ollie and we then warped off the floor. The last image I saw was the 4 leaders dragging the large unconscious elf in disguise behind them. I can only imagine his fate, he¡¯s perhaps the least lucky one of the three. STOOOPPPPP!!!!! WHACK! I continued to hear their screams as we walked across a poorly lit floor. This floor however is the one floor that has a normal shining bright moon. We appeared on some large mountain scape and walked across the stone grounds until we got to a large clearing. The image in front of me was a large bowl shaped village surround by large mountains. This level appears to be quite chilly on top of the mountains but I can see on the village floor is large acres of grass the goes all the way to the edge of the large rock faces. The village looked fairly small but the majority of what was on this floor looked to be farmlands. We descended down the rocky cliff face with only the moon as our light. I continued to see images flash through my mind of that blunt weapon cleaving through Diaga¡¯s shoulder. He screamed and growled and wallowed in pain. The once proud warrior even asked me to kill him at one point. I drove the sword continually into his body until he could no longer even form sentences. I had ripped through a man¡¯s mouth up and to where his cheekbones were. They didn¡¯t even die immediately from my constant abuse. In this world anything over level 100 I feel stops being my definition of a human entirely. Hell it¡¯s probably less than that. Back in my world such things would have killed them but due to their high level they lasted my abuse longer than possible back in my old home. The elf who survived even has his lower jawbone entirely destroyed. I don¡¯t even know how exactly they are planning on getting information from him but Izzie seemed quite confident in that. I guess I shouldn¡¯t be thinking of all of these things. Honestly there are more pressing things to think about. I don¡¯t deny my sins¡­I just choose to push them towards the back of my mind right now. I don¡¯t have time to wallow in my mistakes. I won¡¯t allow the actions of others and what it¡¯s drove me to do to slow me down. If I hesitate in this world, I could lose everything I¡¯ve already gained, and I can¡¯t hesitate with the enemies of this world, they are far too dangerous. ¡°Alright here it is¡­Reiki Villa! ¡° Ollie¡¯s long striped hair swayed in the wind. His bright blue eyes and shining fangs shined from the light of the moon. The village didn¡¯t have any fences or walls around their homes. They all sat in the dead center next to each other though. I assume the mountains work as a sort of cover or defense against monsters. It would be hard to navigate through these hard cliffs without knowing of the path. The city was quiet and sat in the center of the large farmlands that surrounded it. Everyone must already be asleep on this floor. We continued through the small village with small wooden houses. He ushered us towards a small wooden house on the far left hand corner. It sat on the edge of the town. When he opened the door to a quiet and dark room we entered and prepared for bed. He showed us a small living room and told us we could sleep in there. He even grabbed a few extra cloth and pillows for everyone. The pixies had walked over to the tiny couch and sat down and almost fell asleep immediately. I took the floor and Sting and Akino lied down on the floor as well while Ollie left the room to gather blankets and feathered pillows for us. And just like that the room remained quiet after the long day. Balor¡¯s appearance, the elves deceit along with my own horrific actions¡­.This may have been the longest day I¡¯ve experienced since coming here¡­. I¡¯ve even tortured people now. Or well, killed them as slowly as I could. Though they deserved it¡­After what happened to me, I just never saw myself capable of doing such things. Especially compared to my old self. I protected my family but I was never capable of this. I haven¡¯t any idea what sort of toll this world is going to take on me when my journey is over. But I don¡¯t have the luxury of clicking reset; I just have to keep going forward. Hjokk POV Looking at Vali right now I¡¯m hard pressed to say something but¡­what could I say? I¡¯ve never really been good with words, especially to humans. They really are quite fragile creatures. And yet they struggle, and fight for what they see is right. Even if it corrupts them, even if it destroys them. They believe so much in their cause. They are so small and yet they don¡¯t yield even in the face of a god. As one who constantly spends their time amongst the divine, finding so many mortals who don¡¯t even show fear against such an obstacle is mind bogging. Loki said humans were capable of so much; the majority of every species in here has routes to similar ancestors. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen such courage. But I can see how much this world is starting to affect Vali. He isn¡¯t the same person I met back in his world. He joked much more then too. ¡¯If I had a heart¡­I think it would feel heartache for him.¡¯ Ever since coming to this word he¡¯s been through so much compared to his old life. I remember when I had seen his image after being chipped away by that demi human woman. His scars and damages had truly devastated me. He had come here to help them and yet Amarok¡¯s own children turned him into such a mess. Thank Loki he was still breathing. And yet here Vali is¡­. Back in the same place about to rest not a few feet away from the one who betrayed him. Akino was her name¡­. This mut should be taken out and put down. Why would Loki ask Vali to spare these dogs? I guess I can never understand his thinking either. But if Vali has decided to forgive them I suppose I shall as well. I will however be mindful of them. Loki did mention their mental states as well could have caused them to never be able to believe Vali to be who he said he was. They however all each continue to be cordial with each other and unite to fight a common enemy without acknowledging it at all. They really are quite odd¡­ I can never understand his reasoning¡¯s though. Something no god would ever allow. It¡¯s almost as if¡­. Sins done to him he acts as if they don¡¯t matter. Almost as if his life didn¡¯t matter to him. I¡¯ve noticed¡­Vali is someone who seems to live through the happiness of others. As if he doesn¡¯t even live in the moments he¡¯s in nor even feel from the experience, he simply lives his life through other¡¯s enjoying it. Perhaps I am overthinking it all though. After being sent to watch over him. I¡¯ve learned quite a lot for Loki on his half blood champion. I can differentiate and read every facial expression, mental waves, magical stimuli; any particular mortal would give off. I have my own set of ways to read a divine as well. It has steered me correct¡­most of the time. But it¡¯s odd that regardless of the situation. The emotion I can see written on his face and written in my view are always different. Currently written in my view while looking towards him, ¡®grief¡¯. But when I had chosen to hug him it had changed to ¡®hopeful¡¯. Compared to when I met him it''s at least a large step forward. ''Loneliness'' that is the only word I saw when meeting him for the first time. Their emotional state can always change rather quickly. I feel as if I¡¯m starting to understand some on how mortals behave after spending more and more time with them. Getting to sit on Vali¡¯s shoulder has been a great opportunity to see what these creatures are like. Loki found them fascinating. While some I detest; some can be quite interesting. ¡®Their cooking is something that has also made my time on this mortal plane quite the experience. Valkyries eat sometimes but we don¡¯t really need the nutrients to survive. Hmmm I wonder if I can have Vali cook me some more of the foods from his world. If we somehow manage to survive all this I¡¯d like to try some more of his food¡­¡¯ Vali then looked towards me and saw that I had been staring in his direction while perched on the chair handle. ¡®¡­. Should I¡­. Should I say something? Ugh¡­¡¯ [Cook for me¡­.] ¡®What? Why would you say that?!¡¯ ¡°Huh?¡± Vali then looked back at me oddly. Why did I say that? I just didn¡¯t have a response to him for some reason. I blanked when he saw me staring at him. [Bar-b-q¡­Ah!] ¡°Don¡¯t tell you¡¯re even now thinking of food.¡± ¡®What is happening?!¡¯ ¡°Can¡¯t sleep either?¡± - Akino ¡°Oh Akino¡­Yah guess not.¡± - Vali ¡®The dog¡­¡¯ ¡°So¡­We¡¯re trapped in here by a dark god who plans on destroying the world with an army of darkness and practically invincible giants? Well I mean if it¡¯s just that we should be fine¡­.¡± - Sting Now the green haired human began to speak as well with his peculiar accent. He did seem to be very informative of the central continent but he hasn¡¯t been talking as much recently. I guess he noticed Vali was ignoring him. ¡®¡­. Maybe Vali will forget what I said earlier now. Secretly he needs to take it as a hint, and cook that for me.¡¯ ¡°¡­Yah. Sorry about not telling you¡­.But yah, we never would have thought he could trap us all here. But we have a few aces up our sleeve. We¡¯ll kill him.¡° - Vali ¡°Have you ever taken on a God before?¡± - Sting ¡°¡­Nope¡± - Vali Vali said that while smirking and continuing to look towards the floor. He hasn¡¯t¡­but Malthiel would be a being quite close to myself. That does count for something. That day he fought fearlessly against such a monster, without his help I¡¯d probably have died. ¡°Your quite fearless¡­I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever met another quite like you¡­ Is it that you have ultimate faith in the god who blessed you?¡± ¨C Sting ¡°¡­I¡¯m not particularly brave¡­. Nor do I have much faith in the God who gave me his blessing. ¡± ¨C Vali Sting had continued to talk to Vali when Ollie had then entered into the conversation. Everyone could understand Vali quite well but I don¡¯t believe Sting could quite yet understand what everyone else was saying entirely. ¡°¡­Do you just not fear death?¡± - Ollie ¡°¡­¡­¡­..¡± -Sting, Akino ¡°I think everyone is afraid of death in some way. I¡¯d be lying to you if I didn¡¯t say I wasn¡¯t scared a little. But even if I were terrified I¡¯d still have to move forward. I have things I have left to do.¡± - Vali ¡°Sounds like someone who¡¯s content in where he¡¯s going. If my father heard of this he¡¯d probably say you had reached the path of enlightenment or something like that. - Ollie Then Vali had laughed to himself and it was odd as it had kind of came out of nowhere. Everyone had showed him an odd expression. ¡°Haha¡­I don¡¯t know if I¡¯d say content¡­.It¡¯s funny but, I remember a time where all I did was pray for power. Power to right the wrongs done to me. To mine¡­ I would have given anything for it. I guess it¡¯s true what they say, be careful what ya wish for.¡±- Vali ¡°I don¡¯t understand?¡±- Ollie ¡°In your world your gods are many. In mine there is one, I¡¯m told. When we die¡­Well there¡¯s a good place you can go, and a bad place¡­I doubt something like me goes to that good place.¡± - Vali ¡°¡­.¡± ¨C Sting, Akino, Ollie ¡°The part demon/undead thing probably wouldn¡¯t go over real well either. Well the point is, even if I don¡¯t know where I¡¯m going whenever my time comes, I know it¡¯s not something that I need to worry about right now.¡­.¡± Everyone then had stared at him as he continued to bare words from his heart. ¡°Cause I¡¯m not going for a looooonnnng time. Like I said, I still have things to do.¡± ¨C Vali ¡®There he goes again¡­ Pushing it all away. I don¡¯t believe he wishes to lean on others as of yet. He¡¯s grown close to some in this world it would seem but I don¡¯t think he has fully let them in. The words showing up in front of him now¡­ ¡®Greif¡¯, ¡®Hopeful¡¯.... I just wish I could cheer him up some how.¡¯ ¡°Hahaha! Spoken like a true Alpha.¡± ¨C Akino ¡°A what?¡± ¨C Vali ¡°Oh yah I heard about that hehe! That¡¯s awesome Vali becoming the Annunake¡¯s Alpha¡± ¨C Ollie ¡°Ok, Ok Ru Ru Kai! What does that mean? ¡° ¨C Sting ¡°I¡¯m the new Alpha now?¡± - Vali ¡®Did this happen? Did Amarok¡¯s children choose Vali as their race leader?¡¯ ¡°Yes¡­It has been decided. My kin will now look to you to lead them till death. Our fates are now locked to yours, we will follow the new Alpha Vali, anywhere he shall go.¡± ¨C Akino Akino said this while smiling and nodding her head in Vali¡¯s direction. ¡°¡­¡­¡± ¨C Vali Vali just gave Akino a weird look and then cracked a smile. ¡°So what? No title hehe.¡± ¨C Vali ¡° Well we haven¡¯t had the ritual yet. But it has been decided; even Adimar believes in this as well. Vali will be the new reigning Alpha of the Annunakes.¡± - Akino ¡°Ok¡­So I take it you¡¯re now the new Alpha of the wolf people whose leader you just brutally killing in their oddly extravagant mansion¡­nice.¡­ Well you know what that means?...If we survive this Vali, imagine all the Ru Ru ass you''ll be getting. ¡± ¨C Sting ¡° ¡­Sting what are you saying now? - Vali ¡°What no one even understands me anyways?¡± ¨C Sting ¡°Haha! Some of that Alpha ass!... That¡¯s right, he¡¯ll be seeing a lot of that ha ha!.¡± ¨C Ollie ¡°That¡¯s the one word you both understand¡­¡± ¨C Vali Vali then looked towards Ollie then laughed. The three boys then began to smile and laugh to themselves upon realizing the one thing they all were able to communicate to each other without Vali¡¯s translation was towards a woman¡¯s body. ¡®Seriously males are such idiots sometimes.¡¯ ¡°Males¡­¡± - Akino, Hjokk I then heard the voice of Akino over mine and we both looked towards each other then back at the three laughing. The pixies were still asleep. I guess I still don¡¯t fully understand Vali nor do I understand everyone here. But if we are going to survive Balor¡­.No, even if we unite together it will still be a blood bath. But even if I were to tell them this I doubt it would matter. It¡¯s hard to crush the spirits of mortals whose soul¡¯s refuse to yield. I glanced back at Vali who had been cracking up alongside his companions...The words written in front of me.''Grief'' ''Hopeful'' ''Encouraged''. Even if it hadn''t changed much. I started to smile at the one I was sent to watch over. Elyria POV ¡°Umm¡­Does it say¡­Shh¡­.ewww.¡± ¡°Yes Tierra that¡¯s great. You¡¯re learning so much.¡± ¡°¡­. Hehe¡­thank you.¡± I had been teaching Tierra to read much like the other ex slave children in this home. Tierra was such a good little girl. She was very polite and enjoyed learning. She always said please and thank you for everything. I could tell she wasn¡¯t use to it. I could never understand how her last master could have treated her so poorly. She¡¯s simply too cute. Crackkk! The door to the cabin had swung open and Tierra¡¯s ears had twitched. I looked over and saw Ari who was sitting on the floor petting Fenrir had looked up excitedly, but when she saw who it was she looked back down at the floor disappointedly. ¡°Hey Elyria. Guess what I gained a new skill today! Hand to Hand Combat!¡± ¡°That¡¯s nothing¡­Elyria I got my skill to Intermediate finally. And when I achieved it I learned a new skill¡­Berserker Claw! I can¡¯t wait to see Vali¡¯s face when he sees how cool it is!¡± Upon entering Lily and Noah had came into the cabin after working out all morning together. Lily decided she wanted to learn as well and has been practicing with Noah the past 2 days to become strong like my son. ¡°Do you think Vali will be home soon?¡± -Lily ¡°¡­Oh yes I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be home real soon he¡¯s probably just out with Hjokk. He has said he has been working very hard lately.¡± ¡®I do wonder why he did not come home last night. This is the first time he missed a curfew we discussed since the time he came back with all those grievous wounds from a monster fight. I know my son is strong but I can¡¯t help but to worry for him. This is a very unforgiving world¡­ But he has Hjokk with him. I have faith everything is alright.¡¯ I could see Ari still sitting on the floor looking lonely. She¡¯s been this way since I woke up this morning and cooked for everyone. ¡°Hi Ari, Sasha, Hi Fenrir. ¡° - Lily Lily then walked over to where Ari was and sat down next to them. ¡°Hi Lily. Congratulations on your new skill.¡± - Ari ¡°Thank you. I¡¯m so excited! I can¡¯t wait to see what Vali says.¡± - Lily ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be very proud of you¡­¡± ¨C Ari ¡°Thank you! ¡­ What have you been doing?¡± - Lily ¡°Just petting Fenrir. ¡° ¨C Ari Ari seemed slightly upset, I can tell she¡¯s just thinking about when Vali will come home. All she does is glance over at the front door every so often. Lily however smiled to her brightly while petting Fenrir as well. ¡°It¡¯s ok Ari¡­ He¡¯ll be back soon.¡± - Lily Noah had then walked over to the table to pour him a glass of water out of a brass ale that was here upon our arrival in this cabin. ¡°Mmm that tastes amazing.¡± - Noah ¡°¡­ .You smell bad.¡± - Tierra Tierra then pointed towards Noah and said that causing Noah to cough up some of the water he had drank. ¡°Huh¡­ That¡¯s cause I just got done training with heavy rocks attached to my body.¡± ¡°You smell like a wet dog¡­¡± ¡°So what ? Is that a bad smell? Ari just took a bath a little while ago are you saying we both smell bad?¡± ¡°No¡­Ari smells nice¡­ You smell bad.¡± ¡°What ever, I¡¯ll wash my body later.¡± ¡®Hmphhmphhmph¡­.¡¯ I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at the cat and wolf bicker at one another. Crackkk The door swung open again and again I could see Ari and everyone else look towards the door in excitement. ¡°Elyria! .... Someone is coming close to the cabin!¡± Just then Sasha had come running in and after saying this Fenrir had stood up and everyone had then become alert. The last time some one had visited this house they were enemies of my son. No¡­they were enemies of the world they were just after my son for his power. I told everyone to stay where they were. Sasha was probably out and talking to the earth spirits again and heard someone one the other side of the boundary. She has a talent to sense them something her sister and I were always adept in. I doubt Vali has the ability to see them regardless of his affinities with the elements. I do believe he can hear them though. He has shown some reactions to them before as if hearing their faint laughter¡¯s. They are harmless though. As I began to walk out I told them to deactivate the barrier should they hear Fenrir howl. I then had Fenrir follow me so we could go investigate. Perhaps these people have something to do with why my son isn¡¯t home. Regardless, Fenrir and I will learn just who these people are. And if they dare touch my son, may the gods have pity on them. We ventured outside the barrier and walked for a short ways. The barrier given to us by Hjokk extends for atleast a mile around the cabin. I¡¯m told you can¡¯t get in or out unless the barrier is turned off. If something happens I¡¯ll have them shut off the barrier again. Vali told me just how strong Fenrir is becoming. Everyday he would go out and hunt and everyday his level would rise. I can¡¯t imagine just how dangerous this wolf the god Loki gave my son is but I believe Vali in that he is incredibly fast and smart. We got to the boundary and I started to hear the sounds of others talking. I had Fenrir then howl. It was loud and carried throughout the forest regardless if this barrier was set or not. Just then a large white flash came from behind me and flew past the forest. I assumed this was an indication the barrier had been taken down. We both walked through the forest towards the noises but I can¡¯t hear them anymore. I feel that howl has in a way alerted them to our presence. Fenrir starts walking faster out in front of me and seems to have picked up their scent. He then ducked his shoulders down as if readying himself into attack position. ¡°Fenrir can you hea¡­.¡± ROOWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!! Fenrir then leaped and grew his form into something a larger than a smog dragon. His fur changed black and leaped over several trees. ¡°WOH!¡± ¡°Hey¡­Hold up remember us!¡± ¡°It¡¯s his wolf! Where the hell is he?¡± I heard the sounds of strange voices then ran out after Fenrir. Fenrir had pushed over several trees with his paws and trapped whoever this group was with the trees that had fallen behind them. This group now sat with me at one side and Fenrir at the other. ¡°Who are you people?¡± I then saw the group all turn around and look towards me. I notice the small princess girl and the same group as before. Yet now I see several new faces, even two who are adorned in very fancy and fine clothes. I see the blonde knight like woman from that one-day whisper something into the man¡¯s ear and they all look towards me. Some of the new faces however continue to keep their eyes locked on Fenrir. ¡°So your Vali¡¯s mother¡­¡± The middle-aged man in fancy clothes then walked forward and presented himself to me. ¡°I am King Asher. I am here to hopefully speak with your son.¡± ¡®¡­¡¯ Cassandra POV ¡®Oh gosh where is it¡­.I swore it was somewhere in this direction but nothing looks similar than the first time. Ugh if I had come here during the daytime before perhaps I could be more help¡­Even Cana can¡¯t seem to track him as well.¡¯ Hopefully he can help us. War has already appeared at our door. And now, we do not know whom to trust. There was a traitor within the royal knights. If we are capable of protecting his highness¡¯ safety and the royalties of Asher is now being brought into question. Only a day ago ¡­.. ----------------------------------- ¡°Come this way, follow me.¡± ¡°¡­¡­..¡± We followed quickly behind Emmanuel down the long narrow hallways of the royal castle. The light from the moon showed through the large open-air windows and illuminated the dark corridor. Just moments ago he had told us of the king¡¯s assassination. I still can¡¯t believe it. How is it that this could have happened? ¡°So what exactly did happen Emmanuel? How did his highness die?¡± - Shen ¡°We believed he was poisoned. He had collapsed and whenever I had examined him he was dead.¡± ¨C Emmanuel ¡°I see¡­.¡± ¨C Shen ¡°And as for the Queen. Where is she?¡±- Sumei ¡°I left her in the care of Siggurd, Naomi and Siri. They were set to guard his highness for this evening and they are the ones who discovered the body. I left them there in the west wings courtiers where his highness collapsed¡­.¡± ¨C Emmanuel ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡± Everyone continued to follow after Emmanuel as he told of his disturbing discovery. His highness had collapsed from a possible poison given to him at some time earlier today. I was devastated. His highness, could it be you have really left us? Shink!..Shink..Shink!... ¡°Guah¡­wha¡­.¡± Emmanuel had then tripped and fell face first against the floor. He didn¡¯t even catch himself and fell flat on his face. Everyone then draws their weapons and so do I. I don¡¯t however see any attacker at all? I don¡¯t see anyone else here other than the five of us. ¡°Emmanuel¡­. You¡¯re lying to us.¡± ¨CSumei ¡°What? What are you talking about? Why have you bound me?!¡± ¨C Emmanuel I see now that Shen, Sumei and Shakko are all walking around a circle around Emmanuel who is being tied up by Shakko. I didn¡¯t see it at first but around Emmanuel is a small thick wire with a hook that had been lodged into Emmanuel¡¯s shin. Shakko had thrown the hook around to catch Emmanuel why he was running behind him. He was bound before landing. I can¡¯t see how he managed that trick either. ¡°Yes¡­I too have some questions for you as well Emmanuel.¡± ¨C Shen ¡°What you too? What is going on? We need to reunite with the Queen. His highness is dead!¡± ¨C Emmanuel ¡°Yah about that¡­.He¡¯s not dead.¡± ¨C Shen ¡°Huh?¡± ¨CEmmanuel ¡°Yah¡­See this bright blue ring I got on here. I don¡¯t expect you to know what it is¡­ Only his highness and myself know what this is. But if he were to ever die or get critically hurt¡­well this thing¡¯l turn red¡­. And it¡¯s not red.¡± - Shen ¡°¡­Well then maybe his highness is ok. And I was mistaken that still doesn¡¯t¡­¡± - Emmanuel ¡°And why would you break protocol?... Should an accident ever happen of this magnitude, it is customary to stay with the queen should there be a breech in our defenses¡­Much like it seems here.¡± ¨CSumei ¡°Well¡­I..¡± ¡°You stay with the Queen and then unite with the remaining members of the royal guard while escorting her Highness through the castle. You know our procedures well, it is odd you would break something like this¡­¡± ¨C Sumei ¡°What about you Shakko? You seemed to think he was hiding something from us as well.¡± ¨C Shen ¡° Siri agreed to meet us tonight in the bath. She actually changed her shift last minute with Gaven and it was the Queen who told her to take the night off. She was actually coming to meet us after she changed¡­. I find who he said was present odd, if not for the location being in the west of the castle also being away from where his Highness and the Queen should be¡­¡± ¨C Shakko Shakko¡¯s voice went through his mask as he tugged harder on the rope wrapped around Emmanuel. ¡°Well¡­ What do ya got to say Emmanuel?¡± ¨C Shen All three of them then held up their weapons to Emmanuel¡¯s throat. Could it be possible? They all had discovered such a thing off hunches? Did they even communicate this with each other? Or is it possible Emmanuel is lying to us? ¡°¡­.¡± Emmanuel just then began to grind his teeth together and stare at the floor. He looked enraged. ¡°¡­Talk Emmanuel. We do not have time to play games with you.¡± ¨C Shakko ¡°¡­¡­..¡± ¡°Where is his highness?¡± ¨C Sumei ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡± He wasn¡¯t talking. Could it be? Shakko then walked up to him and picked up the hook he had on the ground. He then walked over to where Emmanuel was and stuck a dagger into his throat.
Critical Hit!
I suddenly saw a critical hit window appear over the head of Emmanuel and his health dropped in the yellow almost immediately then continued to fall. ¡°Guahh¡­¡­..Youuu¡­..nnnnnnn¡± I was in shock of what I just saw¡­ Why? We could have asked him possibly. You, did you have to kill him? He was another one of the royal guard. You slay him so easily? ¡°Shakko? We could have found out something from him?¡± ¨C Shen ¡°We don¡¯t have time. He was stalling. He¡¯s keeping us away from the king so what is ever going to happen is happening right now. He was probably luring us to an ambush. Besides we can¡¯t leave him alive and we don¡¯t have time to carry a limp body around.¡± ¨C Shakko ¡°¡­He¡¯s right. Last we heard his Highness and the Queen were still in their bedchambers. We should go there.¡± ¨C Sumei ¡°You all suspected him so quickly and killed him. What if he was telling the truth?¡± They all then looked back at me towards my statement. ¡°¡­These are times of war Cassandra. You must learn to be mindful of everything. Be able to judge in every situation that could come and act accordingly. The King chose us for these reasons. We already knew there was a breech in information within the guard after our location with Vali was compromised. It is better to receive punishment later if a mistake was made than allow something worse to happen¡­. Now let¡¯s go!¡° ¨C Sumei I nodded as Sumei raised her voice. We continued to run towards the back of the royal castle to where his highness¡¯ bedchambers are located. I was in awe. They worked so well together. This is the difference between the royal guard and just a knight for one of the King¡¯s children. Their senses are much more developed than mine. We continued to run through the dark corridors, which remained deathly quiet. There was usually always someone awake at this hour or something would be echoing through the halls. But nothing. No sounds from Dominic¡¯s rooms, no sounds from the guards talking or training in the courtyard. No sounds at all. ¡°¡­.Hmm.¡± ¨C Shakko ¡°¡­Do you think the breech is only with Emmanuel?¡± ¨C Shen ¡°¡­Doubtful. He said poisoned. It is possible another one of the royal guards are also involved. Possibly one who was guarding his Highness? So then that would mean it has to be Siggurd, Naomi or Gaven. ¡° ¨C Shakko ¡°¡­Ok we should be able to handle them. However if they wind up all being traitors, attempt to leave two alive but it might not be possible. Those three working together could become difficult.¡± ¨C Shen ¡°We can do it. We¡¯re closing in on the royal bedchambers right now.¡± ¨C Sumei As we got to the door they all slowed down and took out their weapons. Shen had his long sword, Sumei with her black katana, and Shakko with his twin daggers. They pushed the door open and immediately started taking a distance from each other as they advanced through the darkly lit room. The curtains were drawn and we could not see what was in front of us. We continued towards the back of the room large living area that connected to the royal bedchambers in the back of the castle. As we each continued through the living area Shen had pushed the door open to the bedchamber doors. Whoosh! Chink! ¡°......¡± I then saw a bright silver light shoot towards us and before I had time to react Shen had swung his sword and blocked the object. His metal arm swung in an almost impossible movement to follow and shattered the arrow in half deflecting it behind him.. ¡°¡­Wha..¡± I then felt a soft hand touch my shoulder and then nudge me to the side. I then saw the metal arrow that had been deflected by Shen fly past where I would have been standing. I then turned to the side and saw Shakko who had been the one to push me. ¡®¡­Did he move me knowing that was going to happen?¡¯ ¡°¡­Siri?... Wouldn¡¯t have guessed finding you here.¡± ¨C Shen ¡°Wha¡­Master Shen?...¡± ¨C Siri¡± ¡°Oh thank the gods! Shen well you took long enough! We need to start moving and find the rest of our children. There have been traitors in this house. ¡° ¨C King Asher ¡°¡­Your Highness¡­Got to say I¡¯m glad we got here in time.¡± ¨C Shen I heard a familiar voice and out of the dark walked his highness King Asher. Next to him were the Queen, Lucy, Cana and Lori. A bright light had then illuminated out of the Queen¡¯s hands and lit up the room showing everyone else. Walking out from the shadows next to them were also Siri and Gaven. They were two of the royal guard members with Shen, Sumie and Shakko. They however looked to be in a heavily wounded state. Gaven had a large wound on his chest and looked to have been bleeding out his back as well. He had medium cut brown hair and looked to be just another military man. He however was a man who rose through the ranks of the military and made it to the royal guard earning him the Rank 3 spot in the kingdoms guard. Siri as well was in a bad state and looked to have a stab wound in her right shoulder which was covered in a dark red cloth bathed in her own blood. She had bright blue hair. She had her bow and silver crafted arrows and lowered them upon looked towards us all. Looking towards the ground I can see just what might have happened. There lying on the ground were the dead bodies of several of the intruders. Siggurd, Naomi, and another royal guard member named Hansel. The king then began to speak about what transpired. Hansel had showed up and after a few minutes Siggurd for whatever reason had started acting strange whenever he attempted to make an attack on the King¡¯s life. At the same time Hansel took aim over for Naomi and stabbed her in the back with a knife and killed her. Gaven had been able to stop it in time and kill Siggurd and afterwards somehow manage to kill Hansel as well even with his injuries. Which has however left him in the state he currently is. His body has been covered in bandages and he has taken several Elixirs, which has kept him in a manageable state. The elixirs in this kingdom are however not the best quality. ¡°¡­So you killed em both eh Gaven. That sure is something.¡± ¨C Shen ¡°I happened to notice Siggurd¡¯s movements started to look odd. I took notice of him whenever he happened to take out some type of vile. I had called attention to it whenever he decided to lunge and attack his Highness. I just happened to see it before it happened. Let¡¯s just call it luck, that¡¯s all it is. ¡° - Gaven ¡°Well you¡¯re right. We got lucky. Emmanuel appeared to be taking us to some kind of trap on the other side of the castle... he¡¯s dead. Siri¡­What happened to you why are you here?¡± ¨CShen ¡°I killed Nevelle. He came at me when I was headed to the bath¡­. I got lucky.¡± ¨C Siri Siri too just shook her head exhaustedly at also killing yet another member of the Royal Guard. ¡°¡­Those who have betrayed us are at least those four. Four of the royal guards have betrayed us while five are currently here. The only that isn¡¯t here is James. ¡° ¨C Shakko ¡° We have to assume everyone outside this room we cannot trust. We must remove his highness and his family away from this location until we can assure of its safety.¡° ¨C Sumei ¡° Or can we trust every one here¡­.¡± ¨C Shen Shen then pulled out his sword and stuck it towards Siri. She then pulled up her bow and stuck it towards Shen. ¡°¡­You¡¯re the only one without an actual alibi Siri. You could have just as easily been a traitor who killed Nevelle. We cannot be so sure you aren¡¯t a traitor just based on these grounds.¡± ¨C Shen ¡°Now, now Shen. While the King and myself may trust you wholeheartedly, Siri as well is someone I have absolute faith in.¡° ¨C Liriana Asher ¡°¡­No my Queen. I am the one who cannot ascertain where she was or if her intentions are pure. ¡° ¨C Siri Siri then took off our pack of arrows and placed each of her weapons on the ground. ¡°I am unable to prove my innocence. You may kill me or not. Whatever does happen his highness and the Queen must leave this place at once it is not safe here currently. The safety of this castle is compromised so we must take his highness to a safe location. That is what we should do given the circumstances.¡± ¨C Siri ¡°¡­.I¡¯ll watch her. ¡° ¨C Gaven ¡°Gaven? ¡° ¨C Sumei ¡°We can throw her in jail until we can say for sure she isn¡¯t a traitor. We aren¡¯t sure who is involved in this and first priority is to protect his Highness. You each need to flee. I will ascertain who is responsible. If it is only James, it will be no issue. We will meet up in 3 days in the underground tunnel entrance on the outside of the city.. ¡° - Gaven ¡° You look rather beat up Gaven. Can you truly ascertain the situation with just yourself.¡± ¨C Shakko ¡°He¡¯s right Gaven¡­You are already wounded for taking the sword in place of me. I cannot flee at a time like this.¡± ¨C King Asher ¡°No¡­ We must until we know this castle is safe we cannot have you here your majesty. I will stay and take care of it my liege you and your family must get out of the castle grounds at once! ¡° ¨C Gaven ¡°I will stay as well. You will need help. The safety of his Highness will be in good hands with Master Shen, Shakko and Cassandra.¡± ¨C Sumei ¡°Now wait damn it. Where can we even go in this situation? Currently we don¡¯t know who¡¯s after us. We can assume it¡¯s Myro. That might mean anywhere outside this kingdom is now unsafe. We have to assume our safe houses are all compromised due to the leak in information as well. Where can we designate as safe grounds right now?¡± ¨C Shen ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡± ¨C King and Queen ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡± - The royal guard ¡°¡­. We could go to Vali¡¯s house.¡± ¨C Lucy ¡°¡­.¡± - Everyone ¡°!!!!!¡± - Everyone ¡°Yes!¡± ¨C King and Queen ¡°Brilliant¡­There¡¯s no way that kid is even involved in this situation and I doubt he would let Myro learn of his whereabouts at all. . ¡° ¨C Shen ¡°Cassandra you said you had been there before correct? Could you find it again?¡± ¨C Shakko ¡°Well¡­I can possibly try and find again but honestly it was Cana who got us so close the first time.¡± ¨C Cassandra ¡°Lucy¡¯s servant? Well then we¡¯re in luck you are both here¡­ You can take the underground tunnel but odds are they have that place watched, it honestly depends on who could be watching.¡° ¨C Sumei Sumei then looked towards me and Cana who had been standing next to Lucy. They both looked frightened but considering the circumstances they are handling it all quite well. ¡°¡­.¡± ¡°¡­. Lori says we should take the servants courters to the side of the castle wall and escape that way. ¡° ¨C Lucy ¡°Then we must leave¡­.Now! Behind me your Highness.¡± ¨C Shen Shakko then walked over to Sumei and I heard him whisper in her ear. She then looked at me and smiled and wished us good luck. The King then thanked his guard and separated from them. He put his arms around Shen and had a private discussion as they continued forward while Siri and the Queen had spoken quickly as well. They all separated almost at the same time and I gathered Lucy and we continued forth. I had never really felt a part of Asher like I had before. Sure our family lived in Asher Kingdom. But I always stayed home and studied the sword under my father. I was excited to become a royal knight as it could mean I could get out and see much more of the kingdom and continent but I never anticipated in actually experiencing war while in this kingdom. It¡¯s astonishing in how powerful those around me are, but I mustn¡¯t falter and continue to protect my king and those I have pledged on serving. Now¡­ We must go find the on who refers himself to be the ¡®monster in the woods¡¯. -------------------------------------------- ¡°It¡¯s is ok dear. I¡¯m sure Gaven and Sumei are taking care of Olivia and Dominic right now. Everything will be fine. ¡° King Asher ¡°I know¡­Lucky for us Siri is possibly innocent as well. I believe those three can take care of things. I pray this was only an elaborate scheme by those who have already died. I haven¡¯t seen any other guards involved and they seem to all be stationed outside as well. We can only pray to lady Freya for safety.¡± ¨C Liriana Asher The King continued to make his wife feel ok about the situation as we continued to walk through brightly lit woods. It was close to the location I remember seeing Vali¡¯s pet wolf¡­.Oh wow I almost vomited up a little something thinking about that. ¡®I really don¡¯t feel safe here¡­.¡¯ ¡°So Metal Man¡­I¡¯ve been thinking. I find it odd how Emmanuel was planning on taking us far away. Possibly to ambush us with someone while we were away from the King¡­. But who? James? Surely he wasn¡¯t planning on killing us themselves. Surely he must have had a large enough force. Getting through to the main castle walls means they had to have been our own guards. No one else is allowed in and no alerting alarms had been set off at all.¡± ¨C Shakko ¡°So¡­ What¡¯s your point? ¨C Shen ¡°Ughh¡­.Think for a moment. If no one was allowed in and nothing was alerted it means the guards watching the gates are in on it and allowed a large force in or there is someone else inside the castle who is in on it. ¡° ¨C Shakko ¡°¡­.Who do you think could have been involved? The only other guards on the premises have been spoken for besides James. ¡° ¨C Shen ¡°Well that doesn¡¯t mean they were the only people in the castle. There are servants as well. ¡° ¨C Shakko ¡°¡­There are also the other royalties. ¡° ¨C Cassandra Shakko and Shen then turned back and looked at me. They both turned forward and then continued walking. The only other people in the castle would have been the royal guard who are either dead or the ones who have been spoken for. All other than James. The only others would have been a small amount of servants and then the royalties. I guess it does seem odd to think that if Emmanuel was trying to lure us away from the king and queen to a possible trap. Who would he have been luring us to? Those who were scheduled to guard Olivia was Nevelle while Dominic¡¯s, was James. ¡®Now that I think about it there were no loud noises coming from his room at all tonight. Not like he normally did. Could it be possible he¡¯s dead?¡¯ ¡°There were no loud noises coming from prince Dominic¡¯s room this evening.¡± ¡°¡­¡­.¡± ¨C Shakko, Shen ¡°Hmm¡­.She¡¯s right¡­That actually did happen. That is quite the discovery you¡¯ve made there Cassandra.¡± ¨C Shakko ¡®Was? Was he being sarcastic? I was only saing¡­¡¯ ¡°That ¡®Hm¡¯ mean something Shakko. Cause it better or we¡¯re flirting with treason.¡± ¨C Shen Shakko then began to peer his head closer to us. The mask he wore never showed emotion but his words seemed to always be from one that was rather insightful. He¡¯s someone who always is mindful of what¡¯s around him, and regardless of his appearance he is one of the ones the King and Queen trust most. ¡°¡­I¡¯m just saying, before tonight my suspicions of Dominic being the leak to the foreign kingdom of Myro to be around 20 percent. And after hearing what Cassandra just pointed out¡­. Should Dominic be alive when we return, it just jumped up to around 70 percent. I mean how often is Dominic quiet at such early hours of the night exactly?¡± - Shakko ¡°There you go with math again Shakko. Ya know you¡¯re not a teacher anymore. And why were you suspecting the brat kid in the first place?¡± Shen ¡°You were a teacher?¡± Shakko who was chuckling under his mask then looked back towards me and tilted his head. I guess that sort of slipped out. I never would have pegged the man in the jester mask would have been a teacher at any point of his life. ¡°Yes¡­What the tin man over there would have you believe is that I was something like a goat herder or what was it, Spear Thrower? What the hell is that?¡± ¨C Shakko ¡°I actually said spear catcher¡­You know cause of the gay thing.¡± ¨C Shen ¡°Oh geezes¡­ Can we be professional right now? I¡¯m not gay by the way.....Anyways can we get back to what I was saying? I suspected him because after quitting my job as a¡­.¡¯TEACHER!¡¯¡­. I got into fighting crime¡° Shakko He then looked away from me and at Shen, and I could tell he was making a face at him from behind his mask. ¡°Now after my extensive career in Ashers underbelly, I have quite the network of spies within the crime syndicates and black market dealings in Asher kingdom. Whenever someone like say, the crown prince, were to show up in a shady place and talk to a shady character from say, a neighboring kingdom. I would know about that sort of thing. ¡° ¨C Shakko ¡°Yah well can ya prove it. Cause that¡¯s all that¡¯s gonna matter. This whole situation just smells like shi¡­.¡± ¨C Shen HOOWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡± A thunderous roar erupted through my eardrums and shook my skull. Lucy who was standing beside me had fallen next to me and held her ears tightly. I looked up and saw standing there was the same massive black wolf that belongs to Vali. His eyes were blue and then blinked. The eyes that came back were a bright piercing yellow. ¡®No¡­.not¡­.again¡­.¡¯ It¡¯s as if my whole body continued to shake. I could not move under those bright yellow eyes. My whole body shook with fear and everyone else was in the same paralyzed state as I am¡­Unable to move under this large black wolf now walking slowly towards us. ¡°It¡¯s¡­It¡¯s his wolf!¡± ¨CKing Asher ¡°Vali!...Can you hear me! It¡¯s Cassandra, it¡¯s us! We came ¡­here¡­with¡­His Highness¡± I tried to yell. I couldn¡¯t move up from when I had ducked to cover my ears. I tried to yell but I could not hear Vali respond. I could only feel his pet wolf start to walk closer to us. His large black paws caused the whole ground to shake as his footsteps came closer towards us. ¡°Fenrir down!...Honestly look at them. They are the same people who came before aren¡¯t they?¡± ¡®Who?¡¯ I looked up to the feminine voice and there I saw the same stunning woman who was eating Vali¡¯s cooking not a few days ago. He said this was his mom. The mother of monsters! Fenrir then blinked and his eyes had gone back to blue. He then began to shrink down to his small pup form. It was¡­Very strange. And yet, I can¡¯t help but say I like this form much, much more. The King and Queen then got up and walked over to greet Elyria but Fenrir in his pup form jumped out in front of her causing them both to step away. Regardless of his form changing, we¡¯ve seen what this thing can do already. It¡¯s not a pretty sight to see those who he sinks his fangs into. ¡°What are you all doing here? You know the last visitors we had who came here uninvited all left to the next life. They came to try and recruit Vali into their little organization, even threatened his family to do it¡­. Though I may recognize a few of you, but I hope none of you are from Aldain ? Fenrir here has developed quite the taste for them. ¡° ¨C Elyria ¡°¡­¡­¡± ¡®She is most definitely the mother of monsters!¡¯ ¡°No..We are from Asher. As I said I am the King of Asher and this is my wife Liriana. We¡¯ve actually already spoken to your son. We we¡¯re hoping if we may speak to him actually. We¡¯re afraid it¡¯s urgent.¡± ¨C King Asher ¡°Oh I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s impossible now¡­.¡± ¨C Elyria ¡®¡­Have we angered her? The mother of this monster? Her tails that were each swaying around came to a stop as she stared towards each of us.¡¯ ¡°Impossible?¡± ¨C Liriana ¡°Yes he is not here right now he is out training. But do feel free to come inside for right now. You can wait for him inside.¡± ¨CElyria ¡®Oh¡­Thank Freya. Lady Frigg, to all the gods¡­Thank You!¡¯ I could see everyone else around me breath a sigh of relief as I¡¯m guessing everyone else held the same fears as me. ¡°Well thank you for trusting us and allowing us into your home so willingly. We are truly grateful.¡± ¨C Liriana ¡°Oh it is not because I trust any of you. In fact I somewhat despise humans. However I don¡¯t believe any of you will be able to pose much of a problem to Fenrir here¡­.and I believe you each know that as well. So let¡¯s go inside I¡¯ll make us some tea.¡± ¨C Elyria Her whiskers twitched as she turned around and started to walk away as the small silver wolf continued to stare daggers at us. ¡°¡­¡­.¡± Again we were speechless towards the words coming out from Elyria. Everything she said was confusing. She would smile brightly as her words were cold like ice. Sound so commanding and ruthless and yet so polite. Shen and Shakko looked to no longer be talking and just walked beside everyone. Cana and Lori both were frightened. I went over and held both their hands, this must have been hard for both of them. I looked over and saw Lucy however handled things much more different. ¡°Fen¡­rear¡­You¡¯re so cool!¡± ¨C Lucy Everyone then looked at the small princess in awe in how she could see that little thing as anything but some legendary beast they have somehow trained. Each of us have seen that thing devour a small army. Honestly¡­I¡¯ll never understand Lucy. ¡°What you guys? I think he¡¯s cute!¡± - Lucy ¡®¡­¡­.¡¯ How long is Vali going to make us wait! If not for the impending war, betrayal looming overhead this entire situation may be the most uncomfortable I¡¯ve ever been. ------------------------------------------------------------- ¡°Oh dear¡­ That is quite the story.¡± ¨C Elyria ¡°Yes¡­That is why we came here. We know he currently would not be involved at all. This along with the fact we having made him into a Vassal we were hoping he would come back with us to the Kingdom and assist us.¡± ¨C King Asher We were currently sitting in Vali¡¯s cabin around a small kitchen table. There in the living room are the same demi human children as before as well as those two from the night Vali had a meeting with the King. I can understand saving those who are in trouble¡­But he takes care of them all as well? The King and Queen continued to talk with Elyria who would listen while holding a small girl in her lap. Fenrir sat behind her staring at everyone at the table. It added to the un-comfortableness to this entire situation so eery. Lucy however couldn¡¯t care less and is trying to make friends with all of the demi human children. Some of them look to be around her age. I can see Cana and that other catlike demi human looking at each other curiously. ¡°You involve him simply because he is not involved?¡± - ? We looked down and sitting in Elyria¡¯s lap was the same small demi human child who fell asleep in Vali¡¯s arms from before. Her small voice was one you had to stop and listens just to hear it. ¡°Ah um¡­ Who might this be?¡± ¨C King Asher ¡°I¡¯m Ari¡­¡± ¨C Ari ¡°Well Ari¡­It is a little more complicated than that.¡± ¨C Liriana Asher ¡°Even if it is. I talk to Vali everyday. He even told me he was planning on making an¡­all¡­iance¡­with you. He said he would help you if other king¡­.doms attacked you. But he didn¡¯t say he would help you with all of your filth.¡± ¨C Ari ¡°Our filth? ¡° Everyone then looked at the King and Queen who had their mouths open as they didn¡¯t know how to respond to such words from the small girl. As royalty they would never hear such words. From high or low class let alone a demi human child. ¡°You see Ari here once was a slave in the Asher kingdom. She doesn¡¯t have the best impression of your kingdom from that. ¡° ¨C Elyria ¡°It¡¯s not just that¡­.sob¡­they want to take Vali away¡­And he hasn¡¯t even come home yet! Something¡¯s happened¡­sob¡­¡± ¨C Ari The small girl then started to wipe tears away from her eyes as she claimed to have missed Vali dearly. Elyria continued to rub her head and calm her down but she would just shake her head. ¡°No! I can feel it Elyria something¡¯s wrong! He even said he¡¯d be home right now¡­he¡¯d never lie to me.¡± - Ari ¡°Well Vali has missed a curfew before Ari¡­.Don¡¯t worry, he¡¯ll receive his proper punishment for missing curfew.¡± - Elyria ¡°Hehe¡­His¡­his curfew?¡± ¨C Liriana Asher ¡®Oh my goodness. I forgot he told us he had a curfew. I remember thinking it was crazy when I first heard it but now I can slightly understand. The beautiful fox woman continued to smile with an almost intimidating glare back towards us. ¡°Haha¡­And how would one punish sir Vali exactly.¡± ¨C Shen ¡°Oh I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m going to do quite yet. He has already broke curfew once and I simply scolded him. Now he must learn not to disobey again¡­.I guess his punishment shall rise the more he his gone¡­Oh Hjokk did say I could use her spear to give him a spanking of sorts mphmphmph.¡± ¨C Elyria Shen then looked back at the floor and made a grim smile. ¡°Geezes¡­.¡± ¨C Shakko Shakko whispered that comment past his mask as I heard gulps from his and her Highness. ¡°Regardless he¡¯ll be having to cook for us quite a lot to make up for thi¡­¡± Elyria ¡°No! Something is wrong Elyria. He said he would be back right now he told me! I¡¯m not wrong, I know something happened. I can feel it, Vali needs us.¡± - Ari Elyria tried to talk her down but Ari continued to shake her head with tears flying down her face. It caused everyone including Lucy and the other children to look towards this little girl¡¯s cry. ¡°Is it possible someone may have come after Vali as well?¡± ¨C Shakko ¡°¡­¡­¡± Everyone continued to clamor and it was decided we needed to go out and search for Vali. Elyria would stay home with the King and queen. However all of the knights would have to go out and search for Vali with Fenrir. According to her she told us we didn¡¯t want to see what happens if we were to betray her. Nor would Fenrir take too kindly to it as well. She ascertained that regardless if we left his Highness and the Queen here it would be impossible to get into or out of this cabin without her say so, having more guards is meaningless.. We had no other way but to agree. I assume this demi human may be harder to gain her trust than Vali himself. I feel it would be good to get into her good graces. I then saw all the children huddle around the wolf and hug him. The small girl also had walked slowly over and hugged the wolf as well. ¡°Please find him Fenrir.¡± Ruf! ¡°And if these people try to hurt Vali or you¡­eat them.¡± Ruf! The little girl hugged him again as well as all of the children next to her did. He then barked back towards them and ran outside. ¡®¡­¡­.¡¯ Ok everyone here is scary. -------------------------------------------------------------- Vali¡¯s POV: HA! HA! HA!!! ¡®Seriously¡­.I said I wanted him to train me but ughh¡­..This¡­.Ha!...Is not¡­.HA!....What I thought¡­..HA!!!!¡±
Congratulations! Farming Mastery Beginner Level 7 has just advanced to Beginner Level 8! Health + 25 Intellect + 5 Stamina + 15 Strength + 5
I¡¯ve been swinging a large stick with a sharpened stone on the edge of it into the dirt for roughly four hours now. That along raking the soil until its even has made this a already very long morning. I¡¯m also amazed at how slow the Farming Skill moves up at all. When I told Malfius I already had the skill he simply said good for you and told me to continue. It¡¯s just him and me awake right now. We are however not the only Reiki out this early. I can see all over this small villages farmlands are several Reiki awake and tending to their personal farms. They have all sorts of cabbage, vegetables that look like carrots. Basically a lot of things you would never assume a tiger would eat. But according to Malfius each family farms in different things. He said they wanted to come greet me but Malfius spoke with them all we were training before he woke me up. ¡®Seriously what the hell is this place¡­Not an activity I would ever see myself doing in a dungeon but I do agree I need to learn some agricultural knowledge from a seasoned farmer. I can already see the plusses of learning this ability for my future. It¡¯s just we only have today and tomorrow to prepare so I assumed we would be training in something else.¡¯ ¡®Regardless of this however¡­Ha!...Ha!...I didn¡¯t think that is what Malfius meant when he would train me.¡¯ ¡°Seriously Malfius. I was expecting a whole Mr. Miyagi thing¡­Never would have pegged you monks for farmers.¡± ¡°Miyagi?Is that suppose to be some kind of joke haha¡­Child we Reiki teach that if you are to learn to take life¡­ You must first learn to give life. You must first learn the weight of life before your fists can learn to take them.¡° Malfius continued to walk around me as he continued to watch my form as I dug the hoe into the ground. ¡®Yah¡­I¡¯m definitely getting the karate kid vibe here.¡¯ I started to crack a grin and continued to swing this odd hoe shaped contraption into the ground. ¡°See¡­your fists are strong. But you cannot even use your full potential yet. Our tiger¡¯s paw can devastate any foe and leave them as lumps of meat when we''re through. Second in bare-handed combat only to the Annuanke¡¯s.¡± ¡°So those wolves have even earned your respect? You yourself said you were ranked 2nd in this dungeon.¡± ¡°Continue your training!...¡± As I had realized I stopped swinging I continued to swing the hoe into the ground and listen to Malfius speak. ¡°Yes¡­I may be the second ranked but only from years of study and mastery. The Annunake¡¯s who I hear now have sworn allegiance to you were given a nickname in this dungeon¡­¡¯Boss Killers.¡¯ Doesn¡¯t matter the size or how tough the defense a beast might have¡­If it gets swarmed by the Annuanke¡¯s it¡¯s all over¡­.We Reiki are masters of defense but in the face of them, we would most likely fall. Upon meeting them for the first time centuries ago our ancestors learned a tough defense cannot win everything. So we had to train in other ways to keep ourselves strong.¡± ¡°That why I never got to test just how tough this defense of yours was yet?¡± ¡°Why would I let someone test my defenses if they aren¡¯t even able to hit me¡­. Lesson One¡­To have a strong defense, you don¡¯t have to get hit.¡± ¡°That¡­That¡¯s your Lesson 1? It¡¯s obvious.¡± ¡°Then why can¡¯t you do it?¡± ¡°¡­¡­..¡± ¡°Continue your training!!!!¡± ¡®Cranky old man....¡¯ I continued to dig the hoe into the dirt and it took a long time. It¡¯s not that I was tired but simply had so many other things to think about. I decided since I was training in this I might as well work on some of my other masteries at the same time. I then activated my Dullahan creation and had then form similar movements with their claymores. It honestly didn¡¯t disturb the ground a whole lot but it was enough to compare to a normal human. I was told by Malfius my strength in this is supposedly suppose to be non existent¡­.¡¯I feel a Mr. Miyagi sort of lesson by my movements after this¡­I can just feel it.¡¯ ¡°Vali the way you¡¯re holding that¡­¡± ¡°¡­Uh, here it is. Wax on wax off?¡± ¡°Tighten your grip do you want it to fly out of those dainty fingers of yours.¡± ¡°¡­¡­.¡± ''Ok whatever Miyagi. '' I sadly noticed my farming skill hardly moved up at all faster than before, which was depressing. My Dullahan Creation ability is however being trained which I see being very important soon. I¡¯ve been trying to apply my lightning armor to it but I still can¡¯t do it. It¡¯s a part of my flesh, I can¡¯t just send it outward onto them. ¡®Hmm¡­.Maybe it¡¯s impossible for me right now. I know it¡¯s possible from seeing how Tanin turned his crystals into fire or the other pixies meld their magic¡¯s together. Come on¡­This world has no boundaries¡­¡¯ After several minutes of trying and failing I decided to use up all of my MP and I focused on something else. I then made 2 more Dullahan¡¯s appear. At this moment Mp drain started to take up to quite an extent. Using magic manipulation like this to change this skill takes¡­Wow a lot of effort. ¡®¡­.I¡¯m starting to feel somewhat tired actually.¡¯ I however continued to swing the hoe into the ground as well as the 4 Dullahan Knights for what seemed like hours. I could see large beads of sweat start to fall down my face as I could start to feel muscle and mental fatigue start to take place. I guess my stamina is starting to wind down. I however continued swinging the plow into the dirt repeatedly as the sun on this floor just started to come up.
Congratulations! You have just earned a new stat! Endurance You will now start to lose stamina at a much slower pace than before.
¡®Hah¡­.Hahahhaa. Seriously I got that stat from this? This world¡¯s conditions on unlocking new things are strange. In the game, now that I remember everyone had the endurance stat. But after all of the things I¡¯ve gone through, running out of my Stamina and even MP several times I¡¯ve somehow now just unlocked the conditions. This is the first time I''ve continually worked even after my SP and MP were continually less than 10% each.'' I told Malfius and he just shook his head. Apparently it¡¯s supposed to take me a lot longer to gain something like that stat. ¡°Well¡­I guess you took your first step. Endurance is the first thing the Reiki must learn to go through our training¡­.Your ability to learn is exceptional child. Being such a high level I assumed there would be some penalties in your growth and it would take much more time to learn¡­. I guess being affiliated with gods isn¡¯t so bad. I for one tend to hate the gods but I can see how some of them might be very beneficial to know.¡± ¡°So you don¡¯t worship any gods in this dungeon?¡± ¡°Haha¡­I doubt many in this dungeon do.¡± Malfius smirked oddly and looked off into the distance, I guess I don¡¯t blame him. I should change the subject. ¡°I see....So high level can hold a penalty in learning new skills?¡± I asked him and he made an odd face. ¡°Well yes and no. It¡¯s just about fulfilling certain conditions¡­Obviously if you spent your whole life learning to farm and went out to learn hand to hand combat you would receive some penalties. Level plays a bit in that too. It just slows down the ability to learn a skill to some extent but it doesn¡¯t stop it all together. It works in a similar way to causing status effects on those much higher level than yourself¡­.. Ok I can see you look confused. Well say a level 50 with strong attack power took on a level 500 who cared nothing for defense. The level 50 had the ability to Stun/Poison/Burn/ or even paralyze their victims with a particular skill¡­.. Having a much higher level does not just effect the stats but it also affects the status effects that can be caused towards them. ¡° Malfius started to explain to me more about this world¡¯s mechanics I was unaware of. If your level is high and you attempted to learn a skill or a trade that was unfamiliar to you it would essentially make it harder to learn than if you were just on level one or had no class. I don¡¯t have a class but I also have growth correction from Loki along with this dungeon currently doubling my experience gains. If it weren¡¯t for that it may have taken me even longer to learn something like this¡­. He started to walk through the farmland and pass small budding plants from his in own soil. He explained that causing status effects like my paralysis or even poison can be affected by level as well. If a high level monster or person was attacked by a Stun or Paralysis effects from someone much lower level than themselves, the likelihood of them receiving a particular status would also drop significantly. Not completely according to him but the likelihood of causing the status would become increasingly difficult. ¡®Well so much for being able to paralyze Balor. It¡¯s not like I assumed that would work anyways.¡¯ ¡°Vali¡­So this is where you were.¡± I then turned to the right and saw Cyanin and Aurora had woken up and were flying in my direction. I almost forgot how I had left them all this morning. I had woken up with them sleeping right next to me which is not where I had left them. After last night¡¯s chat I wound up passing out not long after that. It was odd but I slept right through it. No nightmares, no images of the things I¡¯ve done¡­.Just a good nights sleep before being awoken by Malfius for this morning¡¯s training. ¡®It¡¯s strange but I¡¯ve actually started to notice that whenever I¡¯ve killed someone. I get the best nights sleep I¡¯ve had since my siblings were taken¡­.. And I¡¯m not really sure how I feel about that.¡¯ STo¡­STOOO!!!!!!!................... An image of the man known as Laxus entered my eyes for a moment before his screams died down¡­.¡¯Well¡­I guess there¡¯s always when I¡¯m awake too¡­ I almost forgot what that was like, I guess last night may have triggered something. Oh well I won¡¯t feel remorse for them. I just need to push those thoughts to the back of my head for now. Don¡¯t have time to deal with em.¡¯ Cyanin and Aurora had then flew up to me and gave me hug. ¡°Eww¡­.You¡¯re all sweaty.¡± - Aurora ¡°Vali you weren¡¯t there when we woke up! What are you two doing out here anyways? Are you training some more?.¡± - Cyanin ¡°Farming¡­.Here take one of these and start doing the same.¡± ¡°What? Why?¡± ¨C Cyanin, Aurora ¡°Because you guys need to train too¡­.What do ya think Malfius can ya try and teach them some too?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­.I¡¯ve never trained a pixie before. Training a pixie in the ways of the Reiki wouldn¡¯t be impossible I think¡­. but there could be discipline issues.¡± The pixies looked up confused as if not understanding mine and Malfius¡¯ words. ¡°That won¡¯t be a problem. Hey you two, Malfius is going to teach us some of his ways. So learn from him! ¡° ¡°¡­It looks like you just want us to farm for you. Vali are you trying to trick us.¡± ¡°¡­No Cyanin hehe. Just pick up a hoe and do what Malfius has instructed until you gain an Endurance skill.¡± ¡°Pick up a what?¡± - Aurora ¡°Ughh fine! But you have to cook for us today if we do!¡± - Cyanin I laughed and agreed I would cook for them if they started with Malfius¡¯ training alongside me. They pouted at first but they agreed as long as their would be food in it for them¡­Quite simple indeed. I smiled at Malfius and he just shook his head. ¡°Oh Vali¡­You should try cooking for everyone today too. I¡¯m sure our family who haven¡¯t gotten to eat your cooking would absolutely love it!¡± ¨C Aurora After Aurora made her comment oddly enough even Malfius too seemed interested. So I agreed to cook for some people today but they would have to continue to work hard for Malfius. They then giggled and got to work excitedly. I then saw Akino walk outside along with Sting and Ollie. I guess they all decided to wake up as well. I¡¯m assuming Ollie after joining the Away team doesn¡¯t farm much now. He did mention he lives on another floor now. They each started to walk towards Malfius and I as I listen to things Malfius was wishing for me to cook later. He said since it could potentially be their last meals he was throwing out some ideas for me ¡®¡­Ugh this guy. Can¡¯t he see there are more pressing matters. If only what he said wasn¡¯t true. I would just use all of us wearing lightning armor and hopefully paralyze Balor to be unable to do anything¡­ Treat em like I did Diaga. I guess it would be dumb for that to work.¡± The three then got closer and I saw something sparkle from Akino and flash through my eyes. ¡®What is that?¡¯ ¡®¡­¡­¡­¡­Wait! That¡¯s it!!!!¡± ¡°That¡¯s IT!!!!¡± I ran over to Akino and placed my arm on her neck and she shook slightly and became red. ¡°What? What is it?¡± ¡°¡­.I think I have a way we can kill Balor¡­If not kill him, we can sure gain a damn good advantage.¡± ¡°What how?¡± Everyone then turned around and looked at me and Akino. Malfius too looked stunned while the pixies dropped what they were holding. So many scenarios and thoughts began to cloud m mind. It¡¯s not impossible¡­. It¡¯ll be difficult and even if I¡¯m right this won¡¯t guarantee our victory. But it¡¯s a damn start. ¡°Well it¡¯s just a theory. Even if it works¡­. He¡¯ll have an army around him and it won¡¯t mean anything. Ugh this is going to become so complicated¡­.. It¡¯s not for sure but if I¡¯m right¡­.. We¡¯ll need the Arachnee. Yeah, if they help¡­I¡¯m sure of it. We could win with this!¡± Sting and Ollie too now made eyes of confusion while Akino looked into my eyes curiously. ¡°Tell Hjokk when she returns that I¡¯ll be visiting the Arachnee Queen.¡± ¡°Oh yes your bird. Where is she anyways?¡± ¡° I had her go collect more of those magical crystals from the floor with the Adamantine spiders while I was here working. She should be back soon.¡± Malfius then cracked up as Ollie and Sting seemed to look confused. ¡°What you sent your bird to that floor alone?¡± ¨C Ollie ¡°Seriously¡­don¡¯t worry about his pets.¡± Akino Akino made an uncomfortable face while responding to his initial confusion. Well she¡¯s right. Hjokk can take care of herself. She was however against the idea of leaving me upon my request. She also flapped her wings quite angrily when I asked her to gather more supplies for the pixies and myself but I guess she gave up considering the circumstances we¡¯re currently in. Killing monsters isn¡¯t something that goes against her treaty so she doesn¡¯t have many good arguments against it. It did however annoy her but I¡¯ll just give her food later and she should be fine. Hell she even asked me to cook for her last night. She¡¯s probably not much different than the pixies in that regard. ¡®Feed them and I can get em to do pretty much anything. It¡¯s a very useful skill indeed.¡¯ I looked over and saw the two working diligently and even seeming to be excited. They danced around as they each mimicked the Dullahan¡¯s next to them striking at the soft soil. I have several reasons for meeting this Queen finally. --------------------------------------------------------------- ¡°Ugh¡­ This floor is really creepy.¡± - Sting ¡°You¡¯re the one who wanted to tag along Sting.¡± - Vali ¡°Still though¡­ This whole dungeon honestly gives me the creeps. Anything to get away from those pixies for a little while longer.¡± ¨C Sting ¡°What¡¯s wrong with them?¡± - Vali ¡°What¡¯s wrong with them. Anytime you¡¯re not around they shoot me with magic! I woke up this morning with a snowball to my face. And when I got up to chase them I I walked into a wall that appeared out of no where!¡± - Sting ¡° They must think we¡¯re friends heh. Well anyways that means they like you usually. - Vali ¡°What? Yesterday one of them set me on FIRE!¡± Sting started to throw up his hands and elaborate and causing a scene. Ollie started laughing at his actions and then joined in on the conversation. ¡°What¡¯s the green guy saying now?¡± - Ollie ¡°He says he¡¯s gonna try and make a move on the Arachnee Queen again.¡± ¨C Vali ¡°Hah! Good luck with that! This time they¡¯ll probably shove one of those spears of his ass. The Arachnee don¡¯t really like other races all too much. ¨C Ollie ¡°What I didn¡¯t make a move on her! I was simply admiring a race I had never seen before. How was I to know she was some Queen of their whole species? - Sting I heard Sting complaining and I asked Ollie why the relations were so bad between the Arachnee and other races. Though they have some Arachnee in the Away team, it¡¯s simply because the Arachnee just don¡¯t get along with other races. I remember Cam said they had a bad stigma before. It was because they had to suck the blood and nutrients of other monsters to technically survive. They also are all woman so obviously they have found some way to multiply down here with someone¡¯s help. I only hope they don¡¯t hide any secrets like the Annunakes. I know the Queen is hiding something, I just pray it¡¯s something forgivable. To be honest, if our plans are going to work out, we absolutely will need the Arachnee for this all to work. We continued to walk through the foggy floor. It had grass and soft soil below us but looked to be covered in vines and sludge. It was honestly quite difficult to see much through this floor without it my mask. I kept on Loki¡¯s mask to see through the dark but it is still quite cloudy. Sting is also covering his face with some odd robe of his. According to Malfius we should still be hiding our face until everyone is aware I am not a puppet. I ended up giving Sting back all of his things. I figure if we¡¯re all going to fight together I might as well show some faith in him. He now is holding the spear on his back and following beside Ollerion who is several inches taller than him. The three of us went alone to the Arachnee floor. Akino who seemed skittish when talking about going here I told her to stay and work along the pixies. They three then argued and wanted to come alongside me, apparently the three think they are my all time guards, which is just weird. They were the ones who slept in when I was doing all that work and now they want to join me¡­. ¡®No they need to go through some Mr. Miyagi bull crap too.¡¯ I say it¡¯s crap but¡­I¡¯m in awe of the one known as Malfius. I¡¯ve never seen a style of fighting quite like his. He claims Endurance is just the first step of learning their ancient ways and tough defense. I never even got to find out just how tough. He was simply a lot better than me. I hope I can learn from him. Hard to imagine he is ranked second in this dungeon¡­Arguably it makes me somewhat have a bigger sense of caution towards Alysteir now. Sadly there is just so much to deal with before the next two nights. We have to find all the elves and puppets involved and hopefully exterminate them before Balor arrives. If we cannot locate all remaining puppets or elves within this dungeon then we will have to continue with our plans against Balor in secret. Simply because if Balor got ahold of the strategies we were to devise against him, our hope is already lost. Regardless, to move forward we will need the help of the Arachnee and their Queen. Ollie had told me as we were walking through the mist the Arachnee women are without a doubt one of the most lethal races in this dungeon. He then said if they were to attack us we should try to attack them from a distance. I then retorted in what Maflius had just told me earlier that day. I was told the Annunake were considered the most dangerous in close quarters fighting when next is the Reiki. Ollie then laughed and said that may be true in terms of actual combat but in terms of complex techniques and lethality the Arachnee are too dangerous regardless of level. If their race as a whole went up against the Reiki or Annunake he¡¯s sure the Arachnee would probably lose, but in terms of lethality no one in the dungeon is more dangerous due to their knowledge in poisons. He compared them to be masters of ¡®control type¡¯ fighting. In terms of one on one it is incredibly difficult to fight them as they have a diverse set of skills that make each of them always very unique to deal with. He said compared to the Arachnee on the Away team¡­ One prick is all they need with their spider legs and it¡¯s over. He said if you¡¯re ever within a couple meters of them you¡¯re already too close. They specialize in piercing and secreting so many different kinds of poisons that attack the body in dozens of ways even the Reiki and all their high resistances can become paralyzed if pierced by enough of them. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. They have extensive knowledge of poisons that they alone hold the antidotes to. According to Ollie no one, not even Kyrah or even Alysteir would pick a fight with an Arachnee simply. They know they would have to be very careful when fighting them as one mistake in their webs could mean death. I found this interesting. As they were the species that lost the most of their kind when the Balor sent in his Fomorians. But even if they aren¡¯t strong in terms of actual warfare or against monsters like the Fomorians, they are still incredibly dangerous to other species. ¡®Honestly it¡¯s just about where you apply their skill sets though.¡¯ ¡°SSSstttttt¡± ¡®¡­..Ok I heard something for sure. So far I haven¡¯t heard even the sounds of insects on this floor. But that sounded a lot bigger.¡¯ I looked around but I couldn¡¯t see anything. We¡¯ve passed trees and I assume I¡¯m in somewhat of a forest but I used my Eclipse View earlier and didn¡¯t see anything in front of us. I suppose we have been walking for a bit. I took off my mask and turned on Eclipse View again. ¡®¡­.Woh shit.¡¯ I saw dozens upon dozens of life forces mere meters away from us in the tall thin trees. No they aren¡¯t on them they¡¯re hovering beside them.¡¯¡­Wait..your¡¯ Shing!!! Crash! Something immediately took out my legs and a large force came down on my jaw as it crashed into the floor below me. My whole body then alleviated from the ground faster than I had the ability to react to and I felt my weight become flung into the sky. The linings binding me right now are in all honesty quite thick. I tried to put some weight into it but it wouldn¡¯t give with just force alone. If that wasn¡¯t all the more I wiggled I could feel the pressure tightening. I can however hear the sounds of Sting and Ollie mumbling next to me. I guess they decided to bind their mouths ¡­..¡¯ Probably for the best.¡¯ We are all however bound and floating high above next to the tall thin trees. It took me a second to realize but I am currently hanging upside down and can see several odd bright shapes in front of me. No dozen is wrong, we are currently surrounded by roughly 90 new life forces that I wasn¡¯t aware were even this close to me. My presence sense, night vision from my mask¡­.The Arachnee got through them easily. ¡°¡­Stop squirmingggg!¡± ¡°She said¡­sstooopppp Squirminggggg!¡± ¡®Ahhh I was right they are Arachnee. They really don¡¯t sound anything like the other races. ¡® ¡°Whyyyy are you heeerrreeee.¡± ¡°Calm down¡­I came to talk to your queen. I am..¡± ¡°We know who you are humannnnn. Why have you come here unannounced? ¡­Do you plan something against our Queen?¡± ¡°Well I was unaware I was suppose to set up an appointment with your Queen¡¯s busy schedule. Now whom would I talk to about that, would it be you?¡± I¡¯d use my abysmal mist or even fireball to get out of this web but I doubt I¡¯m in danger right now. They just seem to be cautious. ¡°¡­.Sstt.¡± I could then hear the Arachnee woman I was speaking to click her tongue towards my words. I however felt no threat by these Arachnee but I could definitely feel some form of hostility towards us. I guess according to Ollie they don¡¯t let other races come on this floor. They laid claim to it a long time ago and every race has simply respected their wishes for centuries. ¡°Shiva¡­.He means us no harm. He is a friend, I assure you now let loose his bindings quicklyyyyy.¡± ¡°Reinma? How can you simply agree so readilyyy. I still believe I should secrete some kind of poison through the web first¡­.. Just to be safeeeeee.¡± ¡®Reinma? She¡¯s alive?¡¯ ¡°Now that wouldn¡¯t look well to our guests now would it Shiva¡­¡­Hello humannnnnn¡± ¡®Wohhh¡­ That voice? I could feel for a brief instance the web surrounding me even tightened just a little from the one who had bound me.¡¯ ¡°Your majesty¡­..¡± I then saw all the glowing organgish- red figures bow upon one of the other Arachnee started to get closer to me. Even in this Eclipse View her color is a deep blood red and I get this almost alluring presence from it. ¡°So¡­You must be the Queen. I¡¯d bow but I feel it would just look as if I¡¯m trying to look up your shirt. Now¡­.mind cutting me down your Highness.¡± ¡°¡­..Mph¡­Strange human. Aren¡¯t you afraid of where you are?¡± ¡°No¡­not really.¡± ¡°Mph¡­mphmphmphmph¡­..Let him down Shiva. Let our guests come inside from the mist¡­I highly doubt they are here with ill will. Besides¡­I¡¯ve been expecting him.¡± The queen then turned around and started to walk away from me on her threads. I felt the lines around me loosen up and immediately felt my weight drop to the floor below. As I waited for the impact I then began to feel the soft lines wove beneath me bracing my fall like a cushion to my skin. It was softer than my bed back home in that regard. ¡°Vali¡­.It is such a pleasure seeing you again.¡± I had to turn off Eclipse View and there I saw the face of the Arachnee woman I saved on floor one. Her tall figure walked over to me with a bright smile. She had a gorgeous physique and kind eyes that were hard not to look back into as her gaze crossed my path. Though there were 6 of them, each of them looked to be staring at me with such warmth.¡¯ ¡°Reinma¡­. I¡¯m really happy to see you¡¯re alive. How is Karma?¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡± She just looked up at me oddly. No..Don¡¯t tell me. ¡°Mph¡­Mphmphmph¡­She is¡­Umm well she is fineeeee. She survived if that is what you mean. I¡¯m sorryyy, I did not mean to laugh Vali I just did not expect such a response from you. It is however great to see you as wellllll. I could smell your blood the moment you came to this floorrr. That is why I came to see you myselfff. Karma is back in the nest and I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be so happy to see you have returneddddd.¡± I tried to ask her about the base but she said to simply follow her. She wrapped her arms around mine and started to escort me alongside the dozens of Arachnee woman and Sting and Ollie. Her soft skin grazed and pressed against mine. Her straight silky hair grazed my cheek as she continued to greet us into their home. It was honestly not something I could see with just my mask or Eclipse view. Everything was filled with an odd mist that made it difficult to see alternating between both. It must mask their heat and body signatures making Night Vision or even Presence Sense useless. ¡®This isn¡¯t a mist this is something else. It is really difficult to see in here. Night vision allows me to see slightly but the higher up I notice it becomes very cloudy and difficult to see through if at all.¡¯ The dark clouds that are above us become more and more thick the higher up the smoke goes. It¡¯s hard to even see through this forest as well it¡¯s like an odd smog. ¡°Ah.. Don¡¯t mind the mist. It¡¯s from this morbid monster that resides only on this floor. Quite the pain to deal with but it is something we have learned to thrive under the cover they can provide for us.¡± Reinma began to talk to me as she walked beside me. These Arachnee seem to have their own clever ways about them as well. They are using this floors monsters abilities to benefit themselves against other species should they ever attack them. Quite the control experts¡­ I wonder why they have emphasized this for centuries however¡­The Arachnee don¡¯t like other races, and they walled themselves up on this floor simply because it makes it difficult for enemies to attack them. ¡®This Queen has to know something¡­¡¯ We started to walk through what seemed to be a tunnel to a cave like structure. The mouth of the tunnel is made of what seemed like yellow stones. They were hot and gave off an immediate temperature change upon entering through the entrance. I could feel beads of sweat already pour down my neck. I then noticed the yellow rocks were producing a light and I no longer needed the mask and could see quite clearly now. The mist was now gone and I could now make out everyone who I had been walking beside for a few minutes. I have to say. While walking next to so many Arachnee there is just one thing I can not get over. They are just damn sexy in terms of their human parts. They each have such slender and soft features while showing off their curvy assets quite well. Each of them wore thin like gowns that look to be made of shiny spider silk. Each Arachnee wore something you would see a model trying to pose in. They show off their feminie features quite well, they almost all resemble models from my world if it weren¡¯t for their spider half. ¡® Pek did say they were exceptional tailors in this race.¡¯ It¡¯s just hard not to¡­.Look. The Arachnee each wore such glamorous clothes and accessories with lustrous hair and slim facial features. The ones with two eyes or six eyes it didn¡¯t matter but it was almost to the point that you didn¡¯t even notice the spider legs at this point. It was odd how alluring it almost felt. ¡®Ughh I can¡¯t be into that¡­. How could I possible be into that? I mean how would you even. No I¡¯m not into that¡­ I¡¯m not that weird¡­. Well, I¡¯ll just leave it at I find this race to be very sexually confusing for me.¡¯ I then walked through the corridor into a large circular room where a large pyramid shaped cone sat a large golden web. There sitting on top of it was the Arachnee Queen. ¡°So why do you come here humannn.¡± She had white hair that went down to her shoulders. Her slender frame only complimented her delicate and almost perfectly chiseled face. Regardless of her spider legs now that I get a good look at this Queen her face looks to be more glamorous than models from my world. Her skin was snow white. Her white hair look to be made of silk as it had it¡¯s own shine. She had bright red lips that matched her piercing crimson eyes that glowed in the dark. I found it hard to look away from her gaze. ¡°Just to talk really¡­We are going to fight against Balor soon. I had an interesting idea. I think with your help we can probably hurt him pretty bad.¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± The Queen spider then twitched her eyes and and glanced over towards those below her. Her bright silver looped earrings sat on her ears as did her white crystal necklace looked to be made from yellow magical crystals. Looking lower I could then see¡­.Wow. ¡®It¡¯s to the point you don¡¯t even see her spider legs I mean damn!....Just look at those. That¡¯s it¡­.I just can¡¯t hang around Arachnee too much I might end up doing something I could regret. I mean¡­Her figure is just so alluring I wonder how it would be possible her race even mates with males of other species. Looking towards her white spider legs hanging on the golden thread I see at her slim waiste line are to small white spider legs wrapped around her lower waist¡­¡¯¡­Hmm I wonder if¡­¡¯ ¡°Human! You wouldn¡¯t happen to be lying to us. Simply using us as fodder to those monsters. So you can escape when the Dark One arrives!¡± I then heard the voice of the same Arachnee who tied me up from earlier speak up and look towards me. I then looked up and the Arachnee queen then had been staring back at me smiling. ¡®¡­Did she see me? Geezes why am I even thinking about this!!! She¡¯s part spider!!!¡¯ BOOOM!!!!! Pat pat pat pat pat patpatpat A loud crash resounded from the yellow stones below our feet and the Arachnee Queen had lept several meters towards me and shot forth like a dart in my direction. ¡®It¡¯s really amazing how fast all these species move. They aren¡¯t as fast as Kyrah but this Queen definitely moves a hell of a lot faster than you would think something her size could move. If I didn¡¯t have my spatial magic¡­I¡¯m sure I¡¯d be sweating right now.¡¯ Ollie and Sting reacting towards the Queen¡¯s quick movements and jump back upon her sudden darting. Sting attempted to take out his spear only to have Ollie usher him it was a bad move. I would have said the same thing, simply because I doubt the Queen is bad. She even helped us quite a lot already. ¡°Give me your hand human¡­.¡± I then stuck out my hand towards the stunning Queen as she smiled and picked up my hand with her thin human hands. ¡®If someone told me she had some type of skill or ability she was using to entice me so much I would not be surprised in the slightest. I guess I just didn¡¯t notice before. ¡°Well Queen. I¡¯m Vali I know we haven¡¯t been properly introduced y¡­owe!¡± She held onto my hand with her slender arm and one of her white spider legs then came forth rammed it into my forearm. She smiled while firmly holding onto my arm. That spider leg was strong enough to pass my defenses and cause light damage but I was more surprised how it cut through me so simply. Focusing my vision I can now see her level is 296. ¡°Before you ask why¡­I cannot read your emotions Vali the human. For whatever reason I just haven¡¯t seemed to get a pulse on you. Word in this neck of the woods is you don¡¯t have a heart beat. We¡¯ll I wouldn¡¯t believe it if I wasn¡¯t seeing it myself. You are peculiar aren¡¯t you... ¡° ¡°You can read pulses too?¡± She was testing my blood to see if I had a heartbeat? I was kind of perplexed at how this spider queen can comprehend my emotional state though. She then laughed and pointed one of her spider legs towards the floor. Looking down I just see the same bright yellow stones that are illuminating this place. She then flicked her leg and several bright yellow threads raised up and fluttered then retracted into her long slender white legs. ¡° If you''re close enough yes¡­.You are and have been however at all times standing on one of my threads Vali the human. I hear and read just about anyone within these walls.¡­.I find you difficult to read however. Though, if you have blood this method should work too¡­¡± She then pointed her slender fingers to my forearm and smiled. ¡®So this woman is using my blood in some way to form a spider lie detector? Is she implying she can do this at all times all over the dungeon? This I understand what Ollie said before of them having complex techniques but this almost feels like magic?¡¯ The Queen then started sway one of her other hands while looking towards my forearm that had just been punctured. ¡°Sea of blood come hither come woe, show me your truth¡¯s and let it be so! If liars should dare show their true form, seep and burst forth as a blood stained storm¡­ ¡± A small crimson light out of her hand and onto my forearms. It then went onto the tip of her white spider legs. She didn¡¯t seem to be able to use magic as well as the pixies but she clearly could use some form of magic. ¡®¡­Wait what?¡¯ ¡°Hey¡­What was that last part? What¡¯s gonna happen to me?!¡± Ollie and Sting looked at me and didn¡¯t move. ¡®Seriously¡­What¡¯s gonna happen to me?¡¯ ¡° Oh that, it¡¯s nothing¡­Now how about let¡¯s play a game¡­ I¡¯ll ask you a series of questions and you say the first thing that comes into your mind¡­¡± ¡®¡­.. Wait. I don¡¯t want to play this game. Can I cancel that spell? Can I just jump away right now¡­. Not that this Queen is stronger than me but her grip is in all honesty quite scary, and I don¡¯t think fighting her is the answer. Ughhh ! Fine I¡¯ll do it. I don¡¯t want my blood to explode from the sounds of it.¡¯ This Arachnee is kind of intimidating. The Arachnee Queen simply closed her eyes and smiled back at me but she did not let go of my arm with her strong grip come from her thin feminine hands. I felt an intense pressure coming from her grasp and I could tell she was serious about wanting to see if I was lying to her. My mother told me about spells. You can never be sure just how powerful some spells are. She did say blood magic however is one of the forbidden magic¡¯s. Death magic would probably also be on that list. But according to Hjokk she isn¡¯t aware of a race of mortals who have been shown to even be possible at using it. ¡®Ugh¡­I guess I just have to be honest with her.¡¯ ¡°Well before we play, mind if I ask you something first¡­. How do you know magic? ¡± ¡°¡­MMmmm? Is it so odd?¡± ¡°Yes. I was unaware other races other than the Elkia or also the elves could use magic?¡± ¡°Mmm¡­.Well there you go thinking that just because a race isn¡¯t known to be adept in something can¡¯t later learn it. In fact I¡¯m sure any and every race has the potential to learn magic and gain affinity, though for some within the races it is impossible to learn. It¡¯s just that some species it becomes increasingly more difficult to learn or produce a child who is talented enough to continually practice it. Say for our race those who can use magic it is 1 in 20 thousand. I don¡¯t know how rare it is for your race but we still have some who have potential to practice it.¡± ¡°Really¡­.I guess I wasn¡¯t aware of this.¡± For humans people who are adept in magic are 1 in 4. So the larger majority of the populace is not adept in magic at all. All I know is most mages for humans are quite rare in this continent. Mainly because any of the more talented and areas of study in magic are located in the central continent. ¡°Not many are¡­.. Most species just focus on what they are good at rather than their inadequacies. It is what has lead to so much demise over the centuries. However the most dangerous poison in Dark Eden would have to go to the sweet poison of deceit¡­Now¡­My turn.¡± She licked her lips and looked down towards me. Sting and Ollie kept looking at me shocked. They were probably wondering if the Queen had poisoned me or not. The Queen then asked me a series of questions very rapidly. What race are you? Human Why did you return to Dark Eden? To help those within this dungeon and to grow stronger What is your reason for coming here? To have the Arachnee help me She then looked at me and smirked but I didn¡¯t falter in anyway while saying any of that. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m lying. ¡°You¡­Vali you are not scared at all of what could become of you?¡± ¡°Scared? Of Balor¡­Well I won¡¯t lie to you and tell you I¡¯m fearless, which I¡¯m not. But I don¡¯t intend to back down either. ¡° ¡°¡­¡­¡± She then looked at me weirdly and turned to look at the other Arachnee women. ¡°¡­.No¡­I meant¡­ You are not scared of what I just did?! I just pierced you with one of my limbs. I could have poisoned you. I even chanted a magical spell!...You mean to tell me your not scared in the slightest of standing here in our den, and after I just did that and say your not fearless? You make no sense Vali?¡± ¡°¡­.Oh. That¡­. Well I don¡¯t know I just assumed we were already allies. You seemed to want to know if I was lying or not, right?¡± ¡°¡­..¡± ¡°What did he say?¡± The Queen then cocked her head again and looked back at me so oddly. The other Arachnee held their hands in the air and shaking their heads in disbelief. What? Did I say something wrong? The queen then got closer to me to where her face was no more than an inch away from mine. I could smell such an inviting scent it was to the point I could even feel my own blood start to get hot. ¡°Mmmm Vali¡­. What¡¯s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of me?¡± ¡°Sexually confusing.¡± ¡®Fuck!¡­.Oh well whatever. I¡¯m not about to have my blood shoot out of my skin just because I stuttered or tried to change my words last second. Ok so this is embarrassing I¡¯ll live.¡¯ Her face is then blank as she stares towards me. ¡°You¡­ Your first thought when describing me is¡­.Sexually Confusing?....¡± I turned the side and saw Ollie and Sting now cracking up. I¡¯m not sure if they can understand what is being said but I¡¯m sure that sounded odd. I then shrugged and nodded. She put her hand to her head and I started trying to say there were obviously other things. I¡¯m not a pervert I mean they are obviously amazing in quite a lot of other things as well. It¡¯s why I came here to seek their assistance. She said first thought that came to mind that¡¯s not my fault I just happened to be thinking about it moments ago. ¡°BAHahahaha!¡± The queen and several of the other Arachnee started burst out laughing. ¡°So you do not mind our appearance at all then?¡± ¡°Well I kind of do mind it it¡¯s why it¡¯s hard to be around all of you. You''re all rather stunning it''s hard not to stare." ¡°¡­.Bahahaha¡­¡­ You really are quite the charmer. Not a disdainful gleam in your eye towards us at all. Nor had a lie ever so crossith your heart¡­. Reinma¡­You didn¡¯t tell me he would be so intriguing mphmphmph¡­¡± She then retracted her white leg and turned around to look towards Reinma who had walked towards us. ¡®These women must have some self esteem issues which is strange. The air around them shows them to be quite confident and strong. ¡°Yes¡­ He is quite the polite one my Queen.¡± ¡°Why yes he even bows and treats this old Queen with such esteem. It is quite refreshing¡­And speaking Spinne for once with a male is truly interesting indeed. Mphmphmph.¡± ¡°So I take it you trust me a little more now. Hey I¡¯m not going to die or anything if I ever lie now right?¡± ¡°Oh that¡­ I meant what I said, it really was nothing. I don¡¯t know magic mphmph.¡± ¡°Wait so¡­ You lied?¡± ¡°No if you recall I simply asked if it was odd if I had known magic. What I said was all true pertaining to those who can gain affinities. I however needed a way to see if you were lying to us. I can read the emotional state of others quite easily in fact. Blood always tells a tale. However with you I needed to get creative. So I made up a spell from a book I read once. But like I said¡­I don¡¯t know magic.¡± She started to laugh and said while she has met others in her race who have learned magic it is as rare as she said. She simply said she however is not one of those people who have been able to acquire or learn it. The Queen then brought forth her white spider leg that had a small amount of my blood on its tip and brought it to her mouth. ¡®¡­. This lady.¡¯ She simply did that whole thing earlier to test on how I would react while she was holding onto my arm.. She seems to be quite resourceful. According to her among all the livable floors and some non-living she has her webs spread in places all over the dungeon. It allows her to hear what is going on practically anywhere. I asked her if this was magic and she said it was a skill of sorts but it was not what I would consider magic nor is this one of their rare enchanted threads. ¡®Perhaps these arachnee have more spider traits than I¡¯m currently aware of.. It wouldn¡¯t be weird considering the other races show their beast traits more than their human sides but if I recall¡­The Arachnee are the only species that is considered a Beastman within this dungeon¡­. All the other species are in the category of demi human. The only reason the Annunake look the way they do is due to some skill that lets them turn into those wolves given to them by Amarok. These spiders however have some interesting ways at acquiring information. I assume the only differences are that they show their traits much more than Demi humans. I¡¯d like to get to learn more about these races by spending more time with them. ¡°Oh my¡­Mphmph¡­ Reinmaaaaa tis so deliciousssss!¡± Her voice started to sound much more like the other Arachnee and her pale white face started to redden. ¡°Yes my Queen. Almost like a warm soup complimented with the hint of a rare wine. Very bold¡­ He even offered it to me willingly when we first met¡± ¡°¡­¡­ ¡± ¡°My my¡­ You are the gentleman aren¡¯t you.¡± ¡°Well she was dying and I needed to provide my blood to her.¡± ¡°Mmm¡­.Oh Vali. Since you were being so honest before¡­. We don¡¯t need blood to survive but tis more of a rumor that was spread long ago. ¡° - Spider Queen ¡°Wait so you don¡¯t need blood to survive.¡± ¡°No but we do enjoy it mphmphmph¡­..¡± ¡°Then why did you need my blood when we first met?¡± I looked at Reinma and she just chuckled and said why would she turn down someone offering themselves to them so willingly. They actually do bartering with other species to drink blood simply because they enjoy it so much. ¡°Wait¡­Did Cam know of this?¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± I then asked the Arachnee if Cam knew this because he was originally the one told me to let this arachnee woman suck blood from my arm. ¡°¡­.Tis not kind to speak ill of the dead. Now come, I welcome you into our nest sir Vali. I Queen Nhaili of the once Anansi Sect of the Dark Viduam Arachnee . ¡° ¡®Ugh your evading my question again. Anasi¡­Wait.¡¯ I¡¯ve heard that name somewhere before. It¡¯s a god in African folklore. So wait is this another divine race?¡± As the Queen saw me lipping the word Anansi she retorted back to me. ¡°I know what you may think human from beyond here. But we do not worship that god nor do we any deity. You will probably find most in Dark Eden do not worship anything. Gods were cruel to our people, they simply let us rot in here for an eternity for each of our species. They did nothing to help us, so we do not hold hope with them. We may have once been a sect to worship an old god of wisdom. We simply follow our own ways now.¡± ¡°Oh, I was beginning to think you each might be another race like the Annunakes. It would make since as all of the races in this dungeon seem to be hand picked by Balor.¡± ¡°Oh you¡¯d be surprised to know just by how much. Though not ever race down here are demi divine like the Annunake. You¡¯d be surprised to know all of the secrets of this place human.¡± She smiled at me and began to walk towards her golden web while talking. She says she and her arachnee have quite the extensive library and have housed such a library on this floor. Apparently according to them the arachnee love to read. ¡°This place is treacherous human. And yet you¡¯ve returned here so willingly. You say to many you wish to save those here. And yet I wonder if we are so deserving. Allow me to tell you the tale of this dungeon you¡¯ve found yourself in¡± The Arachnee queen began to explain the knowledge she has gathered through her webs over the centuries. I was unaware until she told me but she herself is actually the third Spider Queen they have had in this dungeon. I¡¯m not sure but she may be several hundred years old. Balor had truly selected extraordinary races indeed and it wasn¡¯t just random about it either. The Annunakes a race of demi human who are the offspring of a god wolf and mortal race. Their rare and unique abilities are passed down to them through their bloodlines that date back to Amorok himself. She compared them to what I would probably refer to as demi-gods as their rare abilities make them hold quite the advantage over the majority of races. Then there were the pixies where she said she wasn¡¯t really very aware of their lineages at all. She did recall something written somewhere that their whole race being blessed by some being long ago. It gave them some strong abilities but that was something thought of the first pixies who had come here. She said she doesn¡¯t have any knowledge on the pixies culture at all in fact. What she does know is when they first arrived here the Queen¡¯s grandmother could only write down that they were considered the most ¡®violent¡¯. While now they are as far from it as possible she thought it must have been a misprint. She said she didn¡¯t remember that a being had blessed them until she heard about some of the odd things she had been hearing over the developing pixies lately. She didn¡¯t have the name of the deity that blessed them but I knew however it wasn''t a deity but Brynhildr. The Queen however assumed this would mean the god or deity that blessed them repeatedly must have had their power diminish quite heavily. I was starting to get a rather knowledgeable book worm vibe from her. If she ever wore glasses she could probably pull it off. She theorizes that the whole race isn¡¯t blessed but just the white pixies probably were. She may not know what kind of culture the pixies come from but she believes when they share their lives with one another the ¡®blessed¡¯ member of their race is sharing their blessing as well. ¡®I too am amazed. I was under the impression a God could only bless one person. But pixies do have different rules it seems than humans. Even as far as earning experience in parties it¡¯s different. What she just stated is actually quite the interesting theory. Whenever a pixie shares their life with the other, by now they all share a small piece of the other.¡® She said other than the Annunake¡¯s and Pixies there were also other races in this dungeon who had lineages that traced back to something above a mortal. Some were even the offspring of divine beasts. Not necessarily a God like Amarok but something similar to a deity. According to her gods and deities are different things. A divine beast is different from a God Wolf are two different things according to her and not usually as strong, but I¡¯m sure that depends on the beast. There were however races in this dungeon that were the offspring of divine beasts and humans. The Adlers had two in fact, one was I¡¯m assuming the race that Kyrah is from, while the other race is from a divine bird she said she could never find out its true name. She just said that in a picture it was very large and colorful. Then there were the Reiki. Eis Neko and the Jiji. Not much is known about their histories even before they came to this dungeon. They are a species that in all honesty doesn¡¯t know much about their own lineages. But they are however each very unique and have developed the societies within this dungeon quite heavily. They however are not known to worship gods at all. This is why I don¡¯t believe these races weren¡¯t picked to just get back at the gods. This is something different. Maybe Balor did simply want to take strong races together to test them against his monsters?.¡¯.. I was thinking maybe there would be more reason in his choosing them. I guess he really is just an evil scientist in that regard.¡¯ The arachnee may have once worshipped a god named Anansi centuries back. But she says even in olden times the first queen and her offspring who came here, weren¡¯t as dedicated to Anansi as most of his other followers. It was probably due to the fact their sect did not receive his blessing that angered her grandmother and her offspring. When I asked why that was, she simply said Anansi may have been a ¡®trickster of sorts¡¯ but he was quite wise. But all in all he was a good god. She however said her particular sect wasn¡¯t necessarily a good one upon arriving here. She actually giggled and said if we met back in that time I would have probably thought her to be one of the bad guys. She then said the humans were probably selected for another reason but in all actuality not every species here was blessed nor had any backgrounds with any gods to her knowledge. The same was in terms of the Dark Elves. They were simply a race of elf that didn¡¯t speak or fraternize much with the other races even before coming to this dungeon from what she read. The dark elves however were quite talented in an ancient magic she had never personally seen before. She described it in a way that almost resembled necromancy. They had devastating offensive magic spells and knowledge over some form a magic that allowed them to twist and conjure up the dead. She said due to this dungeon trapping the souls of its victims within their bodies even in death the dark elves had found a way to infiltrate all of the other races with this. Their knowledge in this ancient magic is what has allowed them to somehow place their souls into the bodies of fallen victims. Though she can read emotional states if you are close enough to her, she cannot be sure who or who is not an elf. ¡®I know I was told that elves were more of a spiritual race but this?¡­ This is how they¡¯ve managed to infiltrate so many races and be thought to have been dead over the centuries. With their knowledge and longevity they must have somehow found a way with their necromancy magic to do such an incredible thing¡­. It almost sounds similar to possession by a demon. Then where would the elves other bodies be?¡¯ As I looked shocked the Queen laughed and told me this is something their race has known for centuries. It is also why they aren¡¯t on friendly terms with the other races. Simply because she does not trust anyone now. She can¡¯t be sure just how many elves are currently in this dungeon but it is something that was found out through their web networks several hundred years ago. Back when the elves first disappeared. ¡°The other leaders would have you know the first humans to come here were evil and debauched¡­ In fact it would be interesting for you to know they didn¡¯t attack first. In fact they were not hostile in the slightest. It is possibly because they realized they were outnumbered from the beginning, all that is known is the humans absolutely were not hostile. They were actually the first race to speak of uniting together.¡± ¨C Queen Nhaili ¡°So then why did all the races unite and kill them.¡± ¡°They already did not have good report with some of the races present. The one most obvious however were the Dark Elves. In fact they hated the humans and were quite adamant about it¡­.. The night after the first floor was conquered the Elves assassinated the human leaders and were caught using some form of magic on their dead bodies.¡± I continued listening to the origins of this dungeon and its histories told to me by this Queen from her extensive knowledge they have held on to. ¡°The elves were caught using such magic and attacked in retaliation to silence the humans. When the other races were alerted, the lie was told and before the sun even came up their whole race had been wiped out¡­. Obviously the elves couldn¡¯t let them know the truth as they had an ability to bring back the dead and act as a puppet if you will. The queen at the time was the only one aware of such knowledge¡­. She chose to do nothing with it. And now her children are reaping the rewards of that by being unable to trust anyone.¡± ¨C Queen Nhaili ¡°So the elves started it? And at one point they decided to make it to where everyone believed they were dead and have since been hiding in plain site as the other races.¡± ¡°Yes¡­ Though we are unaware of the reason they all went into hiding. I can¡¯t find the so called puppet masters, I can however find these puppets you seek?¡± ¡°What how?¡± I then approached Queen Nhaili and she smiled at me. ¡°Oh you approach me so willingly do you mphmphmph¡­.¡± ¡°What is it gonna take some of my blood to hear how we can find all of the puppets?¡± ¡°Oh if you¡¯re ever offering human I would most certainly partakeeeee. I however had something else in mind.¡± ¨C Queen Nhaili ¡°Ok..Wha¡­.¡± - Vali ¡°Vali!....I¡¯m so happy you¡¯ve returned!¡± - ? ¡°Huh?¡± ¨C Queen Nhaili, Vali I then saw a teenage Arachnee spring towards me she had white hair and bright red eyes¡­.¡¯¡­Do I?... Do I know this one?¡¯ ¡°What don¡¯t you recognize me?¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± The Arachnee I¡¯m looking at looks around 18 or 19 and she in all honesty does not look familiar. She has short whitish blonde hair and a thin frame. She also has a tough looking white spiderlike hide that has a gloss of some kind on it. ¡°Ummm¡­.¡± ¡°Oh. Do you not remember Karma? Oh¡­ I see what it is. You don¡¯t know about the Arachnee¡¯s growth rate. Is there not arachnee outside these walls?¡± ¡°Well I¡¯ve never seen them but umm¡­ You¡¯re ¡­ Karma?¡± I then looked at the arachnee girl in front of me. It was Karma. The same young girl I saw no younger than Lily or Tierra probably, now in her late teens. The blonde haired arachnee then walked over greeted me. Acccording to the Queen the arachnee of all the species in this dungeon have the fastest growth rates. Apparently every demi human has a particular age where whenever they turn it they will reach a form of ¡®ascension¡¯. This means they will age appropriately with their level growth upon reaching the age their race ¡®ascends¡¯. Now that she has had experience in fighting regularly and her level rising, her growth had properly taken effect and she grew practically a decade within a few days. ¡®Could this happen with all demi-humans? I don¡¯t know how I would take it if the same thing happened to Ari.¡¯ ¡°Yep¡­.Hehe..I have your bracelet I made you. Oh¡­ But it¡¯s not ready yet. I was going to fix it for you. I think I can possibly even be able to get my item creation skill by that time and I can make something good for you!¡± ¡°Oh you¡­ you didn¡¯t have to do that.¡± I then was told Karma and Reinma were with the pixies whenever they went to search for me when I went missing. I haven¡¯t actually seen them since and so much has happened to them it seems since. They¡¯ve had to fight quite a lot in these last couple of days on this floor after leaving floor 1. ¡°Wait.. you can get an item creation skill?¡± ¡°Heh ¡­Well it¡¯s taken me a few months to get the other three skills you need to acquire first but the Jiji have been helping me a lot. So just give me some time and I¡¯ll make it even better for you ok?¡± ¡°Yah ok¡­¡± ¡®Seriously I really need to keep myself and Pek on friendly terms. So there are conditions to gaining an Item Creation skill. And the Arachnee on floor one got along with them so it¡¯s obvious now that other races can acquire skill sets or abilities of the others it seems. It¡¯s quite similar to what the Queen had told me earlier. This is interesting¡­¡¯ ¡°¡­So I figured you would want to just help out considering our circumstances. So what¡¯s it going to take for you to help us find Malthiel¡¯s remaining puppets?¡± The Arachnee Queen then smirked and looked at me oddly while bringing her white spider leg to her chin. Then Karma said ¡®Oh your majesty! You would love his cooking it is as good as mother says.¡¯ ¡°Well how about it?¡± Queen Nhaili then walked towards me and smirked while licking her lips. ¡°I suppose that could be interesting as welllllll. Here I thought I was going to get to suck you dry of all that delicious juice you have flowing through you. I was hoping to have a couple glasses worth since the word is you can heal yourself quite quickly no. mphmph. ¡­But I suppose if you¡¯re willing to make me a meal with your own two hands that too sounds¡­. Intriguing.¡± ¡®Seriously how much does she know about me. Intelligence gathering is not something I expected when coming here to talk to the Queen but for whatever reason I feel most vulnerable around the Arachnee¡­. They seem to have acquired quite a lot of information for themselves about everything in here, including me. And the way she worded that¡­.¡¯ ¡°You know the way you worded that¡­¡± Queen Nhaili then smirked and walked slowly towards me and placed her delicate hands on my shoulder while pacing around me. ¡°Oh what¡¯s the matter Valiiii. I suppose if that offer is ever on the table about clearing up that confusion for you¡­ I¡¯d be happy to teach you¡­. Oh, what¡¯s the matter? Only two days left of life¡­ And isn¡¯t the forbidden fruit always so much more¡­.¡± As she leaned closer towards my ear, I could feel the moister coming off of her lips almost to the point it was touching me themselves.. ¡°Decadentttttttt .¡± ¡°Yo Vali¡­ Can we go yet this is umm¡­Yah I know I can¡¯t hear whatever it is you two are saying but that for sure looks sexual? ¡° ¨C Sting ¡°I think I know what the green guy is saying. If you¡¯re into that weird bondage stuff that¡¯s cool but I don¡¯t think now¡¯s the time.¡± - Ollie ¡®What?....Ugh you guys are idiots.¡¯ The queen then clicked her tongue towards Ollie and Sting and then cocked her head back as if extenuating her luscious curves more. ¡°The Reiki never were much fun¡­..So¡­When is this meal of yours going to take placeeeee? Again I¡¯ll take something to eat or¡­¡­ Something to drink mphmphmph.¡± ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ¡°So the disease that was created by the Dark Elves works to attack a person¡¯s magic supply?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ And anytime its victim where to use magic it would physically harm them to a degree. Since the pixies were practically made from it, it was slowly eating away at them until they had lost roughly all of their numbers.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± I learned a lot of the histories of this dungeon while talking with Nhaili. I¡¯ve also come to find out a lot of knew things about our new allies the Arachnee. The Queen and her subjects may be much more useful than I had even originally given them credit for. Even if they have no divine origins or blessings they are incredibly useful¡­. In fact what makes them so dangerous is they themselves know key weaknesses to each of the races trapped here from their extensive intelligence gathering network. ¡°Yes¡­We sadly don¡¯t have the antidotes for such a particularly made poison, we do however know how it fundamentally works. The ones who made it were quite intelligent indeed.. Wha..what?.¡± ¡°What the hell happened here?¡± We appeared back on floor 45 and immediately were met with a thick cloud of black smoke. It was enough that even away from the Reiki village it was almost blanketing the air making it tough to breath. We were only with the Arachnee queen for a few hours talking with them but it looks like half this floor has been destroyed and set on fire. Dozens of the Arachnee even came along with us as we were planning on cooking a large meal for everyone on this floor in the village. Only upon arriving here we are met with a large amount of smoke coming through the mountains encircling the village. There was however a bright white light that was shooting up where the villages center would be that looked to have a god touching down. As we started running towards the direction the floor looks completely different as it did in the morning. Two of the mountain peaks are up in flames and look to be completely turned into rubble. As we got closer to the mountain ridges, Ollie then had darted to fast for us to honestly keep track of. He started running on all fours up the narrow passage to the village. Once he hit the rock mountain¡¯s base he started scaling the mountain¡¯s tall rocks as simply as if it were going for a jog. We then had to slow down to see where the safe path he followed was. He practically glided over the ridges path way without any effort whatsoever. I was about to use my spatial magic along with Sting and the Arachnee next to me but I noticed that Ollie appeared to be talking to someone high up on the rocks. He had ran up the cliff face and had been standing on the edge of the rock touching him. I couldn¡¯t make out what was being said so I warped myself to their location. I immediately hear yelling. ¡°What? No are you kidding! They burned my farm¡­ Everything. My Kwali Kwali Berries, my Jourpa fruit garden¡­It¡¯s all GONE! ¡° ¡°She said she was sorry sir you don¡¯t have to keep yelling.¡± ¡°What? What did you just say you little purple punk? ¡­¡± ¡°Now, now calm down Holland.¡± I walked up to a large black figure about to swing towards something but I couldn¡¯t see over the large crowd of smoking figures standing in front of me. Their bodies were wide and backs were covered in black ash and dark scorch marks. I can hear the voices and see Ollie is already within the middle of the gathering of people and small figure flew up to meet the black figures gaze. It was Kai. The small purple pixie was standing in front of a large Reiki who was roughly close to Cam¡¯s build as compared to Ollie or Malfius. ¡°What happened? ¡° Everyone then turned and looked at me and I have to say I almost laughed my ass off. Everyone in the semi circle who turned and looked towards me looked to have have the worst case of a sunburn I¡¯ve seen in my life. The large figure standing in front of me had his eyebrows singed off and I now notice all of the dark figures before are simply reiki with their fur practically burnt off. ¡°No way¡­.¡± Everyone¡¯s front shows a deep red sunburn and most of their dark red clothes are burnt off. Their backs are covered in ash and are smoking. ¡°Vali there you are. Can you tell this guy to lay off. I don¡¯t like how he¡¯s talking to Cari.¡± ¡°You what?!¡± The burnt Reiki then stepped towards Kai while each of the dozens of pixies then jumped up close to him. He however was being pulled back by several other Reiki men next to him. ¡°Ughh¡­Wha¡­.hehe¡­What happened? ¡° ¡°Why hello Vali,. Nice of you to join us.¡± Malfius then walked up to me and told me roughly what happened. Honestly at first I had thought someone had attacked the village by the sounds of it but the reasoning¡¯s behind everyones states fall souly to the large group of pixies huddled up several meters away from Kai and the Reiki. ¡°Vali! There you are!¡± Several pixies then ran over to me and tried to hug me and I could see Cari had tears in her eyes. ¡°Vali I said I was sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to. I was just trying to show Bifrost what she could gain from those crystals and¡­and¡­I didn¡¯t mean for¡­.¡± Cari started to stutter while explaining herself but apparently a large number of pixies came to this floor after I told Cyanin and Aurora to try out farming under Malfius. Apparently they had Daisy''s flower petal and had communicated back to Daisy and everyone if they worked they could eat my cooking. All the pixies then showed up to work and since there were too many pixies for Malfius to handle¡­ Some started goofing around. Some started trying to show their family members their new magic, which only enticed Cari to show hers. ¡°You activated that skill?¡± ¡°It said divine skill so it doesn¡¯t have levels like our other magical skills¡­. It just..It just¡­.¡± ¡°It what?¡± Tanin then started laughing¡­. ¡°Haha¡­It went Boom!¡± ¡®¡­. What?¡¯ Malfius then put his hand on my shoulder and guided me along the path until we got to a clearing to see the village. ¡°Holy fuck¡­¡­¡± Almost half of the village is completely gone as well as two mountain peaks that surrounded the village. It¡¯s not that they were burnt down¡­ There is however a large whole that goes through half the entire village and looks to go down to the floor below. Even the mountains behind the farmlands are missing. Cari had activated her divine skill and apparently it had turned the entire ground around her into some intense white fire that resembled white lava. According to her it didn¡¯t matter what her level was the skill ate through everything. They tried everything to put it out and had the pixies use ice magic but it simply tore through everything, even the floor. If that wasn¡¯t enough it shot forth a blinding white heat that seemed to have burn some of their clothes and fur practically off even though none of them were even close to the flames. The way they are describing it isn¡¯t like a fire at all. It almost sounded like it moved in a way that it was alive. It however didn¡¯t stop shooting out from under her feet until she had turned off the skill but by then it was already too late. It scorched half the farmlands and even part of the village. No one died but roughly 50% of their crops are gone and 25% of their crops are burnt. Everyone who was even far away from the blast got caught up in the intense heat rays that burned off parts of their fur. ¡°I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m really sorry¡­..sob...I¡­I really didn¡¯t mean for that to happen Malfius. Vali¡­sob...I¡¯m so sorry. Please don¡¯t be mad!¡± Cari then walked over to me with her hands clasped to her chest and looked to be quite upset. Her white glow and rainbow hair however didn¡¯t stop shining back towards us. Before I could say anything however Malfius just started laughing and said no harm done which alerted the same Reiki from before who came running over. ¡°No harm done! But my Cabbage!!!!?¡± ¡°You can¡¯t take it with ya in the afterlife Holland so what¡¯s the big deal. Only have it for two more days. We might as well eat as much of our harvest as we can before Balor comes. At least enjoy ourselves some for once eh?¡± ¡°Look at my tail though. They burned it off?¡± ¡°Well maybe Vali would heal it for you if you were to ask politely. Besides I just saw a level 8 pixie melt your families prized Baihu Fortress technique like it were child¡¯s play. I¡¯d hate to see them have to activate that skill again aggressively.¡± ¡°¡­ I guess. Ugh¡­My Kwali Kwali Berries¡­How I wished to have enjoyed you!!!!¡± ¡°Your Kwalli Kwali Berries? What about my sweet and sour tomatoes? They were just ripening!¡± The Reiki men and women then wallowed half in half shock and sulking in agreement to Maflius¡¯ words. He did however look as if we had told him his children had just died. He had tears in his eyes it was really odd to see a tiger man of such a physically strong frame show such remorse over his plants. The Reiki however all seem to be quite passionate about their farming, more so than fighting even. ¡® Now that I think about it I¡¯ve seen them all farm than I have actually train.¡¯ I then looked down at Cari who had been sulking and looking up towards me. She had several pixies standing behind her watching her as if she were about to get scolded. ¡°Cari. I told you not to use that skill and looked what happened. You''re going to have to apologize to each of the Reiki whose home you destroyed. Including Malfius.... It¡¯s however quite the discovery to see that skill could hold so much power.¡± I almost felt as if I was scolding one of my siblings when they would get into trouble. Oddly enough Cari acted similar to how they would and away her tears while looking back up at me. ¡°I know.. I¡¯m really, really sorry. Please don¡¯t be mad at me Vali.¡± She came over and clasped my hands practically in tears. I¡¯m not the one she should be apologizing too. I¡¯d tell her to go apologize again to the Reiki man but I feel now probably isn¡¯t the best time for that. It is a little off putting to see a large man of his size cry over his lost cabbages. ¡°It was my fault sir Vali¡­. I had asked to see the skill from her and you should not blame Cari for it.¡± ¡°What..No you didn¡¯t Bifrost.¡± I then saw the same black pixie from before she walked up to us and looked up at me. She seemed to talk in a much more polite way than the other pixies. Like how you would talk to a elder. Cari however started to nudge her disapprovingly. The two pixies did look quite similar regardless of their opposite looks. Only Bifrost had black short pixie hair and Cari had long multicolored hair and produced a large white aura that surrounded this whole area. While her sister produced a small black aura much similar to the other pixies. I looked around and now see that a majority of the pixies are all up here but not all of them. The arachnee have now gathered and are looking towards the destroyed village and listening to Ollie explain the circumstances. ¡°So Valiiiii¡­.Does this mean this delicious meal you promised us is now canceled? I do suppose I could enjoy something else from you if you¡¯d so have ittttt¡­.¡± Queen Nhaili then walked up to me licking her lips alongside Ollie and the other Arachnee. I could feel a slight shiver crawl up my spine. I¡¯m sure I could heal myself if this woman tried to drink my blood but still¡­. I turned to the side scratching my neck when I saw Sting in the distance now slowly climbing over the wall. He seems to be slightly worn out, did he scale that whole wall? I then saw a small web lining attached to him one of the Arachnee behind the Queen was holding. I was about to comment on it when she said she couldn¡¯t just leave my friend behind. The arachnee behind her said that the green haired man however is not allowed within 10 feet of their queen as they won¡¯t allow him to touch her again. I just nodded and said laughed that would be fine. ¡°Hey what does she mean? You said you were going to cook for us! I¡¯ve been swinging a stupid stick for hours!¡± - Cyanin ¡°Yah everyone has to try your cooking since they haven¡¯t yet. The Spider Queen has to wait her turn..Family first¡­nyuaaa¡± ¨C Aurora Aurora and Cyanin then flew over and stuck their tonges out towards the queen spider. ¡°What did that little blue one just say?¡± ¨C Queen Nhaili Everyone started arguing and a lot of noise to the point it was just becoming impossible to understand. I could then hear my own stomach gargling and I guess it¡¯s hard for anyone to think straight without some food in their stomachs. ¡®Not like I¡¯m complaining but I am curious how all of these issues have been pushed onto me.¡¯ --------------------------------------------------- ¡°Shooo¡­.Exquisite!...What is this peculiar dishhhh..And the meat has such a sweet glaze over it all! I cannot stop eating it. Just¡­So grooddddd!¡± ¨C Queen Nhaili ¡°Yes my queen. We must get the recipe to make this back homeeeee.¡± ¡°Or one of us could take the boy as a mate and we could get this more often!¡± The Arachnee Queen¡¯s face was coverd a dark maroon sauce all over her fingers and mouth. I made a bold and tangy sauce that I honestly can only compare to bar-b-q sauce but I used it as more of a rub for the meat. That same rub has now covered the proud Queen¡¯s face along with her followers. Everyone honestly looked to be messy eaters. It however is quite interesting as regardless of how much you eat, it simply invites you to ingest more. ¡°This.. Oh Vali this! Guys¡­Seriously we have to survive this to try out more of this food from beyond this crappy prison. It is just my tongue has for the first time thanked me for the delicious feast that was bestowed to me.¡± ¨C Ollie ¡°Mmm¡­He could make this sauce with our ingredients this is just¡­ Oh how we have been missing out¡­¡± I could then see Ollie and the same Reiki who had been crying over his damaged crops before. All the same Reiki who were crying before are now eating pounds upon pounds of the grootslang meat the Jiji had collected and stored for me. Apparently after the Jiji had cut up the meat they store meats on a floor that is predominately ice. The races here use that as a place to stock pile certain meats and you can pay for storage, however Pek has his own personal storage area. There were also other members of the Away team here enjoying their food. Many of them looked even more beat up than Ollie did before I healed them each while they came to get platefuls of their food. Honestly Kyrah did a number on them and whenever I asked them exactly happened Ollie just laughed and said they just underestimated her. He said at one point he squared off against Kyrah and lasted a a few minutes but he got too careless and she wrapped her large wings over his back and head. She let loose an attack that sounded similar to the skill Griphlocke had used on me and it K.O¡¯d Ollie. Once the Away Team¡¯s tank had dropped it didn¡¯t take long for the rest to fall. Ollie said he received that attack after he was already worn down and couldn¡¯t continue sadly. After that attack his health had dropped to the red and lost consciousness before hitting the ground. I healed him too simply because he was wining about his black eye. I also had to heal all of the Reiki members who had been on floor 45 when Cari unleashed her skill. We had moved our location to floor 4 into a large hole in the wall structure that was made by the Jiji. We had originally left to floor 52 to the secret base but it was too small for everyone who wished to eat. The Jiji who were present and working on war supplies said we could use a secret location they use to make things. We were in a large tunnel that went underneath a large rock wall and inside the tunnel was simply a large open space of Jiji who were scattered around making armors. There were hundreds of Jiji all currently making leather armors, arrowheads, and other odd things they are making for the war effort as per Pek¡¯s orders. I however didn¡¯t see Pek. The Jiji had told me he was currently away working and didn¡¯t wish to be disturbed. He however would like me to make him a plate to send to him as well, and he had left the pixies and me a gift. He had left me 17 new Hydra Armors and 55 new Grootslang armors. Apparently making the Hydra armor is much more difficult and time consuming. The leather literally heals itself in the creation process so I have no idea how it is the Arachnee are working with it. They were however all made roughly to fit the size of the pixies so they weren¡¯t for me. They each looked to be just as expertly made sleeveless battle armor as the other ones and even shared the same Fomorian fur neck collar that wrapped around the back of the neck. Pek also said that he left the pixies themselves a gift from all of the Jiji. That gift sat in the corner of the room next to the stack of armors and hydra shirts. There were roughly 10 sacks of magical crystals. Green, blue, yellow and even a several purple as well. According to him they¡¯ve had these for years and couldn¡¯t find any real use for them. He said the large majority of these crystals are not from monsters but from the earth. The Jiji dug a large amount of these out of the earth while collected the rest through trades over the years. I was unaware but there are even magical crystals that are deposits of magic over extended periods of time. The Jiji have stockpiled hundreds of them over the years and after hearing about how the pixies use them offered all of them to the pixies. I would have expected him to try to barter with them but the Jiji all said it wasn¡¯t necessary since we are all wanting the same thing. I then told the pixies about it and to decide who gets what and to come over and get food whenever they know who gets what. They each giggled to each other and all walked over to where the sacks of magical crystals and armors had been placed for all of them. Not only the new pixies but even the ones who had already had magical abilities looked through everything with such eager eyes. To them they weren¡¯t use to receiving so much and had things that were given especially for them. They were use to getting the scraps of this dungeon for so long after all and now they are the first ones to receive something and even get to decide who gets to receive them. Cosmia smiled at me and then ran over to Jana to walk her over to what the Jiji had given them. All of the Jiji currently present were however all still working in this large underground room. They would each come by occasionally and ask for a serving of meat and then go back to work. The Arachnee and Reiki however were simply sitting down on makeshift tables and chairs in the corner enjoying their meals. ¡°Umm¡­Your Highness I was hoping that we could possible start on a new¡­¡± ¡°I told you 10 paces green humannnnnn!!!!¡± The Arachnee guard from before had then shot a web lining onto Sting¡¯s back and then shot it towards the low hanging ceiling. ¡®Hehe¡­Spiderman would be proud.¡± ¡°Hey what..Vali tell them I was just trying to apologize for before.¡± ¡°Oh yah¡­Sting they said your not within 10 paces of Queen Nhaili. I was suppose to tell you that before, I guess I forgot..¡± ¡°What? Why didn¡¯t you tell me that now they think I¡¯m probably some sort of pervert! Hey..Wha..Stop!¡± Some of the pixies then started flying around close to him and poking him which only made him squirm and kick more. I just laughed and turned around back to cooking for everyone. In all honesty cooking is my pass time. Everything else just doesn¡¯t matter while I¡¯m cooking up a meal. Since there are so many people to cook for I get to spend even more time doing it. Helps keep my mind off of everything else¡­.. I had been cooking for roughly an hour now and my masteries have each been growing quite steadily. Not only am I working on my Dullahan Creation and Lightning Armor right now. I am also cooking and healing pixies all at the same time. First off my ingredient identification mastery has shot up 5 levels after working with several ingredients that survived in the Reiki¡¯s farm. I was unaware at first but everything they group had a quality rating to it and even made my Cooking Mastery grow shockingly fast just by using their ingredients. That along with working with S class meat it seems my masteries grow quite quickly down here. My Ingredient Identification is now Novice Level 1 and I can tell quite a bit about every one of the ingredients the Reiki have shown me.
Grootslang Meat Quality of Meat S Rating The meat from the once dead Tyrant of Snakes the Grootslang. A once legendary beast that was said to even eat its own kin if it was to wonder into its territory. A monster that was once feared by the gods for being so strong and ruthless since the beginning of time. The Grootslang was said to be a threat to the natural way of life for mortals due to its lethal skills and unyielding stamina. This meat of the Grootslang is a rich and coveted ingredient any Master Chef would pay their weight in gold for tasting such a rare delicacy.
Kwali Kwali Berry Quality of Fruit A Rating A small fruit that shares a rich and bold flavor and can be used as a cooking ingredient by a skilled chef. If used by one who is skilled in the art of Culinary, it will show its true benefits. Can recovery a small amount of stamina when ingested plainly.
From using such quality ingredients my cooking mastery also rose quite quickly up to Novice Level 8. While my Soul Recovery Skill has now gone up another level to now be Advanced Level 2. Sadly my Dullahan Creation and Lightning armor have not rose past their beginning stages yet. I believe masteries not just grow with usage of skill but at how you are using it. I then expended roughly 75% of my mana and created three more Dullahans. I had the 5 Dullahans just stand there while I continued to try and add Lightning Armor to them. It¡¯s not like this would be greatly helpful against Balor. But I simply want to test this out to see if it is possible with my magic manipulation, what sucks is that I just don¡¯t comprehend magic very well. If I didn¡¯t have absorption I probably couldn¡¯t even use magic yet. Sure I can manipulate skills I already have by pushing more mana into it, but can I merge magics together? Can I turn ice magic into a snowball like the pixies simply because my affinities are high enough? ¡®Ughhh¡­Damn it why can¡¯t it work!¡¯ ¡°Hi Vali¡­.¡± ¡°Oh hey Daisy. Got some crystals you picked out.¡± ¡°Mmhmm look they¡¯re all so pretty. The Jiji sure are nice to give us such amazing things. Look I even have a Hydra Armor now. Do you like it?¡± Daisy then showed off her black hydra armor while holding 5 crystals in her small hands. I nodded while looking at the so called magical crystals that were dug out of the ground. They didn¡¯t look much different than a regular one to be honest. She had green all the way up to purple. She even had two yellow ones. According to her they were all the ones that came from the earth. ¡® This pixie really is the easiest to read. ¡® I was sitting down since no one was currently asking for anymore she came and sat on m lap. I activated all of the crystals at once on her and the whole room lit up and shook slightly. ¡°It¡¯s happening again!!!!¡± ¡°No! I just got my tail back!¡± Everyone stopped what they were doing and some of the Reiki who were originally burned from Cari jumped in fear. When they saw nothing was happening at all they cautiously went back to eating. They however continued to look in our direction every so often and leer at Cari. They didn¡¯t look at her with fear or anger, more of caution really. After seeing what she did to floor 52 I¡¯d be pretty scared of the rainbow colored pixie too. What¡¯s more scary is she didn¡¯t even use the skill as an attack; she simply turned the skill on and off and lost all of her mana within 5 seconds. Within those 5 seconds however a whole floor was almost demolished. ¡°Mmmmm¡­.Thank you Vali.¡± ¡°Any new skills?¡± ¡°Umm just one.....It¡¯s called Earth Push. It lets me move the ground! My earth affinity went up too!¡± She then lifted a small rock on the floor by simply raising her hands and giggled having fun without looking back towards me. ¡°Really that¡¯s cool. ¡° She showed me her status and all of her stats had increased slightly. Most of which however went to defense and some in even in health. Her Earth affinity is now 8 % too. Since the pixies are already born with a 15% resistance to magic it¡¯s apparently difficult to learn resistances to other elements since their magic resistance is already so high. I''m not sure how the Reiki gain in affinities but Malfius implied that it is a very painful and time consuming process. It was nice of the Jiji to provide so much for us though. She then giggled and turned around and hugged me. ¡°Thank you Vali.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it re¡­¡± ¡°No¡­ Thank you for everything. Last night. It was the first night I could go to sleep with all my family and know everything was ok. Because of you Vali, our family has all come back to us. I just¡­ I just wanted to thank you... for everything.¡± She hugged me as tightly as she could and nuzzled her cheek against my chest. As I put my hand on her head she giggled and looking up at me smiling with tears in her eyes. I then fixed her a plate of grootslang meat and waited for all the pixies to each come over. ¡®Honestly I don¡¯t know what it is about the pixies but I care for these little guys. Their views on family is what made me have so much respect for them and able to relate to them so well. Now, they apparently even call me family.¡¯ Each of the pixies would all go collect a magical crystal and then walk over to me and have me use it on them. They then would happily hold up a plate with eager eyes as some of them haven¡¯t gotten to eat to their hearts contents in, well ever. I noticed the 19 new pixies we had saved last night all don¡¯t really get very close to me. In fact anytime I approach the pixies at all the ones we rescued will usually move away from me. But they honestly do that with everyone. Everyone other than the other pixies they just don¡¯t fraternize with. I have however caught some of them staring at me quite often. ¡°Hi Vali! I can¡¯t wait for everyone to get to try your food it just all smells so good! Jana you¡¯re going to love it.¡± - Cosmia ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you haven¡¯t had his cooking yet too?¡± - Jana ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter¡­¡± - Cosmia Cosmia and her sister had then walked towards me with several crystals in hand. She wasn¡¯t holding any but Jana had roughly 8 in her arms. She looked shy but Cosmia nodded to her that it was ok. She came and sat down near me and awaited me to use my skill on her. ¡°Vali¡­ I know you didn¡¯t get to meet her yesterday but this is my older sister Jana. She¡¯s the strongest pixie of us all. You should see her swing a spear!¡± ¡°Mph¡­well I wouldn¡¯t go that far Cosmia. I mean just looking at how everyone has grown I¡¯m sure that isn¡¯t true anymore. But¡­It is¡­ Um nice to ¡­Meet you¡­.Vali.¡± The small pink girl was still too thin. Her injuries and bruises are gone now but she still looks to be malnourished. She may have once been the strongest pixie in here but you wouldn¡¯t know that looking at her now. She however wasn¡¯t as skittish as the other pixies we saved. ¡®¡­. The others practically just run away from me when I approach them. It¡¯s not that they¡¯re scared of me, just weary I guess. Well I guess who would blame them even if they were. ¡­ I guess I just have to give it time. They have been through hell and back. Just yesterday they were wrapped in chains awaiting death, given up on life. Now their treatment has done a complete 180 and completely different than even before she was kidnapped¡¯ After activating all of the magic crystals on her I told her and those who were with her in that cellar to eat the bowls of soup I had prepared just for them. It would be easier on their stomach. Bright pink wings burst out of Jana¡¯s back and was now curling in front of her face. They looked sleeker and much more slim than the other pixie wings but still looked as soft as a flower petal. ¡°¡­¡­..¡± She gave me a weird look at first but I promised it would be just as tasty. They could all eat the bar-b-q Grootslang meat afterwards but they should first eat the soup, as it would be much better for them since they haven¡¯t eaten well in so long. Drinking bbq sauce after malnourishment I feel is just a horrible idea to these pixies. ¡°Umm¡­Ok.¡± As she was about to walk away with Cosmia she turned around abruptly and looked at me again. ¡°Umm..Thank you¡­Vali. For this for¡­. Doing what I could not.¡± The small pink pixie then bowed and scurried off next to Cosmia who was looking at her with a big smile. Cosmia then took her sisters hand and walked her over to go sit down and eat together. Cosmia¡¯s really trying hard right now for her sister. Cosmia and Cari seemed to take last night just as bad as those we rescued. It¡¯s hard to say how but you can just see it in how they look at everyone else now. They however still look towards me and the other pixies with nothing but warmth and love they have always shown. Ollie and some of the Away team members came up and asked me for their now third helping. Queen Nhaili then walked up for her second. She tried to act proper about it but she clearly didn¡¯t see just how much bar-b-q was all over their faces. I laughed and helped them to another helping when I heard a familiar voice coming from the entrance. ¡°Oh there he is¡­. Alpha we have been searching for you.¡± There towards the entrance were several Annunakes and even Akino. As they each walked closer to me I saw several of the pixies then bare their teeth upon their arrival. Kai and Tanin then saw jump out in front of the other pixies. They however did not say anything only glared towards the Annunakes. I told them each to continue looking through everything and to wait for a moment. Even though they agreed I could see they didn¡¯t like that the Annunakes were all of a sudden calling me Alpha. Honestly it¡¯s a little weird for me too. I mean just yesterday I executed their leader, I only assumed there would be more of an issue but maybe Loki was right. They are quite animalistic. Akino had then walked up to me and bowed. ¡°It is a pleasure to see you Vali. I come with word from Adimar, and Commander Locke. They are currently busy right now acquiring information from the prisoner. They will however meet with you soon; they also wish to partake in some of your culinary skills. Adimar told Locke just how tasty your dishes were and would love to try it. If that would be alright with you.¡± ¨C Akino The way Akino is speaking to me. It¡¯s not like she calls me Alpha like the other Annunake but¡­. I don¡¯t know just different is all. I simply said that was fine which made Akino look like she was struggling for what else to say¡­ Is this really the reason you came down here. One of the male Annunakes then stepped forward. ¡°Well¡­ What would the Alpha wish for us to do?¡± ¡°To do?¡± ¡°Well yes Alpha. We go wherever you go. Tread wherever you tread. We know all the you does is move to assist others, we wish to help the Alpha in anyway that we can. Any work you may have for us please we would gladly oblige, all glory to the pack¡­¡± ¡°Glory huh¡­.¡± Cyanin and a couple more pixies approached me and handed me some magical crystals to use. They were each looking towards the annunakes with anger and I could tell this was all going to become very awkward. Honestly it¡¯s only going to get worse with time so I honestly should fix this now. I told the Annunakes present to apologize to the Pixies for what the members of their race had allowed occur to them for so long in their home no less. When they started to give me looks of surprise I simply said this is something that should be buried now or it will affect us later when we fight Balor¡­. And if I find out any others were involved well¡­ They better just hope that I don¡¯t find out then. As I said all of this they simply nodded in agreement and each looked at the pixies towards them. It was odd but the Annunakes didn''t argue with me at all towards my order. They each approached the pixies, which caused each of them to back away while angering the others. The Annunakes including Akino each got down on the ground and kneeled in front of the pixies and placed their heads onto the floor. They then begged forgiveness and asked for them to forgive their shame. I was hoping some of the pixies would say something but honestly they looked like this apology in front of them was shocking to them. They each looked around each other and back towards the Annunakes. ¡®Well this may take more time. Well Rome wasn¡¯t created in a day, nor can everything just be forgiven in one as well. Oh well.So who¡¯s turn is it now¡­. This new orange pixie right?¡± As I was multitasking in several skills, cooking, healing and messing with everyone¡¯s problems I started to continue with what I was originally doing. As I activated the magical crystal over the small orange pixies head an odd sensation came from the small blue crystal in front of me. It not only shot out like a shower towards her but also through my other palm. WHOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!
Congratulations! Due to your extensive knowledge and using skills in unique ways you have discovered a new skill Niche¡¯s Soul Cooking Intellect + 20 Wisdom + 15 Identification (Ingredient Identification) + Cooking (Cooking Mastery) + Healing (Freya''s Soul Recovery) = Niche¡¯s Soul Cooking (Passive) Upon addition of a magical crystal on quality meats; you may now pull and extract all of the nutrients that hide within. If prepared by a chef of skill, you may be able to permanently acquire the power that dwells within each bite.
¡®¡­. Wait what? ¡­ Does that mean then?¡± ¡°Umm Alpha? Is everything ok?¡± One of the Annunakes on the floor then looked up upon my odd behavior. ¡°Vali.. Is everything ok? We¡­We can try and forgive them you don¡¯t have to be upset.¡± - Cosmia ¡°Hold on¡­¡± After taking a bite of the meat I noticed no changes were made. No skills, no nothing. I just assumed with that name it meant something must have changed. I won¡¯t lie though this meat is superb. ¡®Is this what I have been eating?¡¯ ¡°Hmm oh well I guess not.¡± I then put the meat down and continued cooking and using crystals on the pixies. The Annunakes had then gotten up and dusted off their knees and looked rather awkward. They look to feel rather guilty about everything and aren¡¯t sure how even to talk with me. Well not much I can do or even think to say at this point. ¡°Mmm¡­Wow! This is even better than what you cooked last time¡­..So¡­Mmmm¡­So good Vali.¡± I then turned around and there was Cyanin taking a bite out of the meat as well. She honestly looked like a squirrel right now with sauce all over her face. ¡°Whught?¡± She kept chewing while asking why she was getting those looks and then started coughing. ¡°See that¡¯s what happens when you eat too fast dork.¡± ¡°Hey..cough..I¡¯m not a dork¡­ Besides my defense just rose.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­Well my strength just rose by 16¡­ And my defense rose by 44.¡± ¡®¡­.. I fucking knew it! I didn¡¯t think to look at the stats but this is¡­This is perfect. That Grootslang and Hydra just keep paying by the bucket loads. First their hearts, then their crystals and leather¡­. Now their meat is going to even help those trapped down here. As everyone started to look at Cyanin oddly I then told everyone present to come get seconds, regardless if they¡¯ve finished their helping yet or not. I¡¯m told we have enough grootslang and hydra meat to feed everyone in this dungeon for weeks most likely. I¡¯m not sure just how much their stats will rise but after this discovery I feel almost a bitter sweet emotion wrapping around me. ¡®¡­.There¡¯s just so many ways to grow powerful in this world. Having all of these races around shows me just how relative that word can mean. As strong as I¡¯ve become I¡¯m learning more and more just how vast this world can be. You can become strong in an almost limitless amount of ways. Makes me wonder just how strong we are compared to those of this world, let alone a fallen god.¡¯ However¡­I think with this we can hopefully¡­ WHOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMM ''Wait? I didn''t activate a crystal did I?'' Before I could finish that thought a bright purple light flooded through the basement floor and illuminated all who were inside. It almost made my eyes water it was so bright. There standing in the center of a large bright light was a bird flapping her wings. ¡°Oh Hjokk your back. Hey you should come check out this Grootslang meat, you¡¯ll love it.¡± ¡°¡­¡­ ¡° She just kept flapping her wings and looking at me in disbelief. ¡°Yeah it¡¯s incredible I even gained an interesting skill with it. I put some Bar-b-q on it for ya after you gave me the idea.¡± ¡°¡­¡­.What?¡± In a monotone voice she looked at me as if what I had said had shocked her even more. ¡°Yah what you¡¯re making a kind of pissy face?¡± ¡°Pissy?! Do you not remember what you said to me last we spoke?¡± As Hjokk started to flap her wings angrily I thought about the last time we saw each other. -------------------------------------------- ¡°I¡¯m not some pack mule. I¡¯m not going to leave your side again especially after last time!¡± ¡°Oh it¡¯s only going to be for just a little while. Besides I''ve gotten to a point where I''m strong enough to keep myself safe.¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­.¡± ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be as dangerous for me now¡­ Given the circumstances can¡¯t you just help out some¡­. Come on I¡¯ll even cook for ya? I know how much you love food.¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡­.¡± ------------------------------------------- ¡°¡­.Ohhhhh.¡± I forget sometimes but Hjokk is definitely a woman behind that purple crow form. Before I however had a chance to say anything a large golden and silver spear came flying towards my face. BOOOOOOM!!! ¡°ALPHA!¡± ¡°Valiiiii!¡± That was the last thing I saw before losing consciousness. ----------------------------------------- ¡®Yah know¡­Even with healing I still have a headache. Hjokk was pretty grumpy earlier.... What am I saying, she''s always that way.¡¯ Lucky for me she really did enjoy that Grootslang meat. If not I feel she would have probably hit me again. Currently she¡¯s sitting on my shoulder and munching on the meat she however is not speaking to me right now. After making the discovery with Niche¡¯s Soul cooking I had everyone come around and grab another helping. I found out upon consuming a kilo of meat is when you will no longer receive any benefits from the skill. Only the members of the Annunake who came late were even able to eat that much. However upon eating it all they each had their Strength + 45 , Defense + 90, Stamina + 150, Health + 2100 and Lightning Resistance +2%. I however did not receive any lightning resistance from eating from the meat. I guess I can''t gain certain things like that after my absorption has already acquired something from it. I myself ate quite a bit too but I couldn¡¯t finish the entire Kilo as it was just impossible. We will however be eating leftovers as well as trying that Hydra very soon it seems. Lucky for me no one disagreed. Apparently gaining stats is rather difficult after reaching high levels. Now that I think about it I haven¡¯t gained a Strength + 1 notification or any other stat nearly as much as I did upon first arriving here.. That is due to the fact gaining stats and levels becomes that much harder the high it goes up. It was like that in the game as well and some high level players would be stuck in ruts. I guess my world is slightly similar in that regard. But now it doesn¡¯t matter what level you are, you can simply eat a meal from a boss monster and gain stats that way as well. ¡®I think I still have some meat in my inventory of that Boss Monkey as well. Too bad an Undead didn¡¯t have any meat.¡¯ Well I guess when we get back we¡¯ll just have to experiment more. Currently however cooking should be the least bit of my concerns right now. Where we are right now I need to be on full alert. Floor 49. According to Akino and all those present¡­. Even if this floor has high deposits of the Dawn Bringer crystal deep within caves on this floor, it is a floor they have sealed off. You can¡¯t even get to this floor unless you have a ring that the leaders have. This place however was not sealed off because of the Titan Tears ¡­. But because of what kind of monster lurks on this floor. Apparently this is the floor where the dreaded monster ¡®Soul Devourer¡¯ resides. Along with me however are 1 Valkyrie, 20 Annunakes including Akino. Ollie, Sting and every single pixie left in this dungeon. After using the crystals even for cooking Ollie had came over and discussed with me the new benefits to even eating my food. According to him they never knew those magical crystals could do anything other than being used in elixirs or possibly weapon manufacturing. I laughed and told him one of those little daggers they wield actually is what gave Cari the ability to entirely scorch their home floor. He mentioned why we don¡¯t just go grab the dawn crystal on floor 49 simply because it is as big as the cave wall itself. Upon saying this however is what made all of the others clam up. Now that Hjokk is present I didn¡¯t see the problem in coming to this floor and said I was going. However everyone present upon hearing this started to panic. They under no circumstance would allow me to go alone. The annunakes spoke about it as they go where I go and the pixies all said they were family. Ollie simply said why not and Sting had nothing else to do but hang there so our large party was formed. Queen Nhaili however decided it would be wise if her and all of her followers start to help more in the war effort and are currently helping the Jiji in making Hydra Armors. We were going to make this trip to acquire the Titan Tear that is said to be too massive even to dig out. If I can use the skill with only being able to touch it¡­. Well the benefits should speak for themselves on why this mission will take place. If I can somehow use it on every single pixie here then I think the fight with Balor could change drastically. We however have to make this move quickly as we aren¡¯t sure if word will leak to how a level 8 pixie was capable of burning down a whole floor in seconds. That is why we are going to do a speed run. Get in and get out as quickly as possible but I always fear the worst in this place. Hjokk however before arrived had showed up with over 400 purple crystals. I used them on all the pixies present, now every pixie within this dungeon has at least one crystal from the Adamantine Spider. Cyanin currently has 5. She traded several of the earth magical crystals for 3 Purple ones. ''....She really is going the full defensive route it seems. '' I wanted to thank Hjokk but she was still a little pissy with me about the ¡®infinite eater¡¯ comment I may or may have not called her at some point in time¡­. As I looked towards her on my shoulder I could tell she was still pissed. Apparently that is also why she stayed on the floor for so long. She was apparently blowing out some frustration and killed every monster on the floor roughly 50 times. The floor with the adamantine spider however was a floor with a very rapid respawn rate. She must have killed well over a few million monsters today without breaking a sweat. You really wouldn¡¯t know that just by looking at the small purple bird covered in bar-b-q sauce¡­¡¯Whatever I¡¯m not going there again.¡¯ She did however bring me a gift as well. I found two monster cores she said came from something she called the Spider Boss. A queen spider or even a spider with a magical crystal would always appear but after killed hundreds of thousands of them an odd variant appeared. She said it just had a tougher hide nothing too special. They were both a bright pale yellow. ¡®Hmmm these could come in handy.¡¯ As I walked alongside the large cautious group I bit into the cores in front of me. It almost felt like a fruit gusher had just burst in my mouth upon the first bite.
Congratulations! You have learned a new skill! Adamantine Thread
Congratulations! You have learned a new skill! Adamantine King''s Fortification
¡®Hmm these look interesting. I feel like this is cheating but oh well.¡¯ ¡°What kind of skill did you get this time?¡± ¨C Cyanin After learning on how the skills worked I pointed my finger to Cyanin and activated Adamantine Thread. A bright silver lining shot out of my finger and onto her face. ¡°Eww¡­. Vali that¡¯s gross.¡± - Cyanin ¡°Hehehe¡­. That''s so cool. I want an ability like that next!¡± ¨C Tanin The thread didn¡¯t look as strong as actual adamantine but I honestly didn¡¯t think that it would. Even after Cyanin gained 3 new purple crystals from the Adamntine spider it only increased her defense but didn¡¯t give her the same hardness of the mythological metal. We then started to walk up a large grassy hill and just beyond that would lie the cave entrance of this floor that supposedly houses the dawn bringer crystal we search for. ¡°What why is that cool.¡± ¡°Cause he shot you in the face with it.¡± ¡°NYaa! Wooh¡­.Hey!¡± Cyanin then stuck out her tonge at Tanin and then bumped into the Annunake infront of her. I bumped into the annunake who was on my left as well and then stopped to see what was up. I looked towards them and even with their white fur it looked like they had lost all color in their eyes. The annunake started shaking and pointing in front of him. All those behind the two annunakes then looked scared and started to stand on alert. ¡°Oh shit¡­.¡± ¡°What? What is it?.........Shit.¡± Several annunakes and pixies then whispered what it was as they weren¡¯t advancing over the hill because they had stopped moving. ¡°Is it a Soul devourer?¡± ¡°Much¡­Much worse.¡± As we all made a face of astonishment we then walked to the top of the hill and gazed out towards the brightly lit floor. There in a large canyon like structure stood dozens if not hundreds of large black beasts oozing with black sludge that is cascading on the floor around them. There were hundreds of bodies of these black beasts and pieces of flesh littering the ground. There in the center was one figure. Black blood was floating as a mist around the air and soaking the individual in the dead center of blood bath. It was her¡­ It was that woman. It was Alysteir. ¡°Oh¡­. Do I have some company.¡± The blue haired woman then swung both her swords covered in black blood and flicked the sludge off her weapons smoothly. She started to walk towards us with a large devilish grin on her face. I honestly didn¡¯t think now would be the time I would meet this woman. But I have honestly been waiting for this for moment. It just came at time I wasn¡¯t prepared for. I know after sparring with Malfius I absolutely cannot take this woman lightly. Everyone I have ever met who knows this woman has warned be about this neko... The dungeons strongest. ¡°So¡­ We meet again Alysteir.¡± ¡°And you''re all put back together again. Aren¡¯t you the interesting puppet. But what are you doing here? Did you come all this way to see little ol me? With such little numbers¡­..Such the disappointment really.¡± Alysteir then smiled to my comment and continued walking towards us. Was she training on this floor alone? I don''t see any other demi-human bodies here. All that was here upon arrival were the mountains of dead bodies with her in the center covered in their blood. Looking around me I see the Ollie has drawn his weapon as well as some of the Annunakes and pixies. The pixies are shaking violently and even the Annunake are beginning to kiss their weapons and looking back towards the one known as Alysteir. As they kissed their necklaces around their necks or weapons in their hands they looked as if they were prepared for their own deaths. I found what she said strange so I used Eclipse view and found to my own surprise she isn¡¯t an Elf. Just another Eis Neko. Midnight Aura sadly is still on cool down though as it needs a full 24 hours to recover. I can¡¯t protect everyone here. Should I just warp everyone away from here? ¡°General Alysteir! We aren¡¯t here to fight¡­¡± - Ollie ¡°Mmmm smart boy.¡± - Alysteir The neko woman then stopped and looked towards us as if awaiting an an explanation. Everyone then turned to look towards me. ¡°¡­ Where¡¯s my necklace?¡± ¡°Hm? Oh you mean this shiny little thing? Oh I get it¡­. Did the puppet want his trinket back?¡± ¨C Alysteir Alysteir then took out a small silver cross on string and started twirling it on her sword blade. ¡°He¡¯s not a puppet!¡± - Cosmia ¡°He¡¯s right Alysteir¡­ Vali is not the enemy here. Even now Balor plans to attack everyone and kill us all. Vali has came back to this place to help us. We are not enemies.¡± - Akino ¡®Well¡­I wouldn¡¯t go that far. I still have some unfinished business with her. ¡® ¡°That so¡­. Well that does sound intriguing¡­. I¡¯m afraid though I cannot just trust the things you say. I will however take the ¡®puppet¡¯ and his companions in to see what Malachi would do with each of you. ¡° -Alysteir ¡°Not gonna happen ya psycho bitch.¡± ¡°Oh hehehe¡­That¡¯s splendid! Honestly I was thinking you would each be boring and let me take you away. I really would like to try out a new skill I just learned after crossing into the Master¡¯s threshold.¡± -Alysteir ¡°Ma¡­masters. You mean.¡± -Ollie ¡°Mphmm¡­ In sword mastery obviously. Just became a bonafide Master this morning and I was able to create my very own skill. I¡¯d be absolutely thrilled if you were to all let me experiment some.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t be playing your sick little games with anyone here.¡± ¡°Oh and I thought you and I had so much fun with my games.¡± -Alysteir Alysteir then smiled back towards me as if waiting for the opportunity for the fight to begin. ¡°How can you call what you did to him a game!¡± - Akino Akino then began to bear her teeth as well as some of the other Annunakes as well. ¡®Honestly you people want to be the ones to stand up for me in this situation?¡¯ I looked at them oddly and found that the bird on my shoulder was still eating her bbq. I¡¯m not sure if she finds this situation threatening but now would be the time to let go of grudges. [You said you were strong enough to protect yourself now¡­.] ¡®Hjokk!!!......Yep she¡¯s still angry¡­.¡¯ ¡°Oh that was merely following orders but why not have fun at what you do right? Mphmph¡­well Malachi said he was in league with Malthiel. He insisted I find out the truth. You left before any of the good parts however. ¡° - Alysteir ¡°Malachi is suspected of being a puppet himself. If not that it¡¯s possible he himself could be one of the elves.¡± - Annunake ¡°Elves?¡± - Alysteir ¡°Yes! There are elves that have been discovered hiding in this dungeon. They have disguised as Annunake¡¯s and even the Neko race.¡± ¨C Akino ¡°Hmmm¡­.¡± She looked like she had been thinking hard about this before again taking out her twin swords and looking towards everyone. ¡°Mph¡­That¡¯s quite the tale. I will have to investigate such claims upon your retrieval. However¡­..I¡¯m afraid all of that comes after you come with me. Willingly or in pieces. Your pick.¡± As she smiled in our direction I realized there is no way out of this fight. I¡¯ll use death grip immediately on her to¡­. BOOM! A large cloud of dust appeared at the feet below Alysteir and covered the whole area in smoke. ¡®Wait huh?¡¯ I used my Eclipse View and was immediately met with a large powerful force to the face. BOOOM!
You have been struck! You have received 2130 Damage
I saw a crystal blue blur appear in front of my face and a large shock attacked my chin and flipped me on my back. Shing! Shing!
You have been struck! You have received 6130 damage
You have been struck! You have received 11900
Before I could react I felt two intense flames ripping through my forearm and opposing shoulder. My bodyweight had been sealed to the ground as the blue figure in front of me had sunk her twin swords through my skin and dug it into the ground below me. ¡°Mph¡­had a feeling you couldn¡¯t use that interesting skill on me without seeing where I was. Now¡­Wait here kay!.¡± I tried to tap into her heartbeat and use Death''s Grip while she was in front of me but in instant her image disappeared again. I turned on Dark Aura on those that were around me but all I heard were screams and loud explosions. I tried as hard as I could to free myself but the swords that were dug through my body had sealed me to the dungeon floor. ¡®Shit¡­Shit..Shit shit¡­.¡¯ I couldn¡¯t use my spatial magic and my movements were sealed by these twin swords piercing through me. Boom! ¡°Protect the Alpha!¡­.¡± BOoom! ¡°Ahhhh¡­..!¡± ¡°Vali!¡± BooOoom! I could hear whirlwinds of intense pressure and loud explosions with flashes of light.
Dark Aura has just been canceled
¡®Already? No!!!!¡¯ I used every ounce of strength I could and forced my body up. The sharpness of the titan tear is not only cutting my flesh but burning my insides causing excruciating pain. It took every ounce of strength I could muster from to lift my muscles up past the pain. I put every ounce of strength I had in the stat to force my body up and lift the blades that had sealed me to the ground forward. I had to stop this before it turned into a massacre. End of Chapter! Don''t forget to leave a long comment and let me know what you think about where the story goes. Again this is more of a set up chapter and sorry if it got too wordy in some places. More action soon! Next time we see eachother you''ll get quite the bulk release I believe.... As always thanks for reading! Chapter 22: The Storm Hey guys...Been a while huh. Well RL been pretty busy and I constantly had to find the time to write and sit down as well as it was simply agonizing over making it a bulk release which I will never do again. But I''m close to through with Chapter 24 and editing Chapter 23 so ''Fingers Crossed!'' this weekend you should get a nice finale to the first arc. I hope you guys will stay tuned throughout everything as the rollercoaster and main story and why I named the title what it is to soon come to pass and thank you for being patient. Also I''m trying this new Donations tab deal out to see if it works. To be honest I really don''t expect much from this at all but we''ll see....If this becomes a good source of income for me per chapter my priorities would obviously change and I would probably make more time to writing much more often.....who knows a few bucks each chapter from everyone and I imagine id want to press for writing more, obviously. Well without further a due I hope you enjoy this story I''ve enjoyed weaving into a unique experience and world that you will only enjoy more with time. Chapter 22: The Storm Boom! Booooom! Ughhh! ROaahhhhh!!!! BOOOOOOM! Boom! BOOOM! Roars of explosions and loud screams continued to fill my ears. The flashing lights and raging whirlwinds looked as violent as if a hurricane had touched down. The twin swords both seared through my skin and anchored me back into the ground...¡®Ughh!!!!¡¯ ¡®It all happened so fast! From the entire span of us discovering Alysteir in the pool of blood and me lying on my back took less than a few seconds....She just moves too fast.¡¯ BoooM! BOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOM! ¡®UGHHH!!!!!¡¯ I activated demonic awakening and jerked my weight forward through the twin swords lodging me to the ground and searing through my muscles. The pain from the fire I could hardly deal with even hope to ignore. The agonizing burning sensation from her swords just kept burning past my arms and ripping through my chest. It felt as if her swords were incinerating my insides as my health continued to drop dramatically. However, I could see that my regeneration was steadily keeping my health right around 85% even while being scorched from the inside out. I fought against the pain and felt my muscles began to expand in my awakened form. An intense surge of power pulsed through my limbs and pumped continuously through my blood..... ¡®I¡¯m going to crush this woman!¡¯ I lunged forward and used Lord¡¯s Earth Shattering Smash with a stomp with my two feet and hurled myself into the air. The ground itself exploded in a violent roar and broke apart, flying in the air along with me. I yanked the swords out of my arms and tossed them away before I pulled out Abgrund. I flew through the air and was then dozens of meters above the ground. Looking down I then saw several figures beginning to emerge from Alysteir¡¯s initial smoke bomb. I started to see dozens of the brightly glowing pixies as well as dozens of Annunakes standing several meters away from a loan figure they were all surrounding. I immediately used my spatial magic and appeared in between the loan figure and the large crowd. I couldn¡¯t tell if there are any casualties yet. An Annunake took a step forward towards me alongside Akino who both appeared to have a bright white barrier surrounding them as well. Can the pixies cast such a barrier for them too? Standing beside Akino is one Annunake who is missing a large portion of his left arm. His entire left side looks partially scorched and even some of his face received major damage. His health is already in the yellow. He then growled angrily towards Alysteir and threatened her while pointing with his other muscular hand now covered in blood. ¡°Come at me! Even if die here. I swear I¡¯ll at least take off one of your limbs girl!¡± ¨C Annunake Looking forward I saw Alysteir now standing in pools of blood and smiling in my direction while not making even the slightest movement. She didn¡¯t at all seem bothered by the Annunake¡¯s threat either. I then I gritted my teeth and then used Death¡¯s Grip. Before Alysteir could do anything I attempted to grab her life force a second time. Her body started to shake which caused me to smirk only to twitch as her figure started smiling nonchalantly. ¡®What? Is she resisting it?¡¯ She then raised her arm and twitched her fingers showing off several rings on her fingers. ¡°Gifts from Malaki. I gotta say I didn¡¯t have much faith that this little thing would work against that magic of yours but they said we¡¯ve been developing this for a while. It was made to combat Malthiel I¡¯m told¡­ I even set up that smoke screen just in case but who knew it¡¯d work right?¡± - Alysteir I would have pondered on how this was possible but from what I saw around her once the black cloud had finally dissipated had truly paralyzed me¡­. with horror. There surrounding her were limbs and severed heads scattered all over the field...¡¯No...NO!!!¡¯ I knew the moment I saw them. Cyanin¡¯s head had been cleaved off and the rest of her body was simply too destroyed. Next to the severed head was just small pieces of scorched and completely destroyed remains. Next to it were the bodies of Jade, Vale and Kai also in pieces. There were so many pieces it looked impossible for them to regrow or attach to themselves with or without their healing abilities. All over the ground were almost shredded remains of those I once knew. I looked forward at the soon to b dead neko I was going to kill...I was going to hurt¡­Badly! I swung Abgrund down when an immediate force explosively impacted on my wrist, knocking my weapon away from me. Her image again had disappeared and kicked my weapon several meters away from me. The whole mountain shook the moment it touched down but that sound dulled as an explosive impact barraged against my open chest and body. BOOOOOOM!
Critical Hit! You have been struck by Pleasant Nightmare You have received 14,650 damage You have received 18,880 additional explosion damage Due to your resistances you have received an additional 2,180 Fire and Light damage.
BOOOM! BOOM BOOM!
You have been struck by splash damage from Pleasant Nightmare You have received an additional 4,330 damage Due to your resistances you have received an additional 2,100 Fire and Light damage.
You have been struck by splash damage from Pleasant Nightmare You have received an additional 5,565 damage Due to your resistances you have received an additional 1,410 Fire and Light damage.
It felt like a bomb had gone off on my chest and sent me dozens meters back. I continued to feel additional cannon blasts from my neck to several other critical parts all over my body. I immediately warpe and appeared standing several meters away looking back towards Alysteir who then appeared right back in the same location. ¡® Geez¡­Did she just hit me 10 times in the second because my whole body ached from assault just now.¡¯ Even with my resistances it felt like holes were burning right through me with every attack. If I couldn¡¯t heal myself or had such a durable body I would have been blown to pieces by now. Even now if regardless of my high HP a simple mistake could be the difference between life and death. My health had dropped by almost a fourth before it started to jump back up. ¡¯74%...82%...97%..100%.....¡¯ I then saw Alysteir now standing back in her original position only now staring back at me oddly. ¡®Damn this neko¡¯s so fast! She knocked my weapon away before I could even finish my skill off and unleashed a fury of attacks the moment she got close. Her attacks knock off hell of a lot too so this might be very risky. I¡¯m going to have to get creative.¡¯ She looked back at me, however this time, instead of giving off the impression of a predator from before, she was expressing a face of curiosity while slightly lowering her swords. It almost looked as if for a brief moment she was giving miniscule signs of slight fear. She however squared herself in my direction and smiled back towards me. ¡°Hmm¡­ Well that¡¯s disappointing. And here I thought none of you could survive even one of my strikes but everyone has an interesting little white barrier on themselves don¡¯t they¡­. And such interesting armors too. I guess my new skill isn¡¯t as eventful as I would have hoped, but at least things are interesting finally. You¡¯ve all learned such¡­. Hmmm things have gotten interesting haven¡¯t they...¡± ¨C Alysteir She then smirked looking in my direction when a voice had distracted me from my side. ¡°Oh wow it just went black for a moment!¡± ¡°Hehe no kidding, it was like lights out then you can almost feel yourself growing back.¡± ¡®Wait those voices¡­¡¯ Looking towards the direction of the familiar voices I saw Cyanin and Jade now wobbly standing up and talking to one another. Cyanin then saw me and waved before looking back at Alysteir grinning. Her health was at 100% and she didn¡¯t even look like she missed a beat while casting her barrier magic on herself and the others once again. Her bright turquoise aura shined as if showing to have thickened and increased her defense while she extended her wings in a shield like motion in front of her. Then following that two more bright lights then surrounded her again and she looks to be surrounded by Tanin¡¯s fire. ¡­¡¯ Harvesting that hydra ability was worth risking our lives for ¡­ It even brought them back from death¡­.¡¯ ¡°Hehe look Vale thought she was really a gonner. Come on Vale it¡¯s not like some of us haven¡¯t had our health drop to 0 before.¡± - Cyanin ¡°Shut up! This is different... We had only ever talked about trying it so it wasn¡¯t even for sure we could even do it. Kai did you get her?¡± ¨C Vale ¡°¡­..Nope hahaha! I didn¡¯t but this is truly incredible it was all we had hoped for. How long were we out and what¡¯s the total yield?¡± ¨C Kai I now see Kai and Vale as well who just had a severe neck wound and nothing from the waste down now standing up with their lights shining as bright as ever. The pixies continued to chatter idly while standing to the side of me paying attention to Alysteir. She looked back towards us with a smirk on her face but I can see she¡¯s trying to comprehend just how all this could be happening. The pixies were in pieces just a few moments ago and here now they are now, like new. I then heard coming out of one of Daisy¡¯s flower petals that it took less than 3 seconds to heal each of them and the answer to his next question was zero. ¡°Cyanin? All of you are¡­¡± Cyanin then looked back at me and smiled at my disbelief. They were all talking so casually ,but I in all honesty thought it¡¯s absolutely not possible for them to be capable of restoring themselves if they the were brutally torn to shreds. ¡®How can you share your life with something that has been turned to ash.¡¯ ¡°Look Vali was saddened by my death the most, so it means he likes me best!¡± ¨C Cyanin Just then a lightning bolt shot forth from Vale¡¯s hands and hit just a foot away from Cyanin causing her to jump. She then warned Cyanin to get serious causing her to turn around and look back grinning towards Alysteir. Alysteir however seemed to look at the pixies as if they were zombies. ¡°Zero! And you¡¯re saying Jana and Cari were the only catchers for us? What does this even mean?¡± ¨C Kai ¡°Why don¡¯t you shoot lightning at Kai? He¡¯s the one who¡¯s goofing off.¡± ¨C Cyanin Cyanin and Vale starting looking at one another while Kai starting laughing to himself. All of those in the surroundings including myself were still slightly frozen by this. I knew they could heal themselves incredibly but even I haven¡¯t lost a head and grew it back yet¡­.It¡¯s just completely different, seeing it actually work as it makes me wonder how one could actually kill them¡­..Wait this is a game changer.¡¯ It was Alysteir however who seemed the most shocked. ¡°Ah Vali you were right we really have become something truly special. Even in front of the Rank 1 we don¡¯t have to use any of our backups and can continue to fight with you¡­To tell you a little something what I mean Alysteir well, our formations try to incorporate the best chance for survival then victory using our abilities to share our lives¡­If you influct us a certain amount of damage per second we wouldn¡¯t be able to have this conversation as we would have to immediately change tactics or flee. But even after killing the 4 of us, you couldn¡¯t even cause 1 Total Damage over our limit as our mana is already back to full capacity. Now we can even heal our own from floors away... Sucks for you since we¡¯ve been having this discussion we have already bought enough time for the others to get into our long-range formation. We actually survived having our bodies destroyed and came back with zero Total D¡¯ and full Mana!¡­ Ugh! If everyone only knew what this means.... You lose, even if we die 100 times...no a 1000 times, you¡¯ll still lose.¡° ¨C Kai As Kai spoke this I now peered around and the pixies who were all behind and surrounding the Annunakes and I had all disappeared. Only Kai remained¡­.. ¡°Mphmphmph¡­Oh you don¡¯t think I can hurt you folk enough until you stop growing back is that it?¡±- Alysteir ¡°It¡¯s just how our race ability works and basic math is all¡­ Once we die we can¡¯t receive any further damage but each of us have some light regenerative abilities. Lucky for us, the four of us only had around 2 thousand health each as a total of a little over 9,000¡­. Unlucky for you I estimate we can regenerate roughly a hundred times that every 2 seconds. And if we¡¯re anything like that Floor Boss we took these abilities from¡­. Even if you could manage to kill all of us across the span of this entire floor within a second, I have doubts if that would even kill us¡­.¡± ¨C Kai As he finished speaking with absolute confidence everyone present heard him loud and clear. To all of those present listening to his words made them wonder if the each of the words they stated could possible be true. Ollie¡¯s even seen the extent of their fire magic but this is something else entirely¡­.. He like myself and the one we are fighting were momentarily frozen comprehending each of Kai¡¯s words..¡¯ No ¡­game changer is a wrong word for it this is broken¡­. That¡¯s¡­wait seriously? Almost million health recovered every two seconds¡­.¡¯ ¡°¡­..¡± ¡°Hehe Kai¡¯s sounds so cute when he talks so smart!¡± Jade ¡°Hehehe look at everyone¡¯s faces this is priceless!¡± ¨C Cyanin Kai continued to speak while grinning cynically as if not believing his own words and the other pixies continued to laugh. Looking around I can even see now that the surrounding pixies that I we¡¯re behind me next to Sting and Ollie are now gone. These three however we¡¯re all talking this whole time to set their schemes up. His remarks caused Alysteir to stand there silently contemplating what he had said and possible means of attack from here on out. She doesn¡¯t seem to care whether they¡¯re getting into formation or not however but she seems more intrigued how all this is possible. Oddly enough I doubt she wanted to step in and initiate another attack carelessly as she just realized her ultimate move hasn¡¯t even accounted for one casualty yet. She must be a brilliant tactician as well considering she has attained the number 1 status in this dungeon and the weakest race just survived her onslaught and are laughing about it. This alone must shock her down to her very core. Everyone then stood in silence staring at Kai as if the once weak and diseased pixies they have known their whole lives were monsters worse than those they¡¯ve been fighting all this time. Those in this dungeon aren''t ignorant, they are actually incredibly observant and diligent. Within only a single skirmish they had even come up with a way to fight with me. Now trying to comprehend the extent of Kai¡¯s words and that if they can heal someone indefinitely along with their new array of skills makes these pixies incredibly complicated opponents to have to deal with. ¡®Hell I haven¡¯t even done something like this and coming from the fact its coming from this race who have never been strong, everyone here looks as if someone had forcibly sucked all of the air out of their lungs ¡­.¡¯ Before they received these abilities it didn¡¯t matter if they could heal each other with sharing their life because if they were dismembered or received too much continuous damage by a much stronger monster, it would only put everyone else at risk. Cosmia told me once, ¡®Ever since Kai took control of our group tactics, he¡¯s been coming up with formations to reduce losses every time they went out hunting.¡¯ I¡¯ve only talked to Kai once and he¡¯s someone who talks about having backup after backup plans and formations that utilize everyone¡¯s strong points best. They use to have some who weren¡¯t great at fighting, stand in the back or hide and send their life to the ones who were. Sometimes they would even have to stay hidden even while feeling that their family had been killed. This method of attack immediately changed when they let Kai make up formations and only a short while after that is when they started receiving abilities from the crystals. Simply put that regardless of their level gap the abilities that they¡¯ve acquired from the King Hydra has given them an incredible advantage over any species when combined with their life sharing skill¡­.. It¡¯s a cheat that makes my cheats look weak. They can even hide their healers levels away and simply wear down their opponents without ever receiving any actual damage to them at all. Alysteir can¡¯t even fly....As long as they stay up in the sky they¡¯re right it could take time to figure out a way to take her down but the pixies could potentially be able to do it without even losing a single person. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll just have to hurt you each enough until you all decide it¡¯s best not to grow back....¡­¡±- Alysteir ¡°Even if you¡¯re not afraid I don¡¯t care¡­Vali¡¯s our family now. Look at us, do we look scared of you?¡± ¨C Kai I then cut Kai and everyone off and told them to stand down, as I wanted to say this my fight. But he simply shook his head and interrupted me. ¡°Vali we¡¯re family now¡­ I made this formation specifically so we can fight alongside you incase we really could heal ourselves like that Boss. Listen... You¡¯re not someone who saved our family, you are our family¡­ Now and forever.¡± ¨C Kai Kai then began to smile towards me before his entire image had disappeared and blurred into the surroundings. ¡°Right and Pixie code¡­ Family never fights alone¡­.¡± ¨C Cyanin Cyanin then appeared over to my left and raised her wings again in a shield like position while readying her Adamantine Pick at her waste. Her armor looked dark and even partially destroyed showing the durability to have gone down by quite a bit but the hydra armor beneath was still in perfect condition. ¡°We will fight too Alpha. ¡° -? All of the Annunakes then started to take steps forward while preparing again for Alysteir¡¯s rapid attacks. Everyone had a small yellow bar under their green health and blue mana bar. Speaking of everyone has a small white barrier on themselves including the Annunakes. Are the pixies able to put their barriers around other races? Seeing the small flapping bird flying above their heads in the corner of my vision, I assumed this was Hjokk¡¯s doing. ¡®What I don¡¯t get one either?¡¯ ¡°No!¡± Hjokk then shouted causing all to turn towards her including Alysteir before talking back through my thoughts. [I mean no.... Just because you made a mistake or are an idiot doesn¡¯t mean everyone else should suffer. Besides if I gave you a barrier and you killed her I could descend before ever even facing off against Balor. I however would love to see this demi human suffer.] As I stood there listening while staring back towards Alysteir, she just stood there not showing any signs of any emotion at all. ¡°AHAHAHAHA!!!!!! Bahahaha!!!!! Oh how marvelous! Ughh I haven¡¯t had this much fun in Ages! Who would have thought that the little bugs would be so intriguing? I have to say this is more fun than making those big fur balls wallow in pain!¡± Alysteir then looked to have been truly laughing to the point of tears as she was now whipping them away with her thin arms. ¡°Mmmm¡­.Let¡¯s see how long each of you can fair then. You have made this so much fun for m....... ¡° ¨C Alysteir Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Alysteir then shook her swords and jumped back. She kept swinging wildly as if to an invisible opponent. ¡°Hmph¡­.Clever illusions but slow!¡± ¨C Alysteir She then closed her eyes and darted to the side. She swung her weapon swiftly through the air several feet away from Cyanin. BOOOOM! Cleaving straight through a bright blue image caused Aurora to appear with her left wing been completely blown off. ¡°Gotta do better at masking that blood lust of yours mphmphmm!¡± ¨C Alysteir I warped towards her location but she had already moved to a different location and began to spin while swinging through the air. The image of her sword severing and splitting a small silver pixie in half came to view and Vale then appeared and split in half destroyed from the waist up. Her strikes ripped straight through the Pixie¡¯s barriers as if they weren¡¯t even there to begin with and wreaked havoc on the Pixies who were underneath. As Vale¡¯s body then split apart and fell, before her body even touched the ground she had already grew her upper torso back as if the first attack were all a lie. Alysteir then spun around and her opposite hand. She activated a skill and an image similar to Wind Claw appeared and three slashes came out of her bright shining rapier towards Cosmia. This skill however looked to have been stopped by Vale¡¯s barrier followed by another explosion, which launched Cosmia¡¯s body down to the ground. I tried to use my spatial magic to warp her away but Alysteir¡¯s skill activations were even immediate. I warped to the location next to her and casted Wind Claw towards Alysteir along with Lightning Step, Demonic Awakening, Toughened Exterior, and Lightning Armor and used Flicker to go in close to her. BOOOOOM!!!! She swung her opposite rapier down as fast as lightning and a quick orange stream of fire flung back and disrupted my initial Wind Claw causing another loud explosion as her skill came into contact with it. The force from the explosion pushed me several feet back almost knocking me completely over long after the end of the skill¡­. ¡®Holy crap what is this bitch!¡¯ So much power came off of these explosions whenever her skills or swords would come into contact with anything. If I wasn¡¯t built the way that I am, I can¡¯t imagine normal humans even surviving a few breaths against her. The explosive force behind her swings felt stronger than an impact from a small bomb and it¡¯s with every single swing. Everything her swords come into contact with just get blown to pieces. She then deflected Tanin¡¯s incoming magic and continued to jump around throughout the battlefield. Alysteir then back flipped and landed on the ground lightly with the feet of a cat and grace of an exotic dancer. She¡¯s still smiling¡­ ZAAP! A loud strike looked to have erupted on the ground right next to where Alysteir was standing. Vale had sent a bright silver lightning bolt towards Alysteirs location only to miss by a few paces. Alysteir then lunged forward grinning manically and then swayed her curvaceous body backward dodging two Annunakes who had attempted to attack her flanks upon landing. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!!!!! Alysteir then spun around and two loud explosions happened as the images of two Annuankes who had leaped towards her had been blown away before they got within arms reach of her. Another vision of an Annunake came in from behind her when a loud explosion sent the Annunake flying dozens of meters the other way. Even her flank seems to be protected by her swords too. The Annunakes barrier has now been broken and he looks to have received a small amount of damage. ROARRRR!!! BOOOM! GRRRRRRrrrr!!! BOOOOOOOM! The Annunakes continued to surround and swarm Alysteir as they did with me. But even though their speed could keep up with Alysteir her reflexes were just too extreme. She didn¡¯t even need to dodge as each and every Annunake who lunged towards her was only sent flying back with the same skill she used on me. She simply moved throughout the battlefield like a raging storm that nothing could seem to get close to at all. Everywhere she appeared she wreaked havoc and moved onto the next location as the aggressor not the other way around. Even when her flanks are attacked it sends the same explosive reaction from her swords, it¡¯s as if she has a barrier of her own. Even with the barriers in place the extent of the force behind each attack is enough to feel something. The Annunakes who got hit by her are barely staggering up but are only attempting to jump in at a concise opening it¡¯s just difficult to find one. Even appearing behind her she can still strike you equally as fast as her front. Any skill we fire off at her she simple shrugs off or sends another skill to deflect it. I activated my spatial magic and went and picked up Abgrund. I can¡¯t use Dark sever as a wild swing could potentially kill an ally but I can definitely use this to cut this neko¡¯s body in half¡­ ¡®Anything that get¡¯s close to her receives just a colossal amount of damage it can even cleave off the extra armor provided by Hj?kk, Adimar wasn¡¯t kidding when he said anything that got close to this woman gets torn to shreds but it¡¯s more like anything that gets close gets blown to bits.¡¯ I used my spatial magic again to get in close behind Alysteir but again her image had already disappeared from where it just was. It¡¯s as if every moment I attempt to get close she moves away faster than I can blink. I looked around and then noticed where the fight had turned to. Even while surrounded and outnumbered her movements never slowed down or faltered in the slightest. She simply spins her slender athletically toned body with absolute perfect form. I¡¯ve seen the nekos dance with their swords before but never like this. She doesn¡¯t make a single wasted motion and every movement is directed towards a vital or fatal location if pierced. She¡¯s is a swordsman that looks to be those who are born once every 1000 years. And yet..... Seeing her image she is slowly being boxed in. Never being given a break or a moment to think. Her health has even dropped by a couple percent already. Every time she attacked someone with that Grootslang armor or Tanin¡¯s barrier she receives just a small amount of damage each time. ¡®Kai was right... It doesn¡¯t matter if they aren¡¯t strong enough as long as the durability of their armors last long enough she¡¯s gonna lose.¡¯ She¡¯s moving faster than anyone could track. She attacks so swiftly and severely....But she hasn¡¯t caused one casualty. Once the Annunake¡¯s lose Hjokk¡¯s added armor I ushered them to back off when suddenly the ground started to shake and the whole area started to feel 20 degrees colder.. Less than 10 seconds into this battle and Cosmia is now using her area of effect skill ¡®Icy Grave¡¯. I used my Eclipse View and then noticed the simplicity of Kai¡¯s formation. There standing in the center of this Icy Grave was Alysteir. Surrounding her in a triangle formation were Aurora and Cosmia, Jade and Tanin, and then Cyanin and Vale. Tanin, Vale, and Cosmia were however all flying overhead and constantly surrounding Alysteir with their element of choice while the other three were on the ground as defenders and attackers. It looked as if a new storm had taken place and continued to rain down in every location Alysteir would appear at and even stopped her attacks for a few seconds. Even with my spatial magic I doubt I would be able to dodge all of these attacks so simply but Alysteir has yet to be hit from the flying pixies efforts even once. ZAAAPPP!!! BOOM! Large gusts of fire met with a bright thin streak of lightning and rained down over Alysteir. Her hair swayed back and forth as she flicked her wrist and looked to have parried the magic with her sword and canceled the skills out entirely. ¡®Second time I¡¯ve seen that, she can even parry magic?¡¯ Alysteir then immediately jumped away from where she was standing as large red ice shards began to crash down from above... Everywhere she moved a large red spike would emerge from the ground as she continued to evade. Soon the whole field began to become covered in ice. The pixies alongside the Annunakes were not allowing her a moment to catch her breath so she could eventually slow down. Above everyone however was the rest of the pixie race separated in groups. Some are even floating above activating their other area of effect skills from the hydra attempting to slow her down even more though I only know that from using Eclipse View. Every pixie is currently being hidden by illusions from all those present. I activated Moonlight Claw, which has an 8 second cool down, and Wind claw at the same time and swung it towards the direction she was go to land¡­. My dark grey nails then turned a bright pale blue and my arm swung towards her direction as a transparent wave shot out from my fingertips. Though it just looked to be nothing more than a pale blur this could potentially kill almost anything on this continent in one go. As she saw this she then activated that similar skill from before only this time the bright orange crystal flame looked to go straight through it. This caused Alystier to momentarily panic and begin to spin violently in the air like a tornado. Her twin swords began to spin wildly at her sides until it eventually changed her trajectory. As she landed lightly on the ground she immediately swung her body sideways, narrowly dodging the fatal blow. The image of her bright blue hair was then clipped off at the ends as the skill past right by her and dissipated. I used the my spatial magic not to give her a chance at escape only to find she was no longer in the same location again¡­¡¯Where¡¯d she¡­¡¯ Her silhouette then emerged dozens of meters away and looked to have just finished dancing as her arm had extended upward and disappeared. As we made eye contact her image then disappeared again. Whoosh! ¡®Oh shit!¡¯ Her image then immediately reappeared only an inch away from my face. In that brief instance I activated Adamantine King¡¯s Fortification, Lightning Step and Flicker to swing towards her with my fist while possibly evading. Her image slowed down for a brief second but what was odd was even as my fist was clearly going for left side, time almost appeared to have slowed slightly. But her image simply moved around me as if I were the one in slow motion. As I realized it was impossible to keep up with her I felt a large crack on my ribs, as I was too slow to defend against it. Boom¡­
You have been struck by Pleasant Nightmare Due to Fortification you have received 35% Reduction to all damage for the next 20 seconds You have received 6,225 You have received an additional 7,240 explosion damage Due to your resistances and Fortification you have received 11 Light and Fire damage
You have been struck by splash damage from Pleasant Nightmare You have received an additional 550 damage Due to your resistances you have received an additional 3 Fire and Light damage.
The force from the sword hitting my sides had exploded on my ribs and sent me to the side by three steps. The force from that blow was enough to not only blow half of my body clean off a week ago but probably all of my vital organs along with it as well if I hadn¡¯t just activated that skill. Now it feels as though my entire body had a tiny thin layer of diamonds placed on top of it and my skin feels even tougher than steal¡­¡®Though Loki would probably just think I looked like one of those twilight douchebags.¡¯ Regardless, back in my world her swords could potentially turn a tank into scrap metal and my body has currently absorbed that entire blow just now with little damage. My defense is currently up 210% due to Toughened Exterior, Demonic Awakening and Adamantine King fortification. I also receive 35% reduction to all damage and my Elemental Resistances each rose by 10% for the next 20 seconds. My lightning armor had attacked her and I felt the current travel from my crystalline body towards my flank. I then warped away and attempted to appear behind her. But again every time I would warp to her location it was as if she could use spatial magic too. We continued to play the game of cat and mouse and appeared in and out of everyone else¡¯s location. No one attempted to join in the attacks as our movements began to only increase more and more. I continued to swing Abgrund and my claws towards her but I couldn¡¯t even manage to scratch her. Anytime my hand got close the weight of bomb exploding over me caused me to move in the direction she wanted me to go. My health was being cleaved off in chunks but due to the benefits I gained from the King Hydra and Malthiel it has proven to make me quite difficult to hurt. As my health rushes back to 100% she was slowly starting to lose health one by one. She started to realize that any time she attacked it meant more damage for her and if she didn¡¯t kill me in one move this was only going to increase in difficulty.
You are in the Area of Affect of King Hydra¡¯s Desolation All stats reduce by 10% All healing magic reduces by 5%
You are currently breathing in pixie dust! You will continue to receive 30 damage per second until you are out of range of the pixie¡¯s poison!
Attack after attack we dove through the battlefield attacking and evading each others strikes. Even though this fight hasn¡¯t even gone on over a minute yet, I¡¯m still somehow shocked that we haven¡¯t even hit her once. ¡®Fuck she¡¯s even faster than I can¡­..¡¯ BOOM!
You have been struck by Pleasant Nightmare Due to Fortification you have received 35% Reduction to all damage You have received 3,225 damage You have received an additional 5,240 explosion damage Due to your resistances and Fortification you have received 7 Light and Fire damage
She would disappear as quickly as she appeared and had a method of approach to every one of my attacks. I activated my Dullahans behind her as an obstruction but in one swing they disappeared faster than it took to create them and my mana dropped just like that. I would activate Abysmal Mist and she would shoot off brilliant bright skills coming off her blades to simply disrupt it or allow her to avoid it. She cut cleanly through the adamantine thread as if it were made of silk and continued to activate skill after skill from many of her equips. Her bracelet is now growing purple and the necklace is also started to give of a faint light. Her reflexes were just perfect. Every time I would get close she would simply evade even in Lightning Step, even with Flicker and all my increased agility I couldn¡¯t even begin to touch this neko. She would evade Abgrund and every time she countered with one of her swords¡­. BOOOOOM!!!!!!
Critical Hit! You have been struck by Pleasant Nightmare Due to Fortification you have received 35% Reduction to all damage You have received 9,225 You have received an additional 10,240 explosion damage Due to your resistances and Fortification you have received 23 Light and Fire damage
Her silhouette never stopped dancing around me effortlessly as a master toying with a beginner. Someone who stood at the pinnacle of sword mastery and the world has acknowledged her for it. At such a young age it is warranted to call her a genius. I¡¯m someone who¡¯s only been here for a short time and I at least hoped I could gain some ground over her but it¡¯s incredibly hard to gain an advantage over her even with all my skills and equips. She simply shrugs off each attack and even if I could predict where Alysteir was going to appear next¡­. her elusiveness was also the best I¡¯d ever seen. If I didn¡¯t want this woman dead so much I would have probably been in awe of how she moved. It was different than how Meifeng and even Malfius moved¡­. When she dodged she was graceful, as she swung she was ruthless. Flawless with every strike directed at a vital area. Even though she isn¡¯t gaining any ground she almost looks to be having fun. A large stream of flames then shot forth towards Alysteir¡¯s location as she simply flung her arm perpendicular to her side as if swatting it all away with her swing alone. As my feet landed on the ground I swung Abgrund horizontally and she then evaded underneath it and then jumped up. Her tail began to curl and her image in the air almost appeared frozen for a brief moment in time in front of my face. Thinking this was my chance to grab her I reached up only to watch her image blur as she looked to have jumped in air and used the top of my head to catapult herself away. Alysteir then began to dive towards one of the pixies flying in the air behind me. Her image then appeared floating right next to Tanin. This sudden movement from several meters away in an instant caused him to jerk back nervously. In an instant however Alysteir¡¯s blade had rammed through Tanin¡¯s barriers. Her rapier had then slowed down at Tanin¡¯s shoulder where it had stopped. Just before the following explosion occurred however a gust of fire came pouring out of Tanin¡¯s other fist and flew towards Alysteir. BOOOM! Tanin smiled as his entire self erupted and flung backwards deactivating his flame barrier around the surrounding pixies. Alysteir then dodged a lightning strike while spinning like a top. She swung each of her twin blades into Jade and another oncoming Annunake who had dove in at her. Both were sent flying away before they even got within a foot of her. One after another she began to get surrounded and pounced on only to look to appear to be getting even faster in her movements. She doesn¡¯t even seem phased at all by Cosmia¡¯s de buff at all. Her swords danced around and brilliant rainbow lights and shined out, as everyone she hit would get thrown back like a rag doll simply from her raw power. I then used my spatial magic to jump to her loc..... BOOOOM!!!!!
Critical Hit! You have been struck by Pleasant Nightmare Due to Fortification you have received 35% Reduction to all damage You have received 9,225 You have received an additional 4,240 explosion damage Due to your resistances and Fortification you have received 14 Light and Fire damage
When I stepped into the space I was then met with a sudden crack to my neck, which sent me flying backward through the space I came. The moment I appeared close to Alysteir she had sent one of her strikes the moment I had appeared. I f my body didn¡¯t regenerate damaged cells and have unbreakable bones I¡¯d probably be unable to move from the pain alone let alone dying a 100 times over. My durable bones had stopped the blow and by the time I had reappeared in another location my burnt and damaged throat were like new. ¡®Ugh fuck that was embarrassing. I completely get how this person is ranked Number 1 in a place like this.¡¯ This Neko has only lost a small amount of health but it¡¯s clear she is dangerous. We haven¡¯t caused any of that damage to her directly, as it is simply the benefits of all of our armor and skills attacking her as she strikes us. Her image then appeared in front of Vale who had been shooting her lightning close to the ground. Vale then stayed floating in the air as if attempting to activate a skill towards her. BOOOM! Suddenly a loud explosion happened right in front of Alysteir¡¯s body and blew her back several feet. Smoke began to appear around Alysteir¡¯s face and I could now see she had taken around 8% from what just happened. ¡°Wuhaha! How¡¯s your own fire taste? ¡­ I waited till you tried to attack Vale and then used my wings to block it!¡± - Cyanin Cyanin then got up wobbly with smoke coming off of her blackened body as stared back up towards Alysteir¡¯s direction. Her whole left side had looked charcoaled and ashy but the skin underneath it looked healthy and new. Her entire left side had even been partially blown off and even her insides looked to be made of crystals but was rapidly regenerated as she finished speaking. Her plan was to take Alysteir¡¯s hit right next to her and just had faith in her defense and her siblings abilities would be enough to take the death blow. This caused the explosion to occur right next to Alysteir causing her additional damage. Large shards of ice and fire began to fly out while the pixies from above all began to rain down magic all at once. A trail of fire then began to explode in Alysteir¡¯s direction and look to almost follow her like a trail of smoke as she continued to evade. She began to run around as the bright rainbow colored smoke turned into flame and was practically tracking her. You could see her slowing down as she ran away from the trail of smoke and her image began to easily become identifiable. ¡°Hehe¡­ She fell for it!¡± - Kai Alysteir then was in the middle of three large circles of black smog that came from the Black Hydra. If she¡¯s in the middle of there she¡¯s received 3 stacks of that curse magic and is slowing her movements down by quite a lot. Watching her image you can see she is coughing and having trouble breathing as well as slowing down. BOOM! Then a cloud of dust appeared as her image then disappeared again. Only this time she was nowhere to be seen. ¡°Yes she fell in! NOW!¡± ¨C Kai A loud roar erupted and coming down from the sky were hundreds of flashes of magic pouring out of the sky. The enormous amount of magic then directed towards the floor around a hole that just now revealed itself. It looked like every pixie at once continued to fire magic towards the ground. It looked impossible to dodge even for someone like her. It was enough to cast a huge shadow onto the medium sized hole and flood it with attack magic. The image of Kai then appeared as his bright purple wings flapped slowly descending towards the ground. He then flew up close to a large hole in the ground as continuous fire, ice and lightning magic tore down and incinerated the surrounding. He looked in with a smirk as everyone continued to watch from dozens of feet away surrounding the hole. Did the pixies really set this up so quickly? Just then appearing piercing through the innumerable amounts of magic raining down was the image of Alysteir now free from the small hole and magical barrage. Her image doesn¡¯t look to have even taken so much as a single hit and is lightly glowing in a pale blue. Her black leather and hat is now however smoking. Her bright blue hair drooped down over her face and covered her almost unhittable existence. Her health said it was at 94% from all of our efforts but I feel our exchanges in blows have been completely different. ¡°AHAHAHAH! ¡° She started to laugh obnoxiously loud. This startled the once confident Kai standing only a few feet away from her. He jumped back until his entire body then jerked and began to levitate lifelessly into the air. Alysteir had unleashed a flurry of attacks all over the barriers surrounding Kai in less than a second and then advanced towards him as he was trying to get away. She tried to stop unleashing that unrelenting bomb skill only to then pierce straight through Kai¡¯s chest. She then pulled Kai¡¯s motionless body in close to her while revealing her pearly white teeth¡­ ¡°I¡¯m having so much fun! ¨CAlysteir ¡°KAI!¡± Kai with blood dripping out of his mouth began to look towards Alysteir lifelessly. I could see that through his eye and mouth a bright white light was beginning to emerge out of his mouth and eyes as if he were being burned through from the insides. As I was about to jump to his location something happened. ¡°¡­Hehe so stupid¡± - Kai Kai then suddenly awakened and shot forth and latched onto Alysteir¡¯s thin wrist. ¡°DO IT!¡± - Kai Magic again began to rain down as Kai swung his right wing towards Alysteir, which was then immediately blown off. As she was trying to swing her other sword towards Kai again his left wing then came straight down and cut right through Alysteir¡¯s black leather while also sinking firmly into the dirt. She then flicked her wrist in a lightning quick motion and swung her sword swiftly launching Kai out of the ground with ease. ¡°Rapid Paw!¡± Before Alystier could react to that however she was already moving to dodge an oncoming Annunake. For a brief second the white one armed Annunake had matched Alysteir¡¯s reaction rate and swung his one arm clearing off the black leather of Alysteir and causing a cut on her shin bone. The Annunake had not missed this chance from Kai and cut her pretty left leg from the bottom of her shin to halfway up her knee. Her face then distorted and smirked. As her right arm came down in a sudden movement to execute the Annunake by severing the back of his head. Just before the sword came to him however his image had disappeared and warped to another location. BOOOooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOM! At the same time her strike came down I jumped into his location and activated Lightning Step again and attempted to test Alysteirs right sword against Abgrund. I increased its weight and I could feel the force behind this swing must have been well over several tons.
All Skills have been deactivated
The moment our weapons collided and made contact a blinding white light shot forth from Alysteir¡¯s sword making it impossible to see along with the incredibly powerfully force that blew me and everything in the surrounding area away. My weight felt non-existent as I was launched back. BOOOOM! The force from the explosion along with the weight of Abgrund sent my scythe flying towards the floor causing the whole mountain to tremble. I can only assume that blast just now, happening so close to Alysteir , must have caused her some form of damage. BOOOOOOOOM!!!!!! My back then crashed into a large, cold pillar of ice as I must have hit the outer boundary of Cosmia¡¯s skill. Getting up, I observed my surroundings and then reappeared back in the same location. Everyone is still scattered about looking around they seemed exhausted trying to keep up with this Neko. I saw her now dozens of meters away. Her left arm now appeared broken, as coming into contact with Abgrund must have caused insurmountable amount of damage. It was bent in an odd way and covered in blood as most of her arm up to her shoulder is now visible and partially burned off. Her shin has a small gash and now her health has dropped to roughly 85% after those two explosions she incurred at point blank range. She doesn¡¯t look scared in the slightest though. She just keeps smiling back at us as if she is truly enjoying all of this. ¡®This woman really has lost it.¡¯ She then bobbed her head back and smiled while looking up causing a small shiver to run down each of our spines. Her image then disappeared and then reappeared in front of me. Even with her broken arm she swung her swords at the speed of light down towards me. Dodging was impossible.
You have been struck! You have received 6,280 damage
Critical Hit You have been struck! You have received 11,280 damage
You have been struck! You have received 8,475 damage
Alysteir continued to fling her rapiers with strikes faster than I could even activate lightning step to react to them. She simply moved faster than anything perceivable by human eyes could even perceive. I was truly helpless as every swing must have been moving at half her speed. This wasn¡¯t spatial magic this was raw agility and super animalistic honed reflexes at the top of the food chain. I continued to swing my fists like rockets towards her unguarded face and chest but she dodged them nimbly at the last possible second. She didn¡¯t dodge anything like Malfius as ever movement was the slightest amount possible to miss my blow by a hairs step¡­. I only knew what she was doing if I had Lightning Step active or else I wouldn¡¯t be able to see her image at all. Faster than I could defend her figure continued to dance and evade even faster than Malfius as Alysteir continued to unleash what felt like hundreds of tiny slashes all over my body. I continued to follow her movements and then used the same steps as Malfius had taught me and side swiped my feet. This action caused Alysteir to immediately adjust her movements but her swords came down onto my chest where I had hoped them to go next. Shink! Shink! ¡°Heh¡­Bet ya didn¡¯t think I¡¯d try to catch them huh¡­.¡± I gripped on tight with my fists around Alysteirs twin blades causing blood to drip down onto the white crystalline swords and fall towards the floor below. With my strength I doubt she can compete with me if she couldn¡¯t dodge. I grinned while whispered quietly towards the now briefly frozen woman. ¡°Freya Soul Recovery¡­¡± WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!!! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! The same explosion tore past us and engulfed the surroundings with a loud boom and blinding white light. The violent wind gushed past me and flew back as Alysteir¡¯s swords have now disappeared all the way to the hilt. She¡¯s now defenseless. Not missing my chance I activated Lightning Step and Demonic Awakening. Her momentary surprise caused her innate quick reflexes to slow down long enough to miss my right arm coming in from the side. The moment my fist connected with the right side of her face I felt a large impact as it felt like I had hit something that weighed as heavy as a stone wall. Causing the front side of my fist to feel a slight numbing sensation. BOOOOOOOOM! The force from the blow of my fist however the moment it came into contact with her face sent her figure flying back in the other direction like a rocket. Her body tumbled across the floor and rolled for several meters until crashing violently dozens of meters away. Without giving her a chance to recover I used my spatial magic to appear in her location to continue in her weakened, unarmed state. ¡®What? ... Where¡¯d she¡­.?¡¯ ¡°Mph Ahahaha! Oh wow.... I think I¡¯m in love AHAHAHAHA!¡± ¨C Alysteir ¡®¡­.What?¡¯ Turning my head I see now standing several meters to my left holding her head and laughing hysterically was Alysteir. She had blood dripping out of the side of her eye and now was missing her black generals hat from before. Her arm however looked to have completely healed and her health was now even much higher than it had been before. Her bright blue hair then flowed out from the side and I could then see something suspicious. ¡®Her ears are gone?¡¯ Where her ears are look to be a deep scar that almost covers a large portion of the top of her head. There are small places that looked like she went through some sort of surgery. ¡°Never would I have thought one of you could actually hit me let alone get my health below 80% even if for a brief moment... Well color me impressed. Well I guess that¡¯s what I get for playing around and not taking things seriously¡­.. Activate Lesser Healing Hand, Activate Greater Leg Strength,¡­.¡± - Alysteir Her health then immediately jumped back up to 100% and her body then glowed in a bright green light then a soft bluish purple. This light shot out from one of the rings she was wearing and even her dark black boots began to glow in a pale blue. Looking at it now almost everything this woman wears looks to give a lot of special attributes and possibly enchantments. In a dungeon like this, it wouldn¡¯t be weird to think some of the weapons and items you can gain in here are Top tier probably in the world. Not missing my chance I warped to a location slightly further away than normal and then activated flicker towards her left flank. ¡°Catch!¡± - Alysteir She already had turned towards my direction and underhand tossed a small object towards me while smiling. Thinking this was a trick I was about to make a move until I saw her kneel down on the ground and picked up her General¡¯s hat rather casually. As she was adjusting it I noticed what the small silver object was. It was tiny and from the light reflecting off the sun on this floor it almost looked like¡­ As I used flicker I ran up and caught it before engaging Alysteir once again. ¡°Wait no!¡± - Kai ¡°Stop her!¡± - Akino ¡°Thanks for the good time... you¡¯ve each given me quite a bit to think about¡­. But until we meet again.¡± -Alysteir I was in the middle of lunging towards her as she just started to wave at me smiling with blood dripping down her face¡­. She was still holding her head and I could barely make out her last words as her image then glowed a bright blue and she disappeared. ¡°What?... What just? Where¡¯d she go?¡± ¡°Ah, she got away...¡± - Annunake The large one armed Annunake then walked up to me with a grim look on his face and said Alysteir had actually just escaped. ¡°When she was activating all those skills just now she must have also activated her warp key. It was all a diversion. Damn.¡± - Kai Kai then flew up and looked agitated while looking at the ground. Cosmia released her skill and all of the pixies then descended back to the ground and revealed themselves. After her ice prison had disappeared and reseeded into the ground everyone from outside then began to emerge to see who survived. ¡°Wow you¡¯re alive! We had no idea who was winning in there or not. Where¡¯s Alysteir... How many are dead?¡± ¨C Ollie ¡°Ok¡­What the fuck was that bitch!?¡± - Sting The one armed annunake from before then walked up alongside Akino and several other Annunakes who also engaged Alysteir just now. According to him they faced no casualties. Because of that barrier from Hjokk they had something close to 25,000 extra armor and they only engaged when they tried to find an opening or obstruct her for even a second. After they learned of the Pixies abilities they simply adapted and attacked when able to¡­..According to Ollie we were only in that red prison of ice for less than a minute but it felt like an eternity¡­.. ¡°Yah she got away she used her warp key.¡± - Annunaake ¡°Still¡­.no one died?¡± - Ollie ¡°I died like 3 times.¡± - Kai ¡°....¡± - Ollie ¡°Psh that¡¯s nothing I died 5 times.¡± ¨C Jade ¡°¡­heh..¡± - Akino The pixies then started giggling to themselves as they walked up and hugged on the 6 frontline pixies and Kai. If anyone had just came in on this situation they probably wouldn¡¯t comprehend why these little pixies would be talking in such a way or laughing about such things. ¡°Kai you sounded so cool just now! Alysteir looked scared for a second!¡± - Cari ¡°Did anyone see her face when Kai came back to life and grabbed her?¡± - Vale ¡°Ah that¡¯s nothing. Vali punched her right in the face. She was even bleeding haha!¡± - Kai ¡°Hehehe... That was pretty funny.¡± - One armed Annunake Akino and some of the other Annunakes started to laugh. ¡°Wait. I missed that!¡± - Ollie ¡°Why is everyone laughing about this? She got away? She could even be bringing back reinforcements right now.¡± I was pissed. That insane woman got away! Why is everyone laughing it off? ¡®She was just toying with me the whole time¡­.¡¯ ¡°Vali I don¡¯t know what to tell you but that¡¯s just the response we have to these sort of things. I mean... We survived Alysteir. I don¡¯t see it as she got away.... Vali she fled. We caused her to flee!¡± - Kai Ahahahahha! All the Annunakes then began to laugh alongside some of the pixies at this statement nodding their heads as if hardly believing it as well. Noticing my upset demeanor Akino then walked up and addressed me with warm eyes. ¡°Vali... In this place we lose our own die everyday¡­¡­ Funerals every day. We¡¯ve come to find death just about everywhere we go... but today we¡¯re alive....¡± ¨C Akino ¡®¡­¡­.¡¯ ¡°Vali come on details.... What sort of face did she make right after you punched her?¡± - Ollie Everyone then started patting each other on the back and laughing beside one another. To Ollie¡¯s questions they would look up and stare with eager eyes as they laughed with one another and enjoyed being alive. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ¡®... I got a bad taste in my mouth. It¡¯s not just cause the air in this cave smells bad. Even if it felt quite good to send a punch into that woman¡¯s face, I still feel like I¡¯m the one who lost. Even with Abgrund she was able to push me back and she might not have even been using half of her real strength. ¡® I haven¡¯t even been here two months, I¡¯m just some kid who lost his family and learned boxing only a year ago¡­. And now I¡¯m fighting monsters of myth and beings of legend. I can¡¯t expect to compete with some of the strongest opponents in this world after only being here a short time. It just felt like even though she was outnumbered and had the disadvantage she still seemed to be toying with us. ¡°Vali this place is creepy... ¡° - Cari ¡°It¡¯s ok Cari. It¡¯s not much different than how Floor One looks actually. And besides even if a Soul Devourer comes we¡¯ll just beat them up too!¡± - Aurora Everyone from the group then came along after our fight with Alysteir to the location of the Titan Tears their teams had discovered in this dungeon. After we checked our equipment those who fought against Alysteir and had shock armor on had the durability of it drop by a massive margin. However Cyanin¡¯s mithril plated female armor looked to be almost in tatters. So now she is just wearing a black hydra shirt¡­.¡¯Wait¡­oh hehe.¡¯ ¡°VALI! Stop looking at my butt.¡± ¨C Cyanin Covering herself oddly with her wings alongside her siblings standing out in front of her I see what hapepned. Her Hydra Armor had restored itself but not her pants¡­. ¡°I wasn¡¯t looking at your butt.¡± Staring back at me strangely Cyanin then started to make an odd face. When she retracted her wings back I could see now she had wrapped cloth given to her by her sibling around her waist. ¡°We¡¯ll why not?¡± ¨C Cyanin I just ignored her and continued to walk in the darkly lit cave. If Cari and the other pixies weren¡¯t here I¡¯d probably have to use that stupid mask Loki gave me. This darkly lit cave is now being illuminated in a complete circle with Cari at it¡¯s center. I healed all of the Annunakes who had injuries and was even able to reattach a couple of their limbs if they hadn¡¯t been destroyed to such an extent. I was however unable to attach the arm of the Annunake who was able to scratch Alysteir, as there was pretty much nothing left of it. He oddly enough didn¡¯t even seem upset about the loss of his arm. He was one of the ones who asked to come along and yet he lost his arm because of it. When I asked him about it he simply said he was fine saying ¡®I have a spare¡¯. When I said he could leave he simply said he would not, especially since I threatened that Alysteir could come back and this floor was a nightmare for them. ¡°I hate it here.... More than any other place in this cell, I hate this Floor the most. But I will not leave the Alpha¡­.¡± - One armed Annunake As everyone¡¯s breaths seemed to be getting louder we continued in rancid smelling cave. This Annunake was not among the ones who ever attacked me. For whatever reason he has also taken me as their Alpha with no qualms whatsoever and even treats me with more respect than any other. Looking next to me he was slightly shorter than Adimar and a bit leaner as well. He however shared in having dozens of battle scars all over his white, thick fur. He didn¡¯t talk much unless spoken too, but when I asked his name he simply said... Boro. I also had my Dullahan Knights on and out in front of us. I used up around 35% of my mana fighting Alysteir, firing off all those skills and trying to use Lightning Step just to keep up with Alysteir. I don¡¯t know if she just killed all the surrounding monsters or what but other than those in my group this entire cave just looks dark. ¡°Ok we should be coming up pretty close to...Ugh¡± - Ollie ¡°Vali down!¡± - Akino Then a white dart flew by as Akino had leaped and tried to get me out of the way but then something had then wrapped around my foot and anchored us down.
- 2 Strength
- 15 Stamina
¡®What?¡¯
- 22 Defense
¡°Crescent Cleaver!¡± - Boro My weight then was thrown forward along with Akino as I felt a skill fly past my right side. Looking down I then saw a small black tentacle around my ankle and bleeding a bright green blood.¡¯ I couldn¡¯t even see anything where did that monster even come from¡­¡¯ ¡°There it¡¯s in the walls!¡± - Ollie ¡°Soul Devourer!¡± Akino Akino then got up and pointed at the wall that had small holes in it. Long thin black tentacles then began to squeeze through the small holes until the whole wall around it had collapsed. Getting up I then readied my weapon. Without needed to hear my commands loud blasts of fire, lightning and ice magic were hurled towards the monster emerging from inside of the walls. I couldn¡¯t even see a level yet but the magic was clearly doing some kind of damage to it with the way it was moving. AHh.... Uh..... Looking to the other wall two annunakes then lifted off the air and twitched as something came from behind them and wrapped around their necks. A bright orange glow of themselves then appeared to being pulled out of them. ¡® Is that their souls?¡¯ I warped to their location with Abgrund and tore through each of the black tentacles wrapped around them. Their bodies then both fell to the floor with a loud thump. The orange glows then disappeared as if going back into their bodies but their large wolf bodies remained lifeless. I activated Moonlight Claw and Wind Claw into the wall and a loud boom shook the cave walls followed by a loud screech. Rumble Rumble Rumble Rumble AhhhhhhHHHHHhhhh! The loud squeal stopped and the walls and almost the entire floor began to shake. Large rocks began to fall and a large black beast began to slowly emerge from behind the wall. It looked like a transparent worm. The front of its face was large and bulb like but it had no eyes. As it opened its mouth it had thousands upon thousands of thin teeth glowing with the rest of its mouth. Suddenly the long sharp tentacles growing out of the back of its mushroom shaped head curled like spider limbs and began to point in my direction. Following the beast¡¯s long worm like body were smaller, thinner almost see through black tentacles that have appeared to have grown into the ground and cave wall themselves. ¡®This is bigger than the body parts outside. Alysteir was fighting these?¡¯ It looked like the morph between a spider, a snake, and in all honesty just a fucking monster. The sounds of its breath we¡¯re loud but the smell coming off its open mouth was just rancid. The smell alone gave my skin goose bumps. I could almost hear cries of anguish coming out of its lightly glowing mouth. Just the image of this creature is something I would never hope to see again. I feel as if even seeing it now this face will haunt me as one of the most terrifying visions I¡¯ve ever come across since coming to this new world.
Soul Devourer Level 311
I then activated dark sever and swung it towards the horrific beast in front of me as the only logical response to seeing something like this. SHHHHHHYEEAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! The large vision of a dark crescent moon traveling at violent speeds was then sent straight towards the Soul Devourers bulbous head. The suddenness of my attack didn¡¯t allow the beast any time to react and the attack looked to have almost gone straight through the beast. BOOOOOM! The cave wall behind it was then destroyed by my attack and continued to shake and cave in more and more of the interior walls. The whole ground began to shake but the beast looked almost unaffected while looking right back at me¡­..It twitched. Haaaa....... The large bulb like head then began to split across the middle and fall. The black almost gelatinous like body then started to turn ashy and grey. The transparent tentacles and spider like limbs growing out the back of its head then started to decay until it cracked. As the top of its skull fell to the earth a bright green, yellow, and red blood began to trickle down its open neck and fall down to the cave floor. It¡¯s health then jumped down zero and died. I looked around and saw that the pixies and some of the Annunakes and Ollie we¡¯re still fighting the other smaller Soul Devourer. I appeared right next to the side of its head and increased the weight of Abgrund with my swing. The scythe went straight through to his skull and almost stopped after receiving almost a lot of cushion and resistance. The beasts spider like limbs shook violently and then looked to have pointed right at me. I activated Abysmal Mist and it looked like a cloud of darkness had exploded around me with me in the center. The mist shot straight into the gelatinous body of the Soul Devourer and its head finally caved to the ground by our combined efforts.
- 4 Intellect
-12 Agility
Simply standing on this things head can even take away my stats too? I tried to retract Abgrund away but it was almost stuck inside this beasts brain if it even had one. I then activated Wind Claw again into the beasts skull and then it finally dropped to the ground but I could still feel it had some life left in it somehow....¡®This things vitality is ridiculous.¡¯ I shot it with Fire Ball and Abysmal Mist and activated Lord¡¯s Earth Shattering Smash into to top of it¡¯s head with my foot. The beast then continued to get eaten through by my Abysmal Mist and everyone¡¯s combined attacks and eventually died. By the time it had finally stopped moving its head was entirely gone and the rest of it¡¯s long body looked to have been turned inside out. Breathing heavy I can see why the Annunakes and many of the races don¡¯t venture round here too often and closed off the floor. ¡°Ok... Well lets try and hurry up so we don¡¯t have to fight any more of those things.¡± - Ollie ¡°These are Soul Devourers?¡± ¡°Wha...What the hell were those things!¡± - Sting Looking back at that squeal I saw Sting sitting on his ass as he must have tripped running away from just the horrific sights of these things. ¡°Ugh...Yah they bring out that kind of reaction by everyone¡¯s first time seeing one¡­ So let¡¯s keep moving shall we..¡± - Ollie Looking around some of the pixies were indeed shaking while all of the Annunakes including Akino just held a grim expression. ¡°Yah no kidding.¡± ¡®Seriously these things look like the stuff out of a messed up kids nightmares.¡¯ ¡°Well I think that¡¯s what Balor had in mind when he made em.¡± - Akino I then looked perplexed and Hj?kk too seemed interested while leaning over my shoulder. Throughout that whole exchange she hadn¡¯t said a word and had simply stayed there firmly grasped to my shoulder. I had almost forgotten she was there since after our fight with Alysteir. ¡°Balor made these things?¡± Everyone then just started nodding their heads. ¡°Seriously this god is sick in the head...¡± - Sting Ollie ushered us that we really shouldn¡¯t stay and chat and instead will explain on the way. As we walked through the dark cave Hj?kk and I were told of how these Soul Devourers are not natural monsters but creations from Balor himself, or so he says. Whenever a person was suspected of trying to escape this dungeon throughout the years they wouldn¡¯t just have their bodies hanged from the walls but they would also be fed to these things. ¡®So¡­He¡¯d threaten them with this sort of death as well then huh. Having you¡¯re soul devoured by this thing just seems...Not the way I want to go.¡¯ I don¡¯t get how those things didn¡¯t get picked up by any of my abilities before it had gotten on top of it. I had first went and acquired two of the hearts from the two dead monsters which didn¡¯t take too long surprisingly. It was in their bulbous heads and somehow even after all the onslaught it survived as a magical core. [You¡¯re going to eat those too?] ¡®...You never know it could provide me with a sort of immunity to physical damage or something.¡¯ [Maybe....] As I bit into the two small bright blue orbs a thick purple nectar almost poured out but the taste was nauseating. Simply biting down onto the orb made my vision blur for a moment as it was simply too grotesque to stomach and force down.
Congratulations! You have just learned a new skill! Soul Ripper
Congratulations! You have just learned a new skill! Selfless Soul
[.... What if it was similar to the Fomorians and you just absorbed some traits? What then?] ¡®Heh...No they were skills. The first one is...Well it allows me to siphon off stats off my victims but...The end result is well messy¡­.. The second one is weird because I can¡¯t seem to understand it. It¡¯s like my intellect isn¡¯t high enough because I don¡¯t understand the magic behind it at all.¡¯ [...Hmm well your intellect is quite low.] ¡®What? My stats are high.¡¯ ¡°Ahaha! Oh are they now? That¡¯s why you got your little butt kicked earlier.¡± ¨C Hj?kk ¡°Ok, I didn¡¯t get my butt kicked.¡± ¡°I think she hit you a total of 197 times and you hit her a total one time.¡± ¨C Hj?kk ¡°.....¡± ¡°I mean honestly she only moved a little faster than the speed of sound.¡± ¨C Hj?kk ¡°Oh look we¡¯re here!¡± - Ollie I caught Ollie laughing to himself while walking around a corner to what looked like a white light reflected off the rock. Daisy who was standing right next to me and holding onto my shirt was also laughing to herself. ¡®Unbelievable.... They thought Hj?kk¡¯s comment was funny too huh.¡¯ Walking around the corner I then saw what was causing that light to reflect off the rock. There along the length of the entire wall was a large white crystal that resembled what we had been looking for. On the ground there were smaller pieces the size of basketballs and boulders but none came close to the large white crystalline wall that must have been at least 30 feet high. The length of it however was roughly around 100 feet and dug deeper into the dungeon cave wall. ¡®No wonder they couldn¡¯t move this thing it probably goes even further into the cave than we can see. I mean it appears to make up a large part of this wall entirely. ¡®Man titan¡¯s must be huge. Given the names I can understand but still. They cried these things out of their eyes? I guess considering this entire world is currently populating on a piece of one of these things too. ¡°There use to be a large tunnel made of the stuff but it¡¯s caved in and I don¡¯t think we have the time to clear it all out it¡¯s deep within these caves. ¡° - Ollie ¡°Eh...Honestly I think this¡¯ll do for now.¡± Smiling while looking at this colossal Titan Tear and smile greedily. ¡®We¡¯re going to burn you alive with this Balor...¡¯ Turning around towards the pixies again I smiled down towards each of them. I told them with this...They will gain something that no one in this dungeon has, even me. Something that they know full well the power from witnessing it themselves and would make them remarkably stronger. ¡°With this... No one will ever call you weak again. With this... We¡¯re going to rain down fire on that demented freak and bring his whole world down.¡± Looking up their eyes each sparkled as the all stood shoulder-to-shoulder looking back up at me. They nodded their heads and agreed to my warning of not using the skills unless I say. ¡°Ok everyone try to lock arms and put your hands on the wall.¡± Every single one of the pixies walked forward nervously and placed their hands on the wall. They each smiled back and forth between one another then back up at me. Everyone else stood back and I told them each stay there, as we would probably have to warp out of here right after. This cave probably won¡¯t stay stable for very long. Putting my hands on the crystal wall I knew that this would be the turning point for each of them. They were already changing. I¡¯m sure the abilities we gained here outweigh probably any we could gain on this continent¡­. Even the combinations of their abilities have made them completely different than the King Hydra ever could be¡­. They¡¯ve changed a lot, but this is the moment I¡¯m probably realizing how much and just how fast. With all those smiling faces staring back at me me I looked down at my side. Cosmia standing alongside Jana, Biffrost and Cari and Kai looking up at me with eager eyes. Beside them was every other pixie with their lights each glowing brightly and looking at me with warm eyes. ¡®What Kai said just before we all fought. ¡® You are our family now... and forever¡¯. Looking towards him I nodded with him nodding right back. ¡°Freya¡¯s Soul Recovery....¡± .......Rumble Rumble Rumble! OOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!MM!M!MM!M!!!M!!M!M!M!M!MM!!MM!!MM!M!M!!M!M!M!M!M!M!!MM!M!M!M!MM!M!! Rocks from the ceiling began to fall and a bright white light began to blind all of the surroundings shaking the entire floor, maybe even the whole dungeon. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM! All that followed was a deafening ringing of my own eardrums as the same blinding white light continued to linger on much longer than when I used the same crystals before. The white light began to disappear as I felt a wave of heat rush past my skin to the point it even caused me to sweat.. As the white light faded I began to see dozens of bright white lights as my eyes began to focus. There staring back at me were all of the pixies with white burning eyes that shined as bright as the sun back towards me. The rush of energy and power I felt was unlike anything I had ever felt in my life. Even now my entire body is shaking from the intense energy blast that shot from my fingertips for that brief second. Each of the pixies wings are now all extended upward in a ¡®U¡¯ shape and towering over their heads. The wings growing out of there back practically look to be made of light night. They all look sleeker, fitter and their eyes are each glowing brightly. Looking down their lights are all much more intense to the point that they each produce a heat. The temperature of this entire cave has already immediately changed by 20 degrees or so, easy. Looking down I could see Cari¡¯s brilliant colorful hair sway around next to a Bifrost whose aura has now produced a large black coating around everyone in here. It was the same as when Cari had received this crystal, it almost felt like everything around her was wrapped up by the aura they produce from their magically infused bodies. Her wings were large and black. They had a feint purple mixed in but the colors that reflected off of her and Cari¡¯s wings were unlike any I had ever seen in my old world. The light that refracted off of Bifrost¡¯s wings however resembled polar negatives of Cari¡¯s light and were colors I had never before seen in my last life. The bright, refracted colors danced back in such a way it almost resembled a light show that touched everyone and everything surrounding each of them with a unique glow. Bifrost¡¯s short hair stayed black but now she has 3 streaks of green, purple, and red mixed in as well. Just the colors surrounding herself and her sister bouncing off one another showed just magically infused his race is. And they each looked beautiful¡­. The wall then began to fall apart and break and I warped the space around all the pixies and warped them away. Then I jumped to the other location with everyone else and again did the same. ¡°Ahhhhh!!! I can feel the POWER!¡± -Tanin ¡°Tanin calm down with your fire you¡¯re going to burn something.¡± - Cosmia His fire was brighter than the sun for a brief moment before dying down again. His flames stayed the same but every once in a while his fire would briefly flutter white. The heat coming off of him has now also increased. Appearing back at base all the pixies then began to look through their stats and feel their bodies testing what had changed. Everyone now surrounding the pixies who were all crowded together in the middle of the base were observing what was different. This whole trip was technically for them so wanting to know the spoils is a must. ¡°Hehe! Besides the Divine Skill.... My health went up by 54,290. My wisdom rose by 23,664 . My Light and Fire Resistances have each gone up to 47% for each element which has given us a few skills as well.¡± - Kai ¡°....Unbelievable.¡± ¡°.....¡± Everyone remained quiet at Kai¡¯s statement as all the pixies then walked up to each other and looked at one another¡¯s stats. Several of the pixies then walked up to those who were recently saved and hugged them while commenting on their new looks, especially Bifrost. Whenever she realized some of her hair color came back it brought her to tears. This action only made all the pixies around her dance as Cari held onto her warmly. Even after gaining all this power they¡¯re the same. As I¡¯ve said, I think it¡¯s best that beings like this were given such ability and not any of the other races. ¡°Huh...¡± There below me was a small pink girl gripping my shirt with tears in her eyes. ¡°Th...th.......¡± Jana ¡°It¡¯s ok you..¡± ¡°ank you... For the longest time, sitting in that prison inside this¡­sob¡­prison. I thought I must have been the weakest existence in the whole world. Hating myself for being so small. Being told stories when you were young of the world outside this place one but...sob...Being so insignificantly small. Thank you so...much...Val¡­iii¡­.sob¡­You¡¯ve ¡­done..sob..so much¡­.¡± - Jana The small pink girl then began to shake as she cried into my gut. Both those who came back with us and those already in the base didn¡¯t interrupt as the small girl continued to cry without a care who heard. Kai then walked up right behind her and latched onto her and hugged us both as well. Then Cosmia...Then Cyanin and Daisy...Then everyone else. ¡°Wait! I don¡¯t like this!¡± - Hjokk And just like that we were both swallowed up by the warmth of the small pixies once again. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cassandra POV: We¡¯ve been following around Vali¡¯s pet for hours now. I don¡¯t know what this wolf cub¡¯s stamina is but wearing this iron armor is starting to feel increasingly heavy with each step. We just kept continuing south running alongside Jheroki Mountains, which extends almost the length of the whole continent. As far as I¡¯m aware there isn¡¯t much in this direction. It just continues south until you reach the edge of the continent. From there it¡¯s just the sea. ¡®Well I guess we¡¯re just lucky Vali¡¯s wolf can track his scent. We haven¡¯t come across even one monster yet which is crazy. ¡¯ Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Jogging alongside me are Shakko and Master Shen who are both covered in sweat but I feel I am the one who¡¯s drenched. These woods are rather humid. Ruf! The small grey cub continued to increase his speed and ran swiftly through the dense forest. Thinking this was his signal we were close we too started to increase our stride following quickly after him. We continued to sprint as he made a sharp turn towards the direction of the mountains. The lush forest we were running alongside began to look black and dead. They began thinning by the dozens with every few steps. Even the ground looked dead and gave off a rather grim vibe. We arrived at the clearing of the forest and what looked like a large scale battle appeared to have occurred. Destroyed trees and earth were scattered throughout everywhere. The ground itself looked to be dead and absent of all life¡­. ¡°Woh¡­¡± ¨C Shakko ¡°What do ya think happened here?¡± ¨C Shen ¡°Looks like a S class monster tore through this place. ¡± ¨C Shakko ¡°Well at least we¡¯re getting warmer it seems.¡± As they saw what I had stopped to look at they each widened their eyes. Sitting in a large crater in the ground was the black almost seared shape of a scythe dug deep down. It looked exactly the same as the one Vali used just a lot bigger. Thinking about it this whole place looks like painfully familiar of the place that Lestat had attempted to ambush us. Only with the craters all over the place and rest of the broken trees littering the area it looks much more chaotic. ¡°Yah, we¡¯re getting closer, not sure I like what this means though¡­ Yah know if that kid¡¯s been through here I wonder why there aren¡¯t any bodies round this place.¡± ¨C Shen ¡°Careful¡­The Intel we received that in the place of the coliseum that scythe touched it became toxic to be around. It¡¯s safe to assume this place could as well¡­¡± - Shakko As Shen began to investigate the ground Shakko had warned him while then briefly turning his head. ¡°¡­Ah¡­ Where¡¯d that little monster run off to?¡± ¨C Shakko As we all looked up we saw Vali¡¯s wolf now had a very large lead on us and was sprinting towards the base of the Jheroki Mountains. The white thick mist that covered the bottom of the mountain almost looked to have eaten Fenrir as he ran deeper and deeper within. As we started picking up our pace we slowly approached the edge of the thick mist that surrounds the entirety of the mountain base. We slowed down and took out our weapons and proceeded cautiously towards the same direction as the wolf had gone. ¡°Alright stay in tight this fog is pretty thick.¡± ¨C Shen ¡°Ughh¡­I¡¯m really starting to get a bad feeling about this place.¡± ¨C Shakko ¡°Why¡¯s that Shakko?¡± - Shen ¡°Just getting that vibe is all¡­Be alert¡­¡± - Shakko Walking next to both Master Shen and Shakko I couldn¡¯t quite see where they were but judging by their voices they were no more than a couple feet away from me. It was odd as it almost felt as if there was no light from the sun any longer as well. I could hear the sounds of their steps becoming slower and much more tense. Shen stepped out in front and raised his metal arm slowly while holding on tight to his long sword. ¡°Damn little monster ¡­Took off in this direction, so just slowly keep advancing. I think I see a dim light up ahead. ¡° ¨C Shen ¡°I think I see it as well Master Shen.¡± I do see a light up ahead but I can¡¯t even tell if we¡¯ve arrived at the base of the mountain yet. We continued to walk for several minutes when each Shakko and Shen stopped suddenly. At the instant I felt a wave of pressure attack my skin and cause my whole body to tense up and freeze.
Congratulations! You have found Balor¡¯s Legendary Dungeon: Buried Life! You are currently on Floor 52 For being one of the first to discover this hidden dungeon you will receive a 2x experience for the next 44 hours. For the next 44 hours all monsters will drop their best loot. Due to your low affinity with the overwhelming darkness that surrounds this place you will now deplete stamina at roughly twice the normal speed. * You will become 25% more likely to succumb to fear and become paralyzed entirely. * Healing and Recovery will now become slowed. * All stats reduced by 10%
¡°What?...What is this eerie feeling.¡± ¡°Wait¡­We¡¯re in a dungeon? How?¡± ¨C Shakko Shen started to ignore us both and continue to walk forward towards the light. He seemed to not care about the windows to the god¡¯s whispers. We continued to follow behind him and then stopped beside him as we all gazed in awe of the stunning scenery that stood in front of us. ¡°Beautiful¡­¡± ¨C Shen Standing in front of us was a completely different image than I would have predicted on the other side of that blanket of fog. The sky is orange the sun is large. I even see a floating landmass in the distance¡­ ¡®This looks like we entered into a completely different world.¡¯ I then noticed just how high up we are and below us seems to be a large dense forest to where you can¡¯t see what¡¯s below. We¡¯re now not standing at the foot of a mountain but in a crevice halfway up a large rock wall. ¡°It said we¡¯re in a Legendary dungeon...And on floor 52. Is this anything like the fabled Age of Gods dungeons in the central continent? It could be like a dungeon trap?¡± ¡°Ugh¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­. I don¡¯t know. Dungeon traps only appear inside of the dungeon¡­ And no those dungeons were more like trials by the gods so they never tried to hide them. Conquering one even gave the Rose Empire their Phantasm item that formed their empire so many centuries ago. Balor¡­Balor, balor¡­ That name sounds so familiar for some reason¡­. ¡± ¨C Shakko As we continued to peer down the large ledge Shakko continued to whisper over and over to himself. It¡¯s hard to tell his emotional state because of that mask but he sounds like he¡¯s getting nervous. Regardless if he isn¡¯t I am for both of us. I¡¯ve visited some dungeons in my life but none had reduced my power upon entering. All those warnings almost trying to signify this places atmosphere wears you down and even makes recovery to injury more strained. The forest below was quite beautiful it was nothing like an image I would assume a dungeon to have, however this entire place looks to be a completely different world than outside¡­. ¡°We need to hurry and find Vali and return to his Highness quickly. This is not a safe place. If he is just training here it might be best to wait outside.¡± ¨C Shen ¡°Well we can just explore some to find Fenri¡­.¡± ¡°No¡­We need to leave. Balor! I knew I remembered the name. He¡¯s the grandfather of the Sun God Lugh¡­ I can¡¯t believe I forgot this name I use to read about him in fables. Balor was a Dark God of drought, which explains the surroundings to this place. This whole mountain must be his domain. Not much was known about him as he died in the ancient war of the gods before the world was made. Which is weird because if he died¡­Then how does he have a dungeon on what is but a floating landmass of an ancient being who also died in that war¡­.. He was said to be this old, dark deity who went mad and was caught doing experiments on other gods. So I think Cassandra was right this could be an Age of Gods dungeon. Dungeons rank between F ¨C SSS. Having ¡®Legendary¡¯ in the title makes me think there are monsters similar to the dungeons in the central continent and even past Triple S. Meaning the monsters roaming around on the floors also could be pretty tough. And were on floor 52 which means this could very well be one of the most dangerous places on the continent.¡± ¨C Shakko ¡°¡­Ah¡­I don¡¯t like the sound of any of that¡­Well let¡¯s have someone stay up here and stand guard unless something bad happens. Cassandra how about you¡­.Huh¡­Well that¡¯s not good.¡± ¨C Shen As Master Shen turned around he continued to poke his sword towards what looked like nothing. But every time he extended his arm a small sound occurred. According to him there seems to be a some barrier blocking us in. ¡®Is he serious? The dungeon trapped us inside! Can dungeons even do that?¡¯ ¡°I haven¡¯t ever heard of a dungeon that traps you inside before¡­.¡± As I walked up and tested out Master Shen¡¯s claim there did seem to be a barrier of some sort trapping us all inside. Is this a joke! This must be why Vali has been late. He¡¯s been trapped in here¡­. ¡°Well between that and the walls things are already starting to look rather grim¡­¡± ¨C Shakko Listening to what Shakko said both Shen and I both observed the direction to his claim. Focusing our eyes we could then see chained to the walls are a large number of bodies and skeletons covering the ground to halfway up the rock wall. There must have been thousands of them. Could there be bodies like this wrapping around the entirety of this place? I could hear my heart beat against my chest as I followed the bodies alongside the walls of this place. ¡°Yah if ya think that¡¯s twisted just look up, towards that center cloud there¡­..¡± ¨C Shen Looking up I then saw bodies hanging from one of the clouds. It was difficult to see like a small spot that appeared on a cloud but if you focused your eyes it looked like bodies where hanging from the ceiling as well. ¡°Well¡­I think we need to try and find that little monster pretty quick I absolutely do not like it here.¡± ¨C Shakko ¡®The way I see it our stamina is dropping at twice the speed as we normally would outside of this place. We need to hurry and meet up with Vali as quickly as possible and leave this place. The longer we¡¯re here the sooner we¡¯re all going to perish one by one.¡¯ I started looking for a place to start scaling the mountain until I found a large walkway one dozen steps under the edge of the crevice we we¡¯re all standing on. ¡°This way¡­¡± The other two followed behind me and we continued to scale down the mountain on this large walkway that looked to have been made into a road and practically blended in to the mountains. I started to extend my pace as I continued to think about how my stamina had already been diminishing but I feel almost winded already. I father use to make me run with armor much heavier than this to train but I can almost feel this atmosphere pricking at my skin as if it my body itself became twice as heavy. RUF! Hearing the small monster¡¯s loud bark we started to run faster towards the direction of the noise. We ran into the dense forest only a few feet away from the edge of the cliff wall. The trees were tall and thick. But they each had very thin branches covering them. They were so tall and plentiful that all of the sunlight from this place was being obstructed. ¡°I think I see him he¡¯s right through here.¡± ¡°Wait Cassandra¡­We don¡¯t know anything about this place. ¨C Shakko As I heard Shakko¡¯s warning I slowed down and stopped at the edge of a large shadow hovering over one of these ridiculously large tree. As they each slowed down beside me we all saw the silver wolf cub now sitting next to a group of small mutilated bodies. It¡¯s hard to see what race they were but there had to have been a dozen of them. He pushed away one of the lifeless bodies with his paw and looked up while slowly swaying his tail. Though he wasn¡¯t looking at us. Shakko began to step out and observe some of the bodies next to Fenrir when he froze and looked forward. Shakko almost forgetting his own earlier warning stepped forward and then froze. ROARRRR!!!!!!! A brief image of a large black mass jumped forward and yelled at an ear splitting roar. It had a long lizard like neck and large black wings. It¡¯s level shot out in a second over its head in red¡­246! It looked towards Shakko and took a deep breath. It then started to choke and turn it¡¯s eyes away slowly. A large spray of dark transparent fluid shot out of the dark wyverian¡¯s mouth and then for a brief second halt. I started to reach for Shakko but before I could do anything a large image sprinted out ahead of me. As the dark mist that shot forth towards Shakko the image of Master Shen raising his large metallic arm to shield them from the toxic mist. As it collided with his arm it started to smoke and partially eat through small portions on the once sleek and metal frame. Looking back towards the high level beast I then see the same black smog dragon now laying its neck at an odd angle on the ground. It¡¯s shaking all of a sudden. ¡°What the hell¡¯s happening to it?¡± ¨C Shen The image of a small silver cub began to slowly approach the high leveled monster as if not intimidated in the size difference at all. But we¡¯ve each seen the real size of that little monster. ¡°I don¡¯t get it¡­That little monster is what¡­Level 97? How can he shut down a monster so many levels higher than him without even touching him?¡± ¨C Shakko BOoom! What was that? Boooom! The whole ground felt as if it had just shook to the point almost each of us had almost fallen over. YeeHeee Haaaaahhhhhhhhhhh ¡®What was that noise? Where did tha¡­¡­¡± As my vision glanced around I saw what looked like the tree tops move suddenly when my vision refocused¡­There in the tree tops of this massive forest were two red dots towering over us. They weren¡¯t treetops at all but the tops of an incredibly large monster. ¡®Can¡­.can it see me?¡¯ ROAARRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I heard the entire ground shake as a violent screaming roar tore through my every being.
You have heard the Roar of the Fomorian You are unable to succumb to your fear and have become paralyzed All movement will become impossible until paralysis has withered Agility has been reduced by 65% Strength has been reduced by 45% * Ability to perform magic has diminished due to the effects of fear. Magic has become 20% less effective * Ability to hold a weapon has diminished due to the effects of fear. Overall Attack Damage has been reduced by 15%
¡®Wha¡­what¡­.i..is¡­that?¡¯ I turned my eyes away and could see Shakko and Shen too were shaking violently as we couldn¡¯t overcome the raging fear that shook through to our core. Wh..a¡­..what is..that monster? Its towering figure looked to almost not even be real¡­.I wouldn¡¯t have noticed it as its body was simply so big. The giant through the large brush of trees then leaped into the direction of the now almost tiny looking Smog Dragon from before. In one simple move it had cleaved the large smog dragon in two. I It was as large as a mountain. It¡¯s¡­It¡¯s just so ¡­ ¡°Damn¡­what¡­Lev¡­.level..402?¡± ¨C Shakko ¡°We ¡­gotta..get out¡­of here¡­.¡± ¨C Shen I couldn¡¯t believe it when its level was confirmed. Level 400? We couldn¡¯t even hope to hurt that thing and all we could do is continue to shake in our shoes. Then Fenrir began to growl and take several slow steps towards the dark giant that was standing dozens of meters away. We couldn¡¯t move to help or even move to save our selves, simply looking at that horrific face sends causes my whole body to tremble. ¡°What is¡­..that ¡­.mo..monster?¡± GRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! The large beast then staggered forward and immediately launched itself into the air towards the small silver wolf. I then got to get a better image as this monster is truly big but his reaction speed is quite sharp. Its face is something that should only be seen in nightmares. Everything about that thing looks dangerous. How could we even begin to attack that black colossus? For the first time in my life I felt true helplessness¡­ Real fear. I was shaking, terrified for our lives and watching the wolf take on the nightmare of an opponent. We found ourselves in one of the worst places in the world¡­. ROOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWRRRRRRRR! Fenrir then roared and turned into his black monster form while running towards the high level beast. Fenrir now almost rivaling the dark giant leaped forward to the incoming colossal beast and dove onto the its large and furry shoulder. YeeeYAhHhhhH! GRRRrrrrrrr! It looked towards the beasts face and blew out a terrific blaze of red fire with what looked like lightning attached to it. The thunderous flames blew towards the beasts face and exploded sending the beast¡¯s face backward. Fenrir then jumped on the ground and blew a gust of powerful ice magic out of his mouth freezing the giants feet into place. The image of the giant¡¯s face appeared through the smoke and began to grin in a horrific way from ear to ear... It showed to have taken practically no damage to the earlier explosion whatsoever and slowly grinned towards the wolf giant he outstood. YeeeHeee hHAAaaaa! The colossal beast swung its long arms swiftly and nearly half of its long thin claws sliced right through the dark wolf. Fenrir then howled in pain while continually ripping away at the giant beast¡¯s arm with his fangs. The Fomorian had then begun to swing its long limbs and slash away into the black wolf and appeared to cut right through the Fenrir¡¯s sides slashing aside where his ribs should be. The claws on this beast are well over a dozen meters in length and seemed to cut through Fenrir dark fur with extreme ease. The giant now grinning looking down at the extreme damage it had done to Fenrir¡¯s sides it began to make a loud laughing noise... A bright red blood began to pour out of his open wounds and drip down into large puddles on the ground. The Fomorian then continued to slash around until it had severed the black wolfs arm in one wild attempt with its claw. Fenrir began to howl loudly in pain as we were unable to provide assistance of any kind in our truly helpless states. ¡®This wolf is actually fighting to keep us all alive¡­.¡¯ Immediately after the black wolfs large paw flew back it was the large beast who was frozen at that moment. The giant¡¯s wounds on its chest and face began to repair itself and the beast¡¯s health began to gradually rise by the second. While the large wolves health was already in the yellow and slowly declining. Fenrir then lunged towards the side of the giant¡¯s chest right under its long arms during its oddly frozen state. Fenrir began to tear and fight back at the beast which stood taller than any building in the royal capital and would simply wreak havoc if it ever escaped from here. Sinking his teeth into the monsters side until half of Fenri¡¯s head was no longer visible. He was hardly showing any signs of fatigue even after losing an arm and withstanding such a vicious assault from the beasts ghastly large claws. Fenrir only continued to tear into this giant only a league away causing small amounts of damage while it was unable to fight back at all. The beast continued to shake violently and thrash around until the dark giant jerked abruptly and then fell to the ground motionlessly. The health of the high level monster then dropped from the green all the way into it had become zero. The level 402 giant was just taken down from a level 97wolf cub? ¡®¡­.Or now he appears to be level 108¡­.Even among monsters these beings we¡¯re looking toward allying with us I can¡¯t imagine what we can offer them.¡¯ ¡°Just how the hell did that little monster¡­..wait what?¡± ¨C Shakko Looking towards Fenrir I too see now that his severed paw is now slowly growing and forming back. The image of dark crimson red and pink flesh now continues to grow with a dark black fur. The entire front left paw has now been fully grown back and the giant black wolf began to look back towards us. It almost looked to be grinning. It then walked casually towards the dead smog dragon and started to dig into its meat as well. I guess it was looking to see what these monsters tasted like. ¡®I couldn¡¯t even move in the face of such a beast. I just¡­. Really don¡¯t want to be in here any longer. It feels like the weight slowing me down is only becoming heavier. We could easily perish in this place without a word¡­.What if that fate has already happened to Vali?¡¯ Shen and Shakko began to steadily stand up and observe their surroundings now in a different light. ¡°Little monster had a healing ability?¡± ¨C Shen ¡°¡­. Hmm. ¡° ¨C Shakko ¡°Well, whatever does happen we can¡¯t lose Fenrir inside of here again. ¡° ¡°Yah¡­Agreed. So I guess we just wait till he¡¯s done with his meal.¡± ¨C Shen ¡°Hey Tin Man. What¡¯s with jumping in front of me earlier like that you got a death wish? ¡° ¨C Shakko ¡°Hah! No I just figured if the rest of your body gets ruined like your face you¡¯ll probably start walking around in a full cast.¡± ¨C Shen ¡°Oh you know that¡¯s not true you saw my face in Trost. Wait! You¡¯re the one who¡¯s been telling all the Freya priestesses I have horrific face wounds aren¡¯t you! ¡° ¨C Shakko ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± -Shen ¡°Oh bull! I heard a rumor of how I jumped into a fire to rescue a wounded child and half my face had been melted off along with all my clothes. And when I rescued the infant the fire had burned everything but my undergarments and the guards didn¡¯t know whether to think I was a hero or a pervert and everyone agreed to say why not both. You¡¯re the only one who would find that funny!¡± - Shakko ¡°Hahahaha!¡± ¨C Shen ¡°You¡¯re ugly ass is just angry because even with a mask covering my face girls still find me more attractive.¡± ¨C Shakko ¡®Ugh these two never quit. I¡¯m not taking my eyes off this little wolf so as long as he¡¯s here I¡¯m sure we¡¯re at least safer than wondering around ourselves. I mean¡­ Just what was that thing? I want to turn and gaze upon it but I¡¯m half terrified to even look at it again. Even the sounds it made, that horrific smile. How could a human fight such beings? Fomorians¡­I¡¯ve never even heard of such a beast.¡¯ ¡®What is that? ¡® There past Fenrir eating through the hard shell of the smog dragon I saw a small bright yellow light in the distance. It looks like it¡¯s moving¡­. ¡°Ugh¡­What?¡± ¨C Shakko Suddenly there only a few feet away from us where a bright silver demi human standing beside a similar looking demi human but green. They were both brightly shining in their respective colors that appeared to be coming off their large and almost diamond like wings. The sharp wings reached several feet over their heads and created a bright almost warm light that tingled the skin. They shined in such a bright color it was impossible not to look at them and call them anything but beautiful¡­. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen such demi humans before. They both wore dark blue sleeveless leather armor with a black furred cape that also wrapped around the back of their necks. Floating next to them were two small yellow crystals spinning slowly right next to each of them. ¡°Im just saying we can ask them. Hello¡­ Im Jade, who are all of you?¡± ¨C Dark Green demi human ¡°Did yall catch any of that?¡± ¨C Shen ¡°No they¡¯re not speaking anything that sounds like human tongue.¡± ¨C Shakko ¡°Wait¡­Aren¡¯t these technically monsters. It said we were amongst the first individuals who found this dungeon. What are these things anyways? Are they demi human?¡± I readied my stance in case they were going to attack. The dark green one simply looked down at my weapon then back up at me with her eyes half closed. ¡°¡­Ugh¡­ I¡¯m not sure what these things are actually. Even though they don¡¯t look dangerous¡­They¡¯re wearing some well-crafted armor and items¡­ They also appear sentient so I don¡¯t think they¡¯re monsters. ¡° ¨C Shakko The two small demi humans holding large spears and supporting armor then started to look towards Fenrir who was eating through the smog dragon before he shook abruptly as if becoming alert. ¡°Well they could be like Sting.¡± ¨C Silver demi human ¡°Ohhh¡­Do you know Vali?¡± ¨C Dark Green demi human The dark green demi human then lifted her wings that appeared heavy but fluttered as if they were lighter than air. She flew over to Shen and started to observe his face. She then flew around to the side and observed him cautiously. Then the silver demi human began to try and talk more to us but we didn¡¯t understand what she was saying at all. ¡®Ooooh¡­Su Wu Vali?...Oh Vali!¡¯ ¡°Vali! Yes I think I understood what you just said, yes we know Vali.¡± I then felt my ear get yanked to the side and I abruptly swung my head over while firmly gripping my weapon to see what it was. There flying just above my shoulder was a brightly colored pink demi human who started pulling my ear. He had tan skin with bright pink short hair. His eyes were even pink just as his large wings around him did. Their sharpness made his small body look much more intimidating. The small demi human had the same sleeveless blue armor on as well as some tight snakeskin on underneath it. The other two then began to call out to their brethren while he held onto my ear. ¡°Look they each have their ears on the sides.¡± ¨C Pink demi human Spark! Spark! Spark! ¡°You¡¯re not an aggressor Freyki, get back in formation. Now the girl appeared to perk up whenever it said Vali, maybe they know him.¡± ¨C Silver demi human The pink demi human then smirked and flew back towards the silver demi human who had started to produce bright sparks of lightning between her fists. The small pink demi human then fluttered his diamond shaped wings and then stood in an odd location before looking back towards us. Each of these small creatures were level¡­.159, 141, and 32. Each of them would be difficult for the three of us to take them on. Even the lowest leveled one appeared right next to me without even letting me realize it until he pulled my ear. ¡°Put your weapons away¡­ They could have attacked us if they wanted to already. I think it would be wise not to fight these things.¡± Shen and Shakko both looked towards me. I don¡¯t think these things are enemies. They even said Vali so they must know him. Not only that but even if these things don¡¯t look very threatening the fact that they can get so close without being able to notice is already dangerous enough in here. ¡°Just to these three things huh?.....¡± ¨C Shakko ¡°Hah¡­.I don¡¯t know bout that¡­.¡± - Shen With both of his arms resting on his sword I could feel Master Shen contemplating whether to drop his weapon or not to the tiny demi humans in front of us. Calling then tiny is wrong; calling them short would be better as each of them look quite strong. Shakko too began to slowly reach for a small dagger behind his back as if waiting to see what Shen¡¯s decision would be. ¡°Vale, Jade the one covering his face is bringing out a weapon.¡± I heard a feint whisper of a voice and immediately all three demi humans shot daggers towards the three of us in unison. That action immediately startled us as the small demi humans started gripping their weapons tightly. Shen then made a swift motion with his human arm he tightly put his long sword back into its sheath. At that one moment however the dark green demi human dashed forward a few steps while the silver one had darted upward and back a few paces. As we saw this even the pink one jumped forward but you could see exactly what this was. ¡°They¡¯re getting into formations¡­.¡± As they started to now stare towards us they saw that the three of us had actually put our weapons away causing the green haired demi human to smirk and also put her weapon away. ¡°Look over here. The little silver wolf drew a picture. I think they do know Vali!¡± - ? The three of us then turned our heads and saw now a light red demi human standing beside a purple one. ¡°When did they get here?¡± ¨C Shakko ¡°I had a feeling there mighta been more of these things¡­.¡± - Shen ¡°You¡¯ve seen demi humans like these before?¡± As I asked Master Shen he smiled oddly while staring at the odd creatures we¡¯ve found inside of this dungeon. ¡°Ugh¡­Not really like these but I think these things might be pixies¡­.I just remembered size of dwarfs with fairy wings. Even though they look kind of different, well it¡¯s just better to think they are always in groups, large groups. I¡¯ve seen some in the central continent one time, low defense but adept in illusion magic. These are just much more athletically built and each of their wings even look dangerous. The leader even looks to know attack magic so it would be difficult to judge just how much we¡¯d have to deal with, we might lose. ¡± - Shen ¡°Pixies¡­ Oho we are really unlucky aren¡¯t we? Well if they¡¯re talking so casually in here it¡¯s possible these things are very dangerous. Yah lets put our weapons away.¡± ¨C Shakko ¡°So you know what they are too?¡± As I put my sword on the ground Shakko told us a tale of how he heard of several groups of strong adventurers and even some royal guard teams go missing over the span of a year in the west. They tracked it to a small group of pixies who had set up some kind of trap that made the missing teams disappear and fall to their deaths. At the bottom of the trap they set up sharpened spikes from wood and killed close to 100 adventurers before they were stopped. They would loot the dead bodies and sell the items to traveling merchants. He said regardless of their low attack or defense pixies are in fact very clever. The thing Shakko was more curious about was how these demi humans were inside here at all. ¡®The language they¡¯re speaking doesn¡¯t sound familiar. I feel as the only thing that we could understand from them was Vali. I just hope that word to them doesn¡¯t mean something like battle to the death or eat them for dinner.¡¯ I can see the pink and light red one stroking their stomachs¡­¡¯ You want to eat us don¡¯t you!¡¯ Each of them started to walk away from us as if losing interest in us all together. The 5 demi humans simply turned away from us and ran over to where Fenrir was. ¡®Hmm well I guess I can just pick up my¡­Where¡¯d my sword go?¡¯ Looking around I didn¡¯t see anything come up or take my weapon but now it¡¯s gone. ¡®Vali¡­ This is your fault!¡¯ Shakko, Shen and I then walked over to the small group around Fenrir in his small pup form. They all started dancing around for some reason when looking at the ground in front of them. As we walked closer up we then saw that in the ground was a similar shape as what was on the outside of this place. A stenciled shape of Vali¡¯s scythe and that image caused these little demi humans to each dance strangely enough¡­.. They were just yanking my ear and felt to have been threatening us only a few seconds ago and now they are giving off a completely different attitude. ¡°Yes! So you do understand what we¡¯re saying huh wolf?¡± ¨C Purple pixie Fenrir then began to nod towards them as if signifying he comprehended them. ¡®Wait if he drew that picture knowing what we were trying to explain¡­Does that mean?¡¯ ¡°¡­Could little monster understand us all this time?¡± ¨C Shen At that moment Fenrir then looked up towards us and then nodded his head again while grinning his large fangs¡­. ¡°¡­..¡± ¡°The Cripple called you little monster first¡­¡± ¨C Shakko ¡°Bitch¡­¡± - Shen ¡°Jerk¡­¡± ¨C Shakko As if ignoring us all together the small demi humans started to walk away with Fenrir beside them. ¡°Ugh¡­I¡¯m guessing we¡¯re suppose to follow them?¡± ¨C Shakko ¡°Better than just sitting here, let¡¯s go. I could seriously use a drink right about now.¡± ¨C Shen ¡°I betch you would alchy I bet you would¡­¡± - Shakko As we continued to walk through the large forest, I couldn¡¯t make since of everything that was happening and chose to ignore how Shakko and Shen both chose to react to such situations¡­. We¡¯re in a dungeon¡­ A possible Age of Gods dungeon. The monsters in here are¡­. How could a human even fight them? I had no idea something like that even existed so close to where we live¡­ Now we¡¯re following these strange demi humans with matching armors like we aren¡¯t pressed for time. Do they¡­.live in here?... We kept walking for several minutes through the dark forest and I continued to dwell on how I¡¯ve found myself in our current situation. I couldn¡¯t help but to be on alert but oddly enough the small wolf and pixies next to him didn¡¯t look frightened in the slightest. I mean I did just see that black wolf somehow take down a nightmarish beast almost a hundred times our size¡­. ¡°We don¡¯t really like wolves but you look really cute!¡± ¨C Dark green pixie ¡®What are they talking about so casually?¡¯ Looking towards Master Shen and Shakko they too seem to be thinking deeply about the situation we¡¯re in. We came here to ask for help with our own problems, what have we gotten involved in? ¡°Wow¡­.¡± ¨C Shakko ¡°¡­. ¡° ¨C Shen As we followed behind the small demi humans there appearing one after another were dozens upon dozens of the same species. All in a different color but all wearing the same blue sleeveless armor on while holding small spears. Each one of them weren¡¯t that high in level compared to the monsters in here but there were so many of them. I turned around and viewed just how many there were and there must have been over a hundred surrounding us. There were so many of these demi humans that if we had initially attacked them we most certainly wouldn¡¯t have made it out without casualties. Maybe if at all¡­ Just then a pixie with a bright red crown on her head then began to fly with several pixies surrounding her towards the floating landmass in the sky. She had deep crimson hair and a small yellow crystal hovering beside her as well. She looked down towards us then back towards the same ones from earlier and nodded her head before flying away. The rest of the pixies then started to walk us in the same direction as before. ¡®I guess that was the leader¡­¡¯ ¡°Well let¡¯s just hope these little guys don¡¯t feel like eating us.¡± - Shakko ¡°Do pixies eat people?¡± ¡°Yup... You act like it¡¯s weird. It¡¯s not like they¡¯re cannibals. There are some beast man and demi human species that have become delicacies in some countri.....Woh.¡± - Shakko We continued listening to Shakko¡¯s tale as we walked by an open field. What were scattered all around this field however were over a dozen of those monstrous beasts from before. They were all dead and looked to have received massive injuries. ¡®Did these pixies do this? They don¡¯t seem surprised by all these monsters from the abyss at all....Ugh...Vali!!!¡¯ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vali¡¯s POV [So what did you mean you were going to speak to someone who would know how to kill Balor?] ¡®Well¡­It¡¯s someone who¡¯s probably older than you. And considering what he is, I¡¯d assume he¡¯d know how to kill something like Balor.¡¯ As Hjokk continued to look at me oddly I took out Abgrund and called out to the old scythe. We were standing in the corner of the base while everyone else was off doing their own preparations for the soon to be fight of their lives. ¡°¡­.What boy?¡± A loud deep echo rang out from Abgrund and the weapon began to vibrate with every word he spoke. ¡°It talks?¡± - Hjokk ¡°What¡¯s up Abgrund¡­. So, do you know how to kill Balor?¡± ¡°Hmph¡­ So the mortal wishes to come and use my power yet again. I might have known this would happen¡­¡± - Abgrund ¡°Can you?¡± Abgrund¡¯s voice reverberated from the scythe but there exuded such a presence from his voice alone. ¡°¡­.If you are asking if I have the ability to slay Balor then no I cannot. ¡° ¨C Abgrund ¡®Damn¡­ I figured since he was the weapon of Death some of these unlocked skills could do some potential damage to that thing but it seems ¡­.¡¯ ¡°Hah! I am not the tool of Death. Malthiel just held the Title he was nothing like the real thing.¡± ¡°Oh yah¡­ I forgot you could hear what I think. Wait, so there is an actual Death? Like the Death?¡° Abgrund¡¯s low voice then began to tell the tales of long ago. During the times before this world even existed. During the war of the Gods, Malthiel and Hades had been on another planet entirely fighting against Pluto and the Undead Legion. I was under the impression Pluto and Hades were essentially the same person but Abgrund stated they were two beings who simply sought after the same things. Pluto is however now dead, Death killed him¡­.. Flashes of images from the past began to fill my conscience showing me places I¡¯ve never been. It had a black sky with a dark red sun, jagged black rock that floated in the air. Next to Malthiel was a large dark haired man with a black ornamented crown on his head. He held a two-pronged fork with red tipped blades and glowed in a rich black color. Next to him however were a large number of other Reapers and a massive 3 headed dog that looked as big as a pro football stadium. They were fighting what looked like hundreds of other deities as well. Surrounded by an endless sea of undead. Billions? Trillions? I didn¡¯t have the number for how many monsters were fighting in this war. There were even beings who looked like humans to be fighting in the mix but every second thousands more would fall from the relentless onslaught from the ever increasing undead. Hades had an army of Reapers as well as several King Reapers and other gods and mortals alongside him. Two King Reapers had died already and Hades only had Malthiel and Minos left. Minos however was not an Undead like Malthiel was. He had an old face but it didn¡¯t look human. It also had a crown of tree branches growing out from of his head. He even wore however the same cloak as Malthiel and wielded a similar but less ornamented scythe. ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking but Hades actually hates the undead. Found the whole idea of Pluto and Baron Samedi raising the dead from their rest to be savage. He only made Malthiel look the way he did because the Undead only fear one thing, and that is stronger Undead. ¡° ¨C Abgrund ¡°Wait isn¡¯t the Netherworld or whatever just full of Undead Skeletons and stuff like that?¡± ¡°¡­ Why would there be Undead in the Netherworld? You don¡¯t take your bones with you when you go there. You only take your¡­well I believe the word you use for it is Soul.¡± ¨C Abgrund ¡°¡­.¡± As I stood there listening to everything he said as well as looking at the images of the King Reapers sweeping across the endless seas of undead. There were Bone Dragons, Ruin Knights, Undead Ogres and monsters of all kinds I recognized from the game. They fought alongside and against several other beings that each had an intense glow surrounding them. Each was a divine. Malthiel was in a 1 on 1 match against some odd looking human shaped man who I¡¯m assuming was a deity to be moving so quickly. He had a top hat and cane with a skull painted over his face and seemed to have been parrying each of Malthiel¡¯s swings with Abgrund quite easily. He was dressed odd for battle, as his attire was a dull black vest and pants. He had a large necklace with big beads connected to a yellow skull around his neck. His body was painted black and had odd white symbols covering him that made him almost resemble the relentless Undead Legion that surrounded him. Malthiel then waved each of his hands and everything within a 100 meter radius surrounding him then toppled to the sides and died. As each undead fell the thin top hatted man from before jumped out from behind one of a collapsing Bone Dragon¡¯s untouched. Seeing these images I can¡¯t imagine fighting in a battle like this. Every god moves at such speeds its impossible for there to be a moment to make a mistake. The images are going at such a fast pace I was then told this battle itself took 9 months. With no absence from battle and being an Undead, Malthiel fought continuously for those 9 months while holding tightly onto Abgrund and alongside his master Hades. Anytime they would butcher through a rogue god or a good amount of undead their enemies would simply revive more and their efforts would account for close to nothing. The top hatted man then stuck his cane on the ground and smiled while lighting a fire in his palm and stuck a cigar in his mouth. He blew out a stream a yellow smoke and started to laugh while everything that was in the surrounding area that fell got up and now had an intense dark yellow and black glow around them. ¡°¡­ There was even an undead who could revive fallen gods on the battlefield and bend them to his will. The Undead Legion were truly a force like no other as they do not ever stop. They continue to grow stronger as the fight draws longer and do not ever tire. Even with the unity of Hades and Yama the fight was at a stalemate. All until he arrived¡­.¡± ¨C Abgrund The image of a black suited man appeared in the sky. His clothes looked old. He looked older. He had dark black hair that he had up in a ponytail. I could almost hear his old voice as it interrupted the long bloody battle and echo throughout the planet itself. ¡°¡­Mmm. Such an interesting place. Infested mind you but intriguing. The Dead and the Living existing side by side, such an interesting concept. Ah¡­¡± He began to write down in a small book before placing it back into his suit and looking towards the onlookers from below. ¡°I always do like to write down where I¡¯ve been. When you¡¯ve gotten to be my age you¡¯d understand¡­ Mmmm Such children though¡­Clamoring on an on for your piece of the pie that was never really yours to begin with now was it..Hmph¡­Hugh... Quite a beauty¡­Pitty to see it go.¡° The long haired man then materialized a long wooden framed scythe and swung it across the sky. A tear across time itself looked to have opened up a wormhole to another world. Abgrund however explained that the air at this time had been sucked dry from this world killing all the mortals and biologically life in the world in one go. All the followers of particular gods were wiped out within an instant. When dozens of Gods began to attack him everything that got even close fell out of the sky turned to ash before even crashing into the ground. A muscular white bearded deity with green smoke surrounding him and an odd black armor leaped through the sky causing the ground to erupt and lightning to streak behind him. He covered the distance between him and the suited man within a blink and swung his oddly shaped trident towards the suited man and blowing the surrounding stars behind them to fly further away with one swing. ¡°Hoh¡­Strong aren¡¯t we.¡± The suited man however then intercepted the gods weapon right on the tip of the blade with his finger and stopped it. The large bearded man then twitched and froze. ¡°Pluto!¡± Many of the surrounding deities and divine beasts present had then begun to yell and cry and even Hades had looked surprised by this. The large bearded god¡¯s weapon then began to turn to ash and fade away. From Pluto¡¯s fingers to the rest of his body he too began to turn to ash and disappeared from the battlefield entirely. The image of Malthiel and the top hatted gentleman had each took steps backward, as it must have been an incredible accomplishment in an already bloody war. As the suited gentleman began to descend towards the ground the Undead Legion and dozens of other deities then surrounded him. The moment his foot touched the ground however the ground began to erupt and the whole planet had died. Everything had begun to decay and break apart until it was nothing. The whole world began to fall apart and disintegrate around the suited gentleman. The Undead legion that surrounded him began to collapse into the nothingness that had been created and die as well. Abgrund explained that the Netherworld was once on the same plane as Middle Earth. It was held up by a world tree that was connected to Yggdrasil on Middle Earth. It however was also connected to the world tree that was planted into the planet they were fighting on. Not only did the planet itself die along with its world tree, but the world tree of the Netherworld was also destroyed having been connected to it. This caused the Netherworld to fall down into a lower plane entirely than Middle Earth. ¡°Interesting I thought Hades blamed this all on Pluto¡­ That is why Hades stole Persephone from him. He felt he was cheated that his land was destroyed.¡± - Hjokk ¡°HMmm¡­Not at all Valkyrie¡­ Pluto died that day stepping up to Death. Hades only pretended to be angry so the other gods weren¡¯t aware of how valuable his land really is. And he didn¡¯t kidnap Persephone he won her in a bet that she sanctioned, and trust me when I say they are annoyingly into each other.¡± ¨C Abgrund Abgrund then told us that the being who stepped down that day was one of the Four Entities that would later be referred to as Death or a Death King. They were named from the battles that transpired after this event when the emergence of the Demons arrived and battle between the gods turned into a free for all. None of the four were deities or gods themselves but were beings who in such a conflict fought on equal terms as achieved in killing many of them. One of the Entities was an incredibly powerful Lich that could revive dead Gods and armies in battle. One was Malthiel the Death Master of Hades, One fought for the Demons, and the other was this strange Entity that claimed to be the real thing. Hj?kk seemed surprised by this whole story as well considering she had never witnessed him in the war of the gods. But Abgrund claims that after this event is when all the gods present separated and soon reunited to combat the emergence of the Demon race. They never witnessed this being again after this day. ¡°So I guess to get back to my original question¡­ Since you¡¯re not the weapon of Death, just some guy who claimed to be. So you couldn¡¯t probably even put a scratch on something like Balor huh? I mean it¡¯s not like Balor already enslaved your previous master so I guess it makes since you couldn¡¯t.¡± ¡°¡­Trying to enrage me somehow to help you mortal? Games of that nature won¡¯t work on a thing like me. However I merely said that I do not hold the power to slay Balor. I myself don¡¯t have the ability to slay anything, it is all only possibly if my wielder can use my power am I able to take lives¡­But if you are asking if I have the power to scratch something like Balor then yes¡­.In his state, with my power there would be nothing left¡­¡± -Abgrund ¡°Then how can¡­¡± ¡°You aren¡¯t anywhere strong enough to wield even a fragment of my power. You only used the first skill so recently and you think you have the power to sustain any of the rest? Even if I could let you use any of them your life would whither away in moments. You¡¯re simply to weak.¡± ¨C Abgrund ¡°¡­.But you do have the abilities to hurt him¡­ There must be a way to use that. Incase he ends up being harder to take down than Malthiel, which I¡¯m assuming he will be. I want to know how much help I can provide Hjokk in this. Is there a way I can become strong enough within the next day and a half?¡± He told me no methods in his opinion could be done in time at all. It¡¯s not something my body could prepare itself for to use. Apparently Blood Wake is only the first skill and Dark Sever and Wrath of Balor were just later added by Balor himself. The skills Abgrund has that I¡¯m unable to use, according to him are enough to kill anything that calls this world home. It could potentially slice through the whole world and he himself has been the tool to end thousands of deities in the past. ¡°At best you could potentially use one skill if you increased your understanding of Death Magic. You¡¯re lucky enough to learn things so simply, so perhaps if you increase your understandings of it, you may be able to use a particular ability in that time. I only assume you could use it once though. ¡° ¡°So all I have to do is increase that skill and I can¡­¡± ¡°Vali¡­ talking to yourself or oh you¡¯re bird is there too.¡± ¨C Locke ¡°Actualy it was my weapon this time¡­¡± Locke then gave me a peculiar look and smirked as he continued to walk up to me. I was standing on the floating landmass waiting outside for the group who was interrogating the Elven witness. He must have decided against asking about my comment and claimed to have received quite a bit of information from the elf he interrogated. According to him the elf wound up breaking and spilled quite a lot to Izzie¡¯s questioning. Not only were the Dark Elves responsible for the creation of the disease but they have been responsible for several events throughout the histories of this dungeon. Including the deaths of Elkia tribesman. Claiming that they had figured out that the Elves had survived and that Malthiel¡¯s puppets weren¡¯t the only traitors. Before they could tell anyone their entire race was wiped out alongside the Annunake guards that protected them. According to Locke the elves had used some kind of illusion magic by forcing a pixie to do it and then put everyone in the Elkia city to sleep. They then attacked and slaughtered everyone on the floor before anyone could learn the truth. ¡°Vali there you are. I assume Locke told you the information we acquired. It took some time but well¡­He ended up dying. I took this for you before his body could disappear.¡± ¨C Adimar The large white wolf then walked up towards me and handed me a large heart with his bloodied hand. ¡®Hmm¡­Considering the circumstances I¡¯m sure Adimar didn¡¯t take too kindly to hearing that piece of information. I wouldn¡¯t even be surprised if it was Adimar who killed him. But even in all that he took the time to take his heart for me. I don¡¯t know if I should feel happy or creeped out. I¡¯m sure to anyone else this looks totally fucked up.¡¯ I chuckled to myself and took the heart away from him and tossed it into my inventory and would bite into it later. I saw walking up behind Adimar was now Izzie with dried blood all over her hands and arms. I can even see some specks in her face. ¡®She doesn¡¯t seem phased at all by torturing that elf.¡¯ Izzie just wiped off her glasses and continue to walk over towards our direction away from the adamantine jail behind her. ¡°Well we got some info out of em before Adimar here let em go a little quicker than I would have liked. But we know now there are a large number of elves mobilizing for this battle about to happen. We aren¡¯t sure of who¡¯s leading them but they are not with us that is for sure. ¡° ¨C Locke ¡°Well if we come across an elf at any point I¡¯ll be sure. What we need to look for right now is all of the remaining puppets so we can formulate a plan without possibly alerting you know who.¡± ¡°Yes Queen Nhaili came by earlier and explained to us the details of the puppets who are remaining here. They gave us a small list of the remaining puppets they were currently aware of. They also gave us a location where many of them are currently right now and have been for some time. I¡¯m in all honestly amazed how she came by such information¡­.We are however leaving now to go and collect them. If the list is accurate it shouldn¡¯t be too much of an issue to gather them all and keep them in this prison if possible. ¡° ¨C Commander Locke ¡°Are you trying to keep them alive for the sake of what Balor said bout saving em nya? ¡° - Izzie ¡°No, but if that is a possibility we cannot simply ignore considering it. But puppets aren¡¯t particularly any different than they were when they were alive. They¡¯re strong sure but no more than anything we can¡¯t deal with and can contain. Besides Queen Nhaili gave us some interesting poison remedies that will come in handy¡­ We can deal with the elf problem afterwards. Malfius has already left to take care of one of the members on this list. I¡¯m taking a team with me to take care of the rest on this list. Adimar, Vali. ¡° ¨CLocke Commander Locke then nodded his head towards each of us and put on his hat and walked away with Izzie. He put on his dark black coat with the same insignia as the others and exited the landmass by warping away. Adimar and Akino were both looking back towards me and explained that on the list Commander Locke was just explaining just happened to have the name Meifeng on it. Hearing the noise greatly shocked Malfius and he claimed he would go investigate this immediately, it may also be why Commander Locke was also considering keeping the remaining puppets here if possible. According to them puppets aren¡¯t particularly stronger than when they were when they were alive. Even if Balor isn¡¯t controlling them directly they are still abiding by his will and collecting information on some sort of autopilot I assume. I¡¯m not sure just how long Meifeng has been a puppet but I¡¯m not sure if it would mean anything if I ever found out. ¡°Vali!¡± ¨C Cosmia I heard the sound of Cosmia and other pixies giggling as a small group of 8 began to fly towards me. Each of their wings glistened when the light from the sun refracted the multiple colors in ways that made the world around them almost look to come alive dance as well. Each of them wore Shock Armor as well as a black Hydra armor underneath. Including Cosmia herself each of them matched. The pixies flew over and came up to me excitedly. If I recall a large majority of them are fighting together on this floor while a smaller number of them are actually on the lower floors training as well. From what we learned from our fight with Alysteir each pixie can regenerate a small amount but amongst all of them Aurora, Cosmia, Daisy, Jana, and Cari who each took a crystal from the white Hydra head can regenerate themselves on a completely different level. They each can heal to such an extent that according to Cosmia even if they had no outside help they would still be able to regenerate themselves back from nothing within less than 2 seconds. They were originally going to give the last healing crystal to Bifrost but she refused and said it should probably go to someone who is more of a front line fighter. As since Cosmia, Daisy and Cari are all people who fight in the back. So it was given to Jana instead since she was considered the strongest of their race in close quarters fighting at one point. If that¡¯s the case they can separate even on a floor this high and be able to fight on much more dangerous territories with no real danger. They however are doing this for training purposes and have left a floating flower crystal with me incase a Fomorian popped up. ¡®Honestly I doubt these little guys would even need my help at this point. Sure they can¡¯t cause a lot of damage without their new power up but what monster could honestly threaten them at this point. Even if they were eaten¡­ They could just turn on Promethan March and be done with it¡­.¡¯ ¡°Hi Vali! We found a group of other humans just a while ago. And a little wolf that looks kinda cute. We think they know you.¡± ¨C Cosmia Cosmia then flew up next to me with her hands on her hips and told me of a small group of people they came across. They found a dead Fomorian and smog dragon next to them and after trying to communicate with the small wolf they figured I knew them. It sounded like Fenrir but I would have no idea who he would be here with. ¡°Humans?¡± ¡°Yah.. They have ears on the side just like you¡­¡± ¨C Cyanin ¡°Yah one of their arms was Vale¡¯s color! And the small wolf even drew a picture of that Scythe so we wanted you to see them first to decide on what to do.¡± - Cosmia They said human? The way she¡¯s describing one of them kind of sounds familiar. ¡®Hmm I wonder what this is about.¡¯ We all then followed behind Cosmia and the small group of pixies around her. Adimar and Akino each smirked while looking towards the small pixies surrounding Cosmia marching in unison beside her wearing matching armor and spears. I¡¯m pretty sure that even the pixies are aware of their newfound power now, as Kai has already explained. You can see it in how their whole attitude has changed. They walk with pride now. I¡¯m sure Adimar has already been told about the appearance of Alysteir and how the pixies had revealed their power. Even if they weren¡¯t each dangerous it really is quite overwhelming. After we acquired power from the Titan Tear that was bigger than a wall we arrived at the base and realized that Grootslang Armor was finished and every single pixie now had Grootslang Shock Armor on. Only a few of them didn¡¯t have the strength requirement so they switched out with the ones wearing Mithril as even though it is a metallic armor it is surprisingly lighter than a leather armor. The Jiji had even created small Grootslang forearm protectors with scrap parts that looked to have looked no different than the top quality leather everyone else was wearing. They had then began to create more armor for the rest of their race as well as any of the other races that would want them afterwards. Once Pek finished the Pixie¡¯s armor he had all the Jijis present to finish up enough armor for their race and with their numbers working together they finished it within the span of a few hours since they left the creation of the Hydra Armors in the responsibility of Queen Nhaili and the Arachnee. They would then create armor with the remaining materials for any of the races that would actually want to wear armor at all. What I was more shocked about learning as that Queen Nhaili is in Master Level 2 in Tailoring. One of her skills allows her to reduce 30% of the materials needed by using a combination of her threads that extend the quality throughout the entirety of the item worn. Just by having that I¡¯m sure we can arm a good portion of our troops just based on this alone. Now however it has given all of these pixies and myself have the chance to arm ourselves to the teeth with top quality equipment that is unseen in the outside world. While all this is going on I also had Sting try to work with some of the Arachnee in creating poisons. We are going to be attacking Balor with a lot I¡¯m wondering if we can find something else that can help our cause. Sting hit me with a poison back at the cabin. If I recall the damage was 5,000 damage for every 5 seconds¡­ That amount of damage from a poison status was a lot. I needed a crystal just to take the status away. I know he must be knowledgeable about poisons so I asked Reinma and some of the Arachnee to see if they can work together on creating a potent poison against Balor. ¡®Hmm I want to check out this poison the Elves invented. If we could somehow take out that ridiculous magic supply I¡¯m sure Balor has this battle would go by a lot better for us. Something that actually attacks it specifically could be beneficial to fighting him and the elves if we can somehow poison them with it. As we left the floating mass and appeared on the ground level we continued to what appeared to be the direction of our base. Guahhhh! Guahh Guah! GUAH!! ¡°AHahAHAHAH!!!!¡± ¡°¡­Oh gosh that sounds like Tanin.¡± ¨C Cosmia Loud yelps followed by a sinister laughter began to ring out as we walked closer to our bases location. Bright white and orange lights began to flutter and illuminate the dense forest up ahead and we quickened our pace. Sure enough Cosmia noticed she was right with an emotionless reaction to it at all. There floating amongst the tall trees while laughing hysterically as he rained down fire in a flamethrower type motion was Tanin. The endless stream of fire would pour out from his fists and the moment it touched one of the gnolls below it would then almost engulf the target entirely. The level difference of the Gnolls and Tanin must have been at least 150. His fire however was smoldering the medium sized rigid creatures as if he were spraying insecticide on ants. The damage was enough that the gnolls didn¡¯t last more than a a minute before they stopped moving entirely. Many looked to have collapsed while attacking Tanin but none were successful at taking him down. ¡®Well his affinity with fire is possibly higher than some of the strongest fire mages in the world. Considering there abilities with magic along with everything else I don¡¯t think level is enough to distinguish them anymore.¡¯ ¡°Hey Cosmia¡­ Can you tell Tanin to cut it out.¡± ¨C Cyanin ¡° Oh whatever¡­ Vali you have got to check this out. When our Fire and Light affinities rose we each learned some really strong passive and attack skills. Seriously, now that my Fire Affinity rose over 50%, once it touches anything it will ignite and not get put out unless I die! Since I don¡¯t die they can¡¯t put it out it¡¯s hilarious. Oh! And the fire also shares in some of the effects from that crystal, so everything in this dungeon has a huge weakness to it. You have to see my new skill¡­ FlA¡° - Tanin ¡°NO! Don¡¯t do it again Tanin! ¡° ¨C Jade Several small, bright orange flames began to appear surrounding Tanin and brighten just until Jade flew up and began to become swatted away by her dark green wings. ¡®Geez if that¡¯s true that in itself sounds like a cheat. The combination of these guys skills working together would just not be considered fair by anyone else¡¯s standards. By any mage in the world who studies magic would think of their cheat like abilities to probably be blasphemy. Since everything in this dungeon probably has a dark attribute and has a weakness to light the pixies have done a complete 180 on who are the hunters. I was just saying earlier how their attack damage is low but their magical attack power has changed by leaps and bounds.¡¯ ¡°You act like you¡¯re the only one whose fire got stronger. Cari can do that too but her Flash skill is by far the coolest! ¡° ¨C Cyanin ¡°I never said my skill was as cool as Cari¡¯s I simply said mine was the most destructive! But I¡¯ll be able to do that too if I just raise my Light affinity by a bit more.¡± ¨C Tanin Tanin began to pace back and forth while rubbing his chin. Kai then flew up and told everyone about the fact that this area is supposed to be hidden and there was smoke that he is now having everyone put out. You could hear him yelling to Tanin it shouldn¡¯t matter if there are gnolls roaming around the base or not. ¡°Psh well whatever we each raised our levels some so wasn¡¯t that the point. We even got Cari and Bifrost to over level 50 now. That¡¯s faster than I was suppose to have done by now right?¡± ¨C Tanin ¡°¡­ That¡¯s not the point!¡± ¨C Kai I was watching as the small but athletically built purple and orange pixies begin to bicker at one another. Ruf! Just then I heard a loud familiar bark. Turning to the side I saw the small silver pup running towards me and the pixies surrounding me. Following behind him were three familiar charred figures I have seen before. ¡®Ah! I thought so¡­I don¡¯t want to deal with these people right now!¡¯ ¡°Geezes these things are nuts¡­He just got his arm almost ate off while he was laughing the whole time. ¡° ¡°Who¡¯d think the loud one could pull it off. Well thank Freya our search is over¡­¡± As the masked man who reminded me of Loki and the one armed cos player continued to chatter as they walked closer towards us. I began to pet Fenrir as I pondered just how or why they are here. How did they even get inside? ¡®Ugh¡­Don¡¯t tell me they want something? Change plans to the deal? The fact that they arrived with Fenrir bugs the crap outa me. ¡® Walking up alongside them was a dark ashy figure in a dull iron armor. Her blonde hair was practically dyed black from one side from ash alone. No different than the other two walking alongside her. ¡®Their levels are far too low for this place¡­ Why they¡¯re in such a place just wondering around is idiotic. Am I going to have to keep them alive now?¡¯ ¡°What?¡± --------------------------------------------------------------- ¡°And then those little armored brats found us and we found ourselves here.¡± ¨C Shen ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± ¡®I guess mom decided to send Fenrir¡­. I have definitely missed my curfew that¡¯s for sure.¡¯ Shen and the other two Asher royal guards sat opposite of me in the war room within the base. This story was actually quite long¡­ I assume that¡¯s cause this guy with the prosthetic arm wearing a yukata or the masked guard, they both seem to¡­. ¡°Speaking of¡­Sir Vali, what are these¡­.things?¡± ¨C Shakko The Masked Man then nudged his head over to the small image of Cosmia who just flew over to sit down next to Cyanin. Each of them were off to the side of us petting Fenrir. ¡°Pixies¡­¡± Answering his question I then looked around the room and there were still Cosmia¡¯s small group staying back with us. The only people who are at base are us right now actually. ¡°Oh look at that Metal Man got one right.¡± ¨C Shakko ¡°What was that I couldn¡¯t hear ya pervert?¡± ¨C Shen ¡°¡­You!¡± ¨C Shakko Shakko then stood up and looked down at the man next to him appearing agitated. The older guy just started laughing loudly again as if he didn¡¯t care. These guys¡­ Looking over Cassandra is still making the same angry face as she has been. She probably just doesn¡¯t like it here, that or these two must be annoying her. Sting sitting on the chair now had several small white lights appearing around his chest and flashing towards his face. Each time it would it would slightly blind him. After a little while he just started to ignore it. ¡°Hehehe¡± ¨C Cosmia ¡°Tehe he¡¯s trying to ignore us.¡± ¨C Cyanin Cyanin and all of the pixies who were messing with Sting then started shining their lights on one position centralized on his right shoulder. The spot started to smoke for a moment until¡­ ¡°Wha¡­AH!...Fire! You little! Wha¡­It won¡¯t go out! It won¡¯t go out.!! VALI!!!¡± ¨C Sting Sting then jumped up and started shaking his arm violently. The small flame no matter how hard he tried wouldn¡¯t go out. Not only that but it was moving along his body. He ran frantically over to me as if I could do something about it. ¡®Hmm¡­Wow speaking of I don¡¯t think I have an ability that can put out a fire¡­I can manipulate fire but¡­. ¡® I then just waved at Cyanin and Cosmia to put it out. At this point the small flame that was on his shoulder is now on his opposite sides elbow. As the fire got put out I can see now it didn¡¯t even singe his clothes. ¡®Poor Sting.¡¯ ¡°Well¡­ Looks like you 3 got yourselves caught up in quite the mess along with us. I hate to break it to ya but right now there is a god readying an army of monsters and giants to destroy the whole world out of spite. Believe it or not¡­ I doubt this continent stands a chance. That large monster you said looked like a mountain¡­.They can cut through Mithril Armor and just about anything else pretty damn easy. And you couldn¡¯t even move when looking at them? That let¡¯s me know a lot of people are gonna die. They also heal themselves and apparently only a Legendary grade weapon or above can even cut em.¡± As I continued to explain the details of what lies ahead for them each of the trio¡¯s eyes then began to widen. Cassandra who was earlier showing a look of disdain now showed one of nervousness and fear. ¡°If that weren¡¯t enough, I¡¯m assuming he himself will be fighting too and if he¡¯s anything like something else I fought recently this could get worse real quick. ¡° ¡®Believe it or not Balor has a huge advantage regardless of how I look at it. Homefield advantage, his. Number and Level superiority of troops also his. Hjokk even said he could create armies of darkness with ease and considering his element he can probably shield himself similarly to how Malthiel did as well. Hjokk said the darkness here can probably even heal him¡­.He has the advantage¡­. So were going to take it from him. We need to bust the walls down like we did before and light this place up. We need to shut his infinite mana supply down but he won¡¯t just let us attack him. Getting anywhere close to him is already going to be a pain. The Annunakes are going to have to drain him of everything and we might have a shot. But I have an idea how to shut him down, if even for a short period of time we may be able to hurt him quite severely. The pixies themselves can become a great asset in this plan of attack. I¡¯m already going to test Balor¡¯s defense against their divine skill, but I need to shut his barrier skill and healing ability down before that time¡­.. If that¡¯s the case then I¡¯ll need bodies¡­ A lot of bodies. ¡® I looked at the small bird sitting on my shoulder thinking to myself quietly. ¡°So it is Balor? Balor is responsible for this¡­he¡¯s alive?¡± ¨C Shakko ¡°Hah¡­..Anyone got any alcohol around here cause I could really go for a drink.¡± ¨C Shen ¡°¡­.¡± The trio each took it differently but I was surprised to find out that Shakko knew of who Balor was. I¡¯m assuming when they entered the dungeon his name is mentioned upon getting inside. ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± ¡°Can you kill them?¡± ¨C Cassandra Cassandra finally chimed in and stared at me intently. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to sound so rash¡­. I just. You seem quite calm. You each said he¡¯s a god¡­.Can you kill gods?¡± ¨C Cassandra Thinking to my self I answered her. ¡°I¡¯m gonna try.¡± Looking at her I just told her the truth. I¡¯m not some hero from a storybook. I can¡¯t claim to kill something like Balor. In fact he¡¯s out of my league. Not even one year ago I was just some kid with nothing, no one. But with those around me¡­ ¡°But you said an army? I mean¡­ How big is this army of beasts and giants?¡± ¨C Cassandra ¡°I guess¡­. Enough to take over the whole world with¡­¡± ¡°¡­.¡± She just looked down and started biting her lip. I won¡¯t lie I¡¯m sure it¡¯s a pretty terrifying ordeal. As I started to get up I contemplated how I was going to keep them here. Honestly I don¡¯t want them following me right now. Not only would I have to protect them but I wouldn¡¯t be able to practice my death magic. Not with them around. ¡®Hjokk and Loki made it pretty clear that type of magic isn¡¯t something that mortals should even be able to wield. If these guards witness that things could get even more complicated for me later. And if I want to keep good relations with that King and Queen it probably wouldn¡¯t look good if I didn¡¯t return with their royal knights. What else could get worse at this point, their kingdom is apparently already at war with whoever that General pretty boy was from. I honestly don¡¯t have time to think about that right now. But if somehow this endangers my family in any way¡­I¡¯ll hold these three accountable for that as well.¡¯ ¡°Wai¡­Wait¡­ Where are you going? ¡° - Shakko I gave them the warning of the dangers in this dungeon and what lurk inside of here. I may have even described what a Soul Devourer as to them as well¡­. After that they didn¡¯t make much noise about wanting to wonder outside of this place. ¡°We¡¯re still not ready. So I need to go prepare more. If anyone comes here just say you¡¯re waiting on me. If you¡¯re in this room it means you¡¯re suppose to be here so you should be fine.¡± I then turned around and left them there. Each of the pixies giggled and followed behind me as we left the war room to go hunting. I need to practice my Death Grip and my other skills as much as possible before Balor arrives. Something tells me the first two skills I use on Abgrund the most would probably be ineffective to him entirely. I feel like the pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together though¡­Just.. Something doesn¡¯t feel right. We just don¡¯t have all the tools to come up with a decent strategy yet¡­ ¡®Hah¡­.¡¯ Taking a deep sign I rose up my gauntlet and pulled out a small item. Snif¡­Snif¡­ As I was thinking I began to smell the small bracelet underneath my Midnight Gauntlet. I began to have a rush of memories flood through my brain yet again. This time it showed my memories I had made in this world. With my mother, with Ari and everyone back at the cabin, even with those inside here as well I have grown quite close to. Looking down at Cosmia she smiled back up at me while walking next to her guards. Smiling back at her I knew somehow we we¡¯re going to do it. We we¡¯re going to take down a god. --------------------------------------------------------------------- AHHhhhhhh!!!!! St¡­Stooopppppppppp!!!!!!! HELPPP!!!! ¡°Va¡­Val..eh.¡± The small red pixie then began to get melted right before my eyes. The black sludge continued to run completely over her until she was no more. Looking to the side the same thing was happening to everyone else. They were being eating away by the incredibly dense darkness. No attack was working as the darkness kept increasing with diameter and density upon every attack. They weren¡¯t growing back. They were all dying. Tanin then flew into my direction and hit the ground as the darkness was beginning to eat him as well. His fire slowly went out and all that was left was his hand as the smog took him away as well. ¡­¡­ I was powerless. I reached for his hand as the darkness swept it away. I could no longer feel his pulse and I believed too he had died. Just then the shape of Tanin who was swallowed by darkness grew and enlarged. The shaped changed entirely and there standing only a few feet in front of me was Balor. In an intense rage I attacked him but it felt as if everything I did was useless. I took out Abgrund and cleaved off his head. His image then disappeared and he was gone. The image of Akino then ran over to me and was screaming something frantic and in fear but I couldn¡¯t hear her voice. She just kept shaking my shoulders but I couldn¡¯t hear her. She then gave a look as if she was stunned and her eyes went dead panned. I looked down and there was blood covering her chest. As her body fell over to the side I then began to eat on Akino¡¯s heart and feast. Below me was a mountain of corpses. Piled so high it resembled a skyscraper. There were just so many large piles other than the one I was on. The corpses below me resembled all those who I¡¯ve killed. I¡¯ve tortured and dismembered. Their bodies line a horrific throne built with their limbs. Sitting atop the throne was the head of the demon I thought of every day. ¡®¡­¡­.¡¯ AHHHHHhhhhhhh! AHhahahahahaha!!!!! I began to scream and laugh loudly to myself after seeing the magnitude of what I had done. The grounds were littered in skeletons to where it almost looked similar to the endless sea of undead from Abgrunds memories. Looking out in front of me I see the image of myself only¡­ Out in front of me was a floating mirror showing my black eyes staring right back at me. Now standing before the mirror seeing my image it almost looked like something was wrong. Just then chains began to emerge from the mirror behind my figure and wrap around me strangling and choking me. The mirror shattered and I fell to the ground from the weight and movements being stalled as the chains continued to suffocate me. Looking on the ground I can now see my reflection through the shards of the mirror. My face looked broken. Like parts of it were torn off and I see the pitch black bones underneath. As a gust of wind brushed by¡­. I then saw nothing but the black bones staring back¡­. ¡°IT¡¯S Your Fault!¡± ¡°it¡¯s your fault¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s YOUR FAULT!¡± ¡®No¡­¡¯ I continued to hear the voices of those I had failed followed by a deep whisper. My siblings, my mother, everyone I¡¯ve come to know continue to remind me of the fears and truths I hated most. As much as I tried¡­I simply couldn¡¯t get out of the chains that continued to hold me down. ¡°Hmph¡­.¡± Feeling something was here with me I looked up and there I saw him, Balor. ¡®It¡¯s him¡­ This is all his fault!¡¯ Now feeling free I got up as if the chains were never even there to begin with. There standing in front of me was the 10 foot visage of Balor. He had no face but two large horns going around the side of his face. He was muscular and looked to be constantly daunting the armor that looks to be made of his own body. Looking down at me his eyes dimmed. ¡°You¡­You did ¡­¡± ¡°This is all you champion. You¡¯re dreaming.¡± ¨C Balor ¡°¡­Impossible you had to¡­¡± ¡°This is just what the darkness does to us all human¡­. It takes and shares in our weakness our fears¡­. It embraces us while also clutches us without any release¡­. As I was stunned by this Balor continued to talk. It was then I realized the same immense pressure I felt whenever he spoke before was somehow different. ¡°And I am really here as well champion.¡± ¨C Balor If I wasn¡¯t stunned before, I was frozen now. ¡®What does he want. You mean I¡¯m dreaming right now? I felt a rush of relief but what is happening right now?¡¯ ¡°¡­.What do you want?¡± Wanting him to get on with what he wants so I can wake up he only grinned and turned away. ¡°Hmph¡­.You know¡­ You remind me a lot of myself when I was younger. ¡° ¨C Balor Balor started to walk away slightly as he was staring off into the landscape inside my own head. His voice was deep but it just sounded old. It didn¡¯t hold the same volume and power from before though. ¡°Smart¡­.Angry¡­.Trying desperately to pretend I was something good when¡­Somehow deep down knowing you¡¯re not.¡± ¨C Balor Looking back at me as he said that last part I angrily answered back. ¡°I¡¯m nothing like you. I would never butcher so many for the sake of revenge.¡± ¡° No, you just dream about it¡­¡± ¨C Balor ¡°¡­..¡± I stood there quietly as I couldn¡¯t refute what he had said. Even while I¡¯m awake I can hear some of their screams still. ¡°Why are you here?¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­. I¡¯m not sure of that either¡­. To be honest I simply wanted to extend my offer a second time. See if now that you were away from you¡¯re allies you would maybe give a different answer.¡± ¨C Balor ¡°Answer¡¯s still no.¡± Balor now turned around to face me stares at me intently and I can see a look of irritation in his old eyes. ¡°There is no shame in joining me boy. If it is revenge you seek I will grant it to you in blood by that fill the seas. Because very soon everything will change. I can grant you more power than you can process¡­ So much that the gods that blessed you would even quiver in fear. But you yourself don¡¯t even realize what state you¡¯re in. Where you are no less!¡± ¨C Balor ¡°I think we conflict on a few more things than just that. I¡¯d have some issues with you destroying the world.¡± ¡° The term I would use is liberating it.¡±¨C Balor ¡°And you need to destroy the whole world to attain that?¡± ¡°Hmph¡­ Something that is barely even out of his diapers couldn¡¯t possibly understand. You simply trust those who have gifted you so readily. What would you say mortal if I told you those so called gods lied to you, as they did to me?¡± ¨C Balor ¡°So that¡¯s it. You¡¯re going to say the god who blessed me is responsible for you descending?¡± ¡°Actually I descended long after I was trapped in this¡­.place.¡± ¨C Balor Balor¡¯s bright yellow eyes then flickered and twitched and are now looking away. I could hear him making a deep sign seeming agitated. His figure is just so large. I know this is a dream¡­ But somehow he¡¯s in here talking to me. His visage is still intimidating to me even without the overwhelming pressure that brimmed off of him. ¡®He can even get inside of my dreams? Am I really capable of killing this thing? ¡® ¡°Mm¡­ I¡¯m done offering such opportunity to an insignificant child who is unworthy. Know this mortal¡­whether you win or lose¡­Even if my story soon ends you will know complete despair in this darkness. From the real villains of this story.¡± _ Balor As I was about to retort Balor then turned around disappeared. ¡®No..Get wait ¡­.huh?¡¯ My vision then distorted and I was then sitting in the darkly lit room. No wait¡­. It¡¯s pretty brightly lit actually. A small circle around me is dark but everything else is actually pretty brightly lit. There were a few pixies sleeping right next to me while many others were huddled next to each other. Their lights though dimmed were still quite bright. However this was dulled in comparison to the dark tint to everything being emitted through Bifrost¡¯s strange black aura. Not only does it surround herself and her sister sleeping next to her but it falls over everything else as well which is tinted in all black. All of the lights in the room including Cari¡¯s are almost sucked into her wings and refracted back out to darken the area around everyone slumbering. After I left the trio a few of us went hunting on several floors. Apparently there was a reason Tanin and his group were getting antsy on floor 52 earlier, the pixie¡¯s power up with fire and light have completely changed the dynamic of hunting for them now. They aren¡¯t afraid of monsters anymore simply because the monsters all flee from the pixies upon the sight of them. And that is all because of Tanin and now also surprisingly¡­. Cari. [Can¡¯t sleep?] Looking to the side I see the small purple crow who has come along this journey with me and who has always been right there. ¡°No guess not. ¡° [You know Loki said heroes rarely sleep well.] ¡°Did he now.¡± Getting up I tried not to wake any of the pixies beneath me. I figured if I couldn¡¯t sleep I might as well get some hunting done. Seeing this Hjokk then got up and flew over to my shoulder and joined me. I needed to increase my skills and magic in one day and I honestly can¡¯t seem to get any sleep. ¡®I¡¯ll let the pixies sleep. The trio and Sting are in the war room sleeping and everyone else is out preparing. So I might as well get some work done now as well.¡¯ [Yes¡­He said¡­A hero is someone who always second guesses himself. One who deaths will tend to weigh down from time to time regardless if they were good or evil¡­.A tyrant does not.] Looking back towards the bright purple eyes staring back at me I cracked a smile and left the base. The Jiji and Arachnee are working overnight and I figure I might as well get some hunting in before the sun comes up. ¡°Guess we¡¯ll see what I am when all this is over.¡± End of Chapter Remember guys I''m trying this whole donations tab thing out as a gamble..not really expecting much from it but who knows if this becomes a large source of income for me my priorities would obviously change....Again thanks for reading and comment below! Fingers crossed that I can finish Chapter 24 by Sunday and that I can hopefully create something awesome.... Chapter 23: Enter Balor Hey guys so here''s chapter 23. I got a lot of progress on chapter 24 today but I''m still aiming to finish by tomorrow just might be a little more raw than normal obviously....However if it''s not posted by tomorrow night expect within the next day or 2. ***WARNING!!!! You''ve been warned...As I said I''m aiming to post this chapter tomorrow but as you know that doesn''t always work out as planned. I''m really tired right now as is but I have the next couple of days off so I''ll be finishing this. However this was all meant to be posted together for reasons and you''ll soon see why if you have to wait a few days for a climax. I''m taking big swings in this story...I want this to be a rich experience that is just an entirely different world than our own one. One that isn''t afraid to explore all sorts of themes that will be coming soon simply because I enjoy all this freedom and getting to the good stuff.... Well out of the 3,000 readers 3 people sent donations so not exactly what I was assuming but like I said wasn''t expecting many to do. However to those three who did I was actually shocked at the amounts they gave. Seriously shocked that some of you enjoy my fiction so much and honestly I wanted to let you know I was touched. But lets cut out all the gabbing I''m tired and going to bed.... Hope you each stay along for the ride. Enjoy....... Chapter 23: Enter Balor ¡°Congratulations everyone! Another successful mission! ¡° ¨C Cosmia The pixies surrounding Cosmia continued to clap in excitement after they came back from the midnight hunt with me. Whenever I left the base I found them all waiting for me outside all geared up and ready to come hunting with me. The images of them sleeping were all apparently an illusion as well so they joined me as I was training in my skill masteries. ¡°Tehe those monsters were so weak before us. Cari! You were so strong!¡± ¨C Cyanin Cyanin then flew over to Cari and wrapped her arms around the small pixie with white wings. They each embraced while the surrounding pixies were each celebrating together. ¡®Use to, coming back from a hunt without any casualties would have been a rare occurrence but now¡­ The monsters were running in fear of them. ¡® ¡°Thank you Cyanin! It was so much fun getting to fight with all of you finally! But you were way stronger than me they couldn¡¯t even hurt you!¨C Cari ¡°Psh even the Field Bosses were running from you Cari. You¡¯re even level 70 now!¡± ¨C Uri Each of the pixies now can use some fire and light magic but the extent they can use it plus the skills they¡¯ve gained are not small. Cari has the highest Fire and Light affinities both over 50%. She also got an incredible combination skill from it called Flash Flame. The skill works as fast as its name implies but the damage it does cannot be counted by numbers alone. Any part of a monster that gets touched by Cari¡¯s light will then be engulfed by her fire, which almost touches everything in one move. It will then continue to burn and harm its victims unless Cari dies¡­ Her fire doesn¡¯t cause a whole lot of damage yet considering her level or low Intellect but the fire touches almost everything on the floor in one shot and even does extra damage to anything with a darkness attribute. The effects of her fire and what they do considering her high Wisdom were also staggering. To the point that the victims become helpless only after a few minutes and then could able to be taken down by the group¡­. Actually that fire makes it to where the victims could be killed by a thing stick that¡¯s how ruthless the flames are and almost drops the monsters Defense to nothing. Sometimes many of the monsters would die before I could even use my death magic on them. I called them a cheat before but now¡­. This is just starting to get unfair.¡¯ ¡°Hey Vali¡­Why don¡¯t you try to eat one of the Dawn Bringer crystals and see if your ability works like ours?¡± ¨C Uri Walking up to me were both Uri and Jana wearing their new Shock and Hydra covered in monster blood. ¡®Like I can¡¯t see that ending badly. I can¡¯t even imagine trying to shit that thing out of me should things not work out the right way.¡¯ ¡°No I don¡¯t think that would work out too well for me. Besides I think my absorption ability works a little differently. You guys absorb magic and make it your own while I¡­. It feels like I absorb the lingering bits of life force that remains within a person as the Soul passes on, and grants me one skill they learned during their lifetime. ¡° ¡°Hmm¡­. Are there more outside this dungeon with these Divine skills?¡± ¨C Jana ¡°I have to be honest with you that¡¯s a question I don¡¯t know. I¡¯d ask Hj?kk but she¡¯s not really the best person to ask for information either¡­Honestly I doubt there¡¯s many at all who can so you will each be quite unique¡­¡± ¡°And Hj?kk is suppose to be related to the person who gave us all this strength¡­What¡¯s she like?¡± ¨C Uri ¡°Brynhildr? I¡¯ve never met her, Hj?kk just talks about her very highly. ¡° ¡°¡­Guess it¡¯s just strange is all¡­.How quickly things can change¡­. Hard to wrap my head around everything, heh¡­ I guess I¡¯m just thankful my siblings and you met ¡­Hey did you know Kai thinks with our bodies how they are now we may even live to be over 1000.¡± ¨C Uri ¡®Seriously? Well with your regenerative abilities it¡¯s a lot different than normal healing. I¡¯m not surprised even Hjokk can¡¯t heal herself as quickly as we do, that¡¯s just how legendary a beast the King Hydra was for its ability to regenerate lost heads faster than it took to cut them off.¡¯ ¡°That¡¯s if we ever get out of here Uri.¡± ¨C Jana ¡°Just crazy to think about is all¡­ Little bro Kai was blowing my mind earlier with some of the things he was saying.¡± ¨C Uri ¡°Thing¡¯s surely have changed¡­.¡± ¨C Jana I continued to chat with each of the pixies as we finished up our hunt. These two were at one point the top two pixies in this dungeon before all that transpired with Jhenson and the Dark Elves. Even with everyone learning magic and gaining new abilities the experience these two showed during our hunt today proved that in time they will soon be back up in the top spots once again most likely. I noticed quite a lot while coordinating everything from the back during our trek through the lower floors. It¡¯s not that they are essentially stronger than their siblings by any means but as a tag team these two work quite well together and killed quite a few monsters each today. They have much less wasted movements than teir siblings and you can even tell in how they each approach and take on a monster together. Each monster they would attack they would time their attacks towards the monsters flanks at precisely the right moment, time and time again As we continued to walk back to the base the pixies continued to laugh and giggle to one another as we walked through the dense forest. They would stroke Fenrir who has now grown about 2 inches taller. He is still silver but after getting to level 121 his size and muscle definition appears to have become much larger and denser. roughly the same height as the pixies now and watching him hunt alongside the Pixies as I used my magic in the back was a completely different experience. They simply massacred the lower floors. Any and all monsters there that were found were eliminated without any mercy. Fenrir himself gained quite a bit of abilities as well. ¡® Thinking of it we were an entire armed group of individuals and monsters who absorb abilities from our prey. In time we would be truly frightening together. Monsters who were once thought threats and terrifying to these pixies may have had a lot of stress blown out on them today. From the loud screeches the monsters had made it sounded as if they truly did fear the pixies who were mercilessly destroying the monsters with hundreds of thrusts from their spears until they had died. There are currently no monsters in the area as I¡¯m sure they¡¯ve all been exterminated by now. As we got back to the base I saw a large group of pixies standing and flying around a large pile. ¡°Oh..He¡¯s here!¡± All the pixies surrounding Fenrir and I then flew over to the same spot where the others were huddled up. ¡° ¡± ¡°Surprise!¡± ¡° ¡° Cosmia and the rest of the pixies then raised their arms and smiled real big. ¡°What?....¡± [That¡¯s just morbid¡­ Did you tell them to do this Vali!] ¡°What? Why would you think that?¡± The pixies then started to blink and look oddly back at us as the mountain of bloody hearts were stacked into a pile roughly taller than myself. ¡®Oh come to think of it that makes since now. Cosmia and Kai were asking me a lot of weird questions earlier about Fenrir and mine¡¯s absorption ability. They think that¡¯s also why we were meant to be family as they think our abilities are essentially the same....¡¯ So now, to thank me for all of the crystals¡­. Anytime they came near a dead monster they¡¯d go collect the hearts. Somehow the knowledge that I can only eat 2 hearts per species didn¡¯t really sink in so¡­ ¡°You don¡¯t¡­. You don¡¯t like it?¡± ¨C Cosmia ¡® I guess if I gave them a mountain of crystals they would probably cheer so my reaction may be odd for them but this is a little weird. ¡® I couldn¡¯t stop myself from chuckling a bit and explaining to them that I can only receive two abilities max per monster. So after I eat the hearts from two of the same species the others are just¡­useless. ¡®I also don¡¯t want to be known as the guy who snacks on hearts just for the heck of it.¡¯ ¡°Ohhh¡­.. Wait Queen Cosmia why didn¡¯t you tell us that?¡± - Jade ¡°Kai said he was going to. ¡° ¨C Cosmia ¡°Oh yah that¡¯s right. I was in the middle of explaining it to everyone when Cyanin threw a bloody heart in my face¡­ Then I threw one back at her ¡­ Then we all started throwing them and¡­ I forgot.¡± ¨C Kai ¡®¡­. Ok¡­.¡¯ ¡°It¡¯s fine we¡¯ll let Fenrir have anything extra.¡± I already received the hearts from hunting earlier. I gained a few very odd assortments of skills but even on the lower Floors the abilities I received each had its own uniqueness to it. One of which elongated my tongue and I couldn¡¯t really see a use for it. ¡®Well¡­maybe one use.¡¯ I also got a couple perception type skills one being Night Vision and the other being a strange ability that allows me to visually perceive scents¡­.¡¯ It¡¯s got an odd name so I¡¯m gonna call it smell-a-vision.¡¯ I can¡¯t really see a use for it as of yet but I can admit it¡¯s quite interesting a skill no less. I used Death¡¯s Grip to kill every monster and when they were weakened I then attempted to use Soul Ripper but it wouldn¡¯t cast. I realized there are a few limitations to Soul Ripper and the first being I can only use it on weak opponents the second being I can only use it on the same species I am from. It¡¯s the first stage of the skill but this limits the ability for me to even grow the skill properly. I don¡¯t want to rip the souls out of a person anyways¡­. But I have to be honest gaining the ability to siphon stats off of monsters wouldn¡¯t be a bad ability at all, and I wouldn¡¯t have to devour souls like a freak monster. I guess whenever me and Mr. Tyrule meet again I can have some fun testing this skill out if I can gain stats without actually¡­.Well yah. The only other ability that I considered as interesting came from the Floor Boss on Floor 3. It had re spawned and the pixies asked if we could go fight it together, Cari particularly wanted to since she had always wanted fight against a Floor Boss. The fight just ended insanely quickly and I never got to see the skills the monster had at all. It was by himself which is what did it in. Even if it had good Defense and Strength and was a classified Boss Monster¡­..He was simply food and experience for each of us. It stood at 12 feet tall on two legs and had the head of a red goat. The moment the door opened to the Boss Room and it appeared Fenrir froze it, Cari burned it and all of the pixies surrounded it turned its body into a deformed mess that was swollen and covered in wounds. It was missing one of it¡¯s ram horns and the side of its face. His leather armor was almost all destroyed and the large saber he used is too large for humans but I did however keep his meat as being a Boss Monster could help in some way. ¡®The odd Goat Faced Boss did give me a cool Sword Skill though. It sends an attack to everything in a complete circle of 5 meters around me. I can only use it when I use a sword but Blade Tyrant seems like a really cool skill I would like to try out later.¡¯ The pixies went out of their way to collect hearts from all the monsters on the lower floors that they¡¯ve been hunting on. With the number of monsters they destroyed the mountain of hearts got pretty high. The now slightly taller silver wolf didn¡¯t react much to my words and just lunged into the mountain of hearts that he seemed to enjoy eating. He feasted on them like candy. ------------------------------------------------------------ Crunch!
Congratulations! You have just learned a new skill! Phase Shift
¡®Hmph¡­finally¡­.Gotta love those little bastards. They can get real creepy at times but I gotta thank them for this¡­¡¯ After digesting the 10th heart I finally got a skill from what we assume was a floor one devourer. This ability allows me to move my body past solid matter. The cost of it is insane. Just to keep my entire body submerged underground for 20 seconds would cost my entire mana pool, which was shocking. I think it¡¯s simply because my body is innately different than the monster¡¯s who I received this ability from. If I can raise the skill though this could be an incredible asset. I continued to think about this as I ate into the heart Adimar had given to me before. I had gained several new skills today from the pixies but I had almost forgotten about the heart Adimar had collected from the elf.
Congratulations! You have learned a new skill! Crescent Clever
¡®Hmm¡­Even though that heart came from the Elf in an Annunake body the skill I got was still a skill from an Annunake¡­ Well that¡¯s annoying.¡¯ Some of the pixies continued to pet Fenrir as he ate and the others chatted with each other about the Boss Fight. I found out quite a bit about each of these pixies new skills and their formations. Kai and the other Elites have done a good job at training and growing their lower leveled siblings. Each of them doesn¡¯t do a whole lot of damage but their combined efforts alongside Fenrir and myself the monsters in this dungeon didn¡¯t stand a chance. I¡¯ve already gained a good number of skills now from the lower floor monsters while also advancing my magical skills as well now. While the pixies were busy fighting I was busy working multiple things along with my Death Magic. Dullahan Creation now went up to Grade C. The number of Ghost Dullahans increased to 10 and now look to have acquired slightly bulkier armor.
Congratulations! Dullahan Creation has just advanced to Grade C Dullahan¡¯s have now advanced in rank to Dullahan Knight - Number of Dullahan Knights will now increase to 10 - Dullahan ¡®s will now cause Physical Damage at 10% of the Master¡¯s Attack Power - Dullahan¡¯s will now each have 10% of the Master¡¯s Resistances Cost Reduction: 20%
Each Dullahan still glows in the same pale purple tint but now looks to have much more detail in their armor and equips. Their shields are now more defined as well as their waist pieces have also extended in the back and looks more fashionable. I also figured out something quite interesting after toying with my skills some more¡­. Zap! Zap!!!! ZAP! Lightning now engulfed the 10 Dullahan Knights standing out in front of me. After a little toying around I finally realized that I was trying to apply the lightning armor on after using the Creation skill. If I tried to apply it beforehand it almost felt as if I had an opening to be able to do so. After exhausting my mana twice I finally got a reaction as I applied the Lightning Armor beforehand.
Congratulations! Dullahan Knights have now been changed to Dullahan Storm Knights Grade: C Skill Cost: 15,000 Mana Skill Duration Cost: 50,000 Mana per minute Attack Speed + 10 % - Dullahan Knights will now cause 100 Lightning Damage per physical attack given to them. - Dullahan Knights will now cause an additional 50 Lightning Damage per attack.
¡®Hmm¡­So repeated actions can in fact create skills in this world¡­ I just wonder if that means that there are others with this same ability. Though the effects of turning this effort into a skill really worked out to my advantage. If I can gain higher Resistances it can even strengthen my Dullahans as well but having them clad in lightning would go through my whole mana supply in 10 minutes without using anything else or wearing my equips.¡¯ My mana however dropped to 0% and the skill was deactivated. ¡®I guess I was already pretty drained but I can¡¯t use the Storm Knight function for very long just yet. The costs are just too much but by merging these skills it means way more than just adding lightning to my dullahans. My Death Magic has also gone up by quite a bit but it is still at the same stage. I finished off a lot of monsters that the pixies had initially attacked with Death¡¯s Grip but it doesn¡¯t move up as quickly as the other abilities. [You¡¯re Magic Manipulation may play a big role in this Vali¡­ Loki spoke about how valuable an ability like that can soon become.] ¡®Oh? I mean I can feel that it helps me in instances of using my skills and magic quickly. But even with it I can¡¯t use this to supercharge my skills and kill Balor or anything.¡¯ [Mages can manipulate elements or even their own magic to a certain extent but they can¡¯t manipulate others magic¡­. Everything in this world has magic in it Vali. From the ground, to the trees even the air. More magic than one small body would ever be able to hold. Every living thing including the inhabitants have magic that dwell within them. It is just if they are able to use it. If you have the ability to manipulate all of that ¡­. If what Loki believes is correct I can see why he would be able to praise you.] ¡®I still don¡¯t understand.¡¯ [If you can manipulate magic like that you could essentially even manipulate the magic inside of others¡­ It wouldn¡¯t be odd to think with time and training someone like Balor wouldn¡¯t even be a threat to you. You could just destroy the magic inside out with a thought. But right now¡­¡­ Balor is going to be very strong Vali. The plan you¡¯ve given me¡­. I¡¯m not sure if it is a good one. Even that skill you like to shoot off from your weapon so much wouldn¡¯t even hurt him. He doesn¡¯t have the same magic as Malthiel but at most you may last a few seconds facing off with him. I think I should¡­] ¡°No¡­ This is the plan we¡¯re going to go with. I need you to hold back the army behind him¡­ Besides I don¡¯t plan on fighting him for long, a few seconds is all I need. ¡° [Vali¡­ My priority is you. If the time calls for it I will choose to save your life over protecting others. ] As I was about to respond to the small purple bird on my shoulder I noticed four figures walking out of the base. Walking up I see the figures of Sting, and the three Asher guards. Standing there seeing Fenrir, Sting paused looking towards the bloody wolf before turning back towards me. He then made an odd face and pointed in my direction. ¡°Vali behind yo¡­¡± ¡°I got him!¡± ¨C Kai As we all turned around an odd grotesque figure of a gnoll was running on all fours towards us. I would have done something but considering what I¡¯ve seen¡­ Kai then flew up and jumped in front of the incoming beast and smiled. It¡¯s speed far exceeded Kai¡¯s by leaps and bounds, even the damage he could cause this monster would be penalized and lowered. His level was currently 177 and the encroaching monster was 264. ¡°Light Hammer!¡±- Kai A brilliant bright light appeared in Kai¡¯s palm in the shape of a large mallet. It was made of an intense bright white light and looked almost bigger than Kai himself. In one swift motion the hammer of light collided with the incoming monster¡¯s soft defense and sent him flying to the side. Its health had then just dropped by 15% in that one swing and knocked the gnoll over. ¡®This is another attack skill all the pixies got when their Light affinities rose. It has a 10 minute cool down but the knockback power on this skill is tremendous to the monsters here. It not only stuns the target it causes 40% additional damage to anything with a dark attribute. I got to see plenty of this earlier and despite the hammer¡¯s size its quite heavy.¡¯ ¡°Wha..What?¡± ¨C Cassandra ¡°The power of Cardinal Hope? ¡°¨C Shen ¡°¡­.¡± ¨C Sting Everyone from behind me then showed looks of shock as the small purple pixie had landed a solid hit with such a heavy skill on the incoming beast. The pixies then surrounded the stumbling monster and killed it. ¡°How did¡­ how did they learn the skill from the famed Cardinal of the Church of Freya?¡± ¨C Sting ¡°I¡¯ll give ya one guess.¡± Sting however didn¡¯t say a thing and continued to look at the armored pixies in awe. ¡®I guess this Cardinal has somewhere of a Light affinity between 11-47%. I guess it makes since if someone had such an ability to knockback darkness it could be thought of as a special skill from the church. But from what my mother has stated is that Holy and Light magic are two different things entirely.¡¯ Now I saw two figures walking towards the edge of the base from the distance. The silhouettes looked to be both female and continued to walk casually in our direction. Turning on my eclipse view to see who the incoming people are I immediately turned it off and starting walking quickly towards them. ¡°Ahaha! Oh hey look there they are wha..¡± I used my spatial magic and appeared right next to female on the right and pulled out Abgrund. ¡°Vali wha¡­¡± ¨C Izzie I pointed my scythe directly at the thin, average looking neko to the right of Izzie. ¡°She ¡®s an elf.¡± To my statement Izzie then looked back at the neko next to her in shock. ¡°Jasmine? Is this tr¡­ue? ¡° - Izzie The small neko then started backing away shaking her hands in fear while looking back towards us. Cassandra¡¯s POV: ¡®These things are truly insane!¡¯ Master Shen, Shakko and I were staring through the entrance to this odd base inside of the cave wall. The scene before us may have been even more distrurbing than everything else I¡¯ve seen so far in the last couple of days. The small pixies we had met yesterday were now dancing around a pile of monster organs they had just got done throwing at one another. Now they are stacking the bloody hearts into a large pile. The smell alone was enough to make me want to vomit. The pixies then started jumping up and down as several figures just walked up. It was Vali his wolf and several pixies walking behind him. ¡®Wow¡­.What is that feeling? It¡¯s so warm. ¡® Walking up alongside Vali my eyes are drawn to another one of the same pixies as before but this one is completely different. Her hair was the color of a rainbow. Her wings refracted so many colors I had never seen before. Even her pupils are multiple colors. ¡®She looks so beautiful, is she a god?¡­And she¡¯s flying over to pile of bloody hearts and¡­.¡¯ ¡° ¡° ¡°Surprise!!!!¡± ¡° ¡° ¡®¡­¡­¡¯ ¡°So what you said about them being cannibals was¡­¡± ¡°Well I don¡¯t believe any of those are human if that¡¯s what you mean. But yes this really is creepy. Do you think Vali is in some sort of cult or something? ¡° ¨C Shakko ¡®I don¡¯t have an answer. I mean I don¡¯t¡­¡­Is he eating a heart too now!¡¯ Each of our eyes widened and we began to hide behind the doorway as if we had done something wrong. ¡°Hmm¡­. Maybe he¡¯s¡­ Trying to be nice and accept their ¡­. Regardless shouldn¡¯t eating that kill you?¡­.¡± ¨C Shen ¡®How did we get ourselves in this situation? Why would he eat that? It¡¯s just so hard to wrap my head around everything that is happening right now. The three of us didn¡¯t even get any sleep last night. Just sat there in the large room in silence.¡¯ Our mission was to retrieve Vali to hopefully reunite with the royal family until we secured their safe but¡­. It all seems to pale in comparison to what has been happening here. From what Vali and that green haired adventurer said¡­. It¡¯s all true. We¡¯re trapped in here¡­. I can feel my heart begin to beat harder against the iron breastplate against my chest. ¡®I¡¯d be lying if I said I wasn¡¯t afraid¡­ I¡¯m terrified.¡¯ I want so much to warn my family and his Highness¡­. I want to run¡­¡¯How is he so fearless? Is he that strong? He seemed unaffected by what was going on but thinking about it his wolf did kill one of those things. Maybe he could¡­. Maybe he could kill this¡­. dark god. Just saying is it is difficult. Most people would go their whole lives without ever seeing a god, whether they be a priest, normal citizen, or even a blessed being. These are said to be beings capable of creating and destroying worlds with their power. Entities that can speak and the stars themselves would move. They themselves are supposed to be beings of legend. Even the number of dragon slayers in the world can be counted on one hand. I don¡¯t even believe the Legendary Nine have killed a god. I don¡¯t even believe with their overwhelming strength any of the 9 could act so casually¡­Just sitting inside of this place, I¡¯ve never felt so helpless in my entire life. It is an odd feeling. ¡°Hmm? What¡¯s happening over here?¡± - ? Just then a voice came in from behind us and it was the same man we had met last night. His said his name was Sting. For whatever reason he seemed very excited to see other humans for some reason. Sting however got plenty of rest earlier for some odd reason. He walked up while stretching as if waking up feeling relaxed. ¡°You could sleep?¡± ¨C Shen ¡°Oh well I know quite a bit about poisons. Couple doses and I slept like a baby. I feel as if that¡¯s the only way I¡­What¡¯s ¡­ ugh¡­. What is that¡­Is that a pile of?¡± ¨C Sting Sting¡¯s face then grew pale as he looked at the small grey wolf jump into the pile and began to eat the hearts one after the other. His level has grown again¡­and so has he. ¡°It¡¯s funny I use to think the little wolf was frightening¡­ Just a bit of advice those things won¡¯t kill you if you play games with them¡­ So once you leave this cave go and dance with them and then they¡¯ll like you... ¡± ¨C Sting The green haired adventurer who said he was from the central continent began to walk out of the base towards Vali and the morbid demi humans. We found out a lot from this Sting who was trapped in here along with us. According to him he said he was part of a party who was actually sent to technically coerce Vali into joining their side. This party was however exterminated upon Vali seeing what they had done to his family and he was the soul survivor. According to Sting for whatever reason he was allowed to live but was also trapped along down here as well. Sting also hasn¡¯t seen one of those giants up close yet but from what he¡¯s gathered is there are several demi human cities that live in this dungeon. Those colossal giants have almost driven them all to extinction here. ¡® I wonder how Vali got mixed up in all of this¡­ ¡® Now Sting has been attempting to make a poison that is suppose to be able to harm this Balor character. He even told us the pixies in front of us were in fact a special type that is apparently immortal. According to him even if they are chopped to pieces they will regenerate themselves as if it were all an illusion. If that weren¡¯t enough according to him every race down here is of a species he¡¯s never seen before outside these walls. There is even a race down here capable of creating items in his opinion compare with the artifacts obtained by the Four Great Empires. ¡®So other than those large white wolves he has immortals who are also surrounding him as well¡­¡¯ If that wasn¡¯t enough to keep our mouths wide open we also found out that Vali himself was someone touched by the Gods. According to what Sting had told us last night apparently Vali is a blessed being like Myro¡¯s Adel. It would explain the astonishing power he wields but with the abilities and actions he¡¯s shown I can¡¯t imagine what sort of god granted him their blessing. If Blessed Beings are said to be weapons and tools of the gods¡­. I only wonder what god grants such overwhelming power. This entire dungeon is a world in itself. Lost in time, and we¡¯re trapped in here along with him now. I was angry with him. I don¡¯t know why I blamed him but I did. I wanted to yell at him for having had to come here to find him. But as I learned the truths of what this place was I couldn¡¯t yell at him. He was all willing to fight so how could I be the one to complain while everyone else was stuck in the same situation¡­It wouldn¡¯t solve anything even if I was mad at him¡­ I was paralyzed in fear of those things. If they get outside of this place I¡­. ¡®I don¡¯t even have the ability to warn the King or even my family. I just wish I knew how everyone here was so fearless. ¡® As the three of us exited the cave towards Vali and everyone else several of the pixies then began to look up into our direction immediately. ¡®What did Sting say¡­Ask them to play games right?¡¯ ¡°Va¡­Vali be..¡± - Sting ¡°I got it!¡± Just then one of the small purple pixies leaped out from the group and readied himself. GuahhH!! ¡®What is that thing?¡¯ The monster kept leaping on all fours towards the pixie and looked to have been going to bite his head off in one go. ¡°Light Hammer!¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± ¡®The Hammer of Light?¡¯ The image of a large war hammer appeared above the small pixies head and it is something I have seen before. It looks similar. ¡°Wha¡­what.¡± Master Shen even knew what this was. It was a famous skill from the Cardinal of the Freya Church. It was a skill gifted by the Goddess to vanquish evil. Though it looked slightly different in stature and shape, the War Hammer made entirely of light was something I had seen before. I saw it once when I was a child at a show with my father. The Cardinal of Freya appeared and showed the skill from the Goddess that had helped eradicate an army of monsters. He helped greatly in pushing them back and became famous for his ability from the church. But how are all of these pixies using the same skill? As we walked up closer to Vali I could see now that these demi humans seem to all stay quite close to him. There is a light green one on his shoulder, a small yellow one by his side and now a red one as well. All of them just seem to just flock around him. Just then Vali lifted his head up and observed two figures closing in on our location. Before anyone else could react Vali abruptly started walking towards where they were coming from. The moment he took out his weapon I could feel the same intense rush wash over my skin and body. It was completely different than with those black beasts. It felt like my skin was about to crawl off¡­ It felt cold and like I could sense my own death coming. ¡®I just couldn¡¯t take my eyes off that large metal scythe which bleed a dark aura off it.¡® The three of us froze when we saw him draw out his weapon towards one of the two demi human woman who approached us. We¡¯ve each seen what he can do with it. He then claimed the blue haired woman was in fact an elf. ¡®Do elves have a bad reputation inside this place as well? And how is that cat woman an elf?¡¯ This statement caused everyone to react oddly when the other blue haired demi human in glasses stepped forward out in front of the so called elf. ¡®The language their using doesn¡¯t so human at all but I¡¯ve noticed that a majority of the races here are saying some of the same words in places. Vali seems to comprehend them just fine though¡­ And they understand him just as easily too but the pixies from before didn¡¯t understand us at all. Neither did those wolves if I recall. ¡°Well even if she is Vali she isn¡¯t evil. She¡¯s on our side. Now¡­Lower your weapon so we can hear what she has to say..¡± ¡°How can you be so sure?¡± - Vali Looking back towards the other demi human she started to get flush red and waving her hands back and forth frantically. ¡°No wait. I¡¯m really not like the others. I¡¯m just ugh¡­I¡¯m ¡­¡± ¡°She¡¯s my roommate Vai¡­. And she¡¯s also an expert creator in elixirs and healing potions. I wanted to bring her here so she can help provide us with a large amount of potions for the battle¡­.¡± Vali then lowered his eyes but didn¡¯t lower his weapon. He seemed to be thinking deeply about something. ¡°Ugh really though I don¡¯t know how you knew who I am but¡­ I¡¯m not with the other dark elves honest! I¡¯m not with Balor either¡­There¡¯s actually quite a lot of us who aren¡¯t ¡° ¡°How can we trust you? I mean you yourself are currently in a body that isn¡¯t even yours.¡± ¨C Vali The neko woman then lowered her ears and she seemed nervous. ¡°I know.. We all had to, not long after we¡¯re born in fact. If my parents hadn¡¯t, I probably would have been killed by my brethren for outing our whole race for what we did¡­. I¡¯m sorry Izzie¡­I¡­I wanted to tell you for so long but I just¡­¡± ¡°¡­.¡± Vali then contemplated a bit before lowering his weapon. ¡°I¡¯m sorry but we can¡¯t trust you as of right now. Izzie we¡¯re going to have to lock her up for now it¡¯s the only way. ¡° ¨CVali ¡°Is that really nece¡­¡± ¡°Very soon we are going to be going over our plans to take down Balor with all of the leaders. We can¡¯t jeopardize in anyway Balor or the dark elves finding out.¡± ¨C Vali ¡°I understand¡­ Jasmine¡­For right now we need to lock you in one of the holding cells until we can judge the situation more clearly.¡± As Vali and the neko woman in glasses spoke to the other neko she agreed to go away with them quite easily. ¡®Dark elves?.... I¡¯ve never even seen an elf but a Dark Elf? I didn¡¯t even know there was that particular kind of elf. ¡¯ Looking over Shakko and Shen both seem slightly perplexed by this too. She doesn¡¯t look like an elf. As we followed behind Vali and the other demi humans our entire surroundings changed. We now appeared to be standing on somewhere high up in the clouds. ¡°What just happened?¡± ¡°Oh sorry about that. We just need to¡­.. ¡° Vali then stopped which caused everyone else to stop as well. Out in front of us was a large crystalline structure that looked to be made of some bright silver rock. In front of the structure was a small group of people. He only said one thing. ¡°¡­.Alysteir.¡± - Vali -------------------------------------------------------------------- Warren the Red¡¯s (The Third Horseman) POV: ¡®I swear useless¡­ Every damn one of them from Asher is garbage. Adel thought he could leave it in the hands of the damn son to take care of things. His royal guards he got over to his side were all killed and his trap with our assassins had failed. Clearly he¡¯s useless. The Asher kingdom should be given to me instead of this idiot son.¡¯ Hmph¡­ I just might do that now that I think about it. After the war is over and the King is splitting up land I wouldn¡¯t mind taking over as Lord there. I might even get to taste that delicious first princess if I¡¯m lucky. ¡®High Commander Adel should have sent me instead. I would have flattened them. My Inferno Knights are unstoppable on the battlefield. I don¡¯t know how Valentine could have fallen to such worthlessness.¡¯ ¡°General Warren word from Lord Adel.¡± ¨C Wyndia ¡°Hmm¡­.Oh what is it?¡± The petite Wyndia showed up through the war tent and gave me Adel¡¯s new orders. ¡°Hmph he wants me to pull my back? And if the Elves take up position again what then? Ugh¡­He¡¯s wanting to lose all the progress we¡¯ve made if we leave it in the hands of Bodin that big buffoon¡­.¡± ¡®Ugh¡­What is he thinking? Lord Adel is a military genius. I¡¯ll give him that. In war strategy I am second only to him. I guess I¡¯ll never understand how those who talk directly to the gods must be. Sounds too trifling for my blood.¡¯ ¡°Um General Warren there is just one more thing. Adel wanted you to meet up with the mounted battalion from Trost. They have over 2,000 men, demi humans and monster corps and they want you to travel to a particular location on the outside of Aldain. He wants you to¡­¡± ¨C Wyndia ¡°Let me guess to go clean up Valentine¡¯s mess?¡± ¡°¡­Yes sir. Lord Adel has asked you to journey somewhere south of Aldain to look for the possibilities of the King of Asher hiding there. There will also be a large number of mercenaries as well hired from some off key guilds that the Elliot¡¯s are paying for. ¡° - Wyndia ¡®Heh¡­ Sending one of your Generals to deal with such a petty situation. Because Valentine was vanquished they feel they need to make sure the situation fixes itself. If the King or the ones protecting him die ¡°Tsk¡­And we know what they¡¯re looking for. They don¡¯t care about this mess with Asher. They only care to go after that scythe guy. Honestly I don¡¯t understand what the big deal is¡­ You know what¡­I think I¡¯m going to take some R&R. Wyndia have the 6 Knight Captains go in my stead. Tell them to take the Wyverian units as well¡­I¡¯m going to take a nice trip to Trost for now and enjoy some off time. Have them take care of this business if it is possible. But if they are to find this Scythe wielding fellow the Elliots are so crazy for, tell them to not engage but to contact me. ¡°Ugh¡­As you command General Warren. Shall I accompany them to secure that your orders are followed.¡± -Wyndia I nodded my head towards Wydnia and she quickly bowed and left my tent. Finally some time away from the front lines. I¡¯ve been holding this location for months now and the Elves have yet to take this place from me. ¡®Be a damn shame if Bodin fucks this up. Man¡¯s all power no brains. Doesn¡¯t even enjoy the feel of a nice woman and only craves for battle. Such an idiot really ¡­. Well since I¡¯m enjoying my off time.¡¯ Rolling over to the two lovely maidens sleeping beside me I woke them up to have some fun with them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vali¡¯s POV: ¡®What the hell is she doing here?¡® Standing dozens of meters away in front of the adamantine prison was Alysteir. But she was not alone. Standing around her were several Annunakes, Reiki, and Eis Nekos. As I was about to take out Abgrund while looking towards her I noticed that standing around her was Commander Locke, Adimar. Ollie and Akino. They turned to look at me and that is when Alysteir turned her head and smiled in my direction. I warped over to their location and before I could do anything each of them stood out in front of me and told me that Alysteir had actually surrendered. ¡°What?¡± ¡®What sort of sick shit is this neko planning? ¡® Looking towards her she has chains around her wrists and ankles and she is being guided into the prison behind me. They acted as if I cared if she surrendered or not. I was still planning on killing her and they had each tried to stop me. ¡°What¡¯s going on here? ¡° ¨C Izzie As Izzie walked up Commander Locke then began to tell us what had occurred only a few hours ago. They had tracked down all of the named puppets on the list with ease. They did a joint effort and took on multiple targets all at once again in different locations. They were all a success. According to Ollie Commander Locke is a strategic genius and became a Commander at the youngest age ever in the Dawn Corps at 16. Brilliant strategy and battle prowess he now is ironically the new race leader of the Eis Nekos now. There was one location on floor 55 that Queen Nhaili has sworn are a small number of puppets that have remained still in a certain location for a long time now. Commander Locke and the entire Away team went to the location but what they found was something they weren¡¯t looking for. They found hundreds of destroyed corpses of Annunakes, Eis Nekos, Reikis and even Elves. ¡°What happened?¡± As I asked Commander Locke he made an odd face and twitched his ears before continuing. ¡°There was obviously a big battle. What we assumed to have thought at first¡­ When we got to the back of the large stone structure carved into the dungeon wall, we found thousands of large oval like structures. Some had bodies in them¡­. We assume it is where the Elves stashed their bodies from what we¡¯ve come to understand about their ability.¡± ¨C Commander Locke ¡°Wait¡­ So were all of the bodies destroyed or ¡­. As for my brethren, had any survived?¡± ¨C Jasmine Commander Locke then turned and looked oddly in the direction of the elf and narrowed his gaze. ¡°Nya¡­Ugh yah, about that. My roommate is ugh¡­ An elf¡­Crazy I know, I never picked up on it.¡± ¨C Izzie Izzie then began to make a face, which only made Locke shake his head. But not at the elf, just Izzie. ¡°¡­ We have come to the understanding there are still a large number of elves remaining in this dungeon. We do not know the whereabouts but from what Alysteir has gathered¡­. Malakai was the leader. We found her in the back room of this large dome like structure they had built. Malaki was on the floor with his head cut off and Alysteir was sitting in his chair waiting for us. Before we even engaged she threw her swords into the floor and surrendered. I wanted to not believe her but¡­ It was real.¡± ¨C Commander Locke ¡°And how do we know the Elves haven¡¯t already messed with her and this isn¡¯t some trap. If this is a place where the Elves left their bodies maybe that was just the corpse Malakai was using and this is a trap.¡± ¡°¡­ I¡¯ve thought of that yes. Which is why we are locking her up for now. Vali¡­This fight¡­It¡¯s gonna get bad. We¡¯re going to need all of our geniuses on this one if we stand a chance.¡± ¨C Commander Locke Seeing the reaction I must have been making Adimar then stepped in and spoke. I could even feel the grip on my shoulder then become tighten as Hjokk even began to tighten her grip. ¡°Vali¡­Surely she will pay for her crimes but she could be very helpful. She has even claimed to only wish to help us fight Balor, well that and¡­¡± ¨C Adimar Nodding my head as if asking what Akino then spoke up. ¡°She wishes to speak to you Vali¡­ She gave up all of her items and weapons and has given her fate up to you. Vali I don¡¯t trust her but if she is behind that prison maybe we can at least get some information out of her.¡± - Akino ¡®What? What is this woman¡¯s game. She really wants to let her fate be decided by me? She really must have a death wish, is this her way of apologizing for what she did to me!.... It can¡¯t be. This is certainly a trap. I don¡¯t care if she¡¯s strong¡­ She¡¯s too dangerous. We can¡¯t have someone like that turn on us in the middle of the fight behind our backs¡­. Ugh! Why couldn¡¯t I have killed her when I had the chance!¡¯ She¡¯s just strong. If Alysteir is someone who has rose to the very top in this dungeon, it¡¯s fairly possible this could be someone who is one of the strongest in this world. I admit I respect her strength. I don¡¯t and cannot ever trust someone like her. She looks like she simply thirsts on chaos. She relishes in pain and torture. I can¡¯t be allied with a monster like that. As I nodded quietly I walked into the prison. It was poorly lit naturally but there were oiled candles lit for us to see. All of the species here don¡¯t seem to have many issues with poor lighting so the four other humans in here are huddling closer to one another. ¡°I will¡­ Your father promises on his own life. I will be the one brings you back¡­.¡± ¨C Malfius Walking in the dimly lit fortress of solitude there are several cells on the sides of the walls that have been appropriately structured. That or just that there are large adamantine doors that have small adamantine locks that slide into a notch that is made from the same material. Standing in the hallway was a lone figure and I recognized the voice as Malfius. He looked in through the bars on the door before turning towards me. He narrowed his eyes and nodded his head. ¡°Commander Locke, Vali, Adimar¡­.. I¡¯ll see you all at the battle preparations when you¡¯re done. ¡° ¨C Malfius Looking like he didn¡¯t want to talk I just nodded my head and walked forward. According to what Commander Locke has said he now reins as the highest commander officer in the Dawn Corps who is still alive next to Alysteir, but she has relinquished her position so he now ranks the highest as the race leader. So now with the help of the 7 race leaders we are able to move forward. There are suspicions now of if there is still a large force of the elves but currently all puppets have believed to be captured. If any are close by Queen Nhaili will apparently be able to figure it out. After we get done with this the race heads are all meeting to plan out are method of attack against Balor and his army. They put the elf in a holding cell for now and we are going to convene on that later. Her cell is actually right next to Ecclaire¡¯s. ¡°Um Vali?... What are we doing?¡± ¨C Cassandra The female knight then walked up to me as we walked through the dark corridor and approached a large, silver framed door. The door was surrounded by a large cage of adamantine pillars along with bright silver stones growing off of them. Even with Pek¡¯s design most of this is natural as they couldn¡¯t possibly carve this much of the adamantine from what I know of it¡¯s durability. The pixies who followed us all in were now flying around the cage sticking out their tongue at the one inside and dancing around. ¡°Just to get some answers real quick.¡± I walked around the side of the large cell and saw a lone figure of a the blue haired woman staring back at me. She still had on the same black leather uniform and commanders hat as before. Standing in chains and staring back at me she smiled in my direction. ¡°Mmm so you did come after all.¡± ¨C Alysteir ¡°¡­ Got to say I saw this outcome coming at some point but didn¡¯t ever see you coming willingly for it.¡± ¡°Neither did I, neither did I¡­¡± ¨CAlysteir She smiled back at me but didn¡¯t move at all. ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°Mmmm¡­I want a rematch.¡± ¨C Alysteir Is this woman serious? My eyes widened and I spoke back to her warning her of her position. ¡°What?...¡± ¡°Is that so strange? I mean.. obviously that¡¯s not all but I assumed you wished to know what I was wanting at that precise moment¡­.¡± ¨C Alysteir ¡®¡­..¡¯ ¡°¡­..And what¡¯s to stopping me from killing you here right now? You came back in chains just to ask for a rematch?¡± ¡°Mmm call it a little¡­ Wager. ¡° ¨C Alysteir ¡°¡­a wager huh?¡± ¡°Never in my life could I think a simple puppet could hit me. It had to be something more. I decided to do a little investigating of my own way and found out there were in fact some elves in this little world of ours. Go figure¡­ 3 of my 6 squad members no less. Well we followed the trail after we asked some various questions to the three traitors and found ourselves on their home floor and decided to pay them a visit. I myself am the surviving member of my squad now¡­. If Balor is coming like all those screaming elves had said I¡¯m dead regardless but I suppose I can enjoy a little fun before I go¡­. I want to kill that bastard as well so why not team up and then have our own fun afterwards huh? So how about¡­I help you kill Balor, if we win, we have ourselves a nice little rematch afterwards¡­ Just you and me huh?¡± ¨C Alysteir She started to now walk forward and approach the edge of the cage she¡¯s in. The loud noises of chains following behind her as she walked up until she was eye to eye with me. Akino, Adimar and Locke each gave their own odd looks back towards me while the others I doubt what she said at all. ¡°I don¡¯t trust her Vali...¡± ¨C Jade ¡°Yes, I also agree Vali¡­ She can¡¯t be trusted!.¡± ¨C Cosmia ¡°Hmph¡­. Never would I have ever guessed the little bugs would speak to me in such a way¡­ Truly interesting times we¡¯ve found ourselves in these days ¡­ ¡± ¨C Alysteir Staring back at the woman in chains in front of me I really didn¡¯t get her deal. What is her fascination with me? The only reason the pixies liked me is for saving their lives and treating them well. The annunakes simply follow me because I killed their race leader in a 1 on1 and have the other on a leash. But her?... What does she gain from this? I get that she is turning herself in to at least hold a shot against Balor but¡­.There is still a strong possibility she is in league with the elves she claimed to have killed. I mean she is the soul survivor¡­ I guess I could understand that but¡­. ¡°How¡¯d you get that scar on top of your head?¡± Looking back at my question her eyes twitched but she didn¡¯t change her facial expression. I remembered seeing it in the fight. There were stiches on a bald spot. It almost looked like a surgery had been done. What if she is in somehow being controlled by the Elves. I can¡¯t believe she just wants to help in the hopes to fight me afterwards. ¡°Oh just an old injury is all¡­.¡± ¨C Alysteir ¡°Did the Elves do this to you?¡± ¡°¡­Nope I¡¯m afraid the ones who gave me this injury are long gone.¡± ¨C Alysteir Smiling back towards me she hasn¡¯t backed away at all and it¡¯s almost uncomfortable. The sheer pressure behind this woman is intense ever since I absorbed Malthiel I can in a way feel it if someone is powerful or not. ¡®And this neko clearly puts off a dangerous atmosphere. It¡¯s not just because she tortured me. It¡¯s not even because she enjoyed it¡­.I¡¯ll admit it¡¯s a bit because of that, but this neko has a screw loose.¡¯ ¡°I know what your thinking¡­¡± ¨C Alysteir ¡°Oh I don¡¯t think you do.¡± ¡°Mmm probably think I¡¯m crazy right? Maybe even my injury caused me to be so but that¡¯s not it¡­ I just figured you wanted a rematch as well. Me and you are so alike after all.¡± ¨C Alysteir ¡®Is this bitch crazy! The second time I¡¯ve heard today that I¡¯m the same as a monster¡­. I¡¯m not going to listen to that from this woman.¡¯ Everyone then backed away from the both of us and I realized that I had somehow engaged Dark Pressure at that moment along with Demonic awakening. She however didn¡¯t back at away at all. ¡°I¡¯M. Nothing. Like. You.¡± ¡°Oh I think ya are¡­.Constant itch ya just can¡¯t seem to scratch. Can¡¯t get a good nights rest unless ya kill. Wanting to cause a little pain back to make your own pain stop hurting ¡­ See from the look ya just gave me I¡¯m right¡­. We¡¯re similar¡­I¡¯m just a little further down that road then you are is all. mphmph¡­. ¡° ¨C Alysteir At this point she was sticking her face closer towards the cage and smiled back towards me. The first statement however is what froze me. ¡°If you¡¯re trying to make it to where I don¡¯t want to torture you back for what you did then tough chance. I half want to toss you in front of one of those Soul Devourers when we¡¯re done with our little rematch.¡± ¡°Ew¡­.Death by one of those slimy things would be a little droll. But I guess we can say the winner can decide what to do with the loser. Even if that means you want to have a little fun with me in the same way I did with you¡­ So I take it by your statement you agree?¡± ¨C Alysteir Sticking her chained wrists through the narrow space between the large Adamantine cage she is in, she smiled back towards me once again. Her white teeth shined in the dimly lit prison. She was an incredibly beautiful woman but she was also overwhelmingly vicious. I could feel the grip getting tighter on my shoulder once again and I too was debating this. I don¡¯t want to look back and regret my decisions later with agreeing to what this neko wants. I then reached out for her hand. A small chain coiled from around my wristed and followed up her slender hands and all the way up her body. It twined and spun around her body until it had covered her whole body before coming to rest on her neck. I had taken off the leash around Akino at this point and used hers as there is not much left. ¡°Hmph¡­What is this little thing? Giving me jewelry already are we?¡± - Alysteir ¡°Something like that¡­ Don¡¯t lie, so are you planning on helping the Elves or Balor?¡± To the realization of what I had just done everyone was then staring intently on the small golden necklace on Alysteir that had a small blue hue to it. ¡°Oh does this detect if I lie or something¡­ You can ask anyone I never lie¡­.Oh fine. No I¡¯m not in league with the Elves I just truly wish to kill Balor.¡­..And I do want a little 1 on 1 match with you if we somehow manage to survive all this I mean¡­ I¡¯m sure you do too right?¡± ¨C Alysteir Realizing that she was in fact not lying I gazed intently back at the neko in front of me. If she wasn¡¯t so powerful I would have already killed her in this cell. But with her overwhelming strength, she could also potentially help us greatly and save more lives. I guess I can postpone my revenge for her another time. This entire situation leaves a bad taste in my mouth¡­.¡¯I have all this pent up aggression from what happened with this woman. With everyone and I just have let each of them go for what they¡¯ve done to me it seems¡­ I want to make them pay but¡­.No¡­I¡¯m going to be different than what they claim me to be. I¡¯ll grant her mercy for now and repay her back later. I¡¯ve been thinking of revenge just about everyday for the past year¡­.. I¡¯ve even made a few more I¡¯ve sworn to kill since coming to this world before even meeting this neko. And honestly¡­I¡¯ve come up with some pretty good ideas. But strangely this woman I just don¡¯t understand. She¡¯s not lying and simply wishes for another fight. What¡¯s the sudden interest in me?¡¯ She tortured me and said it was all by following orders. I can¡¯t forgive that even if she is a woman. Even if those down in this dungeon even say she¡¯s saved countless lives. Well with this collar on her I don¡¯t need to worry about trusting her. Just odd she was telling the truth and simply wanted to fight me. ¡°What¡¯s the interest in me?¡± To my question she just smirked and peered back towards me while playing with her necklace. ¡°¡­You were holding back. Trying to protect the spectators most likely. I just wanted to see what the human¡¯s got is all. ¡± ¨C Alysteir ¡®Again no reaction from the necklace at all.¡¯ ¡°That can¡¯t be all.¡± ¡°I realized I was wrong¡­. Following orders from the enemy, not much else I could do in the situation but slaughter them all¡­ and not a lot of time left anyway. ¡° - Alysteir I looked back towards Commander Locke and nodded towards him it was ok to let her go but she shouldn¡¯t be present at the meeting. She can¡¯t lie and in this state under Gleipnir there is no way she can attempt on mine or my allies lives. I however still can¡¯t trust this neko and honestly just don¡¯t want to see her face. I won¡¯t let her know what will happen if she tries to attack us and see what happens then. Then we can see just what sort of person she truly is. ¡°Hmph I never even thought of using that strange leash you have on Adimar¡­. Fine let¡¯s adjourn to the war room. The leaders are meeting soon and we need to go over our preparations for the final battle. ¡° ¨C Commander Locke I nodded and we each left blue haired woman standing in her cell and left the floating prison. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Cyanin¡¯s POV: ¡®So much has happened in such a short amount of time. It¡¯s kind of hard to believe it could all be over so soon. Just a week ago I was sitting in our hut trying to take care of Daisy and Aurora. I hadn¡¯t eaten in almost a week and I thought I was truly going to die soon myself. Before Vali came things were always so bad. Since I was born our treatment was never really good but at least we were safe before the Fomorians forced everyone to flee to the lower floors. The only thing that made it possible at all to go on was trying to stay with my family for a little while longer. I love them all so much¡­¡¯ Looking over my shoulder sitting next to Queen Cosmia was Vali. Our newest sibling, and the one who has given my family back to me. He¡¯s even allowed our sister the ability to walk for the first time in her life and she¡¯s here too with us today¡­I don¡¯t even have the words to thank him for all he¡¯s done. How could we not want to share what little we have with him? Pixies are never really strong by ourselves. But we work together and we absolutely pay back kindness done to us. When Vali healed Aurora and gave my sister her wings back, I promised myself to return my gratitude to this human. I even had prepared to die trying to protect him whenever we had gone hunting the first time incase he was in danger but we all survived. He had not only fought for us or in front of us, but alongside us. Now my disease is gone and for the first time in my life I have hope we can escape, we can win. Vali¡¯s given us so much. All the other races would have asked what we could offer them for such amazing gifts¡­He simply treated us how we treat each other. That¡¯s why we get along so well. ¡®I was always so afraid before knowing him. When my siblings and I were forced to live on Floor One we had to learn to take care of ourselves. We each had just lost our parents and contracted such a horrible disease they tortured my siblings to create¡­. I told myself if I was ever brave enough to fight a Floor One Devourer I wouldn¡¯t be scared of anything¡­. But now¡­.¡¯ I remember the third nest we came across on Floor One, Tanin had one of them, which then torched everything else before any of us could even join the fight. When I had gotten closer to see if any had remained, three of them had came up from underneath me and each tried to take me with them. Those slimy things can¡¯t even scratch me now. My skin is even tougher than an Annunake¡¯s fur at my level. My wings can now even defend against the attacks of Floor Bosses¡­.. Something just one week ago would have surely killed me. Looking down at my delicate thin hands my skin almost has a sleek shine to it now I could only smile. ¡®I look so cool now! Luckily I was able to borrow one of my siblings Mithril Armor since she liked the Grootslang Armor more. I however like the Mithril so much better. With it my defense even raises by an extra 1000 than compared to wearing my Grootslang one due to my increased magic and defense. And with my Barrier Skill it sends my defense on the outside of my siblings to guard them against attacks. The stronger my defenses the stronger the barrier for my siblings will be and can even deflect some incoming attacks¡­. Vali was even surprised when I told him about this since if I ever receive 100 of those strange spider crystals my barriers could be unstoppable. ¡®Muahahah! So far my Barrier can deflect most attacks besides the ones from Alysteir. She could destroy mine and even two of my siblings in less than a second. But soon I¡¯m going to have a defense not even she can break. Then Tanin would have to admit my skills are by far the coolest.¡¯ ¡®Cari said it must have all been destiny Vali and us had met. We just get along so well after all, our abilities are even the same¡­Well not quite the same. Vali¡¯s is way cooler! It makes his enemies look at him with such fear! Some of my siblings are still scared of him, but those who were with us and met him in Anfang know he can be trusted unconditionally. We¡¯re family after all. We wouldn¡¯t even have these abilities without him¡­.¡¯ All the other races even look at of us now much differently than they had before. It¡¯s almost as if it¡¯s with respect¡­ Even if it¡¯s not Vali is someone who has made all of the race leaders respect him by his power alone¡­. Giving us such amazing things just for us. All because of our new big brother Vali, someone who caused even the Rank 1 to flee. The wingless pixie all the other race leaders look up to and can even laugh to the threats of gods. He¡¯s why I believe we are going to get out of here. The war room was brightly lit from each of those from my race standing inside of the base. It is really convenient and would have come in hand when we were stuck on Floor One all those months. Each of the leaders would then continue to say a different plan of attack against Balor to finally take him and his army down. My mother told me that Balor brought a lot of rare monsters here thousands of years ago. He had collected them and turned them into Floor Bosses and monsters to inhabit this dungeon for the end of time. Some of them he created himself. If that¡¯s the case then what Kai said was true and he himself is giving us the power necessary to destroy him. ¡°That¡¯s no good. Those furry bastards would just come in take ya down before ya ever set that scheme up. Next!¡± ¨C Kyrah ¡°¡­.How bout we set up charges of the explosive ore that Pek found and cave in the ceiling on them?¡± - Ollie ¡°Not that either¡­¡± _ Commander Locke Everyone in the room started shaking their heads in disagreement towards Olli¡¯s suggestion. ¡°Doesn¡¯t work. Don¡¯t you remember our race did something similar back on floor 20? It¡¯s got some protective barrier around the edge and the people who attempted that were all executed afterwards. Even if we could a bunch of rock and dirt isn¡¯t gonna thin out their numbers at all. ¡± ¨C Kyrah Standing beside me where my siblings Kai, Cari and Bifrost. We are standing right behind Queen Cosmia who is seated next to Vali and the other leaders of each of the races of the Alliance. Currently all the race leaders are seated at the large table in front of us along with their closest advisors and guards. The strongest people in this dungeon have all united together in this room. All but the Rank 1 who is currently locked up. ¡®I still don¡¯t get what her deal was. Why does she want to fight Vali? Regardless what she wants it¡¯s not gonna happen. I wont let it, we can¡¯t lose Vali. Pixies fight together and if she ever raises her sword to him again, Cosmia has ordered that we surround her in Kai¡¯s new formation and melt her with our trump card. The only thing is each of us can use the skill but it has a 24-hour cool down. So we have to use the skill sparingly or else we could waste our opportunity to use it on Balor. Vali said we have to use it on him when he¡¯s at his most vulnerable as he thinks it will surely hurt him. He said that¡¯s how you¡¯re supposed to use your trump cards. Never let your enemy know you have them and use it when the enemy has exhausted themselves fully. That way they can¡¯t dodge or defend against it and it will surely finish them off. We¡¯ve never really had a trump card before so it feels good now to have something to bring out incase things get too dangerous.¡¯ Each of those in the room continued to say their plans and method of attack but would get shot down by another leader each time. No one could come up with anything effective or willing to pin our lives on¡­ ¡°Listen we need to single out Balor and the rest will topple after. We need to compile a list of plans of attack. And if that doesn¡¯t work, we¡¯re going to the next one, and then if that doesn¡¯t work we go to the next one, and so on down the line to this son of a bitch is dead. It¡¯s no different than a normal boss run it¡¯s just going to have a lot of useable factors we need to know in advance¡­Now¡­ Izzie has thought of something rather interesting¡­.¡± ¨C Commander Locke The Neko wearing glasses then walked up and placed a bunch of drawings on the large table and explained her idea of having Balor walk into a large trap in the Adamantine Mines on this floor. The entrance is big enough for something like Balor and they could have him enter through the city. She had a plan to seal the entrance and box him in. They would then surround and fire off an endless stream of attacks on him with everything we have until he goes down. The Kyrah then smirked and interjected before Izzie could continue. She had over 10 Adlers standing behind her all of different races. Each of their levels were even around 300 and almost as high as Kyrah¡¯s. According to what people say is that she¡¯s very strong and even though she can¡¯t use magic like us she can defeat people several levels over herself due to her overwhelming strength. ¡®Hmph¡­but she¡¯s not stronger than Alysteir¡­And we survived her with no injuries at all.¡¯ ¡°Listen I see all your fancy drawings there and can see how you put a lot of thought into this. But who¡¯s holding back his army at this point? You¡¯re talking about getting Balor to somehow let us surround em. He himself is going to be surrounded by his beasts? What¡¯s to stop Balor from breaking the floor we¡¯re fighting on? Hell what¡¯s to stop Balor from resurrecting all the dead Floor Bosses? He¡¯s just one threat¡­ Listen I¡¯m not against taking out the head honcho first and foremost¡­I¡¯m just saying we need to know how to hold back his dogs as all of us together might not be able to do that...¡± - Kyrah ¡°I have a couple ideas on that...¡± - Vali Every head in the room then turned and looked towards Vali. With a calm and resolute look he spoke about how we were going to single out Balor and subdue him. Naturally we would need to take away his mana to make him helpless but according to Vali, Balor also has a barrier ability much like Vali¡¯s. this is where he says things will get difficult. Not only does he want to destroy the walls of the dungeon he wants to drop Balor into a hole. He said this while looking towards all of us. ¡°That¡¯s where everything gets complicated. And where we need to combine everyone¡¯s efforts together. Now I liked that idea Izzie had but after watching something recently¡­.Why don¡¯t we drop him in a hole¡­ but like a big one. Something like a cage similar to those plans you wrote up? ¡° ¨CVali ¡°Nya?... There would have to be something large enough. He¡¯s roughly 20 meters tall¡­It would have to be something strong enough to hold him in that he couldn¡¯t just break through¡­Nya! What about the floating prison? Just blow up the bottom of it nya and bury it.¡± ¨C Izzie ¡°That would be way too damn heavy! Even then how are we gonna dig a hole that big in a day!¡° - Adler ¡°¡­.¡± Everyone then remained quiet as they too agreed this was another idea that was going to get shot down. It was a good plan but it would be difficult to get Balor to walk into a cage. But like Val said it¡¯s better to drop him in one. ¡°Oh I know¡­Daisy can do it.¡± Everyone then looked up and towards me when I spoke up in the silent room. ¡°Oh yah. Daisy could easily do that. ¡° ¨C Kai No all of my siblings started giggling and decided to go out and get Daisy to come into the war room. ¡°Good idea Cyanin! This¡¯ll work and we can drop big bad Balor in his own cell and crush him..¡± ¨C Cosmia ¡°I agree we can even hide the hole possibly too¡­ It could definitely work, it¡¯s worth trying.¡± ¨C Kai Vale then flew over to the door to the war room and opened up the locks to go and find Daisy. My siblings started getting excited and clap, which seemed to have angered one of the Adlers behind Kyrah. Vali smiled towards us and then started to talk about our plans of attack against Balor once we trick him into falling into a hole. We would be responsible for hiding the hole and opening it up for Balor to fall into. Once he falls in we are going to drain him of all the mana he has and once his defenses and barrier are down he wants our race to come in and melt him. Vali said this with absolute confidence in us to be able to hurt Balor. His words were calm but stern and he explained each method of how we were going to make Balor helpless by joint efforts of each of our races. Each race held a specific role but the number of attackers on Balor was actually quite low. Vali said this was to keep causalities to a minimum. The finale of this plan however had our race coming in and unleashing our divine skill to burry him in fire and after that we move to a different floor if we were unable to slay him. Commander Locke squinted his eyes looking at the extent of this plan as it weighed heavily on his mind. He was already aware of our efforts were capable of holding off Alysteir for a short time but also only one of my siblings destroyed half a floor with her magic. That¡¯s when she was at level 8. Vali believes that with our rise in level we are going to burn Balor alive with this fire. Now that I too have the skill I know just how mighty our flames truly are. Even if all of the other races in this dungeon thought we were weak, he who was already strong saw us each of our lives as valuable and chose to take us away from this place after all of this. After all he¡¯s done I can¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever wanted something so passionately before in my life¡­. Living here, hope is a difficult thing to possess but I feel now each of us have so much to live for now. A whole world is out there and no longer is the idea of leaving this place seem so¡­.impossible. Looking at my siblings faces they each look resolute in wanting to not only kill Balor but to also live up to Vali¡¯s expectations. He thinks so highly of us and we truly want him to value us like we do him. ¡®He¡¯s just¡­Ugh¡­I just don¡¯t have the words to explain it but I know that each of our hearts have nothing but love for him.¡¯ Daisy then walked in shyly alongside Vale and showed everyone in the room her newest skill. With only waving her arms around in a series of motions the floor in front of her then dug a hole nearly 10 feet deep in an instant. She can actually push the earth below her down and her cast time has even improved since I last saw her do this. Clap Clap Clap! ¡°Good job Daisy.¡± ¡°You¡¯re getting so much better.¡° ¨C Kai Daisy had been practicing for a long time whenever she absorbed every colored crystal from the ones we received from the Jiji and says it¡¯s the most fun she¡¯s ever had. When her cheeks reddened she said she could even make it bigger if we wanted. ¡®Daisy¡¯s so cute. I don¡¯t know what I would have done if Vali would have came here only a few days later¡­.. I probably wouldn¡¯t even be in this world any longer. ¡® ¡°Listen do we have time to entertain this? I mean Balor is coming tomorrow! We could all be dead if this doesn¡¯t work¡­and no offense but were pinning our hopes on the pixie race? You want to pin your hopes on their new fire magic vs Balor? This is a joke right? I mean we have stated you¡¯re not a puppet right?¡± ¨C Adler One of the Adler species then stood up as if he couldn¡¯t believe what he was hearing. ¡°Well it depends on what you mean. If you guys are looking for the strongest and safest method to take him down with the least number of causalities than this is it. Obviously you haven¡¯t heard of what these little guys are capable of yet. I¡¯ll spare ya the details but it¡¯s an ability from something even older than a god and in 5 seconds their lowest leveled sister turned Floor 45 into waste. Something I bet a defenseless Balor would absolutely dread¡­ he¡¯s not a God anymore. I know this is hard to fathom but he¡¯s weak because like us he too is tied to this world¡­.He¡¯s going to be strong which is why we need to combine everyone¡¯s efforts together to take this thing down. And just so we¡¯re clear¡­. If all the races in this room got in a fight right now¡­The ones who would come out of it in the end unscathed would most undoubtedly be these pixies¡­ The difference between us all surviving or being completely annihilated rests on the shoulders of these little pixies¡­. ¡° - Vali With that statement Vali then gestured down towards each of us. This action however caused each of us to smile at the confidence Vali shared in each of us. Something no one had done for us in our whole lives¡­.¡¯ Even I began to see myself as a worthless existence at one point but now¡­. I feel like¡­. I finally found my place in this world when Vali came into our lives. It was right where it always was, with my family, but now I was given the strength to defend it. And it¡¯s not only me, some of my siblings each felt the same way. ¡®¡­..¡¯ My sisters beside me each smiled while looking up towards our new brother. Even Bifrost is starting to smile again and coming to trust him. She said she wanted to thank Vali for giving each of us our wings back but she is still waiting on how to say it. I don¡¯t remember Bifrost ever being this way but she doesn¡¯t talk nearly as much as she use to. She however wants to fight with us, so do all the rest of our siblings¡­and when we¡¯re free we can go anywhere we want. Vali wants us with him, just as we want to be with him. ¡®Wherever we go after this I don¡¯t care as long as we¡¯re together. ¡® ¡°Hmmm¡­. Wow weird he¡¯s probably right.¡± ¨C Kai Even Kai seem perplexed by this but technically all of our healers beside Cari and Daisy are outside this room. We¡¯ve each come to the understandings of our siblings words and know just how dangerous we¡¯ve become. It¡¯s to the point that we¡¯re now even being told to hold back some of our abilities as we could potentially harm our higher leveled allies quite easily. To these statements however the Adlers in front of us became enraged and each started to glare down at each of us. All besides Kyrah who was sitting in her chair smiling back. ¡°Hah! Are you even kidding! I will come over there ri¡­.¡± Kyrah then waved her arms to stop and started to speak up. ¡°That so¡­ I did hear these little guys managed to survive and even hold back Alysteir. So¡­Say this plan of yours works¡­Not saying it will, it¡¯s got a lot of what ifs and theories. Hell we don¡¯t even know if your plan on our home floor is gonna work at all their just assumptions! But first off let me ask ya¡­Who¡¯s gonna hold back all them furry fuckers while this first plan is underway white hawk?¡­.¡± ¨C Kyrah As Kyrah waved her hands sarcastically all leaders in the room then turned to look towards Vali. ¡°Well¡­¡± He then looked towards the small bird on his shoulder. WHOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!M!MM!MM!M!M!M!M!M!!M! A similar blinding light that outmatched even Cari¡¯s flashed through the already bright war room. There emerging in the blinding purple and white light was a tall and beautiful woman. She was holding a long golden and silver spear that all looked to shine along with her. Pixies just have a glow that surrounds them constantly but she sparkles and beams light. She¡¯s just so¡­ ¡®So cool¡­.Her armor is even floating beside her. I wonder what kind of defense it has¡­.And feathers in her crown I thought of that!¡¯ ¡°Wha¡­¡± ¨C Shen ¡°That bird was a woman?¡± ¨C Cassandra Some of Vali¡¯s friends started to clamor on behind Vali about this but it was kind of hard to understand them. ¡°This here is Hjokk..She¡¯s my pet bir¡­Ow!...Ok fine¡­She¡¯s my companion. She¡¯s almost as old as Balor and OW!....¡± Hjokk then hit Vali again in the side of the head with her spear. This action caused me and my siblings to each giggle to one another. Hjokk¡¯s funny. But Vali says that Hjokk is going to be responsible for holding off Balor¡¯s army while we set up our first plan of attack. While this is happening we need to clean off as much magic and health from him as possible until we have enough blood to attack him with Vali¡¯s skill. Hopefully by then it¡¯ll be enough to kill something like him but Vali seems skeptical of that, which is why we have more back up plans already in place. ¡°Ok¡­well the number of my forces aren¡¯t as high as I would have liked. Some decided to join my brother and even some don¡¯t believe there is a battle incoming at all¡­.If what your saying is true¡­It would be nice to not have to even send that many troops past the wall. But I can¡¯t just accept this plan so readily¡­ I have family and a kingdom that will be behind that wall as well. I must test you¡­.¡± Kyrah then got up from her chair and shot forth. Her large golden wings raised and she launched herself towards¡­.Hjokk? Then a bright golden light extended out from the tip of her spear and flashed remarkably fast. BAM! Kyrah then slammed on the ground not even 2 feet away from her chair. She then sank into the ground as if she had an unforeseen amount of weight delivered onto her. ¡°Mmm¡­.Nnnnnnn¡­..Wha¡­what is this?¡± ¨C Kyrah All of the Adler leaders then jumped up and panicked as their leader was now looking almost immobilized and possibly injured. They each looked up in anger towards Hjokk who was still on the opposite end of the table standing in the same place as before. Vali was even slightly amused by this as he didn¡¯t even have time to step in and is even unsure of what happened. ¡°Your particular races use your wings to vibrate the air molecules around you into rapid motion. This method and your high wind resistance allows your species to accelerate yourself in a straight line rather quickly¡­ But if your wings lose that ability and I use my wind pressure to force you down¡­¡­You see how this isn¡¯t even a fight.¡± ¨CHjokk Hjokk then stood in the same spot as before confidently speaking to the King of the Adlers lying in front of her. The Adler guards then became angry as if they were about to retaliate but then a loud laughter began to sound out throughout the war room. ¡°Ahahahaha! So you¡¯re this strong! I¡¯m not even in your league which is good for us¡­¡± ¨C Kyrah She then slowly got up acknowledging in Hjokk¡¯s strength. Hjokk had then released whatever skill she had used on her to force her endless strength down. ¡®She¡¯s even this strong¡­¡¯ My mouth was still wide open at this strength of this beautiful, armored woman. ¡°If she¡¯s so strong why doesn¡¯t she join our little suicide squad hit on Boss bitch?¡± ¨C Kyrah ¡°That¡¯s simple¡­If she was there then we would have to expend all of our forces we have to just to hold back the army itself. If that were possible our numbers would dwindle in minutes. I doubt that wall could hold for very long either¡­ This way we single him out and together weaken him. This plan is going to work¡­.Trust me.¡± ¨C Vali ¡°...Eh¡­What other shot do we got right? Alright¡­. I¡¯m in¡­Let¡¯s do this. ¡° ¨C Kyrah All the leaders around the room then nodded their heads in agreement and we continued to talk about each individual plan against Balor. Each attack we would rotate on who was attacking Balor and weakening him bit by bit. With what Vali has revealed to us it really feels like we can do this¡­.We can win. ¡°Ok¡­Now whenever Balor gets close to the pit¡­.Wait to engage. Let the illusion draw him in¡­.We¡¯re going to have to take out his ¡®All Seeing Eye¡¯ he keeps bragging about before this as we can¡¯t risk him seeing through the illusions¡­ He¡¯s going to be chasing us in rage and won¡¯t take notice to anything else. We¡¯re going to take this attack from the pixies playbook and take him down a few pegs¡­.Pixies like to herd their targets into a sort of kill box. Hit them from all directions as well as the sky. They surround and pierce the target till its done.¡± ¨C Vali ¡°So not much different than how we Annunakes take down Bosses. Another simple Boss run only this time in our choice of location. ¡° ¨C Boro ¡°Actually no I¡¯m glad you brought that up. You annunakes tend to latch on and stay in place. You have a good defense and speed so it¡¯s fine. But even if this thing is going to be helpless he could potentially still roll over and crush you. Hit him then immediately move on to the next location. There won¡¯t be a whole lot of us fighting him but I believe in time we can wear him down, and by the time the illusion is down it should be game over¡­.¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± Everyone then stared down at the table of plans that had been laid out over the past few hours of planning and preparation. We were ready. Commander Locke, Vali and all of the other race leaders continued to add in detail of what each of them could do as our method of attack against Balor while even protecting those of us who couldn¡¯t fight. This was something the Jiji and the Arachnee each seemed quite thankful for due to them losing quite a large sum after Balor¡¯s last attack¡­. They were each going to be responsible as the backline races that were alongside the young and several other rear units of Pixies, Annunakes, Reiki and Adlers would also be. This is also where Cari and several other of our family members will be. I¡¯m going to fight on the frontlines alongside Vali and my siblings against Balor. ¡®Hmph simply saying such things almost brings a smile to my face at how ridiculous those words are to still hear.¡¯ So much has changed in a week, but I wouldn¡¯t change it for anything in the world. Even if it is my time, I¡¯m going to make sure I hurt Balor severely for all of this. For all of the pain he¡¯s brought my family over the thousands of years¡­.I¡¯m going to hurt him for every one of my family he¡¯s taken. With all the power that Vali has given us and all the courage he has given me, I will not ever run away and I will be the shield that protects each of my family. I continued to stare up towards my newest brother I¡¯m so thankful to have met just one week ago¡­. Even if I die¡­as long as my family and Vali live past this... I¡¯ll be truly happy. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vali¡¯s POV: ¡°Mmmm. Oh wow.. more please!¡± ¨C Boro ¡°Yes thirds for me thanks!¡± ¨C Ollie Everyone continued to get in line and help themselves to a plate of Hydra meet. Boro along with several other Annunakes continued to stand in line even while eating their current plate. After the meeting everyone went their own ways to prepare for tomorrow but we all met back on Floor One to have one final feast with all of the races joined together. There were 8,000 Adlers, 5,500 Nekos, 1100 Annunakes, 1400 Reiki, 2,000 Arachnee, 3,000 Jiji, 376 Pixies, 5 humans, 1 Valkyrie and 1 freak monster wolf. The entirety of Anfang is lit up with the presence of all of the pixies and even in such a grim place everyone had looks of joy and ecstasy. Their bodies themselves are natural light bulbs that extend outward in way that is easy on the eyes. There¡¯s even 1 Elf here. After deliberation we decided to let the elf out of her cage, as well as one other guest from that prison I¡¯m not letting my eye off of. The Elf however has gathered a large some of not only Health Elixirs she has had Izzie and the other Away Team gather for us but even a good amount of Medium Grade Mana Potions that can replenish mana for the pixies and myself. Each of us got two of those while everyone in the Alliance received 2 Medium Grade Health Potions and 3 Stamina Elixirs. She actually stated she wished to talk to me later about the Dawn Bringer crystal and potentially making it into an Elixir in itself. ¡® She said if it really could heal someone who couldn¡¯t walk then Elixir manufacturing could save tremendously in materials. One Dawn Bringer crystal could potentially make hundreds of elixirs potentially, but it all depends on this strange Elf woman. She says she has been attempting to make the Titan Tear into a Mana Elixir but was for the most part unsuccessful. We have given the warning for her to send to her allies that all that are not allied with the Dark Elves or Balor to come forward but none have so far. ¡®Just gives me a bad premonition is all¡­.¡¯ As I continued to turn the meat and season it I got to meet a lot of those who lived in this dungeon. Not only the warriors and military leaders of each race but the commoners as well. I was even able to meet Cameron¡¯s wife and their baby boy Reiner. There was actually a large number of those who chose to simply live out there days in this dungeon accepting their fates. However even if they didn¡¯t have the same honed skills and reflexes as the elites of this dungeon everyone here was from a race that excelled in something quite spectacular. Most of them were still weary about me being a puppet and didn¡¯t even eat the food until after they saw the reactions everyone was making. They were wearing such looks of sorrow and fear of the ever-looming doom lurking above our heads somewhere. Everyone now though are making faces of joy as the rich flavors of home made wine and food were warming each of their hearts. Giving them hope¡­ Many after this tried to greet me and introduce themselves while asking questions about the Floor Boss I defeated or what the outside of the dungeon is like. Many of them tried to treat me with the same reverence as they did with the race leaders. I however ignored it for the most part and enjoyed the tranquility and peace I gain while cooking. ¡® I wonder what my family is doing right now¡­.¡¯ ¡°I must say Vali I didn¡¯t take you for the cooking type. But whatever this Hydra dish is, by far best thing I¡¯ve ever tasted¡­.¡± ¨C Alysteir The slim figure of Alysteir then lurked her way next and line for a second helping. I then made another helping quietly for Alysteir and then turned back to seasoning the meat. The hydra meet we obtained was brought back from the Ice floor by the Jiji. A few pixies and Annunakes went along with them for protection and even brought back a couple hearts for me as well. My Ice affinity rose up by 3% and I even gained an interesting passive ability known as Ice Coffin. If I was ever critically injured and close to death, my body would immediately go into a subzero state and keep me alive until I am fully recovered. The ice formation it surrounds me in is incredibly tough as well. They said the monsters who made these use to be a real time consuming to finally take down but the pixies fire was just so overwhelming. That¡¯s just what magic is. I can¡¯t imagine the possibilities of these pixies. I know the central continent has a lot of powerful mages so its good to have those adept in magic so close by. The second ability I gained was also something interesting.
Ice Veins (Passive) Skill Cost: 7,000 MP Cooldown Time: 12 hours Turn the blood that flows throughout your body into pillars of ice drastically increasing your personal defense. 20% Rise in Defense 45% Reduction to Agility
Again I gained another ability that raises my stats based on my level instead of a set number. Skills a beginner would normally get in the game would increase Strength for 50 for a short time or something of the like¡­. This ability does heavily reduce my Agility but with all the defensive abilities I¡¯ve gained since finding this dungeon are priceless in a world as dangerous as this one. With Toughened Exterior, Adamantine King Fortification, Fomorian Hair, Ice Veins and in my awakened state my defense would rise by 270% for a brief period of time with 35% reduction to all damage and increased resistances. ¡®I¡¯m really not going to find skills this good outside of this place but I feel confident that that it should take a lot to physically be able to take me down¡­¡­Even if it¡¯s this neko¡­.. ¡°Glad you enjoy it.¡± ¡°Oh I think everyone truly does. It even raised everyone¡¯s stats by quite a bit too. My healing ability has now risen to 20 a second. I must say if I ever knew such interesting things could¡¯ve came from cooking¡­.You do realize this only makes our little scramble after all this only more difficult don¡¯t you?¡± ¨C Alysteir. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°True¡­But cause of that nice little leash ya got on I¡¯m expecting you to be a good little kitty and not do anything dumb. If you recall I took that ring the Dark Elves gave you so any time you¡¯re ready¡­.¡± ¡°Mph¡­Quite¡­. I hear those bones of yours came from a particular skill of yours¡­.. I admit I was wrong to have misjudged you Vali. ¡­ ¨C Alysteir ¡°You¡¯re not about to apologize are you?¡± That would be a laugh. I can¡¯t see this woman apologizing. I however do see her as being quite the calm and calculating individual¡­ She even gave herself up at the slightest possibility she¡¯d survive by joining forces. ¡°¡­I doubt someone like you would care for an apology or not. Which is why I decided on giving you the next best thing¡­A chance at a little revenge. But you¡¯ll have to earn it hero boy.¡± ¨C Alysteir ¡®Is this neko for real?¡¯ She then walked away with her tail swaying and enjoying her plate full of Hydra meat while humming¡­. As if she didn¡¯t have a worry in the world. ¡®I feel after this if I don¡¯t kill her, leaving her trapped in here for eternity sounds kind of nice...¡¯ Everyone continued to feast and eat on the Hydra meat and gasp loudly as their stats were rising. Some even thought they were drunk as their stats continued to change with every bite. After Boro finished his 4th helping, his health had risen by 1,000, his healing regeneration had risen to 25 every second and an increase in 50 in Intellect and 25 in Wisdom. All in all if everyone here gained these abilities it could really help out keeping everyone alive. While 25 is nowhere close to mine and the pixies level of regeneration, it is enough that stacked alongside the Hydra armors can potentially make them heal almost 5,000 a minute. Looking around to everyone behind Alysteir everyone on Floor One was enjoying their final feast in this place with a similar attitude of Alysteir. The Arachnee who had just finished making all the Hydra Armors were now each enjoying their meals with bright red faces as they enjoyed every bite. They had presented 25 Hydra Armors to each race leader while mostly all of the Jiji, Pixies, Arachnee and members of the Away Team received one for themselves. It was the cost for their efforts on this and no one seemed to question it. Each race agreed to this and were simply thankful for this added ability that could potentially save their lives. Every race leader also received an astonishing 58 Shock armors each. The race leaders and I each received a particular hydra shirt that had a white v necked collar. It was different than the other armors and was called Hydra Armor X by each of them. Somehow the Arachnee queen made these Hydra Armors herself and due to her being a Master Tailor and supporting skills the Hydra Armor¡¯s were made with the White Hydra leather and each healed the wearer 5,000 health per minute which is a full 2,000 health difference than its predecessor. There was even enough scrap Hydra parts to make underwear for the pixies as they had hoped. Now however they can¡¯t stop scratching themselves as they aren¡¯t use to the feeling I guess. Each of them were eating alongside their siblings and enjoying the huge meal in front of them. Some of those we saved continued to eat until their bellies had swelled. They simply devoured their plates in tears as they got to eat as much as they wanted. It was an image that warmed their siblings and my own hearts Sitting next to them were groups of each of the races sitting alongside each other and laughing to one another and enjoying themselves. To them it was their last night in this place forever or even living. But right now they were truly celebrating coming together and leaving this place for good. I could see Malfius eating alongside his son. He had just came back after bringing dinner to the prisoners and mainly his daughter Meifeng. We still plan to save the puppets somehow but that¡¯s all if what Balor said was not a lie. With the help of Reinma, some of the pixies and other races we prepared the feast together and my Cooking Mastery finally rose to Advanced Level 3. It was enough that the Hydra meat, which almost tastes similar to spicy salmon, came out to simply disintegrate in your mouth upon every bite. The texture of the meat gave each bite such a juicy and savory flavor of enjoyment. We didn¡¯t care how Balor was preparing for the world to be destroyed. This is how we were enjoying our last night together here. Everyone was eating and drinking everything they owned to enjoy their final pleasures before the big battle. They simply ate and drank without care¡­ A lot of them thought it was meaningless to continue to worry and even started dancing. ¡°Hello Vali¡­.Look who wanted to come say hello.¡± ¨C Kyrah Looking towards the tall figure of Kyrah while walking behind her were her select guards. One was a tall Adler that had the head of an eagle while the second was slightly shorter with dark black hair. He had 4 wings coming out of his back and odd markings on his face. Each of them had talons and were each taller than me. Kyrah walked up while gingerly holding her young sister. ¡°Friend¡­¡± ¨C Ikaros Ikaros¡¯s eyes grew and she reached out her small arm towards me. I could clearly hear her speak which is completely different than she was just yesterday. Reaching out my hand I clasped her tiny hands in Kyrah¡¯s arms and observed her new complexion. Her hair was still almost all gone and she still only had one feather on top of her head but her overall health seems much better¡­ She¡¯s still missing a few teeth but it¡¯s odd how charming this little girl is her eyes are simply so breathtaking for a little girl. ¡°Hey Ikaros¡­. You¡¯re speech seems to be sounding a lot better now. ¡° ¡°That¡¯s true¡­ She¡¯s learning so quickly in fact. Her big sister is quite proud of her isn¡¯t she¡­.¡± ¨C Kyrah ¡°Eehee! Chirp! Chirp chirp!¡± Kyrah seriously dotes on her little sister as she squeezed her tighter against her large round chest which only caused Ikors to giggle and make those same chirping sounds. ¡°Oh speaking of¡­. Do any of your guards or anyone have a Dawn Bringer dagger on them.¡± I then told Kyrah what happened with Cari and how with the effects of such a small smoothed crystal gave me the ability to fix her entirely. Cari was born without any feeling in her legs and this crystal repaired all of that. Even if Ikaros had some mental disorder or sickness since she was born I¡¯d be willing to bet this could potentially heal something like that. Though the pixies absorb the magic inside the crystals differently than if I were to just use it on someone with my recovery ability. I assume this would be our best option at this point. Kyrah then turned to her left to the tall Adler with an eagle for a head. ¡°Ugh¡­But this cost me a lot¡­.I saved up for months¡­¡± ¨C Adler Kyrah didn¡¯t say a word but only continued to stare on towards the Adler next to her. ¡°Ugh¡­Fine¡­¡±- Adler He then took it out and handed it to me. As I turned away from the hot fire in front of me we made to cook, I placed my hands on Ikaros¡¯s small almost bare head. ¡®Oh wait¡­¡¯ ¡°Boro! Hey come over here a minute.¡± I then yelled for Boro to finish his food and come over. As he approached I pointed my other arm towards him. As I activated my skill the whole room again shined similarly to the time it had when I healed Cari. The light gushed towards each of them and blinded everything in the floor for a brief moment. Only whenever the light had disappeared and the blindness had ended the child in front of me was not the same as before. Ikaros now had a full head of short purple hair with green bangs. What emerged from the priceless crystal from an ancient being and my recovery magic from a Goddess of Beauty was a beautiful Adler girl staring back towards me. She now has very small purple and lime green feathers coming out of the side of her ears and seems to look completely healed. Watching this each of the Adlers just stared off in amazement and back towards me. Each of these Adlers I have yet to meet and some of them may have still held some hostility towards me over the suspicion I was a puppet. Practically everyone did until they tried my cooking¡­. They waited until people like Commander Locke or even Alysteir to eat it. Now each of the Adler¡¯s faces were simply awe struck by the sudden change in one of their own. She was even said to be from a race of their kind that is almost extinct in this place. ¡°¡­.Ikaros¡­You look so pretty!¡± ¨C Kyrah ¡°Incredible¡­¡± ¨C Four winged Adler Kyrah then continued to grip her sister tighter and tighter and I believe now that whatever was wrong with Ikaros has to be fixed now. If not I can only fix it with time, but by the looks of things everything inside and out seems to be perfectly healthy¡­. ¡®It¡¯s as if the endless mana supply coming from the tear rewrote over all of the damaged or weak cells throughout her body until it was new, stronger than before¡­¡¯ Staring back up at Ikaros and eye with a bright smile and rosy red cheeks began to raise her voice in an odd frequency. It almost sounded similar to the chirps she made before but now it sounded like a gentle melody and whistled out her tiny nose. Boro however had not grown his arm back. His entire body however did appear to lose all of the scars and wounds that riddled his body and made him look much more sleek. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Boro¡­ I assumed that might¡¯ve worked.¡± ¡°Do not worry Alpha¡­ I never thought I could grow back like those pixies seem to anyways. It will not slow me down in battle I assure you¡­ I have however been talking to that human over there. Though I¡¯m not fully sure what he¡¯s been saying I do believe it¡¯s possible to have artificial arms made like his possibly¡­. ¡± ¨C Boro Boro then pointed towards Shen who had just walked over. Thinking on it they both lost the opposite arm so it¡¯s no wonder they¡¯d have something to talk about. As I heard them continue to talk Shakko had walked by while filling his plate with more meat. ¡°Seriously though this thing has so many benefits¡­ It¡¯s like having a shield that you can punch people with¡­¡± ¨C Shen ¡°He¡¯s right. He¡¯s mostly just excited to have another hand touch his penis this his actual hand.¡± ¨C Shakko As he said this he walked back to his table. Shen however just ignored it and continued to try and communicate with Boro who didn¡¯t seem to understand him much at all. Shen thinks once your drunk enough language barriers don¡¯t matter much anymore. ¡°Kyrah¡­So happy.¡± ¨C Ikaros ¡°Me too sweetie¡­Me too..¡± ¨C Kyrah Looking back up towards me the golden haired beauty had tears in her eyes. She reached out in front of me and then a bright green glow came into view. ¡°NO! You can¡¯t kiss him!¡± ¨C Cyanin ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to kiss him. I was going to hug the man who healed my darling little sister. Is there a problem with that?¡± ¨C Kyrah ¡°Yes¡­Didn¡¯t you remember what we said last time. You must ask permission!¡± ¨CAurora ¡°Oh is that right¡­¡± ¨C Kyrah ¡°We won¡¯t let you steal him!¡± ¨C Cosmia ¡®Now Cosmia¡¯s walking up too?¡­. Why does it always turn into something?¡¯ Just then Sting and the other 3 had now walked up. ¡°Vali, how is this possible. To achieve such flavor and even such incredible effects from the meat¡­.You could open up a restaurant and retire at an early age if we ever get out of here. They could even call me the unstoppable swordsman with healing like this!¡± - Master Shen ¡°I think someone else might have that title right now actually.¡± Smiling to myself I turned back around to the food in front of me I was preparing. According to Sting and these three something like being able to obtain permanent stats from eating monster meat is also unheard of to them. The Cooking Profession isn¡¯t looked on too highly by anyone other than the nobility. So this is something that so far, we may be the only ones who know of how to do it. Each of these three ate until they stopped receiving stats from the food and even finished their plates afterwards. Each of them was quiet for now but they seemed truly perplexed by this cooking skill, which grants them small power from a legendary monster. Cassandra then started dancing around for some odd reason that even made the pixies in front of her laugh a bit at her. ¡®What is she doing?¡¯ ¡°Hmph¡­I told em the pixies would kill them if they didn¡¯t play with them¡­What? It¡¯s kept them off me all day long so I don¡¯t see what¡¯s the Wha! Ughh!!!¡± ¨CSting Sting then sat back on the small rock behind him and then fell back over onto the ground. He spilled his plate onto his lap and looked back up in anger. ¡°You!¡± ¨C Sting Looking up he then glared at Jade who was only a few feet away. ¡°Heehee¡­I got Sting!¡±- Jade Sting then got up and started to chase the small dark green pixie that then flew away. These four were going to be in the Rear guard alongside the largest number of people at 18,000. If they can¡¯t even stand up to one of these things I don¡¯t even want to risk them in this fight. Not only would they not be able to help it would look bad if I returned to the King with his dead guards. So they will be in the Rear Guard behind the wall. I however will be fighting with each of the race leaders to take on Balor. These are the people I will be fighting against a god with tomorrow¡­.. ¡®I must say I never saw my life coming to this. Nor did I ever see this as being my end. I should feel more fear but I feel confident in this plan. I feel confident in bringing this sicko down. I will see my family again because I won¡¯t allow myself to fall here. If allow myself even an attosecond of giving up then I know I will truly never leave this place.¡¯ It took almost all day but we have successfully buried that large prison of Adamantine that was floating above their walled city. It has even been covered up with a large layer of dirt. It is however hidden and slightly away from the walled city as we don¡¯t want Balor to use any skills to see past the illusions we¡¯ll have in place before hand. I was almost too wrapped up in thought to notice now Queen Nhaili and her guards have each joined in on the conversation between Kyrah and the pixies. ¡°Oh seems intriguing gupp¡­.Ooo¡­.So if I decided to make this final night a little more enjoyable what would you little munchkins have to say about that?¡± ¨C Queen Nhaili ¡°Noooooo!¡± ¨C Daisy Turning around I can now see Daisy ran over to hug me while several other pixies are trying to stand out in front of Kyrah and Queen Nhaili. ¡® Seriously? ¡® [You seem to be getting popular down here.] ¡®Hmph seems like it. ¡® [You¡¯ve gained some terrifying allies Vali. Even in this world¡­I believe these individuals to be quite strong. Brynhildr selected this particular race due to their loyalty to one another I was told. In the old war¡­.They fought at her side and killed many gods together with her. Bryhildr killed 16 deities and a Dragon Emperor within the span of one day with the help of these things. The Dragon Emperor and 10 of the deities were heavily wounded by these pixies before she had finished them off. ] I continued to have a chat in my head with Hjokk while everyone continued to chat to one another. ¡®So there were even dragons in this old war too then. Just the thought of it makes me think this fight here must seem so small to you.¡¯ [Yes¡­there were dragons. They were existences frighteningly strong as the gods themselves¡­.Though Loki chose to downgrade them in the game heavily as your world seems to love the idea of them for some reason¡­. I think they even had something of gods themselves if I recall¡­ Though they definitely didn¡¯t fight for our side. The Dragons who currently live on Middle Earth are some who fought in the Old War and the descendants of those same primal beings that sit at the top of their race. They¡¯re not much different than you and many of the others in this place by that regard¡­.] ¡®So no luck in asking their help either huh ¡­Guess the party is just gonna have to filled with demi god wolves, super charged pixies with powers from Asgard, and a half demon like me¡­. [Are you being sarcastic¡­Well and if I recall I believe the term Loki used to describe you was Nephlim.] ¡®Nephlim huh? And just a bit¡­.. I mean not even Loki or your sister Brynhildr won¡¯t come down to help. Something tells me even if they were aware they wouldn¡¯t move. Fear of descending I feel¡­. Are they going to sit by and watch as the world is potentially destroyed by one of their own? ¡¯ That name sounded somewhat familiar but I started to barrage Hj?kk a little as the wine may have started to kick in. [¡­.I am not sure of Loki¡¯s intentions, but he cannot descend as of now according to his plans. However, Brynhildr upon finding this out would surely move. She was never the same after these pixies had all left her, she believed so readily that some had even survived, she kept a lot of their things to give back to them whenever they reunited¡­. That was quite some time ago though.] ¡®His plans huh¡­ Sometimes I wonder just what these plans of his really are¡­.Well it¡¯s not like we can hope for their assistance. What do you think our odds are for tomorrow.¡¯ [Honestly?] ¡®Humor me.¡¯ The pixies continued to argue with Kyrah and dance with Cassandra. Fenrir was eating platefuls of more and more meat. The other race leaders were gathered around each other and enjoying their food and drink. [If all of what we believe to be true and work out¡­20%.] ¡®That confident are we.¡¯ [I¡¯m just being honest. Even with what you say is true, he won¡¯t be an enemy we can take down in one shot like we have Vali. That is if he even allows this trick to work on him¡­.He¡¯s very intelligent and this is his domain, your move is more of a trick and this place works to keep him alive. He won¡¯t go down with a few swings of your weapon but ¡­. Since he is tied to this world¡¯s law¡­. If we get his health to 0 that¡¯s it. Regardless of how vast his powers of darkness may be he will die.] ¡®That¡¯s all we can hope for then. Worst case scenario we all warp out of this dungeon and take the fight to him in a different location. If we can just take out his eye, even in my mythologies I remember reading something about it being very bad, too bad you can¡¯t remember anything about that. If we can take it out though then all the illusions we¡¯ll have set in place could potentially end this quickly.¡¯ ¡°Ok, everyone listen up! Commander Locke would like to say a few words.¡± ¨C Neko Just then a neko stepped out and yelled. Behind him the image of Erwin Locke then stood up on one of the rocks to address the crowd gathered here on Floor One. ¡°We decided to have our final feast on Floor One tonight to remind us all of where we all started¡­. This is where it began¡­Almost 3,000 years ago our ancestors were all warped to what is now the City of Anfang and dropped to level 1. Told if they ever wished to leave this place it would be by using their own power. These words echoed in the ears of those who were lost to this place so long ago¡­. But they did not yield, they did not choose to crawl into a dark corner to stay in this place forever .¡­. They chose to fight. To conquer¡­. To win! For this moment! For this opportunity. They did knew soon that in this place wouldn¡¯t be something they would be able to conquer in their own lifetime but they continued on¡­.For our Sake!....¡± ¨C Commander Locke Each word Commander Locke spoke with was filled with passion and emotion. I could feel the crowd around me continue to be drawn in by his uplifting words and inciting our will to live, to fight. ¡°This is where it began¡­. And this is where it¡¯ll end. We¡¯re going to leave this place finally¡­.¡± ¨C Commander Locke All eyes on this floor including my own were drawn to him as he walked throughout the crowd and peered into the eyes of each of his men as well as the commoners and children. ¡°We came here together¡­ At some point our kinds drifted apart. We lost many, from feuds, quarrels¡­ Several of our races have left us and we are what remains of our ancestors legacies¡­. But lady luck has decided to pay us all visit!¡­. We get to skip all the hassle of clearing the next 36 levels and jump all the way to the Final Boss early¡­.¡± ¨C Commander Locke ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± ¨C Ollie ¡°Here! Here!¡± ¨C Malfius ¡°We are no longer strangers trapped in the same place¡­ We are a family¡­ Treading into the darkness together¡­ To never return?¡­Or to come out on the other side, and survive.¡± ¨C Commander Locke Commander Locke then turned and looked to me. ¡°We¡¯ve been in fear this monster has been lurking in the dark all these years, well very soon we are going to get to pay everything back. He will fear us¡­. We are going to get vengeance that all of our parents, our families, friends..... Know that by tomorrow when you will be dining with your loved ones, whether it is in the afterlife or not, it will NOT BE HERE!¡± ¨C Commander Locke ¡° ¡° ¡°WOOOOHHHHHH!!!¡± ¡° ¡° Locke then raised his fist in the air, which caused a number of people to cheer. Everyone agreed that regardless if they lived or died it would no longer be in this hellhole they have been trapped in for thousands of years. ¡°And let us raise our glass to the one who will be helping us put foot to ass tomorrow¡­. The so called puppet I¡¯m sure many of you have already heard all about. ¡± ¨C Commander Locke As he raised his other hand, which held a drink, everyone around me then did the same. Now all eyes of everyone on Floor One were on me. ¡°To the ones who have dove into the darkness to help our poor trapped souls. To the ¡®puppet¡¯ who has given us hope. To some of us our family. To the rest of us our friend. From this day let everyone who has gathered here today drink, fight, and die together.¡± ¨C Commander Locke With his eyes locked directly with mine he then took a drink of his glass. Everyone then took a drink of the wine that some of them had made and brought for everyone to enjoy. Several nekos had been saving it for a special occasion but felt today was their last day alive possibly so why not enjoy it. Everyone no longer cared for their homes, their belongings, or treasures they¡¯ve held onto for so long. Everything no longer mattered as tomorrow was the moment of truth their races have been waiting for a long time. As odd as all of these races actually are¡­¡¯I¡¯m proud to fight alongside them against a common enemy.¡¯ As everyone continued to chatter after Commander Locke¡¯s speech everyone then began to dance around the large bonfire that had been set by the pixies. Each of the races were all together and for the first time in ages for them they no longer saw any stigma in each other. They no longer cared who had the upper hand over the other. For once they were all united against the same common goal, not only to escape but to conquer. To avenge the monster who has held them down for an eternity for each of them. That hatred they have alone is what makes them no longer fear death. It¡¯s either going to be them all dying or them walking out of this dungeon over the back of Balor¡¯s dead corpse. ¡°Vali¡­.It is time.¡± ¨C Adimar As I was still standing next to the small cooking area from before Adimar, Akino and several other men and women Annunakes all came forward. All of them were adorned with war paint on their faces and eyes as well as ceremonial designs all over their large chests and arms. In front of them were every other Annunake with matching war paint all over their white fur. In his arms was a large, silver saber with the same glyphs all over the blade. Each of them wore silver garbs hanging off their waists while showing off their large muscular beast like forms. Standing next to Adimar was Akino who was holding a small pillow with a silver crown of horns sitting on it. It looked like a large golden ring with small silver and golden tipped horns coming out of the sides. In the center of the golden ring was a small silver stone. It looked like a diamond but it was platinum silver. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± To my question the pixies too now were no longer quarreling with Kyrah but now listening to what Adimar and all the Annunakes had joined together to say. The Annunakes had joined in a long line leading up to where Adimar and Akino both stood. Walking up next to me Boro stood looking downward toward me and stated. ¡°Sons of Amarok. Daughters of Fei¡­ To our Alpha only do we kneel.¡± ¨C Boro The one armed Annunake then kneeled down along with every other Annunake behind him. This all leading up to where Adimar and Akino stood. All men and women of this race were currently kneeling in front of me and looking back at me with their bright silver eyes. Other than the race leaders the majorities of those present wore a shocked look as all this was going on. Most of those present were not aware of my presence until today. Some knew me as the puppet but right now many are just now seeing me as being anointed in some way. Boro then told me to scratch each of their stomachs to signify not my dominance but their unity with me. ¡°Stick out your chests in pride warriors of the great Divine Wolf. Now the Alpha; Hunter of all, only do we follow.¡± ¨C Boro To Boro¡¯s statements all of the Annunakes then stuck out their chests and waited for me to scratch their bellies. ¡®Well whatever, if this is going to help them follow orders better in battle and follow me then why not. Loki was right but he made it sound like they were simple dogs. This race appears to be very ritualistic and come from a long line of history that dates back for millennia. Looking towards the shocked faces of Sting, Cassandra and the other two comic book characters, I continued to walk forward and scratch each of their stomachs as I walked towards Adimar and Akino. The pixies were all gathered around the side and flying around while they watched while every other race sat in silence towards what was happening. Kyrah and the other race leaders even seemed to stand in silence over what was happening. The Annunakes regardless of their recent actions have demanded a lot of respect in this dungeon. One that has given them the ability to name themselves as ¡®Legendary¡¯ and no one would question it. The front line of this dungeon for thousands of years. I already had the support of the pixies now I can gain the full support of this race as well. Regardless of each of them kneeling down they come up to only a few inches shorter then me. Their bodies and legs are simply so large my vision hardly has to lower at all. Each of them was in their beast form and had white silver fur. The woman even looked to have become slightly more beastly with wildly bushy white hair and thin white fur all over their limbs and body especially around their hands. As I got closer to the front of I came across roughly 20 Annunakes who were each disfigured and held bandages all over their faces and bodies. Their bodies had a dark deformity around their fur and wounds, which were wrapped in bandages. Each of their faces looked hardly Annunake at all and some of them barely even looked fit for battle. ¡®I recognize these faces¡­. These are the Annunakes who attacked me along with Adimar and Akino¡­ Akino had mentioned they had all survived but most who had been latched onto me had been heavily injured by my Abysmal Mist. This unit was considered the Elite Annunakes who fought right under Adimar and were considered the absolute strongest team in this dungeon at one point. Before Alysteir took the reign before they had lost their Elkia brethren, they were considered the strongest of the once ¡®Legendary¡¯ race and chose to live on Floor One with Adimar in his banishment.¡¯ This was considered the genius generation that held the hopes and dreams of this dungeon at one point, and each of these Annunakes would have been potential Alpha candidates would it have been any other period of time. As I walked past them and scratched their destroyed bellies I activated my healing on each of them. The light left my hands and healed the wounds and cured the black destroyed fur around their mouths, eyes and arms. ¡®I need them all at 100%. I know they¡¯ve done wrong to me. Alysteir, these dogs, even Meifeng who we are holding in another cell on the Arachnee¡¯s home floor, have done wrong to me¡­. I can admit each of them had good reason to suspect me because of my bones and I also admit I need them to kill Balor, but I can never forget what they have all done to me. Whether they were trying to save their loved ones, follow orders, or what¡­ I cannot forget what they have done but I need them to help fight. If I were to kill them I might as well do the same to Alysteir. But she is potentially as dangerous as an army by herself. Even if it keeps this bad taste in my mouth I need get as many out as I can and if forcing or coercing them to help me then why not. If my first act of becoming their Alpha would be to kill each of them would also look bad but I feel none of them did what they did out of hatred but only out of fear of what I could be¡­.I also understand that each of the races down here meant no hatred towards me, but simply have backed into a corner for a very long time and didn¡¯t have the luxury to trust strangers.¡¯ ¡°Thank you Alpha.¡± ¨C Annunake ¡°Thank you Alpha¡± ¨C Female Annuanke ¡°Thank you Alpha¡± ¡­.It continued to ring out as I passed each of them and they realized my act had meant I chose to forgive them. Their tails would sway and their hair would grow out long and glossier than it had been before. It was the effects of a recovery ability from the Goddess of Beauty. I then got up to the front and then scratched the stomachs of Akino and Adimar. They each then stood up as did all of the Annunakes I passed and turned around towards us. Adimar then took the saber and cut his hand. As he looked towards me he smirked back with his eye patch and looked down at me. He whispered towards my ear. ¡°Since I know you wouldn¡¯t go for flashy ceremonies just repeat after me ok hmph¡­. Anywhere you go¡­I go.¡± ¨C Adimar ¡°Anywhere you go¡­ I¡¯ll go.¡± As I continued to repeat these words everyone looked at Adimar began to wipe the blood on his long white claws and reached towards me. He wiped in three long motions down my face and spoke again. ¡°Anywhere you die¡­. I¡¯ll Die. ¡° ¨C Adimar As I twitched Adimar had claimed to just say them. ¡°Anywhere you die¡­I¡¯ll die.¡± ¡®I can just feel Hjokk¡¯s angry gaze burning into the back of my skull right now. But I¡¯m sure she¡¯s got at least 3 plates in front of her so I should be ok for say another minute¡­¡¯ ¡°To the new Ru Ru Kai... Alpha to the on high. Let us howl to moon beyond this sky to our new Alpha the one who will eat the heart of the fool who has trapped us here for so long.¡± ¨C Adimar Adimar then reached down and picked up the crown with thorns on the sides of it and then put it on me. HOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!! Immediately afterwards he and all of the Annunakes began to howl. The loudness echoed throughout Floor One and almost shook the ground floor. Fenrir too heard this and jumped up and began to howl as well, all while putting a small crown on my head.
Moonlight Crown of Fei Durability 1200/1200 Ancient Class Defense + 25 Stamina + 250 Intellect + 100 Wisdom + 100 Courage + 150 Light and Healing Magic will now be two ranks higher in mastery while wearing the Crown of Fei: The Grace of the Moon. * Stamina of the pack will reduce 25% slower while wearing the Moonlight Crown of Fei * Stamina of the pack will rise by 40% while wearing in accordance with Annunake Alpha Ring
I could almost feel myself feeling stronger while wearing this. It even raises my courage.
Congratulations! You have gained a new title! Alpha of the Legendary Annunake Health + 1,000 Strength + 35 Wisdom + 25 Intellect + 25 * If Annunake Alpha Ring and Alpha Crown of Fei are both worn alongside this Title all Attack Damage from the pack will rise by 50%. * Under the Moonlight All Attack Damage of the pack will rise to 100%. * 15% rise in Mana Absorption from the pack while wearing Annunake Alpha Ring
¡®Wow¡­I wasn¡¯t expecting all of that. If I recall their stats increase by 150% when they¡¯re in beast mode. Underneath the full moon outside their stats even rise by another 150%. With these equips and title the stats of the pack¡¯s attack damage will even increase. So right now their stats are up 160%. Each floor even during the daytime gives them a natural 10% increase due to the darkness element of the dungeon. Once there is a crescent moon they gain another 15%. A full moon their stats rise by 25%, but the moon on their floor gives them a 60% rise in all stats. Outside though during the nighttime it would rise by another 150%. It pretty much makes my Awakening skill look weak as they have a stacking Berserker skill that seems quite convenient. Even though I can use my skill at all times of the day and night theirs benefits them quite well and quadruples all their stats¡­. Not just Defense and Strength. But I blame this on their bloodline. ¡® Even my healing magic will go up by two skill masteries while wearing this odd crown piece. Outside this dungeon, underneath the moonlight and with my equips that means their Agility and all other stats would almost quadruple? They¡¯re naturally a bit faster than me right now so doing the math on that and rounding up¡­. Over 50,000 in Agility? During the Full Moon and alongside me who would attack my land at night? Is this real? My eyes widened at this thought I had never realized until now. I wonder what Alysteir¡¯s Agility is for that matter¡­.No way it can be over that. I mean I get she¡¯s a monster and considered a genius of geniuses but no way it¡¯s that high. I should have checked some of her items before we let her out of her cell and gave them back to her. Thinking of the possibilities I continued to hear the howls of the large beast race who had each come up to greet and thank me for healing them. I told them not to think anything of it and just to pay it in fighting with everything they had tomorrow, which they each simply agreed. Every one of them were taller and more muscular than me, but each stared down at me with absolute respect. I walked back to where the food was and Reinma and several others had taken over. I had already used a couple green crystals the elf had in her inventory, which helped, and I was able to use it on the meat during the prepping process. ¡°Oh Vali I um¡­I made you something too.¡± ¨C Karma Walking up towards me was the young Karma who was practically eye to eye with me now. Handing me a small bracelet was a small black claw with a red vein. She told me that she had worked very hard on it and finally gained the ability this morning. Handing me the small bracelet she smiled.
Karma¡¯s Bracelet Defense + 2 Strength + 5 Courage + 6 Upon scratching yourself with the Dark Claw from a slain monster your feeling of Pain will decrease by 30%.
¡°I know it¡¯s not as good as you¡¯re other equips but I just really wanted to make you something to say thank you. For everything¡­¡± ¨C Karma I thanked Karma for her gift and put it on my opposite hand, which caused her to smile. I was honestly amazed how she was able to add stats to an item she created. She said she¡¯s now in the Beginner stage of Item Creation, which intrigues me by quite a lot. ¡°Thank you Karma¡­This means a lot.¡± To my statement Karma gave me a bright smile and nodded her head before walking back over to her mother. I ¡®d ask Pek about this Item Creation skill but he¡¯s currently busy right now. To the point that he left after he got his first plate. He said he wasn¡¯t done with his inventions. He said I would know what that is very soon. Now along with my two crosses on my neck, my body is covered in accessories. ¡®I was never really an accessories guy back home. Well when in a magical world.¡¯ ¡°Vali! Look at what Adimar brought all of us.¡± ¨C Cosmia Walking up now was Cosmia holding a small sack of magical crystals. Inside were about a dozen small yellow crystals. ¡°He came to apologize and went hunting on Floor Seven for a monster there. It¡¯s the same floor that gives the crystal Tanin got his fire from. Isn¡¯t that nice now we have enough for all of our siblings we saved to have a yellow one.¡± ¨C Cosmia ¡®That was rather nice. If I recall the pixies said they hunted up to Floor 6 but had trouble and it was taking too much time on Floor 7 and stopped hunting due to the difficulty increasing. They just felt since they had the ability to hunt on higher floors due to their unique formations and skills then why not do that since time was of the essence.¡¯ Adimar and many of his kind have also been getting ready and in a days time they actually gathered 12 of these yellow crystals. What these Annunake¡¯s probably didn¡¯t know was that just earlier today while looking through my inventory I had searched through everything I had. I wanted to see if there was anything that we could use against Balor, preferably something of Malthiels. Everything in that small chest Loki gave me look to have been hundreds of odd ingredients of things I¡¯ve never seen and several heavily cursed items I couldn¡¯t even touch. There were things like Unicorn Horns and Psyclop¡¯s Cursed Eye. I attempted to take out this large staff with a golden crown and skull on top of it but the moment I went to touch it I received all sorts of internal warnings and even Hjokk instructed me not to touch it as she had never seen a curse magic like it before and it would be wise not to test it. That¡¯s how it was with most of Malthiel¡¯s objects in there sadly. I don¡¯t know what a King Reaper is other than some death agent for Hades but he dabbled a lot in black magic too apparently. Besides his books on Death Magic and lots of Hex Bags that I was instructed not to take out there really wasn¡¯t much useful information. But I did find that I had completely missed something the first time I browsed the drops. In the Grootslang¡¯s drops I had not noticed but exactly 8 of the stones in there were also yellow crystals. After using one of them we figured out they were from the same thing that gave Tanin his fire element that we now know where large Fire Elementals called Flame Giants. This was already amazing and they wanted to know who to give them to but they couldn¡¯t decide. What they were more concerned with was who was going to get the 1 large Black Magical Crystal I found in Malthiel¡¯s small chest. Considering there was more items in there to count I had never really looked through it all until now. I know what¡¯s in my drops now and I gave them each to the pixies to decide on. Now they¡¯ve come back and have 19 yellow crystals and 1 Black one, which is technically the highest graded crystal known in the world, and Malthiel had one. I¡¯m guessing the Grootslang just ate those Fire Elementals and 8 crystals not knowing what they were. I got two hearts out of it and a cool flamethrower like skill. The other skill was just a passive ability to change the temperature of the fire that brims off of me when I use it. Even though I myself can manipulate Fire rather well already but it¡¯s nice to have an ability itself to make it easier. My Fire Ball skill is now at grade 2 and now several flames even float beside me and will barrage an enemy upon my will. Something tells me once we leave this place the availability of strong skills won¡¯t be as great as they are in this dungeon. I¡¯ll have to travel more whenever I¡¯m searching for Kaylan. ¡°So have you decided who is getting what? Remember after we leave this place we aren¡¯t going to find magical crystals as easily. In fact I¡¯ve only found 1 outside of this place myself.¡± ¡°It¡¯s ok¡­We know we¡¯ve been lucky enough already with everything you¡¯ve already given us. We have however decided Vali¡­The 19 other yellow ones will go to Cari and everyone who were saved two days ago. ¡° ¨C Kai ¡°Yah, and don¡¯t worry guys you can just turn off the fire.¡± ¨C Uri ¡°Why would you ever want do something like that?¡± ¨C Tanin Tanin then walked up to Uri who we have already given a yellow crystal too to test out the ones from the Grootslang earlier today. He however is not engulfed in fire and says you can shut it off at anytime. His fire however looked completely different than Tanin¡¯s, his like his aura surrounding him was gold. ¡°And the black one? Let me guess it¡¯s Bifrost right?¡± ¡°¡­Well..Just because we were going to.¡± ¨C Cosmia ¡°I knew it you guys are seriously going by colors aren¡¯t you!¡± ¡°Bifrost doesn¡¯t have a healing ability as good as mine or Cari¡¯s¡­We want her to have the strongest crystal possible to keep her safe.¡± ¨C Cosmia ¡°Yes, Vali I agree, we can heal her and even though we can siphon our formations I would like if Cari, Cosmia and Bifrost are our most protected. They are our leaders after all. ¡° ¨C Kai I just shrugged it off and ended up using all the fire crystals on the new pixies we saved. They will now have their very own fire that surrounds them like Tanin, especially if they don¡¯t want someone to touch them. ¡°Thank you Vali¡­.¡± ¨C Sona ¡°Yes¡­tha..thank you. ¡° ¨C Bri Walking back towards their family members, Sona and Bri who were among the pixies we saved walked back while on fire. Their fire was light blue and orange but they each had a white flutter that would show from time to time. The Titan Tear has somehow affected their fire affinity so their flames now share in similar properties from it I¡¯m told. The two shyly walked away and hugged their siblings who were excitedly watching from close by. They each looked at their sisters new looks and clapped at how the flames surrounding them looked quite cool. Now was the time I was going to do it for Bifrost. She gets both. ¡°Ready?...We don¡¯t know what this is after all.¡± ¡°¡­It¡¯s ok. I¡¯m sure whatever happens will be a good thing. As long as it can help everyone, I¡¯m ok with it¡­.¡± ¨C Bifrost She hardly ever talked but her voice was naturally so soft and entered the ears quite gently. As she looked up towards me with her large black eyes I could also see a few colors mixed in as well. She shyly smiled back up towards me. ¡°Um, thank you¡­.¡± ¨C Bifrost She then looked down and held her small arms at her side and waited. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMOM!M!M!M!M!MM!!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!MMM!M!M!M!M!M!M!M! WOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!H!H!H!H!HH!HH!H!H!H!H!H!HH!H!! As I activated the crystal on her a loud ringing came out and a large black light shot forth made the entire floor pitch black. I couldn¡¯t see anything as Cari¡¯s light had felt to been completely covered. So had Hjokk¡¯s for a brief second and a large black light had blanketed everything on Floor One. Then the black aura had begun to shrink and crawl back towards the one who it had shot out of. There standing in front of us was a small black haired pixie. She had streaks in her hair but the eyes looking back up at me where completely different. They were pitch black just like mine. Her wings grow roughly 3 times the normal size but maintained the look of black diamonds. Now however her hands up to her elbows had a charcoal colored substance that covered her skin. They came down and lengthen past to the point her fingers looked like long black claws made from bone. Her atmosphere now even made my skin crawl. Something was different. This was different than all of the other crystals from before. Even the Titan Tear didn¡¯t give a reaction like this. Right now I¡¯m actually getting an incredibly dangerous vibe coming from this pixie now and can tell the profound level of power I felt bursting from that crystal is now all lying dormant within this small pixie. Even a purple crystal for them was a game changer, I can¡¯t even imagine what the highest graded magical crystal can even do to. That Grootslang only had a purple one¡­What could have black? ¡°So¡­What¡¯d you get.¡± ¡°Yah tell us Bifrost what¡¯d you get.¡± ¨C Kai All the pixies now kept looking towards Bifrost who not only was lit aflame by a large black fire, but had a completely different look. She still had the same fair complexion as before and her wings still created the same beautiful colors of light, but now they looked almost like the wings of a small dragon. As she looked towards her now long fingers and looked back up at me. ¡°Um¡­Does it look¡­weird?¡± ¨C Bifrost ¡°No way! You look so cool. Your eyes even look like Vali¡¯s when he gets mad. ¡° ¨C Cyanin ¡°I agree Bifrost you look so pretty!¡± ¨C Cosmia All of the pixies then began to surround Bifrost and hug her to let her know they thought she was still beautiful. I admit she looked different than she did but in all honestly, she still looked just as pretty as before. Even if she was naturally short like the other pixies she held a maturity that was clearly more so than all of her siblings. It¡¯s just that atmosphere she has is on a completely different level now. For a brief moment it was almost suffocating until she had shut it off. ¡°Well I¡¯ve gained 4 new skills. One is passive from my claws. It appears to have a lot of Curse Magic attached to it¡­.A lot actually it¡¯s even more than the one¡¯s Kai and Cyanin use. Um¡­ And the other three appear to be Dragon¡¯s Terror, Bone Explosion, and an ability that makes me impervious to all bladed weapons. My health has risen by 10,000 my stamina has risen by 8,500 and my Magic Resistance has also risen to 55%.¡± ¨C Bifrost ¡°¡­¡­¡± Even the pixies were speechless at this. It could even be said this magical crystal wasn¡¯t the tear of a titan but an actual crystal from a highly powerful monster that Malthiel must have killed, gave more abilities and potentially more benefits than that tear had. ¡°Oh and since my Resistance rose I can recover enough magic to keep us at full for a long time it even doubled my Magic Attack Power and can now siphon magic from my surroundings to an extent¡­. With this it should be difficult for us to run out of Magical Power completely with this. ¡° ¨C Bifrost It just kept continuing. These Pixies are phenomenal are going to be phenomenal. I guess we should thank that dead Undead for his help. I¡¯m assuming that overwhelming presence I feel right now is coming from the power this pixie gained from what I assume was a Bone Dragon. The ones from those memories never had magical crystals on their heads but I can¡¯t imagine meeting one in real life¡­.Even in the games they were strong but Dragons in this world according to my mother and even Hjokk are an existence only to themselves¡­ I guess this is what you can expect from the highest ranked magical crystal in this world. It didn¡¯t give a Divine Skill or the same amount of stat points but it gave so much else it almost makes the Titan Tear pale in comparison. Some of the pixies even walked over and tried to scratch her but just as we expected anything that was bladed couldn¡¯t even cut through her skin at all. Even the Dawn Bringers with all the heat they produce can barely put a scratch on her before it gets repaired.¡­. She cannot be cut by blades at all now, which is even better than any of my abilities. ¡®It almost makes having a high defense meaningless but I guess there¡¯s no demerit in increasing it to other weapons. But with this I don¡¯t believe Kai and the rest of the pixies should have to worry about their elder sister as much anymore. ¡°SO COOL! ¡°- Cyanin Cyanin then flew up and hugged her big sister. Bifrost looking surprised only smiled and looked back up at me cautiously. Everyone else then walked over and hugged her too. ¡°Thank you so much Vali!¡± ¨C Cari Cari who had a white heatless flame surrounding her and all of the pixies again walked over to me and hugged me like before. Only this time it felt different. It felt as if they were each trying to show me how much they wanted to thank me from the bottom of their hearts with everything. They each closed their eyes and would walk up to me individually and thank me continuously thank me. They truly loved it whenever you treated one of their own with kindness, they looked to it as if you had done it to themselves. Truly selfless beings. ¡°You seem to be quite popular in here.¡± ¨C Cassandra Cassandra then walked up and sounded familiar to Hjokk just there. ¡°True¡­ The species down here seem to care for you a great amount. Especially these small strange demi humans as well.¡± ¨C Shen As I chuckeled to Shen¡¯s I looked down towards the pixies below who would continue to walk up and hug me, even the ones who didn¡¯t like to be close to others were in the group hug as well. ¡°Not really¡­Pixies are the simplest creatures in the world¡­If you¡¯re nice to them, they¡¯ll be nice to you¡­¡± Smiling back towards my comment Shen then walked over and with his metal arm he chopped off the tip of a large wine bottle. ¡°Hmph¡­If only the whole world could develop such a motto. So¡­I received this vintage bottle from a really rich nobleman in the central continent. Said this bottle alone was worth a small mansion and I¡¯ve had it in my inventory ever since. Guess now¡¯s a good time as any huh?¡± ¨C Shen As he took a big swig he smiled at the scene in front of him as everyone else walked over. He then handed it to Shakko next to him which also took a drink. ¡®Wait¡­How is he drinking that?¡¯ Shakko then handed it to Sting and then Ollie and then me. The night winded down and everyone ate and danced which made the feast last till the late hours. Some fell asleep while others went on to have some alone time with their loved ones. Now a small few of us were gathered in the same ceremonial room of statues where I was jumped. We enjoyed the vintage wine and talked to get over the ever looming battle that was pressing over our shoulders. ¡°So Alpha¡­When you said you still had things to do¡­What exactly did you mean?¡± ¨C Akino ¡°I too am a little curious. What the little Alpha has planned after we take down the big furry bastard.¡± ¨C Kyrah ¡°I say you should open up a restaurant¡­ I¡¯ll be your customer every day!¡± ¨C Ollie ¡°Here, Here! ¡° ¨C Adimar Everyone then looked back towards me. Sting had seemed to leave somewhere but Cassandra and the other two decided to stick close to me who was petting Fenrir. He was already long passed out after the big meal. They can¡¯t understand anyone but me for now but they can understand whatever I say. ¡°¡­.Just have a few things I gotta do before I go is all. Not really a good story or anything, we all have our own reasons to keep going I guess.¡± ¡°Ah come on¡­that¡¯s not an answer.¡± ¨C Ollie It got quiet again and I don¡¯t know if it was the wine or what but somehow felt with what was coming tomorrow what¡¯s the harm in talking about it all for once¡­ I never really tried it in my last life but considering the circumstances¡­. ¡°¡­.You know before I came here I was actually quite weak¡­Weak to the point that I was unable to protect those close to me when they really needed me to. Protect those I swore to take care of. I simply watched and could do nothing as my siblings were burned alive right in front of me¡­.¡± As I continued take a drink of the bottle and pass it around I decided to finally say a small amount about myself and recalled a memory that was unpleasant. The same that has haunted me for so long¡­ The few pixies who were with me as well as everyone else listened along quietly with surprised looks on their face. ¡°I prayed everyday for strength, justice¡­those demons took everything from me that day¡­. So I want to take, everything¡­from them. So I¡¯m not going to let some character from some history books stop that. ¡° ¡°Hmph¡­Well said.¡± ¨C Kyrah ¡°Yes it is¡­Mmm this is good wine actually.¡± ¨C Boro ¡°We will conquer our foe. We must, for all those who have fallen here. For all those of us that are left. We won¡¯t lose ourselves to this place, we can¡¯t. The pack will leave this place for good and enter a new world. The only way of that is over the back of that giants dead corpse.¡± ¨C Adimar I nodded back towards him and took a drink. Cassandra and the other two simply looked back at me quietly. ¡°So what¡¯s the deal with this bird who¡¯s also an incredibly attractive woman while also being insanely strong?¡± ¨C Shen ¡°Hmph¡­Since we¡¯ll be fighting tomorrow I might as well tell ya. She¡¯s a Valkyrie, which is basically a guardian to the gods. Careful¡­She likes to hit people with her spe..Ow!¡± I then felt a powerful force hit the side of my head. Hjokk¡¯s wing flung at such a swift motion the air itself felt to have punched me. ¡°A Valkyrie? Yes of course I know what they are¡­ A warrior maiden that is said to bless those in battle. But why is she here? Is that why I can¡¯t see a level around her at all?¡± ¨C Shen ¡°I¡¯m actually here to guard Vali during his growth on Middle Earth. We got ourselves trapped here and I myself feel it necessary to fight as well for the safety of the realm and my Lord¡¯s Champion. ¡± ¨C Hjokk To these words everyone in the room seemed to understand and nod their heads. ¡°So you are one who has been touched by the gods¡­I was unsure whether to believe the words of Sting or not. But now I see they are true¡­Do gods usually have this much interaction with their ¡®Champion¡¯ though?¡± ¨C Cassandra To her notion I then became aware that most blessed beings such as my self even hardly ever talk to their god. Some even never get to meet or speak with their god before dying. They are simply thought of as tools by the gods anyway so I guess it depends on the god. ¡°I don¡¯t know but I feel I see him more than I need to if that¡¯s what you mean.¡± ¡°HmphHmpHmph¡­_¡±- Hjokk ¡°Amazing¡­¡± ¨C Cassandra ¡°Truly it is¡­ I guess I¡¯ve never known what the gods would be like. I mean what do we know about them other than stories, legends or even sculptures much like these¡­Gup¡­Good wine Metal Man¡­But I guess we¡¯ll see one soon enough then won¡¯t we.¡± ¨C Shakko ¡°I don¡¯t know if I¡¯d say it¡¯s amazing really¡­Trust me when I say this particular one enjoys talking a lot and it¡¯s hardly ever about anything you asked to know in the first place.¡± ¡°I..I see. ¡° ¨C Cassandra ¡°Hmph¡­Must say I never saw my end coming so soon but I¡¯ve cheated death a few times already. I¡¯m sure he¡¯s been waiting for me for quite a while.¡± ¨C Shen Thinking to myself of the memory of Abgrund¡¯s flashbacks and the images of the one known as Death. Even someone Malthiel spoke of in high regard, he was potentially even someone stronger than Hades. Thinking about what he told me and from what I learned from glancing at one of Malthiel¡¯s books, I can now use a new skill on Abgrund. I can use it only once but it¡¯s going to definitely be a game changer. If things go sour.... This will completely change who¡¯s winning and who¡¯s losing. According to Abgrund this skill is called Age of Death. After one more day of training and using Death¡¯s Grip on 1,000s of monsters on the lower floors, my Death Magic went up to it¡¯s second tier. ''So the first skill came from slaying monsters and the second skill came after I gained knowledge on how to use Death Magic in new ways.'' With that I gained what felt like even more knowledge on what Death Magic truly is. I could then even understand some of the text and pictures in some of Malthiel¡¯s books whenever the Death¡¯s Grip increased. It is severing life in its entirety. Not only to living beings but death even to things that aren¡¯t tangible, its severing connections and ties to this world entirely. I not only could grasp what was in eyesight but everything that was within a certain range around me. The cost reduction was 30% but what was amazing is what I could feel as I continued to use the skill. Training while holding down enemies before activating it made my Darth Vader skill I feel much stronger. My reaction speed on using it has even increased and the effects are almost instantaneous. Now with only 10% of my mana and the flick of my wrist everything within a small field around me will die if it hasn¡¯t built a resistance to it. Though to monsters around my level it¡¯s as easy as blowing out the candles on a birthday cake. It¡¯s amazing to think but I can also discern between my allies and my enemies without even needing to see them. I can now see what the pixies where always talking about Magical Signatures from before whenever I learned more on Death Magic. I learned Hjokk was right, everything has one and contains magic inside of it. As I feel for everything¡¯s life force I simply don¡¯t touch theirs. Though even with the cheat like ability of this skill it is not almighty. Whenever I used it on that Fomorian that one time it went through quite a bit of mana. Even now the higher the level of monster the more difficult it becomes to kill them in one move. Even if I use my Death¡¯s Grip on everything in the radius around me if the monsters were much higher level it probably wouldn¡¯t work on all of them. ¡®It goes back to what Malfius said about penalties on higher leveled beings only reminding me once again I''m in a game world that the species down here simply accept such things as law. However with what I gained I feel this knowledge makes me rethink my skill entirely. It¡¯s as if what I was doing before holding my skill back letting the pixies each get experience was flexing my death magic and now that my knowledge and power have grown the skill is almost instantaneous now. I can simply sit down a swarm of incoming gnolls with the swipe of my fingers. Though it would take a lot of mana to perform, I¡¯m not sure about using it on a King Hydra just yet but as for a Fomorian, it would stand no chance. Though the higher the level monster the more difficult it becomes¡­ If it¡¯s one Fomorian it¡¯s no problem but using death magic on them would simply cost too much. I also found out if I¡¯m holding on to Abgrund he amplifies my Death Magic outward. It amplifies the distance and range of which makes it even more lethal. ¡®I can¡¯t get confident but currently I feel we have gained quite a bit of ammunition against Balor.¡¯ ¡®Hmm speaking of¡­¡¯
Status Window
Name ValiLevel 231
Race HumanAge ???
Class N/A
Titles Lord of the Forest, Slayer of Death, Death Canceler, Family of the Hildr Pixies, Hunter of the Grootslang, Slayer of the King Hydra, Creator of Miracles, Alpha of the Legendary Annunake
Health 225,550Mana 504,330
Strength 17,020Intellect 18,720
Stamina 14,700Wisdom 12,750
Agility 12,915Defense 25,220
Courage 24Luck 18,110
Fighting Spirit 94Endurance55
Magic Resistance 25%
Paralysis Resistance 3 %
Poison Resistance 8%
Immunity to Fear 33%
Elemental Resistances:
Fire: 30 % Earth: 3% Dark: 35 % Lightning: 7%
Water: 1% Wind 4% Light: 10% Void: 8 %
Ice: 6%
¡®Surely I¡¯ve grown these past few days. I guess we¡¯ll see just how durable I am real soon. All I know is this time when I¡¯m fighting for my sister and my family back home, I¡¯ll be able to do more than just sit and watch. ¡°So Vali I was wondering¡­¡± ¨C Cassandra Looking towards Cassandra she was then looking back towards me with serious eyes. ¡°About tomorrow¡­It¡¯s just I¡­.¡± ¡®What just happened!¡¯ We¡¯re now standing outside¡­ Floor 52? There standing beside me were thousands of others all standing out on an open field. The walled city behind us¡­¡¯Is it happening right now?¡¯ Looking around I then seen the faces of everyone that along with me were warped to this location. I even see¡­. ¡°Sting what the¡­¡± Standing in front of me were the figures of Sting bound, gagged and wrapped in lines of web and attached to a half naked Arachnee woman. If I recall this is the same one who¡¯s been abusing him. ¡°I uh¡­AH whatever! It¡¯s my last day alive what¡¯s the big deal.¡± ¨C Sting The arachnee woman just made a surprised look and then started to cover herself rather quickly. She pulled out her Hydra shirt from her inventory as did everyone else with all of their equipment. I adorned my Hydra Armor X, Grootslang Shock Armor, Moonlight Crown of Fei, Malthiel¡¯s Cloak, Midnight Gauntlet, Infinity Ring, and other items given to me by those I¡¯m essentially fighting for. I have two crosses around my neck now even two bracelets tucked away in my armor as well¡­. ¡°Heh¡­So I guess it¡¯s Sting that was into bondage.¡± ¨COllie Everyone surrounding them then started to laugh to themselves as they continued to arm themselves. ¡°Get serious! It¡¯s the moment we¡¯ve been waiting for men! Everyone in positions!¡± ¨C Commander Locke Everyone then began to run off into position when the ground started to shake. ¡°Woh!¡± ¨C Akino ¡°HAHAHAHAHA!!!...... It is time! My reign of Darkness draws ni. Where is the norse champion for my grand entrance to the stage!¡± ¨C Balor The image of a large dark figure began to emerge from sky. Pushing through the floor above was the same image of Balor I had seen before only now it was much, much bigger. Roughly 20 meters like Izzie had said but the overwhelming pressure feels as if I have the weight of a mountain weighing down on top of me. The air itself feels to have thinned and become hard to breath. The sun in this sky started to slowly become covered from the bottom up as the beings gathering on the opposite side of the floor were slowly blocking it entirely. As he descended and landed in the distance while looking down towards us all he continued to laugh. ¡°Are you ready for the end to our 3,000 year game we¡¯ve been playing?¡± ¨C Balor Everyone then gritted their teeth back towards him. Only Sting and the other three looked to be truly terrified. The groups who were sent to guard the children were already sprinting towards the back and to the walled city. I waited till everyone got into position to warp them away. After practicing with my magic I can also increase the number of people I move if I don¡¯t look at it as moving each person but as a space. It¡¯s taken some time and even with that it''s only 5% of my mana¡­I know that soon I will get plenty of it back to me. ¡°Oh scurrying away already¡­Ahahahaha!¡± ¨C Balor ''Alright now woah..'' Snap! BOoM! Boom! BOOOM! Booom! The ground continued to shake and crumble as large beasts continued to walk forward until they appeared slowly behind Balor. They were giants among giants. Standing even taller than Balor himself his beasts looked close to 40 meters tall. But these Fomorians were different. These beasts looked much different than the other kind of Fomorians we¡¯ve seen. These Fomorians have long fur that comes down longer on the back of their fur that almost resembles small snakes. It looked almost like a medusa but the monsters attached to their long black fur look just like dreadlocks with mouths. They guard the very vulnerable spot these creatures have on their backs quite well which could complicate things drastically. Now with the giant wall at our backs there was a huge shadow cast out over everyone. The beasts out in front of us were simply blotting out the false sun that is slowly coming up. ROOOOARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! A loud roar shook the ground but a lot of the noise was however canceled out. This was due to something Izzie and Pek had thought up. If we plugged up our ears with something we would never hear the loud Roar of the Fomorians and thusly not have our stats reduced. We even put small crystal petals provided by Daisy so the leaders will be able to communicate with one another throughout the battle. ¡°ALRIGHT ALL UNITS! ALL BUFFS LET¡±S MOVE TO THE SKY!¡± ¨C Kyrah Kyrah then leapt into the sky alongside thousands of other Adlers that almost looked like a wave of colors lifting off like an air show. I could see now the monsters behind Balor weren¡¯t only Fomorians. There were Soul Devourers, Smog Dragons and monsters of all kinds from this dungeon standing behind him. Some that looked like panthers with long spiky tentacles, he even had another Grootslang. This one however was black and level 521. His army around him was nearly all level 600 and flying in the sky he even had¡­. ¡® Are those Manticores? ¡® ¡®¡­.Fuck those things look dangerous. ¡® Flying overhead they looked like the butchers of Persian myth known as Manticores. These man-eaters were known as the Poison of the Sky and even killed me in the game a couple of times. If a Griffon or a King Hydra in this world are considered legendary beasts then a Manticore would definitely be up there alongside them. Above the heads of the giant Fomorians were hundreds of dark furred, horned lions with the wings of gargoyles and long spiky tails. Each was over level 600 and were in dark red letters. They each looked like a boss monster to themselves but there must have been thousands covering the skies overhead. Was he planning on taking all the monsters inside this dungeon out? There would be nothing left on this continent by the time help came¡­. ¡°Trying so hard and yet¡­It is all worthless before me. You must see that.¡± ¨C Balor ¡°Grrrr, I¡¯m ready to shut him up already.¡± ¨C Adimar ¡°I agree¡­I can¡¯t wait to tear this guy¡¯s nethers off.¡± ¨C Akino I then looked at the image of Balor again. His Level was now visible as his feet finally touched the ground beneath him¡­..811. It was a lot more than I thought it would be. Monsters didn¡¯t even get that high of level in the game. The difference in level is just a lot more than what I had originally expected, it was enough to make the color drain from my face. Looking forward towards Balor the Final Boss stared back at us with his bright yellow eyes. His horns came down at an angle in front of his head and he was wearing the same armor of darkness as before. He looked quite use to battle and was even Level 811. Hjokk told me once you start getting to level 700 every level gained is the same amount of experience from level 1-100 combined. So the amount of experience he has gathered in such a long amount of time after descending is ridiculous. The pressure I felt was still the same as before and was to the point it was pushing me down. I pulled out Abgrund and readied for the beginning of our first plan and moved myself into position. ¡°8¡­811? Is that even¡­Can we even kill him?¡± ¨C Ollie ¡°What are our odds here?¡± ¨C Malfius ¡°I¡¯d put it around 20%.¡± To my notion everyone quieted down around me. All of the race leaders including a a large select unit that was to follow us remained still. Then a soft chuckle and the sounds of someone unsheathing their swords. ¡°Heh¡­Best odds I¡¯ve had my whole life¡­.We¡¯re going to fuck his whole world up. TO THE DAWN!!!!¡± ¨C Commander Locke Commander Locke then raised his arm with his sword and everyone then did the same and rushed forth. We began to start our initial attack when a loud laughter went straight through what was covering our ears. As I felt a strong sense that something was wrong I went to warn everybody to stay back until it happened. Standing with the army at his back on the other side of the large field in front of us was Balor. Just then a large spot on Balor¡¯s forehead opened up and the whole sky started to turn a dark crimson. Staring back at us between the two yellow eyes was a bright crimson and yellow eye stared right back towards us. The whole ground began to quake and I felt as if all the blood in my face had left me. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!!M! ¡°AHHHHHH!!!!!!!¡± ¡°BRACE! EVERYONE BRACE!¡± ¡°ALPHA!!!¡± A loud explosion went off and it appeared to be coming straight from Balor¡¯s eye as the sky itself felt as if it were falling down on us. Everything around me began to shake in a violent storm of darkness shot out and forced everyone of us back dozens of meters simply from the pressure alone. Darkness began to seep from the walls and floors and turned into horrendous creatures that each looked to have been made by the mind of a mad man. All the Adlers in the sky began to fall to the ground as well as all those in the large formation alongside me and the other leaders were blown back. Just a simple action felt to have broken several bones and almost destroyed my Grootslang armor in that one move and a good amount of my health has just been cleaved off entirely. My eyes only widened¡­ It felt like even with the distance I was from him my skin was beginning to singe and tear off in the wake of that attack if you can even call it that. Even Hjokk fell victim to this as every one of us was thrown back in the dirt and all troops were blown back to the giant wall. I looked up to find who had survived but could find no one. Just a pitch black darkness flooding over the ground and covering the entire floor. Just a loud ringing followed by the soft swinging of chains. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ari¡¯s POV: ¡°Are they still behind us Ari?¡± ¨C Elyria ¡°I don¡¯t know Elyria¡­ Are you all right though? You¡¯ve been running for so long while carrying me?¡± ¡°No, no you¡¯re fine dear. It¡¯s not your fault some strange knights were trying to attack us. Luckily the first one is probably blind for life and the rest were too far behind us.¡± ¨C Elyria I felt bad¡­ She¡¯s having to carry me right now simply because I can¡¯t run alongside her. I know she must be getting tired. But we had to find Vali. It¡¯s been two days since those knights from the Kingdom left and he¡¯s still not come back¡­.¡¯I know something¡¯s wrong. I just know it.¡¯ Ever since I got the new stat Loyalty I have somehow always been able to grow even closer to him¡­. The higher my stat the higher the bond is to my master. And even though Elyria and Vali don¡¯t see me as their slave, I see him as the one I am most loyal to¡­My loyalty is already over 100 and higher than almost all of my other stats. I know that must mean that I care about him a whole lot. I know that Vali¡¯s in trouble I can just feel it¡­ Elyria decided to take my word on it and also wanted to help. According to her, her magic would probably help Vali a lot if he were in danger and it¡¯s what she specializes in. We left early this morning and told every one we would be right back. Though everyone was scared Elyria assured us we were always safe inside this cabin, and that we would both home soon¡­. ¡®Everyone looked really scared but I couldn¡¯t stay there. I would have crawled to him if I had to.¡¯ So she took me with her and with my tracking ability we are going to find out just where Vali is. Then we are going to go back and have the King from Asher help us. He seems a lot friendlier than I first thought, he even offered to look into finding the people who had hurt me. He already offered a large bag of gold to Vali. It even had 2,000 gold coins in there¡­.More than I had ever seen in my life. When I went to look at it I even saw something interesting about it. The moment my hand touched the big gold coin something happened. The whole bag disappeared and was gone. Though the King and Queen both gave condescending looks towards me Elyria said we would just explain it to Vali when we meet. I almost cried I was so upset. I was thinking of ways to apologize with Elyria but along the way someone had shot an arrow at us. Somehow Elyria knew the arrow was being shot before it even happened. Each time she would then back away dodging the arrow and say thank you to the earth spirits she says talk to her. She continued to carry me through the forest in the direction I smelled Vali¡¯s scent. ¡®Vali¡­ I don¡¯t know why but I just know something¡¯s wrong. I don¡¯t know how I can help but I have to find you. I have to tell you just how thank full I am¡­. For everything.¡¯ The world just isn¡¯t the world if he¡¯s not in it¡­. No one ever cared what I had to say before. No one ever even took the time to listen. But¡­Vali was the first one who ever sounded like he enjoyed getting to talk with me. Even if I couldn¡¯t walk he was willing to carry me to save my life whether I was filthy, diseased¡­.Even if I didn¡¯t have the money to pay him. Even when he was in danger himself he went out of his way to protect me. I want so badly to pay him back for it. I may never be able to in my whole lifetime. Because of him I now have a family and people who care about me¡­.I¡¯ve never had that before¡­ Without Vali I would have died without anyone ever caring at all. I would have died before ever even being given a name. Now it feels like my life actually does matter to someone¡­.. I just want it to matter to him. He¡¯s my best friend. ¡°Thank you Earth Spirits¡­.. It¡¯s ok Ari, everything¡¯s going to be ok I promise¡­. Loki himself told me to come and assist Vali. So everything is going to be just fine. ¡° ¨C Elyria ¡°I just feel useless Elyria. You¡¯re having to carry me which is only making you more tired.¡± ¡°No¡­Without you I couldn¡¯t even find Vali. Besides like you said the scent made a turn just a little while ago and it¡¯s been getting stronger? Well wherever it is he said it was not too far away from our home. We¡¯ve been moving for a few hours now so maybe we¡¯re getting close.¡± ¨C Elyria Elyria had such a way that calmed my spirits. She takes care of me so well it¡¯s almost like having a mother. She treats me just as nicely as Vali does. I don¡¯t believe I¡¯ve ever done anything in my life to deserve these two who have come in and done what they have for me. Simply holding onto Elyria right now I can feel her heartbeat is racing as well as mine. My only wish is that in my life I would be able to repay them both back for all of their kindness. Snif¡­Snif¡­. ¡°Elyria it¡¯s just over there. He¡¯s definitely been by here.¡± My tail began to wag frantically as I just knew we were getting closer. To my actions Elyria who continued to sprint through the forest made a sharp turn and we both flew through the large brush. Her tails each swayed behind her as Elyria ran faster than I had ever seen. ¡®It feels like we¡¯re flying¡­¡¯ The place here started to look more and more scary the deeper we kept going. Elyria even started to slow down some. The trees were old dead and the ground had sort of smoke to it. Everything just looked¡­.dead. ¡®Vali¡­I hope you¡¯re ok.¡¯ ¡°Hehe! She¡¯s over here boys!¡± ¡°Oop! I told ya if we just circled around she¡¯d be right here¡­. Come on let¡¯s move!¡± Turning around to the strange sounds two men on horseback started to gallop towards us. Behind them stood a large group of armed men that numbered even more than were at the cabin that one time. Elyria continued to run forward with me in her arms until we turned towards a large mountain. I told her the smell continued forward through the dark mist in front of us and we both quickly ran through without asking me anything else. ¡°Do you think they¡¯ll catch up?¡± ¡°Well ¡­You smelled him in this direction right?¡± ¨C Elyria ¡°Mphmm¡­His scent went right up ahead. It¡¯s getting a lot strong actually.¡± I could only see Elyria as the smoke in front of us didn¡¯t lessen at all. ¡°I think I see something up ahead¡­What about you?¡± ¨C Elyria Focusing my eyes I then saw that Elyria was right there was a small white light out in front of us. It must be a clearing of some kind. ¡®We have to hurry and find Vali.¡¯ Just then Elyria stopped and stared straight for a second. She tilted her head and began to focus her eyes oddly in front of us but I couldn¡¯t see anything. ¡°Hmmm¡­There¡¯s some kind of barrier here. If we step in we¡¯ll get trapped inside it.¡± ¨C Elyria ¡°What? Really?¡± ¡®Oh no.¡¯ ¡°Wait so does that mean Vali hasn¡¯t come out is because he¡¯s inside?¡± ¡°It¡¯s probably a safe bet. Sadly we don¡¯t have the choice to choose now do we. I say we go in and try and reunite with Vali, it¡¯s better than turning around.¡± ¨C Elyria I nodded and she continued forward. Just then we both got a strange pink window in front of us that decreased are stats. My Agility was already at 14 now it¡¯s even lower. The words on the window all looked bad. Even Elyria seemed to be nervous. I could hear her heart start to thump harder. As we continued forward we saw such a beautiful site in front us. There was beautiful orange sky with a forest down below. Floating in the sky was a strange piece of land but it looked partially destroyed. In the distance I can even see a city¡­ And that¡¯s a¡­ Snif¡­Snif¡­ ¡°Elyria! I can smell him..He¡¯s here. He¡¯s right over there!¡± I pointed forward and Elyria and I went down the mountainside together and went towards the scent. The ground continued to shake and we could hear loud noises in the distance that shook the entire floor followed by loud screams. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!M!M!M!!M!M!M!M!M!M!MM!!MM!!M!MM!!M! Such a loud roar erupted and everything began to shake. It felt like the ground itself was going to crumble and break away underneath Elyria¡¯s feet. ¡°ELYRIA!¡± ¡°I¡¯ve Got YOU!¡± ¨C Elyria Elyria held on tight and her tails wrapped around herself and I. Looking up the sky itself looked to have been stained with blood. Everything was red. ¡°Elyria?¡± I kept poking Elyria but she didn¡¯t move. Her tails then opened up and she fell to her knees and fell to the ground. ¡°No Elyria please¡­Please be ok!¡± After I fell with her I crawled back to where she was lying and began to shake her but she wouldn¡¯t respond. Her eyes were pitch black like Vali¡¯s and she wasn¡¯t moving. Looking around I saw in the distance were monsters that looked to be so big they touched the sky. They were¡­.Eating people?.... ¡®What are those things?......¡¯ So¡­So big¡­.¡¯Va¡­ll¡­ii¡­¡¯ My knees started to shake and I was terrified. In the distance I could see the large monsters that continued to laugh and eat those who were lying on the ground. ¡°Please¡­Elyria¡­.Ple..please wake¡­up!¡± Elyria and I were towards the edge a large tree when we were both blown back towards the forest. Looking around I saw a large number of demi humans all in the distance each lifeless as well¡­That¡¯s when I saw him¡­ Snif..Snif¡­Sob¡­Snif.. ¡®It¡¯s him!¡¯ ¡°Vali¡­¡± I could feel my heart start to race and my tail couldn¡¯t control itself. Simply seeing his face brought tears to my eyes. I smiled as the man I had been longing to see was so far away yet so close as well. There were such big monsters roaming around but if I can get to Vali first he can wake up and save Elyria. I started to drag Elyria and place her on the side of a tree and hide two big leaves over her. It was really hard because I wasn¡¯t strong enough but I pulled her until I could hide her safely. ¡®I have to get up!¡¯ I then stood up slowly and started to brush off my legs and walk steadily in the direction towards the first man to ever care about me. To the man who saved me and gave me a new life. Never in my whole life will I know what I did to deserve such kindness¡­. For some reason I felt I had to be near him at this very moment, no reason at all could explain why but I had to be with him¡­We have to help Elyria and I have to tell him. I stared to lift my feet forward and quicken my pace. It was hard and my legs felt heavy for some reason. They weren¡¯t use to it but I continued to steadily move towards him. I walked past several other large demi humans who were lying on the ground and some standing lifeless staring away. The ground itself had this gross looking blackness coming out of it and it was wrapping itself around everyone¡¯s bodies¡­.Looking far out in front of me I saw him¡­He was so far away but he was standing away from everyone else. He looked so sad¡­. ¡¯Sob..I have to keep going¡­. for Vali.¡¯ ¡°I¡¯ll save you Elyria.¡± I started to feel the soft breeze of wind colliding against my cheek as I increased my speed towards him and for the very first time in my whole life¡­¡­ I ran. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vali¡¯s POV: ¡®What the hell just happened?¡¯ I felt like a full grown Fenrir just landed on my head. Standing up everything feels dizzy and the earth below me seems to even be partially destroyed. ¡®Balor had opened his eye and¡­..Oh my g¡­¡­¡¯ I choked up as I saw everything that surrounded me. Under the bright red sky I saw nothing but bodies. Everything¡­.around me was dead. Everyone¡­It almost looked like that dream I had but this¡­The smell. The blood. I started to walk forward and I could hear the laughter of Balor in the distance along with his horrific beasts and creations. There sounds were however being drowned out with the overpowering rattling noises filling my brain¡­ The Fomorians out in front now were devouring the fallen foes all over the battlegrounds and behind them was the one who did all of this. There was the ever vast darkness lurking throughout the battleground and coming up from the ground itself. I tried to look around to see if any had survived his first attack but all I saw was..... ¡®No¡­.¡¯ All that surrounded me were piles of bodies. ¡®In one attack! So many ¡­..¡¯ Lying next to each other were the bodies of (..rattle) Akino and Adimar¡¯s (Rattle), lying next to them were Jade, (rattle) Cosmia, (rattle) and Malfius¡­(Rattle) All lifeless. None of their bodies (rattle) have even the slightest hint of life (rattle) forces remaining in them as I (Rattle) had felt earlier¡­¡­. ¡®They¡¯re gone¡­.¡¯ I continued (rattle) to look through the (Rattle) dead corpses (rattle!)to try to find a trace of life until¡­. ¡°N(rATTLE)o¡­no(RATTLE)¡­Plea(RATTLE!)se no(RATTLE!!!!).¡± ¡®Ari¡­.ho¡­how?¡¯ Rattle¡­rattle. My (rattle)heart choked(rattle) up as I drew closer(rattle) to the small (rattle) lifeless (RATTLE)body. My vision blurred (rattle)and all (rattle) I saw (rattle)was this (rattle) small (rattle)child. ¡®She¡¯s (rattle) so (rattle) light.¡¯ It felt (rattle) like ther(RATTLE)e was noth(rattle)ing in(rattle)side her (rattle) at all anymore¡­.Her soul (rattle) had left he(rattle)r like ev(RATTLE)eryone else¡­.Dark(Rattle)ness ble(rattle)eding off her (rattle) skin.¡­. H(rattle)e¡­.He..DI(RATTLE!!!!)D THIS(RATTLE!!!!!!)... Rattle¡­. Snap! ¡±HE DID THIS!¡± The sounds of chains continued to warp around my mind as if they were trying to pin me down. All I could think of though was tearing his throat out. With the almost weightless girl in my arms, I stared back towards the monster I swore to slay this day¡­ End of Chapter! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Recommnend reading that last POV from 1-30 seconds of video ending with him looking at Balor¡­.Next chapter should have some cool soundtracks as well¡­. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQiy4NwJngY Balor looks like a mix between this monster and Mu from Monster Rancher in his first form only think of his entire body completely made of darkness. His armor itself is even made of it. His horns are much longer and come out sort of like these as well. http://img10.deviantart.net/d656/i/2011/198/5/e/balor_render_preview_by_jorgius-d3y4sh5.png http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120706112223/villains/images/a/aa/Moo.jpg Grootslang Thing this but also has large shells covering and shielding parts of its body. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Grootslang.jpg Manticore Mix between these two depictions http://pre03.deviantart.net/398d/th/pre/i/2015/161/4/4/_manticore__by_arvalis-d8ws0py.jpg http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/mightandmagic/images/8/8e/Heroes_VI_Manticore_Artwork.png/revision/latest?cb=20130505121825&path-prefix=en Chapter 24: End of an Age Hey guys so here''s the thing. I know I said I had a chapter for ya but it turns out.....Wound up being 2 instead. Idk how it happened but the story just continued to grow longer and longer and I even had to leave out certain scenes just cause there was so much. Now i''m honestly super tired and understand that these 2 chapters will be quite raw as myself and my editors are all quite busy over a couple days but I should clean them as well as all the chapters... This is just so yall get to read it a bit early as I''m sure with that cliffhanger you''d want to see what happens next. Thanks for all those who donated you guys really gave me the boost to finish all of this but now I''m going into sleep mode and gonna play a little Halo 5. I will be doing edits and all sorts of stuff let me know cause I''m sure theres plenty of erros but I''m simply too wiped... Anyways I hope you all enjoy and if it is a little too raw I apologize I''ll fix it soon. Also I suggest listening to ''Aldnoah Zero I say Cry'' as well as ''Lost Woods Dubstep'' lol Also I think this is a great theme song for this story... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTudmnVqva8 Chapter 24: End of and Era Ari¡¯s POV: ¡®Ugh¡­It¡¯s..so¡­scary in this place. But I can¡¯t give up, I have to save Elyria.¡¯ ROOOOAARRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!! The whole ground began to shake again as I continued to slowly crawl towards the direction of Vali. The last time one of them roared my knees shook so hard they buckled and I hit the ground. It took so long until I could stop shaking enough to even move. My heart won¡¯t stop pounding. I just want to be in his arms again. Since I could no longer run to him. I crawled. He¡¯s so far away but I continue to pull myself through by grass beneath me. There must have been hundreds of other demi humans here. They were all lying down on the ground like Elyria while some were standing up and not moving at all. I just continued on pass each of them and continued towards Vali. ¡®He just looks so sad. ¡® Standing far away as he walked around I saw such sadness even from so far away. I know it¡¯s him¡­ I just need to ¡­get¡­. there. [He doesn¡¯t care about you¡­.] [Who could care about a useless cripple?] As I crawled through the grass I continued to hear these strange whispers... Somehow I felt they were all talking to me. But why would I listen to what they said anyways¡­. [All he is going to do is sell you anyways.] [You¡¯re just an ugly slave who others have to care for.] Why would I care about what someone else thinks? I only care what Vali thinks of me. ¡®Ha¡­Ha..ha¡­. My arms are starting to get really tired¡­.¡¯ [He doesn¡¯t care about you.] ¡®Even if he doesn¡¯t, I care about him¡­ Even if I die¡­ I got to experience such amazing things from him and Elyria. I don¡¯t want to live without him. If he¡¯s like all of these other people and Elyria I have to help him.¡¯ I then stopped listening to the voices and continued to pull myself through the thick grass.., ROAARRRRRR!!!!!!! Flying overhead was a large lizard with red wings I had never seen before. It looked even bigger than the cabin. I lied down and didn¡¯t move until it continued to fly by. I saw it slowly turn around and swoop down onto one of the demi humans who was standing not too far away from me with wings. AHHHHH!!!! It¡­It ¡®s eating him. Screams continued to shout and fill my ears. I found myself only trembling more and more. As the monster looked to not have noticed me I took a deep breath and continued to crawl past them. There even seemed to be something coming alive from the ground itself. It was dark and looked to being sweeping across the ground where everyone was laying. I however continued to crawl towards the one man who ever cared about me. The first person who ever listened¡­ I know we shouldn¡¯t have come here Vali. But I had to. I had to find you. As I continued to get closer to him I then heard a loud scream. AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I felt a gust of wind blow past me and a loud excruciating roar, which came from the one I¡¯m loyal to the most. Looking up a dark black cloud has now appeared all over Vali and his eyes have turned black. He¡¯s staring away from me and looks truly heartbroken. I tried to pull myself up but my knees continued to shake almost forcing my body back down. ¡°Ughh!¡± With my knees shaking still I started to try to run again but I could feel it became so much harder than before. It felt like my body had become more heavy and simply lifting my legs up was becoming real hard. Even if I was passing those around me slowly¡­to me it was faster than I have ever moved by myself. I won¡¯t stop, I just have to make it. I started to get closer and now was within shouting distance from him. ¡°VALI!¡± He didn¡¯t respond to me at all and I continued to run as fast as my legs would take me to him. ¡°Val¡­iii!¡± ¡®Please hear me!¡¯ As I started to get closer I could feel everything around him felt looked dangerous. The air made cracking noises and there was this black fog around him that looked like everything on the ground. ¡°Vali! It¡¯s me! It¡¯s Ari!¡± I got such a strange feeling coming from that dark cloud surrounding Vali. Thinking I would die if I got any closer I then picked up a small rock on the ground and threw it. ¡°Please wake up!¡± The rock seemed to have disappeared as it got close to him and nothing had even touched his body. I found the closest stick and tried to follow after him. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s wrong but for some reason he can¡¯t hear me. Everyone seems to not notice the surrounding monsters eating anyone at all. I walked out in front of him and looked right up in his eyes. They were the same color the day we met¡­pitch black. Only he couldn¡¯t even see me like before. Last time I had to wake him up, so I¡¯ll do it again. ¡°Wake UP! VALI!¡± ¡°Please hear me!¡± I continued to yell and swing the stick towards him but with every swing the stick would only be eaten away. ¡°Pleaseeee.¡± Just then Vali started to walk forward and I tried to back away but I tripped. The black cloud surrounding him then started to come slowly towards me. As I backed away there was already somebody lying behind me and had trapped me from moving. Sitting beside him was a small dagger so I picked it up. ¡®Valiiii¡­..sob¡­please¡­¡¯ Since I couldn¡¯t crawl away in time, instead I decided to crawl towards him. I continued to hear the same voices from before but I just ignored them all and leapt towards the man who has been so kind to me¡­ to my best friend¡­ UGH! I jumped towards him and the black cloud had almost surrounded me. Parts of my clothes started to get eaten away but my body wasn¡¯t harmed at all. I jabbed the dagger into Vali¡¯s leg hoping to wake him up but now I could feel my whole body start to cry out in pain. It felt like my whole body was being eaten by something. ¡°VA!!! ¡­l..nnnn¡¯¡± The arm that was holding the dagger is now gone and I can feel my whole face searing with pain. I kept kicking and hitting him but he wouldn¡¯t listen and I hit the ground shaking. Blood continued to bleed and pour out all over all the open wounds all over my face and body. I couldn¡¯t even see out of my left eye and I knew in just a few moments I would be gone. I could feel my life leaving me as fast as my body was disappearing. I couldn¡¯t save him¡­ ¡°Sob¡­I¡¯m sorry¡­Val¡­i¡­sob¡­I¡­just ¡­to¡­tell you...I¡­¡± With everything beginning to darken around me I slowly tried to reach out my arm as I all I wanted was just to touch him one last time. I was so thankful for him¡­ As my fingers started to disappear my palm touched his leg I was no longer scared. All I ever wanted was to be with him until the very end¡­ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vali¡¯s POV: ¡°AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± [You did this!] [You were weak¡­..You let them DIE!¡­Just as you let your family DIE¡­] [It¡¯s your fault.] ¡®Stop it!¡¯ [You did nothing.] ¡°Shut up!¡± I kept pushing the voices back but they continued to whisper into my ear regardless if I did or not. At first all I could hear were rattling chains but the loud whispers only started to become more real. I could feel a surge of energy awaken my power and expand my muscles. I was going to eat him! I was going to eat everything! EVERYONE! This world¡­This retched place¡­ Ever since coming here, all I have gone through is more pain¡­ It¡¯s as if this whole world were out to destroy me. This whole world is my enemy!! ¡®So (Rattle) this never (rattle) happens again! I¡¯ll ne(rattle)ver lose anyone ever again! NEVER (RATTLE) AGAIn! I¡¯ll KI(rattle)LL EVER(rattLE!!)YONE! DEV (RATTLE) OUR (RATTLE)E! EVE(RATTLE!)RYONE!!¡¯ ¡°Starting with you¡­ ¡° Rattle¡­Rattle. RATTLE..RA¡­Huh? What is that? I felt something soft come close to me. I scanned for any traces of heartbeats underneath the dark red sky surrounding all this death and myself but¡­There¡¯s nothing¡­. Nothing but him! Nothing but me and him! All that surrounds me are the dead lifeless corpses of all of my friends and the horrific creations of the sicko that has taken everything from me¡­ Everything I had¡­ They were taken from me. Just like Kaylan and Hayden. I was just too weak to be able to put up even a fight for them and they were all taken again¡­..Just like that. ¡® I need to devour everything so no one can ever take from me again. I must take everything. I must¡­.¡¯ ¡°VA¡­.¡± ¡®Huh?¡¯ ¡°ii¡± ¡®That voice¡­. I don¡¯t understand I¡­.OWE!!!!!!¡¯ A burning sensation then shot through my system from my leg all the way up until it had almost shocked my brain with an intensive heat. Everything went white and I could see everything around me change. The sky was still red but the entire atmosphere everything¡­Everything¡¯s changed? Everything was no longer dark and grey. Now I can see the bodies around me are not dead¡­None of them are. ¡® What? Was this an illusion?¡¯ Looking around Fenrir? Hjokk? The pixies and the annunakes are alive they¡¯re just under some kind of spell. Everyone and everything is just covered in in this blackness that is just sweeping across the ground and sky as if it were alive. There in the distance were monsters and Fomorians eating through my fallen comrades¡­ How did all of this¡­ I then noticed a small, deformed figure at my feet. ¡°NO!!!¡± I picked her up and her health was almost all gone as well as several parts of her body were simply missing. She was hardly even recognizable but I knew exactly who it was. I don¡¯t know how but that was absolutely her voice¡­. ¡°What happened to her?¡± I have to¡­ THIS! ¡®Did.. did I do this?¡¯ I yanked the small dagger sticking out of my shin and immediately activated Freya Soul Recovery on the tiny half mutilated girl. Her face looked even worse than when I first met her as parts of her bones are showing. Her whole body is covered in blood and missing several pieces making her already resemble a corpse. She must have been in so much pain. ¡®Please. Please. Please.Please. Don¡¯t die. Don¡¯t die!¡¯ My lips were shaking and tears began to from in the corners of my eyes as I scanned over the small corpse in my arms¡­.I couldn¡¯t even breath knowing where these wounds had come from¡­ I had done this to her¡­ It looked like she had been sprayed by Abysmal Mist as there are simply so many holes all over her body. A white light flashed and her body had returned to normal. Her face and the rest of her little body looked clean and without wounds of any kind. Her clothes were eroded and she was partially naked but she looked completely clean of any injury. Her face has regained all of its skin and lost hair. Her fingers have even been regrown back as well as the rest of her body has recovered fully. Although¡­. ¡®Why isn¡¯t there a pulse?....Why aren¡¯t you breathing!?¡¯ ¡°ARI!...Please Ari Don¡¯t¡­Don¡¯t please, please stay with me.¡± I couldn¡¯t lose her. I couldn¡¯t possibly let her go. The little girl who made all my past pains seem not so bad, the one who has helped me in such a world to miss my loved ones just a tiny bit less. I don¡¯t know when I became so attached to her but now I can¡¯t simply imagine losing her. ¡®If she dies I¡­. I saw what I was about to become. I know what will happen¡­I can¡¯t let her die. I can¡¯t . I can¡¯t¡­I can¡¯t lose her. Please Ari¡­PLEASE!¡¯ I then turned on lightning step as all I wanted was a few extra moments with this small girl who has somehow changed my life¡­ She some how...kept me from truly falling. I continued to heal her but I couldn¡¯t feel any change at all to anything. I could feel the effects of Soul Recovery just isn¡¯t working even as I use it now. Everything in the world including the monsters around us had slowed. I could see some were eating our fallen troops and time was of the essence¡­but I just couldn¡¯t let her go. I continued to use Soul Recovery but the weakened Soul I could feel was close to slipping away. ¡®Wait¡­Pl¡­please hold on....¡¯ I tried to remember what the pixies had said about magic. Whenever your affinity rises in an element, not only the attack power will change or your resistance to it but your ability to manipulate that element entirely is possible. To develop your own understandings and skill your understandings of that element will only increase over time. They spoke as if it had no boundaries just like Loki. I stuck my hand against her chest and tried to activate Lightning from against my hands. I had 8% Lightning affinity which should be something¡­ I have to try something or¡­¡­ I tried to get her heart to start beating again. I activated Lightning Armor by mistake but continued to think about the current and flow of electricity. I used Demonic Awakening to raise my stats by 25% and continued to try to force electricity out from my body¡­.¡¯I need to try and jumpstart her heart. The tear must have healed everything but her heart must have already stopped beating.¡¯ Zap! ZAP!! ZAP! Small streaks of lightning began to glow and pulse from the Armor skill and I would then manipulate the spark. As each spark would fly out I ignored everything else around me and attempted to shoot small streams of lightning to the small body. Zap¡­ Zap¡­Zap Zap! Success! I continued to push the small current into her time and time again causing tiny self to jolt with each shock. ¡°You have to wake up! Come on!¡± ¡®Please!....Please!¡¯ Biting my lip it was as if this was the only thing that mattered to me at all right now. I don¡¯t know how but this small slave girl had somehow become such a big part of me since coming to this world. Always looking at me like I was the best thing in the world, even after all I¡¯ve done. Whenever I couldn¡¯t sleep, whenever the nightmares got real bad¡­. She was there, and for some reason that had its own way of healing me. She wasn¡¯t a replacement to Kaylan neither¡­. In fact I didn¡¯t have a lot of friends growing up, we were too poor and I just didn¡¯t have time. As odd as it is to say¡­ Ari is probably the closest friend I¡¯ve ever had. I just can¡¯t¡­..I wasn¡¯t ready to let her go. ZAP!..... Zap! Zap! ¡­. No heart beat. ¡®¡­No¡­No why isn¡¯t there a heartbeat¡­.NO! Why is she even here!!¡¯ ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡± Still in Lightning Step I didn¡¯t care how much of my mana was being chipped away with each passing nano second¡­ I only wanted just a little more time with the girl in my arms. I however had no way of saving her¡­All I could do is just sit there gripping her tightly into my chest while shaking¡­. ¡°Hahahahaha!!! So this is what all those thousand years of training came to¡­. Pitiful¡­Well my children fill you¡¯re bellies as you will soon be able to leave these grounds for the first time. As we will all finally leave this pitiful world the gods have trapped us in¡­.So we SHALL PLUMMET THIS WORLD into an ENDLESS DARKNESS that will sever this false realm and their LIES and DECEIT this world has long forgotten. ¡° - Balor I could hear loud roars and cheers coming from the distance followed by the sneers and movement of monsters. ¡°Gheonsil lead my minions out into this world and set it on fire! Let us see how those gods respond to when they see their little sandbox on the brink of destruction. I don¡¯t need to bring all my forces out just yet which is why the majority of my forces are still on the higher floors and guarding the Black Palace¡­. Now off with you, taste that revenge your kind has so craved¡­.¡° ¨C Balor ¡°All hail to the new world order and the Dark Lord¡¯s reign! ¡° ¡°Finally we shall taste for revenge for the eternity we¡¯ve suffered!¡± Looking away from the small cold girl in my arms I looked up towards Balor who was delivering orders of some kind. I could see hundreds of the normal Fomorians and Manticores began to move towards the exit of this dungeon while being lead by a large armed force of Dark Elves. Each were flying on Manticores and lead an intermediate force of beasts towards the Dungeon entrance¡­.¡¯I get why the door was so big now¡­¡¯ ¡®¡­I swear¡­.I am going to going to kill ¡­huh?¡¯ I then began to feel a light brush against my bicep. It was soft and had brushed past my arm yet again¡­. Looking down the small girl in my arms was now staring right back up towards me with her big brown eyes was the small girl in my arms and not saying a word. ¡°¡­.Ari?¡± Without even giving her at a chance to respond, I pulled her in close to my chest and hugged her as hard as I could. I was already close to tears and this was enough to make me smile in such a horrific situation. As I brought her close to my chest and her head over my shoulder I used a new trick I learned from Abgrund to recall him back into my grasp. ¡°Oh my sweet Ari¡­.I was so scared I lost you¡­.¡± With her face next to mine I continued to rub her back and hold her as tightly as I could. It was as if at that moment my heart, my very soul felt so much¡­.relief. ¡°Ah¡­um¡­Mm..me too.¡± ¨C Ari ¡°HOW!!!!¡± ¨C Balor Looking up I then saw Balor gazing towards us in a violent fury. He then stopped shaking and started talking casually back towards us. All of the monsters in the area then stopped what they were doing or who they were eating and began to stare daggers towards our direction as if waiting to have us for meal too. ¡°Heh¡­I must say ¡®Champion¡¯ after I¡¯m done feeding the rest of your allies to my pets I must find how it was you came to surpass that ability just now. ¡­ Still bugs are easily squashed with little resistance..¡± -Balor Just then the darkness seeping out from the ground shot up and towards Ari and I. I tried to move out of the way but its speed was far quicker than I could swing Abgrund down. His speed was just astoundingly quicker than my own. As the darkness was about to hit however a blinding golden light flashed out from Ari¡¯s body and stopped the darkness from striking her and myself. The darkness however reseeded and then wrapped around my legs locking me down in place. ¡®Huh? What was that?¡¯ Then the darkness disappeared causing Balor to become stupefied and lower his gaze. ¡°A child of Lugh is here? How is this possible¡­..You! Tell me now how my grandson let you tame my darkness you little vermin before I rip his skull out right in front of you!¡± ¡®What the hell is he taking about? Who the fuck is Lull?¡­Is he? He¡¯s talking to Ari? Wait could he mean Lugh? ¡­. The Sun God? So then that golden light just now?..... ¡® I then looked back down at Ari in who was lying in my arms and had just realized she herself might in fact be unique. Is that how she was able to wake me up just now? Somehow she was able to wake me out of that illusion Balor had over me, something even Hjokk lying over to the side couldn¡¯t do¡­.¡¯Ok¡­if we can just wake wake her up.¡¯ ¡°I just didn¡¯t listen to all those voices¡­ and why would I care what you think anyways, I don¡¯t even know you.¡± ¨C Ari Ari who was firmly holding on to my arm softly spoke back up to the titan standing on the opposite side of the floor as us. Because everything else was silent her voice carried all the way to the ancient beings ears. He had an army scattered around him numbering in the thousands that all seemed to react by the abrupt changes in their masters voice that would shake the entirety of this dungeon with the might of his voice alone. The darkness on the ground and sky are only circling around us and there must be thousands of monsters simply created from it. Covering all over this floor I can see why he didn¡¯t even need to bring the majority of his forces out of this dungeon as each of them look dangerous. ¡°You THINK!.....You think it¡¯s as simple as not listening!.... Any deceit, hate, fear¡­The darkness merely embraces IT!...Latches onto it. It conquers EVERYTHING, no being in this world is immune to its touch but ME!....It¡¯s as if your soul itself were spotless! Pure! There is no such existence in this so called world.¡± ¡®I have no idea how or what¡¯s going on in front of me but I¡¯m just going to go with it for now and come back to it later. I need to get out of this.¡¯ As his voice reverberated the whole ground started to shake. I had pulled Ari close as I needed to find a way to get her to safety and wake everyone else up. She then whispered in my ear that Elyria is also here and isn¡¯t moving. I activated Dark Aura and put it around Ari and myself and looked back up towards Balor. Hjokk is still asleep and I feel first things first I need to wake her up but the moment I move the monsters in the area are going to go berserk and I can¡¯t imagine Balor would make this easy¡­ [Hmph The Ladies of Fate must favor you boy¡­.I do not know why but the moment that little girl touched you I felt a surge of power. Possibly a present from your god but this is a one time thing as it will still probably use up a vast amount of my stored power and will come from primarily me.¡­. You¡¯ll have one shot boy! And don¡¯t leave the skill active for longer than necessary or you will absolutely perish!] I could feel Abgrund speak loud and clear through my conscience and I could perceive it much quicker than all the outside noise. When his conscience and mine are connected time is irrelevant as whatever his conscience speaks and I perceive it all within a moment. ¡°Hmm! Tell me champion do you think using the abilities I allowed you to possess could protect you from me?¡± ¨C Balor ¡®What are you talking about Abgrund 1 time use? What is this skill anyways this looks dangerous?¡¯ [Just get close to him and don¡¯t miss¡­.He will not block this. Think of it as my pay back for what he did to my last master, though after I won¡¯t be able to help or even speak to you for some time ¡­ So this is it, it¡¯s probably impossible for you but¡­.. Good luck boy.] As Abgrund spoke he almost sounded like this would be the last time we would possibly speak, as the likelihood we will win is still unlikely. As his voice began to grow softer until it was gone I quickly went over what he just said and he decided it was the only chance I had. The current me facing off in a 1 on 1 against Balor I wouldn¡¯t last but a few moments. I tucked Ari tight into my chest and I looked back up towards the mad god peering back down towards me from leagues away. I swung down Abgurnd and cut the darkness around my feet slicing right through it with ease. My vision then distorted and my body was now only several feet above Balor. Simple a few paces away from the giant beast I can now see his entire body looks to share in the same Dark Aura as myself. It was much darker and thicker than the one Malthiel and I use and it almost looked alive and was capable of grabbing me. I was now however falling right in front of his face. Before I even stepped into this space I had already swung down Abgrund in one swift motion and activated the Third skill, unlocked from my Celestial Class weapon giving the god no time to react. ¡°Realm Sever!¡± OOOOoooooooohhhhhhh SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh¡­¡­ It felt like a seal was opened up on Abgrund and a tsunami of magical energy began to sweep through the staff and towards the tip of the blade. Each glyph lit up all over the large weapon and began to change and move. Overwhelming power I had never before witnessed began to beam off the scythe that even felt to surpass Hj?kk. A blinding white light with the brightness more powerful than the sun centralized on one solid point on Abgrund¡¯s tip. As I was falling right in front of Balor his eyes began to grow as he must have felt the sudden rush of power beaming from my weapon As he began to make a motion towards us I had already used the skill in a slanting motion across his face. RIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!! As the light stopped right on the scythe¡¯s tip it felt like the scythe began to tear across time and space itself. I could clearly hear a deafening tear as the air surrounding me began tremble. It almost felt like at this very moment, the planet itself was quivering in fear. The space surrounding Abgrund began to split open as if the blade was literally severing this realm in half including Balor and the endless darkness surrounded him. I could hear a loud tearing noise and the motion from my swing went across the side of Balor¡¯s head and down for several meters as I continued to fall. ¡®Oh yeah I have to deactivate the skill before I die.¡¯ As I shut off the skill deafening roars continued to erupt across the floor as I continued to descend down to the dungeon floor. ¡®¡­2% mana left? Oh wow.¡¯ I jumped back to my original location and noticed my mana had dropped tremendously even though Abgrund said he would be using a majority of his of his own power on this¡­If I ran out of mana it would have been my life force taken after that¡­. I was really close. ¡®Just what did Loki give Ari anyways?¡¯ Looking down in my arms Ari is still ok and was staring back up at me while firmly holding onto my chest armor and not saying a word. I then turned back up and saw Balor standing in the same place as before with his Dark Aura looking to have disappeared. Staring back towards me was the same figure as before only now¡­. The space surrounding Balor looks to have been aggressively ripped open and looks as if another world entirely is resting on the other side. It is a bright purple and black light coming from the other side. However even from all the way over here I can feel such a powerful burst of cosmic energy almost breaming back from wherever that world is from. My skin itself feels to be prickling, as the endless stream of power coming from the tear in space is beyond the term of monstrous as it is more than I can even begin to perceive¡­. Standing in the same location of the tear however is Balor with half of his face now been torn off along with a large portion of his shoulder and right arm missing as well. His right horn and side of his face has disappeared entirely as the space he happened to be standing is currently where the tear occurred. With a part of his face missing the top bits of his horn began to fall and crash towards the earth. His health, which was in the green now jumped down to 90% in that one swing¡­ Balor twitched and then began to make a move¡­ All of the surrounding monsters continued to stare back frozen looking towards their Dark Lord waiting for him to react. His left yellow eye twitched and I could see a large mouth form on his face that almost looked to go from ear to ear if he were human¡­.. He was looking back at me as if he if was so furious he couldn¡¯t think straight. He then slowly began to fall forward just before crashing into the floor below. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!! The whole floor began to shake as I could feel a large gust of wind blow past my face when the colossal tyrant fell lifeless onto the dungeon floor. The tear in space was still widely visible above his head several leagues away but now no movement came from the master to the army of monsters that were gathered on this floor. Each of the surrounding monsters then made looks of astonishment as their Dark Lord had a large portion of his head cleaved off and isn¡¯t moving¡­. ¡®Fuck he wasn¡¯t kidding¡­ The power from that skill felt horrific at how overpowered it was. It completely obliterates and cancels out all defense, barriers and magic as the space itself is being torn open, whether someone is standing in it or not. If this was the game it almost feels like an Admin skill it felt like such a cheat as it practically destroyed the space itself instead of the monster¡­. Not even a god could defend against it.¡¯ [His mind should be in tatters¡­.You will have but¡­.a few minutes ¡­ good¡­ lu¡­ck¡­ bo¡­y¡­] ¡®¡­¡­¡¯ Listening to Abgrund¡¯s words beginning to fade everything then became very real¡­. As my eyes widened I understood the situation¡­ Balor¡¯s down. ¡°WAKE UP!!!! ¡°EVERYONE GET UP NOWWWWW!!!¡± ------------------------------------------------------------ Cassandra¡¯s POV: ¡®No!...NO!!!¡¯ The masked man then ripped open Master Shen¡¯s chest and pulled his heart out. Shakko had then leaped to attack him but with the simple swipe of the masked man¡¯s arm Shakkos head then flew swiftly to the ground. ¡°No¡­ Why would ugh!..Ghghg..¡± His form had then appeared right in front of me and was holding my body above the ground and choking the life out of me. ¡®I can..t¡­.bre.a.t.¡¯ With his free arm he took off his mask and there I saw the face looking back at me. Hair as white as snow, eyes blue as crystals that showed sincerity at first, but then showed such violence. A deep but soft voice then came from his bloody red lips and echoed across my mind. ¡°Give me your heart¡­.¡± Guahhhhh! I felt a piercing stabbing pain in my abdomen and I began to choke up blood onto the face of of Vali¡­ We ¡­.Trusted yo¡­. SHHHHYYYYYEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!HHH!H!!H!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ¡®What!¡¯ Such a loud piercing scream shook through to my core and I was no longer in the air but lying on the ground. It was a very familiar scream that still causes my heart to feel uneasy. ¡°I SAID WAKE UP!!!!¡± ¡®¡±¡­What¡¯s happening?¡± My eyes open and everything is different¡­ Could I have been dreaming¡­¡¯OWE!¡¯ Looking down I had a small puncture wound in my chest and I could feel I was losing quite a bit of blood. I..I couldn¡¯t¡­mov¡­ ROOOARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!
You have heard the Roar of the Fomorian You are unable to succumb to your fear and have become paralyzed All movement will become impossible until paralysis has withered Agility has been reduced by 65% Strength has been reduced by 55% * Ability to perform magic has diminished due to the effects of fear. Magic has become 30% less effective * Ability to hold a weapon has diminished due to the effects of fear. Overall Attack Damage has been reduced by 25%
¡°no..no..not¡­ag.ain¡­¡± Looking up I could see the hordes of monsters¡­ and¡­. What? It looked as if the sky had been ripped open and looking back through was another world entirely. The dark giants that were once blotting out the sun and whose mere voice cause my whole body to tremble were running towards our direction¡­. Their large mouths each looked to extend almost up past their eyes and constantly wore a horrid grin. Their laughs and the sounds they made only made me wish to run in the opposite direction. ¡°AhhhhhHH!!¡± The giant beast picked up a blue haired man and threw him into its large mouth. I could hear his scream fade as the beast crunched down and sealed the demi human to a dark fate. We were at such a difference in level the fight already seems hopeless even with him¡­ That was his voice I heard earlier. I can see shaking next to me where Shakko and Master Shen while Sting too seemed to have been waking up from that odd attack from the one known as Balor. I had never seen a god before but simply his visage descending onto the floor caused my whole body to uncontrollably shake. He looked to be something that crawled out from a someone¡¯s nightmare and even had a cape of darkness that flowed behind him. Such power it had blown us all to the ground from the other side of the dungeon floor. How could we hope to kill him¡­ Where..where is Vali anyways? I don¡¯t see him... My whole body started to tremble and I could see all those around me were now running away¡­¡¯What?¡¯ But they were not running away from the giant beasts that are hurling towards us¡­.¡®They¡¯re running towards the giants?....¡¯ I couldn¡¯t stop shaking but I was in awe at watching all of these demi humans we were just standing alongside were not phased in the slightest by the approaching giants each towering towards the skies. Instead of fleeing they were each weapons raised and marching forth to the oncoming dark beasts without any fear at all. Shen and Shakko both seemed in awe of this as well. ¡°HOOOOWwwWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!¡± ¡°AHHHHH!!!!!!¡± ¡°Kill them ALL!!!!! ¡° ¡°TO THE DAWWWN!!!!¡± ¡®How..how can you simply run to your deaths¡­¡¯ I then heard a loud scream but it wasn¡¯t of fear, they were battle cries to the heavens. To the monsters that were between us and our freedom and they were willing to fight even giants with just their swords and spears to do so¡­. ¡®Am¡­a..zing.. ¡° How could they¡­ ROOOOOOOAAARRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!! BOOooooooOOO!OOO!OOM Suddenly a loud roar erupted that was so loud the air itself trembled. The force from whatever it was landing so close by sent all of us dozens of feet back forcing me to roll in the dirt. Looking back up it was¡­. ¡°WHa..Wha¡­t is¡­. that?¡± It had three rows of teeth and four horns coming out of the top and sides of its enormous head. It had a long black mane flowing out the sides of its head and long legs that looked to be made of armor. Coming out of its large armored back were the wings of a dragon but the body and face of a black furred lion¡­ The tail also looks to be venomous in some way and almost looks like that of an insect¡¯s. The large lion however had something in its mouth. It was a large bird like demi human and the beast had crushed its neck with his jaws. As it threw the dead birdman to the side the demi humans body disappeared in a series of flickering lights. Now all that remained was the beast before us. GRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrr The growl caused my ears to pop and forcefully take a step back. Several demi humans then began to surround it as if they were planning on taking on the much higher leveled beast. It looked to be even larger than a fully grown wyverian. Only this monster looked to be violently more dangerous.
Manticore Level 644 The Poison of the Sky
I slowly gained the ability to stand up as I put all of my strength into my legs. If I didn¡¯t move now I would surely die. Just then its dark fur began to stand on end all up and down its body and tail. It¡¯s body which practically looked to be made of armor was also now standing on end. They looked to be barbed and very sharp but that didn¡¯t stop the several demi humans who then lunged forward towards the large winged lion. SHIINKK SHink SHIIINK SHiiIiiiin Ssrsrrrr AHHHHH!!!!! Gonk! Its tail then shot forward and shot out several pronged spikes out of its whole body. The small spikes pierced through everyone who had gotten anywhere close to it and was large enough to blow a human in half. Several had died instantly while everything in the surrounding area had been devastated by this beasts attack. Seeing the flying prongs come in our direction I tried to react but my speed had diminished heavily. As I could not dodge the spray of shards, I could feel encroaching death. Kink! Kink! Kink! Ahhh!!! Just then the image of Master Shen had leapt towards me and shielded the two of us with his metallic arm but the barbs pierced straight through them. He attempted to swing his sword but only managed to block two before several pierced right into his false arm. ¡°Master Shen!¡± Looking up I saw Master Shen¡¯s health drop dramatically in one second and was instantly in the red. He had large puncture wounds on his ribs and stomach that two large spikes looked to have been lodged deep within. His weight then fell down towards me and I attempted to prop his much larger body up. ¡®Oh gosh your heavy!¡¯ The beast had then swung his large paws at one of the oncoming demi humans and then looked straight towards us. The Manticores tail then pointed towards us and several small spikes began to spray towards us for a second time. I tried to move Master Shen but his weight was too much for me and we both then fell to the ground. Closing my eyes I prayed the attack would miss us. GONK! Gonk! GonK GonK! A loud noise erupted out as it sounded like metal colliding with metal. Or more like metal colliding with a stonewall. Opening my eyes I saw standing in front of me was a large purple figure. Its body was transparent and wasn¡¯t even connected in anyway. But I could see this ghost like figure was armored. The transparent knight in front of me had several small green tipped spikes sitting at its levitating feet. It held a large shield and wielded a claymore. It only stared silently back towards the beast while standing in between us. ¡°Ugh¡­Did purple guy here save us?¡± ¨C Master Shen BOOOOOM!!!! A loud cloud of dust erupted around the winged beast as it appeared to be fighting something in the confusion. Looking in the cloud I can see one of the figures is much smaller than the winged beast but they are moving at similar speeds. SHIIINKKKK! ROOAaa¡­.. BOoooooOM! The ground shook as another dust cloud then shot forward towards everyone surrounding the large winged beast. As the cloud started to disperse the Level 644 monster was then lying on the ground and twitching. Its head however was now several feet away from the rest of its body. Standing however on its large back only a few feet away from its swaying tail however was the same person I saw in that odd dream¡­¡¯Or it wasn¡¯t a dream, Looking at my health I¡¯ve already lost 30% of it because I can¡¯t stop this bleeding underneath my armor.¡¯ Somehow Vali must have cut its head off and ended it quickly? I can¡¯t even see Vali¡¯s level but I can only assume it¡¯s incredibly high at this point. I thought it would have taken almost all of us present to even hurt him but in less than a moment the large winged beast¡¯s life had ended. ¡°Everyone who¡¯s in the rear guard get up here NOW! WE only have a few minutes before he wakes up and we need to get into position!¡± ¨C Vali ¡°Wa¡­wakes up? ¡° ¨C Sting ¡°What¡¯s happened?¡± ¨C Shakko I still couldn¡¯t get up or move and Master Shen¡¯s breathing was starting to get much worse¡­.¡¯Damn it! He jumped in to save me. .¡¯ ¡°Va¡­¡± As I began to scream up towards Vali to come help I then saw his figure standing over me now and looking down at me. In one swift motion he picked the two of us up with each hand and held each of us above the ground¡­.He lifted each of us up as if we were two small children and a gentle and warm feeling began to touch my shoulder and move towards my chest.
You are now under the effects of Freya Soul Recovery Your skin is now more fair and beautiful than it was before after being touched by the hands of an Advanced Healer. Impurities from your soul have been washed away by the eternal beauty of the Goddess Freya. You have now recovered 7500 Health
A bright light stemmed out from Vali¡¯s hands and onto each of our bodies. I could see this healing light was also healing Master Shen¡¯s injuries he sustained while protecting me. ¡°¡­Fr..Freya¡­Is¡­IS she the goddess who blessed you. This healing magic¡­Seen before s..so..strong...¡± ¨C Shen Shen¡¯s health continued to rise but much slower than mine. Vali seeing this began to start to pull out the shards on Master Shen¡¯s chest¡­. Oooop¡­ ¡®While also dropping me so politely with his other hand¡­¡¯ ¡°Mmm, Is he ok?¡± After brushing myself off I slowly felt the ability to breath but I was still shaking. With the loud roars from the distance of monsters and our forces fighting my heart wouldn¡¯t stop pounding against my chest. I could not stop my heart from trembling. Vali nodded while looking at the strange barbs that came out from Master Shen¡¯s chest. ¡°Alpha! Rear guard secured we are ready to move!¡± ¨C Boro A large white wolf man then walked up and yelled towards Vali as he looked at the strange barbs in his hands. When Vali asked if this had any poison in it he would have to use a crystal but Master Shen simply said every barb increased his weight by roughly 10 times almost pushing him back down towards the ground. ¡°Vali our front forces are ready and the illusions are in place¡­¡± ¨C Cosmia Vali then turned to the side with his black hooded robe flowing behind him and looked back towards the large number of divided forces of demi humans. Thousands were on the right while only a small number was on the left. My vision changed as I felt that where I was standing had completely moved. I was now standing next thousands of armed demi humans as well as Vali¡¯s mother Elyria. She had the small girl Ari in her arms and her clothes looked almost all gone. ROOOARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! The giants that were close to our formations began to charge towards our position and shaking the whole floor with their movements¡­ ¡°Dullahans shield wall!¡± ¨C Vali Just then the same purple figure from before then joined several and formed a small barricade between us and the incoming giants. ¡®What are those things? And is he controlling them?¡¯ The floor continued to quake as lights began to erupt from the Fomorians mouth and eyes that looked to be burning them. A blinding white light short forth and then¡­.. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!! Loud explosions roared out as several of the incoming giant beasts running towards us erupted in fire from the inside out. ¡°AHHHHHH!!!! FUCK! I wanted to use this on BALOR!!!¡­.Auahh!¡± Emerging from the three monstrous Fomorians with their bodies blown apart were three small brightly glowing pixies. Gold, Blue and Orange. All that remained in the place where the titans were is a brightly shining demi human surrounding by white fire. The ground itself glowed in a white gold as the floor itself looked to be on fire. As several of the other small pixies flew over to the completely destroyed bodies of the melted giants, I could hear several of the pixies scream violently in anger as they were carried away after looking too tired to move. ¡®What in the world did those pixies do to the incoming giants? Is this what Vali was speaking about earlier?.......Tremendous¡­ Their bodies that emerged from within the beasts were glowing in a blinding white fire like that of a Fire God.¡® The dungeon floor looks like it couldn¡¯t even take that as what¡¯s left just fell into a large hole possibly to the floor below. ¡°Tanin! We have to move! You¡¯re in the Rear Guard now you already used it! ¡° Vale ¡°UGhhh!!! ¡° ¨C Tanin, Uri ¡°Ah but ¡­Vali!¡± ¨C Ari ¡°Shh¡­shh¡­It¡¯s ok Ari. I need you to be brave for me ok¡­ ¡° ¨C Vali ¡°I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m so ¡­¡± ¨C Ari The sounds started to dull as I could then hear distinct words and voices that I could understand in the constant onslaught that surrounded us. In the distant were loud roars and sounds of what sounded like an elephant crying. Over the tree line I can now see why the army of monsters haven¡¯ even gotten close to us now¡­they were herded away and are being held back by an enormous storm. The reason the sun was still gone was simply because the heavy storm clouds continued to cover the red skies. There¡¯s no way that storm is natural¡­ That must be the Valkyrie¡¯s doing¡­Maybe¡­maybe we do have a chance... I however do not see the god from before¡­ ¡°Ari don¡¯t be¡­Because of you¡­Balor is down.¡­ Because of you¡­. we are alive right now. Now I need you to be brave for me ... Stay with Elyia and I will be back for you both ¡­¡± - Vali Hearing two familiar voices I could understand in the constant roars and shouts only a few feet away from me was Vali and his mother. He comforted the small demi human child who was crying and even kissed her on the cheek to calm her down. This action caused to small child to redden heavily and simply nod her head back. ¡®Vali said Balor was ¡­¡®down¡¯? How did this happen? Because of that little demi human?!! What could have possibly happened ? ¡°Vali Listen I can help you.¡± ¨C Elyria ¡°You are not fighting those things.¡± ¨C Vali As Vali pointed back towards the giants being held back by the large storm that has now touched down. Out behind it however were still dozens of beasts and monsters still reeking havoc throughout what¡¯s left of our formations. ¡°I don¡¯t need to fight those things to help¡­.Just watch...Earthen Law!¡± ¨C Elyria Just then the 4 tailed fox woman then began move her hands in an odd and rhythmic way while glowing a bright green. She had even grown a 5th tail as I could tell this Fusch woman who was the mother of monsters must have been an excellent mage. Everything began glow around her and a bright light shot forth towards each of us while small thin vines began to seep up from the ground and wrap up towards our knees. All before disappearing I began to feel my heart calmed and I was no longer shaking.
All Allies are now under the effects of Earthen Law II All Allies will now become 40% more immune to any and all Status Effects Strength + 35 Defense + 55 Stamina + 200 Earth Affinity has risen for 5% for 30 Minutes
Fusch''s have a much stronger magic affinity than humans do upon birth. I''m told the number of tails is almost a symbol of power for their race and the buffs she grants those in a small area around her are enough to allow us each to breath. She herself can even do fast casting magic for so many in a small area around her. With this sudden action her tails each spun and I could feel the weight that was on me subside and even strengthen me more than I ever had been. The tips of each her her long and fluffy tails would glow in a different color as her cast times were so fast. ¡°Druid Defense, Endless Root, Earth Shield!¡° ¨CElyria
All Allies are now under the influence of Druid Defense Defense has increased by 15% You have now been granted the ability Elemental Defense that has been raised to 5%.
All Allies are now under the influence of Endless Root While your feet are rooted firmly on the earth¡¯s soil you will receive the endless supply of energy from your risen affinity with the Earth Spirits. - Due to the overflowing darkness currently affecting the surrounding area, effects of Endless Route have been halved. Maximum Stamina + 175 Stamina Regeneration + 22%
You have been granted the ability to use Earth Shield Allow the spirits of the Earth to protect you with rock and soil that will block some incoming damage. Decrease every incoming attack by a possible 250 for duration of Earth Shield
Those in the front lines and a few others around Elyria were given strong buffs including myself and the other Knights. While reading through all of the effects of the power from Vali¡¯s mother Vali then smiled and nodded. There were now several bright lights surrounding Vali and even small rocks and earth floating beside him and each of us as well. I¡¯ve heard of Classes that primarily focus on buffs or ways to strengthen their allies but I¡¯ve never seen someone capable of buffing so many with multiple stacking buffs before. The mother of monsters then smiled towards her son and wolf dog at his side who also received the same magical buffs. The small girl in her arms was still red from before. Vali didn¡¯t say anything but comforted them both with his smile and cool demeanor before turning away. ¡°Good luck Vali!¡± ¨C Daisy ¡°Good luck Cosmia, Cyanin and Vali¡­ Good luck Bifrost!!!¡± ¨C Cari Several of the pixies surrounding Shakko, Shen, Sting and myself started to yell back towards everyone who had already turned and were moving towards the giant beasts fighting in the distance. Snap! With the sound of Vali snapping his finger reverberating over the whole floor, me and the thousands of Demi humans that were behind me are now in a completely different location. The demi humans didn¡¯t seem confused at all and each ran off into different directions¡­ ¡®Wow¡­.That¡¯s a big wall¡­..¡¯ ¡°¡­.Who made this? I didn¡¯t realize it was this big¡­¡± ¨C Shakko ¡°I don¡¯t know but I don¡¯t want to stop and admire the architecture at the present so why don¡¯t we move to the back of this oddly built city. ¡± ¨C Shen As we each nodded we moved to the back of the city were thousands of demi humans from all races continued to gather. Beside us we even had several guards from each of the races, even several of the immortal pixies were alongside us as well. None of the demi humans here showed even a hint of fear which is what continued to fill my mind. I admit that now I can breathe and move much better than before¡­ But in the face of such odds they are going to fight giants behind these walls¡­ Gods¡­. ¡°¡­What the hell are those?¡± ¨C Shakko BoOOOM! BOOoooOM! Loud roars came from on top of the walls that erupted across the entire floor. ¡°Hmph¡­I guess you foreigners would probably not see something like that unless you travel more¡­Those are cannons¡­though those particular models seem much different than the ones I¡¯ve seen back home. They¡¯re much louder¡­¡± - Sting ¡°So how did they manage to have such an invention down in here?¡± ¨C Shakko Shakko questioned Sting running alongside us with his dark spear and black leather light armor. ¡°Do you think you have enough defense with just that?¡± ¡°Heh¡­ This is called Hydra Armor X and is probably the most valuable thing I now own¡­.. If I ever survive this I can¡¯t imagine I¡¯d ever sell it. It¡¯s not even the basic kind you see everyone in here wearing either as this is actually a particular armor only the leaders received and is made up of a finer quality of leather from a legendary beast. Thanks to a certain special acquaintance who gave this to me this heals 5,000 health a minute. Well and my robe isn¡¯t quite like the one Vali let me wear once¡­.I tell you even with the equips he has alone will shake the fabric of the Central Continent¡­But he too is wearing this particular armor so I feel slightly safer due to that, even if he is someone who can¡¯t be defined with simple words¡­. I¡¯ll never understand blessed beings, how they can simply defy logic and surpass so many gaps in level and fight on equal grounds with something like a god¡­.- Sting ¡°¡­¡­Wait what?¡± ¨C Shakko ¡°Did you say 5,000 in a minute?.......¡± ¡®¡­¡­ That is simply astonishing. I thought being able to heal 1,500 health a minute from eating enchanted meat was incredible but¡­. How can a simple cloth provide such ludicrous effects. It almost outshines some Legendary items I¡¯ve seen and he says everyone with those black snake skin fleeces have such an effect¡­.¡¯ ¡°I admit I don¡¯t know how he came by such strength but even his mom is someone special¡­Just check out all these buffs on here, I feel like I can fight all day long¡­¡± ¨C Shen Behind this wall the battle had started making the entire floor continue to shake. Vali and the demi humans beside him had fearlessly leapt into battle against such frighteningly bad odds, and all we are to do is wait until things don¡¯t work behind this wall. As we continued to run alongside the pixies and looking back towards the colossal wall that far surpassed any outside this dungeon it was a wall meant for giants. Dozens of pixies started to fly upwards towards the top of the wall where several demi humans were already waiting. They surrounded the small white pixie with rainbow like hair. Even though they all looked and acted so young in the matching armors and weapons along with the ever glow from their wings, it felt like they were existences beyond human comprehension as rainbow light trailed from behind her and her guards. There was still however a large group of pixies running alongside us as well. Many of them were flying right next to Vali¡¯s mother and attempting to speak but I don¡¯t think she understood them at all. ¡°You¡¯re Vali¡¯s mother!¡± ¨C Blue Pixie ¡°She¡¯s so pretty!¡± ¨C Maroon Pixie ¡°Vali said this was his mother! And this little girl he was holding when we woke up¡­ Does that mean you¡¯re Vali¡¯s family too?¡± ¨C Pink Pixie ¡°¡­..Ugh¡­I don¡¯t um understand hmphmph¡­You all are each quite cute though.¡± ¨C Elyria ¡°She seems nice like Vali¡­¡± ¨C Light Blue pixie ¡°Wait so if they¡¯re Vali¡¯s family does that make them our family too?¡± ¨C Maroon Pixie ¡°Well of course! This is so exciting to get to meet you! I¡¯m Vali¡¯s sister Aurora!¡± ¨C Blue Pixie As Elyria shook the floating pixies as we all ran through the streets of the stone city that I now see has been built into the wall of the cave itself. I can see a tall clock tower in the corner of the city next to the rocky sides of the dungeon wall. All of our wounds had been healed in that moment and I now have my sword in hand alongside what should be less than 15,000 troops. Well 6,000 of those troops would also be elderly, children or those who are essentially not fighters in this dungeon but those who chose to simply live in such a place. ¡®I couldn¡¯t imagine being able to just live here for the entirety of my days, let alone facing such a monstrous enemy to escape either¡­¡¯ ¡°Well if we manage to survive¡­ I think it highly likely we instruct the King to keep relations with Vali on good terms regardless of who our enemies might be. Even if we have to cut tithes with Noble and even High Royal families from the central continent¡­.No I don¡¯t think that I absolutely believe that¡­.¨C Shakko ¡°You think so too¡­He is a Blessed Being from the Goddess Freya after all.¡± ¨C Shen ¡°Wait Freya? What? That lucky bastard!!¡± ¨C Sting Running alongside Shen ,Shakko, Sting and Elyria we continued to run further into the back of the city alongside the thousands of other demi humans. Many of them looked like warriors but a large number of them looked to be made up of civilians. ¡°You don¡¯t get it¡­. His blessed ability gifted from the gods¡­ Abilities that could even shake the continent and compare to the Legendary Heroes. Said to make them capable of surpassing large level gaps and wielding such frightening power ¡­. Its possibly he also has no affiliation with the Goddess Freya at all either.¡± ¨C Shakko To this each of us then turned and peered towards the masked man running alongside us. Shakko¡¯s voice then started to speak softer as we ran to the edge of the clock tower and he explained his statement for only us three to hear. Considering that the pixies were currently flying around Elyria and trying to speak to her she wouldn¡¯t be paying attention anyways. ¡°The Priest from the Asher Church of Freya¡­he died in the coliseum¡­What happened to him, and what we saw earlier today¡­. I think he and his wolf have some kind of ability to take abilities from others¡­..well from eating hearts¡­ I first had a hunch when I saw his wolf only start to reform and regrow its lost arm until he killed that ¡­Ugh I don''t even want to think about it¡­You said Vali killed a King Hydra? I¡¯ve only seen the 6 headed ones and even those are a fucking pain to deal with¡­ a place like this would probably be like finding the lost city of Minos to a Blessed Being with an ability like that. It¡¯s probably why he¡¯s here.... But I can¡¯t imagine the Goddess of Beauty and Fertility would affiliate with such actions for power¡­ But if that woman was in fact a Valkyrie like he said then it has to be one of the Gods of Asgard. But who?¡± - Shakko ¡®I completely forgot about that. An ability to absorb skills from those who¡¯ve fallen by him? Is Shakko implying by consuming hearts he can¡­.absorb other¡¯s skills¡­.What kind of unfair ability is that? Blessed Beings are said to be tools to the gods themselves and can wield devastating power but what god granted an ability like that one? ¡­. In time he could even be someone who is capable of challenging a Saint or one of the Legendary Nine who wield powers comparable to the gods.¡¯ ¡°Hmmm¡­. The only Blessed Beings from an Asgardian I know of are the Saint of Lightning Donner and the so titled Blessed Child of Light Alexander Forsetti in the Central Continent. So Vali has probably just stayed under the radar for a long time before popping up in yalls back yard¡­. Truly a large world we live in isn¡¯t it. I myself am constantly reminded how small of an existence I am in here.¡°- Sting But the man who is fighting outside the walls behind us is not the same monster who was in that dark illusion¡­ Everything was so dark and grey then but now ¡­ I saw a man who comforted a small-frightened demi human child most wouldn¡¯t give a second glance. He treated his mother with utmost care and love it was a completely different person than the monster in my fears¡­. Vali¡¯s willing to even take on an army and a god with such little numbers to allow the young, old and even us who can¡¯t help to survive¡­. He¡¯s nothing like the dark image I had portrayed him as in my nightmares. The look in his eyes was also different. They weren¡¯t blue in like in the illusion, but black, much like the over lurking darkness that is blowing slowly across this place. I can¡¯t imagine where he gained such fearlessness and frightening strength but I can only pray. Pray to the gods for favor and safety of our allies and Vali as they fight against such a monstrous enemy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vali¡¯s POV: ¡°The illusions have each been set Vali¡± ¨C Cosmia ¡°Good tell Daisy to send word to the Adlers that those Manticores shoot some strange shard that¡¯ll increases your gravity dramatically if hit. It could cause them to easily fall out of the sky if they¡¯re hit by them so yall be mindful against them as well.¡° ¡°Will do Vali¡­¡± ¨C Cosmia Looking forward at the fallen god he still hasn¡¯t gotten up from that last attack. I can¡¯t imagine he¡¯ll be too happy when he wakes up either. I¡¯ve set Adimar and Akino as well as the Elite Annunakes on top of him and it¡¯s been close to a minute. While I don''t absorb all the Mana that he lost, Balor''s health has only gone down by 1% but his Mana has gone down by 4% which has caused my mana pool to go up by a solid 45%. ¡®Just a bit more¡­ just a bit more and I¡¯ll have enough to use each skill one after the other¡­.This bitch will go down.¡¯ Abgrund said his mind should be in tatters right now so we used the time to gather our remaining forces and all get in position. We had to push back and kill all the surrounding Fomorians and monsters within our formations and surrounding the fallen Balor but many Fomorians were still running rampant with dozens Manticores flying overhead. Behind that however¡­¡­ BOOOOOM! ZzzzzAAAaaPPP!!!! PPpAPPAPAPPA BOOOOOOOOOM!!!! The force from every explosion and each lightning strike caused it hard to hear anyone properly without Daisy¡¯s flower petal wrapped in a cloth clogging my ear. Hjokk was doing a great job at holding back all of Balor¡¯s army of monsters behind the now 100th tornado that has touched down. The storm ripped the surrounding forest and weaker monsters into it¡¯s clutches and received massive damage when being struck by flying debris at Mach speeds. Any monster that got anywhere close to the ever increasing storm would receive massive damage until the cloud of mist disappeared entirely. Golden lightning continued to rain down from the tip of Hjokk¡¯s spear to the new dark clouds that have been created overhead and are slowly covering the whole floor. All of Balor¡¯s dark creations have vanished and even though his monster horde is violently stronger than anything outside these walls¡­. They aren¡¯t even in the same league as Hj?kk¡­ Her image continued to appear and reappear in and out of the storm and would blow off the monsters skulls with the simply swing of her spear. SSSssSAAAAAAHhhhh!!!!! Looking in the sky a long black serpent with bright red wings coming out its long body began to shoot towards Hjokk after seeing the numbers around Balor thinning.
Amphithere Level: 598
As it took a deep breath it looked to have been shooting some sort of dark purple energy beam forming around its mouth. I only saw it for a moment before Hj?kk then flew past it, ripping the Amphithere¡¯s wings off in the process. Nothing could even get close to Hj?kk and seeing this it was possibly a good idea. I owe it all to Ari¡­ I have no idea why she and Elyria are here¡­.What Abgrund said, I blame Loki. If anything happens I swear I¡¯ll gut him for it. ¡®¡­.I however can¡¯t argue I¡¯d probably be dead now if Ari hadn¡¯t woken us all up. Once Balor¡¯s head was cleaved in two whatever that darkness ability that brought our entire army of thousands to our knees was also broken.¡¯ ¡­. Our numbers had thinned greatly and the Adler¡¯s who were not apart of our alliance and were all warped from Floor 22 to were almost all wiped out. As they attempted to fly away Balor¡¯s skill dropped the out of the sky and only became helpless why they were trapped in their own hell. Many came crying to Kyrah as her brother Griff and a large majority of their forces were already gone. She ordered them to the rear guard and took 2,000 Adlers to the skies above the clouds where she is waiting. Hundreds were eaten or heavily injured by Balor¡¯s last attack that almost reached the Giant wall.. Some even died under the effects of Balor¡¯s strange illusion skill. It somehow fed on the darkness that dwells within all of us and used that to hurt us. Whatever happened in our mind is what would start to happen to our bodies, I was fortunate enough to resist it before it was able to claim me¡­.Truly if not for the little girl I saved in that coliseum we would all be monster food and our stories would have ended abruptly here. ¡®Fuck¡­His damn eye, I should have remembered something in the mythologies spoke something about Balor¡¯s eye being able to destroy armies but this¡­ Well it¡¯s gone now and soon he won¡¯t be able to grow it back¡­. With my mother here everyone¡¯s stats and defense has risen well too, which is good. It¡¯s possibly now¡­We¡¯re going to gain the advantage with this as he can¡¯t stop Hj?kk from massacring his defenseless children¡­. He¡¯s as vulnerable as ever now.¡¯ I told the pixies and the rest of our little suicide squad to hold back and I warped over to the fallen Balor where the Elite Annunakes are currently cleaving off health and mana bit by bit. ROOOOOARRRRRRR!!!!! ¡®Another Manticore? Damn Hj?kk you¡¯re slacking¡­¡­Dark Sever!¡¯ SHHYYYYYEEEAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! A large dark crescent moon shot forth out from Abgrund and towards the flying Manticore overhead clipping off part of its wings. As it came crashing to the Earth it crawled back onto its stomach and got up and started sprinting towards me in blind furry. The lion-like beast covered large amounts of ground even on its thick and powerful legs. WHOooooOSSHHH! Slink! Whoosh! WhooooSH! WHooosh! Sink!!! Ro¡­bnbn¡­ The image of the beast then exploded in finely sliced shreds of meat, skin, and brain matter that scattered and painted the floor at my feet. Walking out from behind the mutilated beast and puddle of blood was Alysteir who walked slowly towards me while covering herself with her hat from all the falling blood. ¡°I can¡¯t see why you didn¡¯t just perform our plan early as a time like this would be opportune when he is unable to defend.¡± ¨C Alysteir Behind Alystier I could see a Fomorian toppled to the ground as the image of Malfius and several Reiki and Neko¡¯s took the giant to ground and paralyzing it. Within a few breaths he was already right back at our side. ¡°I half wish we could have too now that he¡¯s been down so long but we needed to move our forces into position. Beside even if we did it early he¡¯s not in the cage which was the point and if we mess up this chance we ruin a perfect oppor¡­..¡± ¡°MmmmMM!!!!! Killl !!!¡­ Haaaaaahhhhh¡­.¡± ¨CBalor The ground started to quake and the figure of the fallen god began now began to move and try to rise. I instructed to the Elite Annunake it was time to move and then the whole ground started to shake even more violently. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°Show you endless¡­TORMENT¡­..I will ¡­..Feast on your FLESH you insignificant MORTALLLL!! ¡± ¨C Balor The air itself began to rumble and crack and I could feel Balor¡¯s endless wave of pressure begin to fill throughout the entire floor with the mere sound of his thunderous voice. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Akino¡¯s POV: ¡°Rapid Paw!¡± ¡°Moonlight Claw!¡± - Adimar As Adimar and I continued to dig deep into the giant bastard who is responsible for all of our pains, he was lying on the ground helpless. ¡®I don¡¯t know what Vali did but¡­.. The Alpha must have met the god head on and put him on the ground. I can¡¯t imagine going through this all without him here. Somehow he is the one who holds all of us together. He was willing to even forgive my brethren and myself for all we had done¡­ And like the words we spoke ¡­¡­¡¯ Moonlight Claw! We will share in each others fate¡­.With the Alpha I finally get to tear this son of ¡­. ¡°MmmmmM!!!¡± The dark and long back of the fallen god which felt to be made of metal began to move and twitch. Looking back towards the other Annunakes who were ordered to drain this son of bitch dry of his magic we each agreed it was time to move. Even with all of the added armor and buffs from Vali we won¡¯t fair long if Balor were to get ahold of one of us. As we leapt off of the giant¡¯s back the ground itself began to crack and open up as Balor started waking up from having his head partially ripped off. He didn¡¯t bleed but his open head just looked filled with darkness. Anything that attacked or touched it actually received damage on our barriers and armor so we didn¡¯t bother. Each of the Elite Annunake are adorning dark blue leather armor gifted to us as well as have several buffs and magic surrounding each of us making us stronger than ever before. We continued to run knowing full well behind us Balor was emerging and going to be angry as ever. ¡®How can he survive with half of his face gone!¡¯ WHOOOOOOOSHHHHHHH!!!!! A brilliant bright star flashed at the top of the city walls and was nearly blinding. ¡°Grr¡­.GRrRRRRRR AHHHhghghh! ¡° As we continued to retreat we could hear the screams and wails of the titan at are backs but even with our speed he could cover the distance in second with his large body. ¡®We have to¡­.guah!!!¡¯ Suddenly something grabbed my leg and tighten it fastening it to the floor. ¡°Try and run as you might but you simply cannot ever escape me! This place shall forever be your GRAVES!¡± ¨C Balor I couldn¡¯t move and now could see several other of my fellow elites have been bound to the floor by the darkness erupting from the ground. ¡°GRrrgaah¡­GAHhhHH!¡± - Bronsil ¡°Ugh¡­.This is It! GUhh¡­.¡± - Alderon The two elites tied to the ground to my left where each pulled apart from the waist and killed immediately. I could continue to feel the same darkness grip onto me and I couldn¡¯t escape. Moonlight CLAWWWW! With the sound of thunder a bright flash appeared next to me and ripped the darkness at my feet apart and pulled me in tight. ¡°ha¡­ha¡­Alpha¡­.I..¡± ¡°We have to move!¡± - Vali Grabbing my arm we continued to run away from Balor to hopefully lure him to the next location but the darkness that is seeping out of the dungeon floor is now making large clouds of black in the air and covering the entire floor. Joining on the other side of Vali we continued to run towards the back of the giant forest where the trap has been laid. Half of the floor is already completely destroyed and we can only hope the trap hasn¡¯t been destroyed either. ¡®We can only¡­¡¯ BOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!! A loud explosion came up from the ground just in front of where we were running and an endless sea of darkness blew threw and seeped into the sky. It happened so close it sent each of us in separate locations. ¡°Trying to escape me is MEANINGLESS! You think because you killed such a small number of creations you can escape your fates! You aren¡¯t even worthy of facing ME!!!¡± ¨C Balor Darkness then enveloped and wrapped itself fully around Vali and caused him to drop his weapon. As I was lying on my back I too began to get wrapped up and tightly bound by this intangible darkness that makes any movement simply impossible. I see lurking and crawling all over the floor around us now are the same monsters as before that were created by Balor¡¯s disturbed mind. Each looked deformed and made from what makes up his own body. ¡°GRrrrrRR!!!...ALP¡­.AA! Gaah¡­ I can¡¯t¡­.¡± - Adimar Adimar too started to choke as the darkness around him began to tighten and claw at his open fur. Blood began to spurt and fly off with the whips coming from the dark creations and some even began to bite onto my lower body. Vali couldn¡¯t help as he too was being fully enveloped by the darkness that he didn¡¯t even see Balor had now caught up to us and was merely staring overhead¡­.. Looking down at me with half of his face already completely torn off he made a small smirk with the other side of his face. As I was helpless I simply smiled back towards my incoming fate¡­. ¡°Heh¡­.I regret nothing¡­.¡± Balor then raised his large leg that towered almost as tall as the surrounding trees until plummeting down on top of where I was lying sending me into a world of darkness. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Izzie¡¯s POV: ¡°Absolutely incredible¡­.¡± Never would I imagine this day would come as a child but fate rarely goes the way we plan for it too. That¡¯s exactly while right at the very beginning of the fight we were taken by surprise by Balor¡¯s sudden attack, which downed everyone on this floor just from looking at him. Truly a remarkable specimen this human. I admit the first time I heard about the odd white haired Vali I along with the rest of the public agreed he probably shouldn¡¯t be trusted. And yet he is one of our strongest weapons in our fight against Balor. He¡¯s even someone more dangerous than Alysteir as he can turn even an existence like the pixie into something rather remarkable¡­. I have no idea what sort of skill he must have used on Balor but just looking at the hole torn into the sky it must have been at least a Rank SS skill¡­.. ugh I wish he would have let me use my Acquire Skill on him to rate his abilities before all of this! I simply drool at the amount of new information I could learn from such a peculiar boy. If it was enough to knock through Balor¡¯s defenses and put him out even with the phenomenal level difference, I have to know what skill he just casted¡­. I simply woke up from a nightmare of Balor and his giants were victorious and were devouring each of us one by one. I was surprised that when I woke up the same was occurring only that Balor himself looked to be a lifeless corpse lying down in the distance with some tear in the sky that later sealed itself. Vali assured us though he would wake up soon and we should instead use the time to get into position and push back his remaining forces. ¡®As much as I wish we could initiate Plan 1B early, if he woke up and felt threatened enough to destroy everything in the surroundings we could lose our only truly good opportunity to hurt him¡­.¡¯ I say, I don¡¯t care too much for them divine folk but this human who is blessed by one is someone I¡¯m truly thankful for the hope he has brought us. Even Commander Locke doesn¡¯t know what to think of Vali and he¡¯s usually a good judge of character. Erwin did say however he believes Vali to be someone we can count on and has the character of someone who doesn¡¯t die early¡­.Hard to imagine such a low leveled human could put the gods on their knees. He was even willing to spare Jasmine, or should I say Clara now from a fate no different from the Dark Elf I had a hand in torturing¡­ I¡¯m also thankful this Vali who also is someone who only takes life when absolutely necessary or I could have potentially lost my best friend in this place¡­. If the public even found out about her there could have even been a riot. Looking to my right Clara the elf who was still in her Neko body was viewing the scenes out in front of us with wide eyes. My unit along with the Adlers, Pixies are to protect the wall for Commander Pek and the Jiji to operate wall cannons. ¡°Ok ¡­. He¡¯s waking up¡­Now Cari and Cosmia!¡¯ ¨C Daisy ¡°Ok Daisy¡­. Flash Flame!¡± ¨C Cari The small multicolor haired pixie waved her hands and a small white ball shot up into the sky even higher then the wall itself, which overlooked practically the whole floor and then blew up. Coming off of the small white light was a flash that lit up the entire floor everyone on the wall or behind it would be impossible not to have see this. ¡®Nya¡­What skill is that? NYA!¡¯ Out far past the wall I can monsters in the distance¡­The large flying beasts in the sky to the Fomorians on the ground every enemy was now engulfed in a white flame. Some merely had a white flame on various parts of their bodies while all the monsters in the sky and those that were close were almost fully engulfed in fire. ROAHHRRRRRR GRHAAAAAAAA!! SSSssfhgh!!!! Each of the monsters started to plummet from the sky as they continued to try and put out the fire that was now burning them and only them. BOooom! Monsters continued to crash into the floor and try to rub the flames off but to no avail they were simply being eaten away by it¡­..¡¯Did this little pixie do this? I know this one apparently destroyed a whole floor but something like this is also incredible¡­.Hmmm magic is so interesting as a sword user my whole life I¡¯ve always been amazed with it but until recently I had never really known just how truly powerful it can be. It wasn¡¯t killing the beasts but clearly the fire was harming the monsters surrounding the walls and making them helpless. ¡°Look!¡± ¨C Clara Everyone then looked towards the direction Clara was pointing and we noticed that Balor was heading into the location underneath the destroyed floating mass. Running out in front of him were several small white dots. ¡°He fell for it? ¡° ¨C Adler ¡°No¡­ He¡¯s simply chasing them there but Balor¡¯s walking away from the direction of his army which is what we hoped¡­. Now he¡¯s alone.¡± ¨C Neko ¡°Ugh! He¡¯s catching up on them they won¡¯t make it in time.¡± - Adler ¡°Nya¡­I hope this works¡­.¡± I continued to bite my nails looking across the dungeon floor towards the Final Boss who was chasing after the ¡®bait¡¯ that no one here wished to fill that role. It was a role however that was taken up by the mysterious Vali and the Elite front linesman this dungeon has produced in centuries and are potentially the strongest this race has ever produced. ¡°Oh no¡­He caught them!¡± ¡®¡­..¡¯ Being a Neko naturally our vision was one of our strong suits. Even from this far away our fellow Neko and Adler units can see this all happening easily. Just then we saw the images of several of the Annunakes who were sent as bite were killed with ease. The darkness simply chased them like a wave quickly gaining on their tail. Eventually each of them were caught and¡­. BOOOM!!! ¡°Oh no¡­.¡± ¨C Clara Balor raised his leg and then crushed one of the Annunakes and I believe it could have even been Akino. The other two figures were also being eaten away¡­. One of the other figures was then torn in half and then were fully engulfed by the darkness eating away at them. His health too had dropped to 0 and disappeared in a series of lights floating into the sky. ¡°¡­Did they fail?¡± ¨C Neko ¡®¡­..¡¯ As Balor continued to walk forward towards the darkness it then reseeded back towards him and disappeared. Nothing remained after the darkness dissipated and all that was left was the Final Boss who was slowly repairing the side of his head and body with the surrounding darkness. It¡¯s as if he were drawing the darkness towards him and I can see Vali was correct to assume he could heal himself much like the Fomorians but at this point I think it¡¯s time to signal time to go to Plan 3A. ¡°Men! On my comman¡­¡± ¡°Oh shit!.... We got him¡­..¡± ¨C Tanin ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡± ¡®¡­¡­¡­..¡¯ Turning back around to where Balor stood I can see nothing had changed. But everyone else seemed to have been frozen looking towards¡­¡­¡¯Wait¡­¡¯ ¡°He¡¯s falling! Fire!!!!!¡± I took out my golden Saber that was once used by one of Balor¡¯s Floor Bosses and raised it into the sky. All of the Jiji then readied the long range ¡®Giant Buster¡¯ and lit each of the sides of the back plates. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! The endless stream of loud roars of Pek¡¯s invention shook the very wall we built to keep the beasts out and sent gusts of wind passed our faces. ¡®I don¡¯t know what you did kid but if this trick of yours works and we can take off at least a third of his health we could actually win this thing¡­.¡¯ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vali¡¯s POV: ¡®That¡¯s it you big dumb bitch¡­. Just keep chasing the invisible bait like the big old idiot you are¡­.. You¡¯re going to regret separating your forces and thinking yourself safe in your own dungeon.¡¯ ¡°He looks rather stupid right now¡­¡± - Akino ¡°Unbelievable this actually worked¡­.¡± ¨C Adimar ¡°What? I told you if we took out his eye there should be no way he could see through the Pixies joint illusion array. He probably doesn¡¯t even see Hj?kk tearing his so called prized creations into confetti. ¡° ¡°Amazing Alpha¡­¡± ¨C Annunake ¡®Yah I think so too¡­¡¯ As Balor started to awaken I warped the Elite¡¯s location away and had Cosmia and the pixies activate layered levels of joint illusions¡­ Illusions so real they even had their own scent and body temperature coming off of them. His face is slowly healing but I can¡¯t use it quite yet¡­.Realm Sever just took too much of my MP to take a gamble and start this party early¡­.However His Dark Aura ability along with the ever increasing dark creations that seemed to come out of thin air began to emerge and cover the floor. Balor now that he is missing his eye is also unable to see through the illusion spells of the pixies and is wondering aimlessly chasing our false images. If he realized this happened to him only after I ripped his face off I can only assume he¡¯d go berserk¡­I got to hand it to him though, missed a third of his face and he¡¯s still moving around unhindered. Whenever Cosmia performed the skill on her ring given to them to keep them safe against anything, she casted a skill called Eternal False Reality. Believe it or not it has multiple layers applied to it and Balor is helplessly seeing only what we want him to see now. If we attack him however he¡¯ll immediately become aware to our presence so everything has to be timed perfectly¡­ ¡®Oh no it¡¯s about to run out!¡¯ ¡°Ok now¡­Arachnee!¡± The order was transferred through the pixies to the Arachnee stationed at the foot of the pitfall we had taken the time to create just for him. Each of them had pixies surrounding them and were hidden from sight from all of Balor¡¯s endless creations currently frolicking all over the floor and sky. The Arachnee then extended their lines they had wrapped around several trees along with an adamantine chain that is buried in the ground. ¡°Wish me luck.¡± ¡®Time to put this so called Suicide Squad title to the test¡­.. It all depends if this theory of mine works¡­¡¯ I warped away from the Elite Annunakes who were all hiding with Cosmia and all the other Elite Pixies behind one of the tall thick trees and the pixies illusions. I reappeared behind the Final Boss and waited till he got right into position¡­.. As I made the signal out came Malfius and Alysteir from hanging from the large trees surrounding the area. In one moment we each took off towards the giant towering over us and each attacked a different location at both of his legs and the center of his back. I increased the weight of Abgrund and activated Lord¡¯s Earth Shattering Smash and with our combined efforts we attacked the defenseless but shrouded back of Balor. BOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOM BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!! ¡°Wha¡­¡­How¡­..YOU!¡± ¨C Balor The fallen deity moved a step forward but that¡¯s all we needed. He is just now waking up after the illusion we set on him so he mustn¡¯t have any idea what¡¯s happening. With the hidden webs of the Arachnee obstructing his leg and¡­. BOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOM! Roars from the cannons on the city wall then began to fire and I warped to another location. The Jiji were all instructed to fire towards the same location and that was not directed at Balor. With my spatial magic I opened up the space Pek¡¯s cannons were firing and made it reappear crashing into Balor¡¯s back not given him a moment to react. Even with the combined efforts of the cannon¡¯s attacking him the Dark Aura almost disintegrated each large carved stone used to fire with almost little to no movement. But with the added power of that, the Arachnees tethers and chain and even the pixies now caving in the edges of the large 30 meter trap¡­.. ¡°¡­¡­¡­.¡± ¨C Malfius ¡° ¡­¡­¡­¡± ¨C Adimar ¡°¡­¡­¡­Oh shit! We got em!¡± - ? Hearing the noise of someone breaking the deafening silence everyone on the Floor was staring at the same thing as Balor began to fall slowly towards the adamantine trap. ¡®¡­It¡¯s so close so¡­..close!¡± Balor then began to grab the edge of the hole and catch himself causing the whole ground to shake. Then a loud roar came hurling from the clouds overhead and blowing through was large object covered in white flames resembling a meteor¡­... A massive explosion occurred on back of Balor¡¯s neck and forced him down even further. ¡°ROOAhhhhhH!!!!¡± ¡°Take that ya fucking Furball!¡± ¨C Kyrah BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! Loud roars came down from the clouds above and crashing down from the skies was an overgrown Manticore into the back of Balor. Now floating in the sky over head is Kyrah along with her aerial squadron of 2,000 Adlers¡­Well it appears like a large number less now and each of them look to have taken a severe beating as each of their health¡¯s were in the red and yellow. The Adlers should have been busy watching our backs from monsters from above but from the sounds overhead I could tell whatever was happening above the storm clouds covering this floor provided by Hjokk was a battle of life and death in itself. Kyrahs is slightly in the yellow and her wings and body look to be covered in those shards from the Manticore Lion but she is flying overhead still with large beads of sweat trailing down her face and arms. Her golden with golden iron feathers is gone and her armor didn¡¯t look to have taken up well against the Manticores¡­. The Manticore¡¯s wings were each ripped off and by the time it landed on Balor, half of it¡¯s bones had been crushed from the fall alone. The large legendary beast simply crashed into its master ssending him only where we wanted to go. ¡°Arachnee now!¡± I then immediately warped over to Alysteir and took off her necklace as I already had done for Adimar and Sting to save up as much of the Gliepnir rope as I had¡­.. ¡®I don¡¯t have time to think about this is and it¡¯s now or never¡­.¡¯ With a dignified expression in my actions I took off her necklace and warped back towards Balor who already has a small amount of Gleipnir slowly wrapping around his body. The problem is Gleipnir needs to wrap itself entirely around someone before it coils around the neck and works¡­. I could see it was slowly running out so I needed to add more quickly or everything we had just done would have been for not. We put Gliepnir on him when he was knocked out and when he woke up early we only hoped he wouldn¡¯t notice but the small gold rope with a blue glow continued to wrap itself around Balor unknown to himself at all. But after our combined attacks he has now awoken out of his illusion and came aware of our presence. As the old god fell into the adamantine pit we designed for him he then realized what it is that happened. As he was only moments away from declaring victory he found himself crashing into a hole and partially on fire. I could hear several of the pixies and leaders chatter through my earpiece as we were watching the beast slowly rise. ¡°So close¡­¡± ¨C Cosmia ¡°Almost there, almost there...¡­.¡± ¨C Kai ¡°Come on¡­come on¡­ come on¡­.¡± ¨C Adimar ¡°You!....YOU DARE!....Not even DEATH WILL SAVE YOU¡­..this¡­Haha¡­You think simple webs are going to hold me in here? You FOOLS!¡± ¨C Balor As the Arachnee continued surround the 30 meter long and 20 meter deep hole the pixies combined efforts had hidden they continued to fire off endless streams of web as well as myself. ¡°Almost there just burry him in web!¡± ¨C Queen Nhaili ¡°Our webs our unbreakable!¡± ¨C Arachnee ¡°Bury him!¡± ¨C Arachnee The Arachnees continued to fling their webs and yell off insults loud enough for Balor to hear while his limitless Vitality began to show as he started to get up while laughing angrily. I could feel the atmosphere darken and everything almost became quiet enough to hear a pin drop. But all that could be heard was the loud erratic voice of Balor echoing across all of Floor 52 to hear. The small white flame that had covered the tops of Balor¡¯s head and shoulder from Cari¡¯s skill had disappeared and a dark cloud began to invade the skies.
You have stricken with fear by an Ancient Dark Presence that was said to have crawled out from the dreaded Abyss. You are now under effects of Dark Lord¡¯s Terror Due to Immunity to Fear, Courage and Secondary Buffs all Paralysis have been withered. - All Stats reduced by 4% - Attack Speed has reduced by 15% - All Mana Regeneration have been reduced by 50% - All Healing and Recovery have slowed by 25% The air has been corroded and turned toxic by the ever-looming Darkness that even now is covering and affecting your body. Cool Down Time for Skills and Magic have increased by 12%
¡®¡­Damn..just a little more¡¯ ¡°You insignificant existences dare to think such petty tricks can hope to contain ME! You aren¡¯t even fit to be my opponents! Heh! AHAHAHAHA!!!! The Champion still thinks he can vanquish me? I have been around for EONS you FOOLS¡­ I AM A GO¡­Ughhhh!!!!¡­.¡± ¨C Balor As the final tether of Gleipnir wrapped around Balor a loud ripple reverberated and shot out from the whole and dissipated the dark wave of pressure that began to envelop and take over the atmosphere. Our stats had all went back to normal and now what lied in front of us was a now defenseless Balor¡­. ¡®¡­.Holy fuck it worked¡­.¡¯ I just needed Balor to think we were covering him in webs¡­. The Arachnee only needed to by me a few moments of time. Balor may even perceive time quite differently as he could perceive indefinitely while using Lightning Step. I also used this to hide Gleipnir within my thread. All we needed was a moment or two and if we had to bluff we were going to use it. By the time he was crashing into the adamantine pit, Gleipnir had just about fully wrapped around him and simply connected to the added piece that somehow allowed it to pass through his Dark Aura this way and bind him. As I peered over the side of the cage I immediately told Balor to erase all of the dark beasts that are currently wreaking havoc in the area while also instructing him to turn his Dark Aura off. ¡°you!...AHHhh!!!...You DARE!....WH¡­What is this?!!!! AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!¡± ¨C Balor Loud roars which sounded louder than thunder began to shake the entirety of Jheroki mountain as the Dark Lord who was sitting on his stomach with his head flailing around. As he continued to have blood lust towards me anytime he had intent to kill me or my allies endless streams of pain would be unleashed on him but not cause any damage. I remember when we were coming up with this idea¡­.It was honestly all just a gamble anyways¡­.. --------------------------------------------------------------------- ¡°Ok, ok so say all this works¡­. You really think that little kitty and doggy collars are going to hold him down long enough to kill the bastard?¡­ I¡¯m sorry Vali that¡¯s a lot to go on.¡± ¨C Kyrah ¡°Yah and what if Balor can simply break apart the Adamantine cage or worse move straight past it¡­¡± ¨C Adler ¡°Nya¡­That I believe to be doubtful. When he revealed himself to us in the prison I happened to notice his darkness didn¡¯t wash over it the same way as everything else. Its as if he had to move around it¡­. I don¡¯t believe he can move his body past this particular element¡­Though it all depends Vali if you think this little trinket of yours will truly be enough to kill him¡­¡± - Izzie ¡°Honestly no¡­ I doubt it¡¯ll hold him down for very long at all. According to Hj?kk this particular item was created to hold back my pet wolf ¡­. I don¡¯t know about this world but in my world Fenrir has a few legends about himself¡­.. He¡¯s know as the God Slaying Wolf back home¡­. And if this is suppose to be a chain made to hold him down should he get rowdy¡­.. Even though Balor is something entirely different I think it should buy us a few minutes. I bet it could hold down Balor especially since he¡¯s nowhere as strong as he use to be¡­.¡± ¡°You keep saying that¡­ That he¡¯s not strong¡­ or he¡¯s weak now? But Vali if what your saying is true why should we pin all of our hopes on some strange accessory that isn¡¯t even going to hold him down for very long? ¡° ¨C Ollie ¡°Yah I think I get what they¡¯re also saying too¡­. Why should we even do all of this and risk so much over a hunch¡­ And it¡¯s not even something you think will kill him?¡± ¨C Sting ¡°¡­..¡± ¨C Cosmia ¡°¡­..¡± - Cassandra ¡°¡­..¡± ¨C Commander Locke and Izzie ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­.¡± ¨C Adimar Queen Nhaili, Akino. Kyrah and Malfius ¡°You¡¯re not getting me¡­. If this works and we have him away from his armies¡­.For a brief window of time¡­. Balor¡¯s going to be completely helpless. We can do whatever we want to him¡­..¡± ¨C ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡± ¨C Everyone present in the war room. ¡°¡­.Heh¡­Alright¡­I like it. Let¡¯s see how the Final Boss likes being the one in the cage.¡± ¨C Commander Locke --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ¡°AHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± ¨C Balor Even though his limitless magical power was being held back the dungeon itself would tremble and crumble apart with his screams of pain. I¡¯ve never tried putting on Gliepnir but Adimar and Akino said the violent shock and excruciating pain that came from it wouldn¡¯t allow you to even think against going against me. She said when she first wore it the moment a thought came up to harm me an endless stream of torment attacked the entirety of her body that was indescribable by words. The more strength she fought against it or if her anger and hatred continued to grow the pain would only increase by leaps and bounds incapacitating her entirely. ¡®Hearing this only makes me sweat thinking I took this thing off of Alysteir but it was the only way for this to work.¡¯ The necklace continued to shine as it continued to show it was working in surpressing the fallen gods endless amount of power. Balor would continue to jerk back and forth while lying down but it was clear he was unable to free himself after I ordered him not to escape or even move but to simply let us attack him. On my instructions an all out attack of the race leaders and Suicide Squad began to violently attack and assault Balor who¡¯s dark aura had been forcibly turned off. His huge body still looks to have trails of darkness trailing off of it but now was being pounced on by hundreds of elite members from the pack. All the surrounding dark creatures and apparitions disappeared and the air and ground has now become clear from the darkness. Only now looks to have killed all the plant life off entirely leaving only dust. ¡°TO THE DAWN!¡± ¨C Commander Locke ¡°HOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!¡± I threw my Dark Aura around myself and the race leaders who would be in here¡­.. I dove in with them to test out how Abgrund would fair against this ancient beast, older the world itself and began to hack away. A thunderous howl came from Adimar and the elite pack unit as they each leaped without fear into the deep and dark cage that held the worst monster in this dungeon. They truly held warrior blood as they followed orders with immediate action and absolute loyalty for their Alpha. As they each landed on his lower back they didn¡¯t waste any time and began to cast an endless assault of their claws that ignored all defense and tear into him. Commander Locke and the Eis nekos were responsible for high damage dealing throughout the legs and hopefully they would be able to sever a limb. Malfius and the small number of Reiki unit as well as Alysteir are all posted out on the edge of the trap to make sure if something goes south they are responsible for keeping Balor down and in the hole. I activated Slice and swung Abgrund horizontally across Balor¡¯s spine and stop halfway through. Even with all of my increased bonuses I¡¯ve gained that have even increased my abilities with Abgrund he¡¯s simply built with such cosmic vitality. BOOOOOM! Landing only a few feet away from me was a large rock that fell from above. Large stones and pieces of dirt continued to fly down and crash onto floor below. Balor¡¯s roars and struggles only sent this dungeon into a frenzy. As everything began to shake violently the ceiling itself began to fall down on us and interrupt our battle. As we had to continue to avoid falling debris while also attacking this increased the level of difficulty while Queen Nhaili against the relentless instructions of her subjects chose to lead a group of 8 g Arachnee towards his upper back and shoulders. With their increased piercing ability they increase the chances of causing the poisoned status with their legs with every swing. They¡¯ve also provided everyone here with a combination of three poisons. Every weapon the Neko¡¯s, Arachnee and Pixies are carrying are laced with them. Though Sting wasn¡¯t able to help much but he did show the Arachnee and everyone a better way at secreting more poison by applying the concoctions on not only the spear tip but bits of the shaft as well to. He even apparently invented a recipe that causes the poison to stick to the weapon so he can lace his weapon with more than one posion at a time. Now everyone but me has weapons coated in incredibly dangerous poisons that could continuously harm him until he¡¯s gone. ¡°Ahahaha! ¡­You think your feeble attempts can hope to harm me. You think you even have hope at surviving!! I WILL TEAR OFF YOUR FLESH CHAMPIAhhhhHH!!!!!! YOUR DEEAD! When I become free of your tricks ALL OF YOU ARE DEAD!!!!¡± ¨C Balor ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear that coming from you!¡± ¨C Commander Locke ¡°Don¡¯t let up keep attacking!¡± ¨C Annunake Balor continued to jerk, twitch and roar as if warning us to flee right away., For all his power, all his time living, with all his size he is currently helpless in the face of those he has actually trapped down here. His health had dropped by 10% from Realm Sever but he had gained a bit of it back as we were setting him into position. His health is now at 95%. BOoooooM! BOooooOOOOM! BooBOOOOOM! ¡°LET EM HAVE IT! GOLDEN TEMPEST!¡± ¨C Kyra ¡°Feather Piercer!¡± ¨C Adler ¡°Gatling WING!¡± ¨C Alder ¡°SKY VOLLEY!¡± ¨C Adler BOOOOOM BOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOOM! ¡°Us too! Everyone now¡¯s our chance. Let¡¯s show Balor how strong we are!¡± ¨C Cosmia ¡°Right!¡± ¨C Pixies Flying in and out of the massively built pit the pixies are pouring out all of their magic up and down the extent of Balor¡¯s body and the moment their attacks land they moved onto the next place. Hovering in a circle over the adamantine pit however were all of the Adler¡¯s now pouring down an endless light array of skills and attacks. Each were in a different color and began to all shoot down towards Balor. Many used bows and arrows while those from Kyrah¡¯s race shot off a horrendous number of feathers made of light that shot out thousands of attacks that almost resembled gunfire. As every feather landed on Balor would then make the sound of thousands of frantic beating war drums. As I¡¯m continuing to run up alongside his back and cut into this beast with every second the image of a bright golden bird then shot out of Kyrah¡¯s large fists and shot down towards Balor. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!!M! The bright golden bird of light almost resembled a soaring phoenix that extended it¡¯s wings and spanned over 80 feet. Looking to almost be worth a 100 of the surrounding Adler¡¯s attacks the soaring board came crashing down into Balors back and the whole pit began to shake from the reverberated wind pressure bouncing off that attack. ¡°You like that! Have a little more Balor!¡± - Annunake Even alongside the endless sea of magic attack of all of the flying pixies, and all of us on top tearing him apart. The bright attack lit up the dark pit and shook the giant beneath our feet. ¡°DIE !¡± ¨C Neko ¡°AHAHAHA!!! How does it feel oh DARK LORD! ¨C Commander Locke Commander Locke and the all of the Elite units of each race we have assembled appear to be going mad with blood lust as they are swinging their weapons clad in poison and fire and light magic with everyone swing. Balor was now receiving the endless torment and the overwhelming might of the Adler race with the combined force of 2,000 Adlers and 40 pixies were starting to dent and tear into the Dark Lord¡¯s almost indestructible black body which felt tougher than armor. There was already starting to ooze a black and almost metallic looking blood. It almost resembled a dark mercury but almost appeared to have life to it as each cut caused his blood to move around freely and drench his back which currently held roughly 50 of us on top of him. Balor simply shrugged it off the combined abuse and stopped attempting to threaten us anymore as he could see it wasn¡¯t working. He only continued to try and break from his bindings that were sealing his power and ability to take an attempt on each of our lives. No one was here to save him, with all his vast power and armies he had no one he could trust. Just mindless creations who followed his will. Because of his overconfidence, not only did he put himself here without the support of his strongest pieces, but his over confidence is what gave us the biggest advantage in this fight. Just like Malthiel these beings of old simply view us all as insignificant children who probably haven¡¯t even turned 1 in terms of age for them. As the time we spend living is but a few passing moments to them. As I continued to warp over several key positions over Balor I would keep my Dullahan¡¯s out and covering each of the parties who can¡¯t fly or flee away in time. With every second that passed I would swing Abgrund into Balor¡¯s enormous body but I could feel a tremendous amount of resistance for the first time ever using Abgrund. It felt like there was a tremendous force almost pushing the scythe back out of his body each time. Being a god his body isn¡¯t even close to something that can be understood by any possible understandings of my old world. His vitality must be tremendous, as his health has now dropped to 94% even after the continuous onslaught over the still incapacitated god. ¡®I¡¯m finally understanding what this ¡®level gap penalty¡¯ is. His level difference was so overwhelmingly higher than anyone present even if he couldn¡¯t fight back this world¡¯s laws naturally reduce the damage we can give him¡­.¡¯ I then warped over to the back of Balor¡¯s head and swung my scythe into the side of his head. With a loud ¡®gonk¡¯ I could feel my weapon get stopped as it was almost stuck. ¡°¡­Soon¡­.Soon you will all die for using such tricks! All you will be able to do is run! RUN AND HIDE! For nothing¡­.NOTHING in this world will save you from ME!¡± ¨C Balor With every elevation of his voice would send shockwaves out that would fly and crash into the wall. Abgrund continued to vibrate as Balor¡¯s thunderous voice shook my body and my whole surroundings as well. With a heavy swing of his head my whole body plummeted down to the floor of the Adamantine Pit and crashed into the base which was made from the remaining pieces of an existence that possibly even predates Balor himself. The force from Balor¡¯s simple movement was more than I could take and my body flew helplessly to ground. I was now just under Balor¡¯s head and he had then peered down at me and smirked with half of his face missing. His whole body from the ends of his wide shoulders almost reached the sides of this massive box of earth and metal. Now only a small portion of his face was missing and had his second eye repaired but the middle of his forehead where his third eye has still not recovered. As his face jolted in pain he swung his head swiftly down to which 1 remaining horn came down where I landed. His movements were simply too fast and I could feel there was simply no time to¡­ BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!! The image of Balors large head then slammed violently into the sides of the cage sending Abgrund flying off and landing on the side of the cage wall. This shook the very foundation of the cage as the pit continued to quake long after the scythe had landed¡­..And still continues to shake now. Pat..pat.pat Landing only a few feet away from me was Alysteir. She didn¡¯t even stop to say a word as she only then disappeared from the area entirely. BOOOOM! Booooom! BOooooom! Suddenly loud explosions continued to tear and scorch Balor¡¯s head and body. I saw the image of an arachnee fall off the side of Balor ¡®s shoulder as he rolled onto her location. Snap! Her image then appeared right next to me and I grabbed her and warped her to the location of the other Arachnee. ¡® Heh..This is the chick Sting was caught hooking up with¡­. I can¡¯t say they¡¯re bad tastes entirely¡­¡¯ As we both appeared on the top of Balor¡¯s back Queen Nhaili was already sending word that they were successful in giving the ¡®Poisoned¡¯ status we were hoping for. She seemed shocked to see me so suddenly and I simply nodded to what she said and warped her Arachnee brethren out of the pit as their job was now done. Looking around all over the back of this giant it looks like the scenes of an epic battle. Endless assaults from magic and skills from the top geniuses this dungeon has ever produced. ¡®It¡¯s probably even safe to say each of them are the top their species has ever produced even outside of this dungeon¡­¡¯ Balor is currently taking the combined attacks of thousands of us every second that passes and all that can be heard as the constant roars deafen everything in this pit. Everyone was giving everything they had. Each of their faces showed such resolute looks as this was their moment. It was either going to be us or him and there was no in between. This was an old blood debt that they have been holding onto for thousands of years. They were using all their strength and combined might to destroy the monster who has forced them into such hell. They no longer had fear as death was something they no longer were scared o Of all the scenes I¡¯ve come across in this world this moment was probably the one I found the most poetic. They each attacked with all of their most powerful skills until their Mana or Stamina had practically drained. Whenever they would get low they would drink a Stamina Elixir or I would warp them out of them pit and the next Neko would simply jump in. As I continued to warp through throughout the trap I started to see strange sparks shooting off from Balor¡¯s back. Large bright streaks continued to jump and shoot outward into the sky and they were coming from Gleipnir. ¡®No¡­It hasn¡¯t been enough time¡­¡¯ I then had the pixies instruct everyone it was time to move out and I simultaneously warped each and everyone out. As we continued to leave the trap Balor continued to make loud moans and grunts as he appeared to have slowly been breaking through the bindings we had placed on him.. After our combined efforts his health had gone only down to 92%. His mana had however dropped to 33%, which is something we could have never imagined would happen. ¡®Damn this things vitality is on a whole other level.¡¯ Some of the Reiki here including Malfius also have skills that decrease a person¡¯s magic supply but with the combined efforts of the entire Annunake wolf pack has almost cleaned him of a large majority of his magical power an its not over. When I looked at my current magic it was well over 3 million and I felt I had plenty of magic now and it¡¯s time. Almost everyone screamed in my earpieces that we couldn¡¯t just stop there and were agitated I had warped them away. But as I warped myself and the last of the Elite Annunake out of the pit which held the monstrously overwhelming opponent. I can¡¯t even imagine how high his health is but even after almost 5 minutes of continued attacks with everyone¡¯s strongest skills, Balor¡¯s health had yet to go beneath even 90%. As we left the pit several had already moved on to the next location while the pixies and Adlers flying overhead had already begun dumping out buckets of the incredibly flammable oil we gathered from the Floor One Devourers. Looking towards the storm I can see Hj?kk is still busy holding off remainders of Balor¡¯s army behind her storm wall. ¡®Now¡¯s a good time as any¡­ Let¡¯s see how you take this combination!...Blood Wake you sick fuck!¡± ¡°Pixies let it rain!¡± ¡°Alright everyone God Killer Formation!¡± ¨C Kai I then began to hear Kai¡¯s signal over the ear piece and I too readied myself. The pixies began to swirl and fly over the pit in a cone shape and are being joined by over a hundred more in the sky. I slammed down Abgrund and activated Blood Wake at the same time. The glyphs on the blade began to glow a bright red until small drops of blood began to pour out and drop from the blade. Blood from all over the floor began to crawl and fly towards me. The ground surrounding the wall, which was soaked in an endless sea of red started to clear and dry away. Even some of the blood on Balor¡¯s back started to seep up and join the ever increasing sphere of blood over my head. WHOOOOOOOSH! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!! As I was just staring towards her direction I saw her figure fly back through the massive hurricane that has kept all monsters who entered it become paralyzed with divine lightning and flying debris. Her image then crashed into the side of the dungeon wall that was connected to the walled city with incredible force. Looking towards her I can¡¯t begin to know what her health is even like but she looks to be breathing heavy. Even if Balor didn¡¯t bring all of his forces and rare and legendary Floor Bosses out yet the monsters she was fighting were by no means weak. SSSSSssssSAAHHHHH!H!!!!!!! Somehow managing to break through the endless tornadoes I now saw the black Grootslang slither and emerge past the flying debris and lightning storm and come over to our side of the barrier. Its body was smoking and covered in ash but it¡¯s health was still at 84%. Before I could even blink the image of Hj?kk started to have wind magic surround her and jettison herself forward. Her face was livid and her shining figure simply disappeared in the massive tornado she disappeared into. The Grootslang opened its mouth to attack the oncoming Hj?kk but her image simply shot forward too fast. As the tornado flew horizontally across the span of the floor it flew straight towards the elephant shaped mouth. Within an instant the tyrant of snakes entire body stretched out and appeared to have imploded from the inside out. The whole scene happened within the span of a nano second I wasn¡¯t even aware of what happened until after the tornado had exploded out the snakes tail. As I finally caught track of her shining image she was looking right at me and noticed the large ball of blood currently growing over my head.
Grootslang Level: 521 Health: 2%
Hjokk¡¯s image then appeared towards the fallen and wounded beast and within a moment Hjokk rammed her large golden spear into its head causing it to explode¡­. ¡®¡­Damn¡­ Guess I was wrong she¡¯s doing just fine.¡¯ She then stuck her spear in the ground and stuck her hand out towards me and started chanting a spell. I could see several symbols and numbers began to appear around and beside her head and then myself and everyone began to glow a bright yellow that made us almost look divine. Within a moment a large yellow bubble appeared around all of us. In only a short cast time everyone now has a skill that increases our health essentially by adding 25,000 armor as well everyone now has a bright yellow bubble that surrounds each of us. Now underneath my mana and health bar is a small Yellow bar as well as a small shield over everyone¡¯s name and level. Without a word she then went back through the storm, which opened and closed at her will. For a brief moment I could see the horrendous state of the floor and prized monsters Balor had been clamoring on and on about. It simply looked like a graveyard mutilated and destroyed giants. ¡®Well¡­ I guess I don¡¯t have to worry about Hj?kk getting tired too ea¡­..Fuck that ¡®s a lot of blood!¡¯ Just as Hj?kk disappeared behind the storm wall an ocean of dark maroon blood began rush towards me in the shape of a tsunami. This was the result of 5 minutes of leaving Hj?kk alone with the monster horde. This was the entire reason we had Hj?kk fight an army of giants and legendary beasts¡­.No one would have been able to send this much blood¡­. The tsunami which reached a height even larger than a Fomorian began to connect to the sphere floating above me and grow it in size exponentially. Each and every drop touched the cursed blade and extended upward. Looking down at Balor the necklace continued in more frequent occurrences and would blink brightly. ¡®Come on¡­faster, faster¡­.¡¯ As the torrent of blood collected itself it would wrap around the blade and absorb in the curses which were invented by the God who rules over the dead, and soon would be inside of this dark deity. I could continue to feel the rush of energy growing over my head and I can now see the ball of blood has now completely blotted out the artificial sun on this floor. Now a large shadow is looming over Balor¡¯s defenseless back. Splat Splat Splat..splat The large ball of blood began to split and duplicate. It continued to do the same as before and continuously multiply by the endless ocean of blood that has been collected by the large giants. The sphere broke apart and split until there must have been trillions of tiny drops each glowing a deep crimson. ¡°I will feast on all those you cherish ¡­Know that now you have angered a being far past your comprehension¡­.Ugh!....I¡¯m going to have your souls torn to shreds till the end of ti¡­¡­.¡± BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!M!M!M!M!M!MM!M!M!!M!MM!M!M! Just as Gleipnir started to tear and break images of glowing rope continued to appear and snap all around Balor¡¯s body and then disappear. Balor now feeling his immanent freedom and not even considering any of our attacks as possible threats began to speak without any hint of fear or nervousness. But of one who would bring absolute death and destruction when he does. ¡°What was that? Couldn¡¯t catch that¡­.¡± The almost unlimited number of blood drops launched towards Balors bare back just as he was about to free himself. Each and every drop caused a loud ¡®bang¡¯ sound to occur as each and every droplet not only shared in the cursed properties of Abgrund but also in it¡¯s abilities to cut through practically anything¡­. I had to wait to use this skill but it was worth it. All this extra mana is going to be his downfall¡­.. As the blood from all of his creations began to pierce and crash into his bare body a heavenly light began to appear from above. Now 200 of he pixies flying overhead have gathered and unleashed their trump card. Each and every one of them flying overhead began to glow an excruciatingly bright white light that it was simply impossible not to look away. I could began to feel my skin burn and sizzle as simply standing here is already too close. I couldn¡¯t move but the scorching heat alone was already starting to turn my skin a dark black color. Each of their aura¡¯s began to change color and beam a white light with Cari at their center. As they flew in a swirling motion with their eyes shining brighter than a star the whole dungeon floor began to feel like the inside of a furnace. The Pixies thick auras that surrounded them began to burst in a bright white fire that forced all the surrounding Adlers and ground forces to flee. Even the air began to feel painful, as even standing at the edge of this trap feels to be cooking me. But I remained planted there with my scythe and directing the end of my skill as what appeared to be white lava began to rain down and enter into the trap. ¡°Is this normal!¡± ¨C Kyrah ¡°Ah¡­ We have to move! Everyone back!¡± ¨C Commander Locke Everyone continued to scatter as we melted this helpless bastard with a waterfall of Divine and he simply had no means of escape. ¡®Oh shit!¡¯ The entire whole began to fill and cascade over the sides forcing me to warp away¡­It was simply too hot even without it touching me my health was already starting to drop from heat alone. I reappeared on the next position we said we¡¯d meet but by the time I appeared many were already there. As I walked out beside Adimar and Malfius our eyes were fixed on small flying pixies flying over the rather quiet hole. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anything like this! ¡° ¨C Annunake ¡°Such power¡­. Even form here the heat is astonishing.¡± ¨C Female Annunake ¡°Come on¡­.. This has got to work. ¡° ¨C Adler ¡°¡­.What did we agree on¡­If it is under 60% we continue with Phase 3?¡± ¨C Reiki ¡°¡­Yah¡­..even with all of our combined strengths though his health hardly went down at all¡­.If this doesn¡¯t work¡­.¡± ¨C Adler ¡°Even if!.....We continue with the plans we¡¯ve set in place till that bastards dead or we are!¡± ¨C Commnander Locke Locke then yelled to all surrounded troops of each race and reaffirmed their spirits. Even if he was unable to sever a leg as Balors body was simply so durable it was impossible in the amount of time. ¡°Besides¡­. We arlready succeeded in what we set out to do with that box¡­.The Arachnee are moving back to the rear guard now with a few Adlers but they sent word we achieved the ¡®Poisoned¡¯ status.¡± ¨C Commande Locke As Locke said this everyone¡¯s faces seemed to have brightened momentarily. The endless white light then began to die down and torrent of heat began to subside gradually. ¡®¡­.What was that like 8 seconds? Well it¡¯s longer than the first time I saw it used¡­..¡¯ We each stared towards the large pit but no activity came from it. As the white lava surrounding the pit was something thought too dangerous for mortals to ever wield is now slowly melting through the floor entirely. As each of the pixies would each activate the skill they tried to make it last long but as the floor itself was melting away the entire pit had filled with the Flames of a Titan. The pixies then darted their worn out siblings and then carried them back to our position. ¡°¡­You think he¡¯s¡­.¡± ¨C Neko ¡°No way stay alert!¡± ¨C Adimar We each continued to stair silently towards the pit the continued no activity but the flames currently destroying the dungeon. ¡°¡­.What was the status effect we pinned on him?¡± ¨C Malfius ¡°¡­Well that¡¯s just it¡­.According to Queen we achieved poisoning Balor with all 3 poisons¡­ He¡¯s also received a ¡®Cursed¡¯ status¡­¡± ¨C Commander Locke ¡°Wait! Curses? How is that possible?¡± ¨C Annunake ¡®I think I know¡­¡¯ This was all possible by slashing Balor¡¯s back so many times with Abgrund¡­.Even if his defense is strong enough to survive this blade it still can¡¯t handle the boundless levels of curse magic that was created by Hades. With every single swing by Abgrund not only does your health drop but your resistances will also take a large hit. I haven¡¯t met many things who can survive being cut by Abgrund but if they were able to survive being cut they would have to deal with the curses afterwards. Not only is there a curse known as Cursed Wounds which drastically reduced healing of injuries it also makes the target become drastically more susceptible to gaining the dreaded ¡®status effect¡¯. Since Balor was absorbing all of Abgrunds curses undefended he was simply cursed to the point that we managed to stack multiple status effects that would continue to hurt him until he was given the antidote or he managed to suppress it. But one thing that is so dangerous about curse magic as it can make combatting status effects and other curses even more difficult. The first is an old poison they have held in high regard for 2,000 years of this dungeon and have strengthened it over time making it at its most potent. They made it from the blood of the same monster I gained my Ice Vein ability. It was used to combat monsters like the Flame Elementals and beings who didn¡¯t have a tangible body, which up until now Balor appeared to have. With the poison in his body he is currently receiving 900 damage a second and will make it harder to use magic. The second was a venon given out which was the same poison we acquired from the Grootslang. The status effect caused 20,000 Health a minute if left unhindered and should cause him a tremendous amount of pain over time. The third and final poison we are going to use against Balor is actually a gift from the Dark Elves. We managed to give him a ¡®status effect¡¯ and any moment Balor would use his magic he will receive a heavy backlash with every time he uses magic. Balor currently also is under the effect of Cursed Wounds, and another curse from Bifrost¡¯s new magic. If that wasn¡¯t all his healing should be completely shut down along with this fire, which drops your defense until it is hardly existent. ¡®His health has gotta be below 70% by now....With all that Light and Fire ¡­.. No way he could defend against and no way he can heal himself now¡­¡¯ Rumble! Rumble!...Rumble The floor shook to the point that large pieces of the floor began to break and split apart. The walls themselves cascade and fall over along with the ceiling. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!! ¡°Aahahahahahahhaha!!!!!!!!!¡± Suddenly an explosion occurred from beneath the floor and sending rocks and stone flying in all directions. ¡°¡­.Ba¡­.Balor?¡± ¨C Adler ¡°Damn¡­.¡± - Alysteir ¡°Why won¡¯t you just die!¡± ¨C Commander Locke Several of those present began to mouth their frustration at the emergence of their sworn enemy who was climbing up through a large hole in the floor. Staring towards him everyone¡¯s eyes were frozen staring at the colossal beast that even after all this unrelenting attack remained in the living. His status still showed in a dark red.
Balor the Endless Dark Level: 811 Current Health: 22% Current Mana: 28% Fallen God of Darkness and Drought
The giant god was fully engulfed with fire to where he was unrecognizable. I could feel as if the air itself had left this place while the being staring down towards us now was in complete rage. ¡°As¡­ I to¡­ld yO¡­.U¡­.It is all WOrth¡­LEss.. in front of ME! Prepare to be torn and killed everyday for the rest of ETERNITY!!!¨C Balor His voice was now gargled and hardly recognizable as the same entity it however still held the same power that vibrated and shook the surroundings. I felt an immediate warning as I could sense an unfathomable amount of power currently surrounding and breaming off of Balor. ¡°DARK WAVEEEE!!!!¡± ¨C Balor As his voice echoed throughout the entirety of Floor 52, unearthly amounts of power began to pulsate and release off of the giant¡¯s body and expand throughout the floor. What looked like an endless stream of darkness flooding out of Balor¡¯s body with him standing in the middle a complete sphere shot out from his body at unbelievable speeds. As an endless torrent of darkness shot forth towards our direction I knew there ws no way to block it nor would there be a way to warp anyone away in time¡­ I then actived all of my Dullahan Knight¡¯s and had them stand out in front of of forming a wall while I too stepp up behind them. ¡°Vali!¡± ¨C Cosmia ¡°Alpha we have to move!¡± - Adimar Ignoring the cries coming from my back I raised my arms and tried to focus my mind. I casted Demonic Awakening, Lightning Step, Toughened Exterior and Ice Veins, and Adamantine King Fortification while preparing for the incoming blast. I could feel an instant chill take wash over my body as I could feel the blood endlessly flowing throughout my body to become hard as ice while also seeming to almost seal me to the floor itself. My body became rigid and solid as even my internals have become strengthened heavily. With everything slowed down around my I took a deep breath and attempted to redirect the incoming magic. ¡®If this hits any of us I can almost see it happening exactly like it did in my nightmares and will only swallow us all up and ending it here¡­I have to¡­.Move it¡­¡¯ Darkness shot past the Dullahan Knights in front of me and within a blink they would each disappear. As the Dark Wave shot past the defensive lines and shot past my figure I continued to stand firm and attempt to redirect this unimaginable amount of magical power. ¡®Come on¡­Come ON!!!!¡¯ ¡°AHHHHHH!!!!!¡± I could feel the pain entiring my palms the moment the darkness touched it but as the Dark Wave came into contact with the Midnight Gauntlet everything immediately began to dissipate around my body and start to shoot around me. As I finally got a space to open up in front of me I activated my spatial magic around the incredibly large space around my allies and me¡­ From the ground floor to several hundred feet in the sky I activated doorway for the dark wave to enter¡­. BOOOOOOOM BOOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOm! BOOM!BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOM! ¡®WHAT¡­Impossibl¡­.ahhh!....¡± - Balor The moment the Dark Wave went through the open space out in front of us the power coming off of Balor¡¯s body was redirected to the interior walls of this place immediately blowing out the sides and bringing in the sun. The floor itself was beginning to crumble apart and the holes in the floor only began to crack and break apart. Looking towards Balor I see now he isn¡¯t even looking in our direction as he is staring off towards the his surroundings as an endless stream of light from the sun is now pouring into the floor itself¡­.I can see now that Balor even appears to be suppressing a certain amount of pain as he looked back towards us with rage. ¡°YOU!¡± His barrier had again disappeared and now he simply looked like a half mutilated giant with his home now caving in around him. He stuck out his arm and I could feel a very familiar surge of energy¡­.¡¯Shit¡­It¡¯s Wrath of Balor¡­..¡¯ I turned around to look to see we lost several of ours in that last attack but the majority of those stood directly behind me and had the Reiki each placed some odd defensive barrier around each of them that looks like a large green castle and is transparent. It currently surrounded everything around the small number behind me and several of those with me still have all of our Defensive Buffs and barrier magic from Hjokk. ¡°I..What?...What¡¯s happening!¡± - Balor I clicked my fingers and sent everyone to the Rear Guard. Looking forward I now see Balor has his arm out in place still but¡­. He¡¯s struggling. Somethings happening to him. GRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! ¡®This actually looks like¡­..wait Fenrir?¡¯ The small silver wolf was merely staring wide eyed towards the giant currently looking back at me. His bright yellow eyes were glowing and appeared to have some essence floating out of them. The floor around him was currently tearing apart but the silver wolf wouldn¡¯t move and instead continued to sit there and not let go of his hold over the god in front of him. I could feel his loyalty towards me as he simply wouldn¡¯t budge and inch until I had escaped¡­ ¡°Wha¡­what is this..Those¡­Those eyes...¡± ¨C Balor ¡®No way¡­He can even hold down Balor? He really is a god slaying wolf¡­.Ah fuck this, everything¡¯s starting to fall apart we have to move¡¯ I warped over to Fenrir which was close to Balor¡¯s flank and pointed my hand towards him.. ¡®Mana Bomb!¡¯ My mana which was almost over 3 million dropped to 50% immediately and a giant ball of light shot forth towards the frozen Balor. The skill was instataneous and the ball of light was not as big as the sphere of blood but I could feel beaming off this ball with millions of condensed magic inside of it had the power of a small sun. Falling debris and rock continued to rain down from above and crush into the caving in floor. Large cracks continued to spread throughout the floor as if the whole mountain were going to fall. I didn¡¯t wait to see the damage I had done and instead grabbed Fenrir and warped us both away. As our vision changed the already chaotic scene was no different than it was outside the walls. The city itself was collapsing and falling down to the Floor below. The clock tower towards the back of the city was starting to fall over and I can see thousands of those even behind the wall are started to fall to the chaos. ¡°AHHHH!!!!¡± ¡°Someone use a warp key!¡± ¡°It won¡¯t work. Just RUN!¡± ¡°We¡¯re all going to die¡­ Balor¡¯s going to simply destroy us all!¡± ¡°EVERYONE SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± Even with the city falling apart and the walls itself crashing in my voice simply sent shivers down each of their spines. As everyone continued to run and flee I started using my warp magic on large sections of space. ¡®If I continued to think about using my spatial magic by using it on per person too many people would die and this would have been all for not. But now I can simply warp large areas of space its just that by doing so large amounts of my mana get drained rather quickly¡­ ¡® As I continued to use my spatial magic I casted out large warps over large groups of hundreds at a time and would move large areas of space to warp then to our next location. BOOOOOOOOOM BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!M!M!M!M!!M!M!M!M!M!M!!M!M!MM!M!M! As Fenrir and I turned our heads we could see what caused the deafening roar. Looking now the giant wall that was currently casting a shadow over the city now was not only falling apart but looked to have been blown apart and is now falling to flatten the city itself. ¡®Shit¡­I couldn¡¯t evacuate those on the walls¡­.Wait¡­.¡¯ I could see in skies were now hundreds of Adlers each flying at mach speeds and avoiding the crashing floor from above. Some of them simply couldn¡¯t evade the large debris and were hit causing them to crash into the floor and fall to the floor below. Each of the Adlers looked to be carrying several species on their backs as I can now see they were successful in evacuating the wall in time and were currently each flying to our position. ¡°VALI! ¡° Looking to the sound of the voice I immediately recognized it as my mother¡¯s. She ran up to me while standing next to Boro and several Annunakes alongside the Pixies I had chosen to guard her. Each of their eyes looked towards me with looks of fear and urgency as if looking at me what we should do. I could hear the floor start to decay and a dark presence simply started to push past the walls and rush towards our position. Snap! I warped each of them away while smiling towards Elyria and Ari to let them know it was all going to be ok. I turned around and continued to use the remnants of my remaining mana to evacuate as much as I could before the Floor itself was no more¡­. End of Chapter Don''t forget to donate or leave a long comment. Chapter 25: The Start of a Legend And here''s the second part. Again like I said pretty raw but I''m just too tired to go back and fix everything so if it''s too confusing I am sorry I do feel bad but I''m just seriously wiped. Though.... If you guys want to know other than some Aldnoah Zero, Attack on Titan theme music I really like this song if you guys want to read the last POV with this song I think you''ll get some of what I was hoping.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTudmnVqva8 Don''t forget to donate I''ll leave an Afterward after the chapter for any one who wants to know a little random facts about the story and what not. Leave a loonnngggg comment and ladies and gents...The season finale of Those Who Aspired to Become Gods..... Chapter 25: The Start of a Legend Kyrah¡¯s POV: If someone would have told me a year ago I would be fighting against the Final Boss himself with such little numbers I simply couldn¡¯t imagine it. If someone even told me a week ago we would be attempting such suicide attempts at killing such a psychotic existence with a piece of jewelry and a bunch of pixies, I would have instead laughed at whoever said such ludicrous statements. I lost Gharsia, Luca, almost my entire battalion of those with the same genes as me and my brother. Soon my kind might be no different than Ikaros'' race. There species is simply too precious to the Adler ¡®a to allow any more of them to fall in this dungeon. Having them in the skies makes everyone¡¯ s individual abilities rise by a solid 30% which increases us together by standards not even I can calculate¡­¡­ Though almost all of this was lost without even being able to lift a finger. That damned Balor, using such a petty illusion trick to take us all out at once!!!¡­.Tsk¡­. Bastard nearly wiped us out. Our front line numbers are now a third of what they were and from what I¡¯ve been told now even Griff and the better part of the leaders who followed him are also now gone¡­. Shit¡­¡¯ ROOOARRRRRRRR!!!!! ¡®No time to dwell on it all now, I just feel after whatever Balor did in my dreams¡­even now most of my wings have been dyed black and have fallen off. It¡¯s actually getting a little straining to stay in the air.¡¯ ¡°All units evade!¡± The large four legged beast with wings blew through the clouds and soared towards where our right archer unit was located. ¡°AUEh¡­!!!!¡± - Parcy The winged beast was simply too quick and already appeared within our formations. Within a moment 3 Adlers were rammed by its enormous sending each of then barreling away. With one swipe of it¡¯s paw it had swung towards Parcy and who attempted to fly upward but was merely ripped in half. His body then began to fall back towards the clouds just before shattering into a series of lights and disappearing entirely. ¡®Tsk¡­.¡¯ Just then four more of the same creatures flew through the sky and began to spread chaos throughout our already lessened formation. Each of these large beasts was well over 650 and with simply swipes of their paws and crushing power of their jaws an adler would disappear into a series of lights. ¡°Stay in formations!¡± ¡° Clip their wings!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t let them touch you!¡± My captains immediately started barking orders and changing their flight directions. I along with Alec and Ferra then broke away from our ariel pincer unit and began to ascend higher into the sky until we were nearing dungeon barrier. Just as we each began to reach the skies each of us crossed each others path and then began to barrel down towards the large winged beasts that were each causing havoc to our numbers. I started gaining more and more speed and started to extend my wings outward. Flying alongside me Alec and Ferra each were slicing through the clouds and each descending towards the top of one these Manticores. ¡°Break off now.¡± ¨C Alec ¡°Affirmative¡± - Ferra ¡°I got the fuckers back stick with me¡­¡± ¨C Kyrah They each nodded and our speed only began to increase as we descended further and further. Our images turned into a blur as the number of Adlers that currently live in this dungeon only 4 alive can keep up with me, two if them are with me right now. WHOOOOOooooooooosh! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!! ¡°FIST OF THE BEAST KING!¡± ¨C Kyrah My talons started to glow a brilliant gold and I came roaring down on the elite high level monster who was trying to give chase to another Adler. My Attack Power had increased two fold I planted my fist into the fur balls back but was met with what felt like solid armor. CRACK! ROaaaauh Regardless of this however I could definitely feel a crack give way from the beasts armored spine giving the beast momentary shock at how this could have happened. The beast then spun violently sideways and was launched like a cannon barreling towards the ground below. As the Manticore tried to recover its position before barreling towards the dungeon floor I now see Alec was at least successful in clipping on of the beasts wings to the point it had snapped off. The other wing which Ferra was responsible for I can see was however severed almost cleanly off. Even though the monsters health remained in the green it was now impossible for it to escape its fate of falling nor will he be able to cause us as much difficulty. I then looked at the remaining 4 beasts that were each darting through the sky I can see in such a short time we¡¯ve lost 20 more Adlers and our formation is almost completely scattered. With every second that passed each beast would continue kill another one of ours. Alec and Ferra then flew to my sides and we decided to continue as the same plan. Each of the Manticore¡¯s health were in the green and even while being surrounded by our kind hitting them with barrages of our combined attacks they simply are accepting them as if they were nothing. We each then started to dart towards the next manticore when I noticed each of them had then stopped what they were doing and each of their hairs raised on end. The beast then looked in our direction and pointed its tail towards us. ROooarrrrrRRRRRR!!!! Guahh!!!
You have been struck by Gravity Spike All weight will increase by 40% You have received 1100 damage Agility has dropped by 125
Critical Hit! You have been struck by Gravity Spike All weight will increase by 40% You have received 4300 damage Agility has dropped by 200
Critical Hit! You have been struck by Gravity Spike All weight will increase by 40% You have received 2100 damage Agility has dropped by 55
I was unable to avoid the sudden spray of attack that shot out of the beasts entire body. I attempted to raise my wings over my face but with every black shard that shot out of its body would puncture straight through my wings and shoulders. Everything in the sky especially those that were close to the beast were simply riddled with these small spikes sticking out of them. In that one attack almost 500 Adlers had then fell from the sky due to the increased weight from the attack. ¡®Damn kid wasn¡¯t fucking around¡­.Ugh¡­¡¯ I then darted back and attempted to take out some of the shards as my speed was heavily impacted due to this. As I started to take out each shard I simply didn¡¯t have enough time to get them all as now with everyone in the surroundings has had their speed and wind resistance completely effected and we¡¯ve become defenseless. WHOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!! ROOAORRRR~!!!! ROAOaaaROORARA!! Just then a blinding white flash completely washed over my eyes and I couldn¡¯t see a thing. Whenever the flash had disappeared what I saw were the same four beasts now fully engulfed in a white fire. Not a single part of their large and armored like bodies were free from the this bright white flame that had surrounded each of them. Looking around I notice that none of those in the formations however were effected by this white flash but only the beasts before us. Each of the beasts health then started to drop slowly into the yellow and they continued to howl and roar in pain. ¡°Interesting¡­ What do you think happened?¡± ¨C Alec Flying to my side was Alec whose four wings looked to have several of the same black spikes sticking out of them and his right shoulder. As he pulled it out he too was enamored but what sudden attack had completely engulfed each of these monsters in such brilliant white flames without even touching any of us. It¡¯s not causing them a lot of damage but from the looks of it these monsters simply cannot take the excruciating pain that must be coming from them. ¡°Where¡¯s Ferra?¡± As I asked Alec and he simply looked at me and shook his head. The spray that had flown towards each of Alec and Ferra attempted to evade while I thought my wings would have been sufficient to block them like I have with some Floor Bosses but I was wrong. Ferra however was unable to evade and received hundreds of shards that covered her body and face. She disappeared instantly¡­. ¡®Damn it¡­..¡¯ ¡°Ok, we need to take this opportunity now¡­ While those fuckers can¡¯t think straight¡­. Let¡¯s fly.¡± I took out the black shard from Alec¡¯s shoulder and he and I both flew towards the now distracted beasts and the remnants of our formation. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hj?kk¡¯s POV: ¡®¡­..Again¡­ Again he saved me. I¡¯m supposed to be a guardian to the High God¡¯s of Asgard. I along with my sisters are looked at with the pride of Odin and all of Valhala¡­ And yet again this champion of Loki¡¯s was able to save me. I was unaware that I could dream, I was unaware Balor could even use an ability like that until now¡­..¡¯ When I woke up to Vali¡¯s shouts he had been holding on to Ari and I could feel an incredibly dominant force tingling and slightly pricking my skin. ¡°Lightning of the Seventh Star!¡± ZAAPAPAPAPPPZPZAPZAPZAPZPAZPAPZAPZAPZPAPZPAPZAPAPPZAP!!!!!!!!!!! The clouds overhead began to rain down over the already scorched and half dead monster horde. I continued to think about how Vali could have possibly done what he did¡­. I believe I¡¯ve seen that cosmic energy before¡­ That¡¯s the void. And Vali must have somehow been able to open a space up to it. I¡¯ve only ever seen it once as Lord Loki said it is not a place I should ever visit willingly. How Vali was able to open up such a space that is said to be the space between worlds is an anomaly. This child itself is an anomaly¡­. In only two months time he has grown to such an extent that he is able to wield such power. Even I was unable to predict such extreme growth potential. Even if he lost to such an interesting trick from that Neko woman I believe that in time he could wield his power to mere unprecedented heights in this world. Perhaps he does have what it takes to ascend to a position to what Lord Loki had imagined. SAAhhhH!HH!H ¡®There are some very rare and interesting monsters in this place¡­. ¡® I for one thought those Adamantine Spiders were interesting as they were a monster that simply gained such abilities and affinities from being near the mythical metal for extended periods of time. Even now I¡¯ve seen several monsters that I¡¯ve thought to have either gone extinct and some I¡¯ve never even witnessed before this day. Each of Balor¡¯s monster army were beasts that had been lost with time, so many creations all brought to here. But surely Balor didn¡¯t intend on destroying the world with such little numbers. Sure the human population and most life wouldn¡¯t be able to stand up to such opponents but to a Valkyrie and others like me these opponents are much to look at. He must have more up his sleeve than a mere 100,000 monsters and giants. Vali even stated over his earpiece that Balor had sent out a large number of his forces while everyone was under Balor¡¯s spell. Which mean we were unable to stop his initial plans but if this is where Balor has set his fortress he must be hiding much more powerful foes within these walls. He wouldn¡¯t simply attempt to destroy this world with the pieces he¡¯s revealed so far. Even with his vast power over the darkness he can completely manipulate and create armies out of nothing. I remember him in the Old War¡­ He wasn¡¯t an evil deity by any means. He fought with weapons of his own creation and helped even hold back the advancement of the Demon race. But after so much time after his dissention he has clearly gone mad power and revenge. ¡®I can¡¯t believe I allowed Vali to talk me into this plan simply to save a few more lives. I simply cannot read Vali at all. He claims to care only for his family but he goes out of his way for others¡­ This is something that will surely get yourself killed. If anything happens¡­.I have to react immediately.¡¯ YyYeeeeeaHYayaahahaha One of Balor¡¯s hideous Fomorians began to grin towards me and shake it¡¯s head. Each of the long hairs growing out of the top of their heads each looked alive and capable of eating all those who got close. He as well as several other species in this monster army even have that same Dark Aura ability that Malthiel used¡­. ¡®Balor must have given several of these species rare items to use the same abilities he does¡­. I want to break the walls apart now but if Vali¡¯s plan is successful then waiting would be the best possible choice.¡¯ My wings of light extended and I flashed to the large guarded best and sent my the tip of my golden spear gifted to me from Odin right into the large giants chest. The air began to ripple as my speed was instantaneous. The loud roar erupting from my spear sent the giant flying back with the same hideous grin as before. Even after the endless assault on these creatures the Dark Aura surrounding them right now is thick and almost as tough as Malthiel¡¯s was. If I recall if you simply cause enough damage the barrier will go down¡­. With every monster that shot towards me a 100 would fall. When each of the monster horde realized trying to pass through my Asgardian Storm Wall was an impossible feet for them to reach they decided to fight the one who trapped them here. Even after slaying thousands of each of them none would cower or run in fear. They simply mindlessly continued to try and attack me with their feebly slow movements. I¡¯d simply use an ability to crush them all into paste but the Floor everyone is currently standing on would fore sure crumble as well. Judging by Vali¡¯s plans and our estimations these walls are actually not as impenetrable as they appear. There is a barrier by each of them but Vali has shown the barrier itself has a weakness. If you attack the barrier with something that too has a darkness attributed barrier surrounding it, the barrier and dungeon wall will take damage. So Vali wants me to be wrapped in his Dark Aura ability and have me bring down the walls when its time to for our second assault¡­. BOOOOOM! BOOooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!! ¡°UGH!!...What!...Is..this..Those eyes!¡± - ? I could here the fallen god¡¯s disturbed rattling and then could feel the floor itself began to cave in. The light from the outside continued to shine and flash in from above and the ceiling itself began to cave in on our positions. I leapt through the storm wall and kept it active to hold back the remnants of Balor¡¯s army. I wasn¡¯t able to vanquish each of them as some of them shared in quite the interesting skill sets, which kept them alive for a short time. Even the Fomorians fur was excellently immune to a majority of my Lightning. I however was able to knock off at least 80% of his remaining monsters on this floor so Vali should be able to accept this for now. I moved throughout the floor and flew past Balor whose rich darkness continued to surround and cover his body. Behind me I could feel and endless power that was even capable of slaying a god build up and expand behind me. I increased my speed fast and faster towards the location of Vali¡¯s presence. ¡°I¡¯ll taste your flesh today Champion!¡± - Balor I appeared at his side and standing by him were a small number of Adlers and other species all surrounding him. As he looked up at me he seemed surprised and then smiled. I tried to warn him of the incoming danger as this whole dungeon was beginning to fall apart but before I could my vision distorted and changed. Now I was standing on another floor entirely but everything was still shaking. Only now the gradual quakes only shook the walls slightly. ¡®Where are we¡­.Hmm Floor 22. ¡® Looking in front of me Vali was still there and now surrounded by several of the race leaders. None in fact had died but judging from the looks of things everyone including Vali looks to have taken quite a beating. Everyone looks to have been simply covered in ash of that flame like skill from before. I myself felt the energy from that ability but I can¡¯t imagine if Balor was able to defend against it¡­ if not, surely this is going to change to me now fighting Balor in an upfront confrontation¡­. I¡¯ve seen him fight before. He¡¯s slayed many deities by simply piercing them with his horns¡­. I could hear Vali begin to instruct everyone of what comes next. This was yet another one of Vali¡¯s schemes that he had concocted when he realized that in all the floors of this entire dungeon, not one of them had a large body of water which he found strange. Every other floor was filled with all sorts of environments and difficult places to even survive but not a single water related level which is odd because what extends past this mountain is nothing but ocean. He then assumed by his understandings that those large creations Balor seems to be proud of probably can¡¯t swim. The plan now is now that we¡¯ve moved to Floor 22 we will set up in position again to receive Balor¡¯s attack and move to the floating city in the clouds just before Flooding the floor¡­.. He had the Jiji and Pixies help dig a hole towards the edge of this level as Vali believes if it¡¯s possible the ocean itself potentially lies behind this dungeon and if we can bust through the dungeon walls it¡¯s possible we can flood the floor itself. ¡°But even if this does work we just left Balor on Floor 52. Why would he come down here instead of simply sending his monster horde towards us.¡± ¨C Adler ¡°What¡¯s his health at? Were you able to get him below 60%.¡± ¨C Izzie ¡°Can we go on with our further preparations or not!¡± - Neko Vali then looked towards each of the incoming questions from all those gathered around him. I could see the thousands of demi humans who were gathered on Floor 52 have been moved here as well and can feel their presences in the floating city above. There are several floating land masses above and according to those who live here Floor 52, 22 and 1 are the only levels that can hold all of our numbers at once while maintaining a strategic position over our enemies. Commander Locke and the other leaders then looked towards Vali who smirked towards him. I too was curious of how much damage they were able to cause on Balor in the short amount of time they had been attacking him. Everyone were silent and waiting for Vali and those who were present to reveal what had happened. ¡°¡­ Balor¡¯s health should currently be lower than 28% with no chance of recovering it at all¡­. And don¡¯t worry he¡¯ll come down here himself I guarantee it.¡± ¨C Vali ¡®¡­.Impossible!¡¯ I noticed my mouth was agape and then began to shut it. How? Was the power from the First Flame and prized Divine Flame of Olympus truly that powerful when used by Bryn''s Pixies? And when wielded by such young children no less¡­. I¡¯ve seen the terrifying reality of the Hildr Pixies many millennia ago. They are each beyond comprehension and the ones Brynhildr was had stood beside here were even frightening to a majority of the existences in Asgard. ¡°Wait what? Twen¡­twenty eight percent are you sure!¡± ¨C Neko ¡° Unbelievable¡­.¡± ¨C Adimar ¡°¡­..¡± ¨C Commander Locke, Izzie ¡°Tehe¡­.Balor couldn¡¯t stand up to us at all! ¡° ¨C Cyanin ¡°Yah, we roasted him hehe.¡± ¨C Kai The small in stature pixies began to high five and dance in the air as they simply couldn¡¯t contain their happiness. ¡°¡­. I see. That is indeed good news. Alright MEN! You heard him, this is our time! Balor¡¯s days of holding us here are going to soon come to an end. Let us not let up, let us continue until we can bring that bastard down!¡± ¨C Commander ¡°Hoowwwwwww!!!¡± ¨C Annunake ¡°To the Dawn!¡± _ Ollie Everyone continued to cheer only while I stood there partially frozen¡­ Vali had done it. I had thought his plan was hopeless but somehow he had taken someone who was once a divine and pushed him to such a state. His plans had each worked. ¡°Wait, but if he¡¯s truly that hurt why would he come down here? Wouldn¡¯t he just heal himself or bring back more numbers? Why would he risk it? ¡° ¨C Neko ¡°¡­Don¡¯t worry he¡¯s coming down personally. He won¡¯t let someone else kill us now he¡¯s too pissed. We caused him a tremendous amount of pain I¡¯m sure he has never received before. And besides¡­.. Cosmia how much time do we have left? ¡° - Vali Everyone then looked over to the small pixies who were too excited from the previous news to notice had to again be calmed down by Vali. ¡°Oh..Sorry Vali¡­We currently have 17 more minutes. As well as 22 of our siblings have yet to use our Trump Card and waiting further orders.¡± ¨C Cosmia Several of the pixies alongside their Queen then saluted up to Vali while everyone in the surrounding area simply made another gasp. ¡°¡­ We can do this¡­ We can win. Let¡¯s stay focused. Let us move forward Hj?kk tear the walls down on my ¡­.¡± Rumble..Rumble.Rumble.RUMBLE! Rumble ..rumble ¡°HAHAHAHAHA!!! Did you simply think you could all flee from me and you would all be safe? I¡¯m going to peel your skin off with my own fingers, crush your loved ones between my teeth right in front of you for treating my body with such disrespect. ¡° ¨C Balor I could again hear Balor¡¯s voice as begin to fill Floor 22 and shake the surroundings yet again. Within an instant Balor was now standing on the other side of the Floor with over 10,000 of his forces still remaining. Several of them were in the red while the vast majority of the rest were in the yellow. A small number of his forces still remained unharmed due to their Aura ability but it¡¯s clear they have each been through an insurmountable hell. ¡®Why is Balor coming down himself. Is he really so enraged he can¡¯t think straight? ¡­.Wait so that means Vali¡¯s trick had worked¡­. Balor still doesn¡¯t know. Even though his body has been fully freed of the fire that engulfed him I can see his health has dropped to 22% and he¡¯s been heavily cursed and poisoned. Even though he continues to use his magic it causes him a good amount of damage. However even 22% of his health could very well be a height that is as tall as the World Tree that holds this world in place.¡¯ Vali had warped the rest of the ground forces off of the ground floor and back up to the floating city and he stepped out towards Balor yet again. I then flew towards the sky and pointed my spear towards the small hole that had been dug into the dungeon wall. I condensed roughly 50% of my remaining stamina and divine power to fire off a force strong enough to hopefully be successful in destroying this places very foundation. A large purple stream of energy left from the tip of my spear and was guided all the way into the hole and towards the edge of the dungeon boundary. While still looking towards Balor I can hear his voice simply causes the surroundings to tremble. Even now his body looks to be heavily riddled in scars and torn flesh. ¡°You think because you simply take a bit of my magical power I simply can¡¯t squash you like bugs¡­.Now¡­Come for the fate you shall never escape!¡± ¨C Balor The floor began to tremble and Balor materialated a large whip of darkness in one hand and an enormous sword in the other. Each bleeding a continuous stream of darkness I leaped away to hopefully hold him off. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMM!M!M1MM!!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!M!MM! ¡°What?¡± ¨C Balor His large head turned and I flew towards him and delivered the tip of my spear into the side of his large head. WHIP! Guah! As I got right next to him the darkness surrounding him had simply reach out and latched on to me. AHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I could feel as if my armor were quickly being eaten away from this and eat at my skin. I attempted to free myself but the force around me made it impossible to move my body freely. I attempted to extend my wings of light outward to volley myself away but it was useless. BooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooom! BOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!!!! BOOOO0000oooooooOOOOOOOOMM!!!! ¡°Ahh!!!!!!¡± ¨C Balor Balor then roared in agony as I could feel an intense heat attack my skin. In front of me the golden, pink, and blue pixies all flew into Balor and activating their ability they gained from Mount Olympus. BOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!! The force behind each of these pixies crashing into Balor sent me and my body flying back towards the ground Floor. The Darkness was too thick and completely surrounded and broke apart my barrier magic and Celestial Class armor while also slowly eating parts of my body away. I could sense my body was in a critical condition, as I could not move from where I was lying. His darkness was simply too thick and had such disastrous properties to it. I can even feel that the bottom of my legs are gone as well as part of my left arm which held my spear. The Aura around him was simply too different than before and in such little time had turned me into such a state. I activated my Recovery mode and sat there while my body began to slowly recover itself and bring it back to the state it was prior to this battle. Anytime a Valkyrie¡¯s body is destroyed we simply revert ourselves to a point when we weren¡¯t damaged. It takes a short amount of time but soon I will be back to full recovery and full magical power. ¡®Please be alive by then Vali. I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m so helpless. I¡¯m a lousy body guard for you as I was turned to such an awful state before I could even do anything to Balor.¡¯ ¡°Cough..coughcough¡­Cough¡­Va..li¡­wh..y¡± ¨C Uri ¡°Cough, cough, you, should¡­have¡­¡­escaped¡­¡± _ Jana ¡°What you think I¡¯m gonna let the black guy die first.¡± -Vali ¡°Cough¡­wha¡­t? ¡° ¨C Uri As I could hear Vali and the other voices I determined everyone was still alive after that last attack. When Vali looked upon my image I could instantly see emotions appear all alongside his face¡­..Saddened, Grief, Extreme Sorrow, Anxiety, Hopeful. ¡°Hj?kk¡­¡­..¡± ¨C Vali Vali warped over to my location with each of the three pixies and looked at me as if he didn¡¯t have the words to speak. My image must have stunned him quite horribly. I told him I should be fine as long as I have time to recover. He attempted to use his Soul Recovery on me but it didn¡¯t work at all. He thought it was due to the slowed recovery and healin this dungeon forces on everyone but that isn¡¯t it¡­.. Though I have something similar I don¡¯t have what Vali determines as a Soul. I was created, I was not born¡­. So his healing magic had all accounted for nothing. ¡°I¡¯m fine get us out of h¡­.¡± BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! I could hear the dungeon beginning to crash apart as I heard the roars of running water blast forth and destroy the entirety of the cave wall. The small hole was now non existent as Vali¡¯s assumption was correct in thinking the ocean that lied behind this place not only began to flood into the floor but quickly everything on the ground floor was covered in water. Vali had picked up my half destroyed body not much different than he does that small child¡­. ¡®Hmm¡­.I¡¯ve never been held before. This is¡­. An odd feeling¡­¡± Snap! Our image had then disappeared and now my vision was staring off into the clouds. ¡°Vali! It worked!¡± ¨C Commander Locke ¡°Yes, I know but let¡¯s not wait around for¡­.¡± ¡°YOU DARE TO face me with such petty TRICKS! How dare you flee from ME!¡± ¨C Balor Vali peered over the side and now I too could see the dungeon wall almost up to the clouds themselves was now non existent as the violent power of the roaring ocean beyond this place came flooding in. Each of the giant Fomorians began trying to flee but even with their abundance in size they were forced to the ground pushed down with incredible force. Snap! My vision had changed again and now I alongside everyone else had been transported to Floor One. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vali¡¯s POV: ¡®Ok¡­ Our final stand is here. He can¡¯t bring his army down here and in his condition. This is where it¡¯ll.¡¯ We¡¯ve lost many. This battle hasn¡¯t gone on for even half an hour and already we have lost a tremendous amount of our numbers. There have been an insurmountable amount of sacrifice that has all been made for us to be standing here in this moment. As we now got down to Floor One everyone was currently taking up places in the interior city of Anfang and awaiting the emergence of the Dark Lord. The walls and ceiling were simply covered with the stench and decay of all those who were lost here thousands of years ago. Standing on the ground knowing there are simply a mind boggling number more below our feet. The rear guard has now been re outfitted and currently has 7 of my Dullahan Knights. I have each of them working to cover Elyria and the other race leaders. Hj?kk¡¯s state is pretty bad. It¡¯s to the point we can¡¯t even rely on her at this point. The moment she attacked Balor to distract him from myself I saw her get swallowed up by the endless darkness surrounding him. A moment later the pixies had bombarded him with their own bodies like small bombs. The force simply sent the god tumbling over to where I had to go save each of them. The pixies too had their bodies practically mutilated but they were successful and freeing Hj?kk and giving everyone time to escape. Now she along with many others are in the back of the city of Anfang awaiting the final stand. If we can¡¯t hold him back our next move will be fleeing this dungeon entirely¡­He should have less than 20% health by now¡­I can¡¯t imagine how long it might take but we can do this. ¡°¡­.And now we wait¡­¡± ¡°¡­.Vali¡­It has been an honor sharing the field of battle with you. With your help we simply wouldn¡¯t have made it so far.¡± ¨C Commander Locke ¡°Well let¡¯s not get ahead of ourselves¡­ We¡¯re not out of the woods yet.¡± ¡°True¡­ But I can taste the sweet aroma of freedom getting closer and closer nya.¡± ¨C Izzie ¡°¡­.Come on¡­ I¡¯m so ready for this. ¡° ¨C Adler Kyrah and the remaining Adlers were each flying overhead the city while the Pixies currently lit up the whole Floor. Pek and several numbers of the Jiji are now standing on large wooden stands they they have appeared to build to tower over the city. In their hands appear to be small hand held cannons with small sacs of cannon balls. Pek and the Jiji gave themselves the ability to arm themselves with portable canons and are now lining the walls of Anfang. I could see some within the city who even had on strange gauntlets with large black claws coming out of them. Pek said even though they are ridiculously heavy he was successful in creating a Fomorian Claw weapon for many of his race as well. The Arachnee Queen along with all of her subjects are standing in the rear guard along with Pek, Cari and thousands of the rest of the Rear Guard. Suddenly I then felt the atmosphere start to change and grow cold. The air trembled and within an instant Balor warped himself right in front of the city gates. He currently looked 15 feet tall and his entire body looks completely different than the beginning of this battle. Every square inch of his back looks to have been clawed and mutilated while the rest of his body was smoldering with smoke slowly raising over him. His Dark Aura is currently off and you could hear a pin drop everything had grown so quiet. His eyes looked only down at me. ¡°You think all your efforts will actually mean anything. Even now champion, you¡¯ve given me a series of Status¡¯s that should continue to destroy the rest of my magical supply but it was all for not¡­.. ¡° ¨C Balor Balor materialated a large sword and whip in each hands each made from darkness. His body too began to cover itself in armor and then engulf in a Dark Aura. ¡°It is all hopeless before me. So you kill a few of my creations and kept yourselves alive to this point. Even if it hurts to use magic it is but a simple scratch or ache. Not enough to harm something like me. Though I shall make all those here dread their eternal existences that shall be worse than anything you have ever imagined¡­.I applaud your efforts but your simple struggles end here. I shall enjoy myself at taking your life with my own hands¡­.¡± ¨C Balor [Vali the illusion is going to drop in 8 seconds¡­] - Cosmia ¡°Hehehe¡­..Hehehehehhee¡± Balor then turned and looked towards the one who was laughing. I too turned and noticed Commander Locke along with Alysteir and the Elite Neko units surrounding the areas outside the wall. The Annunakes too were standing on the far left with my Dullahan¡¯s out in front. ¡°Hmph you think your demise is so funny. You think death is even going to save you? ¡° ¨CBalor [3¡­2¡­.] ¡°For all eternity your fates shall be¡­¡­¡­¡­¡± ¨C Balor Balor then grew silent and stared down towards me with a peculiar look. Thouh his eyes were merely glowing yellow dots I could hear the sounds of surprise and anxiety now fill his voice. ¡°Hmphmphmph¡­.So now you know¡­.You walked into our little trap you big dumb bitch.¡± Balor then twitched and continued to look at me in silence¡­. Just now the grand finale to the illusion array the pixies had placed had finally come down. When I discovered the pixies had the capabilities to even add illusions to things like the Party System I asked if there was other possibilities to this. I had become eager towards this and asked if I wanted to place an illusion on a status if they could do it. They said it should be possible and we went blindly with these methods of attack hoping he wouldn¡¯t be able to see through it. Though the pixies had placed multiple illusions to the scenery and each of us they were also successful in placing a particular illusion on Balor¡¯s health bar. Regardless of all the pain, damage, and endless fire that has left him in such a state he believed his health had always remained over 90%. Sure he must have thought we caused him a tremendous amount of damage from the fire but he must have thought that with his limitless powers from an almost eternity of living and was simply overwhelming us. He didn¡¯t seem to have gotten into a fight with Malthiel, so I first assumed around that time he probably is even unaware of how weak he is as he has never even seen just how much when he¡¯s been pushed to his new limits. So he instead chose to ignore our attacks as meaningless and continued to pursue us without his armies and all of his prized monsters¡­. I looked towards the Final Boss in front of me and looked at his status.
Balor The Endless Dark Current Health: 17% Fallen God of Darkness and Drought
Balor however then gave off an impression as if he didn¡¯t care. ¡°Hmph you think because of a few tricks I would possibly fear you. Such an insignificant existence like you can¡¯t possibly hope to slay me, I am immortal! I¡¯ve survived a war against all gods. You pathetic existences are nothing before me.¡± ¨C Balor The atmosphere grew tense everyone began to sweat as his voice echoed through the whole floor. The bodies hanging from the chains began to rattle and shake. ¡°If you like that trick watch this¡­..¡± I then jumped over to a location slightly closer to Balor¡¯s still impressively large figure. Even after taking all this damage his vitality is simply something astonishing as even after all the endless abuse he is still standing. ¡®¡­.He however will lose with this move.¡¯ I stuck Abgrund into the ground and told everyone on the earpiece not to get close especially to the pixies. I looked up towards Balor and he then lunged towards my position as if realizing now it was not a good idea to take me lightly as an opponent. He slung his long whip of darkness towards my position but it was already too late. I had activated the 2nd unlocked ability from Abgrund after my understands of Death Magic had increased. ¡°Age of Death¡­.¡± I then cast the spell and the cast time was practically instantaneous. A dark transparent bubbled shot outward from the scythe and flung in all directions around me. As Balor¡¯s whip had flung towards my direction the moment it came into contact with the dark field expanding in all directions it disintegrated and disappeared immediately. My ability didn¡¯t stop there and continued to shoot past Balor until it had reached out far behind him making his escape impossible. No damage was done to Balor at all but the effects of the skill I can see worked perfectly. Balor¡¯s Dark Aura, Dark Armor as well as his weapons have each disappeared and now what stands before us was a helpless ancient deity. When my understandings grew for Death Magic I realized death can come to things that aren¡¯t even tangible or thought to even be living. The skill Age of Death is by far the most overpowered ability in my arsenal as I believe that this skill is what will decide Balor¡¯s ultimate end. I severed the ties of magic to be used by any and all of my enemies within the range of effects of the skill. As long as he remains in this area Balor will be unable to use any an all magic. Nothing, outside of the cities walls will even be able to use an ounce of magic besides my self as the ground has turned black and the air has become stable. Balor¡¯s eyes grew as he was trying to realize at what I had just done. Such an ability from Malthiel must have made him a monster. All magic used by anyone but myself will be currently impossible within the range of this field. I slowly turned my head back towards the Adlers, Annunakes, Neko and Reiki all at my backs. I nodded to them and they each drew there weapons while grinning back their fangs. ¡°AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!!!!! How splendid! Ahahaha Well if I can¡¯t use my magic anymore I might as well make it all interesting! ¡° Balor then took out a small trinket and broke it. At this action everything changed¡­¡­. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Malfius¡¯s POV: RUmbleRUmbleRumblerumble Ching. Chink.Ching..chingching..Chink The floor itself began to warp and shift. The moment Balor broke the small golden item in his large hand everything on the Floor began to quake making it almost impossible to stand. Boom! Boom! Booooom! Hands started bursting out through the ground floor and digging themselves out. The walls itself began shake and I could feel now this odd energy circulating around each and every one of the bodies lining this wall. Each of the skeletons that were all chained to the walls broke and shattered causing the bodies to start to fall. The ceiling then began to rain down thousands of undead all over the dungeon floor. Every body that was coming alive began to twist and contort while slowly moving towards all of us. Even though I wanted to move to Vali¡¯s location and assist him the number of foes currently piling up between us and him was by far too many. Knowing there was a need to act quickly all forces at my command began their final attack. ¡°This is it! Feel the weight of all those who have fallen here. You all shall never escape me!¡± ¨C Balor The floor again began to shake as the dead ancestors of all those who have fallen here began to animate and attack each of us. ¡°Byokko Fist¡­¡± BOOOOOM! Splat! I delivered a punch into the half decomposed corpse in front of me and it immediately scattered into several peices. The Reiki at my sides too leaped forth and began to attack the sudden emergence of the overwhelming number of opponents. ¡°¡­.Tiger¡¯s Rampage!¡± - Ollie ¡°White Tiger¡¯s Claw!¡¯- Reiki I could hear those around me too jump into the fray and attack the endless sea of fallen soldiers fallen onto the field. Everyone even the rear guard I¡¯m sure has to now fight for their lives. I simply cannot think of anything more than the foes in front of me right now and pray everyone is fairing alright. With every swing of my paw another foe would fall but the number of fallen currently falling from the ceiling and pouring out of the walls is simply starting to become overwhelming. Many of the falling monsters would land on one of our own until the sea of monsters began to surround and attack them. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! A loud roar erupted around Holland I could see a large see through green wall of stone surrounding himself. As I downed 4 more opponents I avoided falling bodies and began to advance towards Vali¡¯s position. ¡®You really are something kid¡­ I never would have thought we¡¯d come so far. I knew putting our faith in you would bear fruit. But I can¡¯t help but feel anxious as he is currently having to face the monster himself.¡¯ I can see hundreds of Annunakes and Nekos on the ground currently fighting for their lives and doing the same as us. We needed to surround Balor¡­I don¡¯t know how Vali was able to cut off his magic supply but if he hadn¡¯t I only imagine those monsters he created from nothing would be wreaking havoc on us right now. Although there are thousands of bodies falling from the ceiling and being released from their chains their levels are not very high. Even though each and every dead who is coming to life was once a warrior they are simply too inferior to those who currently reside in this dungeon. Their weapons are nothing to a Reiki BOOOM! BOOOOOOOM! HA! I continued to increase my movements and fling off incoming attackers. They were simply too slow to compete with the Reiki¡¯s ways of movement and my forces were slowing advancing on Vali¡¯s position. I can see in the sky the Adlers and pixies are currently having their fair share full as well considering there are also undead from their race in here too. They simply are too low of level to cause us any real harm but they are easily slowing us all down. I swung my paw into an oncoming dead Annnake and flung myself over its shoulder and kicked the walking dead behind me for my son to clean up. As a falling Reiki came into view I simply punched it and it¡¯s head witch showed his own skull had exploded. ¡®Practicing on those Adamantine Spiders has truly helped¡­My paws have become something I have even come to be awed at. With every swing my fist connected and another fallen would explode from the power coming from my paw. I continued to advance but even with eyes like mine I can¡¯t see how Vali is fairing through the thousands of enemies standing between them and me. BOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOM! Constant roars from the walls continued to rain down on the encroaching monsters but they too were having to deal with. HOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!! I then saw Vali¡¯s silver wolf leap over Anfang¡¯s wall and turn into a large dark creature. It had horns on its head and stood at 15 feet tall. He leaped into the endless sea of the dead while being fully engulfed in several elements. His health was in the yellow but I could see he was causing much more harm the the surrounding dead were to his fur. Lighting then streamed out from Fenrir¡¯s horns and then began to spread and spray through hundreds more. Each of the half decomposed to fully decomposed dead began to shake violently and slow down. BOOOm BOoooooom! BOoom! Loud explosions then came down from above and crushed the surrounding sea of dead into a craters. Just then I saw the image of a gold pixie fly out in front of me and crash into an undead forcing it to the ground. ¡°LIGHT HAMMER!¡± BOOOM! SPLAT! In one motion a large hammer of light came down and crushed the head of the oncoming undead and then the golden pixie had flown off. I then saw several pixies then flying in the direction with Kyrah and her guard towards Vali¡¯s direction. I could see somewhat out in front of me was Alysteir and Commander Locke with his guard as well. Anything that got within a few feet of Alysteir was merely turned to dust, their advancement towards Balor was now open. Adimar and the elite Annunakes were also pressing forth beside our fellow Reiki and seemed to be advancing at a similar pace to our own. With one continuous heartbeat at that moment we were all one. All those who have gathered and fought have chosen to live or fall together. And right now regardless of the thousands of enemies who have appeared we only continue onward to the worst beast of them all. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kai¡¯s POV: Impossible¡­. I continued to stand to the right of Cari and form a wall of our kind to shoot off our fire to the oncoming sea of the dead. With several Dullahans out front I had placed each of my siblings with the Black Hydra ability to the front. In a long line everyone in the rear guard made up of every race was fighting for their lives. The Annunakes and Reiki were on the outside and attempting to hold off the shere endless amount of enemies. They simply came out of nowhere and started to approach from all directions. Within moments our whole formation was in chaos and everyone was fighting for their lives. I still had several of the buffs Vali¡¯s mom and Hj?kk had placed on me as well as some of the Adlers buff that increases our Attack Speed and Agility as well. We were slowly holding them off but everyone was clearly becoming exhausted. Everyone would attack and fall back to drink from their Stamina Elixirs or Health potions with every passing second. Even with our endless healing ability each and every one of my siblings is receiving endless attacks right now. If it wasn¡¯t for the added help of Vali and these new armors I honestly don¡¯t believe our ¡®catchers¡¯ would be able to save them all. BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOBOOOM! The Jiji to our flanks each continued to step up and rotate firing squads with their mini weapons that resembled the same that sit atop the wall. The destruction power from the small metal weapons was phenomenal as everything for several meters forward was simply mutilated. ¡°Ok now advance!¡± The pixies heard my and we each began to step forward over the dead bodies and deliver the fatal blows. We were starting to gain the upper hand. Even though the number of enemies was well over our own, we were slowly pushing them back. Looking around I can see every one even those who have never fought before swinging their weapons with everything they had. My siblings whom were just a few days ago going through unimaginable pain are now fighting alongside us with such endless strength. It¡¯s enough to bring a smile to my face as the lower generation truly is amazing. I looked forward and activated Light Hammer and knocked an incoming Annunake flying back and crashing into those behind him. None of their levels were even over 60 but there was simply so many of them¡­.¡¯ Vali come on ¡­ we need you to end this.¡¯ ¡°WAHAHAHAH!!! Why look at these poor pathetic saps fighting with all they¡¯ve got but let¡¯s see how they enjoy this¡­.¡± - ? A strange voice echoed throughout the bloody battle taking place and I looked up and now saw hundreds of new figures standing in a hole on the cave wall close to the top of the ceiling. Each of them had dark skin and long and pointy ears. They had long silver hair flowing out beside them and each wore dark leather armor and with black capes. They started waving their arms around and I could see small symbols of light appear that almost resembled letters. I pointed towards them to warn everyone but it was too late. Within a few moments I bright purple dust began to fall and drop onto the sea of undead. Each and every one of them began to glow a pale purple and rush towards us now appearing faster than before. If that wasn¡¯t enough even the ones surrounding us who had fallen began to reassemble and stand back up. BOOOM! Booom! Booooooooom! Ahhhh! I could hear screams of all those in the front lines start to receive the attacks of the monsters ahead and were having their health ripped clean away. With every swing of their weapons our forces slowly were being forced back and much of our health at the same time. If the front line didn¡¯t have such equipment and buffs we might not be able to take much more of this. ¡°Flame MORTAR!¡± - Tanin ¡°Flamethrower!¡± ¨C Cari Fire began to blow past my ear and onto the oncoming sea of enemies. Tanin had then had a fire appaear at his feet and several balls of fire appeared at his sides. An instant later several streams of fire shot out from Tanin in the direction of the oncoming undead and causing a large rain of explosions in a straight line. Beside that a large gust of white fire came shooting out from Cari¡¯s arms and towards the undead that were each all slowly standing up and now stronger than before. ¡°Moonlight Claw!¡± Jumping out in front of me was a large white wolf with one arm. In one solid motion he had cleaved an oncoming Annunake in two and then pressed forward. ¡°You! Go stop them now!¡± ¨C Boro I nodded towards the large beast man and peered back towards my siblings and pointed up. We each flew upward and towards the new figures who came in and clearly had done something to the fallen foes here¡­.¡¯Those gotta be the Dark Elves¡­¡¯ As we flew toward them each of them pointed their hands towards us and similar letters as before began to appear and violent streams of magic began to fire down in our direction. ¡°Evade!¡± With my instructions those flying around me began to scatter while advancing towards the hole in the cave wall. BOoom! Boom! Ahh!! An arrow flew past me and I was nearly able to dodge but Aurora behind me had instead be shot in the head. The beam of dark light shot straight through her barriers as well as her head. With a dead pan look her eyes then became alive and she continued to fly alongside me. ¡°Wha!¡± ¨C Elf ¡°Kill them what are you waiting for!¡± ¨C Elf ¡°Este vese ghaia favre ence!¡± ¨C Elf The dozens of elves continued to fire more and more magic but our healing abilities were vastly supierior. We left Cari alongside Bifrost as well as Vali¡¯s mother whom is currently fighting as well Each of us shot fire and ice magic towards their direction repeatedly while continuing to fly forward. A large cloud of dust then appeared and we continued to fire while flying forward. BOOOM!!!! I flew through the cloud of dust only to crash into what felt like a wall. ¡®Ahhh¡­Impossible was that an illusion?¡¯ I backed away and waited for the smoke to disappear but already I could see a bright white light started to appear from behind the dark cloud¡­. It almost looked like¡­ Cari¡¯s¡­.Wait¡­.Impossible. Currently staring right at me was a brightly adorned pixie with white wings and brightly colored hair. She¡¯s just like Cari¡­. Only this one has short straight hair and a metallic headband on. She is standing next to another pixie who has short hair just like this one and Cari¡¯s and white wings as well. They were each the pixie we cherished most but how¡­.. Not giving me a moment to a think a bright multicolored light shot out of the girl and boy pixies eyes and the moment the beams touched my body I was sent the other direction with a large hole in my chest. BOOOOOOOOM!!!!! I crashed into several walking dead on the floor below and looked back up. I could see clearly there were pixies that looked just like Cari but their magical signitures were just completely different¡­.Those are puppets! I could tell. I could feel Cari had already healed the hole in my chest and I then started to fly back up to the pixies who just emerged. Their levels ¡­.541 and 555. The were the strongest pixies I had ever seen. Behind them were several of the same Dark Elves unharmed and I can see 3 large figures standing behind them. They had large antlers and a white radiance that cascaded down from their horns and onto the Dark Elves in front of them. ¡°LOOOOK!!!!¡± ¡°Our fallen Elkia!¡± ¡°Grrrrrrrrrrrrr YOU!¡± I could hear several voices of astonishment, as several of those below were fixing their eyes on the small group currently peering over the cave wall. I didn¡¯t know Balor had made puppets from Elkia and our own race. They look completely different than the dead below but are instead look to be alive simply unconscious. ¡°Ohohohoho¡­.. I was wondering when I would see you brats again¡­. What¡¯s wrong¡­ don¡¯t remember my face? ¡° - ? One of the Dark Elves then walked forward with a large smile on his face. He looked towards me and my siblings who were each hovering over head and addressed all those in the rear guard. ¡°What¡¯s wrong forgot my voice already¡­.¡± -? ¡°¡­yo¡­..you¡­¡± ¨C Freyki Turning around I see no Freyki looking back with eyes of shock while also nashing his teeth. ¡°Who is it Freyki?¡± ¨C Vale ¡°¡­ It¡¯s Jhenson¡­¡± ¨C Sona ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡± As I became shocked at hearing this statement I looked back towards the thin and dark elf out in front of us. This is the one who had tortured my siblings all for a cure. This is the bastard that Vali had ripped his mouth apart killing the sicko but he is now standing here? ¡°I don¡¯t understand?¡± ¡°Oh don¡¯t get it little bugs¡­.Well let me just say that you can¡¯t kill an elf by simply slaying a body our souls were attached too¡­. I had to withstand a great deal of pain because of the trouble you caused me little bugs. Today all of you shall die!¡± ¨C Jhenson ¡®¡­..¡¯ ¡°¡­.. Cari¡­.Burn him.¡± I gave the call through Daisy¡¯s communication piece for Cari to light the place up, after Balor some how managed to take her flame away the first time we waited for the opportune time to use and now her cool down time should have fully recovered. As much as I wanted to save these pixies who are puppets we simply do not have the time and they are insanely strong. Besides¡­. I¡¯m tired of hearing his voice. ¡°Flash Flame!¡± WOOOOOOOOOOHMMMMMM!!!! Within an instant everything became white and a brilliant heat flew past each and every one of us. My sisters light has a way of calming each of our spirits as she simply embraces each of us with it at all times of the day and night. Not even a weak ago she was sitting in a small room to herself hidden away from the world. She¡¯s had to endure more than every one of our kind, I knew how much it hurt her not to be able to stay with her family who were each dying off one by one. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. I didn¡¯t have the ability to let her stay with them¡­. Although it broke my heart, Cari is our future¡­ I still remember what my father told me. A white pixie is to be cherished over all else. They are our wisest while also our most fragile of all of our kind and should be protected. Allowing her to fight in this battle was simply too difficult for me but considering she is possibly even stronger than myself now I can¡¯t possibly force her not too. As the white light began to fade and disappear I now see everything out in front of us has been fully engulfed in fire¡­.Including¡­. ¡°AHHHHHHHH!H!!!!!!!!!!!.........What is this!¡± ¨C Jhenson ¡°It won¡¯t go out!¡± ¨C Elf ¡°AHhhhhh IT BURNS!¡± ¨C Elf ¡°NNnnnyyyahahhhaha!¡± Each of the figures continued to swing their bodies violently trying to put out the flames but with all their effort was for not¡­ I simply stared at them each squeal and wallow in pain. I looked down and now all the undead figures from below are too now engulfed in fire from the top of their heads to almost covering their whole bodies. And endless sea of fire then began to pour out over the whole floor as well as rain down from above. Anything and everything covering this floor that was an enemy as now fully engulfed in Cari¡¯s flames¡­.. ¡°Now stay dead you sick¡­.¡± ¡°AHHH!!!!¡± I then saw a pink blur fly past me and over to the figures in the cave wall engulfed by fire. Each of their health¡¯s were still in the green but they were simply being tormented by the heat and intensity of Cari¡¯s flames. In one swift motion Freyki activated his light hammer and crushed Jhenson¡¯s hip sending him to the side of the wall. Each of the rest of us then flew towards him and started to do the same to the other Dark Elves surrounding him. In one move from Freyki Jhenson¡¯s lit up body was then hurled to the side and crashed into the cave wall. As he was still engulfed in white flames his health had dropped to 65%.... My siblings continued to surround and torment each of the surrounding Dark Elves when the pixies and even Elkia began to try and stop us. The elkia would use their healing magic while the two white pixies flew towards us and shot forth a large purple ball surrounded in blue lightning. BOOOOOOM!!!!! The large purple ball shot out of the male pixies hands and towards us and just before it collided a black blur appeared in front of me. As the ball impacted against the dark figure it sent them a few paces back but they remained nearly undamaged. ¡®¡­.Bifrost?¡¯ Her health jumped from green to the yellow then back up to green before the smoke around her had cleared. Before I could do anything Bifrost as well as dozens of my siblings then flew forward and grabbed onto the enflamed white pixies and then flew off with each of them. Seeing what they had in mind I instructed the rest of my siblings to take the Elkia away from here too and hopefully reach Vali in time. The field surrounding him he told us blatantly not to step in as he¡¯s honestly not sure if it¡¯s safe. He however said any and all magic besides his own will become completely nullified so Balor should be unable to use any of his magic at all. As my siblings each grabbed the 3 Elkia, they flew away with their bodies as they continued to try and attack them while still enflamed. I then turned around towards the now smoldering Jhenson and his allies. ¡°You¡­YOU!....EUHhhh!.....¡± ¨C Jhenson ¡°¡­So you¡¯re still alive again huh. I figured after big brother Vali kicked your ass you¡¯d never want to fight us again but here you are¡­.. ¡° ¨C Kai Freyki, Vale, and Bri then walked up from behind me and then looked at Jhenson with grim eyes. ¡°Wati¡­ugh¡­Just wait¡­ I only made the poison to kill Balor. I promi¡­¡± - Jhenson ¡°Lies!¡± Jhenson started to stutter and shake while trying to speak through the flames that would only enter his mouth every time he opened it and scorch his insides as well. My sudden burst of anger caused him to shake and slowly retreat towards the cave wall behind him. ¡°¡­.You hurt my family. All that remains after this for you is death¡­.Don¡¯t come back this time¡­¡± ¡°No¡­no¡­¡­nnooooooOO! Ah¡­No¡­Sotpp! Cough¡­cough¡­ahhh¡­.NOOOOO!oooo!!!¡± My siblings surrounded Jhenson and his few remaining followers and started to attack their now defensless bodies. Their health shaved away by more with every swing. The fire currently surrounding him we¡¯ve discovered has a very violent but strong after effect, and that is it reduces the Defense of those who are engulfed by it until their simply too weak to even receive one of our punches. ¡°Please¡­Please don¡¯t!¡± Stooooooooooppppp!!!¡± ¨C Jhenson ¡°No..no more..please!¡± ¨C Elf ¡°Ga¡­ga¡­..gh¡­nnn¡­¡­¡­.¡± ¨C Elf Their screeching squeals began to grow worse as the fire was simply tearing apart their flesh and my siblings attacking them as causing them even more pain. At this point my siblings began to poke and prod with their Spikes and spears while deliver heavy blows with our Light Hammers. I then walked over and sunk my right wing into his right shin causing him to gasp in horror. We continued this until his health slowly reached zero and him and all of his followers disappeared in a bright white light and vanished. My siblings didn¡¯t hold any faces of pleasure nor mercy, only scorn for those who have chosen to hurt us. As we left the hidden hole in the wall we journeyed to the floor below to reunite with Cari and the rest of our siblings. The endless sea of fallen continued their attacks almost unfazed by the flames as they each didn¡¯t seem to hold the ability for pain any longer. Some were simply bones and armor but they continued their vicious assault. Guh¡­..Guh!........ Looking forward I see the figures of Cari and a small force surrounding her and Vali¡¯s mother. I see out in front Boro standing in front of Vali¡¯s mother only now pierced by dozens upon dozens of arrows and spears. With a loud roar he continued to swing his large paw in horizontal motions blowing everything around him apart. He coughed up a huge puddle of blood that then fell to his chest. All over his white fur was covered in puncture wounds. I and my siblings flew over to his aid and began to blow fire out from all directions to push them back. The fallen could no longer raise again after we killed the Elves but we still had to deal with the remaining forces who seemed much stronger than before. The rear guard has taken a heavy hit and we have lost well over half of our numbers. I see countless bodies of the Arachnee, Annunakes and nekos literring the floor alongside my own siblings left over body parts. The Reiki are the only forces who are simply taking the endless attack with practically no practically no damage at all. I arrived at Boro¡¯s side as he was just ripping off the head of a large Reiki man and biting another Neko with his jaws. His health was simply dropping too dramatically being surrounding by so many undead. Boro then swung his lone arm forward and crashed it into the mouth of a towering Adler splitting the bird man¡¯s face wide open. With that the mighty one armed warrior dropped to his knees. With the combined assistance of my siblings and all those that remained we continued to push the forces back. I tried to prop him up as all those flew past me and continued to press onwards. His health was now in the read and his stamina was almost completely drained. I tried to hand him a Stamina Elixir and Health potion but he merely pushed his one arm against my chest. He shook his head no and slowly collapsed while looking up towards the ceiling¡­. I knew at this point his health was still slowly declining as his whole body was riddled with wounds and scars. Even with the added effect of his Hydra armor his health continued to plummet and I could now see he had been poisoned heavily fighting against the dead arachnee who sprang to life. I tried to call out for help to the Arachnee who were fighting or anyone. I felt someone rush up behind me and kneel down. When I looked up it was not the face of someone I was expecting¡­. With tears in her eyes she simply stared towards the fallen wolf as she tried to stop the bleeding. This was Vali¡¯s mother¡­ ¡°No..No¡­he ¡­he did this to save me¡­Come on¡­We have too¡­.¡± ¨C Elyria Boro slowly put his large and bloody paw over Vali¡¯s mother who was kneeling at his side. ¡°di..di¡­..save¡­.elk¡­a?¡± ¨C Boro I slowly nodded to the dying Annunake which brought a smile to his eyes. I wasn¡¯t aware if they had gotten the Elkia and pixies to Vali in time. I simply couldn¡¯t tell him I didn¡¯t know. ¡°¡­for¡­Al..pha¡­.Honored..to fight¡­..each of you.. side¡­.May you¡­.all¡­..leave this place¡­..Ahhhhhhhh¡­¡­..¡± With one long final breath Boro the Warrior exhaled and disappeared into a series of lights and glass. ¡®¡­¡­.¡¯ ¡°No!¡± ¨C Elyria Several of the annunakes and pixies had then slowly began to come up and surround us as the surrounding monsters ad slowly been thinning more and more. As they all peered towards the flickering lights of another fallen comrade each and everyone simply nodded towards Boro¡¯s heroic sacrifice and decided to continue onward¡­. To leave this place for good. For all those who have fallen here, may they find peace by the end of today. ¡°Ok¡­. Let¡¯s clean up the rest and reunite with everyone else¡­.. We have no idea of the state of the front lines must be in so we need to hurry.¡± Everyone nodded to my order and we continued onward. It took several minutes of our combined efforts but we continued to lose more. The dead Arachnee race simply was poisoning each of the races and it took us a good amount of time to get past them and take them all down. Even with their low levels each race shared in the same traits they had when they were alive and can still be considered as threats. So we pushed forward to the wall city while me and my siblings flew through the skies. We were followed by a small group of Adlers. Our small punitive force consisted of roughly half the numbers we started with and we all together pushed towards the wall. Arachnee, Annunake, Neko, Reiki, Adler, Jiji and Pixie continued to move forward together to leave this place. To finally leave¡­..¡¯ We¡¯re coming Vali¡­ Please hold on. I don¡¯t think my siblings can handle any more loss¡­. If they lost you I don¡¯t believe many will be able to survive even hearing the news. You¡¯ve simply become to big a part of us. As long as we may live we will stick together. I could see below Daisy and Cari were surrounding Elyria and the small child. Each of them surrounded in barriers as well as shooting off Black Hydra smog towards everyone on the outsides our formation was highly protected. We still had 4 Dullahans also marching out and front while we continued towards the city gate. When more dead would continue to crawl from beneath the ground and charge our formation I could see Daisy dropping them in holes and my siblings each working together that it is almost overwhelming to the all of the other races. The line was currently impossible to break as anything that got close had their stats dropped and then were bombarded with magic. Each of their defenses were simply nothing now and regardless of the small purple barrier surrounding many of them those out in front of us are slowly falling. I continued to hurly out my fire magic and black smog while flying above the 4 Dullahan¡¯s given to us by our sibling and we eventually reached the city wall. Now we see the wall in rubble and can see past the large amount of skeletons and dead races was the towering figure of Balor fighting in the distance. All surrounding him was a bright purple star along with a large black wolf. Alongside them were all of the race leaders surrounding and attacking Balor¡­ He was bigger than when we saw his figure appear on the ground floor earlier. Now he¡¯s at least 30 feet tall still moving quite unhindered. His health¡­.¡¯ ¡­.13% really?¡¯ I honestly thought by now it would have been lower but we continued forward while attacking any oncoming threat to our formations. All of the other species were now having a wall of small pixies as well as large annunakes forming a wall between them and the onslaught of undead. Next to them were Reiki tanking for everyone as well as the Neko¡¯s slipping in slicing each foe apart. There was roughly a few thousand undead left and even though our advancement had slowed each monster is slowly falling even faster than the last. With the Adlers and my siblings raining down attacks from above nothing can come anywhere near our formations and with everything still covered in fire everything¡¯s defense is slowly dropping to 0. I looked forward and saw Balor who was partially covered in fire and continued to swing his fists and large body towards those below. With the simple swipe of his monstrous arm I could see him sending the giant wolf flying towards the cave wall. With every swing of his large fists and giant sword in hand everything in the surroundings continued to be blown apart and send shockwaves through the Floor. Even from here I can feel intense force coming off from every swing. I can see hundreds have fallen against Balor¡¯s sword and have been turned to red paste. But with every movement he makes I can see his health is slowly declining bit by bit¡­It¡¯s now at 11%. ¡°Ahahaha! I admit you have some strength boy to push me to this point but you shall never slay me even with your Norse wench and dogs that surround you.¡± ¨C Balor We continued to push forward and I could see everyone who was surrounding Balor well in the sky or on the ground looks exhausted. Each of their health is in the yellow and sitting at the large beasts feet are hundreds of dead and fresh bodies. He lunged forward and the air began to ripple and explode behind him. As his giant body moved too fast for me to perceive I saw him swing his giant sword covered in darkness down towards a certain position and collide with an oncoming figure. BooooooooOM! I then saw an explosion happen on the complete opposite side of the Floor. Looking over I could instantly feel who¡¯s magical signature it was. I looked into the direction and there I saw Vali¡¯s deformed figure with his health in the red. ¡°VALI!¡± ¨C Daisy ¡°..What? ¡° ¨C Elyria I started to break away from the group and fly towards the direction of Vali. I could hear loud roars and the giant figure of Balor started to run in an odd way and plow through everything in his path. In one swing of his sword everything in front of him was destroyed and the floor was torn apart extended past the walls. Those who started to fall in fell through the floor into the endless darkness below. I saw the image of Hjokk appear from the side and send a strike with her spear towards Balor¡¯s flank. ¡°Heh¡­Never learn !¡± ¨C Balor BOooooooOOOOM! With the simple swipe of his arm Hj?kk was then sent flying backward and flying past the city wall. Everyone else caught up in the current of his sword swing had shattered in a series of lights instantly. Balor continued to run forward and I was simply too slow to meet his pace. ¡®He¡¯s so massive and largely built how could he run at such speeds. ¡® It sent ripples through the ground and shattered the floor behind him. As he got to Vali¡¯s position before I realized Vali was barely breathing for some reason his health wasn¡¯t going back up. ¡®No!¡¯ As Balor began to swing his large sword towards Vali¡¯s position two loud booms occurred on the each of the sides of Balor¡¯s face. BOooooOOOOOOM! BOooooOOOOM! ¡°Get out of my way you vermin!¡± ¨C Balor I could see appearing through the cloud of smoke were the figures of Alysteir and Commander Locke. They each were now standing in front of Balor with their twin swords raised and glowing each in flowing colors. In an instant Alysteir¡¯s figure disappear and a violent storm ran up along side Balor¡¯s arm and then collided behind his head. Then another explosion appeared around his side as Commander Locke had dove on Balor¡¯s other arm and jumped over him while jamming his sword into the tyrants back as he felt to the floor. BOOOOOOOOOM! A loud boom occurred on the back of Balor¡¯s head and Alysteir appeared with an almost red color in her eyes. Just as Balor began to fall forward though he stuck his long sword made of darkness forward and caught himself and stuck it into the ground. Even after the thundering roars happening all over him his health has only dropped to 11% . BOOOOOM! GUahh!¡¯ Another explosion occurred only this time it was the cave wall as the figure of Alysteir was sent flying into the cave wall. I was almost close enough to Vali I could be able to grab him and get him out but I didn¡¯t have time to put any illusions on myself. As I got closer I peered in the giants direction and could see in his arms was a much smaller figure. ¡®¡­..Commander Locke¡­¡¯ Balor had Commander Locke in his grip in one failed motion Balor pulled the small Neko apart. As he through the corpse to the ground it immediately disappeared in a show of lights and ascended towards the sky.. I got to Vali¡¯s location and looked down in the hole. His health was in the red and he wasn¡¯t healing¡­He wasn¡¯t even breathing. All those who were around him were probably dead but at least he¡¯s alive¡­. Boom Boom Boom Boom I could hear the cave wall shaking and turning around I could now see the large dark figure of the horned beast we¡¯ve sworn to kill. With a wave us his arm a large gust of pressure sent my body flying backward as if he were swatting at a fly. As I crashed into the ground below I looked forward to the figure of Balor swinging his fist down on Vali¡¯s motionless body. ¡°Hold yourself proud you pushed me to such a state. But be sent to the abyss with this champion¡­.!¡± BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!! In one loud roar the floor itself erupted and blew apart. Everything in front of Balor was then turned to rubble and fell into the darkness underneath it. Everything simply began to fall apart and fall into the ever expanding blackness as if it extended forever. I could no longer feel Vali¡¯s magical signature and for the first time in this fight¡­.. I felt fear. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vali¡¯s POV: ¡°Vali!!!!¡± BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!! ¡­. Am i¡­ Am I dead? ¡®¡­¡­¡¯ I opened my eyes and I see nothing around me. I felt a massive impact hit me and then everything went black. I tried to activate one of my abilities before impact but I guess I was unsuccessful. ¡­¡­.. I don¡¯t even see a health bar. Wow¡­. I guess I really did die. ¡®¡­..We were so close¡­.. He was simply too strong. Even with Fenrir and Hj?kk and everyone combined he simply blew right through us. Even without his endless magic I guess it truly was hopeless to go against the gods¡­.¡¯ I can only hope with Hj?kk and Fenrir they can all somehow make it out alive¡­ ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡­¡± I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t save you all¡­. I guess it was a lot to hope for. Fighting a something like a God¡­. Honestly I don¡¯t know where I got the idea I could¡­. I¡¯m just some kid¡­. A year ago I was working 3 jobs, taking care of my two siblings and not much else. It¡¯s silly to think something like me could have stood a chance¡­. Sigh¡­.. Still though¡­. It would have been nice not to let someone down for once¡­. I then gripped onto the small cross around my neck and was surprised to find both were still on my body¡­ and I remembered the small girl who had given it to me. ¡®God¡­. I haven¡¯t spoken to you in quite a while¡­. I¡¯m not even sure if you can hear me right now or even if you would to something like me, but if you can¡­.. ¡® Sob¡­..sob¡­. Please¡­¡­ Please let my sister come home. Please don¡¯t let her stay in this awful place¡­.. If you¡¯re listening¡­. If your there like my mom spoke about all those years¡­. Save her¡­.. Sob¡­¡­ Tee heee ¡®huh¡­..¡¯ I opened my eyes and there in the endless darkness I saw a small glowing figure of Cari. She smiled and slowly walked towards me and jumped into my arms. Looking towards her I saw she was smiling as she slowly fade away. In an instant Bifrost then appeared alongside Jana. Then Daisy, Then Cyanin and all the rest. They looked like ghosts and weren¡¯t saying a word. Other than the faint giggle that echoed in my ear they all each of them would do is come over and hug me before fading away into the darkness that surrounds me. ¡®Did they¡­.did they die too?....¡¯ I clenched my fists in anger and then looked up and again Cari and the rest continued to run and jump towards me¡­ Wait what? With every passing second I could start to feel my body start to sting and twitch. I could feel around myself parts of my body grow warm and hot ¡­.. Wait what? My body I could feel was rapidly regenerating and with every touch from each of the glowing transparent figures I felt a breath of fresh air. I could feel a surge of energy and now I see my body is glowing around me and shinning a light around this dark place. BOOOOOM! BOoooom! I could hear feint echoes in the distance and everything around me started to shake. BOooom! ¡°VALI!¡± ¡®What?¡¯ ¡°VAlI!!!!¡± A bright white light began to cave in from above me and shine down. I could see a brightly glowing pink figure. ¡°VALI!.....EAT THIS!¡± ¨C Freyki In an instant I saw the figure of Freyki fly up to me and in the darkness surrounding us and I can see everything around him is brightly lit in ping flames. Even with his surrounding fire however the darkness is slowly putting it out. He wasn¡¯t see through like the other figures hugging me but I could see he was actually there and was holding a heart. ¡°Eat now before it¡¯s AH!... Gone!¡± ¨C Freyki I took a bite of the small heart and a notification immediately jumped into view.
Congratulations! You have just learned a Divine Skill! Promethean March: Engulf the very ground you walk with the First Fire which was stolen from the gods long, long ago Intellect + 50 Wisdom + 100
I immediately understood the situation upon eating this heart. One of the pixies had ripped out their own hearts and brought it to me. ¡®¡­I¡¯m currently inside of Balor. I did activate that skill in time. I activated Phase Shift in hopes he¡¯d go right through me and apparently I did.¡¯ Now with this skill¡­..I¡¯m inside of him and the darkness in here has been slowly eating away at me. The pixies did their best to fire their Light and Fire magic to various points on his body to weaken him but even in his battered state this deity was a completely different existence than we had anticipated. Even with his body half destroyed his power was still overwhelming to the point the surroundings couldn¡¯t even hold together. Freyki was beginning to break apart and he started to try and fly out of the hole, which was made. I don¡¯t know how they managed to heal me but¡­. They did somehow. I smiled while closing my eyes and simultaneously casting Promethean March. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!! A loud but short boom erupted and I myself fell down towards the ground. White fire began to fall and come out of my feet and explode out engulfing all the darkness around me. Within a moment my vision changed and I was then lying on the ground back on Floor 1. Everything around me is surrounded by an intense white fire and I¡¯m simply too worn out to move¡­ My Mp was drained completely and I my stamina too feels to be almost completely gone. I couldn¡¯t move. Whoooosh! Looking up a figure then grabbed me and began to run. Within a moment I saw everything around us slow as if we were in warp speed. In an instant I was away from the brightly lit flames and surrounded by several other species¡­. The figure in front of me then again disappeared ad I could hear the voices of several of the Annunakes. ¡°Alpha!¡± ¨C Akino I could hear several of the Annunakes approach me and give me their Elixir¡¯s and health potions until I seemed awake enough to move. I was then held up by Adimar and I looked out to Balor who was currently attempting to fight against Hj?kk however¡­.. ¡°Guah¡­.gohghghg¡­YOW¡­WHill¡­SHUFFer!¡± ¨C Balor His body wasn¡¯t even recognizable anymore. With a large hole from his lower waste to his neck Balor looks to be shaking.
Balor The Endless Dark Level: 811 Current Health: 4% Fallen God of Darkness and Drought
You have to hand it to him¡­ Even now after having my divine skill go off inside of him he¡¯s still standing. He¡¯s still on almost covered in fire and currently lighting up this hole place but no one Hj?kk continued to try and strike him but Balor¡¯s movements were still simply too fast and too powerful not to be weary of him. His speed has yet to decrease however his defense should be in tatters by now. ¡°Yow! Can¡¯t sopt ME!¡± ¨C Balor BOOOOM! I then saw Balor pull out a small trinket and point it to his mouth. It had a soft blue glow and the moment it touched Balor¡¯s lips his health started regenerating. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! Crack! Suddenly his figure was then thrown forward as the image of Alysteir had appeared sent a force towards Balor¡¯s arm. Whatever was in his hand fell to the ground but his health had immediately jumped up to 22% ¡®Damn it ! ¡® ¡°GrrrrRRR! Come here you wench!¡± ¨C Balor He continued to try and swing but the moment she disappeared Hj?kk and Fenrir attacked his other side causing him to stumble. ¡°Ah¡­Valkyrieeee¡± I looked around and could see Adimar, Akino, and 12 of the Elite Annunakes. Behind them was the rest of the pack along with a large group of several thousand of each race huddled together in a large circle formation with hundreds flying overhead. ¡°¡­..No sense in running now¡­ It¡¯s here or never.¡± ¨C Malfius ¡°¡­Let¡¯s join together to take him down.¡± ¨C Akino ¡°He dies this day! Come on you dogs you want to live forever! Prepare for GLORY! All for the Alpha and our glorious dead will we never yield!¡± ¨C Adimar HOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!! With the Annunake¡¯s loud howls all forces then leapt forward. All races of all kinds with their weapons rose to the sky they ran forward towards the now lone Boss. Covered in fire and weakened we decided it was either now or never and each raised our weapons and prepared for one final attack. Even within this field all magic other than my own can work and I could fel a dull from the lights around the pixies. However no one fled but simply all ran in the same direction. Towards the ancient monster. The floor and the dungeon itself didn¡¯t look to hold up for very long but we continued our fight as in this very spot this beast was at his weakest. I appeared over Balor and swung down Abgrund right on Balor¡¯s skull. I activated wind claw and moonlight claw with my free hand. The wave of light left my fingers and flew straight into Balor¡¯s skull causing his hole head to jolt back. The moment the blade entered I again felt a tremendous amount of resistance so I removed the blade and then warped away. The pixies began to surround his feet and activate their smog while Adimar, Malfius , Hj?kk, Alysteir and I each continued to attack him from all direction. ¡°AHh!....Nnn yOugh!¡¯- Balor His movements started to slow and Fenrir had now been able to get a get hold over him to slow him down slightly. ¡®Whatever that is it¡¯s not magic but it¡¯s incredible to hold him down for brief moments.¡¯ It then middle of Balor¡¯s swing, his body began to slow down and freeze allowing Hj?kk to land a powerful strike with her spear. A powerful blast of golden lightning and wind magic which surrounded Balor with loud roars. BOOOOOOOOOM! Balor¡¯s health then dropped by 5% with that and I appeared towards his right leg and swung Abgrund again. Pixies continued to surround Balor and stab him but any movement he made with his limbs sent all those around him flying and practically dead. I instructed the large forces back and to instead fire from a distance. They each obeyed and started backing away leaving only a small few of us. With Hj?kk, Fenrir. Alysteir, Adimar and Malfius at my side and Kyrah along with all the pixies we again began to attack Balor from all sides not giving him a moment of freedom. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! A large impact landed on his back and I immediately activated Lord¡¯s Earth Shattering Smash on his leg sending him immediately to the ground. He was again on his back and each of us had leapt in after him. His health was gradually starting to drop a lot quicker than before as the fire surrounding him simply dropped his defense to basically nothing. BOooom! BoooooOOOM! As the floor began to shake large gusts of attacks from Kyrah and the Adler races continued to fire off skills towards Balor and shoot of feathers from there wings. Everyone was doing a good job at evading but even with the top geniuses gathered together, every swing from Balor¡¯s weapon he took out simply sends shoots of such powerful gusts of pressure anything that gets swept up in it dies. ¡®¡­.8%.¡± The whole floor began to fall apart and break as its master who held control over it was slowly dying. I warped the back lines away and attempted to do the rest for those with me but each of them refused and wouldn¡¯t leave. Even with the floor breaking a part they wanted to see this through to the end. BOoooOM! ¡°YOU!¡± ¨CBalor BOOOOOoooom BoBOoOM!BooOOM! ¡®6%.....¡¯ Everyone held their breath as we all continued to watch Balor¡¯s health slowly drop. Every minute to the point death was but a few moments away for the beast older than the world itself. Malfius appeared at Balor¡¯s leg while Kyrah at his other and both delivered devastating punches into his weakened defense. BOOOOOOOOOOOOM! As his figure started to slow down and his sword swings which were sending ripples and shockwaves to everyone caught up in the current began to slow down and disappear. If Hj?kk or even Fenrir wasn¡¯t here I couldn¡¯t even begin to think of how many more we would lose. She¡¯s holding back her power not to destroy the dungeon on top of us but even without the use of magic this boss is dangerous to the last possible second. As he swung his giant sword engulfed in darkness Hj?kk had delivered a shot to Balor¡¯s back forcing him to drop his weapon. Even though magic has been completely nullified somehow Balor and Hj?kk were still able to show such phenomenal abilities. ¡°¡­.1%.¡± He looked up at me while currently on his knees. As he looked like he was about to put up a fight he simply collapsed on the ground and let out a loud breath. ¡®Haaaaaaa¡­¡­You¡¯ve¡­won¡­heh¡­.Here..¡­..Champ..ion¡­¡­..Takehhh¡­...¡± ¨C Balor His right arm which was once shrouded in a Dark Aura was now covered in a dark metallic blood and slowly shaking. In his arm was however a large golden key around a chain. I didn¡¯t make a movement towards the beast as I wasn¡¯t going to fall for any of his traps. I raised Abgrund and warped falling over the back of his location. ¡°¡­.Kill¡­You must ¡­kill them for ¡­what they¡¯ve done¡­You must ¡­.¡± ¨C Balor ¡®0%......¡¯ Before I even finished my swing Balor¡¯s health had finally reached zero and the once Dark Lord who has been around since the beginning of time breathed his final breaths. Rumble! RumblE! BOOOOOM! BOoooom! The floor and the ceiling then started to shake and fall apart. Each of us were frozen of what had happened but quickly realized it was time to move. I warped over to Balor¡¯s location and took the small key on the ground and attempted to put his body into my inventory but it wouldn¡¯t work so I instead warped his body away as well. As the floor began to break apart around us everyone looked to be in tears. They each looked at me without the words to say¡­.Nor did I have the words back for them. Snap! --------------------------------------------------------------------- As Hj?kk and the small few who fought till the final moments appeared on Floor 52 and were met with the appearance of a few thousand of those who remained. ¡®Or well¡­.What¡¯s left of it anyways.¡¯ Looking up the Giant Wall has now been reduced to rubble. The ceiling is gone and so are most of the floor and walls. It¡¯s quiet and all that remains are us and the fallen deity and his dead monster horde. My armor is practically been all destroyed and my pants are now in tatters to the point they are hardly considered pants at all¡­.¡¯Luckily the pixies got me a pair too I should thank them later¡­¡¯ With a bright bead of sunlight all those who had surrounded me were looking towards the incoming skylight. Vali!¡± ¨C Cyanin ¡°Valiii! ¡° - Daisy Several of the pixies had then flown over to me with tears in their eyes and put their faces in my chest. Looking around I could see why everyone was quiet. They were staring at the 15 foot remains of Balor lying dead several meters away. No one is saying a word but only staring at the fallen deity with tears in their eyes to the point they were shaking. Each drenched in blood and sweat while exhausted too had nothing to say. As the light continued to pour in from the rising sun over the now collapsed dungeon walls, Floor 52 remained silent¡­.
Your Level has risen Your Level has risen Your Level has risen.....
Congratulations! You have you have cleared Balor¡¯s Legendary Hidden Dungeon: Buried Life by defeating the hidden Final Boss: Balor The Endless Dark. Each of your names will forever be written on the Wall of Heroes along the mightiest Heroes who have come and gone. People will sing songs of your legendary feet that will the stand until the end of time. By defeating the hidden Final Boss: Balor you have now vanquished the dungeons maser. The vast dark power that once shrouded over from all who attempted to look upon it has now reseeded and disappeared. The effects of the darkness that were currently surrounding this area have now been lifted and has stopped distorting and disturbing the surrounding areas. Your grand accomplishment shall be rung throughout the realms as the long lost souls of loved ones and precious lovers have been reunited and released from their eternal imprisonment. You have become a friend of the Earth Goddess for slaying an enemy of Mother Nature and all her precious children. Intellect + 35 Wisdom + 20 Strength + 35 Agility +15 Stamina + 120 Defense + 30 Earth Affinity + 3% Darkness Affinity + 5%
The following Top 10 to gain the most experience from Balor The Endless Dark will receive the Title of God Slayer Cari Vali Hj?kk Alysteir Fenrir Kyrah Bifrost Nhaili Malfius Adimar
Congratulations! You have earned a new Title God Slayer Slayer of Balor People will now bow in the presence of those capable of slaying even the Gods who live beyond the stars and watch over the realms. You will no longer be stricken by fear from anything less than a Divine and bow to no mortal. You will now age at slightly less the normal rate. Kings and Gods alike will now look at you with admiring eyes as you are one who is even capable of slaying the once Divine. You have helped send the once Fallen God of Darkness and Drought to his eternal rest. Though he may have descended before his final breaths, his power over the darkness that envelopes this world was enough to plunge all of Middle Earth into an everlasting night. For accomplishing an insurmountable achievement of slaying Balor The Endless Dark: An SSS+ Monster: Strength + 50 Defense + 45 Agility + 25 Health + 20,000 Courage: 150 Fighting Spirit + 850 *All Stats Rise by 50 *All Stats of those who participated in the battle have stats increased by 20
Congratulations! For having the Title of God Slayer you have unlocked the conditions for a new skill! Limit Break For a brief period of time, pass the limits of a mortal and break through the limiters of your own body. All stats will rise by 200% for 5 minutes After time is up there will be an extreme backlash and you will be more prone to injury. While active Stamina will decrease by twice the normal rate. Once 5 minutes are used up stamina will then decrease at 5 times the normal rate. Cool down Time: 5 days
Congratulations! For having the Title of God Slayer you have unlocked the conditions for a new stat! Fighting Spirit has now been changed to Battle Aura Now at all times those around you shall feel the constant overwhelming presence of your experience in battle. All those at a third your own level will now no longer be able to move against you while within range of Battle Aura. Battle Aura + 50
¡®¡­¡­¡­..¡¯ As constant notifications began to shoot past into view it had obstructed mine and everyone else¡¯s view of the sun. As we read through each of them I could final hear the sounds of gasps and those crying. Aha¡­Ahahahahaha! Ahahahahah! Laughter then started to break out as everyone simply couldn¡¯t believe their eyes and had no way to show their response other than laugh. I too started to laugh as if just at this moment everyone then realized it was over¡­ Turning to the side I see all races currently hugging each other with tears in their eyes and celebrating together. Ollie and Malfius each collapsed on the ground and smiled slowly to themselves. Each of the pixies just continued to walk up towards me to join in on the group hug as all of their siblings were in tears. Kyrah then ran up towards the Mother Hen Gwen and grabbed the small child in her arms raising her high into the sky. Each of the Annunakes too began to hold onto each other and I see now that there are a large number of remaining Reiki while all of the other races have taken a hit. I don¡¯t know the numbers yet but each race has received heavy losses and have each sacrificed many for this moment. I even see now there are 5 figures who are tied up and uncouncious. Their bodies look practically burnt and in the red and aren¡¯t moving but I can clearly see some of their charred bodies are the figures of the Elkia race as their antlers are simply impossible to not recognize¡­ Several pixies and Annunakes who were each tending to them and their fallen bodies¡¯ surrounded them¡­.¡¯ Woh¡­555? 467? Geezes who are those charred figures? ¡® I can see now that Sting and the other 3 royal guards had managed to survive and are walking up alongside¡­. I raised my arms as my mother who was holding onto Ari started running towards me also in tears. As the pixies each let her get close the woman who has willingly become my mother in this world and was even willing to travel to such a place to find me. If Loki ever did anything right it was letting this woman my mother. With a soft embrace I can feel her hug me while Ari simply lifted her arms shaking towards me also sobbing. I took them both in my arms and continued to hug each of them without any words to say. Ari softly started to softly lick my neck and my mother continued rubbing her cheek against mine with their tails each wagging around. ¡®Thank God. I was able to keep my family safe this time. Words cannot express the joys that are currently filling my heart as I held these two each close. I don¡¯t know how I came to care for others who aren¡¯t even my real family so much¡­ But they have slowly become a part of me here. Even if I never planned on staying in this world I¡¯m truly thankful to have found each of them in this new life. They¡¯ve made the time I''ve spent here truly nice. We had won¡­. Some how¡­ Some way we had survived. ¡°I¡­I thought you died¡­I thought¡­. I saw¡­..¡± ¨C Elyria ¡°I know¡­. I thought I died too.¡± ¡°Hehe¡­I think Vali did get close to dying but we wouldn¡¯t let you die silly!¡± ¨C Cosmia ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Yah¡­ We¡¯d never let anything happen to you Vali. You¡¯re our family!¡± ¨C Cyanin ¡°Wait you guys actually did save me in there. Not just with Freyki , were you sharing your lives with me then?¡± ¡°Teehe¡­ well of course silly! What¡¯d you think we meant when we said we made you our family. Now and forever! ¡° ¨C Cari I had never really taken it into consideration but somehow this small magical race has made me a part of their family to the point they can even share their lives with me. Even if I can¡¯t share the ability with them somehow they have literally made me their family which is something that goes even further than my own understanding. The last time they had given me a group hug and that lingering glow I felt was this that had changed within me. When I had gained the Title I wasn¡¯t aware but the pixies had made it to where they could share their lives with me even if they knew I couldn¡¯t share it back with them. [Good job Vali, we somehow managed to make it out of this alive huh.] ¡°Heh, yah¡­ somehow¡­.¡± Hjokk had then flown over to my shoulder and her beak bent upward showing that she was smiling towards me. She too didn¡¯t have much to say either she simply stared back at me with almost completely different eyes than before. I can see she still doesn¡¯t have a level overhead so I can only assume she hasn¡¯t descended yet¡­. I started to feel a cool breeze and bright lights started to emerge from the ground and sore towards the sky. Each light was a different color and began to ascend towards the skies. Each figure looked to be of a different race and there were millions of them. Everyone including myself began to look towards all those who have fallen in this place finally leave. As each of their transparent bodies continued to ascend past us they each peered down with a smile an continued upward. Each race was present and all were ascending to the same place towards the sun. ¡°J¡­Joslyn¡­.¡± ¨CAdimar I looked over and there I saw Adimar sitting on his knees with his arm reached outward. A large and beautiful figure of a women with towering antlers over her head began to float into view. Her face looked to have been a work of art and had long flowing blonde hair and horns that reached several feet over her head. She had a feint glow that looked to glitter down towards each of us. ¡®This was Adimar¡¯s mate¡­.¡¯ ¡°Please¡­Don¡¯t¡­.don¡¯t leave again¡­Joslyn.¡± ¨C Adimar The large wolf began to shake as he reached towards the floating woman as if his heart were about to break. Her figure which was ascending then began to peer down and float over towards him. ¡°I never left you in the first place Adi. I¡¯ve always been with you¡­Find happiness in this new life and know¡­ I¡¯ll wait for you always, my love.¡± ¨C Joslyn I could hear a feint whisper in his ears just before she placed a kiss on Adimar¡¯s large nose. She ran her fingers through his hair and almost looked to have brushed through him. With this action the floating Elkia then began to ascend towards the sky until her transparent figure disappeared entirely. Looking towards Adimar I can see his back and whole self were still shaking. His lost love had shown herself to him again just like many others and he the once stoic and silent warrior was now sobbing uncontrollably. ¡°Mom, DAD!¡± ¨C Cyanin ¡°Tiffa!¡± ¨C Neko ¡°Jasper!¡± - Adler ¡°Boro¡­.¡± ¨C Kai As I heard several of the pixies and surrounding people raise their arms and wave towards the ascending souls I was unaware how everyone was able to see each of them but they were clear as day until the moment they passed these walls and they disappeared with the wind passing on to the next life. I looked up to Kai¡¯s statement and then saw the floating transparent ghost of Boro too ascending to the sky. He now has two arms and looks to be smiling down towards each of us. As I made eye contact with him I was unaware he had fallen. With looking into my eyes all he did was smile and nod while passing on. Behind him were hundreds of thousands of large white wolf beastmen all looking down and doing the same. Each and ever race were warriors than spanned across time, all finally free and all finally leaving this place together, the same way they came. Elyria who was holding my hand had then told me that large wolf had saved her life and died protecting her. Adimar talked about Boro once¡­ He told me him Diaga and Boro were actually childhood friends. In the Alpha ranking order Adimar was first, Diaga second and then Boro in third. They were all considered genius fighters that were at the top of their already legendary race. In any other time and in any other place he would have reigned as an Alpha but instead he chose to follow me with absolute loyalty and even protected my family when I couldn¡¯t... I simply had a bad taste in my mouth but I could feel my wrist start to tighten. I looked up at Elyria and she smiled at me and told me she was proud. As each of the millions of souls smiled down towards us and ascended off this plain entirely each of us continued to watch each of them off. ¡°We¡¯ve made it! Finally boys! We¡¯ve brought the dawn!¡± - Malfius ¡°WOHHHHHH!!!!¡±¡± - Reiki, Neko, Alder, Jiji, Pixie, Arachnee HOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!! ¨C Annunakes, Fenrir The loud howls from the Annunakes and cheers from all those present caused Fenrir to start howling making some of the pixies start to imitate him. I could see Akino now helping up Adimar and several figures approaching me. I can see Sting somehow survived and he was walking alongside Queen Nhaili and her select guard. Beside them was the three royal guards who were each staring towards us and the fallen god with no words at all. They each had their health dropped to the yellow but all in all they were still all put together so that too came out as a success. Each of the royal guard including Sting simply stared back towards us with mouths wide open. ¡°Excuse me everyone! I have something to say!¡± ¨C Izzie Everyone then stopped cheering and dancing with one another and stare towards the direction of Izzie. Beside her were all of the leaders minus Commander Locke. As she walked forward she said she had a letter that was written from Commander Locke. He asked that it be read in the event of his death. ¡®Locke died?¡­.¡¯ Balor must of¡­. I gnashed my teeth and Izzie began to read from a small letter. She said Commander Locke actually wrote one of these before every boss battle and it was simply something he had asked for before the battle even started. No one said anything as we were now all staring towards Izzie.
To whom it may concern, If you¡¯re reading this it means I¡¯m dead¡­ But if you¡¯re also reading this it means you have won. Rejoice for today we have each become conquerors! You have lived¡­ Don¡¯t mourn for me. Live for me. My father once spoke of being able to know of the day of your death. I didn¡¯t take much meaning of it at the time but I think I know what he meant now. I believe I somehow knew that this morning I woke that today will be my last but I¡¯ve come to terms with it all¡­. Tonight I will be dining outside this shit hole and seeing all those I¡¯ve grown to miss. So from here out I¡¯ll be taking a permanent vacation and considering Commander Izzie will not take the position I place the Race leader position to the next available officer. Just look at how far we''ve come, and such an effort we gave. I have no doubts in my mind you will all leave this place I can say I have no regrets. How many get to say they died saving those they cared for most, it¡¯s not a bad way to go I think either. To Izzie, try to get some rest once and a while and don¡¯t forget to bath. I¡¯ll miss our talks. To Ollie, I place you in charge of the Away Team from now on take care of them. To Malfius ,I hope to be having a few drinks with you soon, but hopefully not too soon. To Vali, though I never got to speak with you much but I know in my heart that our paths were meant to cross. You awakened something in each of us here that will not be put out till the very end of time. Even as I pass on this fire will never be quenched. You have empowered and united us and together we shall go forth into unknown together. I ask that you take care of each of them with the same care and devotion you have showed thus far. To all those I¡¯ve had the honor to fight alongside and to the grateful dead who shall be joining me in this new journey we shall each someday take I say¡­. Live, together. Nothing will ever become more special than what we have each shared together in this life. For the rest of your lives nothing will break the bonds we have formed this day and will stay with each of us as we walk into a new world together. - To the Dawn From the desk of High Commander Erwin Anthony Locke
As Izzie chokingly continued to read the letter of the fallen race leader no eyes were dry as we each mourned all those who sacrificed their lives for us to leave this place¡­ End of Chapter Afterword And with that ladies and gents you have it..... 7 Months ago today I never thought I would be here. I''ve had ideas and thoughts about this story for a long time but I never honestly thought I''d make it to this point. This arc was originally never suppose to happen and even after I came up with the idea for Balor and his hidden dungeon I honestly suspected the first arc would last to chapter 13..... The more I wrote the more I feel the story started to change and grow as well. Now here I am 7 months later my story has just broken into the Top 10 of Royal Road. I had a lot of fun writing and doing research looking up new deities and possible characters to bring into the story, while weaving them in with new possible deities that existed in this world and never traveled to our own. The world simply grew so large 13 turned to 25 chapters and now I almost see limitless places to take it. I have roughly 2 - 3 other arcs already planned as of now and have even come up with possible villains for the next arc. The relationship between the Elkia and the Annunakes which now seems so perfect also didn''t exist at the beginning. I had an idea of a white wolf race and pixies who could heal each other.. Balor was going to be essentially a villain who lasted as long as Malthiel but again the story just kept changing the more I began to put words to page. It continued to grow and when I would develop a backstory for someone I found it actually related to another like with Balor and Lugh, but I found that there were actually several occurences in our histories that linked up with insanely good plot twists and possible scenes that honestly when I start to reveal new gods and new characters it honestly connects so well together. When I thought up these scenes 7 months ago though I needed a good foundation to the story before Vali simply entered into this new medieval world of ridiculously cheat like existences that can even compete with himself. I mean even from these past few chapters you can see how even with so much new strength and power a fallen god was a completely new existence for Vali that was unlike anything he''s ever fought before. As you guys have noticed this isn''t your normal reincarnation or transported story. Vali isn''t like the other mc''s you''ve read either in fact It''s almost like he''s not a full person anymore. I took influence from Shield Hero, Arifureta, Supernatural, Re monster, Akame Ga Kill and even LMS and Arc but in all honesty all sorts of fictions. I mean the first arc almost felt like a mash up between a dark Sword Art Online and Attack on Titan mash up but it turned into something else.... I just love Supernatural and the idea of multiple gods and mythologies just all coming together and honestly seeing what would happen when beings that would never normally meet do.... The story is about someone who normally wouldn''t get transported into another world as essentially he was already broken long before ever leaving his old world. His past traumas and new experiences effect him differently than it does others and he isn''t this valiant hero nor is he the evil villain. He''s not this perfect MC like most other fictions either. He makes mistakes even with his OP abilities which you don''t see in other works... Don''t get me wrong I love fictions like Against the Gods and LMS where the MC''s are essentially perfect. They always make the right decision and I feel with Vali he''s not like that. He''s intelligent and slowly growing into a much more dangerous existence but that doesn''t mean he''s invincible nor make any mistakes that he must learn from. You almost see it in how he doesn''t even treat his own life the same as others as you''ve seen him even grant mercy to those who''ve harmed him while mercilessly killing those who have harmed others. Developing him has been fun and with him absorbing Balor''s core some very interesting things are going to come into works I assure you.... I enjoy watching shows like Game of Thrones and Walking Dead as not only do you never know what could happen or who might die but you get to see these characters just slowly teeter between the line of madness. I''ve had a lot of fun creating a dark story that is going to start moving a lot faster real soon. Again I tell you this arc was never originally intended but was instead I decided as a start of the story as it all just seemed to get into the shit early.... But if I just jumped straight to what I wanted to without laying down any ground work or set up things the twists and fun scenes I''ve come up for later wouldn''t nearly have the same glamour to it. Soon you''re going to see why I gave the title to this fiction what it is as there will be so many twists and turns in the story that it will develop into an ultimate race to become gods. I hope to go back and clean up all chapters... In all honesty I one day even hope to get this published so I obviously plan on going over and editing/re-writing quite a lot over well... Idk until I''m satisfied. I feel this first arc is good in the direction it went, I might make small changes here and there but they won''t change the story in anyway. I just want to clean up certain scenes with less or more info, better dialogue. I wrote the majority of chapter 25 all in one sit in so I honestly feel like in many places throughout this arc could be places I could clean and edit each of the scenes. SO just know that since I am considering hopefully doing something with this story someday I do intend on constantly going back and changing things. As always thank you to my 2 editors for your hard work. I honestly need to add all their edits they''ve mailed me. To all my readers as always thanks for reading my story and here''s to hopefully more to come. ...May post an Intermission/Side Story chapter that is short and halfway done here in a few days possibly. But for now I''m gonna lay back and play some Halo 5 and enjoy myself. Don''t forget to leave a loonggggggg comment about what you all thought and leave a donation if you can. Thanks again guys! Intermission Hey guys. Here''s a somewhat short intermission chapter but for me that''s round like 10K I suppose. So I''ve read all your comments and opinions and I have to say I''m thankful I have so many readers who have grown to really enjoy this novel. To the point you guys will come up with some really interesting and exciting theories or ideas for the story. Some have even proposed a few twists here and there that seemed interesting but I have to say no one has guessed where the story is going yet and I doubt many will. Originally where this arc will start to direct and go towards is a story arc I thought of before the Balor arc including all the fun twists and turns you have each enjoyed so far. First off I want to thank all of the donators you guys are awesome and in all honesty I''ll be real to you when I say I do enjoy writing chapters simply because I know now some may donate a little bit for each chapter I post which is honestly a nice encouragement for me lol. Some random bits about the story...... I''ve read a lot of your ideas and even some of your complaints and in all honesty I must say I agree to a lot of them. While some of the complaints I can''t get completely around like the pixies or some of those in the dungeon bonding with the MC quickly considering this hellish conditions they are in. Also the pixies are fundamentally different than humans in their eyes someone came in out of no where and was nice to them. Not even Balor considered them important enough to create puppets for intelligence gathering and noone was really ever ''nice'' to them, they simply tolerated them. Then out of nowhere this random stranger goes out of his way to heal them, get rid of the disease, making them stronger and feeding them, protecting them and offering them only the finest equipment first even before himself. Little things like this simply made Vali an irreplaceable existence to them and it''s not even just because of the magic crystals. However a lot of complaints a bout pacing were brought up and honestly I agree to that.... This story is no where near complete or perfect yet. If you notice from time to time I make changes to earlier chapters as I go. My friend spoke to me about right now is like a gardener trimming the hedges. I continually will make small changes until Im satisfied with the overall story and by the time I wish to try and take this story further into potentially getting published it will probably look a bit different than it is now. Heck I even played with the idea of adding a couple chapters after Vali beats the Lord of the forest and before he meets Malthiel. I thought it would be interesting to later add a few random chapters to help explain stuff more and show more time of Vali being weaker, he could have even ran into someone much higher level than himself including possibly multiple bandits to show Vali being unable to beat them for a later confrontation after he comes back super OP. But again it''s not something I''ll add now but as I go through this story I''ll continue to work with the story until I''m satisfied. I''ve said that a lot actually and I''m simply seeing how it all works with the story. So pretty much yes, I know there are problems and errors all over. Like I said at the beginning think of it sort of as a rough draft while I continue to work the story into ways I think will be best but i do appreciate all that people have said and helped with in the comments Again thanks to all my readers and my editors you guys are awesome. Hope you guys are excited for the next arc because within the next few chapters a lot of new information will be thrown about you as well as a lot of info about the world considering I''ve sort of pushed it away for some time. But it will make since why I''ve waited and you''ll get a few interesting scenes with him learning more about this world. Vali will also be slowing down dramatically in level raising simply because the enemies outside are nothing like the enemies Vali witnessed in Balor''s dungeon. He''s going to be working on himself and his masteries while he and the pixies start to look for weaknesses they have rather than strengths. It''s going to get pretty fun but without further a do I hope you enjoy..... Intermission/A New Kind of Alpha Ari¡¯s POV: ¡®He¡­He kissed me.¡¯ I¡¯m sure of it this time. That makes three times I¡¯ve been kissed today¡­ When I woke up in Vali¡¯s arms I had felt a cold wet brush against my cheek but I didn¡¯t think anything of it at the time. Then he definitely kissed me on my forehead before he separated from us to go fight that large talking monster¡­. And just now he¡­he kissed me on the top of my head. ¡®¡­I just always thought I wouldn¡¯t ever, be kissed by a man. I was always told, no one would ever want to be with an ugly ruined slave like me but now I¡¯ve already had three kisses in one day, I just¡­. hope I was good at it.¡¯ ¡°Ru Ru Kai. Kokoah ma roh wah!¡± ¡°Hm¡± - Vali Vali then looked up to a large wolf man who kind of looked like the same one who came home with Vali that one time. I think his name was Adimar but I don¡¯t think Vali liked them very much. Vali then stood up and walked over to a large group of demi humans who had massive injuries and were lying on the ground looking sick. He kept me in his arms as he walked over and placed his arms on each of the large demi humans covered in wounds and started to heal each and every one of them. ¡®I¡¯m happy he was my first¡­huh?¡¯
Congratulations! For fulfilling unique conditions and conquering over Balor¡¯s Endless Abyss you have obtained a unique skill! Hidden Balor View No longer will anything be able to be hidden from your site. All that lurks underneath an individual no matter how hidden will be revealed by your eyes, even lies. Intellect + 100 Wisdom + 75 Darkness Resistance + 10%
¡®¡­Hi¡­dden¡­Ba¡­lor¡­view¡­Hmm¡¯ ¡°Yume Ru ru Kai..Yu me sob¡­yu me¡± ¡°Yu me ru ru kai!¡± All the injured demi humans started to come up to Vali and kneel down before him and kiss his hand especially the ones who look kind of like Lily.
Status Window
Name AlderonLevel 298
Race: Annunake Age: 87Sex: Male Job/Profession: Bladesmith
Class Moonlight Warrior
Titles Great Sword Expert
Health 48,425Mana 19,600
Strength 15,605Intellect 8900
Stamina 17,500Wisdom 7,350
Agility 15,685Defense 12,220
Courage 7280Luck 112
Fighting Spirit 4180Leadership1204
Magic Resistance 0%
Charm Resistance 3%
Paralysis Resistance 5%
Poison Resistance 2%
Immunity to Fear 3%
Elemental Resistances:
Fire: 2 % Earth: 4% Dark: 8 % Lightning: 3%
Water: 0% Wind 0% Light: 0% Ice: 5 %
Bonuses ¡û-- / Skills / Items / Mood Current Bonuses in effect: Annunake Beast Form: 150% Rise in all stats. Heavy Sword Mastery: Expert Level 4 200% Rise in General Attack Power while holding a Heavy Sword 100% Rise in Attack Speed while holding a Heavy Sword Sword-Hand Combat Mastery: Adept Level 8 150% Rise in Attack power while holding a weapon. 150% Rise in Attack speed while holding a weapon. Alpha Wolf Claw: Level 5 (78% Completion) 50% Rise in all Attack Speed 35% Rise in Mana Absorption from Moonlight Claw * Hydra Healing ¨C Heals 25 health every second.
¡®Hmm that¡¯s a lot of words¡­.Oh wow¡­.Vali¡¯s so¡­.shiny.¡¯
Status Window
Name ValiLevel 240
Race: Human Age: ???Sex: Male Job/Professions: N/A
Class N/A
Titles Lord of the Forest, Slayer of Death, Death Canceler, Family of the Hildr Pixies, Hunter of the Grootslang, Slayer of the King Hydra, Creator of Miracles, Alpha of the Legendary Annunake, God Slayer
Health 244,550Mana 510,330
Strength 15,920Intellect 19,110
Stamina 14,980Wisdom 13,110
Agility 14,150Defense 25,220
Courage 54Luck 18,110
Battle Aura 996Endurance32
Magic Resistance 25%
Paralysis Resistance 3 %
Poison Resistance 8%
Immunity to Fear 33%
Elemental Resistances:
Fire: 30 % Earth: 6% Dark: 40 % Lightning: 7%
Water: 1% Wind 4% Light: 10% Void: 8 %
Ice: 3%
Bonuses ¡û-- / Skills / Items / Mood Current Bonuses in effect: All Healing Magic will receive a 20% buff Titles: Death Canceler, Creator of Miracles Hand to Hand Combat Mastery: Novice Level 1 + 50% Rise in Evasion and Attack Power while fighting unarmed + 40% Rise in Attack Speed while fighting unarmed White Tiger''s Thunderous Paw Technique: Level 1 ( 3% Completion) + 10% Bare handed Attack Power + 20% Bare handed Attack Speed * Hydra Healing ¨C Heals 25 health every second. * 50% rise in all general Attack Power due to increased knowledge in unarmed and multiple weapon masteries.
¡°It¡¯s nothing, it¡¯s the least I could do after everyone came together. How many did we lose?¡± ¨C Vali ¡°¡­ No kay¡­Yu me Ru Ru Kai.¡± ¡°¡­.. Well let¡¯s start counting how many of us survived. We should gather all the dead that we can right now. Everyone¡¯s tired¡­. Let¡¯s clean up what we can for now and gather together tonight and discuss what¡¯s next.¡± ¨C Vali ¡°Ai Ru ru Kai!¡± Several of the large demi humans then bowed and stood back up towering ever over Vali. They each looked so big but their tails look fluffy just like Lilly¡¯s¡­. ¡°Valiii! Can you believe it we made it!¡± ¡°Valiii!¡± ¡°Vali we did it we can all come with you now¡± ¡°Ohhh¡­.They¡¯re so pretty.¡¯ Several of the flying demi humans came over and started hovering beside Vali. One of them had hair that had so many colors in it and her wings almost looked to have been made of light. She walked up with all of the others behind her with a large smile on her face and tears in her eyes. Each of them walked up holding hands and looking to him with eager eyes. ¡®I saw her fighting with everyone earlier¡­. She was so amazing. I feel like my skin and face starts tingling while I¡¯m sitting here with Vali but this girl has the same feeling as he does.¡¯
Status Window
Name CariLevel 117
Race: Pixie Age: 19Sex: Female Job/Profession: N/A
Class Pixie Mage
Titles God Slayer
Health 102,930Mana 74,400
Strength 1884Intellect 12,360
Stamina 2,980Wisdom 31,110
Agility 1,111Defense 4,720
Battle Aura 911Luck401
Magic Resistance 15%
Poison Resistance 0%
Immunity to Fear 0%
Elemental Resistances:
Fire: 55% Earth: 3% Dark: 7% Lightning: 4%
Water: 0% Wind 0% Light: 55%
Bonuses ¡û-- / Skills / Items / Mood Current Bonuses in effect: Class Abilities are in effect: Pixie Mage: Mana will replenish 15% faster. Cool Down Time for all magical spells are lowered by 25% * Hydra Healing ¨C Heals 25 health every second.
¡°We¡¯re ready to go Vali¡­.¡± - Cari ¡°Hey guys¡­ Let¡¯s all get cleaned up and meet up tonight we have a lot to do before we can move everyone out actually but it shouldn¡¯t be for too long.¡± - Vali Each of them started talking amongst themselves and then looked back up towards him and smiled. ¡°Ok Vali¡­. Then we¡¯ll go gather our things¡­.¡± As they were all about to start to walk away the same one with white wings stopped and turned back around. Just then all of them came over and ran towards us and started hugging Vali. ¡®Wow¡­it¡¯s so warm.¡¯ ¡°We love you Vali¡­..and we love you too.¡± - Cari As each of them were hugging Vali some of them even came and wrapped their arms around me hugging me too. ¡®Why¡­why would they¡­¡¯ ¡°We¡¯ll be back real soon ok Vali¡­¡± - Cosmia ¡°Yah we just have to gather our things on our home floor. Shouldn¡¯t take too long, we¡¯ll leave Daisy with Vali if something happens. Alright everyone let¡¯s go!¡± - Kai Then then flew off as their large wings started flapping while lights continued to fly in all directions while the rest of them marched off. ¡°Hmph¡­.¡± ¨C Vali Vali then smirked and looked back down at me¡­. ¡®¡­..I just¡­I just want to tell him thank you¡­.. For¡­.everything.¡¯ ¡°Sir Vali¡­. Perhaps now we can separate I need to send word to his Highness about our absence and all that has happened. Do you wish to join us?¡± The large human with the metal arm walked up and Vali told him and the other humans it wouldn¡¯t be a good idea as there might be a large herd of monsters being lead by dark elves outside. They however said it was something they would have to risk, as they needed to get to the king immediately for some reason. Vali then had Hjokk guide them so she can keep an eye out for any monsters. As she walked up I saw a beautiful woman with a crown and bright purple hair change into the same small bird that is always near Vali. As they were about to leave through the large whole in the wall I saw Elyria walking up while Vali was talking to Sting and a few others. ¡°Um¡­.Vali¡­¡± When Vali looked down towards me my heart froze¡­¡¯I have to tell him. I feel so ashamed I haven¡¯t even thanked him for all he¡¯s done for me. It¡¯s all I wanted to do when I believed I was in my final moments¡­.¡¯ ¡°I¡­.umm just wanted to¡­say¡­ugh¡­.¡± ¡°Without you, I would have probably died that day. I would have died and no one would have ever cared, no one would have ever even remembered me¡­. ¡°Ari? Why are you saying that. That''s not..¡± ¡°True? Yes it is¡­ I would have died before ever even being given a name but¡­sob¡­now¡­I have my own name¡­.and even people who would even care if I was ever gone¡­.sob .¡± ¡°Ari what do you mean?¡± - Vali ¡°I¡­love you.¡± ¡®¡­..No! wait¡¯ ¡°Wha¡­¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Eh!¡± Vali made an odd look and I could hear everyone even Hjokk making odd remarks too and¡­. ¡°No wait. I didn¡¯t mean to say that. I ah¡­I wanted to say thank you!...Thank you!...... For¡­all you¡¯ve do¡­done for me¡­..I just ugh¡­for¡­and¡­¡± I could feel everyone was staring at me and I didn¡¯t mean to say that I don¡¯t know why those words left my lips¡­ I mean¡­I know I love him, he¡¯s, he¡¯s my best friend but¡­ I eh¡­. He pulled me in close to his chest until my head was close to his cheek. I heard him whisper in my ear with something only I could hear and something I never expected to hear from anyone¡­. ¡°¡­I love you too.¡± - Vali ¡®Eh¡­he ¡­he kissed my cheek again¡­. That¡¯s four kisses today! Who could I tell this to? I would normally tell this to Vali but he¡¯s the one who kissed me¡­¡¯ As he held my head over his shoulder it was as if it was only this man and myself again. I finally have my own name, my own family¡­. I¡¯ve never been so happy. --------------------------------------------------------------- Vali¡¯s POV: ¡®Who would have thought¡­.. The Arachnee had a hot spring deep within their base.¡¯ The room is filled with steam and sizzling water at my feet. The ground is warm but not so hot that it¡¯s hard to stand on. There are dozens of streams and small waterfalls coming from the top of this base which some how traps rain water and from the smog created from the beasts that inhabit this floor. The rain gets collected at the top of their base and the yellow stones that are on the ground as well as what makes up the ceiling heats the water before it comes down and evaporates on the floor. The yellow stones on this floor appear to be heated and the reason the temperature increase when entering this base is it is right above something that resembles an active volcano on the floor below. ¡®Gotta hand it to the Arachnee they really are crafty¡­.¡¯ This room is quite big and is large enough for the Arachnee to walk through here and clean their large spider like bodies. They even had large pools of hot water on the other side of this cave wall that the Arachnee apparently enjoy to go sit in and relax. After we killed Balor everyone got to work gathering the dead on this floor as well as useful material from the fallen monsters. I was about to do it myself but the Annunakes present highly begged me to do it themselves for me and that I should first go clean up. ¡®I really need to get Pek to make me some of that regenerating boxers as well¡­..¡¯ Though my clothes and armor may have been practically destroyed besides my Hydra shirt, my pants had tears all over them and the back of my pants was practically all gone. Since I didn¡¯t bring any clothes with me I figured now would be a good time to go clean and change first. I¡¯m honestly not sure how revealing it must have been for everyone but I¡¯m sure it wasn¡¯t modest at all. I hadn¡¯t even noticed until I noticed Daisy and the other pixies laughing at me. My armor was practically completely destroyed by Balor¡¯s last attack. It all happened so fast, even with all my agility increased by 25% and with all those added effects each of his motions looked like those of a being who has lived a very long time and experienced many battles. We really got lucky¡­ If Hjokk wasn¡¯t here, we would have all died. If Ari hadn¡¯t woken me up during the beginning, we would have all died. If I didn¡¯t gain that last new ability by raising my death magic¡­.We probably would have all died. Even without his Dark Aura, Dark Armor and endless abilities with darkness his tenacity and furiousness even in his final moments were those of a warrior beyond this world. Every swing of his massive blade killed hundreds of us. My Age of Death skill apparently stopped all enemy magic but my own but apparently magical items can be used within the area of affect. I¡¯m glad I kept that massive sword he dropped but I can¡¯t imagine ever finding a use for it or that saber which was larger than an average human. It phased right through my Midghtnight Aura ability as if it weren¡¯t even there. Though it could have been his innate abilities with darkness itself but every swing sent shockwaves to the surroundings that blew everything in his surroundings away. Even the gusts of winds coming from his swings could see those far away from him flying to the ground. If I didn¡¯t have the bones I have, I would have been completely obliterated. Even Hj?kk was unable to dodge his incredible mastery with such a large blade. Every movement every step killed more of us and yet those I fought alongside continued to charge him until he finally went down. The tyrant who crawled out of the dreaded Abyss¡­. I remember reading in the Bible that in the end of times Lucifer would get thrown into the abyss, I always assumed this remark meant the Christian version of Hell but¡­I¡¯m starting to assume this Abyss is a completely different place and this Dark Lord emerged from it¡­.¡¯ I¡¯m truly in awe of the races I have met and fought with down here. Truly fearless, everyone of them. ¡® It is something I have never been a part of before until today. It¡¯s an odd feeling but for the first time in a long time I¡¯m truly happy to be alive because I worked so hard to achieve it. It¡¯s as if the air tastes somehow sweeter. It¡¯s a completely different feeling than when I thought I had killed Ari. When I thought I had lost everything again¡­.. I saw what would have happened to me. I can¡¯t deny the thoughts and feelings I felt at that point. Even if I came back from those thoughts¡­. I know what would have happened if I lost Ari and my mother today¡­.. I know what I would have become. I would have probably went to Hades himself and demanded he give them back to me or else¡­.. I guess I¡¯m just thankful those I¡¯ve started to grow close to are safe and sound. I think I hear Elyria on the other side of this cave wall and she must be bathing with Ari. She even has 5 Annunake attendants who claimed, as family of the Alpha at all times has to have protection. ¡®It¡¯s as if this wolf species have their own little secret service I suppose.¡¯ ¡®And what about Ari¡­. I¡¯m starting to understand what Loki meant now about high luck allowing someone to meet or run into situations or rare beings through strange and odd circumstances. Hj?kk briefly told me Lugh is one of the suns on this world¡¯s god but hasn¡¯t been seen for almost a millennia by anyone. She didn¡¯t say much other than he doesn¡¯t really like humans much and if Ari is who Hj?kk thinks, Ari might be from a race very similar to the Annunakes and Hildr pixies. She didn¡¯t have much time else to talk because the moment she saw what I saw from Ari¡¯s skill list she probably received more shock than us actually defeated Balor.. Even I¡¯m shocked¡­. With time, and enough gold¡­. Ari could potentially take down a god.
Golden Rule (Active + Passive) Golden Rule I (Passive): Treat others as you would rather be treated. If you have not attacked an opponent and a fatal attack is delivered to you, all damage will be negated for a brief moment of time. Skill Cost: 1,000 gold Cool Down time: 3 seconds Golden Rule II (Active): With the power from the sun that gives the gold its shine, permanently increase your abilities with the sacrifice of the things the greedy covet most while you rule over your enemies in a golden fury. Increase (Strength x 2) or (Defense x 2) Skill Cost: 10,000 gold Increase (Strength x 10) or (Defense x 10) Skill Cost: 100,000 gold Increase (Strength x 50) or (Defense x 50) Skill Cost: 1,000,000 gold
¡®And what¡¯s with that odd cost system in place. Well regardless it seems all the money the King was going to give me has pretty much been spent. I can¡¯t say I¡¯m upset about it at all though. Ari could turn into something truly strong someday. ¡® ¡°Hah¡­.truly amazing we all survived though.¡± I stuck my head under a large steaming stream of water and started to wash all the blood and dirt from battle off my body. This area was rather large but the steam was thick and there is no one but myself in thi ¡°Oh Alpha¡­There you are.¡± - ? I turned around and there walked in two tall figures followed by a feminine voice. Each was roughly a head taller than me with fluffy white ears on their heads and wearing almost sea through white silk robes. Each of them stepped around the yellow cave wall and through the thick steam towards me. I recognized each of them. One of them was named Alderon and the other was named Grayfia. Each of them were an Elite Annunake but only Alderon was in his beast form. Grayfia however was a girl and had completely disrobed. ¡°Ugh¡­.¡± As Grayfia removed the thin see through cloth and there beneath was the naked physique of a female warrior. Her hair extended down past her thin neck in a braid past her shoulders while toned, only presented above her perfect breasts. She had a thin waste with toned muscles that faintly showed her chiseled abs. Her legs however were large and muscular as well as having a large rear end with a fluffy tail coming out the back of it. I couldn¡¯t stop myself from gazing at her incredibly alluring body. As she stretched herself underneath the steaming waterfall the water began to fall down onto her white head and soak her sleek and silky skin. They both seemed not to mind as Alderon did the same and walked up rather close to where I was standing. ¡°Hehe¡­What¡¯s up with Alpha?¡± There walking in were now a larger group of Annunakes. Now 4 more with 2 of which being female as well. Each of the Elites all too disrobed and started to come in. ¡®Oh shit¡­¡¯ Realizing I got caught I moved my eyes from where they were and before I could say anything Grayfia walked over to me. ¡°Oh I think Grayfia''s nudity might be getting to him¡­. What¡¯s the matter Alpha shall I bathe you¡­¡± ¨C Nanu This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Ugh¡­No¡­no,no¡­Thanks that¡¯s a fine.¡± I considered to say that as I couldn¡¯t help but glance towards her delicious body that simply looked even more inviting due to the water making it look more enticing. I attempted to move my body away to hide myself from this woman as looking at her long enough I can honestly tell it is already starting to show. ¡®What is with these Annunanakes I was bathing¡­. I haven¡¯t seen a naked woman in¡­.Ugh does my mom count¡­. Wow is that how much action I¡¯ve gotten since coming to this world¡­.¡¯ ¡°Hmphmp¡­. Well Alpha if you ever wish for a little help washing yourself.¡± ¨C Grayfia Grayfia then came up and pressed her soaking wet breasts onto my back and her reached her arm over my chest. ¡°It¡¯s no problem to me at all¡­¡± ¨C Grayfia ¡°Ah look at him Grayfia, he seems shy.¡± ¨C Alderon ¡°Nothing like the last Alpha hmph¡­ And he doesn¡¯t look shy from here.¡± ¨C Nanu ¡®Seriously what are you all doing in here¡­. My gosh how does Alderon not even find this sight distracting¡­ I¡¯m going to get caught staring.¡¯ Just then Alderon who was standing next to me then started to glow and morph gradually. His white long fur and wolf snout started to reseed and go into his skull and become more humanlike. So did his long wolf like arms and large body. What remained after only a second of steam passing him was now a naked humanlike Annunake man. He had long white hair that curled at the ends and had the pretty boy look to him. I would have never guessed this when seeing him carry that incredibly large sword on his back all the time. He however now brought out a large knife and is shaving underneath the waterfall next to me. ¡°Oh stop giving the Alpha a hard Grayfia, he probably can¡¯t even think straight with you throwing your breasts in his face like that.¡± - Adimar Walking in now was the image of Adimar as well as dozens of other Annunakes. From older to even some young children are now walking in. ¡®Seriously what is going on¡­.I thought the whole reason for the Annunakes tending to my mother and Ari was that we separated baths¡­.¡¯ I attempted to cover myself a little bit more and turn myself towards the cave wall. ¡°Oh I don¡¯t see what the big deal is. A pack that bathes together stays together right?¡± ¨C Grayfia ¡°Couldn¡¯t agree with you more Grayfia.¡± - Nanu Now walking up to the waterfall on the opposite side of mine was Akino and Adimar. Now in the room was every member of the remaining Elite Annunakes and a few small children and elders. Each of them were Annunake however and though I haven¡¯t met each of them personally I¡¯ve already seen each of them in battle. Even though some of them are considered elders each of them moved and fought just as ferociously as anyone else regardless of how old their faces look now, in their beast form it¡¯s practically nonexistent. There were 20 Elite Annunakes before the battle today and now with the loss of Boro and others now only 12 remain from the once Elite¡¯s of this dungeon. Each could have held the title I currently hold and are each hailed as genius level fighters and even to Malfius¡¯ standards were the number 1 in close quarters combat in this whole dungeon. I guess strongest as a race, considering that Malfius and Alysteir are simply freaks of nature. These are also the same Annunakes who chose to live on Floor One with Adimar and were the ones who attacked me. According to Adimar each of them have been trained since birth to become warriors and I¡¯ve seen their expertise in battle. They almost resemble King Leonidas¡¯s brave 300 as each of them are simply Adonis¡¯s as they don¡¯t look like that have an ounce of fat on them at all and are simply ruthless to all enemies. Many of them even fought bare chested today like the Spartans from my world. It¡¯s incredible but even the children of this race are amazing. The young boy who just walked in can¡¯t be any older than Noah and he¡¯s already level 81. The young girl next to him was even level 67. Akino was standing next to Nanu and began to disrobe as well. I couldn¡¯t help but steal a few glances of her as well as even if her chest wasn¡¯t as large as Grayfia¡¯s, she was younger and shorter than the other Annunakes. She had a more leanness to her but her body like all the others was simply in perfect shape. Her long white hair began to become drenched as it flowed down her backside down towards two small dimples just above her rather plump ass. Her tail too began to flutter in the water as the steam began to grow thicker and surrounding the cave room. ¡®Ok can¡¯t get caught again time to look away¡­..just another second¡­..ok¡¯ ¡°Pack that bathes together stays together huh¡­. You guys have large baths like this up in that mansion I guess?¡± To my question Adimar then shook his head no. Before I could question him Nanu who had short white hair and also another of the surviving elites members. ¡°No but we did help bath each other on Floor One¡­. Sometimes we didn¡¯t have water for some time so we had to use our tongues¡­¡± ¨C Nanu As Nanu said that I honestly felt a twitch in my groin as she said it like it was completely normal. ¡°Hmphmph¡­Is this behavior odd for humans Alpha?¡± ¨C Nanook ¡®I guess Grayfia¡¯s right¡­For a race like this it¡¯s not really weird but what is normal really in a world like this anymore.¡¯ ¡°No I guess it isn¡¯t considering the circumstances¡­¡± I just smirked and continued to wash myself. Each of the Annunakes inside continued to chat with one another about the Elkia members who survived and according to Adimar only one is recognizable. He thinks the other 2 weren¡¯t born in this lifetime. He would know. It has been his job to protect every single Elkia member since birth and part of being an Alpha is also to know the names of every single member of the race they swore to protect. The one he recognized name is Thraundil and several of the Annunake elders and elites recognized his name as well since he was said to have died the day their species was wiped out. Thraundil actually at one point held one of the highest positions in this entire dungeon as according to the Annunakes their race held the leadership role in this dungeon. I¡¯m interested to meet one if them as well considering this was a race that all the other races gathered under. According to Adimar they are currently unconscious on this floor along with the other remaining puppets but are unconscious with some of the Arachnees poison. All the puppets however even after the destruction of part of the dungeon and death of Balor they aren¡¯t very responding to much at all. Under incredible warnings from Kai and even Bifrost it was highly advised we kept them contained while also surpassing their magic especially for the Pixies. As according to them only two of those pixies were incredible difficult to deal with. They claimed the two white pixies who were saved by the pixies efforts killed them dozens of times before they finally got them within the field of my Age of Death. By the time they did their health was almost all gone and they couldn¡¯t heal them so they used their own Healing potions to save them. As Adimar and Akino spoke of these actions all of the Annunakes present only showed eyes of respect. Hearing the actions of the Pixies who had such bad relations with the Annunakes as of recent were responsible for saving something the Annunakes had thought lost forever. ¡°Um Alpha¡­..¡± Turning around the young boy who walked up to me was also nude but shared a physique that looked nothing like that of a weak child. As I turned and faced him the boy then bowed and spoke up. ¡°I am Kato Alpha. I just wanted to thank you sir, for what you have done, thank you for giving us our Elkia back.¡± ¨C Kato ¡°I think you should probably thank the pixies for that.¡± To my words the short white haired Annunake boy simply nodded and stared back up at me with a serious face. ¡°Yes Alpha.¡± ¡°True¡­ Such amazing capabilities those pixies possess something only the eyes our Alpha could have seen. Something I myself never expected. But I don¡¯t think my nephew was wrong to want to give the Alpha some praise. ¡° ¨C Alderon Alderon who had just finished shaving then walked up to my stream and stuck his face in to clean his face. He was a head taller than me and then walked over to where Kato was and brushed his head. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Well certainly. Not one day has passed and under the reign of our new Alpha we have conquered this dungeon and freed our chains. Tasting fresh air and seeing the skies past these walls for the first time in our clan¡¯s history¡­. Because of your ability and influence the Pixies were not only able but even willing to save our fallen Elkia. Not like they had anything against the Elkia but for whatever reason even in the heat of battle went out of their way to save them as well¡­. We will forever be indebted to them for what they have done. To what you have done as well Alpha¡­These are truly glorious times for the once proud Annunakes.¡± ¨C Alderon To Alderon¡¯s words everyone present simply nodded their heads back. His body wasn¡¯t as large as Adimar¡¯s but it was simply more lean. He oblique muscles were practically so muscular they came out far past his ribs and it makes complete since how someone like him can swing such a large sword with one hand so easily. ¡®I¡¯m guessing he is supposedly the high damage dealer for their pack. Comes in after the enemy boss is drained of all power and he lays out the damage to finish it off.¡¯ ¡°The new Alpha doesn¡¯t really seem to enjoy praise very much though.¡± ¨C Adimar ¡°True¡­I too have noticed¡­ He seems to enjoy cooking much more it would seem. Oh ugh not that I¡¯m complaining Alpha your food was truly delicious.¡± ¨C Large Annunake Elder ¡°Mmm it was so yummy. I wonder if we can feed the Elkia some of it when they wake up.¡± ¨CAnnunake little girl. ¡°That¡¯s true¡­ I can¡¯t wait to speak to them, all the stories and knowledge they must possess. You said their levels were high? I wonder how old they were then.¡± ¨C Grayfia ¡°We¡¯ve put the two who we haven¡¯t recognized around at least 250 years old. ¡° ¨C Adimar ¡°Wow really? ¡° ¨C Nanu ¡°Yup¡­ One male two females.¡± ¨C Akino ¡°This truly changes things¡­.¡± ¨C Annunake Elder ¡°How so?¡± ¨C Annunake Elder ¡°After the deaths of our Elkia many lost hope or reason to continue on the path our ancestors and the God Wolf Amaro had given us. I¡¯m sure some may have had doubts to follow the new Alpha if in the chance we were to survive. With this however now there is reason to stay, reason to unite. I¡¯m sure with the new Alpha¡¯s accomplishments the pack will all come to a unaminous agreement.¡± ¨C Annunake Elder ¡®I guess I wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if some species didn¡¯t want to just leave. Finally freedom is just at their reach but they are simply told to wait for the moment. In fact many of the Alders who were under Griff and survived had claimed to want to leave already but Kyrah was able to make them stay until the leader meeting we will have later this evening.. Apparently the only reason the whole Pack determined I was allowed to be crowned Alpha at all was due to these elders influence after having words with Adimar. Hopefully then the race leaders can convince everyone to my original plans I gave to Malfius and Locke.'' Though now with the Neko¡¯s leader gone it could get difficult. ''Speaking of the Neko''s what''s Alysteir probably doing at this moment. I''d be cautious but after the battle all she did was simply odd towards me and went to go collect the dead alongside others. She briefly said we will have our duel later whenever we''ve rested up. '' The races down here may not want to follow or live in a territory I want them to but hopefully I can convince them to do this. Malfius and Adimar¡¯s words luckily hold a lot of weight in this dungeon and I¡¯m thankful that they survived. As everyone continued to finish cleaning themselves I noticed Adimar and a couple other Annunakes are the only ones who haven¡¯t come out of their beast form. ¡® What does Adimar look like for that matter¡­. I never would have pegged Alderon looking the way he did at all.¡¯ ¡°¡­. We were truly blessed with more females.¡± ¨C Alderon ¡°Oh is ol Alde hoping to get a little close someone?¡± ¨C Grayfia ¡°Not at all actually¡­ I¡¯m simply saying if we are to flourish, now is certainly a time to repopulate¡­. The more females the better and we need to get the Elkia¡¯s numbers back to a respectable number but for now we must keep them guarded at all times.. If you forget just how strong we were whenever they were at our backs¡­. ¡±- Alderon ¡°Hmphmph¡­. So true¡­¡± - Adimar ¡°¡­ It is something I¡¯m sure is on the mind of many of the races is repopulation. It may take time but with the Alpha¡¯s masteries in magic it should be no time before whatever dark sorcery on them is cured and we can have our fallen Elkia returned to us. ¡° ¨C Annunake Elder As each of the elders continued to chatter they agreed to Alderon¡¯s statement and I too notice he is more than what he first appeared to me. He didn¡¯t talk much but his words are quite clear and concise when he does. As I began to walk away to dry myself off Nanu and Grayfia walked up to me quickly. ¡°Oh Alpha let us dry you off.¡± ¨C Grayfia ¡°Oh no that¡¯s fi..guh¡­¡± Before I could even say a word they grabbed two soft white cloths and began to wipe over my chest and legs. As Grayfia bent over and got down on her knees in front of me her ears had almost twitched not an inch away from my groin. ¡°As I said before Alpha it is no problem at all. This is natural for the Alpha to be bathed and dried off first. ¡° ¨C Grayfia Their slender hands began to dry every inch of me with rather carefulness. From my abs down to my shaft she even brushed it with the cloth as if this action weren¡¯t sexual in anyway to her. I guess what was more odd is no one here seemed to be noticing at all. Adimar wasn¡¯t even paying attention and Akino simply smirked and continued to wash her tail. While the elders continued to talk to one another I saw Alderon take out a small knife from his inventory and walk over to Kato. This action seemed odd at first which is why I originally took notice through the steam. In the next instant I hear Kato laughing. ¡°Oh I could totally beat you now I¡¯ve been practicing.¡± ¨C Kato The small Annunake boy then took the Dawn Bringer dagger out of Alderon¡¯s hands and turn and threw it towards the wall. Bink! ¡®¡­Oh snap¡­Little kid has some skills.¡¯ The dagger shot forth and dug itself directly into the wall. ¡°Ah crap¡­.¡± - Kato ¡°Miss ¡­¡± ¨C Alderon ¡®Huh how did he¡­woh.¡¯ Again Grayfia had just finished drying off my legs just before grazing my shaft yet again. As she finished wiping my waist it was impossible to hide my slowly increasing arousal. The two however didn¡¯t say a word and Grayfia practically had me in her hands at one point before going to the rest of my body. She then stood up and the image of her large breasts then came into full view as Grayfia was easily taller than me. ¡°All dry Alpha.¡± ¨C Grayfia Grayfia smiled while her and Nanu both bowed and simply walked back to the waterfall to wash their tails as if nothing even happened. After watching those Annunakes walking away I can¡¯t help but notice how these wolfs are simply made¡­.perfect. I¡¯m sure many men would find it hard not to fall for them by a simple glance and each of these two Annunakes and they are now washing themselves right next to me. ¡®¡­.Ugh I should probably cover up and leave now huh¡­¡¯ I felt a soft and warm feeling across my back and as I turned I saw Akino placing a large white robe over me. It had small golden designs on it that resembled antlers and looked to be very old. But regardless it looked to be made of high quality. I thanked Akino and she simply bowed and went back to Adimar¡¯s side where she continued to finish cleaning themselves. I think they are simply enjoying the first hot shower in probably a long time for them. I¡¯m coming to find these white wolves are much more complex than I first assumed. While the Pixies are just family oriented and the Nekos have formed this sort of a militaristic society these Annunakes were more of a warrior society. They wear ceremonial robes and come from a long line of warrior culture. I now see Alderon had taken the knife out and threw it at the wall yellow stone wall and as the steam began to show various parts of the wall I can see it too had stuck in the wall. ¡°¡­Hit. My point.¡± ¨C Alderon ¡°What?...How can you even track in all this steam.¡± - Kato ¡°Would you believe me if I told you I could smell them.¡± ¨C Alderon ¡°No way¡­¡± ¨C Kato Alderon then laughed to himself and walked over to the wall while taking out the small dagger that had a small bright green insect on it. ¡®Wait¡­They were aiming for a fly the whole time?¡¯ ¡°Oh Alpha¡­Care to play?¡± ¨C Alderon ¡°Oh yah Alpha you should try it.¡± ¨C Kato Kato then looked up at me excitedly while wagging his tail. ¡®Is this kid nuts¡­ There¡¯s no way I could do that.¡¯ ¡°Ugh¡­ Yah I doubt I could hit a fly with a dagger buddy.¡± ¡°Nonsense I¡¯m sure the Alpha could break this entire dungeon floor with a simple dagger.¡± ¨C Alderon ¡°No seriously¡­ I probably couldn¡¯t even stick it in the wall¡­.¡± As I wrapped the robe around me and chuckled at how wrong I may have been about this race Alderon simply laughed to him self while flipping the dagger in his hand and throwing it to the side. Shink! Adimar then waved his hand and I can now see he caught the dagger. He then threw the dagger sidewise at the wall and hit the exact same point where Alderon had aimed before him. ¡°Hah! 3 Points. Same spot and I got a hit.¡± ¨C Adimar ¡°Ah, nice showing off in front of the Alpha Adi¡­¡± ¨C Alderon ¡°Hahaha¡­. You could never beat me at this game when you were growing up and you¡¯re not going to beat me now.¡± ¨C Adimar Alderon then walked over to the spot the dagger was stuck and pulled it out and now another one of the same small insects I can see had been struck. I hadn¡¯t even paid much mind but there are actually small flying green bugs in here and are flying closely around the yellow cave walls. ¡®I don¡¯t even know how you could show skills like that into something like a status window. I¡¯m starting to think Loki may have been right it was a good idea in wanting to forgive this race. Simply one of these Annunakes could be worth dozens of men. They survived a battle against a fallen god and lived, that''s says plenty about their will to survive. These Elites and Elders even fought right next to me until the very end.¡¯ ¡°Hey what¡¯s everyone doing in here.¡± ¨C Kyrah Walking in through the steam I see 4 large figures entering around the cave wall and through the thick steam. Her wings were covering her and then she unveiled them showing herself underneath. I could even feel the eyes of all the male Annunakes looking towards her as the golden King of the Adlers walked in to the bathing area. As her wings contracted and went behind her back what was then revealed was her tan and nicely toned body covered up by a yellow clothed bikini almost but the bottom is more of a skirt. ¡°Oh what¡¯s the matter doggies¡­. You didn¡¯t think I¡¯d let just anyone see the goods did ya. Well I see everyone¡¯s enjoying the Arachnee¡¯s pretty impressive bathhouse. Kind of upset I never knew about this.¡± ¨C Kyrah Kyrah then smiled towards the gazes of all the Annunakes present including Alderon and Grayfia. Adimar however was the only one who did not turn in the slightest. Even in her yellow cloth her chest is clearly the largest in the room and I wouldn¡¯t have known until she had worn something so revealing. The Adlers behind her too were wearing the same yellow skirts and were standing behind her as guards. They hardly look any less threatening or muscular than the Annunakes in this bathing area. As she looked up at me she smiled and walked in my direction. ¡°Well I finally got those stuck up pricks to agree to a sit down. I have to be honest though¡­ I think they won¡¯t agree to it if you don¡¯t cook for them.¡± ¨C Kyrah ¡°What?,,,¡± ¡°That¡¯s not true, they already agreed to a sit down.¡± ¨C Alec ¡°Alec?¡± ¨C Kyrah ¡°Oh¡­.sorry. I assumed you were joking¡­. ¡° ¨C Alec Kyrah then squinted her eyes at the rather monotone Adler and then turned back to me. ¡°Well Vali. The Annunakes in the hot spring room told me to tell you they were taking your mother and that small girl with them to the Annunake home floor to grant them some clothes to wear.¡± ¨C Kyrah ¡°Ah.. Well I should go meet up with them then. I should be getting them back home soon, my mom mentioned she needed to. I probably need to speak with the King who is currently sitting in my house right now too.¡± Kyrah then smiled towards my King comment and I simply said I would explain it all at the meeting later. ¡°Well fine¡­ But I was thinking, we should have a play date for Ikaros and little Ari.¡± I nodded my head as I¡¯m sure Ari would probably really like making a new friend. She keeps staring at the pixies with her mouth wide. ¡°Alpha I shall accompany you.¡± ¨C Adimar ¡°Yes. I¡¯m clean as well so I too shall join.¡± ¨C Alderon Alderon then turned back into his beast form and walked side by side with Adimar while also throwing a white cloth around each of themselves. When I asked him why he didn¡¯t just stay in his normal form more often and simply said the path to being an Annunake as warriors is accepting your beast as is. To him he is simply more comfortable in this form as Adimar seems to be as well. I didn¡¯t press them and decided to leave. Akino hurriedly finished drying off and then tagged along as well. ¡°Gonna leave so soon Vali? I was hoping you could drink with us in the hot spring as a celebration. These Arachnee really no how to have a good time.¡± ¨C Kyrah It¡¯s then I notice that Kyrah has a half empty glass of wine in her hands and since I can¡¯t see this ending well right now I should just take my leave. In the coming days I¡¯m going to be setting up a lot of very important arrangements between these races that will effect the outcome of thousands of lives. I can¡¯t screw that up. Not saying I think I could hook up with this Adler or anything but sitting and drinking with a half naked Kyrah and where my eyes would wonder I really don¡¯t want to fuck that up at this point. And sex can complicate things¡­..Ugh but damn would that be one fun evening. I smiled only to myself as I had to cock block myself and leave the hot spring. Behind me stood the three Annunakes as we walking through the hot spring room. Similar to the small cavern I was in there is a lot of steam floating around. There are also large pools of hot water in several places over this area and I can see some Arachnee siting in them with a couple of the other races and relaxing. As we walked by I noticed some of them started covering themselves up while I noticed one of them actually pretended to drop her cloth on purpose. This caused the person beside her to playfully push her. The water almost submerged their entire bodies within the pools of water but their glamorous and feminine upper halves are all that are showing. Just as we were walking through the hot spring I noticed several bright lights coming from the place we were leaving to exit this room. ¡°Vali! There you are¡­.¡± ¨C Cosmia Flying towards me were Cosmia and several of the other pixies and were asking what we were doing. When I told them they all made weird faces. ¡°Ew..Why would you want to go there it¡¯s filthy. ¡° ¨C Cyanin ¡°Filthy?¡± ¨C Alderon ¡°Yah and it¡¯s got a big hole in the main entrance. You should come to our home floor Vali. it¡¯s way better.¡± ¨C Tanin ¡°¡­¡­¡± ¨C Akino, Adimar, Alderon ¡°Were not staying for long were just going to grab my mom and Ari real quick.¡± ¡°Oh ok! Hey when we come with you can I hold Ari? ¡° ¨C Cosmia ¡°You want to hold her?¡± ¡°Yah she¡¯s really cute. And besides¡­.She¡¯s our new sister right?¡± ¨C Cosmia I smiled down at the smiling faces of the pixies and nodded back to them. This small action made one of them jump up while another one started to fly through the air. Cosmia and Tanin even showed a look of excitement. While living in this place their hole lives everyday they had to say goodbye to another one of their own but now the simple words of someone being added to their family brings them absolute joy. I noticed the Arachnee Queen was no where to be found and she along with several other members of the other races are still gathering dead and usuable resources from the fallen monsters. That Dark Elf has even proposed we treat Balor¡¯s body with absolute care as she believes his blood can be an incredible alchemy ingredient. Not just in elixirs in potions but even in pill concoctions. When I asked what this was even Sting seemed to have understood what a pill was. Apparently it is a massive business in alchemy to create pills using all kinds of various magical ingredients in the world. While some of the Master Alchemists can even concoct pills using magical crystals as the base but it usually only works when using much higher tier crystals. Apparently you can gain permanent stats with it but according to Sting never skills. I guess it could almost potentially work like my Cooking skill I recently gained. The higher the grade of meat and you could even learn a trait like the 25 regeneration a second from that Hydra¡­. Just thinking of the gold we could earn from this is going to be phenomenal and should easily jumpstart our territories finances. However, I can¡¯t sell just anything to the public as some of these things I believe should be kept to us as according to Sting these are things entire Kingdoms would move to kill for something like this. If I was a Cook and had this skill people would unite and force me to join them but considering who I am, Sting thinks people would obviously treat the situation much differently. I can¡¯t deny any of what that Elf and Sting said as I too want all the benefits of the resources Balor can give us and Pek and several of the races are going to be taking care of this for me now. I simply can¡¯t wait to sink my teeth into whatever heart that thing has¡­. One skill from something like Malthiel who was the creation of a god was something that changed everything for me. I can¡¯t imagine what that of a fallen dieity would bring me. I¡¯ll have to go back and join them after I warp my mother back home she can¡¯t be away from Sasha and everyone else or they might worry. As we were exiting the bathhouse I then saw a glimpse of Sting in the corner of the pool sitting next to that same Arachnee he was caught fooling around with and having a drink¡­.¡¯ Wait didn¡¯t he leave with Cassandra and all them oh well I¡¯ll just leave him be.¡¯ ------------------------------------------------------------------ Elyria¡¯s POV ¡°Teehee¡­That looks great on you!¡± - Sona ¡°Do a spin one more time!¡± - Aurora ¡°Yes, Alpha¡¯s mother is truly stunning and has so much grace.¡± ¨C Annunake ¡°I must say these clothes are rather comfortable.¡± I smiled towards the Annunake and the Pixies while looking at the dress in one of their large mirrors. It almost looked similar to one the Lord Tyrule¡¯s wife once had but this one simply looks made out of silver. Each of them have been rather friendly with me, I can only imagine they are simply trying to repay their kindness that Vali has shown them to me¡­ Well it sure is a lot different than what I¡¯m use to I suppose. ¡°Well¡­ I think I¡¯m done trying out clothes now. We should probably go see where everyone else is at¡­ Oh where is Ari for that matter?¡± As I spoke to each of them I realized they still couldn¡¯t quite get anything I was saying. It truly is difficult without Vali in the room. ¡°Ari?¡± I then started trying showing hand expressions until one of the pixies smiled and started to pull my hand. Immediately the small blue pixie started to fly infront of me while holding onto my arm. Walking next to me were several other pixies as well as the five other demi human woman as well. We continued to walk through this massive mansion that puts even Tyrule Castle to shame. It has so many rooms in it and the floor is made of such a soft material. As we continued through the long hallways and down the stairs I then see a small group of demi humans gathered together who look familiar. I can see Adimar and Akino. As we continued to walk downstairs I notice it is rather quiet. One of those downstairs then looked up and put their fingers to their mouth to signal them to be quiet. The pixie in front of me stopped and then we all started to slowly walk down the stairs. As we got to where the small group was I saw why everyone was being so quiet. There sitting in a small padded couch was my son fast asleep. In his arms I can now see that Ari had found her way back to him and is now sleeping with a large smile on her face and wrapping her arms around him. As I smiled towards this I could see several of the other demi humans smiling as well¡­. The two were passed out, and these were the two who were the heroes of the day. ¡°We should let them rest¡­. When was the last time you saw Alpha get some rest. We should let him sleep for a few hours and tend to things for him.¡± ¨C Adimar The large wolf man that spoke was the same wolf who had come to our house alongside Vali before. I now know that he along with all those in this dungeon have been trapped here for their whole lives on this continent without anyone in the outside world knowing. Adimar then looked at me and bowed and spoke a few words I could quite grasp but I could hear the words Ru ru Kai and Vali. The other white wolves did the same and then began to leave while only a small few remained. The pixies as well as a few of the same attendants who gave me clothes decided to stick around as well. Either that or they are just following me. ¡®Hmm¡­ Well I suppose I can lay down for a few minutes as well before we head back home.¡¯ I brushed my hands through my sons hair and he lightly reacted to it but looked to have been so tired. I lied down next to my son and placed my head onto his shoulder and shut my eyes. ¡°Mm¡­this is ¡­huh.¡¯ Tee hee I opened my eyes and there crawling up on the couch next to us were the same small demi humans as before but now their shining wings of light and diamond are gone. They each tried to fit on the small couch without waking up Vali at all and I realized they too had found a real closeness to him. All those in this dungeon have been touched so much by him and again I¡¯m simply without words for some of his actions. One of the pixies sat on each of my legs and then leaned onto Vali and attempted to fall asleep as well. Their bright glows dimmed slightly but it wasn¡¯t aggravating to the eyes. It simply brought forth a rather comforting and warm glow that kept my body nice and warm. ¡®¡­.Mmmm this is nice¡­.Iris, wherever you are right now, I hope it is somewhere safe and you too can hope to find happiness as I have¡­. I have faith my son will find you and I will see you again.¡¯ I then closed my eyes and quickly drifted off to sleep. End of Chapter Don''t forget to leave a long comment and donate. I enjoy getting to reading comments so be sure to leave one or a review. Book 2; Chapter 1: A Long Road Ahead.... Hey guys....It''s been a while. Sorry it took so long to get this chapter to ya but I''ve been pretty busy and also really trying to hash out the next arc properly before getting it started. These next two chapters will have a lot of world building, backstory, and character developments but not a whole lot will happen in this chapter. A lot of this chapter is is kind of in Valis head preparing for things. Vali realizes the only way they won is due to their preparation and he''s starting to realizing him being overly cautious and preparing for what''d to come is the reason they''re even alive now. The next chapter will be released tomorrow and while there are only 2 chapters....This one is around 40K and the next is close to 60K. I''ll never make chapters this long again I just really needed to get a lot of this info out there. The pacing of the story will change soon now that they are out of the dungeon. MY chapters will now be around 15-25K. I''m also looking for more editors so msg me with a bit about yourself and your email. Thank you to all my readers who have stuck around and waited patiently. Getting to watch and follow Vali during his constant walk on the brink of madness in this cruel world. BUt soon we will learn a lot more about him and develop him and the surrounding cast. Whenever I go back and re write and clean all the past chapters to put this all into a book hopefully the chapters will naturally become split but right now is obviously just testing things out. ***Slight Changes: A reader had mentioned something that got me thinking. Ari''s speech will slightly be changed for a short time to show her learning the Human Language some. I won''t have to go back and change much as most of her talking is through Vali''s POV and he can simply understand completely so it won''t be that much change at all. I just feel since she''s only been there for a couple weeks learning she shouldn''t have it completely down yet....Just think of it as during Cassandra''s POV when they first entered the cabin and that''s usually how others hear and perceive Ari''s words... Hope you all enjoy and don''t forget to leave a long comment about your theories or what you enjoyed about any particular part of the story...Thanks again and see ya tomorrow.... PS: something''s up with the donation tab for right now. Rrl said they put it back on for me but now it''s been taken off. I told them a few days ago I was editing it and now it''s been taking off. So I guess Ill see whatsup with that. Book 2 - Chapter 1: A Long Road Ahead....
"The road to Hell is paved with good intentions...." - Unknown
Vali''s POV: "And what?happened?next Kayle?" - Kaylan "Yah,?how does the story end?" - Hayden "Well,?they lived happily ever after of course." "Mmm that¡¯s a really amazing story. Do you think I could become a princess like that someday?" - Kaylan "Yah and if she can be a princess I want to be the cool Hero who came in and saved the?Kingdom." - Hayden Their?big blue?eyes looking?back up?to?me, showing both eagerness and excitement. I continued to tuck her in as both my siblings were looking back to me from their beds. "I think you already have the looks to pull off the whole princess thing,?but I think?you?both can be anything you set your mind to.?Kaylan, I think you should aim higher than just a princess. You''re far too cute..." "...." - Kaylan My sister¡¯s eyes widened and had a large smile on her face as she slowly closed her eyes. "Even me? I mean on a count of all my seizures,?the kids at school said I couldn''t ever play sports with them. Even the gym teachers said I probably shouldn''t ever join in during class." - Hayden Hearing my little brother solemnly ask, if it was possible for him to become anything he set out to be. He¡¯d heard so much from all those around him on his inabilities as?even the doctors advised him against doing any strenuous activities. I turned around and walked over to the bed and patted his head to assure his young but eager heart. "Everyone in their life are given trials and obstacles that they can choose to overcome or not. Regardless of what anyone ever tells either of you.... I believe if you want to be a Hero,?something so small like that won''t ever matter in the end.... And even if you fail sometimes it doesn''t mean?it''s?game over.... And I''ll always be here even if ya do.¡± "....Heh,?thanks?Kayle."? - Hayden "Anytime, bro..." I tucked in my little brother and could see he was slowly going to fall asleep at any moment now with a smile on his face. "Thanks for always being there for us Kayle...." - Kaylan "Yah...you¡¯re?a really good....big....brotherrr..."?- Hayden I could hear Hayden was slowly drifting off, so I stood up to leave. "Kayle...Can I ask you something?" - Kaylan As I shut off the lamp and was just about to leave,?I hear?the whispers of my little sister calling out to me. As I turned around, I saw a bright yellow and orange radiance engulfing Kaylan as she was?lying?on her bed. The image of my little sister fully immersed in flames as her skin started to melt away only brought?me?a?sense of horror. I rushed towards her but she didn''t make any movements of pain or discomfort. With a solemn voice, she stared back at me with her half-melted body and spoke. "Why couldn''t you have?been?there for us like you were for?them??Why?did you let us die?" -Kaylan "No...I ... I...I tried..." I couldn¡¯t stop trembling at?this?horrifying?scene?in front of me. "Then why did you let us die. Why couldn''t you have been there for us? Why did you let those demons roast us alive, watching¡­doing nothing?" - Kaylan As the flames devoured most of her face, the?now burnt?corpse of my?sister changed?so drastically right in front of me. I tried to reach out but the flames?were?simply?so hot it felt unbearable. I looked towards Hayden and I now saw a half-mutilated corpse lying in place of my sleeping little brother. ¡°Huooo....¡± I tried to hold back my vomit and force it back down. My lips started quivering as I couldn''t bear the excruciating?sight?lying?before me. I turned back and now Kaylan''s corpse was looking back at?me?with?smoke?still?rising from?her charcoaled flesh. The stench was so excruciating, it paralyzed me just from a whiff alone. "You''ve killed so many just to save us. But what have you become? What?have?you DONE?!"" - Kaylan As she pointed with her now bony finger,?I turned my head and saw countless corpses of all those who have fallen by my hand. I saw the limbless corpse of?Laxus?staring back wide-eyed at me. Blood only continued to flow out of his open mouth.?All over the room?where?the bodies of the humans, Annunakes and elves I had brutally killed.?''But... It was necessary...I had to...'' "Even the farmer had to be killed? You¡¯re a?MURDERER!?...With all the power you''ve given up your humanity?for,?you?couldn''t have been there for us!" - Kaylan ''......'' I?couldn''t stop shaking.?I dropped?to my knees as I¡¯m familiar with these nightmares, but each nightmare was different, never the same.... I relived a happy scene with those I cherished the most in this world....Only to be reminded of my failure..... My loss.... Kaylan''s body then turned to ash in front of me and fell off the bed?to?the floor next to my knees. I couldn''t stop trembling. "AhhhhhHHHH!!!!!"?-?Laxus "Please....Please don''t do this!" - Yuri Elliot "Sto...Ngnnahhghg...ahgadgahsdg....." -?Diaga ¡±Ahahaahah!!!¡± - Jhenson "Hel...help me.....big.....bro..ther..." -Kaylan The room was now empty......and I was alone again... Alone with my thoughts...Surrounded by the sounds?of endless?screams....My lips couldn''t stop shaking and I felt just like I did that night my whole life turned for the worst....I was powerless. Rattle....Rattle... Rattle... Within the endless sounds of?rattling?chains?I couldn''t move....I couldn''t save them..... ''No.....'' "Why couldn''t you save us?!!!!"?- Kaylan The image of Kaylan covered in hell fire appeared just in front of my face and it felt like my whole heart was about to erupt out from my chest. "NO!" I jolted and shook opening my eyes. There I was in a completely different place. The room was gone.... Now I was sitting in the same place I was just before I fell asleep.... ¡®I¡¯m in the?Annunakes¡¯?mansion... I was waiting for my mother to?finish?getting dressed when...I guess I must?have?dozed off.¡¯ "Oh...Alpha, are you alright?" - ? I turned and kneeling only a few paces in front of me?are?5 young?Annunake?females sitting on their knees with their heads lowered. The one who spoke however had her head raised and was looking back at me. Her face is familiar, but I swore I never met her before. The left side of her hair was buzzed short while the right side had medium length white hair that came down the back of her neck in a medium-length braid. She like all of the other Annunakes had bright silver eyes and bright?white?hair. As I scanned my surroundings, I understood what happened. I was dreaming just now...''It was so real this time...Even the smell....'' I felt a swift, soft brush against my arm and looked down to find Ari staring right back at me with her big brown eyes....I couldn''t help but smile just at the sight of her. I really thought I lost her today... I guess she must?have found?me sleeping?here?and crawled up to do the same. She probably smelled me. Hard to believe?she?and my mother found their way here just?from?memorizing my scent...?¡®...We?would¡¯ve?all?probably died?if it?wasn¡¯t?for?her.¡¯ I smiled down at her and brushed her?hair?with my hand and she stayed quiet looking back up at me?and wagging her small tail.?My?mother had also fallen asleep beside me with Aurora and Daisy still fast asleep?on?her lap. They both fit on one of her legs each. The couch however is quite overcrowded at the moment not due to this but simply due to my mother''s large?fox?tails. Now that she has 5,?they are starting to take up quite a bit of room, but?they?are working like fluffy pillows for everyone?to rest their heads.?¡®Hmph, she always did that for me too. ¡® I brushed my?mom¡¯s?hair?away from her mouth thanking God she had too survived today''s fight..... She and Ari are?now wearing?some strange?white robes with golden thread. They almost look like a yukata, but much shorter. I then realized I?haven''t?responded to the?Annunake?in front of me and then looked?back to?answer her. "I''m fine...Just... Hah....bad dream....Ah, how long was I out?" One of the other?Annunake?girls then looked up and spoke. "Only for a few hours Alpha.?We were instructed?to?not?wake you." This?Annunake?looked rather young. Maybe 16 or 17 but even while kneeling I can tell she like all the other Annunakes are probably taller than me. She?has?a thin frame much like the other Annunakes next to her. However the one who?spoke previously to this one?actually looks kind of?familiar....Her legs are rather thick and?muscularly?toned coming out of a white ceremonial robe. While she also has a larger waist, she oddly pulls off the strange?hair?style. "Are you related to Grayfia?" The girl with the odd?haircut then smiled and nodded?in response. "Yes Alpha. She is my older sister. Though my battle?strength?may not be as high as?my sister¡¯s, you mustn''t worry?about the safety of your family?as?I guarantee?their lives with my own." - ? "That is incorrect Lord Alpha...?Za Za?is equally as strong as her sister Grayfia. She is simply not a Moonlight Warrior like the rest of the Alpha Candidates. She chose the path of the Moonlight Guardian and has just as high a number of?accomplishments as her?sister¡¯s."?-?Annunake The young?Annunake?then spoke up and I nodded. It was still kind of weird how these wolves are starting to treat me. It is like a complete 180?turn?to their prior behavior. I could chalk it all up to the duel and them?having?a?completely?different culture than humans,?but?it¡¯s?still quite strange. I looked around and found that we were actually not alone in this room. There was also that same Adler I always see around Kyrah. He is leaning with his four black wings that were folded back against the wall silently. When he saw how I must have been giving him a questionable gaze, he then cracked a smile and told me he was here to guard me as well on orders of his king, Kyrah. According to him,?I''m treated like a VIP of their?race. "I however think I was chosen for this position due to?me?being male....I feel like I''m being punished for something though..." - Alec The black-haired?Adler then just started shaking his head helplessly. I?smirked wondering what it would be like working for someone like Kyrah and then looked down at Ari still quietly looking back up at me. I decided while my mother was still sleeping, I would learn more about?these Annunakes before I wake her up to leave. "So?Za?Za,?what is a Moonlight Guardian exactly?" "We are the fighting force tasked with the sole purpose of protecting the Elkia. However, there aren''t many of us left since the Elkias¡¯ eradication. However, now with the three recovered from battle, I¡¯ll make certain our group shall grow once more. There are more of us however as they, along with members of the Elite Alpha unit, are joining together to guard the Elkia while they¡¯re being confined....." - Za Za Interesting... After?Za?Za?continued explaining the pack in detail,?this is essentially the job which was passed down to them from their god, Amarok. According to her before the night the Elves¡¯ attacked, Za Za was 16 and was part of a unit that never suffered a single Elkia casualty. I also found out that the?Annunakes?hold some special competition?once?every?4 years?for the generations?in their pack?to determine a new Alpha Candidate. The victor will then join the Alpha group I?currently?know as the?Elites. Even with a reigning Alpha, they held these trials and competitions to determine?potential?Alphas?should the?reigning?one?ever?fall. Over?the years and with the?Annunakes¡¯?long?life expectancy,?this has formed what I now know as the Elite Alpha Unit that followed?Adimar?even to the ground floor. Several generations of them had all gathered and each of them would have been an Alpha in another life.?Za?Za?is also apparently my age and would have been selected as an Alpha Candidate, but no Alpha has ever been a guardian.?This is?due to the pack leader should always be one that leads and fights on the forefront. This is warrior code for them. I¡¯m?seriously shocked?to find the majority of the Alpha group?is?actually in the Expert stages of a particular?combat?style, mostly with swords or spears. When I scoffed at this,?Za?Za then told me that not long before I had arrived and before the loss of the?Elkia, 29?of the top 50 most powerful fighters in this dungeon are Annunakes?while 7 of them were in the top 10. I was also quite amazed to find out the person who won the?traditional?Alpha?competition in my age group?was not Za?Za,?but in fact,?Akino.... According to these?5?Annunakes,?she¡¯s in fact the fastest?Annunake?in the entire pack?in terms of overall?Agility and fourth in Attack Speed. ¡°Hmm, I don¡¯t think that is the case anymore, Za?Za.¡± - ? ¡°Oh, how come Rei?¡°?-?Za?Za ¡°Well don¡¯t you recall Adimar and Alpha¡¯s?newfound?skill??....I¡¯m?sure one of them?will obviously be a little faster if they were to use that.¡°?- Rei The?Annunakes?then?each nodded?as I just remembered what?they?mean. ¡®I almost forgot about our spoils, and Adimar was also on that list.....Limit Break. Under the moonlight and in their beast mode their stats will go up by 300%. But Adimar can now use Limit Break like me which means he can make that 500% for 5 Minutes during the Full Moon, which us every night in the East.....Doing the math that¡¯s.......Somewhere around 120,000 in Agility?¡® I slowly started to sweat thinking of the possibilities. Even with all my skills I would have?a lot of?trouble with that. It also explains why Adimar was a completely different person at daytime when I was?hammering him?after his injuries?upon leaving the dungeon the first time. Hj?kk once mentioned that moving at the speed of sound would be around 50,000 in agility and according to her,??Alysteir?was probably coming close to achieving that?feat. ¡®These Annunakes really are monsters, not having a single one of them on a leash makes me slightly uneasy....but I can¡¯t turn back now. Hmm, well I guess if 50,000?is?around the speed of?sound,?achieving light speed would probably have to be in the hundreds of?millions to?achieve something like that. Not to mention?Godspeed?if there is such a thing....¡¯ I saw several of the?Annunake?maidens gazing at?Za?Za?who then looked up at me cautiously. "If I may,?Alpha?¡±?-?Za?Za ¡°You can just call me Vali.¡± ¡°...Yes Alpha Vali....Speaking of.... Do you think it is truly possible to get our fallen?Elkia?brothers and sisters?back to us?¡±?-?Za?Za I rolled my eyes and started to contemplate her question as I too had wondered about this. If it¡¯s, possible then we could easily add?them?to our fighting?force.?Let alone that according to Kai,?the two pixies they picked up are White pixies just like Cari and Bifrost?which is already?like finding a chest full of boundless treasures. "... I think it''s possible...Balor?even said?so, and I doubt he was lying?since he had no need to.?The fact that the puppets didn¡¯t die after Balor¡¯s death also makes me think we can do so?as for whatever reason they weren''t tied to him like all the other undead that rose at his command. They aren''t considered dead as their souls are still inside their bodies which is why I believe it''s possible....In a world like?this,?why?can''t it be possible? Give me some time and I''m sure we''ll be able to save them." Each of them almost started to have?tears shimmering?in their eyes as?they wagged?their white fluffy tails. The Elkia really meant the world to these wolves?and living for so long thinking they as a race had failed their gentle and loving race they were tasked to protect was enough to send them to the depths of endless grief. ¡°¡±¡±¡±"Yes?Alpha we shall obey....¡±¡±¡±¡±¡± - Annunake Maidens To my words,?I could see the brightness in each of their eyes and then their tails started to wag now similarly to how Ari does. Each of them?was?around level 280 while?Za?Za¡¯s at?level 294. "Don''t?wor...ry...Vali can do?any..thing." - Ari The small girl who barely even took up the width of my leg then stood up and started?flailing her tail around?while holding onto my forearm. With?each of their ears?drooped?to the sides,?I could tell they couldn''t understand her real well. Even if her speech has improved to where she can hold some short conversations, I doubt anyone in this dungeon can understand her any better than those outside.?In fact other than me,?I doubt anyone can understand?what she says each time she speaks?word for word. She¡¯s only been learning from me and my mother how to speak?the?human language for a couple weeks now?and other than?to?me and my mother?I don''t hear her talk much. "Hmph...I can see this one¡¯s quite attached to you?Alpha. Is she your....Sister??Daughter perhaps?¡± - Za?Za I could see each of the?Annunake?maidens?are curious of this,?including?the pixies?as they?seemed to wonder about that as well. "Well I guess I should do introductions since you don''t know eachother yet. This one leaning on my shoulder is actually my mother, Elyria...And?the?little one here is Ari. She''s family.?She''s also the hero of the day....We wouldn¡¯t have woke from Balor''s first attack if it wasn¡¯t for her.¡± With those words?Ari?looked back up at me and made an awkward face.?I could see her eyes were slowly starting?to get all watery?and she grew beet-red. ¡°Ah! I¡¯m sorry...I...I don¡¯t know why...I¡¯m?cry...ing.¡± - Ari ¡®I swear....Such a cute kid. It¡¯s impossible not to be charmed by her. I can¡¯t even begin to fathom how she could have received such horrible?treatment in her whole life....As far as I¡¯m concerned anyone?that would knowingly try to harm such an innocent?and kind hearted?girl?like her?is no different than the Devil himself.....Wow, I¡¯m surprised how I¡¯ve become so attached to her.?It¡¯s odd to say aloud but what else could this girl be?considered other than?family? I¡¯ve healed her, fed her, clothed her, bathed her...My mother and I have helped her?learn?to?speak, walk?and read..... Before I even knew it, it¡¯s hard to see her as anything else now. I just got use to having her around.. Knowing how I almost lost her and what I was willing to do haunts me..... Not even I know what I would have?done....I could have very well marched to the Gates of the Netherworld and demanded her back....I honestly don''t know.?But what I do know is that I won''t ever let anything take?my family from me....¡¯ Looking towards her now reddened cheeks I couldn¡¯t help but be reminded of all of?this.?She?too had grown attached to me. She''s also equally as protective of me. Even when she couldn''t walk she growled at Hj?kk, she even crawled over countless number of dead corpses and even monster infested grounds just to get to me. ''Hmph....'' ¡°It¡¯s ok....¡± ¡°Sniff...Sniff...Oh, ah....I¡¯m Ari. Nice to meet?you.¡± - Ari Wiping off her tears with her hands,?she then reached over my arm and greeted each of the?Annunakes?kneeling in front of us. Za?Za?stared awkwardly towards her then smiled. "Well Ari....It is quite a pleasure to meet you?even if we can''t quite understand?the other. I am?Za?Za?and by my words as an?Annunake?I shall forever keep you and your family safe?until the day I draw my final breath." -?Za?Za She then bowed as did the rest of the?Annunakes?beside her. Ari not knowing what was going on simply reached out her small hand towards?Za?Za. I translated for each of them for now and hopefully in time we can start educating?them?in the?human language considering how so many on the outside?world use it. Za?Za?then?peeked?up and made an odd face?showing her confusion. I then told her to shake it and what I¡¯m doing, which she responded with ¡®What¡¯s a ¡®handshake¡¯?¡¯. Come to think of it,?when I did that before,?some of the others in this dungeon?gave me the same reaction. "It''s a?form?of greeting." With a bright smile very similar to her?sister¡¯s,?Za?Za?then took Ari''s tiny hand and started to shake it with her fingers. "Vali....There you are." -?Cosmia "What! No fair...They''re just taking a nap with Vali. I?want to?do that." - Cyanin Coming in I could see 3 bright lights entering the large hole in the?Annunake?mansion. Cyanin was running while pushing Cosmia on what looks like Cari¡¯s wheelchair and once she noticed each of us lying on the couch, she let go and started to fly towards us. ¡°Wait!!! Don¡¯t let go, Cyanin!¡± - Cosmia Cyanin then flew over to me? leaving Vale to dart after Cosmia and the runaway wheelchair. BOOOOM!!! A loud crash resounded as both Cosmia and the wheelchair had?slammed into the wall with her still in it. Apparently it was their turn to trade shifts in their ''guard'' duty. "Huh what??Why¡­Why?is it so?loud?¡± - Aurora "You''re?supposed?to be guarding Vali not sleeping." -?Cosmia Walking to us now are Vale and Cosmia now pushing the small chair out in front of them. Cosmia looks a little annoyed from looking at the sight of her siblings sleeping on the job. "Yah...Now let me take a turn." - Cyanin "Cyanin did you just ignore what?Queen?Cosmia said entirely?" - Vale "Mmmm.?What''s happening?" - Daisy Everyone then started to get up and I could even see my mother''s?ears twitch?along with her whiskers. As she?slowly woke?up,?her emerald green eyes opened up at me?she noticed?I?had a small drool stain?from her?on my shoulder and wiped it off quickly?while growing extremely red. "Well now,?I guess everyone''s up...." I stood up with Ari still in my arms and instructed everyone it was probably time we left and got my mother home. Afterwards we would need to probably return to have a sit down with everyone?on?what comes next... I then felt a strong soreness throughout my whole body. It was a familiar aching sensation I¡¯m quite?used?to but I¡¯m surprised with my high stamina I would have?assumed to have recovered but?I feel.....tired. It''s strange even if my stamina has recovered along with my health I feel this sensation that I?used?to get?from?working out back in my world. I feel....?Alive.?It''s not a bad feeling regardless of the extreme soreness?from my muscles down to my bones. As I stood up then so did the 5 Annunake maidens as well?respectfully. I could also?see?Alec who started to straighten up and walk over?slowly. We need to head back but I still need to collect the hearts and cores for Fenrir and.... ''Oh?gosh,?Fenrir?better?NOT?eat?everything like last time....Ugh, well I better hurry up and meet with the King too I guess?since?everyone is still hanging back at the cabin waiting.'' ''Maybe I can get the King to come and this could show potential to everyone that we do have land and a place to?live?in the works. I got to make this all work out somehow.¡¯ "Oh my I can''t believe I dozed off like that. You and little Ari just looked so comfortable,?I..." - Elyria As my mother started to redden and her large?ears?droop?over, I couldn¡¯t help but find it cute. Simply seeing her safe?puts?my mind at ease. "It''s no big deal I was the one who fell asleep first. Besides it''s been a long day for everyone." "Yes, I suppose you''re right." - Elyria As my mother stood up, I could see she was wearing the same white ceremonial robes as the?Annunakes¡¯ the night before. She pulls it off quite well actually. "Hi Ari! Hi Elyria!¡± - Cyanin "Cyanin!" - Ari Ari''s eyes grew large and she reached out towards the small?turquoise?pixie. Cyanin flew over and gave Ari a big hug and Ari couldn''t express a bigger smile on her face. Cyanin then told me that during the battle she was the one who held Ari during some of the fight and she got to meet Ari by repeatedly saying their names to one another. "Well...What are you looking at me like that for? We''re family, that makes Ari and Elyria our family too so....I was happy to protect them for you Vali. ." - Cyanin ''Hmph, befriending this race was the right decision indeed. My new family is even now attempting to guard my current one just because of all the love they have for one another. "Vali....I''m hungry?when are we going to eat?" - Cyanin "Cyanin!?You can''t expect Vali to cook everyone another meal again tonight do you?" - Vale "Yah after such a long battle can''t you see Vali is tired.... But?if it was maybe just?for family....I,?I wouldn''t mind maybe a snack or umm..." - Cosmia "See? You''re hungry too." - Cyanin Urrrrp A loud grumbling came over from my mother¡­or maybe it was Ari.?Both were turning quite red?looking back towards me. ''Come to think of it,?I''m pretty hungry too after such a long battle. Ah I bet everyone in the cabin hasn¡¯t eaten at all yet either.... Now with?Balor?gone, I feel like I finally have room to breathe and yet....I now know the next phase of my plan, which in all honesty...Is just as difficult.'' ¡°Let¡¯s hurry it up then,?and when I come back I¡¯ll cook a feast tonight to celebrate our victory.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± - Cyanin ¡°Mm!?I can¡¯t wait!¡± - Cosmia To my comments,?each of the pixies jumped and started to high-five the other and dance. My mother¡¯s and Ari¡¯s tail(s) started to wag back and forth as well did a few of the wolf maidens¡¯. Rolling my eyes, we all gathered and left the?Annunakes¡¯?mansion. As we were all about to warp away, I noticed there were already a lot of?Annunakes?here just not in the mansion on this Floor. I can see in the small village down the hill there are many walking through the town, carrying large bags and pulling carts filled with what look like corpses. I watched where they were walking and not far off were an even larger number of?Annunake?men and women digging graves for what look like a large number of Elkia corpses. "....While as Annunakes we have the honor of being?buried?where we die....On that battlefield next to our kin....However,?¡®tis?custom to bury all fallen Elkia in Dark Eden in a special grave we had prepared for them....So they can all be close by together and if they get lonely, we can come and talk to them....?Now that Alpha has helped in freeing their trapped souls?from this place....I guess we just felt the need to honor them with a proper?reburial." - Za?Za When?Balor?broke that item raised the dead, it wasn''t just on Floor 1...It was within the entire dungeon. I could see a hint of despair in each of the?Annunakes¡¯ eyes?who were standing next to us as well as all those below digging large graves. Even after having their shackles crushed and were given their freedom....Not a single one of them held a joyful atmosphere while they?buried?their most beloved. ''This Elkia race really meant the world to these wolves....'' The only thing that held them together was the single dash of hope that had come today....Not from their newfound freedom. But the emergence of a possibility to reclaim their lost honor and race most beloved has given them the one thing that keeps all of us going.....hope. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As we warped to floor 52 a bright white,?almost blinding?light beamed down from overhead.?Looking around,?I?see nothing?but?wreckage and debris littering the entire floor. Hardly anything is left?intact?as?all the trees from the dense and giant forest, the massively built wall, all of it had been?destroyed?completely,?with?near?pitch-black?ash?blanketing?over everything. Even the walls overhead have caved in including parts of the ceiling and?the?floor has?several large craters?extending?for?miles. The entrance now to the dungeon?is?now roughly?a hundred meters long?and in pretty bad shape. Although?this floor¡¯s sky is still orange,?the sky from beyond the mountain walls?is?bright?blue with?a brilliant?bright?orange sun beaming overhead. ¡®Hm?¡¯ I felt something tugging on my arm and when I looked down.?Daisy had walked over and latched onto my hand. She however wasn¡¯t even looking back up at me but just simply gazing at the horrific aftermath of the?land?they once?called home. Our small group continued to walk towards where we had left them and I can already see thousands of survivors picking up and transporting countless corpses still. When?Balor?broke that item raised the dead, all the dead on this floor had done the same. After Balor¡¯s death however,?they must have been completely freed?when?the magic keeping them here?dissipated. I can already see a large cluster of corpses in the distance being wrapped up by the Arachnee¡¯s thread and placed alongside one another..... The number is in all honesty horrendous. Several of thousands had fallen dead on this floor....There was nothing we could do. Each race took a massive hit when Balor used his mind attack on us all. The one who suffered the most however were the Adlers. Almost 90% of those who did not follow Kyrah attempted to flee upon the course of events when Balor attacked, they all dropped out of the sky as the result. They were amongst the first devoured by Balor¡¯s monster horde. They even had no idea how they died as they relived their worst nightmares and fears. Then their minds went blank. Already I can smell the strong, dreadful odor sending me chills,?even?from?here. Even with all of our preparation, even with all our numbers and?combined?strength we couldn¡¯t escape the inevitable casualties of fighting against a?fallen god. Even if we were to face?Balor?at his full power without all of our?tricks and?preparations, we wouldn''t have even stood a chance. We would have been the equivalent of lambs being lead to a slaughter and every one of us, including Hj?kk, would have to face the chopping block. If I didn¡¯t have?my?equips....?If any of our theories and our preparations to attack Balor failed...??If Hj?kk and even Ari hadn¡¯t been here....?I don¡¯t even want to think?of the?alternate?result. We really got lucky. We didn¡¯t even fight Balor at his full strength and limited him as close to our level as we can to even?the odds?and even then we lost so many... If he wasn¡¯t arrogant like Malthiel and chose to not look down on us, I have no doubt in my mind we all would¡¯ve died this day without even being able to lift a finger.?That''s how terrifying a this monster from the Abyss truly was. I took a deep breath and started to walk forward alongside those around me. ¡®I really need to become stronger.¡¯ After fighting something like Balor I figured out how ultimately?small?I am right now. If I didn¡¯t have?Abgrund¡¯s?power alongside the rest of my equips we?wouldn¡¯t?be breathing right now.... When I leave this dungeon, I?need to hide Abgrund and my other items from the outside world?in order for me to?improve my own strength while not enticing powerful enemies to come and try to take it. I?cannot?imagine the amount of?trouble this weapon?would?give me if the?powerhouses of this world?were?to find out about it.?Forget the Human Kingdom, who knows what ancient races and even demonic powers who''ve lived for thousands of years?would covet such a devastating weapon.?If I can¡¯t protect something like Abgrund with my own power,?I would practically be inviting?danger?to myself and all those around me. Even my regeneration ability has a flaw in that it only works when?fueled with mana. Sure I can hold my own probably against multiple opponents?now due to this. However I can¡¯t just take on a large enemy force alone?and expect to?get out alive.?If I were to run out of mana,?it would only be a matter of time before I went down as I?won¡¯t?even have the energy to?escape?at that point. I know I¡¯m strong due to my?body¡¯s strong natural defenses,?but I¡¯m not invincible.... I see that now. It¡¯s hard?to?not?think that way with my abilities?and become arrogant when wielding something as?world-breaking?as Abgrund... But I¡¯m not innately strong. If those in this dungeon?were?to have the same exact abilities as mine, I wouldn¡¯t be able to hold a candle to them....''And that in lies the problem. Loki helped me practically leap from over the lower levels in this world with his influence and help but by no way does that mean I should I should think the rest of this journey will be a cakewalk.'' I need to strengthen myself....I need to strengthen those around me. Only then will we be able to hold our own against the?threats this world?can?send our way. Otherwise with our numbers,?we would eventually lose?regardless of how strong our individual strengths might be. My mind was determined more with every step as I walked to those who had given their lives so we could stand here now. ¡°Hey Vali!?...Can?I hold Ari?¡± - Cosmia Flying up towards me?is?the?bright red-crowned?Pixie Queen in her crimson dress. ¡°You want to hold her?¡± ¡°Yup,?I think she''s?so cute. Besides this isn''t something for a child to see....¡± - Cosmia Ari?now in my arms was leaning over, wide-eyed?at Cosmia¡¯s majestic appearance, flashing a crimson light all over Ari and me.?? ''That''s not a bad idea actually....'' ¡°What do ya say Ari??Want to see what it¡¯s like to fly?¡± - Cosmia Thinking this is a good opportunity to let Ari not be around so many unwrapped and half-eaten corpses, so I thought it was a nice idea. ¡°Well let me ask. Ari, Queen Cosmia here would like to know if you want to see what it¡¯s like to fly?with them.¡± She didn¡¯t have any words at all but simply?nodded?her head very?slowly. ¡°Um...Are you going to come?¡± - Ari "No...Heh...I can''t fly. " "But....but you have such beautiful wings...." - Ari "Wings?...." "Oh, Vali I just think Ari is just saying it like a methaphor mhphmph....Ari you don''t have to worry we''ll be close by. You should go have fun." - Elyria Ari looked back at us oddly and let Cosmia?come and hold onto her. Oddly enough even in Cosmia¡¯s arms Ari was still barely half her?size.?She?however continued to look back at me as if she were scared to leave. "I''ll...I''ll be right back....ok." - Ari ¡°It''s ok, you two have fun. We''ll just be over there, ok¡­?¡± "Ok!" - Ari and Cosmia With one final look towards us Ari smiled?brightly?and Cosmia wrapped her arms around Ari''s stomach and lifted off. Cosmia along with Daisy and Aurora then flew off together into the orange sky?with a light that almost resembled a glowing dust cascading behind them. I could?see from here the big smile Ari had on her face?as the wind started to slowly breeze against her face.... ¡®Cosmia''s pretty smart hmph....¡¯ ¡°Ah!?...Rei,?please follow them.¡± -?Za?Za Suddenly two of the maidens took off at an alarming speed in the direction of the pixies but a soft sensation?that?came to my?side?distracted?me. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen Ari so happy before.... She was quite worried about you, ya know.¡± - Elyria ¡°Crazy, I don¡¯t know how she could be so brave to come all the way here.?I can''t see how she''s so attached to me enough to even come here...Amazing you both arrived here just from tracking my scent.¡± ¡°Mmm...She really was?especially brave. Ari was even brave?enough to talk back to a human?king?even if they could hardly understand her mphmphmph.... She¡¯s changing quite a bit from when she first arrived with you.¡°?- Elyria ¡°Oh??How so?¡± ¡°You can¡¯t tell me you don¡¯t see it. You might not be my son by?blood,?but I feel I know you quite well Vali.¡°?- Elyria ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°To?Ari, you are?her?everything.?The most important?person?in her life.?I¡¯m not sure if slavery exists in your world,?so it must be?hard?to imagine.?An entire life of abuse, treated with no respect, no dignity, lower than that of an animal.?Trust me as a woman who had her face?ruined?before;?you cannot?imagine how useless?and?truly low?one?could?feel?at times.?¡­You were probably the very first person who even listened?to her in possibly her whole life.... If she lost you it would be the same as?going back to that life...?Which is?why you need to realize you can¡¯t be so reckless anymore....You?now?have people who rely on you....Me included.¡± - Elyria Since no one around us could understand my mom but me I guess she also could consider this somewhat of a private conversation but I feel she had a very serious tone in her voice just now. ¡°.....¡± "...Oh my son... You act like you don''t wish for others to get?attached to you and yet you are the one who¡¯s grown attached...I don''t know much of your past life but can only assume you must have faced unspeakable hardships. I sometimes wonder if that is why at times you can be so loving and yet remain so distant within your heart.?Even if this life is not your first one, even if you had a family before...In this life, right now....You have people who care for and depend on you?here.?Please, don''t ever forget this..." - Elyria Realizing the?two-in-one meaning?in?her words,?I realized this person had done the exact same things as Ari and traveled here to find me. I really lucked out in this life... ¡°Mom...I...¡± ¡°That is that¡­and all we will speak on the subject for now. You?did however exceed your curfew by quite a bit this time,?dear. I feel your punishment this time shall be a bit harsher. Hj?kk and I have had some interesting?talks?on?this too.¡± - Elyria ¡°.....What?¡± My mother had an odd grin on her face and I couldn¡¯t see what she was trying to say,?but somehow I got?goose bumps?for some weird reason....¡¯Uh...Hj?kk¡¯s punishments?does?not sound good at all.¡¯ ¡°....Wait...What does that...¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t think I?will?simply scold you again, did you??No,?I feel you need to learn your lesson this time,?so we shall wait and decide that later?*ominous smile*.¡° - Elyria ¡®Why does this weird me out so much? What have these two been planning?¡® Not coming up with any possible good scenarios?from?this,?I started to?hear sounds?of an?argument not?far away. ¡°Ah! Just go?awaayyyy!¡°?- ? ¡°Ah! Shiva,?don¡¯t be like this.... Why are?you so?cold now?¡± - Sting ¡°.......¡± Walking past me was the very same Arachnee that?was?seen with Sting right before the battle with?Balor.?She¡¯s also the one that has been beating him over the past couple of days as well. ¡°Why did I ever sleep with you...??Oh! Just leave me alone!¡± - Shiva ¡°What are you saying? Now that we survived, was everything you said before a lie? Shivaaaa, why are you behaving this way?¡± - Sting ¡°Listen?humannnn!!! I merely asked for a night of passion in the likelihood it would be my final night in this world...You?shan¡¯t?think so much into things! Just...Just go away! I can¡¯t spend my time right now meddling with such?matters!¡± - Shiva ¡°I¡­ugh....¡± - Sting The sleek black-haired?Arachnee quickly moved away, leaving the lonely Sting speechless after his harsh rejection. Mph.....??Mphmph..... Sting hearing me since,?I couldn¡¯t contain my laughter. ¡°What? It¡¯s not funny!¡± - Sting ¡°I¡¯m...Haha...I¡¯m sorry Sting, you just didn¡¯t strike me as the romantic type,?that¡¯s all.¡± ¡°Oh,?come on. I normally wouldn¡¯t allow myself to be tied down by just one girl but in all honesty my friend.....I feel a real connection with this one, she¡¯s even helped me learn the common language spoken here...*leans in to whisper*...If I¡¯m honest with myself...the sex was incredible...¡± - Sting Sting creepily leaned into my opposite side and whispered that to me so my mother couldn¡¯t hear him. Her ears however still twitched, so?I¡¯m sure she did. ¡°Don¡¯t laugh,?I¡¯m serious. Surprisingly the best I ever had and now I¡¯m kind of?weirding?myself?out that I just said all of this aloud...Dammit!¡± -?Sting ¡°Haha did she tie ya up?¡± ¡°That¡¯s it,?I¡¯m not talking to you about this anymore.... Ugh why is she acting so cold now though?¡± - Sting ¡°I wouldn¡¯t think?too?much on it Sting. If grade school taught us anything it¡¯s that when a girl beats you up,?9 times out of 10,?that?means?they like ya. And honestly as rough as she gets with you,?I¡¯d say likes ya quite a bit.¡± As he grew quiet thinking over my words,?I decided now would be the right time to actually start asking the adventurer of the central continent some more questions. Since I¡¯ve?decided to let go all of our past histories, I feel making it in good with this person could also prove to be beneficial. He always talked so much I originally ignored him since I had bigger things on my plate but now I should probably get in good with him and probe him of all the information I can?get?before he returns to his home continent. ¡®I feel?I can trust this person now. Fighting against a common?foe,?I don¡¯t feel he¡¯s my enemy even if he was on the opposing side the first time since we met. I can only hope from there.¡¯ ¡°So Sting, what do you do in the Central Continent besides adventuring?¡± Looking back at me oddly he must have saw I was helping him change the subject but then frowned for some reason. ¡°Seriously??I¡¯ve already told you.¡± - Sting ¡°Ah,?yah?sorry about that.?With the ever looming doom we had over our heads,?I just started to tune you out after a while.....So....yah I?wa¡­¡± ¡°What? So you?were?ignoring me! ....Hah.....Whatever I guess there?were?much more pressing matters so?I¡¯ll let it go?this time....¡± - Sting ¡°Vali, Sting said he?was similar?to a scholar.¡± - Elyria ¡®Scholar??So that¡¯s why he?always?talk?so much...Huh, I feel I?should¡¯ve?listened to this oddball?more,?as?the information this little jabber box?provides?might actually be a bit more than just poisons....¡¯ ¡°You seemed shocked by this for some reason. Well yes I¡¯m more of a guest professor at one of the top Academies in the Central Continent?actually. It''s?in Wasserfall City?in the Rose Empire.?Named for its famed?golden?waterfall,?due to the gold-colored stones used to construct the waterway,?running?throughout the entire inner city.?I however like to travel so I haven¡¯t really been employed there for over a year.¡± - Sting ¡°Hmm....So Sting the Scholar...What¡¯d?you?study?¡± ¡°What¡¯s a?¡®scholar¡¯?¡± - Cyanin Looking down I could see Cyanin and Vale too seemed to be interested in the conversation. ¡°It¡¯s like a teacher.¡± "Ohhh....." - Cyanin ¡°Yes, well my area of expertise is in poison and antidote concoctions. I wasn¡¯t like any of the other expert Elders but I was promoted to a graduate professor there after being a student for the last ten years. It¡¯s one of the top five Academies in the whole world and educates in almost every field and Class available.?That¡¯s where I learned to study in spear mastery for the better part of my life. This is also where I found the truly wondrous effects of poisons and discovered the amazing possibilities that can come from them. Even by using particular remedies on myself will potentially increasing my own battle power by quite a bit. I¡¯m merely on Advanced Level 2 in poison concoctions and it¡¯s been that way for over 5 years now....See mastery is all about trying and learning new things and furthering your knowledge to the broadest reaches they can go. Not just repeatedly concocting the same thing over and over again, which is what most seem to believe sadly. I figured if I travel to the furthest reaches of the world, I can find particular ingredients to aid my progress. Making the arrangements to leave for the Eastern Continent, I decided to take a job to pay my way and through a series of events found myself in the employment of the esteemed Elliot Family alongside one of the top first year students from my school who had quite a deal of fame being from a powerful mage family.... You remember Laxus. I wonder if news of his death has reached any ears yet.....Mph oh well, he wouldn''t be the first genius to die an early death and he definitely won''t be the last...¡± - Sting Listening to some of Stings words I probed him more and decided now is as good a time as any to learn everything about the Central Continent¡¯s powers and?strengths I?now have to prepare myself for. ¡°Laxus??That guy was an idiot....So a teacher and student just?took?a job to go extort some random mountain family at the edge of the world....¡± ¡°....Ah, yes well I only took the job as I was told it was something different. How was I to know it was a grudge match between you and that family of nobles? I was only hoping to make a little money as I was unaware they were using it as a bounty on your life. It in all honesty sounded like they wanted to pull you over to their side in the least and they had roped in Laxus before we¡¯d even spoke. I honestly had no idea it would have turned out like it had....Although Laxus was only using it as a means of training. He already killed a few Blessed Beings like you, which became the sole source of his friction with his older brother. Laxus just seemed to think he was invincible and his family always expected great things. He thought the world was beneath him.... I told him of the potential threat of hidden experts all over the world, but he didn¡¯t listen....He was also friends with some of those Elliots at school if I believe, so that may have helped it. Well....He¡¯s dead now and I highly doubt the Elliots back in the central continent have any clue what they¡¯ve actually gotten themselves into. They may have the power to even topple a few Kingdoms here but I¡¯m sure even they would attempt a friendly relationship with you if they knew what I now do hmph...¡± - Sting ¡°Greed is one of the seven deadly sins as they say. And those Elliots have quite a bit of it. That Laxus character doesn¡¯t seem much different from?those?noblemen?either.?Of the same?prideful character,?but?it?seemed like it was all?sport for him... Didn¡¯t you say he had a god for a brother or something?¡± Giving Sting a particularly evil grin,?it implied the prior threat their party gave me over his brother?no longer?holds?a lot of merit anymore. If we weren¡¯t afraid to?face the?terror of?Balor,?why would we?back down?over?some glorified mage in the west? ¡®However these?Elliots?seem like they could actually become a big problem in time if I don¡¯t take care of them sooner rather than later.?In?this situation, I found these Elliots aren¡¯t as dumb as I?originally?thought?either.'' They roped in two strong individuals completely unrelated to them and used them as a means to get what they want. Now that I killed Laxus, they must think they can even rope in a powerhouse on the continent to do their work for them in case I wound up being an enemy they couldn''t fight against. ¡°Seven deadly sins...Hmm I¡¯ve never heard of such a phrase, but greed can be a deathly sin indeed, hmph... Ah and Donner.... I¡¯ve only been in the same room as him twice in my entire life and he still gives me the willies.... Most of the Saints are recluses and don¡¯t involve themselves with the public much if at all, while others are guild masters and high officials. For some, seeing one is a life¡¯s achievement. Donner¡¯s a sage who truly deserves the Title of Saint. A single Saint is enough to destroy an entire country alone, and the mighty Donner is no exception to this.¡± - Sting ¡®....Just one of these Saints can demolish a whole country?¡¯ I stopped walking and looked back at Sting as this little fact doesn¡¯t make me feel comfortable at all. ¡°Oh yes the 12 Grand Sages...I¡¯ve heard stories of them as well. Their mastery over?magic can?truly shake the world and are considered true masters over their perspective magics. They?were strong enough to hold back the assault of the Demon armies from the North all those centuries ago.¡± - Elyria ¡°Ah, so Miss Elyria is somewhat of a scholar herself hmm...? Well that is correct. If not for the unity of the Legendary 9 and 12 Grand Sages, later given the title of Saints, and pushed back the opposing Demon army, the entire human race would be extinct. While the Legendary Nine are magnificent warriors that can slay thousands with weapons capable of shaking history itself...the power of the 12 Saints is something of great respect by all and one of the pillars that holds up humanity itself.¡° ¨C Sting Even my mother seemed to be knowledgeable as well, as she said that the humans built some strong weapon in the central continent centuries ago and used it to push back the invading Demon army. The organization that built this weapon was later named the Magic Guild. They have no ties with any Empire and yet each of the 12 Saints, regardless of whatever kingdom or banner they¡¯re under, are members of this guild and unite under its call in times of crisis or to discuss points of great importance. They hold almost as much power as one of the Four Great Empires in the west simply by the unity of these 12 high magic officials. ¡°So Donner is one of these 12 Grand Saints?¡± ¡°Ah, that¡¯s incorrect actually. The phrasing you used. They¡¯re called the 12 Grand Sages, all with ultimate authority over their respective magic, greatly extending over all other mages. They unite by the power of the Magic Guild and have been given the rank of Saint. While there are Grand Saints such as the Earth Saint or the Heavenly Sword Saint from the Holy Alliance. Grand Saint is only a title and a rank they give amongst the 4 most powerful amongst themselves. However not many actually know this I just happen to have acquired this bit of knowledge from Earth Saint Amura himself, who happens to be one of the Elders of the school I teach. Mean-looking man but with a heart of gold.....Oh sorry I was going on a rant there. While there can only be 12 Saints and some can live for quite some time, there have been 6 seats that have changed in the 12 in the past 50 years. Though I¡¯m not sure of the entire process it takes for someone to acquire a position of Saint and how it¡¯s decided as it¡¯s all done through the Magic Guild and kept pretty quiet about it all.¡± - Sting ¡®Hmm....Sting can talk a lot,?but this is all?good?information....¡¯ According to him, the term Saint is loosely used for any Sage given the rank of Saint by the Magic Guild¡¯s authority. While each Saint may fight for a different Empire or Kingdom, they will all stand together when tasked to protect and uphold the authority and prestige the Magic Guild carried for centuries. As we walked by the Arachnee including Queen Nhaili wrapping up corpses, they have all gathered and are continuing to cast their thread all around each of the dead races. Each of the Arachnee doesn¡¯t have a very kind face on right now but the look in their eyes still show determination. I walked past each of them and to where Balor¡¯s corpse lies in the distance. Sting continued on his rant the whole time as I continued to question him and learn about some of the legendary figures that control the Central colonies. According to him, the Legendary Nine are hailed as the mightiest warriors in the human kingdoms and are given their names after the legendary weapons they wield. Each of the four most powerful Heroes wields a Phantasm Class weapon?and each of them is the foundation of each the Four Great Empires which have stood for thousands of years. Every one of these weapons have the power to suppress an entire continent if needed and legends say they hold the power of the gods themselves. The other 5?Hero?weapons are Legendary?but each have such unique and?extraordinary?abilities they can¡¯t be considered in the same tier as a regular Legendary Class items like?the?Frost Sword?I?acquired.?According?to Sting each of these weapons,?known as the Supreme Sacred Armaments to the public,?actually helps in strengthening the user¡¯s body while some can also effect the Hero''s party. Raising their ability almost?tenfold?that of an average adventurer?with?the?same level.?It''s speculated that each weapon holds powers that were gifted to humanity to?wield?the power of the heavens.?If that¡¯s not all, each of these weapons will not submit to any other wielder than the one it chose. It sounds like a cheat but I¡¯m curious as to what some of these items that shaped and founded the Four Empires could be like. This could mean some of these weapons might have a conscience like Abgrund. ¡®That is normal, all sorts of fantasy stories have the hero coming by a legendary sword that could talk but in this case some of these weapons are speculated to hold actual god-like entities sealed inside and once unleashed could even devastate an entire continent overnight. If the Hero dies the weapon simply lies dormant until a wielder it deems worthy is chosen. So even if a Hero was assassinated or killed, which has happened more often than not, the weapon will be no different than a fancy looking piece of ordinary metal but are still practically treated as Holy Relics. ''I guess Abgrund would essentially kill?all those who even try to?wield it so that''s just an added bonus for me.'' The Heroes regardless of being given the title from being chosen by the weapons must be the strongest that humanity has to offer and if they along with these Saints have been around for a long time, I can¡¯t imagine the level of strength they¡¯ve acquired. According to Sting only one of these Empires could be considered roughly half the size of the entire Eastern Continent and have powerful figures that only stay there as this Continent is thought to not hold too many special qualities about it. Not enough to expand their resources that could instead be used much closer to home and benefit them there. It is still newly settled territory to some and to other races who live much longer than human lifespan''s probably see this as something that has just recently occurred in their lifetime. The only thing keeping the powers in the west from trying to acquire land and resources here from an already founded Kingdom is the other strong powers keeping them in check. The land isn''t considered great and no special treasures or dungeons have been discovered that would even compare to the amount of gold that would come from those of the Central Continent. To all those here in the Human Kingdoms who wish to live a better life in riches and luxury, the Central colonies is like a whole another world... This is a good thing. While the Heroes are considered to be some of the strongest warriors in the world, then the 12 Saints should be like top-class mages. From memory, a Sage is someone who is looked as one with ancient and profound wisdom that stands at the top over their field of study. I assume this is also a title or rank of sorts that is also given from the Magic Guild and assume this could even mean figures in the Master stages of whatever magic they wield, which is frightening. ''Alysteir¡¯s the first Master rank I fought, and it took so many of us just to touch her.'' Sting was even nice enough to understand all my questions and told me his evaluation on my strength compared to some of these strong beings from the human kingdoms. While anyone at the Arch Mage level can use magic from more than one?element?or magical theory,?they are also are given this rank?when they are able?to use a certain number or strength of?Fast Casting?incantation spells. Comparing this to any of my spells, he said I have to speak?a short?or ''Fast Casting''?incantation?to activate the spell similar to my?Fire Ball?spell or almost all of my skills?given to me from monsters. Usually the length of the incantation correlates to the power of the spell being used, the stronger, the lengthier, but there are even unique spells that allows a person to chant their entire incantation within a few breaths time that exist as well. My mother explained this to me before that humans use magic fundamentally different than her tribe¡¯s. Humans usually aren''t born with keen awareness over the world¡¯s magical properties and how to use the magic within themselves either. That is why mages not only spend decades memorizing and learning magical theories and laws, but also training extensively to hone and create their own internal magic. Overtime building up their knowledge over how the spells or skills are used, I guess with their rise in ability they can do away with incantations entirely and use their magic in ways that are in no way slower than my own. Apparently mages even found ways to study their magical skills?through other techniques or elemental theories and?add unique effects to their magical spells like status effects or?more damage to a particular?target?from?any number of things?according to Sting. While I can''t do that yet, I still can use magic quite easily. I used to think this was due to my Magic Manipulation but now I believe the reason is much different. I have demon genes in me, so I don''t follow the same rules with magic as even the pixies do, whom my mom says show to have incredible magic comprehension that is beyond her knowledge.''?Heh, and?according to them when I ask how they meld their magics together they usually giggle at me asking why I make it sound so difficult. They even say I do it sometimes without even noticing, I just wish I knew how I did it because when I focus it becomes difficult.'' According to Sting all of the Saints hold onto?powerful?grand?spells and can also perform voiceless incantations?like me?as their comprehension in magic are truly boundless.?But comparing me to them he would say I am a big question mark on how I?stack up to them.?While only a small number of the Saints fight with their fists, all of them?use weapons and ancient artifacts so they can''t be compared to the?pushovers like the normal mages from the game?in head on combat. I also?came to know that there are 4?Great?Empires in the Central Continent, each consisting of hundreds of Kingdoms?and nations all fighting?for power. The Kingdom of Kairo in the South East, The Rose Empire in the South West, The Holy Alliance in the North East, and the Azure Cloud Dynasty in the North West and were founded on a strong military alliance of nations. They also are home to the Knights of the Immortal Realm, a Warrior Guild comprised of over 50 million strong warriors and holds the same level of prestige as the Magic Guild. Each empire is comprised of numerous kingdoms and cities with some populations comparable to that of the entire Eastern Continent. The population level in some of these kingdoms are well in the hundreds of millions while including the other race populations, reaching up to billions. Each Empire is also home to several Heroes, Saints and many blessed beings like me as well. Each of them fights for their own purpose and homeland while they all unite when under the threat of a foreign invader. What makes me more nervous is the idea that these Sages could be essentially scattered and unknown to the actual world. ''If a Saint is simply a position or?title that is given to a Sage,?then that?also?means there are multiple beings with the abilities of a Saint?in this world,?only without?the title.??'' The fact that seats have changed in the position of the 12 Saints in the past few years proves that there are also unknown Sages in this world who could hold as much destructive power as a Saint¡¯s. ''And that''s just concerning the strongest powers in the human population, a mere fraction of this world''s potential threats. There¡¯s no telling some of the other races, especially those with drastically longer life spans than humans, and how much levels they¡¯ve achieved over the centuries. I can¡¯t imagine the amount of hidden monsters in some of the demon or beastmen clans could hold as well which is something I need to be cautious of in the future.'' According to Sting, what we discussed is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the hidden powers in the Central Continent. There have been guilds and strong families that were around for centuries, holding ancient techniques and powerful spells that have killed many known and strong figures in the world even those at the pinnacle of the Human Kingdom. ¡°Well I guess I¡¯d have to say the strongest Saint of all would be....?Hm¡­That''s kind of a tough one, but in my opinion is the Sword Saint.?Although I¡¯ve never seen him personally,?he¡¯s never lost?in a duel ever. He even killed the?previous?Sword Hero?roughly?8 years ago.¡± - Sting ¡°Wait,?so the Sword Saint is stronger than the Sword hero,?using swords? I figured mages were all supposedly?stronger?than warriors?but only at a?certain?distance.¡± ¡°Crazy,?right??Well an?ability to have control over all blades?makes?him quite formidable.?Even with that the Legendary Blade?still?did not choose him afterwards. The dispute isn''t widely known, but the Sword Saint returned the Hero weapon back to its rightful?Kingdom in the Azure Cloud City Alliance as the reason for killing him was quite unknown,?but definitely not for the Hero Weapon.?Besides that Sword Hero was young and vulnerable at the time?and?just like the current Sword Hero I believe he was?al....¡± - Sting ¡°Valiiiii!¡±?- ? ? ? ¡°Hi Vali!¡±? - Cari ¡®Are you serious...Control over all?blades?sounds?like a cheat skill. Damn if it¡¯s enough to kill a Hero?wielding a Legendary Class?sword?I?should be cautious if I ever run into the guy...¡¯ Interrupting my thoughts with a strong vibrating pulse tickling my skin,?I turned?towards a familiar aura. Only this time, I can feel something?making?my entire face itch. I could however also feel the same warmth and white?glow from?the blessed child of the?Hildr?Pixie race. Flying towards me in a plain white skirt and Black Hydra X armor was the?White?Pixie,?Cari. Her white wings created a rainbow, making the surroundings almost as beautifully illuminated?as?her?hair?everywhere she went. As she flew over?to me?she spun around in circles with her hands in the air and landed them around my waist. ¡°Oh,?I''m just so happy Vali! It''s like it''s all a dream I never thought such a wonderful day could ever come to me and my family but...sniff...sniff....Mmmm! I''m so happy we met Vali! Oh!?We have a present for you....Oh hi Elyria, hi Ari! Hi Sting!¡± - Cari Cari and the other pixies not knowing how to contain all of their excitement were rather scatter-brained?and?couldn''t seem to stop themselves from smiling even with the morbid surroundings. Sting only made an awkward smile and waved. She then walked up to him and stuck out her hand. He then carefully reached out and grabbed her slender hand and began to shake it. Psssssssss ¡°Agh!!!!¡± - Sting Within a brief moment Cari then exploded in a flurry of white flames making Sting let go and trip on himself falling over on the ground. Looking at his hand, he found out he had again been tricked. Tee?hee ¡°Nice one,?Cari.¡± - Kai "Ah! Seriously?! I fell for that again!" - Sting Alongside Cari were several pixies?who?flew up and told me they had a gift for me. We each decided to take a detour around the side of Balor¡¯s body and there I saw Fenrir lying on his stomach and tearing into a large purplish blue organ almost as big as he was. Sitting behind him, are mounds large and weirdly shaped organs and dripping wet with blood. The floor itself is stained a dirty, moody-red color that, baking under the hot sun. There were also several of the pixies who hadn''t bathed yet and were completely drenched form head to toe in blood. They would?each?chase their siblings who weren''t filthy and tried?wrapping their arms around them in some warped game of tag. ¡°Over here,?Vali!¡± - Cari ¡°Look we collected two of every kind for you....We kept them in?a?pile here this time.¡± - Kai ¡°Heh...*awkward smile*...oh¡­wow.¡± I never corrected them from doing this the last time?so as creepy as it?is,?it¡¯s still pretty helpful actually. I guess?I?did just take a shower, but I in all honesty need to change as is. ¡°Thanks,?guys?you didn''t have to go to all that trouble....¡± "Well sure we do. You always go to the trouble of finding and bringing crystals for us it''s the least we could do silly.¡± - Cari Cari tried to look away as her cheeks were becoming red but kept peeking up to see if I enjoyed their surprise. Everyone¡¯s faces then brightened up, Cari as well as each of the pixies looked at one another and started nodding their heads then giggled. Each of them would continue to randomly dance, run and hug one of their loved ones just to celebrate their overwhelming joy of achieving freedom. ¡®Wait a moment....¡¯ I looked at Sting and see him not even paying attention it seemed. He was only staring at Balor¡¯s corpse unable to take his eyes away anticipating the horror it would bring if the corpse were to move again if he were to look away. ¡®This is good...I don¡¯t think Sting is aware of my ability right now. I can¡¯t risk anyone finding out as it should be something of a hidden trump card I keep only to myself. If greed exists in this world, then I¡¯m sure envy does as well. Anyone finding out about this would probably act no differently than those Elliots.¡¯ Sting then turned and looked to me, giving me an odd look. ¡°Oh you don¡¯t want me to watch you eat or something? I really don¡¯t care, in all honesty I¡¯m more interested to see what strange abilities you would obtain....¡± - Sting ¡®!!!!!!!!¡¯ ¡°WHAT??!!!¡± Rumble...rumble.... Everyone started trembling and I noticed without even realizing I used Dark Pressure without restraint, affecting everyone. I¡¯m not sure of its effects on a person but they simply look at me like I¡¯m some hideous monster. ¡°Ah...I uh...What??I know about your blessed ability from whoever your?god is.?Don''t worry, I won''t say anything....¡± - Sting ¡°....When did you find?out?¡± ¡°Oh um...I don¡¯t know, not too long ago. After you killed a so-called King Hydra and some lightning monster, you came back and started using skills similar to theirs. It wasn''t that bizarre to imagine really you are a Blessed Being... I even saw after your organs and intestines ripped out, you continued breathing as if you were unaffected entirely. Although I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a big deal or anything. I¡¯d eat monster organs too if I can take their abilities.... I mean even those Asher Knights figured it out on their own. That whole bloody game of tag your little entourage played was a bit distracting, well...You know how I feel about them.¡± - Sting ¡®!!!!!!!!¡¯ ¡°.......I¡¯m?going to?put a pin in that for later.¡± I¡¯m apparently not as discreet as I believe. Ugh, well whatever. Everyone here is already aware of it anyway..... Hopefully, if I can keep the mouths of those three knights shut, it should all be ok. If our deal to form an alliance does not work out then our relationship¡¯s going to become very complicated for me.¡¯ The pixies collected quite a bit of cores for me, which is nice. I looked around, seeing my mother, Sting, Za Za and Alec all standing next to me alongside the pixies floating around, some playing games and some petting Fenrir. Each of them knew everything about my ability and instead of being grossed out?they?looked at me with curiosity. They didn¡¯t look at me with disdain but more of eagerness. They seemed more interested in what abilities I?can?get. It was almost a look of respect that one would only view it as an important opportunity to strengthen us all in the process. ''It''s hard not to show a smile at this reaction. Ever since coming here and having to do such atrocious, almost unredeemable deeds, this is honestly the best response I could hope for.'' Even my mother. I think she has come to understand this is what helped me survive until now and she probably even thinks this is something Loki told me to do. She however didn¡¯t care of idea that I was the child of a demon. I wonder what Sting would think if these abilities are not from Loki¡¯s blessing. I picked up the first orb I see on the ground. It had a slightly hard black shell partially covering a red orb that appeared to be a monster core.. Crunch.
Congratulations! You have learned a new skill! Achtung Vis
I immediately turned on the skill and the entire?environment around me suddenly?turns?a dull grey. I?looked?around and?see?everyone looking?at me with curiosity. ¡°Whoa...That¡¯s cool your eyes changed to?red.¡± - Kai Looking around,?I feel I?understand?what?this skill?is.....This is?an?optic-type skill?that allows?me?to?view?the world?around me, showing?the?danger levels of the?presences around me, which is ranked by color intensity. Grey?indicates?no danger at all?while the intensity of each color signifies the threat level. Everyone around me showed up as grey while Cari?and each of the pixies showed up in a dull pink?and Fenrir was a slightly reddish?brown. ¡°So?what¡¯s it do...?¡± - Kai "Ya, Vali tell us." - Cyanin ¡°It¡¯s like a danger awareness skill for my eyes.....Oh?wow,?I can actually zoom in too.?This?is neat....¡± I then?turned and looked towards the?hole?in the wall and I found I could actually control the distance my vision could extend.?''I actually have?a?zoom option?for?my eyes?now....This is cool.'' Each of the?pixies giggled?and?everyone else smiled?while awaiting?me to continue with the next ability I might gain. It¡¯s honestly like opening a present in Christmas because no one can tell what the benefits they¡¯ll bring. I started to dig in and bite into the next available core. Crunch.... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Congratulations! You have learned a new skill! Mystic Projection
After biting into the next core from the strong beasts in Balor''s army, I gained yet another skill I can already see how that can be used in a number of ways. Now that the medium-large pile has practically been depleted I feel as though even without gaining any actual strength my fighting power has probably advanced several fold with some of the skills I¡¯ve obtained in this Age of God''s dungeon. According to the pixies there really weren''t many monsters with salvageable hearts or cores left. It''s not because the task was too difficult due to the size of the corpses. Mainly for the reason that practically every one of them that had the rotten luck of meeting Hj?kk were nearly eradicated, leaving only pools of blood endlessly flowing through the cracks of the ground into the floor below. From all the dismembered bodies, some monster cores may have remained but very few hearts could be salvaged at all just from Hj?kk not holding back her power, or so she claims. Regardless of this fact just by the names and descriptions of some?of these skills give me confidence in taking on a large group alone.?Even?if I can only last as long as my mana can go, even if?it were?a?hundred men at my same level.?It would?still be?incredibly difficult for them to kill me without some tricks up their sleeve. After talking with Sting I couldn''t help but second guess our overall strength currently. It''s?not enough to feel safe at all if we were ever put in the position of standing alone and without the aid of a Kingdom from the Human colonies. ''I''m not even going to flirt with the idea that I can hold off something like a million enemies or something with more than enough firepower to take down an entire continent....Even with all the strong forces beside me, this entire idea would be suicidal......However, if it was between life and death and I was forced to bring out my 4 top grade items from Malthiel, then it''s a completely different story....'' The actual reason I have this firm?shred?of confidence is solely based on my new Age of Death skill that proved to be?the?mark?of death?for even a being whose existed?long before this world was even around....I have no doubt that even the strongest figures in the Human Kingdoms like the 12 Saints would meet their untimely demise when having to defend against ''Abgrund''?or my magic nullifying ''Midnight Gauntlet''. ''So with that alone?I''m confident I can defend and potentially even kill some of them if I succeed an?initial strike. That should be enough to?at least?deter some....'' While I admit my absorption ability is a cheat, it is what has given me the power to help us all survive today, so I can only be thankful for it. However, without my overpowered equipment I honestly don''t feel confident in protecting my loved ones which is why I need to strenuously train from here on out....Just like the game, those who stop playing after a while eventually get passed up by those who still do. This world¡¯s no different. You either mover forward or get left behind. I continued to eat through some semi-intact hearts and cores while everyone else waited patiently. ''Hmm, I never really noticed before, but everywhere I go now I seem to always be surrounded by companions.¡¯ This last skill is difficult to comprehend, but from what I see, it actually creates a physical image of myself and infuses it with a tiny bit of my life force. The pixies said this core came from one of the red-winged flying monsters that appeared in the skies hovering over Balor and his Fomorian army. While I have control over the image, it cannot inflict any direct harm. It¡¯s almost similar to the pixies illusion spell but it is a magic that uses my mana to send a small amount of my life force while even taking a small amount of?my?health to project a physical copy of myself,?but at the same time?can be destroyed. While it''s not like the supernatural Astral Projection which can let me move and see outside my own body I?should?have some small control over the movements of this extra copy. Along with Mystic Projection, I gained a few more skills?that even right upon learning it my understandings on how they even work were practically nonexistent. ''Normally when I''d learn a skill I''d gain quite a bit of knowledge over how it?basically?works but some of the monsters in this dungeon are very odd and?I can only determine their?uses from their?semi-cryptic?descriptions.'' Omega Tribulation¡¯s a skill I received from the Grootslang that Fenrir had even left for me. Since we don''t have the ability to eat the heart of every strong monster, I made a deal with him that any time this occurs I will eat the heart while he will drink the blood and in turn I would overlook his gluttonous habit of eating pretty much all the spoils like that one time. While even the description for it was vaguely strange, I understand is a magic-type skill that fires a projectile of extremely condensed mana that will release a gaseous substance upon impact. Those who breathe in its fumes will see hallucinations which are much different than illusion magic. As it¡¯s not something that can be fought physically nor magically, but medically, like taking an antidote for or waiting until the effects wears off. There is also a 10% chance of receiving a Confuse status which even in the game was practically fatal when fighting against a Boss. The cool-down for it though is 12 hours which is the same as that of the Mystic Projection skill.
Sky Poison Domain??? (Description) Trap your prey within a realm of your own?venom.?Pollute the very air that exudes from your pores, dropping your enemies from above the clouds in your domain. If?Poison Resistance is below 10%: If the toxic air is taken in by an enemy continuously for every 10 seconds, the likelihood of Poison Status occurring will increase by 5%. If Poison Status is achieved: An Additional 2,300 Damage is inflicted upon the prey within your Domain / 1000 damage for?every following minute within your Domain. 20% chance enemy will lose the ability of flight. 10% chance Sky Beast Poison attacks and shut down the victim¡¯s vital organs. Regardless of whatever enemy, strong or weak, a Manticore will attack all who venture into its domain. With every noxious breath that is taken;?the Sky Beast Poison will?continuously?invade and rupture every bodily organ into a meaty paste. Poison Resistance: + 3% Skill Cost:?150,000 MP /?100,000 MP per minute Cool-down Time: 1 Day
I also got an interesting skill from?the Manticores as well, but I feel it¡¯s too dangerous to test right here on the spot simply due to its name. If taken in continuously without interference, the likelihood of receiving the Poison status will increase drastically. If that status is achieved, then the Manticore¡¯s poison will begin to rupture and shut down all of the victim¡¯s internal organs, vitals included, one by one until death. If one¡¯s resistance isn''t high enough, the victim won¡¯t be able to make it a few steps before dying on the spot. What makes this skill seem so intriguing?is when I read out the description, Sting?seemed to point out that the Manticore isn''t a monster he is aware?of. Including most of the monsters he''s seen, this skill however peaked his interest simply because extinct monsters would probably have poisons without any known antidotes?to cure it?which would make it much more dangerous?when used on someone.?While there?are?incredibly lifesaving elixirs and?potions that can rid?the body of most fatal and toxic?of?substances,?they are extravagantly expensive.?So normally?the more one grows in level, the use of poisons amongst the experts lessen as the?likelihood of obtaining a status and dying are quite low?unless it can kill quickly enough. There are?also numerous?always ways to cure a poison?or combat the?Status?after the battle is over.?Most Kings always try to take a poison expert just for the benefit of having someone capable of producing antidotes from the poison attacks from monsters as a simple health potion wouldn''t be enough.?That is why?poisons are?mostly used by those of the assassin class as if one were to want to add an effect or trait to their weapon,?poison wouldn''t?always be the most beneficial method. Sting even says?one can?combat a poison with another and then give the antidote to the stronger toxin. So there are a number of ways but not as absolute as some of these godlike elixirs invented in the field of Alchemy.?However, because the prices of some of these said elixirs Sting brought up?are?so expensive,?they?cannot be obtained by just anyone. That is why most poison experts like Sting try to invent their own personal poison with their own effects and ways to attack the body?which can?only be cured by said famous elixirs, then their importance and fame in the Empire would surely skyrocket?and be sought out by many not only to add to their own power, but also for their own safety. He says simply judging by the beast¡¯s high level, we can assume it is already a poison that would need at least a certain level of?resistance just to?not receive?an initial Status.?Judging by the description, just receiving it could be instantly fatal.?But we won''t be sure until we test it. Fenrir and I have surely gained a lot of goods?in this place.?Just having these skills alone could probably make us comparable to some of the strong figures in the Central colonies of the Human Kingdom. Fenrir?seemed to show a couple of odd skill obtained as well, but the most interesting of them all is a strange skill that resembled that black sphere with a maroon?light that was shot at and almost hit Hj?kk?during the battle. He shot it out of his mouth aiming at a cluster of rubble and it blew right through it, melting everything behind it. When the pixies went to go investigate when they touched it they said their stamina started dropping very fast while it was incredibly sticky and hard to peel off. The pixies getting tired of the sticky black maroon-like substance on them started to burn it off with their white flames with success. Fenrir also appeared to have gained the same Gravity spike as me?as well as?the Grootslang''s poison skill after licking and drinking enough of its blood?from its completely wrecked corpse that was completely wrung from the inside out. ''He even has that poison now? .....Shit this little cub is going to be terrifying.'' His level is?159 now?but regardless of this fact he''s a?monster?that can''t?be described by this alone.?Even I wouldn''t want to approach something like him as I''d?most likely have to put my life on the line. Fenrir?is however still in his completely docile and?playful cub form. His size?is?that of a normal dog now but his head is rather large.?The?fur?around his neck is also?very?thick,?practically resembling a lion¡¯s mane. ''The pixies however?just think?he''s adorable and continue to ride on his back and scratch his belly every chance they get. Heh, he?doesn''t seem to hate the attention either.'' We continued testing out?and looking?through some of the skills and talked when I heard the voices of a small party growing closer. Walking around the side of the mountain-like corpse, was a small group of familiar faces except for one. Izzie, walking alongside?Pek?and several other followers, was also accompanied by?a dark skinned and silver-haired....elf. "Ugh...." Everyone following my line of sight too showed signs of not knowing what to think. The silence broke when one of the pixies spoke up. "Oh, you''re Clara right?" - Jana "Oh, so this is what you look like?" - Kai Listening to the Pixies I realized that the Dark Elf in front of me is the same Dark Elf who was stuck so close to Izzie, but now she¡¯s currently in her original body now.?Her level was 65 and she looked fairly young with a thin face. "Oh, yes this is the real me. It''s a pleasure to properly meet everyone thoroughly.¡± - Clara "Look at her ears. They¡¯re pointy." - Jade "Her voice is kinda funny too..." - Aurora "Hmph, and her boobs are big." - Cyanin "Hehe..." Teehee... "I...a?wha?wait now just a second! That isn''t nice to say?when meeting someone!...." - Clara "Nyahaha!¡± - Izzie The Dark Elf then began to move around oddly trying to say it was none of their business but I guess she¡¯s unaware of her¡­revealing¡­attire. Clara said that after the fight with Balor, she asked Izzie to journey with her to the floor where her dead brethren were to find her body in one of many stored in life capsules built to store bodies. She says that almost all of them were gone, but thinks that it is unusual. According to her there were quite a few Elves who didn''t wish to follow Balor, but their bodies were missing which leads her to believe they might still be alive. Even her voice has?now?changed and regardless of her stunning figure, it almost sounds?kinda ditzy for some reason.?She?has a thin waist, thin shoulders?and thin face,?but a very large bust. She¡¯s?now wearing black leather pants?and a white silk shirt that looks like ones the Arachnee?casually wear. ''We can only play that situation by ear because we already gave the elves the?opportunity?to?forsake?their alliance with?Balor. We still have to go out and find Balor''s forces he sent out of the dungeon too at some point or we¡¯ll soon have a disaster in our hands.¡¯ "Momo...We''ve been..momo..looking...momomo...you. Can you...mo ji?momo?jiji?move...Balors...mom...body." -?Pek "Yeah, nya! What he seemed to have said. I too wish to take some samples and Clara won''t even let me go near it without you moving it first so we should hurry it up nya!" - Izzie It seems they had each came here to see if I could actually move Balor''s corpse to another floor. Since the body is too large and the meat is priceless, Pek decided to set up a space on the ice floor where they will stockpile their meat in one of the large ice caves. They¡¯ve even prepared some kind of tarp to contain the blood that could potentially be worth who knows how many secrets. ''I have to admit, they¡¯re quite thorough. Even though each of these three don''t fit the bill for it, they¡¯re the top minds in the dungeon now.'' Since it was also time for me and Fenrir to try and see what we can get from this as well I was eager to help out. If we are to obtain something as powerful as a God of such frightening power over so many strong and powerful figures, then our odds of survival will also rise drastically. I tried to get my mother and some of those present to stay but none of them seemed willing at all...In fact when I even tried to notion for any of them to wait, I was met with each and every one of them yelling back at me for so many different reasons, I just gave up on trying to change their minds. So we left the floor with my mother and several pixies sitting on my shoulders and surrounding me?continued smiling....And the small crowd who also decided to follow as well..... It was only now that I had realized....''Huh, this could very well be my life from now on.....'' Just one of the random thoughts that crossed my mind as we each warped down to Floor 13. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After warping to the Ice Floor and finding the location that the three had prepared, we ended up being in a large cave they¡¯d personally tunneled into a mountain made entirely of ice. It''s where they store all the excess food as this dungeon not only has a unique weather system as many of the floors, but also have seasons so they attempted to save as much food as they can. Some floors would even change their respawn rates while some monsters¡¯ birthing rates and litter counts would increase randomly, drastically increasing the difficulty of constant change, never gave its citizens a chance for a moment of peace. When the populations became too overcrowded and pushed back, some large factions within the races actually hoarded it, and even though every race would get equal shares, it ended the day the Elkia died. With the leaders of the dungeon gone, a lot of the dynamic of this dungeon left with them and pushed almost every race to a crisis since not a lot of food was gathered in the large ice shelves and walkways. While the floor itself is bone-chilling cold, my mother and I are able to use fire magic while all the other races here seem to have some bit of resistance. I also had some of the pixies with Tanin to stand around my mother and Sting so they won¡¯t freeze to death. There is even a light ward in front of the cave like the one on Floor 1. This storage structure was even first proposed by the Elkia centuries ago. The Elkia truly were wise to think up all of these things. The Annunakes didn''t talk as if they were like normal priest types who sit in the back and heal either....It almost sounded like from Za Za and Adimar''s descriptions the Elkia were more of their teachers and even taught them how to fight, which seems strange to me. ''I can only hope to see their abilities with my own eyes someday but right now I simply can''t help myself from the sight in front of me.'' Just in front of me was the dead corpse of the Final Boss lying on a large tarp ready to be dissected....''Hmph, it''s funny that even though he¡¯s the ¡®mad scientist¡¯, he''s the one who gets thrown on the chopping block by his own experiments.'' There were a large number of Jiji, Neko and even some Reiki here as well. It didn''t take long for many of them to start applauding just as I walked in. Each of them looked at me with warm eyes and some had even come over to greet me by bowing excessively or wrapping their arms around my neck. Even with these kind gestures, they however looked at me as if they didn''t have the words to say what they wanted as they each stuttered or cried without warning. Some even tried to?apologize?to me for something they said or believed about me but couldn''t express just enough how thankful each of them were for their newfound freedom. Some of the men and even the women even swore to serve me for saving their ancestors and dead family members as they had nothing else to live for now. All I could say to them was to live in accordance to what their ancestors and loved ones intends, as each of them had fought and lived to honor their sacrifice....That much honestly is enough to me. After I got past each of them, Pek and some of his workers walked off and started to get to work. As did Clara and Izzie who seemed to almost be drooling looking at the corpse in front of them which isn''t something you ever look for in a girl, but who am I to talk. Pek said he would try to extract some meat from the open wounds since I had mentioned attempting my new Cooking Skill with his meat. He?twitched his mustache quite a bit just before readily agreeing. Even after their captor¡¯s death, he''s still working busy as ever like nothing had happened. He even offered to make each of us Fomorian fur-hooded cloaks like the ones they¡¯re wearing and we happily accepted and told him to not think much of it for the time being as we will speak on how to split everything up later. ''Oh, that''s a good idea....'' I then?told Pek to see if any of his race would be willing to use the rest of the fur to make blankets considering right now is a time many would need it.?He also seems to understand that just because of this being a joyous day things like trade between the races can''t just come to a?halt?either?and smiled while?agreeing. Pek seems to have a lot of orders now?for his inventions including from Adimar and some of the Annunakes....Za Za is now holding onto a large?carved bone with a?black metallic claw on one end like a spear. With the length of the claw it almost looks like a?naginata but Pek told us it¡¯s a failed invention since it¡¯s too heavy?and large?for him or any of his race to?wield?alone. Za Za?found it?against the side of?one of his?work?tables and asked if she could have it since she has no problem with the weight?at all... The bone-spear¡¯s blade is made from the Fomorian claw, which some of the Annunake maidens said helped the Jiji tremendously in fending off all the attacking undead earlier. They attached small, carved down claws and attached them to gloves but apparently only a few of the Jiji were even able to pick them up. ''I think they must have a skill like in the game... Regardless of the weight, maybe being a master craftsmen they can actually remove some, if not all of the requirements of using any items they craft....this would be something to look into.'' Hj?kk?even mentioned how dangerous Balor''s horns are and since a large piece was broken off, I might have to see if Pek could make a few weapons out of them for me. Izzie is just doing this for independent study but Clara is going to be extracting all the blood, skin and other?samples?she can to use in her Alchemical studies. She says with this she can attempt to make any sort of elixirs or even monster pills with some interesting effects. I warped on top of Balor''s massive 25 foot body, still with open wounds and cuts, bleeding dark metallic fluids. Fenrir leaped from the ground in one jump and landed around me and quickly walked over to my side. We don¡¯t know where to start looking for a big enough wound to harvest a Monster Core or hopefully something like a heart....I honestly don''t want to drink all of that stuff oozing out of his tears in his skin and scorched flesh. Kai and some of the floating Pixies above told me that they couldn''t feel the energy of a monster core coming from inside him, but they can feel some kind of powerful energy running through his entire body. ''Yah know, it''s highly possible this Final Boss doesn''t even have any bodily organs. Even when I was inside Balor I felt like I had fallen into just an empty void as vast as the endless space stretching between the stars. Only without any speck of light at all. Just an endless darkness making up his entire being....He is darkness. This corpse....Maybe it''s just a shell he made himself. I can''t begin to understand the biology of something that crawled out of the Abyss, but with his tough body, it''s going to be impossible to cut deep enough to find anything even if he does have organs and that would take quite a bit of time.'' Fenrir and I journeyed across Balor''s lifeless and heavily damaged corpse. His natural health recovery still worked even after shutting off his magic, but it slowed down drastically after being tortured from the power of Abgrund''s blade, capable of cutting even through space itself... ''He really did help in avenging his fallen master.'' When we both got to the shoulder, there was a large amount of dark blood leaking out where I had burst out of from Balor''s back even now. The blood and open wound however showed to have an almost unsettling residue drifting over it. Even in death, this psychopath still creeps me out. Regardless if his words were true or not, Fenrir and I need to obtain the abilities this entity holds. I understand the risks and I''m sure if Hj?kk were here she''d probably go loudly against it, but in a world like this, if you don''t continue to grow strong others will eventually catch up to you. The laws of this world are quite similar to the ones in Loki''s game. If one spends enough time and effort with a little luck along the way, they can truly become like gods. Fenrir looked up at me and wagged his tail?and we both crouched down over the open wound and started drinking the dark god''s?fresh?blood. The blood was warm and has a very bold taste almost like the sensation of eating a habanero pepper. I swallowed it down and could feel every drop as it went down from my throat to my stomach. I also decided to use my Vampirism skill to assist me some.
Darkness Resistance + 1
Congratulations! Your Darkness Affinity rose and you have learned a new skill! Dark Spear Intellect +?55?????? Wisdom + 25 Create a spear from complete darkness and punish your foes, piercing?straight through enemy magic. Will ignore?60% of all enemy?Defense. 15% Chance of wounds inducing a Fear status upon target. If?Fear?status is achieved, the Dark properties of the spear will invade the host''s mind and increasingly strain enemy magic lasting for 3 minutes. * Magical Attack Power will decrease by 33%. 10% Chance of halting wound recovery permanently. Skill Cost:?55,000 Mana Cool-down Time: 6 minutes
Darkness Resistance + 1
With every few gulps, my darkness resistance rose gradually and I could feel my whole body slowly growing warm.
Darkness Resistance + 1
Congratulations! Your Darkness Affinity has risen to 50% and you have learned a new skill! Dark Cloud Intellect + 75???? Wisdom +?50 Summon a cloud of the endless Night that will attack and devour all enemy magic. Skill Cost:?95,000 MP Cool-down Time:?12?Hours
Gulp...gulp...gulp... I simply continued gulping watching as status after status continued to fill my vision while I¡¯m trying not to think about the powerful and disgusting taste haunting my mouth right now.
Darkness Resistance + 1
Darkness Resistance + 1
This continued for some time and at uneven set?intervals?I would naturally learn a skill as my resistances continued to rise.
Congratulations! Vampirism has just advanced to Grade 2! 20% Chance of rendering the victim unable to use a random skill for 6 hours. 33% Increase in the absorption rate and control of the victim¡¯s blood flow. 33% Skill Cost reduction.
Congratulations! Your darkness affinity has risen and you have learned a new?skill! Dark Pulse Intellect + 75???? Wisdom + 150 Extend your powers over the dark and feel the darkness dwelling deep within all. Skill Cost:?100,000?MP Cool-down time: 30 minutes
Congratulations! You have just learned a Divine skill!???????? (Passive) Dark Apparitions It was said before there was ever light, there was an endless darkness that?blanketed?over all existence. The most ancient of elements with boundless?possibilities. Create anything to your desire from the infinite darkness at your command, and blanket the world in an unyielding night. Intellect + 100???? Wisdom + 100 Skill Cost: N/A Cool-down Time: None
At this point I could feel that my Demonic Absorption finally kicked in but I continued to use my Vampirism skill to drink more of Balor''s blood. I waited to look through each of the skills until my Darkness Resistance stopped?gradually increasing.
Darkness Resistance + 1
It continued on until my Resistance/Affinity with the Darkness element rose to 71%, making me incredibly difficult to harm by anything of Darkness element. I got two more abilities along the way and it then made me realize just how dangerous the Dark Mage class can be when fighting against other mages....their magical potential can become frightening just by raising their affinities, but what''s really scary is just how each of these abilities compliment the other.
Dark Wave Intellect?+ 100???? Wisdom +35 Send your enemies into eternal darkness?with the?crushing?power of the Night, devouring all in its path. Skill Cost:?250,000 MP Cool-down Time: 18?Hours
Unforgiving Eclipse Intellect + 100???? Wisdom + 85 All Damage and Status?enacted?upon?your enemies?by you?within the span of a day will be returned to?them?while in view of the?Eclipse of the Unforgiving Night. Skill Cost:?450,000 MP Cool-down Time: 3 Months
My entire brain was?reeling simply scanning the words through each of these skills and what it would mean. Not only has my my resistance to any dark monsters and attacks from here on out, but simply the limitless possibilities these skills could be used?for?especially the Divine skill from?Balor. My whole body feels burning inside, as my vision was almost starting to grow blurry. I looked over at Fenrir radiating dark black mist off his silver fur. It?that very similar to the Midnight Aura skill?and was quite thick,?but he too looked back at me with a confused look. I was trying to breathe, but I feel no oxygen coming into my lungs at all. A sudden burning sensation almost erupted from my chest to all the way through each of my veins throughout my body, attacking me with endless torment along the process. "Ah......AHHh...AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" A violent pain struck my entire body. It felt like the blood in veins were boiling and being constantly invaded by the overwhelming power of Balor''s blood was starting to become unbearable. I loudly screamed and fell down helplessly onto my knees. I couldn''t tell if the pain attacking my mind was slowly becoming one with me or eating it away. With the constant agony torturing my insides, I wasn''t sure if my body was now?rejecting?this foreign blood or if I was?in fact?dying. "Ruff!" "Vali!!!" "Vali! What''s wrong?! VALI!" "Valiiiiiiii!" Everything around me became suffocating and even with all the Pixies flying towards me and Fenrir coming to my aid,?I felt no one could help me with what¡¯s occurring inside of me. I?couldn''t tell them what was wrong?to ease their fears?and?before I could get a hold?over the pain,?everything suddenly went dark. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Loki''s POV: ¡°Mmpmohmph....mphph...¡± ¡®And they didn¡¯t even know?Hj?kk?was there due to that big?dummy¡¯s?shrouding spell not wearing off until the whole place crashed and burned....Mph..haha...¡¯ ¡°Wahahaha!!! Such splendid news!" I spun around in my chair until doing dozens of rotations with my hands raised victoriously through the air. After hearing Hj?kk¡¯ report over all her time spent in Balor''s hidden dungeon I couldn''t help but get excited hearing it. Currently I sat in my Manor in the Northern Summit of Asgard sitting in my own personal office which I created. Standing in front of me now was the purple-headed Valkyrie and she dawned a rather troubled look on her face. The light from Asgard¡¯s 3 moons began to shine in through the open-aired ceiling, illuminating my surroundings. ''¡­..Hmm oh well. How can I think of anything else at this?joyous?moment? Though?a bit of unexpected things seem to have escaped my hindsight,?this event has exceeded all of my wildest dreams. Truly though as a Champion, Vali has stepped out and gone above and beyond my original hopes for him would. He could essentially achieve things much quicker than I could have ever possibly imagined.... These humans truly are wondrous creatures. Regardless of their weaknesses, regardless of their lacking knowledge and short life spans....When pushed into a corner they choose to hide and await doom or leap into the fray for their cause without fear....Mph....Mphahaha..... The idiots here will surely not be able to ever see it coming mph...mphah....'' "WUahahahahah!" "Um, Lord Loki? What is so funny? I wasn''t done with my assessment." - Hj?kk "Mphph...So sorry?Hj?kk?please do continue...." I spun around in my chair as I simply could not contain my excitement. I originally thought the aid I had sent my champion would have provided him the ability to escape but who would have thought he used it instead to corner that Fallen beast and take his life instead..... ''Vali you truly are everything I have waited for these?long lost?megaanun?mph....I can''t let Hj?kk see my excitement or she''ll surely scold me again, but this is truly a joyous melody that bewitches my ears. I must reward him somehow for his remarkable accomplishment.'' The young Valkyrie then spoke of that rather?small?demi human?child?Vali had saved in one of the Human Kingdoms wound up being of the Aureum?Hunds?race....Such an interesting turn of events?to be honest....Couldn''t have ever foresaw that one but such a?talented?addition to the party....''I swore that?Lugh?character took that?oddball race?to live on one of his?suns?forever ago.?If I recall he adored such a race so much he hated the idea of other gods even getting close to them...Rather odd fellow, weird fetishes it seems with fuzzy things.....But who''d think with Vali''s high luck he''d attain such an interesting ally in such an unlikely place.?? ''Once those Aureum Hunds take a master, it''s for eternity. Very loyal beings....Vali always did show to latch onto others happiness other than experiencing it on his own. Humans with tragic pasts always seem to find others broken like them to combine their broken pieces together.....Interesting evolutionary means of survival though.'' Even though?Lugh?wasn¡¯t?always been known for his prowess on the battlefield, he demanded respect for his glorious power. Those Golden Hounds were practically his executioners...While not powerful enough to kill a God....It sure is enough to hold one down and these things would do just?that,?absorb all attacks?one could dish?out before being impaled by the?Sun God''s spear. "Vali has seemed to have acquired quite the interesting entourage indeed?mphmph....?He even got such an interesting regeneration skill....While it''s not as functional as the Reversion magic?you Valkyries?use this is something that will truly fill his enemies with dread...If only he could have met a?Colossal?Hydra in that old god¡¯s?little?laboratory." "Even if there was I don''t believe Vali has the mental capacity to control multiple versions of himself after being regrown."?- Hj?kk "Mmm, you have a point. Ugh! This is still so astounding indeed. I wish I could send Balor?flowers or something for sending my Champion such?incredible gifts muhahaha!?First a Death Master of the God King Hades and not just any Reaper but the famed Death himself. Now with that old thing''s death he could gain a talent from a God who once reigned?supreme?as Ultimate ruler over the Dark World after?that old fool?crawled?out from the Abyss.....Hoh! My Champion is going to be feared by the masses! Armies of millions shall simply tremble and?retreat at mere whispers of his name!!!" I swiveled my chair around?in circles?and looked back at the Valkyrie maiden who has been with me for as long as I care to look back. She¡¯s starting to show more and more emotion in the recent days. Perhaps the influence of living on the mortal realms is starting to affect her.... "You seem rather happy after all the recent trouble you''ve caused.... I don''t think Tyr or Baldr are going to let this one go, Loki. Regardless of your relations with Thor and Lady Frigg, with your....jokes, I feel that some of the other Gods might try to harm you my Lord." -?Hj?kk "Hmmm? Oh why whatever do you mean?" "I''m serious Lord Loki! They seemed very angry this time." - Hj?kk ''Hahaha! They did seem angry didn''t they? Well they were the ones who wished to play a game?mmphmmphahaha!!!....'' Thinking back to what happened just before Hj?kk came into Valhalla¡¯s great hall where a large party of everyone in Asgard had gathered. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ¡°Mmpmhmph....mphph...¡± ¡®I only sent my help to him so he''d have a good chance to flee, but who''d think he''d use it to finish?old Grandaddy?Balor?off?instead!?My Champion is indeed growing at quite alarming rates it even gives me the chills muhahaha....haha...'' ¡°Wahahaha!!!¡± ¡°Just what is so funny,?Loki?¡± -Freya ¡°Hah. Almost spilt some wine on?yourself?there, brotha.¡± - Thor Thor walked up?to?where I was standing?on the open balcony?and took a breath of fresh air?before us. The 3 moons of Asgard towered over the?violet?sky and beamed down in yellow, red and a golden radiance that illuminated the entire Grand Hall. So massive, it?reveals?the true beauty and might that is Asgard herself. ¡°Hah...?Such a beautiful day in Valhalla.?Cheers,?little buddy.¡±?- Thor I cheered Thor and took a swig of the delectable new vintage I?recently?scored. ¡®Hah, such a lovely taste. This big lug always had that big smile on his dumb face....?Hard not to love him though.¡¯ I then noticed Freya had risen from her place on the red floating coach and walked over towards?us,?leaving?behind a trail of eyes from all the gods?watching her slender figure strut across?the Grand Hall. All the eyes in Valhalla can¡¯t help but linger at?her delicate and shining silhouette as she left the large number of?suitors?upset on the couch behind her. ¡®I swear this woman¡¯s a slut,?though she swore she¡¯s been celibate for all these millennia.... While I don¡¯t know about that,?I do know she certainly doesn¡¯t act like it.¡¯ ¡°Why,?if it isn¡¯t Thor and Loki.?What are you two so cheery about?on?this lovely day?¡± - Freya ¡°Ah Mistress Freya.¡°?- Thor Thor went in and greeted Freya with a kiss on the cheek while keeping his quite bulbous hands he lugs around all the time firmly gripped on my shoulder. ¡°We were just enjoying this lovely view on such a?beautiful?day. Is it not a grand day to be from?Asgard!¡±- Thor Thor then rose his glass and everyone raised their mugs and glasses in unison and toasted.... I have to hand it to?him;?he always did have a way with crowds. Freya then took a drink and looked back?at?me in an odd way. ¡°So...Loki.¡±?- Freya ¡°Freya....¡± ¡°Baldr was just telling me about his Champion¡¯s achievements and exploits in the central continent as the number one youth in one of the finest Academies in the whole world.?That¡¯s?when?I thought to myself you know?whose?champion I would like to hear about.....¡± - Freya ¡°.... Why it couldn¡¯t be?mine,?would it Mistress Freya?¡± As she nodded,?I?simply took another drink of my glass and continued to laugh only to myself. ¡°Come to think of it little buddy why haven¡¯t you chosen a Champion until now...? Your?divine power is lacking a little these days,?and you could sure use it to draw more faith towards you from the?mortals.... You know in Donner¡¯s guild there is this exceptional youth who would be perfect?¡± - Thor ¡°Perfect huh?¡± ¡°Of course...Brilliant fighter?with a bright future ahead. And if you do then our Champions could be buddies just like you and me.¡± - Thor ¡®This isn¡¯t the first time I¡¯ve heard this pitch before.... Soon he¡¯s gonna bring up something about his Cham...¡¯ ¡°Hey, you know why Indra hadn¡¯t shown up today don¡¯t you? Hah! It¡¯s because he and I set up a meeting between our Champions and Donner kicked his little Champion¡¯s ass. He won¡¯t even show his face to me now after proclaiming so much arrogance. Ugh, priceless¡­¡±?- Thor This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Oh?mphmphmph...¡± - Freya ¡°Well if you¡¯d both excuse me...I need to?refresh?my glass.¡± They both nodded and I left them there and walked over to the banquet table of fresh Garuda bird grilled golden and a wine table full of liquor collected throughout all the most lustrous of mythical or divine vineyards. I approached towards the long banquet table and picked up a particular vintage from roughly 6,000 years ago in the?Alps?of?Bacchus¡¯?prized vineyards. A particular location that?he?keeps secret from the other?gods, one he will not part with willingly. In fact I don¡¯t think he sells this liquor to anyone and is only for his private collection. Picking up the bottle,?annoyance crept on my?face. ¡®Hm?!?...It¡¯s empty!¡± ¡°Ah! Skuld,?where are you going?¡± -?Baldr ¡°I¡¯m getting another drink.¡± - Skuld The small green-haired?Skuld walked over to me and picked up the same wine bottle as I did and then looked inside of it, ignoring me entirely. ¡°Ah! Nuts, that was some good stuff...?Mmmm?What¡¯s?with you?¡± -?Skuld ¡°So you¡¯re the one who stole my wine. You know what happens to thieves,?Skuld? They end up¡­¡± - Loki ¡°You¡¯re not about to go into one of your long rants again because if you are,?that¡¯s fine,?but I need to find a bigger bottle first.¡± - Skuld Skuld then shook her head sarcastically and started to fill her goblet up in front of me. This one¡¯s nothing like Hj?kk. I won her from a bet with Baldr and now I have two Valkyrie guardians instead of one. She however is rather..... ¡°Loki what¡¯s a good vintage??If I?gotta?listen to more of your bull,?I¡¯m thinking....A red...Hm.¡±-?Skuld ¡°Try?that one,?from Dionysus Plateau.¡° ¡°Ah! Perfect!¡± - Skuld ¡®That¡¯s right....Drink up.¡¯ ¡°Oh what are you two acting so fussy about?¡± - Bacchus Walking up to the large banquet table was Bacchus followed behind by two women, while he too was looking at the liquor display showcasing each?individual grape?used to make the wine out in front. ¡°Oh hello Bacchus.?We were just having a debate on good wines.¡± - Skuld ¡°Oh,?good wines?huh??And what do you two know about good wines?¡± - Bacchus Bacchus always has a sort of lazy but sarcastic air about him.?Never really cared for the guy. ¡°Loki actually?knows?quite a bit. This wine over here was his and it¡¯s the best stuff I¡¯ve ever tasted. It¡¯s like I was sitting?on?one?of Odin¡¯s flying chariots galloping through the sky?feeling?a?gentle but cool breeze?brushing?past my face....Too bad it¡¯s all gone.¡± - Skuld ¡°Oh, the best ever you say??I find that?intriguing hmph...?let me see.?Hmm,?¡®unmarked¡¯ bottle?that''s odd.....¡± - Bacchus ¡°Well as you both were.¡± As?I?started?to?take my leave¡­I could still hear Bacchus complaining about something behind me. ¡°Wait,?this?wine?!?LOKI!¡± - Bacchus ¡°Hmph....¡± As I continued to walk forward I could see in the distance there sitting alone on a bench was Jupiter. Her head turned and then gaze towards me. She took notice of me the moment I glanced?at?her. I gave her a smile and then turned to look where I was going when an image of a short but dressed in full white armor and shining helm?emitting its very own?natural?light. ¡°Loki.¡±?- Heimdall ¡®Ah!¡¯ ¡°You do know.... I really hate it when you do that, Heimdall.?Really is quite the annoying little habit of yours....¡± I swear he gets off on surprising others like he¡¯s Asgard¡¯s own personal watch dog. He however seems?to be in a rather bad mood today. ¡°Loki,?what have you been up to?¡± - Heimdall ¡°Oh Heimdall, why?whatever?do you mean?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t play the fool,?I¡¯ve?seen a lot of interesting things these days, you¡¯d be surprised what?won¡¯t?escape my sight as much as you try to hide it.¡± - Heimdall ¡°My,?my,?my the words of a true pervert.?This interrogation?come?with a strip search? Cause I don¡¯t feel comfortable giving my consent.¡± Heimdall?grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the edge of the sky bridge connecting to the side of the large open balcony of?Valhalla¡¯s?main hall. "Oooh...Quite the long way down huh whitey..." ¡°You think I¡¯m joking? I¡¯ve heard you¡¯ve been making pets, and?they¡¯re?not in Asgard,?so where?in the?Divines?are they?¡± - Heimdall ¡°Oh yes, well on Middle Earth obviously...Growing. An adorable wolf?cub?and an?eensy?weensy,?itty bitty little?ophidian...Can''t tell you?enough?how small?in fact. But?I don¡¯t see why my pet projects have need of your concern,?Heimdall.¡± Heimdall¡¯s?short?hair?and shiny?white skin started to all glow at once, fluttering around as if a wind?was?born?from?his?fury?alone. ¡°Is?that so? I just got a message from the?Ladies?of Fate...They never talk to anyone. And now they¡¯re asking me to start looking for you. Loki, if you¡¯re doing something to greatly alter or affect?causality over Middle Earth,?I swear I¡¯ll banish you from the Divines myself!¡± - Heimdall I put my hand on Heimdall¡¯s wrist and gripped it firmly to quickly removed it from my shoulder. ¡°Now, now Heimdall....(squeeze)..... You¡¯re starting to sound like old man Chronos talking about causality and the like and he¡¯s weird. And no one talks to him.¡± ¡±You still think this is all a joke. Everything''s always just a game to you." - Heimdall ¡°LOKI!¡± - Tyr A loud roar came from the skies causing both Heimdall and I too turn and?see the source. ¡®Hmph...Oh this is a bit earlier than I anticipated....¡¯ Flying on a chariot with?a?galloping horse came in from the distant skies and?arrived at?the?open balcony of the main hall.?Riding on the golden chariot was a large red-haired?man with massive muscles and dark bronze armor?glistening?in the light of the room. He has an unkempt red beard and came roaring in with a loud shout while holding what I assume is the rest of his beard?hair?I happened?to trim?off last night. ¡®Hm....Seems he connected the dots a bit faster than I expected...Good for him.¡¯ I could hear the thunderous roars of the chariot flying through the?violet?sky from the mounts¡¯ every step of their hooves. Our famed Asgardian stables aren''t just for show as he seemed to arrived here pretty quick all the way from Olympus. I took my hand out of Heimdall¡¯s left pocket and replaced his special watch given to him by Chronos with something else. ¡°Tyr... What¡¯s with...What¡­¡­??¡­What happened to?your?beard¡­old?friend?¡± - Thor Thor trying?to?contain his laughter?stared dumbfounded at the disgruntled and homely appearance of?a?warrior pal,?Tyr. ¡°My beard??Funny you should ask. Loki! I just found out?from Olympus that the?Sisters?of?Fate¡¯s?Sacred Shears?went?missing after?you?came and spoke with them last. I even saw you at Mount Olympus just before?then!?So who and what else could have cut my beard last night. Loki don''t you dare move, I want some answers! I¡¯ve been growing that beard long since before you were even born,?you little?trickster!¡± - Tyr Just?the?thunderous sound?of his roars?alone?sent gusts of wind?and endless pressure of his might?rushing?past?me. Everyone in the whole hall then widened and focused?their eyes at?me. I could see that Heimdall too was shocked from his face.?And?then I took a big gulp of my glass. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re so mad about. That thing was starting to?become?rather gross I was doing you and us all a favor.¡± I then took out the golden Shears out of my jacket pocket which then grew to its larger, original size and tossed?it?over to Heimdall. Their appearance looked nothing more than?like?a pair of long golden scissors. Nothing spectacular about the look of these shears yet they hold the power to sever practically anything in existence so it is looked at as quite the treasure throughout the?Divine?Realms....Well I guess anyone would get a little pissy?if their?weapon?of mass destruction?suddenly?went?missing. Every eye in Asgard was then on me and the golden?shears?in Heimdall¡¯s hands admitting my guilt for the deed. ¡°Funny with all the hindsight Heimdall you couldn¡¯t figure that one out a little sooner....You''re getting rusty old friend.?Give these back to the 3 sisters for me and tell them I said thanks for the tea and I had a lovely time.¡± As I started to walk away, I couldn¡¯t help but laugh to myself?endlessly.... And in 3...2...1.. ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re?going,?you puny little trickster??This time¡­I¡¯m really gonna?beat ya black and blue!¡± - Tyr ¡®And now Thor will engage and stop Tyr in...3...2¡­¡¯ ¡°Tyr,?now?now! Not the time to stop a good party is it? And no offense?brother,?but....The beard was getting a little unkempt.¡±- Thor ¡°Th...Thor??You know how long I''ve been growing my beard for....That little punk thinks he can just cut?Sheila?and get away?with it.¡° - Tyr "¡¯Sheila¡¯? You actually named it? Hahaha oh I''m sorry that''s actually pretty funny." "You little bastard god, come here!"?- Tyr Thor then with a big smile went over and placed his hand on Tyr¡¯s shoulder and smiled at him. ¡°Ah come now. It¡¯s just?hair. Besides you look much better now than you were before. What do you say Freya?¡± - Thor The mistress herself then walked over in her skin-tight long blue dress that looked to have been made?of an intangible, almost invisible substance?while also covering up her dignity. ¡°I personally like it. Makes you look quite dignified and handsome in fact.¡± - Freya Everyone around who had been chuckling to themselves and looking at the heated tensions then started to smile at Tyr¡¯s rather simple mood change upon gazing at the sight of a beauty complimenting him. ¡°Oh well... I guess, it was ...getting a bit long?hauhauh...¡± - Tyr ¡®Such simpletons,?really.¡® I smiled towards Thor and he looked back at me and winked while raising his?mug?and toasted to everyone....yet again... ¡°Now Tyr I was just telling Freya we should play a game to liven the mood,?so?what do you think?¡± - Thor ¡°A game huh? How¡¯s bout after I punch this little prankster in the mouth first. Even if it needed to be cut...That¡¯s no reason to go ahead?and?do it.¡°?- Tyr ¡°How¡¯s about we do play a game?¡± - Baldr ¡®Bout time.....Hmph.¡¯ ¡°Baldr??You too?¡±?- Freya ¡°Hmm,?why not??It¡¯ll liven the already sullen mood. Why not have a game,?Tyr and Loki? That way the winner can end their grudges.?Nice and simple, no?¡±?- Baldr BING! ¡°Huh?¡± - Baldr ¡°Oh, look everyone. Baldr?just?had an idea!¡± To my comment everyone looked looked above Baldr¡¯s head and saw a small light bulb blinked on and hovering over him. ¡°Yes, yes....?You, and your jokes.¡±?- Baldr ¡°Hmph...¡± - Freya All eyes of Valhalla then turned and looked towards the Mistress Freya?who turned?red and hid her face behind Thor¡¯s robust and muscular torso. Thor,?trying to shield her embarrassment,?addressed the crowd in the grand hall. ¡°Mmm...Gulp...I like it! Let¡¯s have a game going. Loki vs.?Tyr and we¡¯ll all take bets. Gulp...Now!?What are we playing?¡± - Thor Thor then finished off his glass of wine and extended his long muscular arms around Freya and Tyr at the same time. ¡°Hah.?A game??Whatever I don¡¯t even care anymore. Fine let¡¯s ¡®play a game¡¯ I swear......?I''m getting?a drink.¡± -?Tyr Tyr started to walk towards the food table and everyone continued to look towards him and myself. ¡®I swear playing games with these gods has never gets old but in all honesty....Beating these old, powerful and yet incredibly arrogant?buffoons has started to grow dull these?past few eons.....But now?I¡¯m simply just too excited about the coming days....¡¯ Freya was thinking to herself when she asked what game it should be and everyone started pitching out ideas. ¡°Mmm drinking contest.¡±?- Skuld ¡°Weapon fighting contest?¡±?- Baldr "Dance contest..." - Bragi ¡°Now?now, Why not let the two?decide?¡± - Freya Everyone in the hall then started to agree and nod their heads. ¡°Hmph¡­?I don¡¯t care what it is....Why not let Loki decide??He¡¯s the one always playing those annoying ¡®games¡¯.?Hmph...Seriously.?But I get to decide the punishment if I win!¡±?- Tyr ¡®There it is.....That overwhelming confidence they all rely on. It¡¯s simply nauseating listening to something as lowly as a plebeian god dare speak to everything in its path as if he¡¯s almighty. Tyr isn¡¯t even a High God and he speaks as if he holds the mantle of God King himself..... It¡¯s this?overconfidence?that will be all of their undoing sooner or later. The air in Asgard?is?simply suffocating?due to these lowly fools basking in their arrogance, in their ignorance. Oh how I do enjoy knocking them off their high horse now and again.¡¯ ¡°Hmmm, as I recall, I watched a movie the other day and saw an interesting game I just couldn¡¯t wait to try. Are you interested?¡± To my words,?Thor, Freya, Baldr and everyone else in the Grand Hall set their eyes on Tyr with a smile thinking of the possibilities of my games everyone in Asgard always?interesting. ¡°Hmph...?A movie??What¡¯s that?supposed?to?be??Well whatever, I¡¯m?not?scared?to play any games with you Loki as long as?I?know what¡¯s in store for the loser. Let¡¯s do it. What¡¯ll it be?¡±? - Tyr I walked towards the floating red coaches circling around a large round table. I sat down and ushered Tyr to walk over and join me to a game. ¡°Ugh, no one understands me....Well whatever. I didn¡¯t get the name of the game but?let¡¯s?call it...The Princess Bride.¡± ¡°The Princess Bride?¡±?- Thor ¡°The?what?¡±?- Tyr All in the hall started to gather around and question as to what this game?is,?whether?it¡¯s?a battle of strength, stamina, heroism, or intellect. ¡°How do you play?¡± - Freya ¡°This better not be just some bullshit you come up on the spot again.¡± - Tyr ¡°I said?it?was only that one time?but you constantly bring that up....Fine I¡¯ll explain the rules first....Skuld could you bring me a bottle of wine? Try that bottle you poured yourself if there¡¯s any left.¡± Skuld,?while keeping?the?rude look on her face,?walked back over with the bottle of wine and I poured two glasses out. ¡°Ah...I swear I can¡¯t wait till Hj?kk comes back.?You?always treat me like?a mere?servant.¡± - Skuld I then took out a small yellow vile from my jacket pocket. ¡°This is a very concentrated and potent poison I developed myself quite recently. Due to a mistake that happened in a refining process of a new product I plan on unveiling in my next business venture here in?Asgard, I came into custody of this new and interesting toxin that can attack even a divine¡¯s biology in a rather interesting way. Oh, don¡¯t worry everyone it¡¯s not lethal or anything. This however will induce a violent wave of vomiting out the contents of your?large,?godly?stomachs.....While also defecating out the?wastes?accumulated?throughout your bodies over the vastness of time, which is something I¡¯d assume many of you haven¡¯t done since.....well,?forever.?Mphm?mphm....¡± I?poured out the contents into one of the glasses?and?raised?up both cups. Knowing that as a Divine we don¡¯t have the need to dispose of waste within our bodies as we can simply?convert?it into?substance to?nourish?our?skin?due to?the high quality ingredients used?of?whatever we?take in. However also as a Divine we don¡¯t ever have a need to eat or drink but we simply do it for the enjoyment or?craving we?all feel to obtain?in?some?form of bliss. We?never?grow full nor do we ever grow hungry. We eat until we grow tired of the?taste,?not for the sake of sustenance. However, everyone?here had?plenty of food and drinks in the last few hours in celebration and enjoyment of a good gathering. So I¡¯m sure everyone has eaten and drank quite a bit.... As the realization to my words?widen?everyone¡¯s eyes. As I reached to hand Tyr the first glass I then made it reappear and float overhead. I then did the same with the one in my hand. With all eyes in the room on the two glasses I started to switch the locations of each glass and make them appear and reappear in the sky for several breaths and then brought them back to the table.?One in front of Tyr and one in front of me. ¡°Now...The winner will obviously watch the loser vomit in a painful and embarrassing state?depending on Tyr¡¯s choosing,?while also experiencing some other embarrassing events over the next several minutes. So now make your choice. Where is the poison? The game ends when you take the glass of your choosing while?I¡¯ll drink from the other and then.....?The big finale.¡± ¡°¡±¡±¡°.....¡±¡±¡±¡± Everyone continued to silently?stare?at the two cups trying to?figure out where the poison is.?No one has any clue which glass is poisoned and which glass is not due to my skillful spatial magic display, I however made one reappear just as it disappeared each time simply to make everyone assume they had the correct glass. ¡°Wait how do we know you don''t have the antidote or something like that?¡± - Baldr "Oh there is no antidote for this. However, it''s not really a poison either, but more or less of a detox if you will. Those who take in this particular concoction will find each of their divine energies practically removed of any pollution or foreign substance as it even immediately rejuvenates the youth and vitality of your skin....Though at an embarrassing price." ¡°How interesting...¡± - Freya ¡°Hah! I like it.?Such an interesting?gamble.¡±?- Thor ¡°Precisely....¡± ¡®You¡¯d think that wouldn¡¯t you?hmph....?¡¯ I smiled at Tyr who sat alongside Baldr while they continued to look back and forth between the glasses listening to everyone behind them guessing which glass to take. The cheers continued for over a minute as I simply continued to grin waiting for Tyr to correctly guess which glass to drink. Tyr then picked up the glass in front of?him?and smiled. ¡°So that¡¯s your choice then?¡± ¡°Hmph... I¡¯m not scared.?Yes,?choose this glass. Let¡¯s see what you got,?little god.¡± - Tyr I picked up the glass in front of me and smirked and?offered?cheers with our glasses. ¡°Down the hatch.¡± Gulp...gulp...gulp. ¡°Mmm I must say,?good stuff.....You know Tyr I actually read an interesting bit of literature about you the other day from another world that would do you good to read.?Had to do with you and a peculiar wolf.¡± ¡°What? What are you yammering on about? How long?¡®til?it¡¯s?supposed?to kick in anyways?¡± - Tyr ¡°Oh...I don¡¯t know...few seconds at most.¡± Everyone then widened their eyes and started to look towards me and Tyr with anticipation as we both sat on the couch opposite of the other. ........ .............. Everyone waited but the grand finale that I spoke of did not come. ¡°Hmph...I guess?your?poison or whatever just doesn¡¯t have enough juice to do anything to us?Gods.¡°?- Tyr ¡°Tch... And here I was getting excited. Thanks for nothing,?Loki.¡± -?Baldr ¡°Hmm...How?strange, I figured by now it?should¡¯ve?easily...¡± ¡°HOUGHHHH!!!!¡±?- Tyr Purple veins appeared on the red-headed god¡¯s face and it appeared like his whole face?changed to a?deep red?as?he turned to the side and roared. The contents of his stomach then evacuated and I then opened up the space of that vomit heading towards Freya to then reappear on the other side of Baldr. ¡°Wha...Ahhhhh!?Loki seriously? It went all over me!¡± -?Baldr ¡°Well,?looks like I win then.¡± I stood up and nodded towards everyone and started to walk away slowly while I could see the faces of Skuld, Freya and even Thor slightly redden?from?looking?at?Tyr firmly holding his masculine chest and heaving out large buckets worth of red?wine.?I?think I saw an entire Garuda leg fly out of there too..... "Hmph...You need to chew your food more, my?slightly less bearded?friend." HJJOOOOHH!!!! He continued to hurl in loud?wails?that started to shake the entirety of Valhalla while slamming his large fists into the floor, exploding a chain of cracks and shattered stone?it with each swing. ¡°Well I must attend to?matters?elsewhere. Was a fine day indeed Thor, until again.¡± As I?was about?to walk away,?Freya extended?her slender hand?outward to?try and?stop me. ¡°Loki, you seemed quite confident. How did you know Tyr would choose the glass in front of him?¡°?- Freya As everyone in the hall started to?grow silent,?I smiled and?told them the plain truth, both glasses were poisoned. ¡°What? Wait how? I saw you put the poison in only one of them?¡± - Thor ¡°Wait both glasses were poisoned...? You said the vile had the poison and you put it into the?first?cup not both? And why aren''t you throwing up then?¡± - Baldr "Ah...Glad you ask Baldy.?To drink something. The proper definition would be when one swallows a substance?until entering into the stomach?which is what I did. I never?stated that after?fulfilling?such actions one couldn''t say....open up a space in?their?stomach?so it wouldn''t be absorbed into?their?body after?swallowing?it....I don''t know why you decided to go above and beyond the rules, but?bravo?to you." To my words Baldr as well as the gods near him all twitched upon hearing my words realizing once again they''d been played. ¡°Lo...hoghgh!?LOki!¡± - Tyr Tyr continued to howl and hurl up what seemed like barrels and barrels of wine onto the floor. "Wait...Then how did you poison both glasses? What was in that bottle?" - Freya ¡°Oh....yes well that vial I said was a highly concentrated version of the said?detox?now, didn''t I??If anything it just accelerates the effects of the divine mmm?laxative if you will.?No...What?I mean?to say?is?the wine in that bottle already had the detox remedy in it. So Tyr just seemed to have picked the one with the accelerant in it is all....¡± ¡°¡±¡±¡°......¡±¡±¡±¡± As everyone continued to think about the situation that had occurred,?they realized that?at some point I must have already poisoned that bottle for this reason. And in 3...2¡­1......... ¡°Wait! LOKI! You poisoned the?whole?bottle?!?WHEN?!!¡± - Skuld I could see the small green?Valkyrie?start to have her rosy?red?cheeks turn green as well. I however assume this is due to the poison?should now?be.... HJOOO!!!! ¡°Lo...LOKgagghhh..Uhhh¡­Loki,?you bastard?god,?are you?kidding me?!?Why did you poison the whole?bottle?!¡±?-?Skuld ¡°You know what I was going to say before Skuld?before you so rudely interrupted...That thieves get their just deserts. And now you were?supposed?to spew out?the said?desserts?all onto the floor and it was going to be funny....But?you haven''t eaten any....so?disappointing. Count yourself lucky you two didn¡¯t eat anything?too long ago or?this would have turned into a much more embarrassing show.... Well the moral of the story Skuld is,?don¡¯t steal my things.¡± ¡°Isn''t that just like cheating though Loki? Whether it''s not outright lying wouldn''t...HUoooOOOOO!¡± -?Baldr A large red flood came exploding out the mouth of Baldr and onto the body of the crumbling Tyr. "Wha....oghhh....Baldr!" - Tyr ¡°WHa....When did?I....?!¡± -?Baldr ¡°Ah, you must have?drunk?the wine Skuld took from me. I might have guessed that would happen....¡± Baldr continued to?radiate a light more bright than any sun?in the known universe around?his body causing practically all those around him to shield their eyes.?What they could see through the blinding light however would be Baldr?vomiting?out the contents of his stomach?on to?the golden table?in front?of him. ¡°Wait isn¡¯t that a bit?unfair Loki? I?admit?that your games?one?would always have to listen well and follow the rules accordingly?and it leads to a lot of fun for everyone over?eternity. However,?isn''t this a bit like cheating?this time?as you had prior conflicting knowledge that you purposely withheld?¡± - Freya ¡°She¡¯s right, and that¡¯s not even your wine Loki!¡± - Bacchus ¡°Tomatoes....Toe?matos?Bacchus....And when did I ever mention in the rules that none of the glasses were already poisoned? It¡¯s not my fault you all inferred?that they weren''t.?If you were curious you should have asked....?Hmphmph...That''s why I like playing my games in hopes of teaching you?folks?to use your brains a little more often than your big mouths?mphmph .... Well,?look?who?it is,?Hj?kk here?to?whisk?me away....Ah I¡¯m becoming a little drunk.¡± - Loki At this moment the purple-haired?Valkyrie in her platinum battle armor came walking across the grand hall?to?us. To my words everyone in Valhalla turned and followed my line of sight?and walks?in the very same Valkyrie. ¡°Ah....Lord Loki, I came to.....What''s going on?¡± - Hj?kk Upon seeing the hilarious sights, the young Valkyrie maiden too does not know how to respond. ¡°Ah just playing a game Hj?kk....Good day everyone...Thor, Mistress Freya....Good playing with you, Tyr and Baldy Waldy. We should do it again sometime soon.....¡± ¡°Loki!?I''m gonna spank your bottom black and blue?one of these days I catch you and take that s?HHHhoooughhhH!!!!!¡±?-?Tyr ¡°UughhhH....Just wait...Ahhhhh?PPppppPPPPOOOOOOFF!!?You win this time...Loki...?But it''s on!?Just like back in?Valley of Nysa, I''ll get even!?Auhghghh!...¡± -?Baldr "Hj?kk...That...ah that bastard drugged me! HOooghhhh!!!! Just because I have to guard you doesn''t mean I won''t beat on you later hhoooooooo!!!!!!" - Skuld "Stop stealing my wine Skuld." "It''s not even your wine! ¡­Why is everyone looking at me like that...??It''s really my wine!" - Bacchus We continued to walk past as I could tell Hj?kk was giving awkward sympathies to her older sister from her expression as we silently walked by her and everyone else. I could still hear the beautiful melodic wails, thunderous shouts of vomit and flatulence, shaking the very entirety of Asgard! Such?a beautiful music to my ears. It was as if the light from a star exploded behind me as I could hear Baldr''s roars and farts all the way until we got back to my Manor. No one seemed to have anything left to say as I continued to exit the Grand Hall of Valhalla with Hj?kk heading my?Manor?on the Eastern Summit. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Hahaha! Oh why so serious Hj?kk? You think I''m scared of them??If I don¡¯t pester them, then I''d grow bored from the span of this endless eternity....Besides, you shouldn''t worry about such needless things. Hmph, if half the Gods in all the Divines knew just how powerful I truly am, they¡¯ll all become incredibly nervous mphmph......But it is always more fun playing the fool, as no one will see it coming. Oh which reminds me I need to fill in our little Champion about such wisdom as well, as being underestimated can be a powerful tool that could aid him in his journey." "I suppose... I know at times Baldr can most certainly deserve it, but I wish you would stop making my job so difficult for me as your guardian Valkyrie." - Hj?kk "Oh you''re really starting to act like a human now....To us Gods, these are just simple pranks and games of amusement. Baldr''s known to the masses as being a pure soul at heart and of a forgiving nature....I simply enjoy pushing his buttons.?But we?aren''t as fickle to attempt murder on another Divine over the extent of?such things.?We got over the taste of slaughtering our fellow kind long ago, so we know just the dangerous roads it might lead.... Besides you act as if they aren''t begging for it!" I noticed the young Valkyrie¡¯s face was still of worry, making this seemed to not be the extent of her troubles. I asked her what else she had to share for me and she grew quiet for a short time while looking down at the floor below her. She really is starting to show much more emotion than before. Even when Baldr and I would get into our shenanigans, she would normally brush it off like all our other past harmless disputes. Whether she doesn''t know this or not the War of the Gods all started not for petty conflicts and arguments on territory or those of the mortal realm...In fact it isn''t something that one could learn the real reason while reading a book or listening to legend....Because those would all be lies.?It was due to the simple fact that the Gods in our long?eternal lives?have a?difficulty with something that no one other than us can understand.... Some of the Gods have grown to such an extent in?their?Divinity, even they don¡¯t know how to?die?if they ever grew?tired of living. But then?one day....we each?had?discovered that beings?not much?different than us from Asgard had the ability to kill one another and that alone is what?intoxicated?us?of the very idea of something new. Something different from the endless?eternity?we are practically trapped in without being aware of it at all. Never enjoying the beauty of life as if it was our last. Something that has truly opened my eyes these past few centuries studying these humans. Even if it isn''t spoken of or written down in history...That?was?truly what started?the War of the Gods all those years ago. This simple fact was?enticing?to us all....But no one not even the God Kings who reign over the Divine Realms remember or know what?sparked such a war.....Lately however I''ve been having some growing?suspicions to this.... Now however so much has changed it would take a lifetime to?explain?all that had come and broken the very realms we?reign over and draw worship from. After a long silence,?Hj?kk?finally spoke as she looked up from the floor. "¡­.What''s happening to Vali?" - Hj?kk She then with a serious face peered right back at me with deathly concern. "You must be more specific when you ask questions, Hj?kk...." "...Balor?said that his inherited ability does more than just absorb skills.... Is that true? I thought it was something?Balor said to provoke us, but now.... Something''s happening to him. I saw it.... Even when he¡¯s trying to sleep, I can see the same darkness that bled off Balor''s body attaching itself to him at times. And like I said before about that night he killed those Dark Elves and the Annunakes¡¯ previous leader.... It...It was like he was someone else entirely,?I¡­I?don''t understand." - Hj?kk Seeming confused by even her own observations, I guess I can understand. Vali gave signs of this whenever I had first started to observe him back in his world. However, now with his new environment and constant traumatic events he''s suffered, it was only a matter of time before something triggered a response.... According to Hj?kk, for a brief period of time she felt that Vali''s presence?changed to someone else¡¯s entirely when he killed the previous leader of the Annunakes in that dungeon. Hj?kk thinks that during this time judging by his voice, tone, and entire atmosphere was from someone else entirely. After he consumed the leader¡¯s heart,?Vali''s whole attitude returned to normal,?frightened by his own appearance and ran off...... "I don''t suppose you would understand as you have had little to no contact with the human population before, have you Hj?kk? ...Yes well, this is actually something that happens quite often in Vali''s home world and isn''t alien to this one as well. The clinical term his planet would refer to it is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD for short...But for Vali''s current condition, it¡¯s actually closer to Dissociative Personality Disorder... Or at least it appears to have developed into something of the like, but still not complete. Well not yet anyway." "What do you mean exactly?¡± -?Hj?kk "Hah.....Oh Hj?kk. Humans are actually quite fragile when you get down to the nitty gritty with them, so to speak. They aren''t built like us at all. You can''t just toss a person grown from a fairly safe and humane environment into a world of violence and forced to murder just for the sake of survival and expect they''d handle it all without facing repercussions.?It''s actually ludicrous to assume anyone could, and with Vali''s past, it was only a matter of time before he snapped...But it doesn''t sound like it has turned into anything serious at the moment, so?it?isn''t urgent or anything....¡± I paused trying to figure out how to continue.?Hj?kk?seems to be quite fixated.... "...It is true Vali''s skill doesn''t seem to just absorb other''s skills. In fact I''ve determined the Absorption skill is actually just a subskill of another, but I''m in all honesty not sure what that is at all I''m afraid.... Demon magic is unique, very different than any other, including our own.?Even its fundamental way of use is different. Simply by fueling it with emotion and desires, it will tap into the magic supply of their surroundings making the demons¡¯ practically limitless....?These beings now the parents of the current Demon race and this Champion of mine, were simply incredibly complex entities I know almost nothing about since there¡¯s just not much record?of them at all. Well?before showing up and?butchering some Divines, some?even capable of giving the?current?God Kings incredible difficulty.?Even?time seemed to simply stall at their feet.....?While most humans would spend time learning magical chants?and theory?that would allow them to manipulate the world¡¯s laws, or even learn methods to cast their spells even faster. To Vali, learning those methods are a simple waste of time...which also explains why Vali doesn''t use magic like a normal human would, as he can practically pull it off almost subconsciously. However, I believe Balor was simply misdirecting you with his words.... Vali has already showed signs of this condition before he even came to our world.?It has nothing to do with him absorbing traces of?Malthiel....¡± "¡­.." -?Hj?kk ''Hmm, she does seem to be having some troubled thoughts. Such little time with humans and she has developed this much emotion already....'' "You knew¡­?" - Hj?kk "Specifics Hj?kk...." "...You knew there was something wrong with him. You knew with all he''s been through that he would eventually....break and you still took him from his home world. Were you aware of Balor¡¯s dungeon there, is that the reason why you insisted on our continued observation inside that place?¡± -?Hj?kk "¡­. I don''t know where this tone of yours is coming from, but no...I did not know he had made a place for himself there,?honest.... And to answer your other question Hj?kk.... As it would seem this Vali has more ties with this world than just me, so perhaps I was merely bringing?him?back home than taking him away, did you ever think of that?.... I chose him for the reasons that are right in front of you...." I stood up and walked over to gaze at Asgard¡¯s beautiful sunset, how breathtaking... "I''m sure I know what you''re thinking Hj?kk. When Vali someday discovers my plans, who knows? He may even?one day come for my life as well....With his potential, why wouldn''t you think of such possibilities??That too?however?will?all?come according to plan....?If he hates me,?who knows,?maybe?he can actually succeed....AH! If you only knew how excited I am for the coming days.... Vali¡¯s accomplishments?truly?unthinkable for his kind again and yet so tremendously ahead of schedule. I have to hand it to the little smart ass, his comprehension of magic is practically nonexistent and his combat tactics and experience are that of an 8-year-old mashing buttons worth of skill after skill....But when pushed into a corner, he with no reason other than to win becomes quite bright and transforms into a hidden monster....?His foundation of being strong defensively is also an incredible gift I?could only dream of. My trade with?Yggdrasil?is well worth whatever price may follow.....I''ll tell you the same thing I did that day we brought?Vali?to this verse.?Experience makes the man, and whether that is loss or gain, he would either choose to persevere or die like all the others.....?For if he cannot?persevere?now then he will be too weak to continue on his journey.¡± "¡­.." -?Hj?kk Knowing I didn¡¯t answer her previous question enough, I chose to turn back and meet her gaze and soothe her apparently downed mood. ¡°I¡¯m tired of waiting Hj?kk, so I chose to place my faith into a partially broken man, because the look in his eyes on that day showed me more about the human spirit in that one moment than all the time I have ever spent with his kind....?So he has some issues...Give em a tissue. He''s not as weak willed as you believe.?Nor is his sister in that regard....?As Vali would say ''We all have our demons...'' Or something like that...And regardless of this fact, my faith in him has not been shook even one iota!¡± As I changed my voice to sound more like Vali¡¯s, it echoed throughout all of Asgard!.....?or well I suppose this whole room. I made it to be?sound proof. ''But still it echoed!'' "¡­.." -?Hj?kk The warrior maiden hadn''t a response to my long speech and instead chose to remain silent. Perhaps Vali could. Oh! I should mention that... "¡­ All of what he is going through is tough, I know without a doubt, but it¡¯s not incurable.... His affinity with the darkness has grown tremendously since his time here?and he in no way mastered his control over it at all.¡± In that boundless magical world of Middle Earth,?raising one¡¯s affinity to an particular element means one will not only just gain insights on how to control and bend that particular element to the user¡¯s will, but also how?one?can be influenced?by the said element¡¯s very nature and, in this sense, corrupted by it. While most mortals studying fire would become more rash or?abrasive, those of ice instead are more cold and emotionless.... There are some who studied in all the mysteries of?earth magic and?acquired the blessing of never being able to die on its soil.¡­ ¡°I honestly am unsure what will happen to Vali at this point... Like I said, his understandings in magic are quite clueless as he never studied nor understood its laws since he can just obtain skills and affinities from others and his body will naturally change and adapt?from his spoils. It''s not unnatural to think he is being affected by this, even if he is unaware of it. After absorbing Balor, his darkness affinity has to got to rise exponentially...At that point it, might actually be too much for him to handle and pushing Vali to the morally grey is probably not the best?thing for him at this point considering...Hmph...Yes, it''s probably best not to push him to such extents?such as murder as it would be like feeding drugs to an addict.?Until he learns to control his emotions or his new magic better,?we could have a ticking time bomb?on our hands...He hasn''t chosen a class yet, has he?.....Heh! Splendid! I knew not telling him a thing about this world would pay off!" Most humans choose their classes for the immediate gains of power and additional skills available at their utmost convenience. But to someone like Vali acquiring skills is too convenient, and with his with his demonic origins, his body is already naturally stronger than most humans for that reason alone. However the penalties one would receive when changing classes completely unrelated to one has wouldn''t just take away the benefits one worked hard to obtain, but all the experience and strength one acquired since changing into the class in the first place. This in turn will weaken said person to below their actual level regardless of whatever benefits they may gain from the class change. Honestly as stubborn as Vali is, I didn''t want to risk it, taking away his only chance of picking any class he may desire. But now there seems to be an interesting opportunity with the death of this mysterious dark god who seemed to returned from the dead, only to die at my Champion¡¯s hands. It''s like hitting two, no three birds with one stone mhphmph.... "His affinity should be high enough for him to accept the Dark Lord class. It should help him control some of his power and emotions a bit easier from now on. Tell him to treat it as a?band aid?for now......I simply can''t wait to find out and see what he¡¯ll receive....Oh my favorite piece is going to be quite terrifying indeed?wuhahaa!" "The Dark Lord class? And you think this will help him?" - Hj?kk "I do, yes...Although I''m sure he will dislike it due to that title alone meaning something quite different in where he''s from... You may have to get a bit forceful?mphmph...But?at this point this is probably the best option?for the current him?so do everything you can to convince him otherwise...Especially the spoils he could get from ol¡¯ granddaddy Balor it should help tremendously!?Every hero out there has something a little off about them. So we have a little mental hero on our hands so what...As far as I''m concerned we''ve hit the mother load,?Hj?kk." "What''s a ¡®mother load¡¯?" - Hj?kk The clueless Valkyrie looking back at me, I simply grinned and shook my head at her. "Just forget it Hj?kk....Now is there anything else you''d care to share?¡± The young war maiden then started to perk up some after my words and then happily described her excitement in telling her sister Brynhildr about the reemergence of her most precious race. Not all divines took a liking to a particular race or species to draw their worship, but to Brynhildr those small critters, which honestly look more like lights on a Christmas tree than anything else to me, are truly precious companions to her. ''Hm, now that she knows of a way to assist Vali, her mood has seemed to have shifted?a bit..'' I then told her that probably wouldn''t be necessary as?Brynhildr would?probably find?out about it?before they meet again?most likely. Brynhildr along with Odin and Lady Frigg?had recently traveled to the Netherworld to visit and speak with Hades?within his own domain. Odds are word of such events would travel to his ears¡­not much doesn''t. ''However....I have my own hand in that as well, so hopefully not all will reach their?ears just yet. I guess I''ll just have to wait and see if everything works out?according to plan. Oh I do love a good game of risk?mphmph.'' Who knows why?that old cyclops?god?and tender old goddess?are?out there? Probably trying to bum more of Persephone''s?apple?garden?yet again.?Just?eating one of?her?apples can?rejuvenate?the curse of time that even divines cannot escape. Even if we¡¯re eternal, we can still age and while?some of us can change are forms at will, to a Divine that is no different than putting makeup on?a?dog. That is the reason why power to recover youth?is also coveted in all the Divine Realms as after the long stretches of time, even our?youth?can?fade. But one bite of Persephone''s garden apples can add more than a thousand years to your?life, and if the seeds?are consumed as well, one can regain his/her youth by converting and incorporating the power hidden within into?one¡¯s own divine energy. ''That old, one-eyed God King?seems to be getting a bit wrinkly nowadays...However, this situation with Brynhildr could pose a problem sooner than expected... Regardless?if?Hj?kk?were to hide it from her, if that violent ginger spends enough time there...around?Vali...The strongest Valkyrie in?existence?will find out?eventually....Everything....I may need to find a way to contain her somehow...hm.'' As I see the reflection of the Valkyrie maiden from the glass continuing to speak enthusiastically over what news this could bring her sister, I couldn''t help but grin. ''Then again....Perhaps I should just?play the hand I''m dealt and see how the?die?can be cast. Oh I love how exciting things are?getting. The unknown and the watching, as all the fruits of my labor?shall?soon come to?fruition....Simply?exhilarating!'' ''My dear Champion. While I do not envy the road you will take to reach me, I do have faith you will make it here someday. I wonder?Kayle...If you ever came to know that there were?in fact?two legendary figures with the name of Vali from your world''s interesting myths on Asgard,?what will you think?after learning it? ... Mmm,?you are nothing like the others, your resolve even in the face of death is absolute.?You do not cower and submit, but press forward while risking it all!?I couldn''t have ever hoped to have found such an outstanding specimen...And with this my?new?favorite piece emerges onto the stage as a true wild card that should make for some interesting developments on such a beautiful playing board.....Hehe, pawn to A3....It begins!?...'' I?stared?off into Asgard¡¯s sunset, simply overwhelmed with eagerness for the new age. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alysteir¡¯s?POV: "Ha...ha....ha....nnn.....finished...." ''I know this doesn''t?make up for much, but maybe now you can each rest easy....'' Finally finishing with that last layer of dirt, I couldn''t seem to find any words while looking?over?the three shallow graves. Each?held the remains of?my?lieutenants who?once sworn?loyalty to me....''Nnn,?guess you each chose poorly.'' I collected each of their fallen corpses and chose a nice quiet spot on this floor without any monsters around. I can understand why the elves chose this floor, it has a sort of elegant taste to it I suppose....and it is quiet. As I took off my general''s cap, I?wanted to say a few words and yet no words came out. They''ve already passed on. I just chose to search for their corpses on floor 55 as they did deserve a proper burial. After finding their?partially rotted corpses that had somehow broken through the tough soil, they?must have wandered?aimlessly before dropping upon Balor''s death. "¡­.Nnn...Shouldn¡¯t have followed me.... Lieutenants Jasper Hheidenvi, Pena Vol Piersie, Simon Vol Piersie. You were each too good for me and worked harder than any other under my command. Maybe now you all can finally grab that much needed nap.....................I''m sorry for being your commanding officer." I took out a sword?and?drove it through the already soft soil for each of their graves, and then I continued on without?much to say. I just continued on.... "Warp to Floor 13......" As a faint blue light washed over?me,?I was now standing on?soft snow and met with a chilling cold breeze. This floor?once?held some of the darkest moments in my life and equally, the very best. Crunch....crunch...crunch..... I continued walking through the shallow snow and started my search. "I know just where to look....." I started my trek towards the northern summit. There on the opposite side of the floor of the desolate and barren place stood a very tall and?majestic?tree?that sat in an almost completely different environment than everywhere else on?this cold, snowy floor. All?those who stand underneath it will have their bodies warmed and recuperate?their wounds at a much faster rate. While during the day it did this,?during the night it would even glow a brilliant purple that would reach all the way to the sky and paint the floor in its?colors. None of the monsters on this floor seemed to approach me either. I guess with this interesting new title, the monsters here seemed to have figured out who is boss, go figure. It really is quite intriguing in the least. After taking off my limiter bracelets,?practically every monster around me had passed out from the suffocating pressure I exude. The its description stated it wasn''t much different than my Fighting Spirit stat once it got high enough. Rather now everyone under half my level?won''t even be able to move against me in combat which is different than the others who got this title it seems.... Not like this skill is useful to me, but I did get a kick out of the looks on those doggies¡¯ smug faces. They have been giving me quite the glare lately wagging their blindly?obedient?tails to their new master.... We never really had good relations prior to this, but now it almost seems like they are doing it to suck up to the one who has saved us all.?They sure talk big, but behind all those muscles they sure do love relishing in their submission. That''s how these little doggies are though. They pretend to be the sword of justice and all that is good.... For all these centuries claiming that their code is all in the name of their sworn devotion to the race they are honored to protect¡­ So arrogant they couldn''t even see the emptiness?of?their own words. Claiming to always have the Elkias¡¯ wellbeing in mind and yet they wouldn''t stop in trying to push Farrah into taking a mate. ''¡­.Just because you all are the Elkias¡¯ guardians doesn¡¯t mean others couldn''t?have cared for them just?as?much... They couldn''t even see the pain they brought her even when she forced herself to?smile.'' And then the day they left us..... Was considered the darkest day?in the history of this damned place according to anyone if asked.?Maybe that was the day my soul had finally died?as well... I couldn''t really feel anything in the first place, but?that is a sin that can never be washed away in my heart.?I will never forgive them for it. Just as I started to climb up the tall slope,?a strong gust of wind started to rush past me and?pushed my body back. I held onto my general''s cap so it wouldn''t fly?away, but continued forward?grudging through the snow. I learned to adapt to such harsh environments long ago so wearing a coat is meaningless. So I continued on seeing a few fallen corpses of other races on this floor but nowhere close to the true number,?until I started to see a bright yellow glow that immediately warmed my face and skin. There before me stood the great Zuhause Healing tree. Named by the Elkia race over 2 thousand years ago, meaning ''A Healing Home''. I could see an open hole close to where Farrah''s grave was?and continued to scan around the length of the?towering tree. The air no longer showed in front of me and?as my sight started to?follow the base of the tree?I saw something leaning over the side of it. My vision was flawless. Recognizing her?the moment her body appeared in my vision I almost thought it¡¯s a dream.?Even though it had been so long, a wave of emotions suddenly attacked me. Placing?strength?into my legs,?I?vaulted myself forward?as fast as they could take me. Even without using my ultimate skill on my Legendary boots everything?already seemed to slowed down?around me. "Hahhh......sob....haaa....." I could?feel the beating of my heart?pounding through my breast?and my breathing starting to?hasten. All that I could see was her face. With one fluid move,?I arrived and swept up the body off the ground and pressed it tightly against my?own. Her muscle had almost completely?left her?face and body.?Her skin was now no longer as smooth?and felt quite rough.?Her once long blonde hair thin and almost gone now.?Her body?which was more stunning than any painting?had almost?been reduced to?that of an actual skeleton. Her antlers were dull and even after losing all traces of her former self......Still came back?here. "Ha....ha.....sob...." The strength?in my legs left me and I?had finally given in and?fell with my back pressed against the great healing tree. Even with such pleasant memories in this place and how it always held such a warm place in my?frigid?heart, it''s not a place I''ve had the confidence to visit in quite some time. "...I found you. Aha!....Haha!...ha..sob...." Before I could hold back anymore, I could no longer bear to hold in the pain?within?my?heart a?second more. I couldn''t stop?the?tears streaming down my clean face?as?I held onto the only person I have ever loved in this cursed world. I tried to laugh to hold it back in, but only for the sight of Farrah''s cold and limp?remains?was qualified to break my mask. The fact that she chose this spot over all others. Even after everything, you still remembered.... Sob..... "This was my favorite place?too....sniff....?Right here is where we met all those years ago...?I remember it like it was yesterday....." If that very?scene were reversed, it wouldn''t look much different than today. I wasn''t always the strongest in this dungeon. In fact I''d say in all honesty I was probably the very weakest....And she changed that. I was probably at my lowest moment in my life when I?tried to crawl to this very tree?before freezing to death. I was a mere orphaned kitten at the end of her young life.?I probably hadn''t bathed in?months. My lips were cracked?and?bloody,?my face was swollen. I had opened?and infected wounds?all over me and my scalp had been partially?caved in from being beaten with a rock. I must have looked?truly horrid..... I passed out due to the cold and when I awoke I was in?her?arms. I had never in my life been held in such a way that for the first several minutes I didn''t even attempt to speak,?afraid the moment could possibly leave me.?I had honestly thought I had died. With my appearance who would have ever done such a thing? She had my blood all over her and was slowly humming a melodious tune?while brushing over?my probably dirty and grotesque head.?Every?second was just so precious, I didn''t dare wish for?it to end. ''From that day on we were inseparable. You taught me to evade?without moving my feet, you taught me how to fight. When I shook and cried?throughout the night,?you crawled in my bed and held me.... We fell in love.... Even against all those who tried?to pull us away, we always would meet up right back here?to be together.'' I gracefully pulled Farrah''s body to my lap and turned around to look at the small engraving at the bottom of the tree. It was hidden by several green vines, but had been engraved using strong?light?magic?that lasted even to this day.?I?traced my finger through each of the words saying the words softly to myself.?It was in her race¡¯s language which she even helped me learn.
¡®To my beloved Aly, Never wishing?to shake your pride, I never told you that you had?never made?it to our special?place on the day we met. I carried you?then just as I?always will.?As I will always carry your love with me. Even?if?this life may pull us apart, We will always find our way back to the other.... Forever yours??? - Farrah''
Something I discovered partially hidden a few days after her death. Sitting however at eye level was a spot where I had ripped the bark off the tree with my own fingers until they bled?and left a lasting impression?that the famed tree has yet to heal. The one who was to be Farrah''s mate?who was also the son of?the Annunake''s previous Alpha had?engraved their names together which at the time made me furious. Even if the wolf hadn''t known it was there I still couldn''t take it.?When Farrah died, my last hope with the world died with it. It may have even been the reason why I killed him some time later but it''s all honestly hard to remember. ''After a while it just blurs together really....?With everything that I''ve done, it all simply fades together?onto the same bloody canvas of my life.'' I''m?unable to feel much at all, but I guess she still has a way of taking off my mask.?I had once even hated her for leaving me. Hated her for dying.?Those were some really dark times.... ''I swore to myself I would conquer this place to free you, but now I only feel empty, alone. I''ve done all I''ve set out to do..... I never once thought about what would come after. It honestly didn''t even matter.?....Nnnn why couldn''t that human kid?have come?a?bit?sooner?'' "Our time?together was not enough........Nnn, until we meet again?in our next lives...." I pressed my lips against hers for one final goodbye. Her lips that once held nothing but gentleness and warmth were gone. Even if this now decomposed?body?of my closest friend is but a shell like Farrah said, this one had truly been precious to me once upon a time... Seeing her form smiling down on me with all the others this place has taken, brings a small drop of peace to my mind. When the mask goes back on, I?don''t suppose it will ever come off again. That part of my life is dead, and perhaps soon I shall be too. As Farrah said that''s when we can go on even more adventures together... I ripped so much of my heart away to keep myself from dying yet for once, this idea doesn''t seem so bad. I graciously placed her body down and dug a new grave now?right under the engraving she left for me here. After wrapping up her body in a thin cloth, I finished burying?the body of my lost love.?I have no idea how long it took. Time seems to not really matter as much as it once did. By the time the dirt had finally started to cover the hole, I felt the presence of something near me and decided to see who the visitors were. When I?casually turned?around, I was honestly not expected to find the little bugs had for some reason decided to show up. The black one, the dark green one and?a?gold?one. "Well if it isn''t a fellow God Slayer...To what do I owe the pleasure?" "Hello?Alysteir. I just came to speak with you if that would be alright." - Bifrost "And what would?you wish?to talk about with little ol¡¯ me?¡± "What are your plans after this? Now that the dungeon has been?conquered,?what will become of its strongest warrior?¡± - Bifrost "Well to tell ya the truth tiny, I haven''t really given it much thought?yet. Why do you ask? Is it possible you''re wanting to come speak with me over my little duel with your new human pal?¡± The small pitch black-eyed pixie just smiled and continued to gaze at me. Who would have thought that these little bugs could grow to such an extent?to stand in my presence and look me eye-to-eye? After all, who am I to judge? But even this one here has shown such intriguing talent. After Vali got through with them, I attempted to let them feast their eyes on my newest skill,?they had actually taken it head on and laughed at it. Something that shocked me to my very core, but at the same time excited me. I don''t think I''ve ever faced such a thrilling opponent in all my life since meeting this?Vali.?It''s nice to know if I ever wish?to try out a new technique, these little bugs can be my test subjects. Even turning the weak pixie?race?into something that?Balor?was probably cursing in his final moments. I recall this black one at one point used an ability?that made all the undead monsters in the area explode and directed it all towards?Balor?and was able to even?pierce?his strong hide.?It?gave those too close to Balor a window?to back off to a safe distance and saved who knows how many number of lives. "¡­.You''re very smart?Alysteir,?no one would ever say differently. Even with your bad rep, I think I know that you¡¯re not evil." - Bifrost "Hoh...Looking to try and flatter me are we? Do you want me to take it easy on Vali or something of the like?" "Something like that yes....¡± - Bifrost "Sorry little one....I''m not made that way." To my words, her calm face didn''t change in the slightest but continued staring back at mine. "If that''ll be all perhaps you each should go. I was rather enjoying the peace and tranquility here and you''re all ruining that. So if that''d be a...." Before I could finish the small calm voiced pixie interrupted me which is not something I''m used to. "I can see right through you?Alysteir.... Trying to play like you don''t wish to make nice with everyone but I''ve seen you.....I was there the day of the?Grand?Warrior''s?Competition?held?every 10 years by the Alliance when I was?still a child. I remember being so excited to see the strongest warriors in the dungeon we all pinned all our hopes and faith in. I?saw you defeated and embarrassed the previous rank one?who was the first Neko to achieve such a rank in a 1000 years?by a large margin. You then killed him and?jumped into the crowds and started a massacre....Or so some would say. But if one simply looked at all who died, one would notice that they all came from two strong families of the Neko race.¡± - Bifrost "Oh geez. We aren''t going to?take a trip down to memory creek are we? Yes, I killed quite a lot that day. Then the?Annunakes?even jumped in to stop me and I killed them too...Including beheading?the?previous?Alpha''s first son and 6 of the top 20 ranked fighters in Dark Eden. We''ve all heard this story before...." "And I also saw you risk your life to save my family¡¯s life?today. You?saved Vali twice?as well. Once Balor?was restrained, you dove in to obstruct his attack without a thought. And the other when you pulled him to safety during our final stand.... I saw that too.¡± - Bifrost "There a point to this bug?¡± "Mph....You know I never knew why all the other races enjoy calling us bugs. Is it because we''re short? Or weak? A small bug with potent venom is just as likely to kill you as a beast with sharp fangs. This place should¡¯ve taught?you that easily?.¡± - Bifrost "Yes, but one is easier to squash, isn''t?it?" "...You tell me." - Bifrost Just as her words left her lips a loud ping started going off in my head and warning me of an dangerous attack. I pulled out my sword but even my quick-draw wasn''t nearly fast enough. A massive?black?claw rose?out from this small pixie¡¯s body and swung violently at me at impossible speeds. I attempted to swing but the claw grabbed right onto me and the whole room went dark. Ching!...Ching! "NO!...Please..ple..cah...cahggh.....I¡¯ll?be ...I¡¯ll?be good ...Please I''ll?real...y?die...please..stop hurting.." My vision then changed and with every blink I could see the small pixie and then a memory plaguing my mind. Ching!...Ching!.... "Ahaha! You haven''t had enough yet! Because I haven''t had enough yet!¡± Whip! WHi!!!! "Don''t you ever forget it you belong to me!?AHAHAhaha!¡± Boom! BOoOOOM! "Nn..ny.....ple......." "Aahahahahaa!!!" Whip! WHIP! WHIIIP!?WHIp! WHIP! "Even in death you shall remember my laugh. Let it bring you a pleasant nightmare that lasts for?all?eternity...AHAhahaha!¡± My vision started fading in and out. The small black pixie appeared in my vision and then the room would go dark. I would see an image and then her appearance approaching me slowly?but I was frozen in place. I tried to break out?from?whatever illusion I was in, but before I knew?it a sharp pain attacked my left arm and shocked my system back into reality. The small black pixie was now floating just in front of me with her long?claw-like?hands that are currently embedded into my arm. ''...So that illusion just then was all your doing.....'' I swung my other sword in one fluid slash?to give this little bug a taste of her own medicine, though I was met with heavy resistance as if I was swinging into an Adamantine wall. My sword landing on her cheek dug in maybe enough to leave a small scratch but showed to actually push even my sword back in retaliation. I was momentarily stunned?from this and decided not to let her off.?I''d let her?enjoy?one of my skills instead. Her face was still calm and just as I was about to strike again the little pixie had lifted up her hand and wiggled her finger that was?embedded?into my forearm. My entire left arm violently shook from that small wave of her hand, then I instantly knew that with only a little more?effort?my?entire left arm would no shatter without a doubt. "Now, now...I don''t wish to fight. I was simply making a point just then. With that hydra armor of yours,?it¡¯ll be patched up in no time. But I feel this was the only way to get your attention so I''m sorry but I really must insist." - Bifrost "Making a point hmm...? You''re treading on pretty dangerous grounds little one. But I admit I''m just loving this new confidence oozing out each of you. It will give us all more reasons to play with?one another....?But if you think this is enough to scare me, you''re sorely mistaken. I won''t take it easy on him regardless of the outcome." Smiling back at her, the small pixie didn''t much change her attitude but only smiled towards me. "I know that you won''t but I ask that you do not kill him. Vali is....Very special?to us." - Bifrost With her calm voice, she placed her long black?claw like?fingers against her heart and smiled sincerely. "Oh I''m sure he is with all that power he granted each of?you so willingly. Wouldn''t want to lose him. But I wonder for what reason...Have you ever asked yourself why he''s doing such things?¡± "Almost every day. But now I realize that the answer wouldn''t matter to me?even if I did. This human, gave my sister the ability to walk?for the first time?in her life, I don''t think I''ve ever seen her smile?like that?before. Never asking for?a thing?in return.?He saved mine and my family¡¯s lives. He took care of us when no one else would and?couldn''t?do it ourselves.?Again, never asked a thing for it in return and even went out of his way to care for us afterwards even at the risk of his own life....With all Vali has done, my Wisdom has grown to heights I never thought possible.?I feel I can see things in a whole different light and I finally understand what I?must do from now on. All those doubts I?had simply?disappeared?after that day Vali took us to that floor where we had run into you....He could ask me to swim through a lake of fire and I would not deny him....?I love Vali with all of my heart for what he has done for us.?Even if we all died today, I would have forever been thankful to him.?We only wish to be with?Vali?from now on. To devote ourselves entirely to him?and would do anything to protect him....."?- Bifrost After saying that glare in her eyes became more determined and voice started to talk lower. "I?trust my family so I know just how capable we are now after speaking with my little brother.?I think?you''d?remember from that day...?If you were to ever try to take Vali away from us then we will do everything in our power to take you with us. Even if we are unable, we will hunt you till the day of our deaths, and we have nothing better to do. Whatever painful past that my new skill gripped onto?tightly?and?swallowed?you with, I''ll?turn that into an eternity for?taking him away from us...." - Bifrost The small pixie''s words had made me twitch, but she had then removed her hand from my arm and turned around to walk away. Just as she was about to fly away she had turned her head and spoke once more. "...We all sin?Alysteir. Maybe if you had a family like mine you wouldn''t have had to be alone?in such a place.?But I think with such a?celebratory?day, we can all let go of?our past transgressions....?I know Vali has already forgave you for what you did. Even if he doesn''t know?it?yet....You don''t believe me? You think he¡¯s so fickle to forgive the?Annunakes,?but not forgive you??I doubt he''d try to kill you either.?No, I think Vali can see past that, and if he won''t?....I''ll speak on your behalf." - Bifrost The small pixie¡¯s words confused me. Why would she go out of her way? It''s not like I''m troubled by this but she obviously hasn''t noticed he may not be much different than?me.....He''s already broken.?One can simply see it in his eyes, he hides it rather well I''ll give him that. But?once broken, it can''t just be fixed with?kind words and?soft embraces. "Don''t look at me that way?Alysteir. I just think everyone?deserves a second chance is all.?This place never needed any monsters in the first place, since it did a good job in creating ones through?us all on its own..... A ''Pleasant Nightmare''.....It''s an interesting phrase. Sending all those who are struck by it to a pleasant nightmare......Well anyways, I hope one day we can be friends?Alysteir.¡± - Bifrost The small pixie then turned and started to fly away with the other two. I didn''t say anything back because of her words just now. Farrah used to say similar things about forgiving those trapped here. Constant knowledge of your stolen freedom,?denied a world that should naturally belong to you can drive?even?the strongest warriors mad.?They call it...''The Sickness''¡­..Knowing that never in your lifetime could you ever have even a hope of escaping and then suddenly now.... But her last words just then. How did she know the meaning of my own personal skill? A ''Pleasant Nightmare''. To some death would be a nightmare but to those trapped here would be consider it a?pleasant release. Perhaps she too... Is it possible? ''It couldn''t be....? It''s impossible for her to understand that meaning. Perhaps I''m overthinking it.'' With one final look at Farrah''s grave, I knew this was really goodbye. I used to come here to talk with her knowing her soul was still there......?But now she''s truly gone. The small pixie''s words echoed in my ears and all I could do was stand and stare down at the soft, recently dug dirt. I don''t?know for how much time stood there unable to walk away?until?a loud roar shook the entire floor¡­it does not seem to be from a monster at all. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vali''s POV: ''Ah!......Where am I?'' I opened my eyelids but I couldn''t see anything in front of me. Everything around me was coated in a?darkness. I can¡¯t even see anything as even a foot?in front?of my face is practically swallowed in darkness. I looked around and tried to turn on Eclipse View but to no avail. For some reason it wasn''t working at all. ''Wait! .....I hear something.'' "Is there someone there......?" "¡­........." I called out but couldn''t feel the presence of anything around me. Perhaps I''m truly alone. But where exactly is here for that matter? I''m not even standing on anything, I just appear to be floating aimlessly.?''...Ugh, Balor! I drank his blood....Maybe...Ugh what¡¯s going on?'' "DOOOOOOO YOOOOOOUUUUUU CRAVEEEEEEEEE?FOOORR?POWERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!! IS THAT WHY YOU SOUGHTTTTTT MEEEEEEE?" - ? "AHhhh! So loud!......Where...ah?where¡¯s that coming from?" It felt like this voice had penetrated straight through me, making my entire being want to curl into a ball on instinct. It was so loud it sounded as if it came right next to me but even after moving my hands around the darkness out in front of me I couldn''t even see anything past my own nose. "Who....who is this? Balor? ....You''re still alive?" "¡­........." I waited for an response, but was met with an eerie silence. For several breaths of time, I kept trying to think as to where I am or what this thing?might be. It was the long silence that made me even more uncomfortable. "I apologize....My voice can be....overwhelming to some. I?however?am not the one you speeeeaaakkk.....I am neither alive.....nor am I?deaddddd....." - ? "Ugh.....ok. Then who are you?" "......I do not exist. So it is also true.....That I don¡¯t have a name." - ? His?voice?had a long echo that sent waves of?some unseen power that even when dimmed down is still overwhelming.?Just like Balor¡¯s, his voice itself resonated not only around me but all the way through me.?I took a big gulp and asked what I was afraid to know. "¡­..Ok. You don''t exist? Then....what are you?" "...I am the beginning... Before there was light, there was only darkness." - ? "¡­...." ''¡­.Ok. What the fuck is this thing? What does that even mean? The beginning? This thing¡¯s talk about not existing doesn''t even make sense. It almost sounds like Abgrund in the way he talks about being alive nor dead but....What exactly am I speaking to right now??Whatever it is, it¡¯s sending me the fucking?goosebumps?right now.'' "¡­.Do you not crave for power Nephilim? Is that why you chose to seek me?" -?? "¡­.So I guess you know what I am? I''m still a little confused about what you are exactly though. And I wasn''t aware I was seeking you.¡± "You wouldn''t be able to speak to me now if you weren''t,?Nephilim.?You¡¯re the first I''ve spoken to in.....Ahhhhh.....I''ve forgotten how long. Time is irrelevant here." - ? "...Here? ...And where is that exactly?" "You are nowhere, Nephilim. I am both with you and at the same time farther away than you can possibly fathom. You are merely hearing the echoes of my voice." - ? "Yah...I don''t quite understand any of that.¡± ''Seriously do all ancient and mysterious beings talk in such a ridiculously confusing way?'' "Due to some event, you have momentarily entered?into my conscience. As my influence is everywhere and in all forms of matter, some beings can perceive my existence.¡± - ? "Right and you are?" "I''ve told you already, Nephilim. I am the Night. The All-Consuming Darkness. For eons, my reach has extended to the?furthest?reaches of the endless?universes?where time and space are none.?With the creation of Light giving birth to the Day, it was?said to be good and was?separated?from?the?Night. This gave birth to all the other elements, but none reign more?supreme?and hold as much limitless?power?as the most ancient of elements.....Me...." - ? "Ok. So you''re.....The?Darkness? Hm. Well I guess in a magical world....Elements having a?conscience?can be kind of normal....Ah you know what, no, this is too weird....?I guess this is the part where you try to?entice?me over to the dark side, huh?¡± "You''re the one who sought me, Nephilim. The power of the night is something older than time, older than life.....It is neither evil nor good.?While it can corrupt the strong, it can also empower the weak." - ? "Yah, I still don''t know about that. I just drank some blood from this dark god named Balor and when my affinity rose?to a certain point, something happened and I wound up here....Wherever?here?is...hmmm." I continued to look around and could still not get any reference to where I am. He said I tapped into his?conscience?somehow? ...Maybe drinking the blood of something from the Abyss did something extreme and somehow sent me here. ''Now I just got to figure out how to get back.'' "Interesting....Until we meet again Nephilim.¡± - Darkness The deep voice continued to stir into my soul and I instead freaked out upon this mysterious entity¡¯s words. "Wait you¡¯re just going to leave me here? How do I get back? Wasn''t this supposed to be the part where the ancient and?primordial?being gifts the?unknowing?traveler some terrifying and world-defying power?¡± "Is it common for your species to ask for gifts for doing nothing to earn them?"?- Darkness "I...Ugh oh...I guess I just assumed with that ''Do you crave for power'' talk earlier. Kinda seemed like it was going in that direction. My mistake....Well hey it''s not like you exist to get upset right?" "Correct....." The silence again started to creep in and I was still quite curious about this odd entity I''m speaking to. "So if you don''t mind my asking....Talking about living for eons...How old are you?anyways?" "¡­.Such a mortal thing to?say. The question itself is nonsensical as time itself was a creation for beings like you. Imagine a tiny existence who only lived for a few breaths asked for your age and had to answer them in terms of attoseconds so they might be able to comprehend.?The number would be so large they still could not....The answer itself....Is meaningless...." "Uh huh. Well I guess that does make sense.?Anyways...how do I get out of here?" "You will return to which you came shortly as you are simply unable to stay here for?much longer. I commend you for staying for so long.....You intrigue me, Nephilim.?I always found you of the flightless winged race peculiar...?Perhaps I can give you a little something for your efforts....Who knows? Perhaps we''ll meet again....." ''I ugh....wait?'' I could feel the whole darkness around me starting to spin and rush around me violently. As if the whole world around me was coming down, I hear the sounds of certain voices and a firm touch shaking me. "VAlliiiiii! Wake up!" "Come on, Vali! You have to get up...You just have to sob...sob..." "Don''t worry everyone...He''s alive and even if he gave us a big scare earlier when his health dropped into the red and his entire body was?encased?in that pillar of ice, his health appears to be stable now even if we can''t hear a heartbeat...." "Hey it''s my turn to let Vali rest on my lap." "Hold on just a little whi....Look! His eyes are opening...Vali!!!" "What?" "Vali!!!!" Upon opening my eyes I could see a circle of figures surrounding me and looking down, I was met with a bright rainbow colored pixie shoving her face into my chest. I could see Cosmia who had my head on her lap lean down and also hug my face. "Sniff...Sniff....I just knew you''d be ok. Mmm...We were all so worried?about you...Are you ok Vali?" - Cari "Heh...Hey everyone....Did I give you all a scare?" The moment the words left my mouth the images of several Pixies,?Annunakes, Reikis, Nekos and Jiji started smiling real big and came over to pat me happily. "Vali....My son! What happened? Are you ok? I just...I....snob..." - Elyria My mom then came up to me and?too?started crying in my ears as her ears and tails twitched. I felt the warm and soft embrace of my mother which invited the rest of the pixies who were present to do the same. They told me after drinking Balor''s blood, I started screaming horrifically and within a few moments my health dropped into the red making everyone thought that I was dying. Fenrir didn''t have the same reaction, so whenever I started yelling in pain, my Ice Coffin skill automatically activate?and?encased?me into a pillar of ice. After that they said my health stagnated long enough for the pixies to heal me until my health stopped going down so drastically. ¡­..You don''t want to frighten them..... Best to not say anything..... ''...I shouldn''t tell them of what happened to me.....That would probably only worry then...Ahhhhh.......This feeling right now....The air almost ¡­.tastes different. What''s different about me?'' I started looking at myself and couldn''t find anything had changed. In fact. I felt better than normal. That soreness is still aching but I feel this incredible rush of energy. Something is?definitely?new with my body, but I¡¯m not sure what. ¡­.What if they choose to betray you? ....Do you wish to allow harm to come to your loved ones......? I felt thoughts start to emerge into my brain and brought different fears of mine to light. Thoughts I tried to push away, but continues to increasingly press into my heart. With these fears only invented ways to rid myself of such fears.... ¡­.You shouldn''t allow such fears to come to fruition....You''re not nearly strong enough yet.... ''¡­.Those 3 know my secret.... If this King doesn''t wish to ally with us.... I can''t let such a secret reach my enemies. Regardless of my skills, I''m.... Weak right now. My fight with?Balor?showed me this. If I reveal my overpowered weapons and all my secrets and abilities to the world I''ll become a target¡­ Without them how could I ever hope to protect those I cherish.....I may have to do away with them. Master Shen, Shakko...Cassandra. The King....The Queen.....Princess Luc....Would I have to kill Lucy? ....Her friends...? They''re just...children. Would I...have to.....Wait! ....What that hell am I thinking?!'' That was weird.... WHOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!! As I was about to do more?investigations, a loud?disheveled?noise came from my side and a bright purple light emerged from the side of the Ice room. "Oh...Hj?kk. You''re back....." "Yes Vali, I......" - Hj?kk For some reason?the purple Valkyrie, my first close companion in this world, stopped in her tracks and looked at me kind of funny. "...Is... Did something happen?" - Hj?kk "It''s nothing Hj?kk. Just got done trying to get my Absorption ability on?Balor. Similar reaction to when I absorbed Malthiel to be honest, but a bit more painful this time hehe..." "¡­.I see.... And how do you feel?" - Hj?kk I told?Hj?kk?I?honestly?didn''t feel much different, but felt a strange energy inside me that I couldn''t quite?figure out nor know where inside me. I also told her and every one of the new skill I gained from?Balor?and some of them practically choked. With such a skill, I think this is the skill that?Balor?used to create all of his terrifying creatures from the darkness around?him.?The very same ability that made?Balor feared by all other gods at night, creating endless monsters to the point Loki even praised as if it were miraculous. Some of them didn''t have many words to say, but the Pixies simply laughed and said it was cool. Hj?kk however didn''t give me the same reaction as others and looks rather troubled. ''I guess she didn''t like the idea of me absorbing something like?Malthiel,?so she would probably attest to something like Balor as well. She''d probably not like what I told her about the Darkness either....Perhaps....Perhaps I should keep this from her as well....'' Before I could say anything else, she spoke up rather forcefully. "Have you chosen a Class yet Vali?" - Hj?kk To this question all the loud chatter died down and everyone looked at me curiously. "Oh yeah, what is your Class? I always wondered about that." - Sting "Oh what is it?Vali?" - Cyanin "Yah, I bet it''s something really cool.¡± - Cari "Hah! I bet it''s?something like?''Evil God Slayer''?or something like that haha." -?Alderon "Yah or some?rare class like?Super White Assed Flasher..." -?Ollie "Ahahaha!" - Everyone "Teehee...Vali''s butt was showing earlier!" - Daisy "Hehee." - Pixies I smirked and looked up and saw that Ollie and Malfius had also joined us and now he was wearing a red bandana on his forehead and with a small black cat skull on it. II was glad to see that Ollie had apparently risen in rank and the same red?armband Locke wore on his shoulder is now on Ollie''s?forehead. When he noticed where my eyes were directed, he simply looked up and shrugged and then again asked what my new class was. Looking around the ice walls, I noticed there were quite a bit of a crowd gathered here. "Oh, that...How do you even get a class?¡± "¡­......." -?Everyone After a long silence, everyone stared at me wide-eyed as if they didn''t hear correctly. "Whoa, whoa,?whoa.... You mean to tell me you don''t even have a Class right now? How is that possible??You¡¯re level 240 right now, that''s insane!" - Sting "Hahahaha! Quite the Alpha?alright!" - Adimar "That''s just getting ridiculous now...." - Alderon "Hmph..." - Akino "Heh...I guess big brother Vali is even clueless of some things?hehe...Didn¡¯t pick a Class?cause?he doesn''t even know?how." - Kai "Yah but that doesn''t stop him!" - Cyanin After a while when the laughter died down and most of the Jiji and other workers got back to work, I was then informed a bit on this world¡¯s Class System. Apparently, this is one thing that isn''t just like that game. When picking a Class one, received special Class-related skills and while some rare or unique classes can only be passed down by someone who already has it. In the game there was an actual place you could go to pick your classes or if you?fulfilled?unique conditions or a special quest then you can be offered it while you were out in the world. However, in this world whenever you have?fulfilled?the conditions necessary, it simply gives you the Option to choose it within the Status Menu. Apparently once a Class is?available,?it will show up in a list once I push?on?to?the Class tab in the Status Menu. Within an instant over?50 different names sprang up within my display and consisted of a rather large assortment of different class types. Warrior, Monk, Battle Mage....Elemental Mage.........Guardian......Hoh...Seriously? You have to be kidding me. ''¡­..Dark Lord? What the shit did I do to deserve a Class like that? Isn''t Dark Lord always another name for the source of all evil or the Devil....Ugh! I hate this place.....'' "Ugh Vali....I''ve brought word from you-know-who....He said he will speak with you sometime soon but he....also?has a particular Class in mind for you...." - Hj?kk "Oh....What is it?" "While he said you would attest to this umm......You should choose the Dark Lord Class...I also agree with him." - Hj?kk "¡­..He said what?" ''Are you bullshitting me? ...Loki.......Ugh Loki! Seriously just what did you have in mind when turning me into your champion? Do you want the world to hate me?!?Wait!!! You planned this....You planned this didn''t you?! You probably even did something to help me?unlock the conditions for this even......you''re probably laughing right now aren''t you?'' Hj?kk?then averted her gaze awkwardly as I probably looked furious. Seriously what does this stupid clown have up his sleeve this time?! I''m not going to fall for his tricks! "Dark Lord Class? I wonder what that is...." - Alderon "Dark Lord? That kind of sounds strange...." - Cari "Yes, that kind of sounds familiar too." - Adimar "You don''t remember? Joslin used to tell old stories. Back then,?a?term?used for?Balor?was the Dark Lord." - Akino "Oh.....Hmmm. Well, in this instance it is probably a good thing. Especially if this is what Vali''s God instructed of him.?I see no issue of it...." - Adimar My mind was reeling as?I practically shut out the outside world.?I was then stopped and was telepathically spoken to from Hj?kk. According to her, Loki chose this as an option because she thinks due to my darkness resistance being so exponentially high, I could potentially be in danger. In this world, magic isn''t something that normal people would consider just by activating a skill like I''ve come to think. I just have the added bonus of having monster skills while using magic fundamentally different than others. However, in this world when your resistance grows to Darkness it also increases the likelihood to become influenced by the very element¡¯s nature. Simply hearing this froze my whole train of thought. ''I honestly felt like something was strange about me. But I can?at least?admit to myself some of what Hj?kk says does make a lot of?sense. Perhaps I really am becoming affected by this darkness....Affinity in some ways mean closeness while in another also means weakness.'' "Oh wow. An Elemental Lord class? Your?affinity?must be insanely high for that to happen. Only some of the strongest?elemental?mages in the world are able to obtain a Lord Class?over an element.?This is really incredible Vali! Even with your age, you could probably even get admittance into my school with no questions asked haha!?You''re so unbelievably lucky Blessed Beings are so ridiculous! ....Oh and with that new ability you?would become something truly?frightening! This is?simply ludicrous for how young you are!" - Sting According to Sting, Dark Mages are seen in the Central colonies but aren''t looked at as evil existences. While yes there are Dark Mages who use their power to commit sin and so on throughout the years, but they aren''t viewed?as?evil people which struck me as odd. I guess in my world the term, Dark Side, is kind of universal for something bad. In my world, Dark and Light are evaluated completely different than they are here. In my universe, you can never make something darker. You can never make something darker. You can only take away more light. In this world however, that''s false. Light and Dark can exist at the same time in the same place.... And according to my mother and Sting,?Dark and Light magic are usually considered the more versatile and stronger of the elements, but in actuality it all depends on the magic user. ''Hmm....Perhaps, it wouldn''t be so bad.... If Hj?kk also agrees to this and thinks it can help me....Control my darkness then maybe I should. Ugh.....Loki. Somehow I feel like you planned this.....Hah....Who knows? ....Maybe it won''t be so bad. Those skills from?Balor¡­?maybe this can actually work out if it gives decent enough benefits.'' "I think this is a good decision, Vali. Considering your newfound abilities, this can help give you a very strong advantage. While I won''t be able to help you develop your darkness-related spells,?I''ll be here to help you in whatever way that I can." - Elyria I smiled to?everyone''s?encouragements but slowly continued to read out the title in front of me?again....''Dark Lord''..... ''I don''t know why of all times....right now all I can see are my?two?siblings.'' What....what would they think of me now? Would they even accept the things I chose after coming here?...Everything I''ve done I....I believed to be the right thing but....Somehow I''m not sure if it makes a difference anymore....Good....Bad....Right....Wrong...... It?won¡¯t?change anything anymore..... It was as if this simple choice to others....I almost felt like it?were somehow sealing my fate to this world. As if from here on.... I can never go back. I bit my lip and re read the Title again, and again, and again.... It was just.......So damn hard! ''...I can do this...Goodbye mother....Hayden....I....I really love you both.....I promise, I''ll?get Kaylan home to ya......'' "Vali? ....Is something the wrong?" - Cari "Yeah bro...You alright?" - Tanin I looked up and noticed everyone had been waiting for me patiently. Cari and Tanin were both eagerly looking at me with nothing but warmth and love that they show equally to their own siblings.?It was as if I had forgotten they were all even there for a second.... I gave each of them a smile and slowly raised my hand. With one last look at?Hj?kk, my mother and everyone?else,?I?simply shrugged and pressed my finger down.
Congratulations! You have selected a new (Rare)?Class Dark Lord Before the beginning....There was?an infinite?darkness that enveloped all things. It was rich, deep and swept over all?existence?and?reached?the?furthest?extent of all creation. While not innately evil, it can still corrupt the purest of souls. Now?your power over such an ancient and vast force will grow into a new realm of endless possibilities. You will tread where the light does not dare to go and no longer fear the?night as you will reign?as?its?Dark Lord. Immunity to Fear + 10%. During the Night time,?Mana will?replenish?50% faster than the normal rate. All Intimidation and Fear inducing Skills will increase in Effectivity and Strength by 25%. All Darkness-related skill costs have been reduced by 15%. Choosing Dark Lord as a Class, all Darkness-related skills will rise in understanding and Attack Power. Having a Light Resistance/Affinity of 10%:?Weakness?to?Light Magic as a Darkness Element-related?class is now nullified. Due to Resistance/Affinity with?the Darkness Element?being higher than the requirement of 25%?will multiply additional stat increases?and?power?for every additional 10%. Current Darkness Affinity/Resistance: 71% Darkness Magic:?Attack Power will now increase x 4! Darkness Magic: Attack Speed will now increase x 2! Strength + 300??????Stamina + 600????? Health + 20,000????? Intellect + 10,000??? Wisdom + 8,000
Congratulations! You have just learned a Class-Specific Skill??????? (Passive) Gift of the Night From now on, under the Night Sky, All?Stats?will increase by 50%.?As the Sun falls and light descends, the night will?grant you its power.
Congratulations! You have just learned a Class Specific Skill?????????? (Active) Glory of the Night Turn Day to Night.?Cast your foes into a dark?world?in where?you reign supreme. Skill Cost:?450,000 MP Skill Length: 10 Minutes Cool-down Time: 3 Months
Congratulations! You have just learned a Class-Specific Skill?????????? (Active) Dark Lord''s Terror Enrich the atmosphere with the power of darkness and devour away the air itself,?instilling your enemies the truest sense of?the word?terror.?All enemy Elemental Magic will become strained. If Fear Status is achieved: All Attack Power and Magical Attack Power will drop drastically. All Magical Defenses will drop drastically. Enemy?Cool-down Time for all Skills will?rise?dramatically. For?every?Fear Status achieved, All Attack Power will rise by .01% for duration of skill. Skill Cost: 150,000 MP Skill Length: 5 Minutes Cool-down Time: 3 Days
''¡­.....'' After a few breaths, another ping appeared in front of my vision.
Congratulations! Due to your Class and Affinity with the Darkness Element, you have received a Rare Title unique to your region! Dark Lord of the East Your?power over the Darkness is higher than any other in the?vast region of the East. For this, you hold the Title that brings fear to all those who dare to rage against the night. Under the Night Sky: All Darkness Related Skills will??rise by 15% in effectivity and strength. All Darkness?element skills?will?rise?in Mastery 25% faster. Immunity to Fear + 5%. Darkness Resistance/Affinity + 3%.
''Wait.....Ahh........Wow!'' I felt at that very moment as if the world itself were changing around me. The colors around me began to increase in its luster and it almost felt like a cool breath of fresh air. Before I even finished the thought of what was happening the answer practically appeared before myself at an instant...... ''My Wisdom and Intellect Stat are both over 20,000 now.....My processing power has increased to?still?unseen heights. I can almost feel my neurons practically multiplying and my synapses between axons and?neuroreceptors?strengthening by several folds every passing second......This?is?incredible!'' The age old myth about humans only being able to fully process 10% of the brains full potential I feel is shattered in this world. While at all times the entirety of the human brain is active, our abilities to control all of its functions to their fullest extent is rather foreign in my world....But here¡­ It''s truly a world of endless?possibilities?and paths to take....This route seems to be just for me. When my Intellect and Wisdom rose I feel my understandings of some of my basic and even stronger skills?to a new level. I''ve been using several of my abilities without even comprehending the full capabilities of each. If I didn''t comprehend these things fully then I couldn''t use them to their fullest potential. ''Heh...So Dark Pressure uses all my physical stats to suppress a person''s body while if I were to increase other stats like INT, WIS or Mana I could surpess a person''s mind. Simply by using Demonic Awakening, the strength of Dark Pressure increases by several fold.?That''s?why when?wielding?Abgrund, my stats grow to such an extent there''s not many who can even withstand such a pressure.'' But now....With the benefits of the Dark Lord Class, just from?being in the Dark my Stats will increase by 50% due to my Passive Skill ''Gift of the Night''. Due to my new Title my Stats would even rise by another 15% in the Night passively from now on as well and?my?Mana?even?replenishes?twice as fast at night. ''Before I had this Class, with my 2 skills that raised my Stats by such a large margin without using any?abilities?would be somewhere close to a third my full power. I''m defensively based with a hyper regeneration ability that is from a legendary monster. My hair down to my claws makes me a real bitch to deal with....I should have however been focusing on increasing my Mana pool all this time. If my magic supply doesn''t run out quickly, I could essentially fight?who knows how many opponents and for an extended period of time if the conditions are right.....This power I''m starting to understand should be?able to at least combat against?even a Sage but I can''t be sure to just how much yet.?Even if I don''t have a lot of firepower magically and without my overpowered equipment...Even without?all of that?I''d be a real pain for anyone to deal with.'' With all my stats?raised?I would however burn through my Stamina at almost 5 times the normal rate and no telling how much my MP consumption would drop either. If I didn''t have my mother and Daisy help?replenish?my Stamina and the?Annunakes?helping to increase my mana pool I probably wouldn''t?have?lasted for very long during that battle?either.?''I really need to learn my limitations so I''ll be able to gauge just how strong?I?really am so I''ll know to compare to stronger opponents on whether I can fight them or not.'' Defense Raising Skills/Titles: + 500% Defense for 5 Minutes Ice Vein: +20%?, - 80% reduction to all movement speed (Agility,Dexterity, ect.....). Hardened Exterior : + 5%? Defense Adamantine King Fortification - + 10% Defense, 35% Reduction to all Damage + Raised Elemental Resistances Demonic Awakening : + 200%? Defense & Strength, + 150% Agility, + 25% all other Stats Limit Break : + 200%? All Stats (5 Minutes) Gift of the Night (50% Rise all Stats) + Dark Lord of the East Title (15% Rise to Dark Related Skills) : + 57.5% Rise to All Stats (During the Night) If?I was pushed to bring out Abgrund.....Does that mean Gift of the Night would go from 150% ?as it''s a Dark Related skill also?......Not to mention it would also almost triple my Dark Attack Power that is already been increased heavily due to the?massive gains achieved already......Even if I haven''t tested any of these new skills out just from the Class change alone?I can''t wait to see the battle power?I could achieve?with such new abilities?even at the?elementary stages......So many things I can''t wait to?try out. ''.......Hmphmphmph....'' Whether my agility will be dropped or not with my current Defense and all these skills active at the same time my Defense would be roughly 150,000 with a high regeneration rate.....Now considering how long my mana supply could last with the high consumption of regeneration magic I don''t have a clue yet. But if the Pixies are with me it becomes even more difficult to fight against us..... ''With each of these new skills I''ve gained, I feel I can?at least survive long enough to determine whether to fight or flee which is very important. Regardless considering the benefits, me and the?Annunakes?have?during the night,?no enemy would ever attack us while the Sun wasn''t up if they ever learned of it.'' I could see everyone staring at me eagerly but I almost lost track of myself for a moment even the air itself began to taste even much more rich and refreshing for some reason. ''Maybe...Maybe it won''t be so bad....A Dark Lord......'' "Hmm...I could see this working out just fine...." With my words everyone smiled and probed me to explain some of my gains and I told them while also checking my new updated Stats and Skill Windows.
Status Window
Name ValiLevel 240
Race: Human Age: ???Sex: Male Job/Professions: N/A
Class Dark Lord
Titles Lord of the Forest, Slayer of Death, Death Canceler, Family of the?Hildr?Pixies, Hunter of the Grootslang, Slayer of the King Hydra, Creator of Miracles, Alpha of the Legendary?Annunake, God?Slayer, Dark Lord of the East
Health 266,890Mana 572,330
Strength 18,380Intellect 30,310
Stamina 15,600Wisdom 21,225
Agility 15,780Defense 25,980
Courage 63Luck 18,110
Battle Aura 996Endurance 44
Magic Resistance 25%
Paralysis Resistance 3%
Poison Resistance 11%
Immunity to Fear 43%
Elemental Resistances:
Fire: 30% Earth: 6% Dark: 71% Lightning: 7%
Water: 1% Wind 4% Light: 10% Void: 8%
Ice: 3%
I explained a few of the logistics of only a few of my skills along with my Title to them and some of my theories about even if I were to take out Abgrund when the Sun goes down. Simply put coming here?and?accomplishing this astronomical feat together has made me something truly unique. Some of them looked lost during the math but just my explanation on my Defense alone I feel each of them looked at me with a new light than before. Each of the?Annunakes?were wagging their tails and the Pixies couldn''t help but giggling amongst themselves. Simply put regardless if my level hasn''t changed,?my difference in strength between now and before I consumed Balor''s blood are practically the difference between Night and Day. At Night, there are probably not many on this Continent that can?kill?me, whether?equipping?my Trump cards or not. While increasing your?Elemental?Resistance?in the game increases your element''s magical?Attack?Power by a particular margin while also being less affected by it, in this world it''s truly so much deeper than that. There are so many different kinds of Fire and Ice magic with completely different properties and characteristics according to my mother and Hj?kk. Even if my Resistance reached 100% with things like Elevation Magic and Fusion Magic it''s not the same as completely nullifying the element out like my Midnight Gauntlet can do. In the game some mages would just increase the power of their spells to just double the damage. In this world though if I could rise my affinities high enough Hj?kk said that particular element could even start to heal me. However, if one doesn''t master their element and just raise affinities, there can be heavy backlash like having your emotional state unstable. I can truly understand what?Hj?kk?spoke of?from before as well.....It was almost as if I wasn''t even aware of it but I can?feel?that the Darkness element''s very nature can.....influence me, even my?thoughts. But I almost didn''t notice it before. Demonic Awakening is also a skill that increases my Aggression after left on long enough and is even worse?if I''m upset. That along with something as intoxicating as Abgrund....I seriously need to be aware of this or I could eventually lose it. ''If the Darkness element is actually been around for so long, it has developed a conscience then I need to be?even more?cautious in if it can?affect?me.?He said darkness wasn¡¯t innately evil yet...I?don''t know?creepy vibe though.'' I''m strong, but?in the grand scheme of things I''m actually quite?small. I may have the potential to be strong but the current me has too many weak spots to allow me to?feel comfortable. Beings like Malfius and?Alysteir?have also given me plenty of reasons not to be too confident regardless of the intoxicating power I can wield?with the weapons I hold.?While it would be incredibly hard to kill me, in a world like this one, a single mistake can mean your death. Even in history some of the strongest figures in the legends were killed in untimely ways from something as simple as poison. While?Promethean?March is a set skill and burns through my MP until it''s empty,?Dark Apparitions?is actually quite broad and full of possibilities. The mana consumption I couldn''t even begin to guess, but if I want to become?formidable?I need to increase my Mana pool as well simply to use this new Class in the correct way.....Then it would increase my battle potential and even Stamina by a huge margin. Even Fenrir seems to have gained and incredible gift. He gained Balor''s Midnight Aura ability however unlike the?one my gauntlet has, his Midnight Aura is Passive...That meaning now at all times Fenrir will have an incredibly strong and durable barrier surrounding him and replenishes itself as well as having the Fomorian healing that heals him naturally at night. ''I can''t even think of something the size of a Fomorian with Midnight Aura?surrounding it. While Fenrir can¡¯t give his Midnight Aura ability to anyone else like the Gauntlet but I believe this is easily a better trade off. Whenever Dark Aura was split between multiple targets it actually lessoned how much one could take as once one aura barrier dropped the rest did too. However, no one has been able to break Midnight Aura yet though other than Balor who somehow cut right through it.'' Looking down at him licking my palm I''m honestly happy he''s not some wild monster I met in the woods.... ''Yah....you''re a good boy buddy....Thanks for protecting me and my family.'' I scratched his belly and he?immediately?jumped onto mine and Elyria''s lap and started quickly wagging his tail and thumping his leg.?Elyria made a loud laugh and started to scratch his belly?prompting?Cari?and Cyanin to come over and do the same. I looked through my updated skill list while everyone continued to chat amongst themselves and wait for me to finish. All of those who came to extract materials are all busy and only those of the group that followed me here are remaining with me now.
Skill List Divine Blessing of Loki: Spatial Magic Universal Language Acquisition Gift from the Darkness: Atramentous Nebula*???(Passive) Class Skills: Dark Lord''s Terror (Active) Gift of the Night (Passive) Glory of the Night (Active) Divine Skills*: Dark?Apparitions*?(Passive) Promethean March* (Active) Racial/Acquired?Skills: Achtung Vis?(Semi-Passive) Adamantine King''s Fortification (Active) Adamantine?Thread (Active) Bite (Active) Blade Tyrant (Active) Burrow?(Semi-Passive) Crescent Cleaver (Active) Dark Cloud (Active) Dark Pressure (Semi-Passive)?Stage 2 Dark Pulse (Active) Dark Spear?(Active) Dark Wave (Active) Death¡¯s Grip (Active) Decaying Mist (Abysmal)?(Semi-Passive) Demonic Absorption (Passive) Demonic Awakening (Semi-Passive) Dullahan Creation (Semi Passive) Grade C Echolocation (Active) Eclipse View (Semi Passive) Fire Ball?(Active) Flamethrower (Active) Flicker (Active) Grade 2 Fomorian Claw (Passive) Fomorian Hair (Passive) Gravity Spike (Active) Hide Presence?(Semi-Passive) Hydra Regeneration (Passive) Ice?Coffin?(Passive) Ice Veins (Semi-Passive) Lightning Armor (Semi Passive)?Grade D Lightning Step (Semi-Passive) Limit Break (Active) Lord¡¯s Earth Shattering Smash (Active) Magic Manipulation (Passive) Mystic?Projection (Active) Moonlight Claw (Active) Night Vision (Active) Omega Tribulation (Active) Phase Shift (Semi-Passive) Pheromone Excretion?(Active) Poison Sky Domain (Active) Root Vein (Semi-Passive) Sense Presence (Semi-Passive) Grade 2 Soul Ripper (Active) Selfless Soul?(Active) Synesthesia?(Active) Temperature Control (Passive) Tool Creation (Passive) Tough Exterior (Semi Passive) Thunder Jammer (Semi Passive) Wind Claw (Active) Eclipse of the Unforgiving Night (Semi-Passive) Vampirism (Semi-Passive)?ii Learned Skills/Techniques: Cooking Mastery:?Advanced Level 1 -?Added Flavor (Passive Boost) - Glisten Effect (Passive) -? Knife Work - Beginner Level 1 Farming Mastery: Beginner Level?8 Freya¡¯s Soul Recovery: Novice Level 9 Hand to Hand Combat Mastery:?Novice Level 1 -?Powerful Strike (Active) -?Stunning Blow (Active) -?Quick Fists (Semi- Passive) Ingredient Identification Mastery:?Advanced Level 1 Negotiation Mastery: Beginner Level 2 Petting?Mastery: Beginner Level 1 Scythe Mastery: Intermediate Level?3 -??Slice (Active) -?Staff Strengthening (Semi-Passive) Sword Mastery: Beginner Level 1 White Tiger''s Thunderous Paw Technique: Level 1????(Passive + Active) Combined Skills: (Decaying Mist) + (Darkness Affinity) = (Abysmal Mist) (Freya''s Soul?Recovery) + (Cooking) + (Ingredient Identification) = (Niche''s Soul Cooking) (Dullahan Creation) + (Lightning Armor) = (Dullahan Storm Knights: Grade C)
As much as I hate Loki, I''m sure he''s laughing his goofy ass off right now....This new Class certainly has the ability to help me and somehow I can feel?it?already giving me more control over my emotions too....Whatever that was earlier I could actually feel it influencing me....?So maybe in this one instance.....I owe him one. ''Wait......Gift from the Darkness?'' End of Chapter Book 2; Chapter 2: A New Kind of Dark Lord Hey everyone. Sorry it took a while to post this chapter. I actually had to delete a scene I''ll be probably posting in next chapter. Expect the pacing to start to change and remember this chapter like the last one has a lot of world building. And the dialogue might have hurt some with all that information but this chapter a lot more happens so don''t worry. It''s over 60K and whenever it''ll be in book form each scene will probably be a chapter to itself. A lot of readers curious about Vali being so cautious might be brought out to reasons why in this chapter. He doesn''t see himself as some Legendary figure or main character in some fairy tale. He sees himself as some guy who was good at a game and got himself dragged into a foreign world trying to find his loved ones. It''s already revealed that the intense loneliness he felt and tragic past severely effected his state of mind. He doesn''t tick like most people do. This isn''t a story just if anyone came to this world and how they would handle each event . This is a story of what would happen if this broken man came to this world. He''s constantly being effected by his tragic past, the influencing darkness, the stigma he''s constantly feeling becoming a monster. The more he changes into one the more he feels he won''t ever be able to reunite with those he''s lost.....So keep that in mind. He''s cautious for a reason. Doesn''t want to end up like the elf race. He sees the only reason they beat Balor was through preparation so that is what he is doing now. Thank you so much to Corey and Jujhar! Your donations were honestly amazing and I couldn''t help but want to write more just to thank you so much for loving this story. Don''t forget to leave a new comment and donate. I''ll try to update the description page with some new stuff and slight spoilers here and there. And get ready for a wild ride that is shortly to come..... Enjoy..... Book 2; Chapter 2: A New Kind of Dark Lord
Atramentous Nebula (Passive) Nebula Core Amount: 1 Nebula Core Capacity: 0% Absorb the cosmic rays and radiation which extends past the vastness of space and time from the Atramentous Nebula. Grant your Dark powers the properties and characteristics that lie dormant from galaxies far, far away.
It took quite a while to figure out just what sort of skill I was looking at. When my intellect and wisdom rises I almost feel the descriptions of certain skills even change but to more complex and stronger skills, primarily those from this place, my initial understandings over the newly learned abilities aren''t nearly as profound. It clearly came from whatever that being was that talked to me. I''ve been mulling it over in my head just exactly what it does but it must be important. Whether that Being said ''a little something'' or not just the sounds of this ability seem interesting. ''The name practically translates to Black World....Yeah, after a long talk with the voice of darkness there''s no way this skill would be dangerous...Not! Just what did that freaky non existing thing put in my body?'' It shows a small empty meter that resembles my Mana and Stamina bar now. It however is still completely empty and I don''t have any idea how to get it to work either. That along with all of the other skills I''ve received so far are simply too much to process at the moment without experimenting a little. My mind keeps reeling in new and interesting ways to use and experiment with my current abilities I can''t even wait to try out the new ones. I simply don''t need to worry about acquiring new skills for right now but should be mastering a small amount that I already have, then the effects for each will grow exponentially. ''There''s just not enough time in a day....Maybe if I can start practicing my spatial magic in the way Loki uses to manipulate time dilation....Hmm that is probably a lot more difficult than he let''s on.'' ''My time needs to be focused on mastery not new techniques and skills for right now....This universe is big and the secrets just keep growing.....'' Like Bruce Lee once said ''Fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once. I fear the man who has practiced 1 kick 10,000 times.'' That rule definitely applies to this world also. A person at a lower level but a much higher skill mastery can easily cover the gap a lot easier. It was the same way in the game. If your level rose too high too quickly it could also have some inverse effects to training mastery speeds and better stat gains per level. ¡®While that rule may not apply as much to me with all of Loki¡¯s influence, Blessed Being¡¯s growth corrections and my bloodline. My stats already compare to the expert beast like warriors here so I need to more focus on strict battle training and studying my magic for the time being. ¡® So after leaving this dungeon I may find myself slowing down quite a bit in gains. But what I should acquire is far more valuable than trying to kill myself to obtaining whatever rare abilities on the top floors. After choosing the Dark Lord class I honestly felt countless memories of Kaylan and Hayden run rampant in my mind even while thinking about something as random as these new skills. ''...Everything I''ve done. Everything that''s happened to me.....I''ve already made the resolve to push it deep down. Everything I do is to find and save Kaylan. If I''m able to give her a chance at a good life I will do anything. It''s my responsibility¡­The things that I''ve done and might do to achieve such things not even I know of what I''m capable of yet....'' ¡­.To those who fight with monsters, see that you yourself don''t become one. For those who stare long into the abyss, know that the abyss gazes back at you.... These words simply echoed deep within my mind after every passing memory. Every passing thought. They hold such more meaning whenever you devour monsters and become even more like them... I became a Dark Lord in another world hehe. I named Abgrund properly, but I can''t blame any of this on him. Even if his power is practically intoxicating II made my choices. And I won''t ever look back. If I was given the same decisions again I would do them all the same. If becoming a monster keeps my family safe. Helps me keep Kaylan safe.....Even when it is our time to part.....permanently. I''ll have no regrets in this life. ''Besides.....'' After looking towards all the pixies frolicking around and constantly trying to pet Fenrir as well as some of the others I''ve stayed close to since my time coming here. My mother who also hasn''t left my side at all.... ''....It''s not so bad.'' Pek, Izzie and Clara all went back to analyzing a lot of Balor''s remains and extracting what materials they could while a few of us remained in a corner while they were all waiting on me. Tanin, Cari, Freyki and several of the pixies that got the Fire Elemental''s flame crystal, are standing in a circle around everyone and providing a steady source of heat. After talking with Pek I let him know about the details Hj?kk had spoke of Balor''s horn and tried to see if he could possibly make a dagger or even a few swords with it but he seemed troubled by my request. While most of his race is currently working on making Fomorian fur coats and blankets, while creating some custom made weapons for the Annunakes this was the one thing Pek seemed troubled about. Apparently he isn''t a sword smith and while he can possibly create an item or even a dagger it would be a waste of such a good material he says. He doesn''t have a high enough Blacksmithing mastery to provide something of value for me as creating swords is something completely different than tools. That''s when the large white wolf who sort of resembles Adimar but much leaner approached. "Ah Alpha! If it is a weapon you require then allow me to possibly assist. I myself am a Blade Smith." - Alderon To these words I was actually quite surprised but then thought how normal that probably is. This is a warrior tribe and culture. Everything they do and breathe is battle and I wouldn''t doubt that huge sword lying on his back at all times was probably even made by him. "I''m not against it to see what you can do...Did you make that sword you''re always carrying around?" "Ah! Yes Alpha. Here please inspect my discipline. My workmanship..." - Alderon In and easy and quick motion he hoisted the large weapon from behind his toweringly tall back and lightly tapped the tip of the blade into the dirt causing a light tremor around my feet. It was a bright silver color with a large black handle. This large slab of metal had a fat middle but as the massive slab of steel got to its edges became increasingly thin and to a sharped point. He mentioned his Black Smithing Mastery was in the high Novice stages which must mean he''s made an untold number of swords. ''The production type classes were always insane trying to level. I''m only Advanced in cooking due to the sheer number of dishes I''ve created along with doubling the experience and creating a ¡®unique¡¯ skill. . The Crafting classes are all quite difficult to raise and isn''t as simply as killing monsters or practicing your technique against an opponent every day and becoming enlightened in that way. The great sword looked to be perfectly balanced to the tip of the blade. I put my hand on the large handle and attempted to hoist it off the ground but was met with a considerable amount of weight. ''...Hoh.....what? How heavy is this thing?'' "While it is perfectly balanced...The weight is roughly close to that of half a full grown Smog Dragon, Alpha...." - Alderon ''Geezes.....this thing really is heavy... And you''re saying you can lift this up with one arm?'' Trying to use one hand is impossible for me and it almost fell over so I had to quickly apply the strength of both my arms to grab onto the sword. Even then....''Ah...this is fucking heavy.'' I tried to lift it off the ground but to no avail it felt like it weighed like a City Wall. I could hardly even get it off the ground. I activated Demonic Awakening and then felt a surge of energy rush through my veins and slowly began to pick up the large slab of metal and hoist it up into the air. Even with two hands this thing is monstrously heavy. Forget trying to block it, getting hit with something like this would simply be asking for death. If I didn''t have the bones or abilities I did even with my defense this large slab of metal, swung at me at such speeds would potentially obliterate me. ''How in the world does this Alderon character hold this with one arm so effortlessly?'' I simply grinned and cautiously handed it back to Alderon who smiled. "It''s quite the sword. I''m impressed even more of you now for welding such a weapon so effortlessly." "Tis nothing my Alpha. One does not simply need strength to wield such a weapon. To be able to wield it as if it were as light as a feather one needs absolute discipline." - Alderon "I don''t doubt that. Hopefully you can teach me sometime." "Hehe...I would be honored my Alpha. The key to learning a large sword like mine isn''t as difficult as it would seem especially for one who has the resolve to stand against a foe as unstoppable as Balor hah..." - Alderon The large wolf man nodded to me and then just recalled something that he just said...The ''key'' to learning..... I remembered in Balor''s final moments he hadn''t spoken of revenge or mercy....He simply gave me something and asked me to....Kill them. I pulled out the large key from my item list and held it in my hand. It was too big to just be some normal key and must open something extremely important. ''Why Balor would give this to me in his final moments I haven''t any idea....'' It looks like an ordinary key but the top of it has a large black stone carved into it with a slight purple glow inside of it. While I continued to observe the odd key in my hands, my mother, Sting and all the others continued to stand next to Tanin and a few of the fire pixies. Right when I decided it was time to go I then saw a figure appear and was walking past all the workers extracting materials and headed towards us. ''Wait...she''s here?'' GrrrRrRrrrrrrrrr Several of the Annunakes around me including Alderon, Akino and even Za Za and Grayfia. "Down doggies....I simply came to see what all the fuss earlier was about. Thought I heard the screaming of some maiden being eating alive or something...." - Alysteir Each of the Annunakes and even some of the Pixies started to look immediately angered by the Neko''s presence but it seemed odd for some reason. ".....Perhaps you should go. Feelings are still a little sour for earlier. " - Adimar "Oh, are each of you still complaining about that? So I kicked your precious Elkia who were coming out of their unconscious states. You should all thank me.... " - Alysteir "Their protection is our responsibility." - Alderon "Don''t you forget what we said neko. If you ever lay your hands on them again..." - Grayfia "Or what doggies? You''ll come drool on me too." - Alysteir "¡­......" - Annunakes I questioned Adimar who was next to me and apparently earlier while they were taking the Elkia and Pixies we recovered to the Arachnee prison, one of the Pixies and two of the Elkia had awoken and started to go rampant. Kai who was also there explained it was incredibly worrisome as the male Pixie who had awoken started revealing a terrifying power creating a small purple and orange ball in his hands that looked like it had the brightness and heat of a star. The two Elkia who tried to flee and attack were immediately kicked in the back of their heads by Alysteir. While the Arachnee and Pixies were able to puncture the three with more poison to finally drop them down. The Annunakes are simply mad due to the treatment that was used toward the Elkia that they have finally seen for the first time in a long years. ...However, what Alysteir did in this particular situation....It''s not unjustified. "Ah so the human was simply taste testing with his interesting abilities it seems.....Anything good ? " - Alysteir As the blue haired neko started to slowly approach me I simply shrugged and was met with her grin. "Oh, don''t worry I''m not here to take you up on that offer of mine just yet. I was simply nearby when I heard a loud noise...." - Alysteir "So General Alystier has decided to stop by. It''s always a pleasure to stand in the presence of the Number 1. I heard of Commander Ackerman being promoted to the Eis Neko''s Race leader. Is General Alysteir planning on staying and fighting under his command after our parting with this place? " - Malfius To Malfius''s words Alysteir simply peered towards him and back at me while shrugging her shoulders as well. To that no one said anything for a short while and the blue haired nekos eyes ventured around the ice cave and smiled. It got awkwardly quiet and all that could be heard were the workers not far away from us. "Well....I suppose I''ll take my leave then. " - Alysteir "Wait...Umm...Vali!" - Bifrost Just then the black pixie whom I''ve only heard speak once had slowly walked up towards me while glancing at Alysteir. "Bifrost?...What is it?" - Cari "....I just wanted....To speak to Vali about something Cari." - Bifrost As she walked closer next to me my mother perked up and seemed interested in over what was occurring. I too was curious as I''ve hardly ever heard this one speak since we saved her. "Vali I...I think with such a joyous day that you have brought us I just....Well I was hoping that we could move on from such past...transgressions. Even I know how much hate can....Do to someone. I don''t want it to hurt you Vali....I just was hoping we could put aside our past histories and open doors for a better future....You''ve....sob...you''ve just been..So...nice...to us...I....I mean we..." - Bifrost The small black pixie who then stood close to me started having some tears streaming out from her black eyes making Sting and my mother seem to be confused over what was happening. Everyone else too seemed quite clueless to what this once white pixie was trying to say. Cari and Cyanin both walked over to her and placed their arms around their older sister who couldn''t seem to say the words she had wanted to. "Our family has even grown now since you''ve became a part of us. I''m just so thankful for you ...I don''t ever wish for you to be pained over things like hate. I just. I know what this place can do to those trapped in here....Vali, if you could ¡­.find it in your heart to forgive all of those in this place for whatever may have happened in the past....I beg you to consider it." - Bifrost Even Hj?kk seemed confused on my shoulder as to this little one''s words. Even after everything she''s been through it almost feels like she is speaking up for this neko. Why else would she have chosen now of all times to say this? [Sister Bryn always said the Bifrost Pixies while also holding the most wisdom were always the kindest as well....This one''s emotions seem genuine.] Hj?kk whispered telepathically and spoke as if there shouldn''t be any concern in this being suspicious in the slightest. I was always troubled how this Black pixie did not become ''cured'' when I used Freya''s Soul Recovery on her with even something like the Tears of a Titan being used. I honestly suspected for a short time she could have been a puppet in disguise but now I simply think she just chose not to speak as much before because she seems to think on her words quite carefully. ''Yah...They do seem to be the wiser ones. Amazing how after such things she of all people would say such things.....Hmmm'' It was hard to find the words to say as everyone around me remained silent. Even Alysteir silently stared towards Bifrost with a look of curiosity. "....Perhaps the words from the wise White Pixie''s should be considered. I agree to such things. If we are going to survive, like Locke said. We need to stand together from now on. " - Malfius ¡°Ah!....I guess when working together we are all quite formidable aren''t we? " - Ollie Some of the others started to murmur while I as well as Alysteir still didn''t have any words for the other. Even now the idea of her remaining free and not in chains freaks the hell out of me. Something as dangerous and unhinged as that person is something that haunts me. After what she did to me....I''m surprised I can even feel anything after what she did! Even thinking about it now I can feel an intense anger building inside of me almost attacking my mind. .....you can''t allow her to remain......She is simply...... too... angerous..... ''....She''s....very dangerous....But....at the same time.....Well she is unstable.....Maybe I should¡­.'' "And Vali....While there are a lot of crimes that Alysteir has never received punishment for during her command under Malaka and should. But I believe we should also consider all that she has done for us and take that into consideration...She even....She even saved your life today and I just...I''m forever grateful to her for risking her life for my family...sob....sob..." - Bifrost Bifrost then started to really start to cry and Cari and Cyain kept consoling her while looking up towards me and Alysteir curiously. After this I even heard a few of the Annunakes seem shocked while Malfius and Ollie both just nodded. According to them whenever I exploded out of Balor''s chest regardless if it wasn''t as strong or as powerful as the Pixie''s flames I was able to free myself from within him. My affinity wasn''t near any of the Pixie''s to produce a powerful enough flame but my mana helped it last just long enough for me to escape somehow. After that, the one who actually pulled me to safety and that odd feeling of traveling at warp speed.....That was....her? I assumed it was Hj?kk or...I just didn''t assume that had happened. I also remember now while Balor was subdued by Gleipnir she actually saved me from Balor trying to crush me with his horns....According to Hj?kk.....To even a God back in ancient times was something fatal. Perhaps I would have died too... While I was looking towards Alysteir she simply shrugged similarly to how I did only a few moments ago. "....I guess that whatever crimes you committed is something you''ll have to atone for through them....As far as our past issues are concerned...For now I guess, playing nice isn''t so bad." To my words some of the Annunakes made peculiar faces but Bifrost seemed to brighten up immediately. "...Thank you...Vali...sob...thank you so much sob...sob......" - Bifrost The small black pixie then came up to me no different than Cosmia and her little sister do and wrapped her small arms around me trying to stop herself from crying. This is in all honesty the most emotion I''ve seen her ever show and even Kai and Cari are both perplexed by it. They are even smiling about it which is odd. Just then Cyanin, Cari and Kai both ran up to me and hugged me and Elyria trying to pull us closer together. Vale, Uri and Jana too came up and also joined in on the family embracing their race does quite often. "Mmm.....Vali thanks for letting us come with you. We...we just love you so much. Oh wait! I have a present for you wait right here! Don''t finish the hug without your sister!" - Cari Cari''s last words caused my ears to twitch but the small white Pixie flew off and the other three Pixies continued to hug me as I could see Uri and Jana follow behind her. "Sob...sob....Why am I crying now? " - Cyanin Each of the pixies continued to speak and I looked up towards Alysteir and contemplated the small pixie''s words. Her selfless thoughts honestly spoke to me and perhaps I have been a bit misguided in my anger. I can never forget what Alysteir did to me and there will always be a sense of rage when thinking of this neko but at the same time, how were her actions any different than those I have already chosen to forgive. Just because she was the one who held the knife didn''t mean her actions were in some way worse than the others who sat and watched..... ''In all honesty I wish this entire situation didn''t have to happen to cause us all such friction. I wanted to trust these races but even now it''s hard. But the words of Bifrost honestly got me thinking and spoke quite a lot to me....She was in captivity the longest...I don''t even dare think of all of the things that must have happened to her and her siblings. But even after such times she shows to care quite a bit for others...'' "..Ah...Alysteir. Come here for a moment." - Bifrost To this action the neko woman scoffed and yet weirdly enough started approaching towards our group hug... Is Bifrost actually? "I''m not gonna join in on the ''cry sesh'' so don''t bother. But I was going to do this....While I suppose our little duel will have to wait for another day Hero boy. I guess I can play nice for a little while too. Is this how you show an agreement in your culture human?" - Alysteir Alysteir extended her long slender arm outward and reached it towards me. While some of the Annunakes made bitter faces they didn''t voice any complaints towards whatever action I might take. It''s insane how obedient and respectful they are towards one who holds the Alpha position and go along with whatever my decisions is, with practically no contest whatsoever. I raised my hand out to shake Alysteir''s and this was probably a sight that neither of us had ever seen happening at all. While I think this neko is scary I can''t deny myself I would rather have this friend as an ally than an enemy. In such a society torturing someone isn''t even uncommon for those in my world when trying to obtain information. As evil as I think this person to be....How can I be someone to judge such a person''s actions she made in this place. As my hand firmly gripped onto hers she gave a strong grip and gently shook her arms in a weird way. ''What? These species in here really don''t know what a handshake is.....Wa..huh?!!!!'' WHHHOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM!MM!!!!!!M!M!M!M!M!M!MM!MM!M!! [What! What''s happening right now! The space were standing in is distorting!] A dark mist emerged out from underneath where we were standing and stretched out towards our entire surroundings. "Ah what''s happening?" - Kai "What? What is this black cloud? " - Tanin "Brace yourselves!" - Adimar "Is something attacking?" - Malfius "I''m SORRY! I didn''t mean to touch that!" - Cyanin "WHAT?!!!" - Everyone All I could hear was constant chatter before everything around us changed completely. ------------------------------------------------------------------- When the dark myst that surrounded us vanished we had all then realized everything around us had changed. We weren''t standing in the same location we were just in. What was once a pale bluish white color of the ice walls covered the ceiling and floor we were now standing in a very large dark room. While there is a dim light coming in from some small openings overhead I can see we are standing in an incredibly large....hall? The floors are black and have odd designs covering them along with dozens of incredibly large pillars that extend all the way to the towering ceilings. Everything looks to be carved with an intricate and lovely design it almost looks similar to a...throne room. ''That looks sort of like a...chair?'' The light coming from overhead also showed a large black stone chair like object that was elevated much higher than the floor we were standing on and even floated off the ground. "Where....Where are we? " - Kai "Status!" - Malfius "Ugh...It doesn''t say a Floor....Could.... we be outside the dungeon right now?" - Akino "Nnnnn...." - Alysteir I looked around and those around me were the same as those who were standing closest to me when that black smoke appeared. Bifrost, Kai, Tanin, Cyanin and Vale of the Pixie Race along with Adimar, Akino and Alderon from the Annunakes. There was also my mother, Sting, Hj?kk along with Malfius, Ollie, Alysteir and even Alec had also been transported alongside side us. Alysteir nimbly started jumping up and down oddly and made a frown while speaking as if to herself... "Nnn....The gravity is rather strange here....." - Alysteir ''The gravity is strange?....Just where are we? I can''t see a Floor Title. Wait Cyanin!'' "Cyanin what did you touch?" To my words everyone who was scanning the surroundings then turned to look at the small turquoise girl holding my pant leg. "Ah umm...Well...The shiny key thing in your hand it...Ah sorry I didn''t know something would happen if I touched it. " - Cyanin Everyone then looked down towards the large key shaped item in my hands and stared at it oddly. "It''s a warp key." - Kai "So that''s what it was." - Alderon "Hmmm....." As I started to look around the key shape I tried to touch the large black stone and was met with this.
Balor''s Key of the Damned Cool Down Time: 30 Minutes
The key didn''t give me much of a description at all but I find it odd a being like Balor would shape something like a ''warp key'' which could look similar to something like a bracelet on his wrist. ''Something like him wouldn''t just shape an object like this peculiar shaped key for no reason....There''s got to be something else this key can do. Balor handed it to me in his final breaths....Perhaps there is something here he wants me to find?'' "Hmm....It says the cool down time is at 30 minutes. Does anyone else''s warp key''s work?" To my words a few of the leaders including Akino and Alderon both shook their heads no. [This is strange Vali. I can''t ascertain where we are. These walls are warded with something strange. I can''t see anything past this room. But....the gravity here is much less than normal....At least 20% less actually... The warding on this place is from multiple different kinds of magical systems....The one''s on the floor in front of us I think are Demonic symbols to be honest.....The one''s on that pillar are Nordic...Hindu....Aos S¨ª of the Fairies....I don''t even know that one....Vali this place is like a steel trap nothing get''s out or in without that warp key..... ] ''Shit.....Just where are we?'' "Where are we exactly?" - Kai "Ah...Um.....I think I know." - Bifrost When all of us looked down towards the small black pixies she continued to look towards her feet where strange glyphs and designs carved below them. "I think we''re really, really high up right now. I can....feel just the edge of my sister''s aura....Very, very far down." - Bifrost "¡­......" - Kai "Hmm....Could we be on the top Floor?" - Malfius "Wouldn''t there be a display telling us that....Look at that throne over there....Maybe that warp key took us to where Balor lives.... We''re probably higher than the top Floor. Past the dungeon boundary?" - Adimar To Adimar''s words everyone grew silent and I started to contemplate the accuracy of his words. ''I remember Balor screaming something...about a ''Black Palace''....He said....Oh no...He said he left his beasts to guard the ''Black Palace''.'' As this realization occurred to me my eyes started to twitch. "Ok if everyone''s warp key''s don''t work...Then we just have to wait till this one cool''s down. I say we explore this place some but be on high alert right now....I think I know where we are and Balor called it his Black Palace.....He also said he left some very dangerous creatures to protect it...He.....he implied he left the majority of his forces guarding this place so....We shouldn¡¯t make too much noise." To my words everyone''s eyes grew large realizing at the moment we are in fact still behind enemy lines and are by no means in a safe location. We cannot simply walk around aimlessly. "What? Are you saying that entire army horde that was slaughtered? That was just the first course?" - Alderon "¡­..When everyone was passed out after Balor opened up his third eye...When I awoke first I heard him mention it....It''s highly possible we haven''t even seen the extent of Balor''s dangerous schemes yet. If he was able to subdue even Malthiel then we need to be extremely cautious. Who knows what sort of things he kept behind in case someone were to lead an attack against him..." "Hmm, Vali''s right. Balor believed he was soon to take over the entire world with his creations that were housed here...He was far too intelligent to think he could do such a task that was toppled so easily by his own captives...." - Kai To each of our words everyone slowly nodded and decided while we were stuck in this mysterious Black Palace we should at least explore it some to find out some of Balor''s secrets. Who knows maybe the person who created something like the Midnight Gauntlet or even experiment on Abgrund, has even more secret weapons just lying up here. I can''t imagine how high up we are right now but according to Hj?kk, Jheroki Mountains extend so high that some peaks go past the very atmosphere and into space. ''Well...Let''s be glad I don''t have a horrible fear of heights or that would be pretty nerve racking to hear.'' My mother came up and wrapped her arms around mine as we all continued forward. Her ears brushed against the side of my face and she looked up towards me. "What? I''ve just got you back and I don''t want you doing anything too dangerous. I won''t hear anything about it." - Elyria I had no rebuttal and we each continued forward. Adimar, Akino and Alderon each stood around us which caused Cyanin to make an odd face. She then darted towards me and sat her bottom on my opposite shoulder of Hj?kk. "Hmph.....There. Now that I''m here let''s continue. Bifrost come sit on Elyria''s shoulders too! " - Cyanin Bifrost then made an odd face towards her sister in which Cyanin put her hands on her hips and spoke up again. "Come on Bifrost. We can keep our family safe while getting to be right next to them!" - Cyanin Bifrost then smirked and casually flew over to my mother who only continued to stare towards the small black pixie curiously. The dark light coming off of her was just as warm as her younger sisters and she bent her large crystalline wings around the back of my mother''s head. "Hmph...there now you''re protected. Let''s go Vali." - Cyanin "Hmph does this one believe the protection of the Alpha and his family aren''t with us here?" - Akino "Pft...With me and Bifrost here it''s even better than having even the toughest shields made of the finest steel....Besides they''re our family and we can protect them." - Cyanin "Yah we called dibs..." - Tanin "You what?" - Adimar "Dibs...Means we can handle it." - Tanin "¡­.." - Akino This last word then caused me stop our walking and look towards the arguing pixies.... "You guys have the concept of dibs in this place?" "Pft what do you take us for brother Vali? Someone who''s lived their whole lives in a cave or what?" - Cyanin To her words I practically tripped over.... "...Yes....yes that is what I thought...." To my words Cyanin simply stuck out her tongue at me and Alderon and Akino simply didn''t have any words to say at all seeming to just give up trying to argue with them. Bifrost who was on my mother''s shoulder then stuck her hands in her lap and started to create a small flame as well. Kai, Vale, Tanin and the other two pixies then started to create a ball of fire in their hands to make it easier for everyone to see. My mother however couldn''t stop staring at each of them simply perplexed by each of them. "I''ll lead the way. Cyanin can you put you''re shields around me please..." - Tanin "Ok here ya go....!" - Cyanin As we continued to walk through the large dark room she didn''t even stare at her surroundings near as much as each of the pixies. "I must say my son...These little pixies truly are bizarre...Their magic comprehension is simply astonishing. They''re practically made of magic, I''ve never seen anything like them before." - Elyria "They are pretty interesting aren''t they...." "Hey...Are you talking about us? You know it''s not nice to have secrets." - Cyanin "Hah! Bizarre you say? If that''s what you wish to call it." - Sting My mother and Sting both couldn''t stop filling me in on their observations of the Pixie Race. I admit they don''t use magic like any of the other races either. It''s strange but Hj?kk says they work on a completely different system than humans when using magic simply from being made from magic itself. However, after I set the Age of Death skill they were able to enter it just fine even if they weren''t able to use magic.... They don''t need to learn magical spells that help them manipulate the laws around them they can simply create their own law at random by producing a fire as they understand it''s properties to such an incredible extent already. I still don''t quite understand it but magic is by far the hardest aspect of this world I haven''t been able to comprehend since coming here. Magic isn''t just activating a skill light I''ve been doing. Since this world is so much similar to Loki''s game I forget sometimes but this isn''t essentially what magic is and I now I feel I really need to learn just how to master it. I just understand how powerful magic can be that is why I have initial caution over powerful sages in the world. ''I''m just some guy from another world....I''m not some legendary hero, I''m not some master sage who has been studying magic or martial arts for thousands of years either. That''s why I feel the heavy need to start studying magic thoroughly to benefit this new Class the right way.'' The fact that I can use monster skills isn''t due to my Magic Manipulation but simply because my demonic origins place me on a completely different magical system. Hj?kk says Loki is even perplexed by this as he doesn''t understand Demonic Magic really at all. Demons aren''t friendly to any other race besides their own, it''s not strange even Gods wouldn''t know much about how they use magic. Every since my WIS and INT stats grew I can see just how wrong I''ve been trying to grow since coming here. If there was a being who could simply counter all of my most powerful skills then where would I be left. I''m strong defensively but if I''m honest, I myself haven''t really become stronger as a fighter since coming here. ''Oh I''ve become more formidable sure but....My confidence coming here has also taken a hit....'' Malfius...Alysteir....Even in my first fight with Adimar he took me to the ground and tore into my arm. After my first fight in this dungeon the races here came up with a way to counter me and fight me to the death if they needed to....These might be extreme cases but I can''t be the only person in this world with cheat like abilities. Even without cheat like abilities I''ve still been defeated before by those who have lived life and death battles every single day of their lives. Even with everything I have if someone like Malfius took the first swing I''d be done. Even if my skills make me strong if I rely on them in the way that I have and meet with an enemy that can take them all on then I''ll be left with only the outcome of death. I''ve been lucky up till now... With this new Class change I''ve come to see that now. If I''m making the decision of not revealing my OP items or powerful abilities to the world then I need to be able to see just how strong I am without them. But I can''t stop training with them as well to prepare for what could come. It''s as if after picking a new Class my entire thought process can only play out every scenario that may come and right now is the time we need to be preparing for these future scenarios...''Whenever I leave this place.....I will speak to this King Asher and make sure he is someone I can place my trust in.'' It all honesty is based on this one person.... As we continued to walk to the back of the dark room and past the large floating throne it was Ollie who first saw a large door towards the back of the throne room. As we each slowly ventured towards it everyone continued to remain quiet. Not wanting to alert whoever or whatever could be hiding in this place. We slowly pushed the door open and felt a sudden force of wind blowing from behind us and toward the now very brightly lit hallway. Each of us together walked through and could see this large walkway had an open aired ceiling and a few large window like structures with the light from the sun beaming through. "Ah.....mmm...." - Malfius "Couhg....nnn the.....air..." - Adimar Only after a few paces of walking forward each of the Annunakes, Reiki, my mother, Sting and even Alysteir and Alec started holding their throats and slowly dropped to their knees. I could feel a slight tinge of pain occur in my chest...I could no longer take in any air into my lungs for some reason.....There''s no air in here! I tried to hold my breath but noticed everyone besides me and the Pixies seemed to be having more trouble coping with the lack of oxygen. However, for whatever reason even without air....How are my lungs still working? I can feel them beating and distorting rapidly but how are they even working with such little oxygen in this place? WHoomoOOOOMMMMMmm A large hum occurred and small purple see through spheres appeared around each and everyone''s heads. Cough...cough.... Within each and every bubble a large gust of blue wind started to flurry and flutter around each of our faces and subside and we were each met with a sudden breath of fresh air. [This should hold for the time being....This place does appear to be very high up. There isn''t much oxygen in the air at all here....] Hj?kk whispered to me on her shoulders and everyone around us started to slowly stand back up again. "Whoo...That''s better....I suppose that''s your pretty purple friend''s doing huh? Well...I must say I thank you lovely lady...." - Ollie "Ahh......That was strange what was that just now?" - Elyria "Yes it almost felt like the air itself were practically gone within the middle of each breathe....." - Sting "Apparently were pretty high up....Here let''s go have a look at just how high..." After I spoke we each slowly walked towards the first large open aired window that extended all the way to the incredibly large ceiling. Just as we came to the view of the window everyone halted their steps as we now heard the first foreign noise since coming here. AHhhhhHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhh WHAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! Ahhhh!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! While faint, each of us heard the screaming wails of tortured souls coming from outside the window. We each looked out the large open aired window but couldn''t see anywhere to the place of the sounds creeping in. This Black Palace was practically floating on a massive black cloud that is hovering below a large courtyard with a metal framed black gate out in front. The sky was pale blue but behind it I could practically see nothing but black space and distant stars. ''Just to get to this point we wouldn''t even be able to breath.....I''m glad Cyanin hit that button when Hj?kk was here....'' There were bright multi colored stars in the distance and even a large orange sun coming from the west but it was as if even being closer to such a bright Sun the light barely intruded on this space at all. It was as if the light tried to touch everything around this place but could not brighten up the surroundings of the Black Palace at all. The Black Palace practically keeps out all light from entering this place.... Below the clouds I could see what looked like large grass and even large mountains that extended for miles far below the black clouds. As everyone continued to look outward I noticed each and everyone was looking forward besides three. One was Hj?kk and the others were Malfius and Alysteir who were both peering into the same direction oddly. I looked up and towards the sky but didn''t see a thing. [Vali...don''t make a sound.] AhhhhhhHHH!!!!!!!! AhhhhhhHHHH!H!!!!!!!!!! The faint screams continued to enter our ears but I couldn''t tell to where it was coming from. I motioned for everyone to be quiet and tried to see what it was that was causing the noise. I used Eclipse view but nothing came up at all. I then remembered I had a new skill and wanted to try it out....I activated Achtung Vis and the pale blue and dark black sky turned a very deep red. It was as if the entire atmosphere started bleeding. "What?....." I couldn''t see anything at all it was just the sky had turned a dark red.....No.....Wait.....The sky is moving? As my mouth opened wide I could feel Sting and some of those near me start to shake.. "Psst....hey Vali...What is it?" - Cyanin "Gulp....." My eyes started to widen as the red sky that started to move and I traced a very mysterious shaped figure that started to slowly travel through the sky out in front of the large courtyard. It had no lower torso...It kind of looked like a reaper with long claw like hands but I couldn''t even begin to see what kind of shape this monster is. After trying to obtain information over what monster this could be the entire place had started to show thousands of tiny status bars.... The entire sky is literally covered with these things.....Millions?....How many of those things are there... ''Hj?kk just what are those things? I can''t even see them without this skill.....'' All I could see was a deep red color indicating a high warning of potential ''physical'' danger and met with loud screams that continued to fill the walkway we were standing in. [¡­.They''re Wraiths.....I''ve never seen so many in one place....Said to be the tortured souls who have been bound by hatred and dark magic....They are extremely dangerous to mortals.] ''I wouldn''t have even been able to see them without the skill that much already makes them dangerous.'' Though I could hardly ascertain what they were after reading the term Wraith after squinting my eyes I could see their Levels were each in the low 600s. RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!H!H!H!H!H!H!H!H!HH!H!!HH!H!H!H!H!! ''What the....fuckkk!!!'' Even through Hj?kk''s wind barrier around our faces, a world shaking roar came down from the heavens and brought everyone of us to our knees. RAAHAHAHAHHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It felt like my eardrums were going to explode and my heart were going to literally burst open. I almost felt as if my whole body had lifted up off the ground for a brief moment from the intense sound waves that echoed in ripples immobilizing all of us. I looked towards my mother and she had tightly pressed her large ears into the side of her head and closed her eyes in pain. "MMMmmmmmm!!!" - Ollie "Wha....What?" - Adimar Even after the roar subsided it felt like our very being had been shaken and we were still frozen in place not even wanting to know what was the source of such a powerful roar. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!! Soo......HUNGRRYYY!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!" -? The entirety of the Black Palace walls continued to shake as if the entrance of a God were descending.. There in the distance I saw an image appear at the end of the horizon and instantly grow into such a large figure within an instant in the sky. Just then I felt as if all the color had left my face as this figure is simply so monstrously large I can''t fathom how it moved so undeniably fast. "Wha........" ''What the fuck is that thing?!'' Each of us ducked our heads lower and tried to see what this incredibly long figure that passed by the Black Palace and wrapped around the surrounding black clouds could be. It looked like a flying serpent whose head and skin looked to be armored and smokey grey. I clearly heard it speak but right afterwards a loud roar came from out the large serpent''s mouth and shook everything bringing everyone back to their knees. "Hj?kk...What...What is that thing?" Even Hj?kk had to attempt to shield her ears from the violent sound attack alongside each of us and lowered her eyes. [Its......It''s a Sky Imoogi. I honestly can''t believe that old psycho had one of those lying up here, this isn''t good!] "An Imoogi?" "A what? Are you joking!? AH!!....." - Sting ROOOOOOHHHHHHH!H!HH!!HH!H!H!HH!H!H!H!H!HH!HH!H!!HH!!H!H!H!H!H!H! Between the loud roars I could hear everyone bracing themselves from the ear shattering roars. Looking towards the colossal serpent this thing was clearly larger than any of those Fomorians. This thing were flying through the atmosphere and swirled through the dark red sky and opened its large jagged jaws. A large sliver of saliva was swept away by the wind and the large beast revealed a terrifyingly gaping mouth with four large fangs and thousands of tinier ones coming from the top and bottom of its mouth. RAHHHHHHHH!H!H!H!H!H!H!H!HH!H!H!H!HH!H!H!H!H!H!!H!HH!H!H!H!H!H! Trying to hold back the pain of our eardrums about to burst I could see that the dark red sky started to get sucked into the large Imoogi''s mouth as if he were sucking them all in. [¡­.And this one has gravity magic...Vali. Don''t get any ideas. I''m serious!] ''Hjo?kk...How strong is that thing?'' [...Imoogi''s are.....Even if they are considered to be Half Dragons.....They are basically the King of all Snakes. Forget the Grootslang, this thing would turn that overgrown worm into a chew toy....They''re very old....Considering this world has even considered to have existed when the Titan we''re standing on was still among the living, this world has even existed before I was created so.... That serpent could be a few hundred years old or judging by its size could even likely be as old as I am.....Even if I can kill it, that doesn''t mean it doesn''t have dangerous poisons that could harm me if I were careless....While it is in no way faster than me it could easily crush everyone of you while I would be fighting it. Their vitality is almost that of an actual pure blooded Dragon. It''s Level however is only at 744 but.....Vali do not attack him we have no idea what other threats could be lurking out there...] ''Yah you don''t have to tell me twice...Wait if it''s older than you what''s with it''s level only being so high?'' [Level is raised from gaining experience and that is still considered a very high level Vali even in this world.... Even if you never killed anything you will still rise in level after your experience rose high enough doing a particular skill or performing a task repeatedly. It would just take a lot longer....In this environment...No telling he''s probably trapped here and not always awake. It''s probably tied to the dungeon even so perhaps it has also died in here a few times. Limited food supply who knows all the reasons but you should by no means consider that a low level. If I were bitten by it even I would be unable to heal its poison unless I used my Reversion magic to recall my body to a previous state.... Raising your level to a high enough extent in this world would make it to where even I would have to expend some effort....] I nodded and each of us lowered our bodies a little bit more to shield us from the colossal King of Snakes and slowly started to try and walk forward to the end of the walkway. ''¡­.It seems this world really does have an unforeseen amount of dangers even to give you some worry.'' [How am I not to worry? Honestly if I could, I would have preferred you hadn''t gained that Hydra ability just so you wouldn''t have that innate sense of security you seem to have acquired....Don''t look at me like that! Wishing to fight Balor in a close confrontation. Why did I ever let you talk me into such a thing?] ''Sorry about that...Hard to help it. I''m only human but I do understand the severity of your words...I won''t become confident in such a world especially after just running into something like Balor and Malthiel out of nowhere...'' [Just remember Vali...That is a healing skill from an A class monster with only an S class regenerative ability... No one is indestructible.] I nodded to the purple crow on my shoulder and she smiled after acknowledging her words. For some reason ever since coming back from her talk with Loki she seems more...cautious for some reason. We ventured forward while practically crawling on the floor hoping not to alert anything on this floor to our presence. As we reached the door Malfius, Adimar and Alderon slowly pushed it open and motioned for everyone to come forward. As each of us did I couldn''t help but take one more glance out the last window at trying to ascertain simply the full size of such a monster....It''s was so big I never even got a full glimpse of it''s whole body the window was simply too narrow. Just as I started to slow down a blur appeared at my sides and pushed me down to the floor with a very heavy strength. When I looked up I saw bending over my fallen body was.... "Alyst..." Before I could finish what I was saying the neko put her hand on my mouth and instructed me with a glare that said she wasn''t kidding and not to say a single word. She then curved her body upward some while leaning her wait into me and attempted to look through the open window. Hj?kk who was on my shoulder started to angrily flap her wings then her large purple eyes grew shakeably large and she turned towards the wall and tried to peer out the window too. ''What''s happening?'' Adimar, my mother and each of the pixies who were close to the door started to quietly show their anger but were all looked at violently by her and motioned not to make a sound with a knife to her lips. As Alysteir put the rest of her weight down onto me I felt her large chest pressing through her black uniform and into my own. She was slowly peering over the sides of the window and didn''t even notice that her cleavage was pressed rather close to my face. She then twitched and looked down towards me all of a sudden with a fury in her eye. ''What? You think I was looking at...mmmmm'' In one quick motion she put her hand on the side of my face and aggressively pushed it away. I got up and too attempted to look out the open aired window. Alec was standing on the other side of the window and was attempting to do the same thing while notioning to all those next to the door to standby. As I was looking outward I couldn''t see a thing. Simply the image of the large Sky Imoogi''s body wrapping around some of the dark clouds but I then noticed the Adler out in front of me begin to whisper and his eyes grew large. "Can...can that thing see me? No, I don¡¯t think he c.....Wait I think he does see me!! Get down!!!!" - Alec He flapped his right hand and wings down and tried to use each of his four wings to shield each of us downward. "What is it?" "I...I don''t know...I...it was so far away it...On the floor below just....Ugh...but I''m pretty sure it saw me just then it... Ah I don''t know I''ve never seen a monster like it before. But even from here it felt like my heart had just stopped- Alec ''What?....'' "Alysteir did you see anything?" With my question Alysteir''s eyes flashed in my direction briefly and spoke while keeping her head down. "¡­My danger awareness skill went off. The moment I walked within view it started then I felt immediate danger to even myself after you did so I figured I''d save your butt for a third time...I couldn''t quite see what it was but...Well, it''s not the flying snake." - Alysteir "Hmmm.....Wait....Vali. Everyone be quiet." - Hj?kk Everyone could hear and understand Hj?kk perfectly and considering the weight of her words and didn''t make a sound. I then looked towards Cyanin below me and tried to signal to her to make an Illusion for everyone right now. She nodded and looked towards Bifrost and they both closed their eyes and started to slowly wave their hands around. I could hear the pixies below me gulp and my mother from far away continued to look towards us with fear and concern. I can''t risk anything here...Just what is going on? What did they see? I tried to activate my Eclipse View again and look through the castle wall and was amazed at how well this worked. There are no glyphs on this wall so I can see through the black stoned wall and can even keep my Achtung Vis skill active as well... Now where is ¡­....What? I didn''t even have words for what I was visually seeing slowly approaching the Black Palace. A figure that was not there before is now standing close to where the courtyard and black gate should be.... The color blazing off of it was impossible not to notice as it was as if I were staring directly into the light of the sun. What?......It''s figure is absurd looking. While it was bipedal it''s body shape with this odd Vision skill is simply too difficult to make out. I couldn''t even tell what it was but it looked like it had over a dozen arms and each were holding large weapons. It''s hair if it had any looked to be made out of fire and was constantly flowing with the same blazingly red and white hot color that looked even more powerful than the Sun. Though I can''t see it''s face I think whatever it is, is staring right in our direction and hasn''t moved from that one spot at all.... I tried to squint my eyes and see if I could get a name and level but immediately upon reading through each letter I felt an sudden rush of fear swell into my heart. ''Other than Wraiths and Imoogi''s....How on earth did Balor find something like this?!''
Narasimha (Level 814) The Mrigendra
''Isn''t that?....Isn''t that like a deity? I remember that name...Wasn''t that like a lion or something.'' No one moved a muscle looking towards me as each of us didn''t try to peak out the dark castle at all. I was only even able to see the shape of something dangerous behind this wall. It had a small crown figure next to it''s name that let me know it was a boss in this area. I could then see a less blazingly red color come down from the sky and cross paths with the large 16 armed being. Then the bright red color from both started to explode outward into the surroundings followed by a large boom. BOOOOOM!!! AHhhhHHH!H!H!H!H!!!!!!!!!!! The sounds of the Sky Imoogi screaming I could see the long body flying through the sky quickly and flew away into the distance to the point I couldn''t even see it any longer. The same two legged deity didn''t move for quite some time and remained motionless before turning around and slowly walking away. I nodded it was alright to peek but not make a sound. As each of us looked outward we caught a glimpse of the back of this strange creature that caused even that large Sky Imoogi to retreat. It was a pale yellow color and had long red hair with crimson lines covering it''s tall body. It was incredibly muscular and would look slightly human if not for the 16 arms coming out of it''s back. It''s dark red hair flowed in such a way it almost resembled flames and even his entire body had a slight glow to it. AhhhhhhHHHHH!H!!!!! AhhhhH!!!!!!! I could hear screams coming from the strange beasts direction and saw his large arms spin around violently into the air waving each weapon around furiously. It continued to walk forward with no restraint and I could see the red sky and wraiths around the odd being were simply being sliced into two and chopped into shreds. It continued to walk to the edge of the black clouds then leaped off and onto the ground far below the clouds above. According to Alec only a moment ago this thing was on what looked like the Floor below this floating castle and felt like he had even made eye contact with him from such a far distance. After we hid, he had no idea how he covered such an incredibly long distance and height at such a short stretch of time. [What?!!! I can''t believe it!.....How did Balor find something like that?] ''Narasimha....Is he like a god?'' [No...Not exactly. It''s odd but it''s more like a physical avatar that an old dead God use to use in battle during his reign....He could split his conscience into ten very strong beings, that creature was only one of them. He was once the King of all Lions during Vishnu''s reign....But after Vishnu died.....His Avatars disappeared with him....How Balor found such a thing and even gave it life is a mystery to me....Even dungeons of this caliber shouldn''t have monsters at such a high level Vali. Whatever Balor did here goes against the world laws and how he hid it I''m also unsure....But I will tell you right now. Whether that thing can be considered as strong as a Deity you must always think Deities are usually stronger than Fallen Gods. Balor was just on this world for a long time.....] ''Are you kidding me? What''s the difference?'' [Deities are more like gods that live on Middle Earth and hold advantages for that. Usually they don''t appear human either and grant blessings to monsters and other intelligent species.... They don''t adhere to the same treaties and laws as those from the Divines must follow so they do have some advantages in this world too...] ''Well that makes me even more concerned now thanks....'' [Balor may have been an exception to this as he was more of a High God before he fell so stop worrying so much......Deities have just been in the world longer is all so only think of it like that, I''m simply doing this to warn you... A Divines body would also be far more tough so compared to Balor there aren''t many entities that should be comparable to him in this world in terms of versatility....But I warn you there will be many that hold just as much explosive power if not more......Balor was already a God who when fighting in his domain made it to where it would take multiple other High Gods just to subdue him. Killing him was a completely different story.....Slaying a God is something far more difficult than you could understand right now and yet.....we somehow....made it...Didn''t we?] The small purple crow looked up at me and smiled and I nodded back down to her. I instructed everyone to continue forward for now and do as much exploring before the 30 minutes are up. Anymore time spent in here would be simply too dangerous. According to Hj?kk if Balor had brought that Sky Imoogi or even that other monster the result of today would have been a lot worse. She has no doubt in her mind about that. '' I understood Balor was careless and left most of his important pieces back to use at a later time but....I had no idea he was hiding such hidden monsters that even Hj?kk doesn''t think we should engage or it would be just as dangerous as fighting Balor without any single hint of preparations....'' That lion avatar was even at a higher level than Balor.... As we got through the large door and closed it the pixies started to shine their flames once again and walk out in front of the pitch black room. As we continued forward I could hear Sting and some of the others murmuring over the situation and couldn''t help but stutter at the realization all of this means. "...An Imoogi....I can''t believe I''d ever see one in this lifetime.....Hah! If only the people back home would believe any part of this tale....hah.....Some wait their whole life times for such an adventure and seeing something like that is almost as rare as running into a rogue god." - Sting "That snake looked quite dangerous...Perhaps you shouldn''t try to fight it Vali. I mean it..." - Elyria My mother looked towards me with a stern voice trying to scold me and showed her concern. I admit just now I too had a hint of fear in my heart. Even Hj?kk spoke that with just the emergence of what we''ve seen so far she might even have to use her full power just for us all to stand a chance... While Valkyries are amazingly strong Hj?kk says they were originally created to fight in a formation with the rest of her sisters....that is where their true strength lies. "Don''t worry I won''t haha...Why do you and Hj?kk keep thinking I''m going to start a fight every chance I get?" "Oh is the son who said he was going out to ''hunt and ''train'' which I find was actually in a war with an ancient and all powerful evil god, arguing with me right now?" - Elyria "Alright granted...." "Seriously Vali. This is simply astonishing!! I''d never thought I''d live to see such an outstanding creature from myth and live to tell about it. I felt like his voice was actually going to kill me haha....This is extraordinary. If you ever kill that thing you must let me research it!" - Sting "You quit your nonsense Sting!" - Elyria "An Imoogi is that much of a treasure to a poisons expert I''m sure." "Pshh...Materials from something like that would be a rare treasure to anyone ever! Even as Half Dragons their power is only spoke about in legends. Said to have a poison so rich that only the Sacred Everlasting Life Root Elixir from the World Tree can cure it....If the Imoogi were able to eat the heart of a True Dragon and you were to kill it during its vulnerable state then your rewards would be astronomical....It''s speculated if one were to bath in a True Dragon''s blood their strength would triple instantaneously. It''s also rumored that if one were to eat the heart of a True Dragon it''s even speculated you would gain simply boundless effects and even gain 500,000 Mana immediately. Even those who are unable to use magic are said to gain simply unthinkable power...Truly something wondrous indeed.....So food for thought Vali if your crazy enough..." - Sting "Why are you giving him ideas?! Do you want me to get Fenrir to come play with you?!" - Elyria "I eh...I was just making conversation he..he..." - Sting Elyria then turned over and swatted Sting with one of her tails and looked back at me angrily. "Don''t worry I won''t get any ideas....." ''¡­..She doesn''t look like she''s playing.... I''m starting to wonder though who these people are who were able to kill a True Dragon and learn of this knowledge however.....That really frightens me. Hey Hj?kk...How strong are True Dragons? I know you said Loki downgraded them in the game but if that was a Half Dragon then a True Dragon honestly doesn''t sound like any normal Boss monster I''ve ever seen....'' [...Like I said pure blooded dragons are in an existence to themselves...But they can vary in degree of power through age and other factors.... An Imoogi at a young age and level who was born can simply eat the heart of a pure blooded dragon and become one itself as their bloodlines are fairly close already compared to other species.....You forget some True Dragons can still be born and at times still be considered as weakened in some cases...They also aren''t necessarily physical beings they are more of a spiritual race as well...Think of them like Elves only with much more durable bodies and souls....] ''And with thousands of sharp fangs and breathe fire right?'' [Hmph....Every race has their strengths Vali you''ll soon learn this too. You''ll see even though some of these existences seem unfathomable...They are not all powerful. If one existence was then maybe they would be standing at the top but the fact these races all still remain shows they each have something formidable and tenacious about each of them. ] '' Well I guess I''ll worry about that later...This place is now starting to give me the creeps.'' [It does have a sort of ominous feel to it doesn''t it? The light doesn''t even seem to want to shine here as well...] This Floor itself is built like a death trap. They have monsters you can''t even see without specific skills. There is practically zero oxygen here and the monsters flying around even to Hj?kk she deems as extremely dangerous. These are Legendary Beasts and the physical bodies of extremely powerful gods once upon a time....Maybe we were even more lucky than we realized. Just the look of shock in Hj?kk''s face right now tells me again just how lucky we were today. "Tehee...There... It''s kind of dark in here but don''t worry we can handle it." - Cyanin Cyanin and Bifrost then flew back over to Elyria and my sides and sat on top of our shoulders once again. Tanin who was walking out in front with Vale and Kai started standing out in front of us. "Yah tehee. We can handle leading for now and protecting Vali and his mother. So you keep that in mind Annunakes. " - Cyanin " And you too Alysteir." - Tanin Tanin then started to faintly flutter the flames around his fists for some reason as if showing his new overconfidence. ''You know what maybe the fire element is also effecting him some too....hmmm..'' "Guys settle down." "Hmphmph...You should listen to your human brother candlelight, or I just might come over and slap those wings off you." - Alysteir "I ugh....." - Tanin Tanin then started to nervously look around and then Cyanin started shaking her head quickly. "Now Tanin if you start fights for no reason we''re not going to jump in and help you...." - Cyanin Tanin then nervously looked back to Alysteir who was giving him a very eery stare right back at him. "Eh hehe....Well might as well keep searching throughout this huge castle huh...." - Tanin As our odd party continued to walk through the dark hallway we began to see two large figures out in front of us. They were both at least 20 feet tall but the shape of each looked odd. Are those statues? As everyone cautiously got a bit closer the large figures size and distinct features began to take shape. I could even see a light glow coming from what looked like eyes gleaming back at us and we each slowed down. The one on the right had the shape of a tall jackal and held a large crown atop it''s head with a blue and yellow striped cloth coming down the back of its head. It''s eyes looked dead and it''s body held a long and thin framed dark grey exterior. It held a long weapon that curved outward almost into that of an axe but was curved more like an inverted scythe. It also had a large golden ornamated cobra coming out of the base of the staff. It was ornamented in many different diamonds and jewels and looked to be wearing a small golden skirt that slightly glowed. It''s thin frame however had a large protruding chest and a massive golden necklace with long golden plates coming out of it. The even larger, bulkier figure on the left looked closer to an elephant but this was...Way more violent looking. It''s tusks looked to be in the shape of sharp curved blades and had a large dark metal armoring its ashy grey trunk. It''s figure made the tall thin framed Jackal look practically small by the sheer mass of the beast on the left. It had long and massive arms that held onto a long saber in one hand and a chain with a spiked ball attached to it''s wrist and waist on the left. It had black armor on and covered almost all of his gut and thick legs but also was adorned in something with emeralds and rubies attached to the cloth coming off his waist. While wearing a black and grey cloth coming out of it''s waist, there were bright yellow and red stones embroidered all the way across. His large muscular chest extended out past the tightly fitting armor and even covered the backs of this large figures flappy ears which extended down past his waist. It had heavy scars covering its body and face but didn''t look any less intimidating. As we cautiously approached closer we noticed there to be some strange faintly covered black barrier in front of these two motionless figures. ''Are these things alive?'' [I think so...But...Their not awake, somethings forcing them to stay in an almost unconscious state.] As we got closer we could faintly hear them breathing and didn''t dare to make a sound. As we got closer we saw they were actually standing on something close to a pedestal and encased in some dark box in front to large doors. There was almost a barely visible dark barrier between the two figures and us. Getting closer I could see on the pedestal was written words on each of the plaques. "Jagannatha Jaeggernaut.......Anubis......" I spoke the words that somehow just came to me staring at the dark plaque....It''s strange but I can faintly see words written here but why are they in a language I can read? [Hmmm, it''s written in such a way you need a high Dark resistance to be able to read it...Interesting.. I....Ju...Juggernaut? Is that what you meant to say?.....This is...Mind boggling to me. Balor appeared to keep displays up of those he''s captured as well...This is unsettling.] Hearing this I thought of maybe potentially releasing them from this encasing and Hj?kk immediately started flapping her wings. [Horrible idea!!!! If Balor put them in here it means he couldn''t control all of his minions after Malthiel had fallen....I''m simply amazed he found two Avatar''s from Vishnu and even subdued another Deity here like Anubis. We don''t know what these beings might think when we free them....Now is most definitely not the time for that risk either Vali.] "...I agree...." "Also I don''t know if you recall but that other Deity like being outside only had a crown over it''s head.....Floor Bosses have a Skull and Crown do they not...." - Hj?kk After hearing these words I stopped and shook my head....Yet another eery feeling started to encroach on my heart. ''Fuck this place is really starting to scare me. I guess we should at least be thankful for now that they are at least sealed and seem to be in a unconscious state or I would suggest we go back the other way right now.'' "Damn this is creepy." - Malfius "He put his victims on display?" - Akino "I think so..." "Ts....Do his sins know no bounds?" - Malfius Akino made a grim expression and tried to take her eyes off the deadpan look of the two large monsters. Malfius simply kept shaking his head angrily not understanding the evil intentions that lead to such a treacherous life. Each of us didn''t really have much to say over what we were seeing. Balor''s acts of evil have become so twisted it is in all honesty not surprising there were more beings he had terrorized in his lifetime. He actually kept them on display which is insane. We pushed the large heavy doors open and started to walk into what we were surprised to be a pale blue lit room. Not far out in front of us was a crystal blue pond encased in stone and some strange blue sphere hovering over it spilling water into it. We started to walk closer and I noticed that the sphere hovering over the pond was in no means a ball of water.....It was a head...... "...Eww...Is that?" - Cyanin "Hmm, that''s unsettling...." - Adimar Coming out of it''s large round scalp looked like watery hair flowing out the sides and raining down onto the pond below. It''s water almost had a clear blue light coming from it and the strange one eyed monster had it''s eye halfway open and mouth dripping water into the pool below. As we approached closer this too had a plaque in front of it. "¡­..The head of.....Nuada Airgetl¨ªm the Betrayor." "Nuada?" - Hj?kk "You know him?" "¡­.Well, not personally...He was a King of sorts over a small tribe not much different than Deities.....They followed Balor''s grandson a long time ago against Balor....I wasn''t alive during this but it was said that Balor had killed the Sea God Nuada in battle and his army of Darkness was able to suppress the invading tribe of godlike beings and retreat after taking their leaders life and well....head...I guess he kept it." - Hj?kk To Hj?kk''s words everyone''s face grew unsightly as this was sort of grotesque to feature the head of your enemy....Strange though that even in death his head is still producing water as it''s hair and creating a pool below. "Hmm....Ya know...I bet this is where the drinking water for this dungeon comes from." To my words Kai nodded and walked over to the pool and took a sip. "Hmm...It does taste the same as regular water....It''s quite cold. It tastes pretty good too." - Kai The purple pixie then took out a small shaped yellow and purple fruit and took off the top. It had a small brown rope tied around it and Kai then used it to fill up the water within it. I thinking the same thing went to take a drink of the water. Gulp...gulp... ''Hmm....I was kind of expecting some sort of effect coming from a dead Sea God but well....It does taste good so there''s that..." Tanin and Cynin came to do the same thing and afterwards we each got a drink of water and continued forward. As we continued forward I could feel the grip of my mother and even Cyanin on my shoulders start to become more tense The entire feel and look to this place is quite grim and simply the home of the Dark God is quite unpleasant. We continued further into the dark room and we could see out towards the walls of this room were large shelves filled with books and items that covered the lengths of the walls. There was also a very large chair in the corner with a large table next to it. Out to the far right corner next to the door I could even see a large stone stage like structure with a large black ring towering over it. However, sitting out on the large table in front of the chair looked like a glowing display of some kind. Each of us continued forward to the only light source in this room which oddly enough came from this black ambient light that looks to be in a mysterious shape. The top of it was rugged and the sides were almost flat coming down into a a half ring shape. Towards the bottom of the ring was a double helix shape that extended downward below the large half sphere like object. As we got closer the images looked similar to a map.... "What is this thing?" - Malfius "It looks like....a map?" - Kai "...It''s a cartographical display over Middle Earth...." - Hj?kk "Cart....ooo...groofy..hehe you mean a map?" - Cyanin "No...I don''t." - Hj?kk "teehee..." - Pixies After Hj?kk said this confidently and puffed out her wings each of us started to look and study the oddly shaped planet we found ourselves on. It wasn''t in the shape of what I thought at all and this is honestly the first time I''m seeing it. On the top of the almost flat world stood five large continents....While the Eastern and Southern Continents are the smallest they are still impeccably large and extend the entire width of the central continent and even is quite close to the Northern Continent''s borders as well. There were even numerous stars and moons quite close to the planet in which their light touched different parts of the world entirely based on their positions. Hj?kk said each of them provided a different level of heat while parts of the planet itself had natural protections from these extreme environmental changes. According to Hj?kk this planet follows a specific rotation that almost allows some parts of the world to receive endless sunlight while other parts of the world to be always covered in the night. One of the Stars pointed towards the edge of the world actually only casts out Dark Rays and even extends it''s light that extends up into the Dark Lands of the Vampires. There was even a large Golden Sun that touched the edge of the planet on the Southern Hemisphere and created what looks like a sea of fire on the terrain below..... I can see Jheroki Mountains extended far out past the atmosphere that is similar to the Earth but I can''t understand how gravity works on this planet. It''s not a sphere....It''s just weird...Even the sides of the planet are flat or well some are covered in ice, rock, fire and darkness. This world is host to some extreme level of environments that are being displayed here there is quite a bit that seems to have been mapped out. The world is shaped like a half Earth and the bottom of it comes down in the shape of a ring and then meets to form a double helix like structure.. [That there should be the entrance to the Netherworld.] ''I see.....'' The large mapped out terrain showed many different environments and markings throughout the display. In the North there were large Black Mountains with the image of a Black Turtle hovering over it. Further past the large continent at the edge of the world where the flat edge drops off is covered in nothing but ice.... The West showed nothing but mountainous regions and what extended all the way to the edge of the world. There was a picture of a Tiger embedded onto the side of the display.....Even the sides of the planet had strange environments built into the display and look active. Orbiting next to the planet there were even strange floating land masses that were separated by space itself in orbit around the large world and looked to have decent size to them as well. The Southern Continent had the image of a large fiery red bird hovering over the display and showed nothing but a vast jungle with mountains rivers and lakes in between. Traveling further South to the edge of the world there is nothing but a sea of fire that extends on a flat vertical surface....However I guess considering the space it''s in, vertical isn''t the right term for it. It''s rather amazing to look at though. The east showed our large continent with the Sacred Forest of the Elves...The Dark Lands in the Northern tip of the continent....To the North West Myro...West Asher..... It showed the Jheroki Mountains and even had a mark at the Dungeon Entrance. There facing the South is an entrance and extended a little bit more South is a few towns and villages next to the edge of the Continent. To the South West there was a massive forest of trees and Mountains and extended almost extended to about a 25% of the entire continent. "Ah...This map even shows the Dark Lands...Sacred Forest of the Elves...The Goblin Kingdom....." - Sting "There''s a Goblin Kingdom in that large forest?" "Hmph...Well yes Vali I''d expect you to know that of all people with Monster Season not too far away. Oh come on? You have to know what I''m talking about. Once every 13 years some Moons aline and the mating habits of the monsters in the surrounding area increase and there are large blood feuds between the Goblin Chieftains and are more prone to increase their territory, leaving the Continent''s leaders to take care of it....Usually always a big source of revenue for adventurers and even some of the powers from the Central colonies send help if things start to turn ugly...." - Sting I simply nodded my head and continued to look at the map and study it. ''Balor''s monster horde is roaming outside these dungeon walls right now....Regardless in whatever direction they move, we could be looking at a disaster that could even lead to the extinction of some races. Even if Hjo?kk spoke of every dominant race in this world has their own hidden powers something like this isn''t something I believe can be handled so easily....'' They aren''t monsters that can simply be fought by the masses. If they go west the Goblin Kingdom is affected... North West they could hit a large number of Kingdoms as well as human and demi human settlements....The North East is the Elves and if they continue North then the Vampires too will be affected......This could greatly alter the Continent if Monsters and several large populations are to have to flee from their homelands. ''....When we leave here this is something we need to check into. Hj?kk said their tracks traveled North alongside a path beside Jheroki Mountains but we have no idea what could happen now.....'' The further East there seems to be a strange storm display on the map far out past the ocean and above the clouds I can see floating landmasses....Beyond that is the edge of the world and there is a large waterfall and from there what looks like nothing but pitch darkness..... There is also a small symbol of a bluish purple dragon appearing over the display of the Eastern continent. "Heh...There is even the famous Floating Isles marked here between the Great West to this continent. This is a very well made piece of cartography...." - Sting I ignored Sting for the moment as these four symbols sounded familiar to me for some reason.... ''These insignia sound familiar for some reason....'' [I believe your world had some knowledge over the Four Sacred Beasts. Each are Divine Beasts that live on Middle Earth....It seems Balor was simply marking where he thought they might be...Or who knows perhaps he discovered them. He has even marked where in the Central Continent Yggdrasil lies so he has probably put a lot of time into this.....] "Where is Yggdrasil anyway..." Sting immediately interrupted me thinking I was talking to him. "Oh, it''s in the Rose Empire''s Capital...There''s actually quite the famous dungeon there as well....That King from Asher you were making a deal with before is actually more of a branch colony to the Rose Empire so he should have some relations to them...." - Sting ''Hmmm.....'' I simply nodded my head again and we each decided to search the mysterious room inside after everyone got a good look at the world we have each found ourselves in now....It''s a big world....With all sorts of hidden dangers and secrets lying in it. We continued to explore this strange room as we could see it wasn''t quite as deep to the point that we weren''t aware of what else lingered inside. "¡­.I think this must have been where he did experiments." - Ollie "Hmm it is rather eerie in here isn''t it...." - Malfius I walked over to the left wall which was entirely built into a bookcase with large leather bound books completely filling the entire room. I started reading through the backs of some of these books and pulled some of them out. "hmmm" After opening the book the image of a mutilated Diaga and the Farmer I had killed with his chest torn open. Blood poured out of their mouths and I could even hear their voices. "Ple...Kik...kilmee.... .nnah...." - Diaga "Ahhhhhh!" - Farmer I jolted and dropped the book after seeing what I had. "What is it Vali?" - Elyria "...Nothing sorry...Just saw something unpleasant." I picked back up the book and saw that the page did in fact had a mutilated drawing of a corpse but was not at all to the same picture I had just now seen. ''.....That still going on huh....'' I started flipping the pages and each following page with the detailed illustrations started making my stomach churn. "¡­...Balor really was a sicko...." I could see inside were small lettering and drawings of humanoid bodies and pictures describing them. I flipped the book closed and read out the title I could hardly read on the cover and scoffed greatly at the name itself. "Vivisection Trials Vol. 67....." "Hmm...What''s that mean Vali?" - Kai "¡­.It''s when someone dissects something while the subject is still alive......" Once the words left my mouth Elyria and the pixies made grim faces. "Damn...He really was a psychopath....You have the gift of immortality and this is what you do with it huh...." - Alderon Alderon walked forward to the table out to our left and started observing some of the items. He didn''t want to touch any of them but picked up the less peculiar items. He picked up what looked like the same Hydra Eye I received after our fight with the Floor Boss not long ago. There were also a lot of large spaces missing perhaps some his inventions aren''t all here....'' I guess this isn''t where he did all of his experiments judging by this book...I''d not like to see that room at all.'' I put back the book and picked up another. "...Are these pill furnaces?....They appear quite old." - Sting Looking towards Sting I saw him pick one of two oddly shaped items and lifted it up to inspect. It had some odd designs on it and he seemed to think it was an Alchemy tool. ''Hmph, after his long rant about the Alchemy world currently being in a heated war trying to create intermediate grade pills and elixirs that not only grant HP to the target but also heal wounds for cheap. Something like that would be of some interest to him I bet. Maybe Balor dabbled in Alchemy too. He definitely explored quite a lot of avenues it seems since coming to this world.'' I however looked back down towards the book I picked up. "...Dark Eden Trials Vol. 1...This seems interesting....." Once I picked up the heavy book it was practically the size of my whole torso. Trying to open it up the pages were each very thin and black. They held no weight at all nor did it have any words on them. It wasn''t paper, I just can''t tell what this material is.....Wait....I can sort of.....see something. On the side of the leather bound cover right after flipping open the book had a few scribbling figures towards the bottom. ''Is this an inscription?'' It took me a while to sound out each of the letters which were slowly starting to form and I could suddenly read each word with ease. The letters were odd but like Hj?kk said they practically made since to me simply for my affinity with the Dark element. Each letter emerged and while foreign to me I could see through their meaning after repeatedly looking into each symbol long enough.
- Ethniu, may you forgive me for all that has come and all that will be. I did not choose this path but it has inevitably chosen thee. Though many obstacles may be placed in my way, I will never allow such treachery to exist over the same night sky that you were taken from me. May all that follows speak to what a father is capable of when he has lost everything. By my words as the King over the night, and sole conqueror over the dreaded Abyss....All will forever remember your name as I carve it into the minds of all existence. My dearest daughter, Ethniu. - Balor
''¡­..Ethniu?.....Hmmm'' I tried to look at the first page of the book but the letters were coming up on the page at different speeds almost similar to pieces in a puzzle. I couldn''t read the full word at times and had to guess but letters all over the page would slowly begin to show up and appear in front of me.
This is a Scientific journal into my findings after being trapped in this wretch of a world and data I''ve obtained over the Dark Eden Experiment. This world is small. I have ventured and found that it is no different than a cage with four walls and I am unable to leave it... Hate is all I knew when coming here. It built my world. Imprisoned me! Trapped me here in this nightmare to which I am unable to escape. This new world is small, sickening. Even the air disagrees with me....My hate re taught me how to eat, how to drink. The darkness which I once had such control over merely embraced it and slowly began to change me from what I once knew.... Now with my diminished power, I must find new ways to strengthen myself with the laws of this.... Cursed playground for those abominations of so called Divines and find those responsible for sending me here!
It took a few minutes of looking at the page to finally make out some of the small lettering on the page. '' I continued to flip a couple pages of the black oddly textured material. As I flipped a couple more pages a few more letters started to from and I caught a glimpse of a familiar word.
''Human Obse....rvation....Day....47...''
I continued to read on and caught glimpses of words here and there but not really full sentences. Though I can somehow perceive this language bizarrely it still appears to be written in Balor''s handwriting and is hard to make out entirely.... [window ''....I don''t see what the other God''s saw in this bleek species...While they have the most diversity and highest population....They truly are....the dregs...of this world.... '' [/window] I continued reading on I found out just exactly what this book must have been. It was Balor''s scientific journal over his observations over everything in the dungeon.... Simply from his wording I came to understand just exactly why Balor had written this journal...Why he had even created such a place......It wasn''t to strengthen his creations....but himself. After turned to about the fourth page I found something interesting.
¡­...The mortals in this world have a Class system used to give them small or large benefits depending on their aptitudes and ability over a particular field of study.... There are 12 ¡­.Basic....Categories.....each Combat Class or Sub....class...can....fall under. Warrior Monk Weapons Master Guardian Druid Cleric Ranger Assassin Sorcerer/Mage/ Enchanter Summoner Rare/Unique There are also a large number of subclass and unique classes in this world that fall under a specific system.... There are even rare classes in this world like the World Spiritualist that fall under the Summoner category. They can make contracts with powerful spirits of the....dead....monsters..... and use their abilities in combat.....Beast Tamers with classes that benefit their beasts....Even something as laughable as Bards who fall under the Enchanter category and aid in group tactics. I have however after my long research have chosen....the Dark Lord Class.....for it''s small benefits it will grant my heavily diminished....power...
''¡­.I have yet to find anything of value within this race in strengthening myself and other than the previous venture of using their Qi Cultivation methods...It along with their race have shown no promise and continued observation will drop to minimal....''
After I read on I stopped where it said Qi Cultivation....Qi? Wait.... I flipped a few pages back and tried to read a bit more and then found this same word used for Qi after the words started to slowly appear.
''Some of the human practitioners.....use.....unorthodox.....techniques....Not magic....Could potentially ¡­...lead to new power source. Further study .......is required....''
I attempted to read anything more and only received a small description as the words were all like jumbled puzzle pieces and coming at me in completely different speeds.
While magic is an internal force and lives in all things born in this world some of the human population I''ve acquired use a particular form of power I hadn''t ever considered until....coming to this......damned...world!!! .......Qi...External force....after absorption consolidated into internal force = Spiritual...... Create law within self.... Magic....internal force.....Exert outward...Create law within world...
From the few sentences I could recognize Balor''s description of Magic and this other force known as Qi. While in Loki''s game some Monk classes could use Qi based attacks. They worked almost like a Magic bar but had incredibly fast cooldown times I almost considered it similar to an extra Stamina bar. Magic is an internal force that is in all of us and things that exist in this world. While Qi is essentially a spiritual force that one can cultivate to an extent and then absorb into the body after incorporating it through a technique or method. I always wondered if INT and Mana played a similar role together. Sometimes when my INT rose naturally my mana pool would grow larger as well which I was curious if they were related...Now I realize that is simply due to the increased neurons that are basically multiplied and created as my Intellect grew.... With the creation of something new, new life, naturally my Mana count would increase as well to a certain extent. We use our own internal magic to manipulate the world''s laws...Qi is an external spiritual energy that can be harnessed and infused inside of you but no one is innately born with Qi inside of them. While Qi by what it seems to Balor is more of a life force/Spiritual energy that not many can even perceive let alone use. After absorbing so much of this life force into oneself not only their body would change but it would also change and strengthen their souls. He almost described Qi as a natural byproduct of this magical world we live in almost similar to a form of radiation the planet gives off. But at the same time has just as much or even more raw power potential if one were to learn a way of cultivating this into one''s body and even their souls. Qi to Balor while being almost a byproduct of such a magically infused world he described that it also had its own unique life force that worked completely different than magic.... Since his descension Balor started exploring new methods to strengthen himself and he even chose the Dark Lord Class to assist in him that venture. Apparently in Qi cultivation in this world is similar to the way it''s described in my world but it sounds different in Balor''s initial wordings. Once one acquires a cultivation technique to absorb the spiritual living force that has basically seeped into the air and is practically all around us, their genetic makeup will also change dramatically with time. He described Cultivation in a way that described someone storing a large amount of Qi energy into something he described as a large jar roughly half the size of a human man. After cultivating through each individual stage made of 9 Stages in total within each larger segment known as a Realm, will have the Qi at the end of each interval enter into the person and absorb into his genetic makeup into some energy center he calls a......Dantian..... According to Balor this is a spiritual organ that almost lies dormant in all mortals even if it never gets used. It is however not a Soul. The change to the practitioner''s body goes down to a cellular level and the higher you raise in Cultivation the more tightly compact and condensed this spiritual life force, Qi, will be flowing through your veins changing you into a different existence entirely.... ''Hmmm the Soul is very mysterious and this spiritual organ Dantian seems odd too...After my Death Magic and Wisdom rose I found out that my skill Death Grip doesn''t essentially kill the target directly like I had originally thought....The target simply dies as a result of having this magic used on them and I found out how intriguing this magic actually is. All Death Grip does is shatter or break the housing over what a person''s Soul is. Once that housing or protective barrier is crushed the life force surrounding the Soul of a person is broken so the Soul becomes a Spirit and leaves the body as a natural after effect of not being able to stay on this plane any longer. When someone raises their level to an extent they can even live longer so this is evidence that their Souls can possible be strengthened this way that''s why Death Grip doesn''t always work....Perhaps if one were to acquire something like this and strengthen their Souls they would even be able to counter my magic....'' ''Hmmmm....Other troubling thought Hj?kk said the difference between the Fomorian''s claws that are ranked S in quality and sharpness and Abgrunds blade that is SSS is that one can damage and sever the soul while the other can''t. Maybe there was actually a reason Balor considered Qi as such a vital possibility of research this really is something that could make someone incredibly powerful even Balor considered researching it at one point as a potential power source to strengthen him....He definitely didn''t scoff at the effort taken in his preparations but I hope he wasn''t one to throw away all the information after he found it wasn''t useful to him....I pray the scientist in him would have kept such knowledge.'' With every Stage that is passed the metaphorical ''jar'' as Balor has described it gets filled to the brim and enters into the body making the practitioner momentarily vulnerable which has lead to the death of many strong cultivators in the past. While the first container is about half the size of an average human with every passing stage the size increases by roughly 50%. With every rise in a Stage of Cultivation, it can increase the practitioners strength, defense, agility and even reaction rate by almost half in the earlier stages, making these practitioners who study it much more dangerous in a head on battle with a normal mage. While it has merits compared to magic it also has some demerits as well. Apparently...Balor said if this particular energy center was ruptured the result would be the practitioner would no longer be able to practice in Qi cultivation ever again.... Balor also said the cast times for Qi users are practically non existent as they work as a spiritual energy and while there are several Realms that each have stages of their own that can take centuries even to develop?....Wait seriously? '' While those who reach the highest stages have their bodies filled with such spiritual energy they can become..... immortal?'' My eyes widened as I continued to try and put some more of the words together and waiting for more letters to appear. It was however becoming more difficult the deeper in I began to read for some reason. Even if this is coming to me naturally this is still kind of a hassle to adjust my eyes appropriately following the words that keep appearing from within the page.
The..........Deva Realm.....Similar to some deities I''ve found.....Immortal body in terms of aging....Some can possess immortal.........So....ul....that can remain......after....death...... ¡­....Sovereign.....Realm........believed to have 12 Orbs floating....above head....Speculated to have roughly half power....of lower Divine''s.....strength....... ¡­.Can''t allow for human leader to reach such a state.....Time is irrelevant but could cause for potential concern....Necessary action must be taken....
Apparently according to Balor there was once a high level Qi Cultivator in this dungeon when the Human race first arrived but Balor thought of it as cheating if he didn''t drop their cultivation away along with their level... ''He actually went out of his way to do this as according to Balor he actually deemed this person a threat.....? Seriously? '' It actually sounded more like he was afraid of this one practitioner in fact being able to foil Balor''s plans a few thousand years ago. This human cultivator was apparently close to a Cultivation Realm known as the Deva Realm and would potentially become something of an immortal and could sit and hide until he was capable of battling against Balor and wrecking through half of his dungeon with minimal effort. After he took away their cultivation he spoke as if all their fighting spirit had left them and most of them had even died from despair. Balor also spoke a small bit about his body not being able to cultivate whatever this Qi spiritual force is as his body simply wouldn''t allow it and he thought it was due to his ability to use it was cut off for following a magical system. ''....and looks like he scrapped the entire idea. Damn....'' After flipping a few pages I found another unsettling note after gazing at the page for several minutes.
Day 65 The last of the human populace have died out today and taken their last breaths in Dark Eden. While the Humans had the largest number of assorted classes and abilities they were ironically the first to fall. While I dropped....everyone''s level to 1 upon the arrival I found it necessary to remove the Qi Cultivators long history of cultivation throughout their bodies as well and start their journey over from scratch. Some chose to fight against their inevitable doom but were unable.... Their particular society was based on age as of pillar of authority and respect and stood as the tops of their society during their time here and even before then. However as these practitioners lost their cultivations compared to the average race member of any of the other species in Dark Eden would be able to kill them with relative ease.....With this the human trials have come to a close.
''....Wow.....'' I kind of hope Balor kept some of the materials or information from some of these Qi Cultivators as this definitely sounds like something that could assist us exponentially especially if it can give some of those here the ability to live even longer. I called Malfius over who was followed by Ollie and asked him if his race new anything about Qi. One of their attacks was called ''Qi Divider'' if I recall. However after probing them about my thoughts they each shook their heads. While they can perceive this spiritual force they don''t have the ability to cultivate it into their bodies. It was something the Human race never allowed them to learn thousands of years ago and so the Reiki before even coming here had developed such a technique to fight them it just astonishingly works on Mana as well. "Hey...Check this out......" - Alderon Everyone looked towards the large wolfman standing next to Adimar and Akino who were staring at a few items not far away. As we each grew closer we looked at several very decorative items laid out on the long table "This breastplate is Legendary Class......Hmmm this box I think is too...." - Akino "They do have that sort of glow about them don''t they....." - Adimar "¡­..My, my such incredible looking items." - Malfius As we each grew closer we saw laid out were 5 Legendary Classed items according to Hj?kk clarifying it for us. According to Adimar this dungeon currently has 2 Legendary items they have acquired since coming here....One was King Karah''s golden bracelet, ....the other belonged to Adimar. He took out a long silver sword with a platinum wolf''s jaws coming out the bottom of the handle with a small silver ring attached to it. ''Hey this is the same sword he did the ceremony with.'' When the fight broke out on Floor One I noticed Adimar fighting with a weapon but had no clue it was a Legendary Item either. "That''s pretty cool. What''s it do?" "While it being extremely lightweight, it is unbreakable and Attack Speed is better than any sword any of our races can make. It has a skill that can launch the power of the wolf that can even restrain a floor boss for a for a brief moment as well as having a skill that absorbs the Moonlight and increases the damage and sharpness of the blade to make it slice clean through Steel slabs. It has it''s own level of Proficiency with the user to increase it''s power and ability over time as well as a few other secrets... According to our history this item is something that actually came with our race before coming to this dungeon." - Adimar Adimar grinned towards me and I nodded back. "So your Proficiency must pretty high now?" He then shrugged and I remembered that Diaga had probably inherited that as this is probably something of a Holy Item to their race. Perhaps the Proficiency drops back to Zero whenever the sword is used by another person? "Well that''s still really good though. So you and Kyrah are the only two in the dungeon to have Legendary Equipment?" "Ah...Make that 3." - Alysteir Alysteir then smiled and everyone looked at her. "What? Don''t you like my boots?" - Alysteir Everyone then looked down and I instantly realized.....Is that how you could do all the things you could do? "What? Everyone mad because I never blabbed. I found it better that way.....Hmph looks like a few of you are recalling I kept these accessories on even when thrown into that cell. You''d be much less likely to ask me to take them off if you hadn''t known. Not my fault you all didn''t know. But I suppose with how things are going now why not share and tell...." - Alysteir ''So that makes 8 Legendary items found in this dungeon....Malfius and Adimar spoke up and said we could contemplate the spoils later and we each collected the 5 items and I also collected each of the items and books that were left in this room. "Is that how you move so fast?" - Akino "Hmph...While it helps a bit...It also has the fun ability of slowing down all those within a certain range of me....Quite the find indeed got it off a tricky Floor Boss that was a real bitch to kill." - Alysteir ''You''re kidding me.....That''s how she moved like that? Even if she''s fast even in Lightning Step Alysteir would simply dance around me. Why is she telling us this now of all times? Wouldn''t she want to keep her mouth shut to maybe receive more treasures? '' [Her boots aren''t ordinary either...While Legendary Items all have extraordinary effects her Boots are quite something to be able to slow down time even for something like Balor in his fallen state.....] Hj?kk whispered in my ear and I too notion that such an item along with their races elusiveness makes her a practically unhittable. ''I wonder how strong my Frost Sword is for that matter. '' I took it out for a moment to see if I could see any of the skills that were still unblocked and unreadable. Maybe I should have let someone else use this in battle? Well can''t go back on that now.... ''Come to think of it I need to have Pek look at everything I own as well as all of these pieces too...He has some ability that allows him to see not only what the ingredients used to make the item he has the ability to sometimes even see the process in how certain items are made and function.'' "Hey.....That''s quite the sword you got there hero boy...." - Alysteir I then noticed the slim neko staring heavily towards the Frost Sword slowly showing a light snow coming off of it. I had almost forgotten about it due to the enticing feel of Abgrund but if Legendary Items can do something like Alysteir''s boots then maybe this is something that could add to our fighting power as well. "Might I have a look...." - Alysteir I looked up again and noticed the neko was still staring towards the sword and even if I felt odd I let her take hold of it momentarily. Perhaps a Sword Master can see the hidden qualities of this sword. After handing it to her, Alysteirs eyes grew wide and she picked it up and started effortlessly swinging it around her.... A brisk cool air brushed past each of us and cooled our faces. "Hmm seems fortified and tempered steel....There are some other elements in there I''m unsure of." - Alderon [It''s actually 200 Tempered Steel and has the blood of Glacier Beast. In the smelting process it was most likely melted down with that of a fang from an Ice Dragon..... It also seems to be enchanted some but I don''t know the origin or to what it all entails I''m afraid....Vali...Why you are trusting that psychotic kitty with such a thing bugs me.] ''I can''t see anything about the sword and can hardly even use it to cut the Fomorian''s fur....Though it bugs me too....What''s the harm in letting her look at it?'' Hj?kk simply gave me a smug look and we continued to watch Alysteir swing the weapon around in a series of beautiful motions. "You there....Take a few strikes from me...." - Alysteir Alysteir motioned to Adimar and he took out his long silver sword and got into a stance that showed the discipline of an expert. Alysteir then pushed herself forward and sent a series of strikes towards Adimar while he lifted his silver blade and deflected each incoming attack while taking a step back each time. Her movements were flawless and even while holding back I could see that Adimar was having a difficult time yet was still able to deflect each of her strikes. The Silver Sword then started to show an icy glow and started to slowly get covered in ice crystals. The weight of the blade started to increase and with that Alysteir''s movements became even harder to deflect. Within another breath Alysteir scraped the sides of Adimar''s shoulder and then stopped. "Hmm...Not bad sword. Perfect balance, weight...Even slows down the target with every cut...I''m impressed. Interesting skill names too.....You wouldn''t happen to want to part with it would you for a trade? I mean.....You did destroy my custom made rapier''s before didn''t you?" "Haha....Not a chance....Unless your thinking of parting with those boots." I then reached out my hand back towards her and the neko peered back disappointed but still handed me back the weapon. "Hm perhaps we can make a deal another time....With all the unseen fortune we are to acquire you never know what might peek one''s interest as the spoils are each divided....." - Alysteir I shrugged and then looked over to where everyone else was but was distracted by what I saw in the corner of the room. "Hehe...I don''t want to, you do it." - Tanin "What? No way something will probably attack us if we did?" - Vale "Hehe..I''ll do it...." - Kai The purple pixie then walked up onto the strange stone monument with odd symbols surrounding it. The moment he set foot in the center something happened. A dark substance drew out of what looked like runes on each stone and started to swirl and circulate around the purple pixie. Kai looked around stunned and lifted his arms up trying to feel what it was that was surrounding him. His siblings started to get scared and leaped towards him but then Kai started to do something strange halting them and my movements. "hahahah.....Wow! You guys have got to try this...I just learned a skill!!!" - Kai "What?" - Malfius "No way?" - Ollie Everyone then ventured forward to where the pixies were standing in the corner of the room and Kai described to each of us that he got a new skill for standing on the large pedestal. "What is it Kai?" - Cyanin "Yah bro tell us." -Tanin "Ugh...I....Ugh perhaps each of you should come in and stand here and then you''ll understand haha...This is amazing!" - Kai After that one by one everyone went and stood on the platform. Each and everyone of them besides my mother and Sting received the skill. After I went up and stepped in to see if it worked for me I too was met with the same rune magic activating and surrounding me.
Congratulations! Due to your merits within the walls of Dark Eden you have learned a rare magical skill that has been passed down by the late Dungeon Master: Balor the Endless Dark. Dark Aura (Rare) Wrap the darkness around you and shroud yourself in its everwarm embrace that will shield and absorb all incoming damage. Skill Cost: 50,000 MP Skill Length: 10 Minutes Cooldown Time: 24 Hours
After everyone gained the skill I was instantly amazed by what I had saw. Everyone didn''t have the mana ability but according to Hj?kk and Sting something like this is normally left in Dungeons like this. Some rewards can be treasure, powerful items and even long lost skills that were created or left by the Dungeon''s creator. ''You''re kidding we each have a Dark Aura Ability now? It''s not the same as my Gauntlet but just the fact that I can start training this ability now and don''t need to bring out the Gauntlet is like a dream. Now everyone in this dungeon might even be able to receive such an incredible defensive gift.'' "¡­.You''re saying that they each gained the skill? Ugh! If only I could have gained it too that isn''t fair! I hear reaching the top of an Age of God''s dungeon could grant one with great power! This is no fair I helped!" - Sting Each of the pixies tried to create a small auras around themselves and showed they too now had the gift that was granted by my gauntlet and simply shrouded over their colorful barriers Hj?kk too had also gained this skill after standing on the pedestal and believes in time if training this skill high enough....It might be possible reach the same extent of Balor''s aura that was even different than the one the Midnight Gauntlet possessed as it even caught and trapped you if you were too close. Hj?kk''s even amazed she was able to learn such a skill, thinking it''s even possible for any of those here who''ve learned it to use it if they had enough mana. "Wait seriously?" "Yes. I believe it to be so. Other Dungeons of this Class can give special skills to those who have conquered it or defeated bosses with the opportunity to learn an ancient magic even if they were unable to use magic in the first place....It channels everything concerning the skill to your mind and teaches you subconsciously how to focus your mana into releasing such an ability. It creates a Dark law with the Darkness around you and requires only the skill name to activate it....Dungeons that are warded to such an extent to keep the monsters contained inside or to eternally continue respawning them certainly must pay in high rewards as well...It''s the laws of the world." - Hj?kk Everyone simply nodded as if this fact were somehow believed by everyone...Including Sting and my mother. "So...You''re saying if our Mana reaches 50,000 we shall be able to use magic as well?" - Akino To these words Hj?kk lightly nodded causes everyones eyes to brighten... ''This really is an amazing find. I can''t believe we found this here. We have to let the other races possibly come up here sometime and hopefully gain these skills and benefits as well. This is simply amazing....Judging by each of these items and treasures I can''t wait to examine each of them. I checked the time on the warp key and noticed our time was about up.... I told everyone it was time to go but Alysteir motioned for us to hold off. When we looked towards her we noticed next to her carved into the wall were 10 places with different sized handprints and pictures of a different race above them. The Pixie...The Human...The Elf..... Each race was here. Alysteir said after placing her hand on the Neko paw print it said her race was rewarded 100,000 Gold for making it this far and was gifted to her. After hearing this each of the races present went up to and placed their hand on the mark but once the handprint had glowed and faded it never turned back on again. "hmmm....." [windows] Congratulations! You have reached the end of your journey within Dark Eden and have now acquired the just rewards. 100,000 G has been awarded to you as an affiliate of the Human Race which were one of the original 10 species captured and brought here thousands of years ago. Spend the gold which is tarnished with blood and death well human...... [/window] According to Hj?kk whenever a dungeon is created there are certain things the Creator must abide by....Rewards are something that have to be provided to assist in the creation of something capable of repeatedly spawning monsters...She also said somewhere in this Dungeon should be a power source that controls everything inside from the weather to the respawn rates of the vegetation ....The process she spoke of on how the rules of this world seemed complicated but was also something I knew would benefit us if we were able to use it. I decided it is something we should come back and explore later as now there simply isn''t enough time.... Acknowledging we would all split everything later we figured now it was high time to leave and report everything we''ve found. I still need to speak with the King and each of the race leaders. Hopefully, everything can work out but with everything we''ve found here......I think quite a few of our troubles have at least lessened for the time being. ¡­....Ehehe........Watch me Kayle....watch me.... ''What?!'' I whipped my head back abruptly hearing the sounds of.....Of.... I heard a familiar laughter that has been absent in my ears for....far too long. "...kaylan?....." I whispered those words and could not find the source of the sound. It was as if nothing but fear, sadness, hopelessness had all attacked my mind at the very moment scanning the dark room around me but finding nothing. "Is everything alright Alpha?" - Akino "¡­....." "....Vali?" - Cyanin I shook my head and figured I must have been hearing things....''It wouldn''t be the first time....'' I smiled to myself and assured everyone everything was fine and we should get going. "Sorry....thought I heard something.....Let''s get going...." I could see the concerned looks from my mother and even Hj?kk but chose not to trouble either of them. ''Hmph.....I wonder what she''ll say when she sees me... This....Dark Lord....'' All I could do was slowly push such thoughts again further down and continue my journey until we inevitably meet again, in this magical world..... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cassandra''s POV: "This is....everything then?" - King Asher "Yes your Highness....That is all." - Master Shen "¡­......." - King and Queen Asher His Highness and the Queen were utterly speechless. Master Shen divulged everything that happened after we were tasked with finding Vali and bringing him back to speak with them. Naturally.....Things were not anything close to what was expected at all. Master Shen had even included the information about Vali''s strange abilities and even the effects of the food he had prepared which was something that made his Highness choke and almost fall out of the chair upon hearing. An auto recovery ability is probably one of the rarest and most difficult to acquire and yet eating a delicious meal can provide something no one on this continent can do. Simply one of the things that occurred could be considered mind blowing but added together it is too much to process all at once. All original plans that his highness made now need to be reevaluated as we have undoubtedly underestimated the horrifying power we are about to ally ourselves with. The entity known as Vali. Currently the five of us were secluded in a small bedroom with one bed, a chair and a small table with the light from the single window shining through. We had decided to speak alone with the King after arriving. While some of the children here seemed suspicious of Vali not returning with us, they seemed to also know that the purple bird on Vali''s shoulder was in fact an enchantingly beautiful woman from the heavenly realms that are spoken about in myth. Her alone could topple our entire Kingdom within a day. This divine beauty with her power alone fought the onslaught of a terrifying monster horde with just her strength so we could have a chance to survive...This is just one of the nerve racking occurrences we each had just witnessed. Even now hearing it, it almost sounds like a fairy tale my father would tell me just before bed when I was young. As I grew older I started to believe such things as being make believe but with mine own eyes I saw a world shattering power that I am even now having trouble comprehending. Even though I have studied the art of swordplay and fencing since I was a child and listened to my father speak on military strategy while enjoying childhood games, I was not prepared for this. The godlike existence who created those horrifying titans, shook my very being with the overwhelming pressure of his voice alone. It felt as if Balor could have sent me to the afterlife just with his loud roars alone. If I didn''t have such benefits from all the surrounding buffs of everyone and Vali''s mother, I wouldn''t even had been able to stand and would have already become a corpse Even though I was viewing the battle from afar, I could still see his alarming might that slayed hundreds with every swing of his sword. It was enough that even those who weren''t struck directly by it were still sent to the next life from the sheer force that followed behind each of his devastating movements. One had even landed directly on him and yet, he didn''t die.... Those images of the battle were still fresh in my mind and even in the middle of fighting for my life. It was as if all eyes were on the blurry images of Vali and those who were bravely fighting the evil god without any fear for their lives at all. I was standing back to back with both Master Shen and Shakko who were each advancing along with the surviving members of the Rear Guard that consisted of everyone who wasn''t attacking Balor directly. Up from the grounds the dead crawled out and began to immediately turn everything chaotic as the walls and even the ceilings seemed to have come alive and converged down to destroy us all. I thought there was no possibility of survival, that a simple errand of retrieving someone would turn into a bloody war that could potentially envelope the entire world. I couldn''t even see an end to the overwhelming undead that had all came rushing to our position as if we were being suffocated. Even as the dead, their movements were still quick and deadly...A simply wrong step in my footwork and I would have perished already a dozen times. Within a moment not only were we surrounded we were overwhelmed. Every single man, woman and child had to fight for their lives just to survive but I don''t believe I''ve ever seen such a number of monsters gathered in one place at one time, and it is impossible to have the benefits of our formation as everything has now been enveloped in chaos. The Demi Humans with striped hair jumped out and formed a line in front of everyone so we could continue to press on and reunite with the front battalion. Their strength and valor in the face of annihilation was breathtaking. Some were completely surrounded by dozens of enemies at a time but continued to blow through the large sea of monsters as if it were child''s play. It''s as if they were taking each and every attack head on as if they were the bites from an insect...."March Forward!''. Without losing any time everyone followed without any delay. These striped demi humans who were starting to glow showed such imposing power that allowed us to move quicker. Through an overpowering number of undead we braved forward for our last ditch effort we could do. There was no place to retreat and the only way for survival was to reunite with everyone and make our final stand. Even the small almost innocent looking furry demi humans, who had been standing next to each of the Arachnee, fired their ear rupturingly loud weapons that obliterated everything within their path. Some would even stand out in front of the spider like demi humans and wave these large black clawed gloves that could slice the limbs and body parts off of everything that neared our formation including the enemies armor as if it were piece of parchment. I was originally frightened we wouldn''t even be given the option of retreat but each and every race showed such tremendous fighting power that even at such a disadvantage it blossomed in my heart a tiny sliver of hope. While I was struggling just with two opponents each of these ordinary demi humans would blow through dozens within the span of a couple breaths. Each race had such frightening strength that each of their attacks would not cause damage to their opponents like ours but kill them within each precise movement they made. Simply the sight of this was so exhilarating I could feel the confidence in Shakko and Shen beginning to move with much more precision and have each adapted well to the constant changes of this bloody fight with these monsters. But none were quite as frightening as the small pixies we had recently become familiar with. Any and everything that would attack even one of them would eventually just become a pile of scorched bones and rotted flesh. From within our own formation fire continued to pour out in every direction attacking any and all undead getting anywhere close to formations and caused a substantial amount of damage allowing only a few swings from me to finish them off completely. Each and every one of them would fly together and overrun and bombard every undead monster one by one. These pixies who made it possible for us all to see flew throughout the formations overhead slowly cleaning up the monsters from within. It was almost like the undead were incapable of even fighting back as they appeared to move much slower when simply nearing them and their powerful magic overwhelmed them..... Then one of them started to glow and blinding white light appeared. It was as if the entire dungeon floor had turned into an ocean of fire it had caused the bloody battle to freeze to a stand still. Within no time every race began to grab a stronger footing under the relief effort from these small magical demi humans. They had swiftly swept through the horde within our ranks until the dead falling from the sky and attacking from inside our formations had turned into a pile of inflamed corpses that came crashing down towards the floor. Each and every undead surrounding us had caught aflame in a powerful white light and started to melt and fall while those who were standing a mere pace away from them were left unharmed. It was as if the flames engulfing the dead were as hot as the sun but they didn''t couldn''t even synge the hairs on top my head. With this lucky break we continued to push forward with much less resistance and just when I thought we had a chance I saw the image of Vali and the hundreds of surviving members still in a battle of life and endless death with Balor. Even from so far away I could feel his tyrannical power that I wouldn''t ever dream of going up against...His health looked critically low meaning Vali and his troops had somehow managed to back this evil existence into a corner. I thought there was a chance but within moments those dreams were crushed when the images of hundreds were being wiped out, slaughtered! WIth every swing those who tried to get close were only being blown backward in pieces. Then the images of Vali, his wolf and the Valkyrie maiden were all sent flying away after being devastated by the fallen gods tyrannic strength that broke through the dungeon walls that he had been pushed back into. I didn¡¯t have the ability to even keep track of anyone''s movements, they were all moving so fast. Even Shen looked forward with shock on his face as this was truly a fight we had no hope of giving Vali any assistance.... We were simply treated like extra burdens for him but he still chose to fight head on with the beast god with those who have been trapped inside here for thousands of years. I saw the image of Balor delivering the finishing blow to Vali, and thought it was the end...I don''t know why but after everything had happened all of our hopes had lied on the words of what this mysterious young man had said. If Vali had died then it could have also meant the end for all of us. Not only everyone back in that dungeon but possibly for the lives of many of those outside as well. Something about his words and his confidence just let us feel there was actually a glimmer of hope of escaping, of surviving. Even now Vali and his forces of godlike warrior demi-humans had even pushed this ancient and evil force to such an extent but with heavy casualties. How they are even still alive when facing such a high level legendary monster is possibly even a sign the Gods have not forgotten about us. Over such a frightening high level being that has existed for who even knows how long, Vali was even willing to take on and stake his life on what he had believed. Most wouldn''t have taken up such a responsibility. Most would never have even attempted to fight and yet he chose to put his life on the line..... And had even came out victorious. "¡­.Hm, well my Lilliana. I do believe our current problem with Myro may just happen to have been solved a bit easier than we originally expected it would...." - King Asher "¡­.Hmph, then why do you not seem as excited of this my husband. Is it possible you are rethinking our relationship with Vali upon all of this news? Possibly to our current business arrangement with him as well?" - Queen Asher "Naturally... This all...certainly changes things. If what Shen described to be true this could in all actuality, greatly affect our Kingdom in more ways than I possibly could have imagined...and sadly, much quicker than I had anticipated. Which could in all honesty become a huge problem for the Kingdom if not handled appropriately....." - King Asher To the King''s words each of us Royal Knights seemed to be confused by his true meaning could be. "Your Highness? What do you mean this changes things if you don''t mind my intruding?" - Shakko "It''s fine Sir Shakko, you are all my current council as we are quite a far bit away from home...We were already preparing to provide Vali and some of his with gold for something like a 5 or 10 year contract. Give him land and some authority as originally proposed but I did not plan on providing him with a high enough position to cause too much trouble and more importantly grant me more time. He is still an outsider and cannot be trusted yet....While the no child slavery law will be hard to pass and receive some friction it is not impossible. However, it will take time and in all honesty I figured if this is the only thing he wished to change then why not, it could affect business and the economy poorly but it is worth the costs. We can surely risk butting heads with a few of the noble factions too and could even spread it around that it was proposed by the Church of Freya......I however did not anticipate that Vali had such strength that is only talked about within myths.... A being who doesn''t come around for over a thousand years. He is not just a strong force but something completely... More frightening...With the temperament he''s shown and just by his words alone I know he was serious about his warning he told me first day we met at the Coliseum. Just after he had vanquished several of mine and Aldain''s men....''I don''t know who you are but with your crown I''d assume you¡¯re the King of the other country....If your country is ran like this one, you might share the same fate as they do''." - King Asher As the King took a deep breath with his fists clenched he seemed to shake his head as he continued to rethink everything he had just heard. Once hailed for his wisdom in battle he was even granted a royal title from the Rose Empire for his incredible mind that has won his home Kingdom in Rose an epitome of glory in battle. He must have weighed the pros and cons with allying himself with someone like Vali before even coming here, but he couldn''t have predicted anything we had just revealed to him either, no one could. These are things even those of the Great West will travel here to speak to Vali if they were to hear of such incredible things as well. The King then started talking almost as if he were just thinking aloud. "...According to him he doesn''t seem to see the difference between us and Aldain if we didn''t do this one thing. It''s as if the idea of slavery seemed immoral or even completely foreign to him. I originally thought he could have been a slave but that doesn''t seem to be the case. He didn''t ask for slavery itself to be abandoned which is a question that has brought me some concern. I can only assume if the whole process took too long, he might eventually walk the streets of each of the 32 cities of Asher and could just as easily destroy all order taking every child slave by force. Then a small problem could turn into a disaster....With his power as you''ve described is even more frightening than the night he decided to show off his power to us. Now he has the backing of a large demi human army that are all over level 300 which is something that no one on the continent other than Myro would be able to stand against without their overwhelming numbers.. Some of these races like the winged demi humans haven''t even been seen in this world for over a thousand years so the advantages and strengths they could possess are also complete unknowns..It is something that could overthrow our Kingdom with very little resistance....Hah...And he knows it too. .... I honestly thought even with Vali''s strength he wouldn''t want to risk fighting alone against each of the noble and rich families that would surely not agree to his terms. You each know how some of those petty dregs can be especially when concerning their money. But now that''s just idiotic to continue believing...He wouldn''t back down to anyone who disagreed with him, even me. You each saw his temperament when meeting me, though he was cordial he doesn''t seem to have much respect at all for royalty which is a problem if we needed to control him when he got out of line. It seemed at first like he more wanted to just have an Alliance with us than become a Vassal and then he made his other demands so he wanted a stake in this Kingdom for some reason.... If we ally ourselves with him we have to prepare ourselves for whatever could follow. If he was the main orchestrator behind the method of attack against that fallen god as you have described, he is clearly a brilliant strategist as well. In all my years I have only ever heard of human forces killing deities which are like gods in mortal flesh but something like a God from a higher plain is like the difference between air and gold....He may be the first human to ever achieve such a cosmic feet and yet no one in the world knows of it at all. Only we do which is what makes this such a rare opportunity....However, if he has been lying this whole time we could potentially be opening our doors for this person and granting him the keys to the kingdom indeed." - King Asher "¡­....." - Everyone The King''s words were sharp, right to the point. The King spoke of everything that had been plaguing his heart for all this time so as to possibly receive the council from those around him. He has clearly been trying to comprehend just how to handle this entire transaction with Vali for quite sometime while also heeding the warnings we have given him. ''I was once told by my father that the King of Asher was famed for his genius in battle and even after being wounded he was still a valuable asset to the Rose Empire in the Great West. He is someone who has always been very cautious with everything he does and that is why Asher has not been involved in any wars for over 100 years but kept a firm hold on the continent as one of the strongest reigning powers. My father told me they would play chess quite a lot when I was growing up as they first discovered the war simulation game in the Central Continent. ''The King is someone who looks at all sides of the chess board before ever taking a single move as he knows the value of each loss of every single piece. He is truly a King that values the efforts of each individual soldier and doesn''t take pieces without knowing the immediate result that would occur next. Making him an extremely cautious individual. However, according to my father, when the King has the resolve to strike he is ruthless and will continue to attack and take every piece until the entire board is empty.'' "¡­.I think my husband might be overthinking things a little hmphmph..." - Queen Asher The Queen then leaned in and wrapped her arms around her husband and smiled. His Highness grabbed his wife''s hands and continued to have a troubled look on his face. "I suppose I should listen to my wives council if she is willing to spare her keen thought for this old man." - King Asher "Oh dear I believe if Vali were putting on an act all this time simply to gain an entrance into having authority in our Kingdom he wouldn''t continue with the idea of simply wanting land for him and his people. He wouldn''t continue with the notion to us about not being conquerors for us as if he was wanting to truly impress a King of any nation he would surely act quite the opposite in fact. Unless he was trying to appeal to us specifically which doesn''t add up well. It is true that we should be concerned as we do not know much about this Vali person other than he has confirmed he is a man who has been touched by the gods while also appearing to have a peculiar relationship with them as well. He apparently even speaks to his God quite often which means his train of thought would be surely different from our own. Just look how the genius son of Myro Adel has changed the continent in such little time...To that we also can assume by it being a Valkyrie that guards him it is also a God from the mighty Asgards from legend. He up until this point has not shown any signs of being corrupt or even evil. While most true evil hide behind a mask this is someone who killed a god that this Queen believes also to be evil. Now this person is willing to step in and help us in our hour of need. To defend off the possible unified invasion of multiple Kings ... Even if we do not win a war we can easily cause that old fool Myro to back off as they are already in a heated and bleak battle of attrition with the Elves that have lasted for centuries.....And don''t worry about the situation with Vali''s demands as I have already come up with something that Vali should find much more intriguing and we shall see if he accepts....In all honesty I believe my King has truly found a fountain of endless blessings from the Gods today with this potential relationship with this unique man Vali. " - Queen Asher "Hmph...My Queen too has been deliberating about this just as much as I. You truly were always much more clever and had a keener eye so perhaps you are right..." - King Asher The King and Queen continued to console one other but still seemed to have a troubled look on their faces. Shakko then spoke and agreed that if Vali were putting on an act all this time just to deceive us then his acting abilities would have to be Godlike. "...Oh also your Highness. I almost forgot to tell you something else that has been troubling me. It is something I believe his Highness should ..." - Master Shen "Come now Shen we''ve been friends practically sense we came out of our mothers'' bellies. Just speak and stop with all the formalities it''s just us and I respect your words enough to know all of what you said are fact or else I wouldn''t be so troubled now would I? Just tell me." - King Asher "...Sorry Mikhail but you and your wife are the ones who made me go through that etiquette training so remember that.... We also had the opportunity to speak with a peculiar fellow who happened to be from the Central Continent. His relationship with Vali all started when his party was sent by a noble family that have a branch clan in Myro but are actually from a large country in the Kingdom of Kario.... This adventurer joined them in the pursuit of Vali after the Aldian incident and were seeking to possibly entice him over to their side....Things went sour and Vali murdered all of the trespassers quite brutally that by his description alone sounds pretty gruesome even for things that you and I have seen..... This Vali is merciless to his enemies." - Master Shen Master Shen continued to talk about some of our conversations with a high level adventurer who came from the Great West. I always heard the Great West was like going to a different world entirely and even one of the Four Great Empires could compare to the size and population of the entire Eastern Continent. He however also told us in vivid detail how he came to the Eastern Continent and even ventured to the Kingdom of Myro and took a job to pursue Vali. ''It''s not an uncommon story that is told in the streets of Asher. Strong adventurers or someone who have discovered a powerful artifact are usually pursued and never heard from again. They either join the stronger factions or are murdered for their powerful items. If the individual shows real promise sometimes they''d even be invited to the Central Continent to live and join some of the great powers there and live a life of luxury. As even some fallen nobles have more wealth than an entire Kingdom from the East. However whenever those strong figures or guilds are refused sometimes it doesn''t always end well. There''s a saying in our country that goes '' If you are a Mouse you can only escape or be chewed, but to a Lion you are either friend or food''.'' Sting however was the sole survivor of his party and for a reason that even surprised himself was shown mercy by Vali. While this can also be evidence of his good morals there was something slightly more alarming to this story than that. "...The point of my bringing this up is within this groups party just happened to be the younger brother of one of the 12 Grand Sages. Not just somebody but the Saint of Thunder Donner, which is a name that has become famous and unshakeable. Even reaching the ears to the ends of the world. After learning this fact Vali still killed him without hesitation. This is why regardless of Vali being a morally good person at his foundation, I still must insist on this warning my King.....Hah....If you ally yourself with this person.... As her Highness has just spoke while this occurrence could be seen as a gift from the heavens....You need to also prepare for the fact that this could also lead to the annihilation of our Kingdom as well....He is someone who not only does not show hesitation when declaring war on Aldain himself and doesn''t bad an eye at potentially making enemies with one of the strongest figures in the Human Kingdom...Something we couldn''t ever hope to defend ourselves against.....You will also have to prepare to sever many relationships in the coming days.....Even the ones with Rose....." - Master Shen ''Wait...Why? Does he truly mean that? Sever our relationships with the Rose Empire would make us equivalent to a rogue nation. Without the backing of one of the Central powers there is nothing stopping any foreign Kingdom to declare war on us even those in the Central Continent would probably attack us just to earn the favor of Rose and gain an already established territory in the west and reap the benefits... Our entire strength right now relies on the backbone with this Empire while we still have a large army and strong force to protect the Kingdom in times of urgency but for how long would that go on for? It would only be a matter of time before Asher became a mark in history that would forever be erased.'' "My, my Shen do you believe that our relationships with the Empress would also be affected with our relationship with Vali? " - Queen Asher "Not yet no....But potentially, who knows? And if that time comes my warning is whatever decision you make now you must stick with it or risk an even greater casualties for crossing either of them. This person Vali has the astonishing ability to absorb skills from monsters which we believed to be true considering the evidence. It is not confirmed but with everything we''ve seen it''s a damn good bet... If that''s the case then what happens after this person absorbs something from that fallen god....All those horrific monsters...Those giant beasts? There''s a monster in there that eats souls for crying out loud. I heard once that some of the Hero Weapons have the ability to actually strengthen itself over time and in turn strengthen the Hero and even their party....Not all of them can do what Vali can do though. His body is practically indestructible...He took a sword strike from a magical weapon the size of a city wall that could kill those hundreds of feet away when caught by the heavy sword pressure following behind it.....And yet the damn kid actually saw us off and didn''t show any signs of a single scratch on when we left.... It''s highly possible this person is even more frightening than we even realize.... Even with all my understandings of the sword I could never hope to have a chance at fighting such an enemy. With his abilities he could even drop an army behind enemy lines within the heat of battle. Even if I''m not as accustomed with military strategy as you are, I can easily understand the impact this could hold when facing any enemy..... " - Master Shen "Yes your Highness I agree with Master Shen''s assessment..... Whatever decision you make it is better to stick with it. Less we receive the backlash of going back on our word with such a figure. If a situation arises and we are put in a place where we have to sever our relationship with Vali or the Rose Empire, we should chose to latter." - Shakko Master Shen and Shakko were both being very serious for once in their report and individual assessment over the situation. While the King is away he is using those around him as his council and he and the Queen seem to highly value the opinions of these two and trust the things that were seen. But...Would they really inquire us to sever our relationship with the Rose Empire if conflict were to arise between them and Rose? Why would they even assume something like that would occur in the first place and why is it being discussed now of all times? "¡­..Hmm and these are the opinions of you three? You were each there and Shen you grew up with me and even traveled together in the Great West. So you can compare this person''s power to some of the geniuses and powerful figures there.... I naturally know that by going back on whatever decision I make could prove to anger this person and make us his enemy....But you believe this situation to be that severe and this person''s abilities that when tasked when choosing who not to offend you would choose Vali over the entirety of Empress Rose and the hundreds of millions strong at her command? Her power that is of one of the strongest beings in Middle Earth, even in my time fighting for her....I don''t believe any amount of strategy would assist in attempting to combat her....Her methods and powers are quite orthodox but no enemy in the last thousand years have been able to win a single battle on her Kingdom''s soil. - King Asher "It''s gone be a gamble either way you look at it Mikhail...." - Shen "Oh nothing is a gamble if you have the right knowledge Shen.... This is all hypothetical at this point but I do see the potential severity of this if Vali is someone who would eventually change his mind and ask for a lot more or offend powers we aren''t able to resist then we are left with choosing to continue backing Vali or not..... But I am a firm believer in a woman''s intuition....What does my future daughter in law believe about what each of these two have said? You never speak up enough and I''d like to hear what you have to say as well. Do you also agree to ally ourselves with Vali and that he can be trusted?" - Queen Asher The Queen then directed her line of sight and words toward me. Her voice was sharp but clear. I took a deep breath and contemplated her question before answering as I too was still slightly troubled about this person. I don''t believe him to be a bad person however each of the points Master Shen and his Highness have brought up are reasonable factors when choosing to ally with this person as it could lead to extreme risk for the Kingdom. We don''t know enough about him and he potentially has the ability to destroy us if he so desired which isn''t something we had thought originally... ''Things naturally change whenever you realize the cards your playing with don''t stack up to those you are playing with. '' We knew he had amazing power but we assumed the reason he was allying himself with us was exactly the reason that Master Shen and figures such as Aldus joined our Kingdom''s Knights as well.....Because they couldn''t stand alone. While Master Shen more or less chose this because he received so many duel invitations from anyone on the continent looking to seek a little fame. Now that he is the closest and strongest Knight under King Asher''s direct command. Even asking for a duel with him would be the equivalent to slapping the King in the face in his own country. Even if someone of strength from one of the strong factions in the Asher Kingdom were to beat Master Shen or even worse kill him, it would be the same as shaming the King''s face or even attempting to weaken him directly. Who would dare try such a criminal offence and risk being beheaded for ultimately endangering the King''s overall welfare and safety? But it''s all wrong.... Now that we are aware of Vali''s overwhelming ability, we could actually risk annihilation from this person if we were to anger him. This is not something we had anticipated from his original show of dominance over the forces of Aldain and Myro. "¡­. I too agree to what they both have said. Vali doesn''t appear to be evil in any way... If anything perhaps what Master Shen just said should only reaffirm our faith of his kindhearted nature more than anything else. While abrasive and intimidating he also shows quite a warm and caring nature to those he loves. And just like a Dire wolf whose cub was harmed, he must have become enraged and would attack and hunt down whoever his prey might be regardless if it were even a dragon. ...He has shown specific acts of mercy and a strong character in the face of extreme danger while not breaking. He chose the riskiest choices himself and even went out of his way to allow the majority of the demi human forces to hide far away so more could survive....Just from that, he thinks far ahead quite well actually....While it is risky you''re Highness, the reward would also be quite great for this Kingdom and give it a lasting strength that could benefit Asher in an untold number of ways...From a strategic standpoint, taking Vali under our banner and with his abilities maybe in a few short years he would actually have the ability to defend Asher from even the forces of the Great West and the Legendary figures residing there as well....As you''ve said there isn''t anyone known to have the God Slayer title, so he himself now is just as Legendary as some of the most famous figures of our time and he is willing to ally himself with us. With his abilities it''s also not crazy to think in a few years he will even be on the same level as the strongest warriors in Rose. At that point he would undoubtedly repay the kindness and understanding we show now... " Pss..pss.pss As I was speaking both Master Shen and Shakko both turned and looked towards the door and seemed to continue staring towards it oddly. "One second...." - Master Shen Shen then walked over to the door and abruptly opened it and out fell two figures. They were the figures of a young demi human boy and girl. One had black hair while the other was from the Fusch race. They both looked up and appeared surprised that they had been found out. ''They must have been listening in on our conversation.'' "Oh, I guess we had another pair of ears this whole time mph..." - Queen Asher Each of us then smirked upon her Highness''s words as we weren''t really saying anything inappropriate for their ears. We are simply now planning on how we are to move forward with this mysterious person and how to handle him in the correct way. I''m sure his and her Highness are both trying to find a way to keep their role as the authority over him while also acting benevolent. "Ah! I told you not to lean too close." - Sasha "What? They only heard you''re whispering..." - Noah Each of the two began to stand up and look back at us but before they could say anything a loud scream came from outside. AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! A loud scream came from outside and within the next second the young girl started sprinting towards the source of the scream. Each of us looked at one another and decided to go look what was the cause but just as we were about to take a step out of the bedroom what felt like a hammer falling from the heavens and crashing into our heads. Our whole bodies began to receive the chills as a very powerful presence began to envelop each of us causing our hearts to pace faster and faster. Hearing some of the others gulp we along with the small youth walked slowly towards the direction of the sound. So many thoughts were racing through my mind right now. We each stepped outside and felt as if all our skin were being pinched. My face was even tingling just looking at the powerful figures who stood before us. While each of the children ran towards Vali and the child in his arms we couldn''t even move. It was not that we were shocked by this strong power we can each feel coming off of Vali and those with him, but that Vali currently was staring straight back towards us. His eyes were wide but his face was emotionless. It looked like the eyes of a snake just as it were about to lash out and devour a helpless rabbit. It wasn''t a look you would choose to greet an ally or the King of a nation. It was truly one that sent goosebumps down my spine. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vali''s POV: "Ei..i..i...uh..." - Tierra "Ah..Ugh Alpha....what''s this? A monster perhaps? It wears clothes too." - Alderon Walking up towards me Alderon was holding a small dripping wet figure with dirt covering its face and hands. Once we appeared back at the cabin we were immediately welcomed with a screechingly loud scream. ''Poor thing... she must have been doing something outside when I warped our small party back to our cabin in the woods. I see a bucket on the ground and can tell she must have spilt it on herself and fell down.'' "Eh..eh...ah! Masterrrr!" - Tierra Still shaking, once Tierra opened her eyes and saw my figure she started flailing her arms and legs around widly trying to free herself. Once Alderon had let her down she ran with tears in her eyes and reached out for my leg and grabbed onto me. But just as she held on she immediately backed away and started to shake again while looking down and apologizing repeatedly. "I''m sorry!..I''m sorry! I ¡­ I didn''t mean to touch your clothes...I just I..." - Tierra ''Scaredy cat.....'' I went over and put my hand on her head and started to scratch behind her ear again which seems to calm her down some. When her ears started to fall to the sides she like always closed her eyes and kept her hands to her face making a short purring sound. "I''m...I''m very happy your home master hehe...nnnnnn...." - Tierra "Thanks Tierra I needed that hmp...Looks like we need to get you cleaned up before dinner huh." "Oh..I...I''m sorry I got your clothes so dirty master I''ll..I''ll go clean them right away!...eh...nnnnn....." - Tierra I started to scratch behind her pointy ears some more and for whatever reason this seemed to relax her just like the small cat my siblings would always play with back home. I reminded her their just clothes and their not even mine their hers but she seemed to almost ignore me from what I was doing to her ears right now. ''It seems to have the same effect as back home....'' I could then hear the voices of several others exited the cabin. "Elyria? Elyria!!!" - Sasha Just then Sasha then darted from inside the cabin and jumped towards her. "...Vali! You''re all back! " - Lily " Vali''s here? I ...woh...." - Noah Looking over I saw the figure of Lily run through the several Annunakes and Pixies and came and wrapped her arms around Elyria and I. Noah however seemed shocked looking directly at each of the large white wolves standing beside me. Out beside him were Lucy and her two friends and each of them were staring wide eyed at each of us but their eyes were more or less glued to 5 particular figures who were here. Even now I can feel the powerful battle aura exuding off of Adimar, Bifrost, Cari and Fenrir. They are quite strong but Adimar''s aura alone is enough to completely dominate over each of ours combined it seems. It''s almost a similar feeling of when I met Alysteir for the first time. Even in a crowded room just the presence from her gave my skin the sensation of being poked with a small needle when she looked at me. Apparently Fighting Spirit when high enough can act in the same ways as Battle Aura does by itself and the higher it is the more life and death battles one has survived against an overwhelmingly stronger opponent. Adimar''s Fighting Spirit before being changed must have been pretty high cause it even causes my face muscles to twitch sometimes.... Even with those with no aptitude for sensing one''s presence would be able to feel some of the power stemming off each of us plain as day. While it is similar to an intimidation skill and can even shut down the movements of those a third my level when in combat. I suppose we could use our abilities to mask our presence from others but that would actually take more energy just to sustain so this seems to be permanent for now until we find some way to mask it. "Look Noah! Elyria and Ari brought Vali back! " - Lily Noah then slowly started to walk through the tall Annunakes and as he got closer I was surprised when he came up and hugged Elyria and I right next to his sister. He didn''t say much but I could tell he was happy we had made it back too. I then noticed the small, muddy neko girl staring eagerly towards each of us so I asked if she wanted to join in on the group hug. Before she could come up with some reason not Elyria had already lifted up her arms to invite her in.... ''I can at least do good by those that are close to me. These kids have gone through things I....hah...probably even worse than I''ve ever had to go through. Maybe when I find Kaylan she can have some friends here too if she doesn''t already... I can''t protect them forever but I can take care of them while I''m here. Give them something we both don''t really have....Hmph even this little neko purring into my leg right now I''ll probably have to dote on quite a bit until she can learn to trust anyone really....Heh, some Dark Lord I am.'' I admit, it''s not the life I''d thought I''d have coming to this magical world but....I can at least do this much. Ari and Elyria were both looking up at me and smiling and just then I felt that in all honesty, this life right now in a new world I came to.....Isn''t so bad. ------------------------------------------------------ When we all came down from the Black Palace on floor 52 we were met with a swarm of flying pixies with Cari at the helm. When they all surrounded us she immediately wrapped her arms around her older sister and then flew up and did the same for me. "I knew it...I knew you would each be ok. I''m so happy each of you are safe." - Cari After we were met with hugs and embraces from each of the Pixies not long after did everyone else arrive and greet us warmly upon our quick return. After filling in some of the details to the other leaders it was arranged that all of the leaders and influential people of this Dungeon will meet and discuss the future later this evening together. "Wait...Where''s Ari?" "....Don''t wo..rry Vali.....I''m...coming...." - Ari I looked towards the direction of the sound and saw riding on top of Fenrir''s back was Ari followed by a large swarm of pixies. Each of their faces were beaming in smiles and barrelling towards us "Vali! You''re back!" - Cosmia Ari was holding tight onto Fenrir but now saw she was wearing a bright red dress which was different than before. Cosmia then told me they gave it to her as something to wear but judging from their attitudes I think they were just trying to get her to like them.....''Probably trying to get her to like them more than the Annunakes too it seems....'' As each of the Pixies tried to barge their way in front of the other races and greet each of us Fenrir passed right through with Ari trying to reach out towards me in her bright red and puffy dress. I rolled my eyes and picked up Ari and decided it was high time my mother and I got back to the cabin and see what everyone is doing. ''I still need to talk to that King.'' "Ari..You''re dress is so lovely, you look so pretty! " - Elyria "Thanks...Elyri..a...." - Ari With that she shyly looked up to me and asked how she looked. After remaining silent for a few breaths I was simply enjoying the moment that seemed so familiar to me.... "Hmph...Like a princess...." Ari brought her hands to her face and her eyes grew large while starting to lose focus as if no longer even looking at me. I noticed my mother''s tails started to shift back and forth while looking towards us and smiled. "Oh ah!....Um...Than..thank you....Oh you''re neck..lace is back..." - Ari After Ari looked back up at me she put her hands on my chest and noticed their dangling was the same necklace that was given to me by my mother. The one she made however had been completely destroyed during the battle. "Yah...What do you think if I give you this necklace you think you can make me another using this ?" "Of...ofc ourse I would...If..if you want..ed.....I''d...do any..thing for you..." - Ari Ari looked down blushing and my mother smiling towards us, I felt as if all my fears in this world could be washed away. They held me together in ways I couldn''t possibly do myself and even though I came here trying to no become attached to this place...I can''t deny how big a part of me they have already become without me even realizing. No doubt it would be a much harder place to live in without them. ''This is my new family.......This is my new world.....This is my new life.'' "Well...What are we waiting for Vali. Let''s go home...." - Elyria ------------------------------------------------------------ "We''re so happy you''re all home we thought something bad had happened." - Lilly "Mphmph...Well we couldn''t have done it without little Ari here saving the day and helping us all to return safely." - Elyria To Elyria''s comment each of them showed eyes of awe. "Wow!...Really!" - Lilly "Ari did? " - Noah "That''s right. There were giants, and flying monsters that blotted out the light from the sun and tried to eat us all.....But Ari here''s the reason we all made it back home in one piece...." - Elyria Ari continued to wag her tail in my arms and all the kiddos couldn''t help but widen their eyes in amazement. "...Really Elyria?" - Sasha "Mphmph...That''s right. It was all very scary but like I said to each of you before we would bring our family back together..." - Elyria "Wow so scary." - Lily "No way..." - Noah "¡­...." - Sasha "Nya, Ari you r..really saved Master?" - Tierra Each of the kiddos simply couldn''t imagine it and were staring brightly towards Ari who was trying hard not to smile too much. "Mhm! It...so... sc...ary....but we... brought him home!" - Ari "Wow...." - Tierra "So cool." - Noah "Good job Ari!" - Lily Each of the kiddos continued to chat with one another and my mom happily when the warm glow that was constantly surrounding myself began to grow more and more. "Vali! Who are each of these people? Are they our family too? " - Cari "Hey look! They''re smaller than us!" - Jade "I like them!" - Aurora Just then a small white pixie with rainbow colored hair walked up with a bright smile on her face and approached all those who had came around us. As I was about to answer her I saw the figures of the King and Queen had exited the cabin followed by their three royal knights...... "¡­....." Without saying anything I looked at each of them and could see they were looking back at me with wide eyes as well. Either that''s due to my new aura ability or these three knights have already told the King everything.........''It''s something that has made me uncomfortable ever since I heard it from Sting. It''s not a good thing for people to know your trump cards as I''d be the equivalent as a magician with no more tricks. With all of the powers that have lived in this world for hundreds of years I can''t hope to exist if all my secrets get out'' Each of them seeing me eyeballing them didn''t move a muscle. They seemed nervous about something..... "Hey mother, introduce everyone I''ll be back in a moment." I handed Ari to Elyria and she started to introduce everyone we brought with us back from the dungeon, if it''s just getting everyone''s names it shouldn¡¯t be so hard without me around. Even though this was the first time some of the pixies and Annunakes had ever stepped out of the dungeon in their lives and each seemed to be unable to look at a single blade of grass without excitement. But when they each saw me talking to some of the slave children who live with us they seemed to have only showed their focus towards them, even the Annunakes. Taking this opportunity I approached the five individuals in my sight whenever a loud voice from the side of the house interrupted me. "Vali! So you''re finally back? You seem different somehow... Who...WOW! Who are all of those demi humans you''ve brought with you? I''ve....I''ve never seen demi humans that glowed before... Their wings are so beautiful! How come you didn''t tell me you knew such amazing demi humans?" - Princess Lucy Running over to me and acting happy to see me while also seeming more interested in the flying pixies who were hovering around my mother. The small elf and neko girl next to her both showed an equal interest as I''m sure no one''s ever seen a species quite like them before. I looked down and before I had an opportunity to reply the Queen had told Lucy and her two demi human friends to go play and introduce herself as they needed to talk with me. I showed no signs of disagreeing and continued to think over just how I am going to handle this situation. The lively princess strutted past me while admiring the frighteningly tall white wolves standing next to the small almost childlike magical race that with their wings almost look to be angelic themselves. When I looked back towards the King, the Queen was cordial and said how fortunate it was for us to have a safe journey back. Before getting on to business about helping them out with their assassination attempt back home they are trying to use kind words to further our bonds.... however I need to know right now if this is a person I can place my entire trust in or else the lives of everyone will hang in the balance. From here on out everything with these races I have already decided to ally myself with if they too are willing. We will combine our strengths and stand side by side from here on out so it is no longer a deal with just me. Even with our strength and numbers we couldn''t stand the combined attack of some of the major powers of this world let alone this own continent at the moment. Even as we are now I doubt we could even fight back the combined forces of an entire Kingdom without taking enough casualties that would potentially weaken us to the point annihilation would only be a matter of time.... ''I hate how much relies on this alliance with this country but if word got out of the emergence of strong and rare demi human races out of nowhere, there would probably be quite a few interested parties who would probably attempt something no different than what happened to my mother''s clan who were completely wiped out and scattered over the vast reaches of the continent. What''s stopping us from being another Elf country that we just currently don''t have the foundation to defend continuously against other Kingdoms right now. Sure in some time we would be able to stand alone but right now forming an alliance with a Human Kingdom will grant us that amount of time we need. This King even has some relation with one of the Four Great Empires and has shown signs of being tolerant and loving to his own Kingdom. He isn''t in a war with the Elves and they even seem to have some cities and villages where demi humans aren''t only free but in positions of some authority. Which shows even if slavery exists in their country it isn''t a unanimous feeling of hate towards other races....''If anything this is probably the best bet I could hope to have, I simply have to follow my gut. But first I have to be sure.....'' Following them back into the cabin it was only the six of us including Alderon, Grayfia, Akino and Adimar each standing behind me and were going to listen in on our discussion. Adimar and Akino have both already shared some of the information concerning the situation outside of the dungeon to Malfius and the other race leaders. Each of the Elite Annunakes and elders are aware of this as well and had asked to sit in on our meeting with the human king from beyond the dungeon. Since they already know practically all of my secrets it doesn''t matter if they are here. As I neared the kitchen table still without saying a single word yet, I was still going over in my head how to approach this. King Asher turned around, straightened his back and with a soft smile nodded his head in allowing me to greet him. As I went to bow, which is probably the only custom I''m aware of performing when in presence of a King, a large and heavy hand landed on my shoulder and pulled me back in one quick motion. Alderon who was standing only right behind me gripped my shoulder and shook his head. This caused the Ashers to make a confusing look as the tall and masculine form of Alderon who was carrying a great sword that was even bigger than he was on his back with no effort at all. "Do not ever bow to the leader of a foreign nation...." - Adimar "...Alpha, you will never see us bow to any other than our Alpha and the God Wolf himself. So do not let any of the pack see you bowing to a leader of another group, it shows submission." - Alderon Other than having to know every single Elkia by name and being at the birth of every member of the pack, this is just another interesting fact in this new role I''ve found myself in. Adimar has been helping me a lot and has seemed to show no dissatisfaction in submitting to me in the slightest which even now makes me curious having such a warrior spirit such as he does. ''...Sigh....but I have much more pressing things to worry over right now.'' The King brushed off the situation and changed his original nervous expression and smiled with his eyes closed "It is a pleasure to see you''re safe return Vali. The God''s are truly shining down on us this day and singing songs of praise at your heroic efforts that have truly saved the......" - King Asher "They told you......." twtich.... "¡­....." - King Asher '' I knew it.... With that one sentence I saw the brief flinch in the King''s attitude and knew these three knights had already divulged everything.... I knew they were looking at me oddly before. Shit! It wasn''t due to the aura or even because they were gobsmacked about us surviving our clash with a fallen god.....They looked at me much differently than before ...I''ve seen it before, it was fear.'' Each of them were even showing signs of perspiration running down their foreheads and shook lightly. They know I eat hearts and what''s worse is they know I obtain skills through this method. They probably see me as some savage devil in human form. The reason this isn''t something I would want others to know besides all of the obvious reason, from any outside perspective I couldn''t imagine what they must think. I quickly thought of all the endless possibilities this small problem could ultimately bring me as if I could see them each following a sudden domino effect. ''I can just see it now... Some dark cloaked, white haired freak holding a scythe and eats hearts. Regardless of whatever I''d say no one would look at me as a force for good. I''d immediately be branded a fiend, who practices forbidden magic. Until they looked at my skill list they wouldn''t believe a word I say and then right when they read the word Demonic I''ll be labeled as an enemy of all humans. The Churches would probably even send their holy warriors to come and hunt me down in the name of abolishing evil or something stupid.....And if I fought back in anyway I would be labeled as the villain and only increase in bringing more followers to the cause of by stopping a demon uprising in the East. They would send many to hunt me down and once all my secrets are out some kingdom would probably want to capture and dissect me for study....And why not my flesh essentially regenerates and my bones are practically unbreakable. My body itself could be considered invaluable materials and others would wish to know how they could acquire such ability thinking it were a forbidden spell or demonic technique..... '' "Why Vali, whatever do you mean exactly. Of course our royal guard would fill us in on all that occurred during their absence....Is it possible you assumed they wouldn''t tell us about your bravery in the face of something as intimidating as a being from beyond this realm entirely.Truly a heroic feet, you are going to become quite the legendary figure and someday soon all of Middle Earth will know your name. We are honored to have been given the opportunity to form a bond with you and your fearsome demi human army that will surely be an undeniable force within the entire continent. " - Queen Asher "¡­...." ''¡­........'' As I continued to think over the Queen''s words I was still momentarily speechless as she hit the nail right on the head. ''Did she just say all of that on purpose as if knowing my worst fears?'' Those Fomorians are still running loose outside the dungeon walls and were headed North. If the head east they will undoubtedly destroy any and everything in their path including Asher and Myro. If they go west they will likely run into the Elve''s Sacred Forest and their race would meet with a calamity. If they just continue to head further and further north, then the Vampire race would be affected as well. If each of these races are met with a disaster and are forced to flee their homelands I can already see a disaster approaching.....When word gets to the Central Continent it''s only a matter of time before people start popping up looking for answers and more importantly what spoils came with it....My greatest fear right now is that word got out of a high level dungeon and some of the strongest figures in the Human Kingdoms will all converge on one location..... The five of them didn''t say a word and the room remained quiet enough to hear the laughter and loud chatter coming from outside. With a deep breath I made my choice. Even with the effects that this darkness could somehow have over my emotional state and my affinity being dangerously too high without learning control over it this class change, I feel has almost now given me more resolve somehow. "You...Take off your mask. " "Eh....uhh..." - Shakko "¡­..." - Queen Asher "¡­." - Shen, Cassandra Each of them seemed taken back over my sudden request or in this case, demand. I pointed at Shakko and told him to take off his mask with a tone that meant I wasn''t kidding. I skipped the pleasantries of re addressing the Queen after she spoke to me and skipped straight to the point. "Why ugh, why does that matter Vali?" - King Asher "Yah, kid if ya think ol Shakko here is a spy or something. You can rest assured he''s not." - Shen "I''m not worried about that...I''ve made the decision to lay it all out on the table for you people. A show of trust. No games...Anything you wish to ask I''ll answer truthfully and openly to give each of you some peace of mind and so we can hopefully understand each other more. This will be for your ears and your ears alone and mustn''t share it with anyone else or consider our relationship terminated... You are each now aware of a particular ability of mine that I''m sure you could fathom would bring me endless difficulties if word of it got out. I am placing my trust in you people and that entails the lives of more than just my own. If we are going to form a mutually beneficial and long lasting relationship together we can no longer keep anything from the other. So from this moment forward we can only move forward together or not at all and that means no secrets from the other....That means take... Off.. Your... Mask!...." I continued to stare towards Shakko and he understood the meaning and slowly reached up to the white mask covering his face and pulled it off..... As the tall and slender man finally removed his mask what lied beneath it was a dark brown haired man roughly in his late twenties. He had a slightly mean looking face but looked very dignified with sharp eyes staring back at me. He had a very thin goatee that sort of pointed upward across his lip but didn''t look to be even over a decade older than me. "Now I can see your eyes.... I know we have a lot to discuss and under the circumstances we were never able to finish our last discussion about a possible alliance between our groups. As you can probably assume I didn''t want to say too much at first simply because we had too many obstacles to cross before we could stand here today. But now we finally have an opportunity but each side has just as much to risk at allying with the other and we won''t be able to move forward if we cannot trust the other......You don''t agree? Let me explain then." Seeing their expressions change I brought up the situation from our perspectives. " You wouldn''t be here right now if your Kingdom weren''t facing a crisis currently. Not just externally but I''d be willing to bet that you yourself don''t hold complete control over your own Kingdom''s forces. Now some strong factions within your walls are probably taking opportunity of war to remove you from your position....You wouldn''t have left behind the walls and comfort of your armies if you did..... While you yourself have your own hangups and possible problems with bringing in a large demi human due to relations with humans and demi humans not being so good. Just after these races have finally escaped living in a prison world for thousands of years you are asking them with their newly found freedom to willingly jump into bed with you considering your own current state right now? I''m sure you have your own concerns about me as well. I wouldn''t blame you, you wouldn''t be a very wise King if you didn''t. But we have just as much to lose as you do. " After my few points I presented, the faces of each of the King and Queen changed immediately. ''It''s not a very difficult thing to guess. This sort of thing just happens in this sort of setting. I can''t imagine the political minefield of a bunch of greedy and powerful noble families. Each of the Knights too started to give some troubled looks but Master Shin and Shakko''s sharp eyes didn''t waver in the slightest. To break the silence I spoke up and presented his majesty to speak his mind. "I say in the spirit of opening up I guess I''ll let his Highness speak his mind first and get off his chest whatever it is he wishes know......" The King didn''t avoid eye contact in the slightest and continued to peer at me as if he were staring into my very soul. I''m sure he was contemplating on whether to fully go forward and trust me or if he should simply turn tail and walk out the front door right now and never look back. He obviously cares for his country but the fact that he''s here lets me know there are already a lot of problems going on in Asher than on the surface. If an assassination attempt was made within his own Kingdom it''s highly probably there are strong figures not only attacking them from outside but secretly scheming inside as well. They would hold high positions and strong power too and it''s definitely not a one person job so that let''s me know the King does not have complete control over his court if he weren''t here in the first place. ''If I''m honest with myself dealing with a few greedy scheming old nobles would probably be better than the problems that could come with allying myself with any of the other Kings in this continent. I just have to bite the bullet on this one and play my hand. Hopefully, my gut feeling about this man is right and someone I can trust. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. After a long time of not saying anything the king''s beard twitched and he spoke while never once breaking eye contact. "¡­.Who is the God you worship?" - King Asher The King not wasting anytime and asking his deepest concerns without any more formalities like you would with someone you''re close with. "¡­.That''s ah...." "You said anything. I have to trust you as well as earn your own am I correct." - King Asher With a serious look he continued to not break eye contact as I could see with the heart consumption he''s probably got thousands of wild theories by now.... ''Damn why did I agree to this. Literally the one thing I didn''t want to answer as I was instructed that was something that I shouldn''t ever divulge. It almost always doesn''t work out well for the Champion in the end. Pft...and with a god like Loki as my backer I can already see a mountain of problems. But at this point I need this alliance with the Ashers to flourish. They are a Kingdom of a population of over a 120,000 citizens and close to 55,000 troops not including local guilds and factions. They hold a powerful position on this continent with 32 large and strongly founded cities. If we are an elite force of a Human Kingdom and not some rogue nation then we might actually gain that much needed time to build up territory properly.'' "¡­..Fine. While I don''t worship him the God who granted me his blessing......is Loki." With my answer everyone''s eyes raised and looked astonished. The King seemed to have nodded his head as if he was accepting this answer and possibly signifying this Kingdom might not be on terrible relations with this god. It''s not like I''ve seen any of the relationships of the religions in Kingdoms and other gods to be honest but I couldn''t even fathom the legends or stories of Loki in this world. There are probably even Gods and Divine beasts I''ve never even heard of for that matter. Each of them seemed to mumble to themselves and connected this with Hj?kk and believed it to be fact. Before I could say anything again the Queen then fired another question at me in a similarly direct way as her husband. "And what is he like exactly?" - Queen Asher Thinking that she is asking this question just to test me I answered honestly. "Annoying, narcissistic and yet at the same time has a genius level intellect he uses I feel for the soul purpose at times of pissing me off for his own amusement." Listening to me ranting off and complaining shouldn''t have been the right way to go about things. But I''m still a bit hung up about the Dark Lord thing....regardless of how much it has helped me....''Ughh.....It just works out so well he had to have set this up. That I would have to wear a mask. Hold a creepy ass weapon. Oh wait that''s not all hey Vali why not also take a title just incase everyone you''ll ever meet didn''t already have enough reasons to label you a walking, talking comic book villain. Perhaps next you''ll ask me to get a tattoo on my forehead that says ''Come kill me''. '' "¡­.." - Everyone Even the Annunakes behind me did not expect me to give such an answer when concerning the trickster god I have undoubtedly become too familiar with since coming to this world. "AhaHa!....I guess that does fit the stories doesn''t it. Back when I was young, in one of the sacred cities of the Holy Empire it was said that Loki had defaced a statue of one of their high gods. What made the priests so upset is that the weight and durability of the statue had made it become almost indestructible ....It''s actually said the Holy Empire was never able to destroy it so they could only hide it away from the public eye to stop the shaming of the one they worshipped....To this day no one is allowed to speak of it so it is a tale that has become a legend of sorts hehe..." - King Asher ''Oh for fuck sake..... Thanks Loki I guess there''s one Empire I''d probably be public enemy number one in.'' Watching me merely shake my head as if I didn''t have any words to say the queen tried to cover her mouth not to laugh. "Mphmph....Indeed he speaks no differently than the other blessed children of the Gods I''ve had the privilege of speaking with over my years.... They either don''t know much more than what is already known or have some big complaint to give. If you had spoke differently I mightn''t have believed you. " - Queen Asher "Well what can I say he leaves a lasting impression on ya." "Mph....Indeed. I guess we can stop testing you." - Queen Asher From there the tensions dulled a bit and the King and I continued to ask one another about particular concerns or wants that he had concerning our futures. He also asked another interesting question. "Are you human?....." - King Asher Seeing my reaction he asked because to him the possibility of me being something else is entirely plausible. He also wanted to know of why my eyes could turn black as that is something that in this world is symbolic of the demon race for having. Each of the knights faces too looked curious as to this question. "Ah, that kinda hurt a little more than I thought it would....Hah...well. Yes I am...Well.... Lately, I''ve actually been having some doubts about that. From what Loki believes, my father was a Demon. I don''t know, never met him... so that makes me half human I guess." Each of their faces after hearing that started to change. The moment the term Demon was spoken everyone of them straightened up. The Annunakes behind me however started to move their heads oddly looking towards the other. "Then that Fusch woman whom you call your mother? " - Queen Asher "I guess you can say I''m adopted." "I see.....Hmmm. " - King Asher We continued to talk for quite a while and we got to learn quite a bit about the other. They are now up to speed and even learned the reason and origin of how I began to consume the hearts of those I''ve killed. Oddly enough they didn''t seem as weirded out by it as I had anticipated. I can''t even imagine how Kaylan is going to take this if I ever wind up telling her about it but it''s nice to not feel rejected by those who have found out about it. After they had realized I was someone with a violent vendetta against the Demon race and answering each of their questions each of them came to accept the answers I gave. The King more or less just seemed amazed that demons were on this continent at all without his knowledge but I didn''t give him any indication of my origins. Something tells me that isn''t something to tell a group of medieval times people I''m from another world....Well in this world they''d probably believe such an odd story as that. After I showed them my skill screen it confirmed it for them that I wasn''t a wolf in disguise and had no intention of becoming their enemy. With just the skill screen alone it proved I was Loki''s Champion and justified all my earlier words and recent actions. By doing this they wouldn''t need to see my Status screen, which I''m sure would just raise more questions, as now they would believe everything I say to be truth....''The fact that this world''s status can''t ascertain my age might be due to the fact that I''m not local and perhaps due to my birth into this world being completely abnormal. Loki! You really made this entire process difficult for me!'' By showing them what most would choose to hide the King and Queen as well as their 3 royal guard''s entire atmospheres began to change and grow more calm while looking back towards me. ''I can assume what they must have thought.... I mean to a King with the black eyes, scythe and snacking on bodily organs are probably like giant red flags slapping him in the face. Who in their right mind wouldn''t be weary of someone with the Dark Lord class. I''m honestly surprised they didn''t flee back to their Kingdom before I returned home. '' But hopefully with this we can finally make the preparations for what all of this has been aimed towards. Now if anything were to happen and I was outed for my skills as some enemy of the Human Kingdom, I now have the word of a King with the authority to speak up and not just be the words of a branded criminal. With this moment we were already laying the foundations for a potentially brighter future for both our groups. Now that they can start to trust us, they would also be more likely not keep anything from me and even stand beside us should any of my fears come to pass. ---------------------------------------------------------- A short amount of time passed yet we each had started to learn quite a bit about each other. They told me quite a bit about their nation of Asher and even filled me in on some of their internal struggles up to even areas of trade they specialize in. "So what are your plans for your territory. Any specialties or particular areas of trade you wish to do business in? It''s always important to appease to a particular trade your village can specialize in to appease the merchants. It is the only way for your territory to grow profitable. While your cooking skills could sure grant you the favor of the nobles, you could probably even open up a famous restaurant in the inner cities. This won''t be enough to support your territory either as expenses add up quite a lot during the first few years. Starting out and settling new land can show to be difficult. You will need a means to make your land profit and flourish if it is ever to stand the test of time. " - King Asher "I thank the King for his words...Although I''m not too worried about trade issues or money. We have the ability to self sustain and in all honesty your highness...We probably have the ability to feed the entire country of Asher perhaps for the rest of its lifetime with just us alone. We also have enough money and resources to hopefully speed up these early difficulties of developing new land and solving them much quicker. That much we can handle easily and doesn''t require much thought at the moment.... Our immediate course of action should however be in building and hopefully incorporating a free or cheap school system while also building up our territory. From there we can raise the education of all those within the area and even assist in helping other species learn to speak and write in the Human language." After I spoke each of them showed such odd looks they almost appeared to think I had been joking. Cassandra and the Queen cocked their head to the side as if I couldn''t have been serious and the King who seemed to be confused by this as well. "You believe your first course of action is to supplement a free school system? Ughh....well... " - King Asher "Don''t you believe there are perhaps more pressing matters to attend to instead? As my husband has stated, becoming founded in a particular trade can help in the new land''s developments and give reasons for merchants to travel there and do business with you. If you need something like a school why not just have us send some of the scholars from the Capital to come and teach some of the leaders and others who would operate businesses for you? Why waste so much money to pay for education of the masses and to keep a school active in a starting town? We have a few Academies and Guilds you and your people can visit in the inner cities to learn skills or trades if that is what you require. We have an exceptional Academy that trains in many Classes in the capital you might be interested in visiting... It can all be handled rather simply." - Queen Asher The King and Queen don¡¯t seem to understand the problem. The education in this part of the world is practically non existent. Only nobles or those with lots of money can actually attend a school in some of the inner cities of Asher and the public itself suffers for it. It costs a lot of money to pay for these scholars and teachers that would teach these high officials children sword techniques and even how to study magic if they had the aptitude for it. "I won''t begin to say I know more about settling new land and where my time and effort should be spent while delegating each difficulty that could arise. I however see an inherent problem on this continent and Asher seems to be victim to that as well....It is only when we provide education and power to the masses that your nation will start to grow and flourish in ways that aren''t just to continue existing but to change in ways you couldn''t even dream of.....Let me ask you your Highness...What is the job of a King?" "...Well, it is to his people. To rule justly and honorably so that we may all flourish happily and unified together." - King Asher "Well said....The duty of a King is to his people. The money it would take to cost is meaningless if you think of the investment this would be in those very people you rule over....There''s an old proverb from where I''m from...''Give a man a fish, you can feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you could feed him for a lifetime.''¡­" To my words I could tell this particular phrase must have been completely foreign to them but hopefully that can see a reasoning behind it. "A man with no education but an interesting way of thinking might just know how to feed himself and his family never given the opportunities to learn anything else. A hard worker but maybe someone who had the potential but not the opportunity to simply show it. Educate the man and stimulate his mind and maybe he could learn how to farm. Learns how to store and save and in turn gathers a surplus so he starts to sell what he and his family cannot eat. Invents a tool that makes work easier and starts to sell it to the public that could change and benefit the nation. With that alone the Kingdom gets to tax that as it is a trade is it not....Citizens who would have never been given the opportunity just from learning to read, write and do basic math would help them in the art of business to not be taken advantage of by those who do. While many from where your from might think by keeping money out of the pockets of the public keeps it in your own is wrong....It is only by giving every citizen the opportunity to succeed will the gold in your own pockets begin to weigh you down. Those who would have never had money in the first place will begin to buy new luxuries and tastes benefitting local business throughout every city in your Kingdom...It''s like basic economics.....And by doing this you simply have to allow those who aren''t educated the opportunity. " "........." - Everyone Everyone mulled over my words not saying a word for a few breaths. Shakko smirked while Cassandra looked down to the floor and was going over each the words I had said. While the Queen made an initially troubled face to my disagreeing with her after I had spoke she too seemed to quietly contemplate my words. The King was the first to speak up and seemed to give me a look as if he had never even once given this idea a thought. "You have an exceptional gift of philosophy and a beautiful talent with words Vali. ''Give a man to fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man and feed him for a lifetime....'' Such exceptional words that hold such profound and selfless wisdom...Hah, that is quite rare to see in those in such times.....I must say Vali I had never once thought of doing something like this but you have given this King a great deal to think about this day. Heh, you should be able to walk through the fields of jagged rock and daggers that is the royal court with ease with your talent of the tongue....These words you have given me have reaffirmed my judgment in trusting you. You are one who thinks of others over himself and has the resolve to stand before even the threat of annihilation and not break in your convictions......Even with all your power you show a nature that enjoys serving others which is one I have never seen in this long life of mine in this world....I could only be so lucky to have had a son quite like you Vali......I just have one more question for you Vali." - King Asher With a deep breath the King continued to look back at me with troubled eyes. "That little demi human you saved that day in Aldain. What relation is she to you? I''m sorry but I find this matter increasingly pressing in my heart. A man willing to do so much for a stranger is rarely seen, and this world is truly an unkind one. Would you even be willing to start wars with other nations over other things you might find there? I''m sorry for being so abrupt but it is still a question that plagues me." - King Asher To the King''s words all I could do was smirk and lower my eyes. "...I won''t promise you if I were to see atrocious acts performed in front of me I''d be able to stay my hands.....I honestly don''t even believe I have the ability to either......." ''.......'' Each of them saw my entire mood change as if I myself couldn''t tell them as I honestly didn''t know myself....This world is full of such things, how could I ever promise to stand and watch. I watched Kaylan and Hayden being taken away from me....How could I allow another brother, a father, mother to go through the same torment. What right would someone with power like mine to just watch ever hope to obtain more? Sighing quietly to myself I bit my lip as I just couldn''t find a way to describe the emotions currently unsettling in my heart thinking what was done to Ari in this man''s Kingdom.... ''This King''s ways of thinking I can completely understand. It''s me who is in the foreign land and I can''t hold them all accountable for morales that don''t exist in this world but...If we are to ally and stand next to this nation...This is non negotiable!'' I lowered my eyes and stared back into the King''s eyes which caused him to twitch at the look I had given him. "...There''s a saying where I come from, noblesse oblige. Have you ever heard of it?" To my words each of the 5 showed a different expression than normal and almost looked surprised. Mostly the King, Queen and Cassandra seemed simply perplexed but from my tone they seemed to not know where I was going with it. "Ah...So you were a noble after all. You know of this term." - Queen Asher "No...I''m not actually. Quite the opposite really....The believed meaning for this is those with power...Almost have the inherent responsibility to help those around them who don''t....If you were holding a sword and saw a mugger trying to kill an innocent bystander on the street would you not attempt to use your power to help them?.....Why are my actions so different? Hah...Aldain crossed my bottom line a long time ago. There I have witnessed.....Hah....such horrid things. And I can''t honestly say that Asher is completely innocent either....let me tell you something the reason you''re probably having trouble controlling your factions and knowing who to trust in your Kingdom is difficult because you have sat on the fence for so long...Don''t look at me like you haven''t....Those who have become powerful have been left unchecked by you in your Kingdom primarily for this reason and I''m sure because of this they have been getting away with who knows what....Listen I know you haven''t been spoken to much like this before but I''m not going to be someone who sugar coats things for you either as I think we all need a kick in the pants every now and then......" I told the King that as a Vassal I understand I have certain responsibilities and ways of conduct in public but when we''re alone I hope we can speak freely. To all my words I could tell with my random guess into his internal power struggles had granted massive weight to my words now. He had looked at me wondering how I could have ever guessed such things and didn''t have much to say. ''It''s not uncommon I''m sure but if this King was willing to escape with only a small number of guards to come to a stranger for aid then that means that he couldn''t trust those with power in the Kingdom or he wouldn¡¯t have traveled here at the first sign of trouble....'' "...The problem is someone should already be doing this instead of me. I''m not out to start wars or conflicts. But how can you as a King over each of your citizens be ok with walking through the streets of your own Kingdom seeing children wrapped in chains. Thrown in cages left for dead. If you can honestly stand there right now, if you could walk your own streets of all your cities with pride then how can you say you¡¯re a King who cares for the suffering of his people. All of his people....Knowing that simply by a few sins from one''s parents even your own children could reach such a nightmarish fate....I can understand prisoners who fought in wars against you, criminals or those with debt...But innocents stolen from their homes, children whose parents were slaughtered are ok?..... You have to stand for something and it seems like you have been waiting to do that for some reason or you wouldn''t have chosen to come to me at the first hour of need....am I right? Maybe if you finally start putting your foot down and standing for a particular something then you can start to get a real hold over those in your Kingdom. A King that is kind but also one who punishes those who break the laws equally of status. Your people won''t rebel they will sing praises of your name for being just but also fair..... A good ruler must constantly search for ways to better his Kingdom and equally his people. And if this alliance is turning into a ''We'' conversation, then WE will no longer have such actions be allowed on our soil ever again...." After I spoke the King and the rest remained silent for quite a while. I could feel the warm breath of the four Annunakes behind me who still stayed silent during our negotiations. The King continued looking towards me and the corners of his grayish blonde beard started to slightly twitch upward. "Hmph...Indeed. The words of one who speaks to the almighty Gods are truly thought provoking. Hmph not only do you have a strong body but also an even stronger mind. I have taken your words with me and cannot deny any of them at all.....Hmm. I am truly humbled by your words Vali, thank you." - King Asher "I think it is time dear...hmphmph...." - Queen Asher As the Queen came up and put her hand on the King''s arm and smiled brightly. Even for a mature woman you could still see she was quite the delicate beauty and held the appearance of someone with a sharp mind as well. Though she hasn''t spoke much I could tell she was equally as sharp as the King and he seemed to value her opinion unlike. "I think so as well. Shen bring me my sword....Heh we will obviously have to have this ceremony at a later date for all those of the Royal Court to be present but will only be a formality really, as I can Knight you right here and now....Vali. Do you hereby decry from that from henceforth you will ride under my banner. Come to my aid and place the life of Asher before your own. " - King Asher The King grabbed a large brightly silver long sword with a golden handle with the head of a dragon coming off the hilt. I agreed and he placed the sword over my shoulders and smiled. "Do you solemnly swear....To protect the safety of my Kingdom''s people as if it were as precious as the life of that same child you saved? Willing to stand in the face of any threat to protect her people? " - Queen Asher "I do..." "Mph....Then I hereby decry from henceforth. You shall now be known as Sir Vali. Vassal to the Royal Faction and Knight of the Kingdom of Asher. None other than I will hold authority over you and your forces in my Kingdom and will only be directed by my words only. You will report directly to me... My hand which extends over the entire Kingdom of Asher you will become my sword. Vassal to my family''s faction. To protect Asher from any villain foreign or domestic that may attempt her harm.. " - King Asher "We have also decided to grant you the title of Baron. By the power of His majesty you shall be given noble status which will be recognized by Rose Empire and therefore the rest of her colonies.....Ah....eh well we can discuss everything else later." - Queen Asher Seeing the Queen then look behind me I could also hear the front door had finally opened. "Valiii....When are we going to eat I''m starving?" - Cyanin "Seriously can''t we talk about our future plans while we eat? It''s all I can think about is that delicious meat." - Tanin Tanin''s flames started to brighten heavily and Cyanin started trying to flail her wings and hands rapidly to push them away. "Oh what with seeing a new world for the first time all you can think of is food? " - Kai "We can go explore later Kai. Big brother Vali said he was going to cook for all of us how could we possibly think of anything else." - Cyanin Each of the pixies started to walk over and cracked a smile towards me. I could see the Annunakes making an odd face and behind them in walked my mother holding Ari and then pretty much everyone else. "Sorry, heh....They seemed pretty eager to come talk to you they just kept saying your name over and over hmph...They''re a bit silly but have their own charm too..." - Elyria "I think..they''re really fun!" - Ari I looked towards everyone and all the kiddos simply couldn''t stop looking at the pixies who looked like divine beings with their warmth and glow exuding from their skin. Their abilities to create magic with practically no chanting or spells that magic practically falls off of them. I can see Lucy too seemed like a kid in a candy store without being able to close her mouth and try to touch each of their wings. "Hey wait what is everyone doing in here? Shouldn''t I be a part of this conversation? Vali is supposed to be my Knight!" - Princess Lucy The princess then walked over towards us and the Queen and King simply laughed and looked back towards me. "It''s alright mother....Well I guess we''re done in here anyways so we should all meet back up with everyone and eat there.....That ok with you King? We can escort you back to your Kingdom tomorrow? How bout you Princess Lucy? Want to come to our feast?" "I...Well I suppose I could eat another one of your meals. But that doesn''t mean you can all just leave me out of everything! " - Princess Lucy "Hmph, oh Lucy we were simply getting to know you''re knew friend is all. We can''t be more proud of you for bringing such a capable man to our door. And Sir Vali I think that would be wonderful..Don''t you dear?" - Queen Asher "Naturally...It''s a day of celebration for each of us and we are happy to be invited Sir Vali. Please show us the way I''d love to meet all of your people who are capable of even slaying those from the heavens haha! " - King Asher "Wait...Why are you both addressing him with a Title?! Did you already Knight him?! I wasn''t even present!" - Princess Lucy "Why whatever are you talking about dear that sort of thing comes later in the Royal Court you know this...." - Queen Asher The small princess angrily ''hmph''ed'' as her mother jokingly tried to console her but I think Princess Lucy knows all about her mother''s tricks. "Alright..Let''s have a big feast then to celebrate such a grand occasion...." "Yes!" - Cosmia "Tehe, Yay! I can''t wait!" - Cyanin Each of the Pixies started flying through the air and dancing causing all of the onlookers to watch the light show that constantly flashed with everything they do. Each of those from Asher showed such odd looks towards the Pixies behavior but each of the kids found them all to be rather goofy. And with that I warped everyone back to the dungeon floor where we could eat and hopefully work out our future that from this point on....Will be together. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Hmm...I think it needs a bit more of those sweetened purple peppers mixed in." "I think so toooo..." - Ari Ari smiled back up at me and took small steps across the table where I was currently tenderizing the meat with my hands. I''ve found since my Cooking Status is so high simply touching the food during the Cooking process will show to have great benefits to the flavor of the food. Using something like a meat tenderizer would actually lesson the flavor too I''ve found. Ari''s small furry blondish brown tail wagged back and forth as she lifted up a small bowl she was using to mix some of the ingredients sprawled out over the large wooden table. After our meeting with the race leaders finished rather quickly than expected, the meal preparation had already started with a large number of Annunakes, Reiki and Pixies who had already began the food preparation. Looking around everyone was lying on the dirt or small chairs and tables they had gathered.....Under the sunset right outside of the prison walls each of them had stayed for their entire lives. No one wanted to stay and eat on the Floor and as Ollie had addressed to the large crowd of survivors; '' Like the heroic Commander Locke said before this day.....Regardless of where we will be dining tonight....It will no longer be here! Let''s honor his final wish! Come, let''s take our first steps outside....Together!''. It was a rather touching moment to behold.... A moment I doubt I could ever forget. Each and everyone of those who survived such hell like hardships together here had lined up and many of them held hands as they crossed the threshold of the walls which held them away for so long, into a new world. Even the Pixies and those who had already technically been to my cabin already.....It was an event that brought many to tears, even Hj?kk who was wiping hers with her small wings. Cosmia and the rest of the Pixies had asked if I''d join them in this the biggest moment of their lives and held my hand every step of the way. Each balling their eyes out with smiles on their faces. None of the races showed the same hostilities they once held with one another. Things like earlier struggles and arguments just didn''t seem to matter as much nor hold the same kind of weight as it once had. ''Together we have accomplished so much already..... Going through battles and obstacles that would be an utter myth in my world. After our talks with each of the race leaders and those from Asher....These are my allies from now on in this world. Everyone here is now my own, from here on out...Everything we do must be together.'' "OOoooohhhhhHHAAaaaam MMMMmmmmmmmMM Oh wahwa Wah Wah Wahoohhhhh!!!" - Adler "I will rise in resistance, Sing the oath of rebellion Lift my shield high With my battlecry... I refuse to go quietly..... Wipe away the fear will you let those scars define you! Or will they adorn you as we march our way to Victory! Come on one more step! I refuse to remain here! I leap into the dark, cleansed of all feeeeaaaar! I stare gazing down at Death as I scream!!!!...Warrrrr! I''ll wage Warrrr! I''ll wage Warrrr! Until the day our forgotten Dawn will come! " - Adler Each of the Adlers sang in synergetic harmony that echoed throughout the large crowds and held a sweetness the moment the joyous tune touched our ears. Many of those down here even brought out instruments and started playing along while a large bonfire was being lit. ''Hmm, even with the Universal Language skill I can still hear the sounds of their melody but comprehend the words so perfectly.....'' Looking around the crowd I saw Lucy and her followers excitingly venture around each of the races and try to meet so many of them. Noah and Lilly were standing with several of the Annunakes including those two young ones I had seen in the Arachnee bathhouse. While Kato and Noah look to be the same age you can tell the difference in training in the two. The size difference and muscle definition is quite a lot but after telling everyone who these people are everyone has become warm and inviting to all of them. Most of the Annunakes were simply breath taken at the sight of there being more of their own kind outside these walls....somewhere and continued to curiously approach and observe Lilly who was actually quite small compared to each of them. My mother was sitting down petting Fenrir alongside Sasha and Tierra while surrounded by dozens of pixies clapping their hands and dancing along to the surrounding music. Those from Asher were sitting down not far away on chairs that were provided for each of them while Sting and Ollie were drinking alongside several of the other races alongside Master Shen and Shakko. "Mmm.... I''m done...." - Ari Ari lightly walked back over and handed me a bowl with the mixed ingredients to the rub we had made for the meet and handed it over to me. While cooking, everything honestly seems to just slow down for once which I enjoy. Ari and I continued cooking together alongside a large crowd cutting the meat and preparing to feast. Regardless of all the liveness and things going around us we each continued no different than any other day at the cabin, with Ari telling me about her day and working on her mastery of the human language together. She stutters some but just the sheer amount of words she already knows is amazing to me. "There....that''s better. So what else did you guys do?" "...Well...After we flew through..the clouds....Which was like...a dream.....And everyone got together and cla..pped...we played this ...game...it was so much funnnn!...." - Ari "Game huh....Hey Cosmia. What game did each of you play together?" "Huh? Oh you mean when we were all dancing? It was fun we even got little Ari to do it." - Cosmia "Oh now I see.... So Ari was dancing huh?" "I was dancing?" - Ari Ari then looked over to the hovering pixie and me as if not even realizing what she had done. After I told her what dancing was she just got red and said she didn''t know because she had never danced before. I scratched the side of her head and grabbed some of the ingredients from the bowl before tossing it over the meat I was tenderizing and then put it over the fire. Just then the music started to die down and I looked up to see each of the race leaders standing together in close to the center of the large crowd surrounding each of them. They each stood next to the other without any of their guards or members of their race. Malfius of the Reiki, Queen Cosmia of the Pixies, Adimar of the Annunakes, Kyrah of the Adlers, Queen Nhaili of the Arachnee, Pek of the Jiji and a short and thin Neko by the name of Viktor Ackerman who had a commanders cap on top his head. "If we can have everyone''s attention! We would like to say a few words....Over what the race leaders have decided on our plans for the future....." - Malfius To these words the loud chatter of the surrounding thousands of survivors started to quiet down. The short Neko then stepped forward past each of the leaders and addressed the crowd. --------------------------------------------------------------- The small cave room continued to echo each of the voices of those gathered here today to speak on what everyone''s future plans are now that the taste of freedom has finally reached them. While many of the Adlers and Neko families who held a lot of power and prestige in this dungeon have given their concerns about the future and wishes to finally be free. The Adlers wish to explore new skies while some of the other races like the Reiki had similar hopes and dreams that could finally now be obtained to run and explore the new world. Not only the race leaders but elders and those with a lot of influence in this dungeon in aspects ranging from business owners to high ranking members in their society whose words hold a lot of influence. Everyone was giving their own feelings and wishes explaining what many of them have spoken of now that freedom isn''t as distant as it once seemed. "Now that we''ve all had an opportunity to speak....I believe we should allow our Alpha to provide his guidance over this meeting and provide a few words for those present to hopefully." - Adimar "Why should this matter? Is there something we should be concerned "Tis ok Adimar....I''m sure many of those here wish to hear what our savior hero wishes to say. Please, do speak your mind here Vali. You have the gratitude of all of those here and thusly we can spare words from a person who has done so much... Please I''m anxious to hear how you wish to entice us into joining your cause with that Human King you have with you...." - Viktor To Viktor''s words all of those present then started solemnly nod while also appearing troubled to what almost seemed like a provocation. "...Yes. I know about that too Vali. Something even Commander Locke was suspicious of...He wrote out the details over the situation outside this place and what you were trying to attain here after leaving this place in this letter....Now why should I allow the rest of my people to follow you and join this Human King''s army....Possibly to fight his wars am I wrong?..." - Viktor The neko man then pulled out the letter which he said was addressed to the next race leader. Before the first battle he had apparently prepared heavily in case of his death, so those of his race would be left in good hands and he could leave this world in peace. I looked towards the King and Queen both sitting beside me and while they couldn''t understand most of the words in here I was translating some of it more or less. Some of the other high influential people started to give me rather fierce looks especially those from his own race. "¡­.While the facts that you know are all true....I..." "True? Are you kidding? Why should our family members and people have to fight some war we aren''t even a part of? " - Adler "Our races have barely survived such a bloody battle and you wish us to simply jump into another?" - Neko "Enough!!!! Alpha has not finished speaking! " - Alderon BOooom! A loud bang occurred when Alderon stepped forward and slammed his large beast like fists into the table. "Everyone here owes it to Alpha to hear his words. I will not have you disrespect him again." - Grayfia After the loud bang everyone quieted down some and some of the race leaders then began to speak up. "They''re right. We should give the human kid the chance to speak. Obviously he''s showed to be a caring person to already do so much for us and not ask of anything in return.... Vali Isn''t someone who would ask of something like this sparingly." - Karah "Right! Vali''s done so much for all of us how could we possibly turn him away in his hour of need!" - Cosmia "They are right. You should all be patient and listen to what the boy has to say. He has already spoken of this when he first arrived here and we can''t simply forget about that. Let us be mindful of this and hear him out...." - Malfius Each of the other race leaders nodded and Viktor simply smiled and ushered towards me to continue silencing those from their respective sides. "¡­.The world outside this dungeon..... Is not in a good place right now. Not for your kind anyways. What I wish to ask each of you is to listen to my words because if you don''t heed my words....It could very well lead to the extinction of each of your races...." To my words all those in the room started to make strange faces back towards me. While some of those in here were aware of what my words entailed most did not. Viktor along with those he had known showed no changes in their expression and waited for me to continue. "The humans of this world they. They won''t be like the ones you''ve gotten to meet already.....Many of them have such hate for you demi humans and I honestly don''t understand why. Maybe it''s in our nature to constantly see ourselves at the center of the universe...Demi human tribes all over this continent like my mother''s get attacked and destroyed without any conflicts starting them at all. Families torn away from each other while they were living quietly in their village. The males killed and the females and children sold into slavery.....While I''ll be honest with you, compared to the fighters in this dungeon I have a safe bet those here are probably some of the strongest on this continent simply from the intense training and monsters you''ve had to fight your entire lives.....But the human nations in this continent outnumber you a thousand to one.......Your Highness King Asher....Of all the races you see in this room today, have you ever seen any of these races before?" To my words everyone''s eyes opened wide and simply looked towards the bearded King. "While I''ve heard of the Arachnee race.... I don''t believe I''ve ever seen any of the races in here before no....The winged demi humans haven''t been seen on Middle Earth for a very long time I''m afraid....." - King The King understanding the points I was trying to make simply shook his head no and continued to look at the other leaders faces. I translated for them and told them the sad truth that many of the races here could very well be the last of their kind....According to Hj?kk she''s even sure that the Pixies in this room are even the last of their kind. I looked towards the Pixies who after hearing this for the first time showed troubled looks on their faces. It were as if someone had told them their parent had died as the realization they had no more family outside waiting for them. While I''ve seen another Annunake before I spoke of the fact that some of the races in here could very well be the last of their kind so the choices they make hold even more weight than they once had. "....What? What does that mean he hasn''t?" - Neko "These human nations all hold such wicked ideas? W...why should we follow them?" - Neko "If...if that''s true then why should we jump into some war as you''ve just said?!" - Adler "Let him finish...." - Viktor I looked towards the Neko gazing back at me and each of the race leaders and continued.... I spoke of the things I had seen in my time here and Adimar and Akino even both spoke up agreeing to the savagery they had seen. "Regardless of whatever you decide....You will undoubtedly run into these humans after you leave this place. King Asher who I''ve gotten the pleasure to know is a man who cares for his people....While they are a Kingdom that have their own struggles and issues to deal with...Compared to the rest of the continent I''d say this is our best bet....." I had the King lay out the large map of the Eastern Continent that he had and I showed them the location that was given to me by authority of a King from the Human colonies. I even spoke of why keeping control over this dungeon could also lead to incredible benefits that simply can''t be measured. I explained in detail while Demi humans aren''t looked at with respect in some nations and areas they can also hold positions of power in the Human Kingdoms as well at times and aren''t looked at with the same prejudices. While it was a lot to take in I''m sure I tried to drill into each of them the fine points of joining together and even taking land that is fairly close to this dungeon to settle in. While the Kingdom of Asher hasn''t gotten into any war and conflicts with other nations in a hundred years that does not mean that others in this world would not move to harm them. It is the way of the world to have conflicts arise and wars erupt. I spoke selfishly and told them of my own fears of not joining this Human Kingdom and even spoke of the things I wished to obtain from this. "All I want...Is to provide a safe place for all of our families and loved ones to live and grow up in a safe environment that will be able to last. I can''t do it alone.... Even if you each wish to stretch your wings and run through the new world I ask that you try settling on this land as an opportunity to create something first...A foundation where your children, your families can flourish together. Your ancestors fought for this moment right here.... I don''t wish to see those of this place met with harm I just ugh.....I mean honestly. Together we''re capable of creating miracles.... Because if we don''t stand together....We could each die, alone. " "¡­......." - Everyone After throwing in that last proverb those who gathered grew quiet slowly contemplating my words. "....The Pixie race agrees to Vali''s proposal. We''re with you Vali!" - Cosmia "Right!" - Pixies "The Annunakes too agree to Alpha''s proposal. We will follow his decision of joining this Human Kingdom. " - Adimar After the two race leaders agreed some of those present started staring towards them and those of us that are now allying ourselves with Asher. "The Reiki race agrees to the terms. We too shall join in the alliance." - Malfius "Hmph, like the great Commander of the Dawn Corps spoke ''Nothing will ever become more special than what we have each shared together in this life''. We should listen to the late Commander''s words and continue on this path together. " - Ollie "....The Arachnee acknowledge the alliance. We too shall put our faith in Vali''s hands as he has not steered us wrong before...." - Queen Nhaili "Hmph..momoji....While...momo we JIji are quite comfortable momo mo here moji...Our race momo...would naturally wish to...momo..join in the..momo alliance..." - Pek "Nya! If what Vali spoke of is correct then this Dungeon too is quite the gold mine. It could provide us endless lumber, stone and even a viable food source." - Izzie "Hmph...While I only speak for myself. I too adhere to the alliance. " - Clara Everyone continued chattering and after their race leaders looked towards their own people and gave the approval each of them one by one began to join this alliance with us. All but two races had agreed so far and were still talking amongst themselves. "....The Adler''s would like to make a request...." - Kyrah I nodded and then she smiled back at me and said. "...If we are to stay and settle close by. We have a demand of our own....Our home floor was destroyed and while each of our races are looking for a new home and have yet to split up or even calculate the spoils yet......Even if the time it would take to accomplish this is longer than expected we wish for the floating Castle to be given to us. " - Kyrah After she spoke this some of those present who had heard of our trip to the top floor gave looks as if she were crazy. ''While I don''t know why the Adlers care so much for things that float off the ground so much if it''s even possible to move that thing like she hopes then....I don''t see why not. This isn''t even something we can probably do for a while but if this is what it takes to have the 4,000 remaining Adlers to stay alongside us and join the Alliance.'' "Deal....." After I agreed Kyrah nodded back at me and some of the Adlers next to her and Alec acted like they had just won a fortune. Now everyone was looking toward the new Neko race leader and the most influential people in his race including Alysteir. "Hmph.....Commander Locke, was wise to trust you human. You have prepared for this long before even thinking of killing Balor and never once thought of leaving us even when given the opportunity from the late dead tyrant...... While we will hold the rights to self govern, the Neko race has agreed to Vali''s propasal and for now...Will join the Alliance. " - Viktor ----------------------------------------------- "¡­. To all of those able to hear my words....Congratulations! Today is the day of your freedom! You have struggled, fought and clawed your way to stand here today......Well done." - Viktor As the decorated Neko continued to look towards the crowd and take off his commander''s cap everyone present had stopped and listened. "The World outside however is not as glamorous as we had once hoped.... The world has changed a lot since our races had last seen it. We may very well be some of the last of our kinds.....But we should not feel hopeless. We should feel proud. Because for every breath our ancestors took. For every step that our brothers took. For every second that we were forced behind those walls today is a new day...... And like the great Commander Locke had tried to preach to each of the races here, we are strongest when we are together!" - Viktor To these words many began to cheer and raise their hands in the air. After it died down some, each of the leaders addressed the masses and spoke that they would be joining an Alliance with a Human Kingdom outside of this dungeon alongside myself. They spoke how we will begin creating a home for all of our races to live safely in this new world instead of mindlessly wondering around the new world they have stepped into. While each of the races here are on the brink of extinction the resolve in each of their eyes is unbreakable. They know the severe situation they are currently under and while they dream of enjoying their new found freedom they also understand the level of work that needs to be done. The races here have a strong will to live and is not easily extinguished. They aren''t like trying to entice the masses of other societies and cultures. Right now is the time they must come together and protect each other. If they don''t and attempt to simply leave the dungeon without any aims and are met with a calamity....All the blood that has been spilled for them just to taste this fresh air would have been all for not. "Now! When everyone gets in line to taste this delicious feast that is being prepared for us....Don''t forget to thank the one who has literally granted our dreams back to us. The one who pulled us out of the dark and helped us bring the Dawn. The same one whose caring enough to go out of his way and prepare a splendid meal for each of us as well.....Come let''s welcome Vali, his family and those from the Kingdom we have now joined with open arms...." - Malfius Malfius raised his glass and the surrounding people who were holding something to drink had done the same. Even the pixies who were drinking water out from their gorgs rose them high in the air and took a toast out of respect. As everyone started to line up and get ready to fill their plates of with the food we had prepared dozens of Annunakes, Reiki and Pixies were still helping mix ingredients and cut the meat before throwing over the fire. Pek and his followers had gathered a decent amount of meat off of Balor''s corpse but according to them it took a long time just to gather such an amount from his leg. According to Pek he even estimates judging from Balor''s sheer size and difficulty to cut into the extraction process could ultimately take years which is astonishing..... I pulled the first steak off the large iron grill sitting over an open fire. While I''m not flipping each steak, my hands have helped tenderize and place rub on the tough meat while also assisting in making something similar to mash potatoes with cream sauce. While the Reiki had ingredients that resembled things from my world there were also foods that had completely different flavor formulas. The potatoes had a sweet ya unfamiliar taste that has a lot more flavor when added a sauce that while paired with the steak and roasted vegetables would make any man drool. I helped plate and prepare the first dish and was actually quite proud of my work. During the prep process we had already used several green and blue magical crystals collected by some of the citizen''s belongings and now we are waiting to enjoy the first bite. While all those present know about the incredible gifts of eating some top quality meat with my cooking skill, no one really knows what to expect from this and so naturally a lot of Fomorian meat was sliced and prepared just in case. "Oh gosh my mouth is drooling! It just smells so good!" - Jade "Mmm....Vali makes the most amazing foods! I can''t wait to see what Balor tastes like hehe...." - Cyanin "Wait! That''s Balor''s meat? How can that be safe to eat?" - Reiki "Seriously. I don''t want to eat something like that evil bastard. Who knows what it would do!" - Other Reiki Several of the Reiki who were in front of the line then started to make odd faces to the incoming scent of cooked meat. Several of the Pixies behind them though started to show angry glares and before anything else was said something strange happened. "Ah! It''s Balor! He''s back!" - Reiki "Impossible! He''s somehow survived! Let''s send him back to the afterlife!!!!" - Reiki The two same Reiki men then dropped their empty plates on the ground and then ran off and started swinging randomly into the air. Everyone present immediately died down hearing the word ''Balor'' and looked at this incredibly odd situation without many words to what was happening. While alert after hearing such words what we saw after only perplexed each of us more. "Ahahaha! How does it feel Dark Lord! Does my fist taste good!" - Reiki "Come on everyone! He''s far weakened now! Let us kill him together!!" - Reki The two Reiki then continued to unleash skill after skill while loud bursts of wind and lights continued to flash around each of them as they continued to fight their invisible arch enemy. "Teehee..." - Cyanin "Hehe nice one Cosmia! Now we can have their places in line!...." - Tanin The small Pixies then slowly walked up and were no in the front of the line and smiled while lifting up each of their plates. I then looked back towards the two Reiki men who were sadly under some kind of illusion spell and continued spitting off ridiculous lines after the other.....Apparently in this illusion they seem to be winning easily and are enjoying themselves plenty. "Ahahahah! Do not worry everyone! We can hold him back. Get the young to safety we can handle it!" - Reiki "Ahaha! Not so proud now are you Dark Lord?!" - Reiki ''¡­.I just...I don''t even have words for that. '' I then put the steak up on the plate and let Cyanin be the first taste tester of my foods yet again. They seem to trust me too but according to the description after I used the magical crystals the meat should be absolved of any negative energy. The small turquoise Pixie then took a big bite and chewed with her mouth open unashamed. The meat slowly started to disentegrate into her mouth and everyone could see that Cyanin was enjoying every possible bite while closing her eyes and showing everyone what was inside of her mouth. While gross everyone more or less had their mouth watering since it had been a long time since many of us had even eaten. "Hehe...It''s so good! I have to have another bite mmm num num num..." - Cyanin "Hey quit holding up the line some of us are hungry here!" - Holland "Oh fine!" - Cyanin Each and everyone continued to come up to each of the grills and got served before walking back and sitting down around the large bonfire. After a few minutes we learned that after eating the enchanted meat of Balor the Fallen God continued to give large stat boosts with every bite. What however astonished the crowd present were the not one...But two brand new Stats that were granted after eating enough of the high quality meat. I fixed myself and Ari a plate and continued to have a few bites while we continued Cook the surrounding food and serve all those who came to our grilling station. Ari looked excited as she happily kept putting the mashed potato like substance and cream sauce she looked happy to help prepare. Her tail even now can''t stop wagging back and forth.
Congratulations! After eating the enchanted meat taken from the once God of Darkness and Drought; you have gained a new Stat! (Rare) Indomitable Vitality After absorbing the qualities hidden deep within the meat of the once God of Darkness your muscles have taken in the qualities of the one who once reigned supreme over the Night. You have absorbed some of the Vitality of one once Divine and now your body when pushed to the limits will start to show its true power. Now when your body is under critical conditions health will now start to deplete at half the normal speed when taking damage. When Health is below 15% 10% Reduction to All Damage 20% Rise in Strength 25% Rise in Critical Hit Evasion 33% Increase to Recovery Rate Indomitable Vitality + 50 Quality of Completion: A Indomitable Vitality + 100
Congratulations! After eating the enchanted meat taken from the once God of Darkness and Drought and prepared by a skilled Chef; you have gained an additional new Stat! (Rare) Magic Defense The magic coursing through your body has now merged with your muscles and flesh. From now on your bodies innate magic supply will constantly increase your body''s natural defenses. Magic Defense + 50 Quality of Completion: A Magic Defense + 75 Current Defenses have been Increased : + 5,804 Defense
Each Stat given from Balor''s body almost made me want to jump for joy as these were two rare and unforeseen gifts that could greatly aid those with low defenses to have a great defense. Even if someone can''t use magic, if their Mana supply increased their defenses would naturally increase....''Though I think whenever I use my magic that also plays into how much my defenses will naturally rise with that second one....Heh...this is still awesome! Thanks again Balor.....''
Congratulations! For consuming the blood, flesh and soul of a once Divine you have earned a new Title: God Eater 25% Rise in inflicting Fear onto an opponent. 5% Rise in Poison Resistance From now on you will give off a presence that is unsettling to those from the Divine Realms and of a holy lineage.
I could see Fenrir too must have also gotten this new Title and considering that my new Class specializes in causing the Fear status this is a great benefit...''I wonder what Fenrir''s class is if Monsters can even obtain classes....'' I looked towards the setting sun that many here continued to stare off into as they enjoyed their meals. I continued to try and use my time well and practice with my new Dark Apparitions skill to try and simply make a decent shield or solid substance but it is incredibly difficult. While I can conjoin some of the darkness in the surrounding area I can''t keep it congealed and condense enough to form a solid figure. While I was cooking and talking with all those who walked by I tried to maintain this lifestyle of using my time wisely. ''Hmm....This is difficult. I can''t even make a ball. This skill is just so....broad.'' While the lines in front of the other grills were much less short my line continued to grow larger and larger. While it was the same food and I had a hand in preparing everything here my line continued to grow into a large crowd. With every plate I prepared for those who had survived, I was met with nothing but warm and loving reactions from each of them. I haven''t gotten the chance to meet many of them yet but many of these survivors weren''t warriors at all. While their levels were high some of the survivors had plenty of other professions and jobs but they all seemed to stem towards war efforts here in such a place. Some came up to pledge their lives to me like some of the others already had. Some would kneel. Some would embrace me while breaking out into tears. I honestly didn''t have much to say as I for some reason couldn''t find the words. Everytime I tried to even speak over not mentioning it, think nothing of it, every rebuddle I came up with was practically bombarded with their overpowering words of them being forever grateful to me. Many of the females of each race while even some of the Reiki also came by and had made necklaces out of flowers and would wrap them around my neck. I was originally worried I would soon get covered in nothing but accessories, I was then told this is a custom in their dungeon. Those who have usually lost a loved one or is the last of their family honor the one who has avenged them or helped them greatly. With a show of respect and acknowledging to the world they owe me a great debt that they will have to repay in this lifetime. By helping them avenge a lost love or helping to save the last of a particular bloodline the races here have considered me now a part of them. "Um wait!...Miss you...hmm why does everyone keep leaving these here....." - Ari Just then a thin neko woman then started walking quickly away while what appeared to be trying to ignore Ari walking after her. There were also a few girls who kept dropping their bracelets in front of me. I honestly hadn''t even noticed it until roughly 20 were sitting at the edge of the table where Ari had picked them up and placed not knowing what to do with them. Each bracelet looked to be handmade and each had its own look and design to it. Some were made from polished steel others were made with small stones and even monster fangs. Until Ollie drunkenly spoke about what was actually happening I was reminded of a particular custom in medieval times. Women back then would sometimes drop their handkerchiefs that they spent time embroidering themselves in front of the man they desire to let them know they are interested in them being pursued. If a man picked it up that meant he was interested in courting that woman. If I were to choose one of the bracelets these maidens had made and wore it on my arm it would be no less and showing I were wishing to court that person. I found it odd the demi humans in this dungeon had a similar custom and now I can understand some of the odd looks me and Ari have been getting. ''Come to think of it I saw a young Neko earlier look at Ari kind of funny earlier, that probably explains it.'' "Mmmm....I must say Vali. You got quite the talent for cooking. You might actually be a better cook than you are a warrior hmph...." - Alysteir A familiar voice came in through my left ear and I saw Alystier slowly approaching me while holding onto a plate with food on it. ''Hmm...So Alysteir is eating this special meat too huh....Why does the idea of that give me a headache?...... '' Alystier slowly walked in between the large table and iron grill and over to where I and Ari were standing while taking bites of her food. "You don''t say Alysteir.... That kind of sounds like a challenge." "Hmph...Hardly. I was simply implying your Cooking skills are quite good is all. If you never make it big in this world as a Hero you always have something steady to fall back on nnn.... Quite yummy." - Alysteir "Hey!....Who took my food!" - Cyanin I leaned over and each of us turned and peaked in the direction of Cyanin angrily looking around where she was sitting. Someone had taken her plate along with her food that she wasn''t finished eating. I looked up and saw Alysteir eating happily and with a glance in my direction she spoke. "Hmph....I don''t like waiting in line....." - Alysteir [Vali....May I speak with you a moment...] I heard Hj?kk whisper into my thoughts and saw she was slowly flying towards the woods just a little ways around the partially destroyed outside of this dungeon. "Hey Ari I''ll be right back ok. Want me to take you to Elyria real quick?" "Hm? Oh ah...I can walk. Oh um...A..bout that...Vali I um was wondering if. Now I can come with you...from...from now on? " - Ari "Ari....You know I''m thankful for you saving all of us today but...You know you can''t do stuff like that from now on. It''s far too dangerous." "Bu...but I missed you...." - Ari The young puppy girl looked up at me and looked eager to show just how much she''s changed and reacting to my words Za Za came walking up rather quickly. Alysteir who was still standing close by continued to eat quietly and Za Za had asked to escort Ari but I was kind of perplexed by what Ari had meant. ''Oh wow....I forgot just before I left for Balor''s dungeon last. I told her if she could run and...pick up a weapon she could come with me when I leave the cabin during the day....'' "I um...Know you didn''t see me but...I did run a little. And I picked up a knife....Even...Even though I hit you with it but...but I had to...to.." - Ari "That''s what this is about. You want to come with me when I go hunting from now on?" To my words Ari shyly nodded her head yes while holding onto her tail. For a brief moment I contemplated this as this idea still scared me. I was just about to say something until I was interrupted. "Alpha...If the young one wishes to join you in your hunts then why not let her tag along. She looks to be coming of age soon anyways and might be good for her to learn from how to hunt....Besides if the little one wishes to come with you it is naturally my job to protect her wherever she goes so I will take responsibility in protecting her my Alpha." - Za Za Za Za put her arm against her chest and bowed and I saw Alysteir glance in our direction and then pretend to not even be looking. Ari who was still shyly holding onto her tail kept looking back up at me biting her lip. "....Ok. I guess you did save everyone here so I should start rewarding you some....Butttt..... I seem to recall part of that deal was that you had to show me you can run. Now I know you can pick up a knife...But let''s see if you can run all the way over to Elyria ok?" "...Really? Ok! I, I can real..ly? Oh thank you so much Vali...." - Ari The small girl who for some reason cares for me a great deal, came over and wrapped her small arms around me and gave me another hug. She had never been treated well by anyone before we both had crossed paths. But even though we come from separate worlds the two of us somehow have a way of naturally healing the other simply by being there. After setting her down Ari excitingly started lifting her legs up and ''running'' over to where Elyria and the rest of the kiddos were sitting by the Pixies and Annunake maidens. Her legs didn''t cover nearly much ground and she swung her arms around awkwardly but the look on her face was simply priceless. She slowly got closer to Elyria when she started to toppled over and her mouth had opened wide as she started to fall again. Moments before tumbling over however a sudden image appeared right next to where Ari was standing and slowly lifted her up by the back of her red dress. Ari was then lightly placed back down on her feet and she too seem surprised by it. Ari looked back up to the now walking away figure of Alysteir as she quietly continued to eat her food. "Thank..you..." - Ari Ari then quickly looked back towards me and waved before running over to Elyria excitedly. The heartwarming image of my beautiful mother catching Ari in her arms and surrounded by everyone else entered my eyes as I took one last glance towards Alysteir who was walking away. Za Za nodded towards me and walked over to where my family and the other Annunake maidens were sitting and I then walked over to meet Hj?kk. I walked past multiple people trying to wave me down and speak to me and eventually made it to the edge of the forest Hj?kk had first came to when discovering this place. I walked several paces in until the surrounding light coming in started to darken. I saw the figure of Hj?kk in her Valkyrie form sitting on a rock and staring off into the distance rather quietly. "Hey you..... What are you doing out here?" To my words Hj?kk looked back towards me slowly as if already knowing I was here but didn''t say anything for several breaths. "...Everything alright?" "I was just thinking...." - Hj?kk "Oh, care to share any of that with me? When are you so pensive?" To my words Hj?kk angrily glared at me then I could see the fury inside her eyes slowly subside and almost turn into that of sadness. "¡­.I''ll be leaving soon. " - Hj?kk "Leaving?...Like this world or where? Where are you going?" For some reason at this moment I started to choke up and I could feel my chest clench up strangely. "My job in guarding you until you were strong enough to protect yourself has come to an end....Loki is sending me on a vacation. I guess I can go anywhere I want..." - Hj?kk "Oh. It''s just that. Well that''s cool I guess, but that''s good Loki''s giving you some vacation time with all the work you''ve been putting in for him hmph...." With that Hj?kk looked back over to me but seemed to not be able to find the words to say. "Everything alright? You don''t have that same Valkyrie anger in you as normal. You hardly even ate 3 helpings of your steak." To what would normally get an angry response Hj?kk slowly looked back up to me and stood up on the rock she was standing and slowly walked over to me. Before I could get any words out the Valkyrie had wrapped her arms around my back and put her face oddly into my chest. "Hj?kk hehe...What are you doing?" "¡­.I''m giving you a hug. I''ve seen others do it but I''m just trying....To see what it''s all about." - Hj?kk I let the Valkyrie maiden continue hugging me into the quiet fading light. "Well...I suppose that trinket from Loki''s time is just about up....." - Hj?kk Hj?kk then turned back into her purple crow form and started flapping her wings in the air infront of me. According to her some of the gods might start looking towards this area soon and Loki gave her a means to hide herself in case someone were trying to watch us just now and it apparently hides her form to others. "Now...Just because I''ll be gone doesn''t mean you should space on your training and study. Don''t get into too much trouble. And don''t lose sight of who you really are, and why you cam here." - Hj?kk "Hj?kk...How long is this vacation of yours? And will I be seeing you after that?" Hj?kk then stated she didn''t know exactly and it all depends on what Loki decides later. He also is planning on speaking with me directly soon but I''m guessing that will come at his own time too. "From the last vacation he granted Skuld for her hard work it lasted roughly 1 month cycle on Middle Earth time." - Hj?kk "¡­..1 Month?....So I''ll see you again in one month after your vacation?" "If you were paying attention Vali! I just said I don¡¯t know....It could be 2 months, it could even be 3....It all depends on what Lord Loki decides later....." - Hj?kk "Oh my gosh I can''t believe I thought this was something serious...... Go have a good vacation. You deserve it..... I''ll....I''ll see ya when you get back then?" The small purple crow then shook her head when she realized I was making fun of her awkwardness and then flew over to my shoulder one last time. "...For a human you''re not so bad.... Tell Elyria I''ll try to visit soon and....I''ll....miss.....each of you." - Hj?kk I put my hand around Hj?kk''s feathers and gave her a warm goodbye which is something I''m now starting to think might not happen too often in the Divine Realms. "We''ll miss you too....I''d say stop by whenever you get hungry but then that just leaves way too many windows." BOOOOM!!!!! The soft sensation coming from Hj?kk''s wings felt like they turned into the hands of the incredible Hulk and smashed into the side of my head. "I told you I can''t get fat!" - Hj?kk "Owe!...Exactly that''s why I can laugh at how much you eat for such a little bird." "¡­.Just for that! I''m lending Elyria a little something special for later and I won''t bring you back anything from my vacation. Hmph!" - Hj?kk Hj?kk then turned and started to fly away. "I''ll miss our talks Hj?kk....Have fun and hurry back to us." The small purple bird had briefly stopped in mid flight and then continued to fly away while I waved her goodbye. I started to walk back to the feast and for some reason started to feel a sudden sense of loneliness creep into my heart. The same purple bird that always sat on my shoulder would be gone for a while and well.... ''I guess I''ll have to wait till she gets hungry again and she''ll be right back hmph.....I know that Valkyrie''s weakness.'' I started to walk back toward the feast thinking about all the crazy things that have happened since coming here when I noticed several large figures approaching me rather quickly. Within no time the figures of Adimar, Akino and several other Annunakes each appeared right in front of me. They all had their weapons on and where wearing their equipment ready for battle. "Vali! There you are....Listen Alysteir spoke some pressing words to us earlier we cannot shake from our heart. You must come with us." - Adimar "What''s going on?" "Alpha....There might be more Elkia alive right now outside this dungeon. With the Elves who escaped....We must search for them. " - Akino "Exactly! How can we sit here celebrate whenever those we hold much dear in our hearts may need us this very second." - Alderon Each of the Annunakes were staring at me with unyielding eyes and I agreed we should each go search in the direction those Fomorians and Dark Elves went. Alysteir had tipped them off of the possibility of this once she heard of the fact that the Dark Elves on Floor One naturally had some with them to heal them. It''s natural to speculate there could be more as well with the other Dark Elves who had left the dungeon. "Valiiii! There are you are. We were hoping you''d come dance with us!" - Cyanin "Oh! Vali what''s going on?" - Cosmia Several Pixies too started to fly over and I explained the situation to them and they all wanted to join as well. Since it wouldn''t be good to send a large force at night away from the dungeon in search of these colossal beasts but they wouldn''t take no for an answer. "...I guess you might as well add me to the mix." - Alec The four winged bird then descended from overhead and I''m honestly unsure how long he''s been hiding up there. The number wound up turning into 20 Annunakes and 10 Pixies along with myself. While we aren''t going to engage the Fomorian army if found we are however going to go investigate. With the cover under the Pixie''s illusions and the speed of the Annunakes we should at least be able to cover a considerable amount of ground before I have to warp any of us away. The Annunakes are great at tracking so after we told some of the Pixies to fill everyone in I told them we wouldn''t be longer than a couple hours and should be back before the feast even finishes. "We can just stretch our legs some before the Grand Funeral later this evening. Come Alpha. We follow you." - Adimar After hearing this, Daisy and Cosmia both saluted and started to fly back to the feast while the rest of us took off into the cover of the Night and headed north.... -------------------------------------------------------- "Mm....Alpha. They continued on that direction...." - Nanu "Mmm....No....a few broke off...Traveled in that direction." - Alderon After only 30 minutes of running the distance we have traveled is probably larger than the amount a horse could travel within a full day. The Annunakes are simply flying through the forest at mach speeds the Pixies have to hold on or they''d simply be left behind. I honestly have no idea how I can still see Alec flying overhead slightly behind us all. My speed which was nowhere close to their''s at night so I wound up having to use my Spatial Magic and warp myself into the direction the Annunakes were going and by the time I appeared they would simply fly right past me. The light from the Moon is now shining on their white fur and even with the incoming storm clouds overhead is still reaching through the clouds and granting them huge benefits. ''I have no idea how fast of a speed these Annunakes are moving at right now but no normal human would ever even be able to fight them. Without a high enough speed and evasion it would be simply asking for death as they can cover a distance of hundreds of meters barely within a second and ignore any and all defense.'' "Alright...Let''s go....West where the group broke off....." The Annunakes and Pixies holding onto them and sitting on my shoulders each nodded their heads and we continued on. ''Hmm....We''re starting to travel dangerously close to Aldain. I wonder if those Fomorians wound up hitting one of their Kingdom''s three small cities....If they were the likelihood of there being many survivors isn''t very good. '' I continued to warp myself as far as my eyesight could allow me and continued doing that to keep up with the quickly sprinting Annunakes until we started to see smoke in the distance. "We must be getting close to a settlement..." "The scent continued in this direction Alpha...Do you think they may have attacked the settlement up ahead?" - Alderon ".... I don''t know. But it might get dangerous soon. If it''s more than we can fight against you should each head back. I''ll be able to kill a few of them and maybe grab a few survivors and warp away if need be." To my words however the silver eyes of each of the wolves started staring at me in disbelief. "¡­.Do you think our loyalty to you a joke Alpha. Is that why you speak this way?" - Alderon "What? No that''s not it. I just think considering there could be a large number of enemies we should play it safe and shouldn''t try to fight with such little numbers right now. You''ve already lost many of your brothers and sisters today we need to be mindful of that as well." "How can you say that?" - Grayfia "Alpha I....Do you know nothing of why we chose to follow you?" - Alderon "Vali. The words we spoke in honoring you as our Alpha. Do you think those words simply came just because I told them to?" - Adimar "I well... Kind of yah." "¡­.Anywhere you go...I go....Anywhere you die....I die. You speak as if you didn''t lose your brothers, your sisters today.....How can you say such things? They died for you Alpha." - Alderon + Annunakes As Alderon started to speak so did the other Annunakes in unison until Alderon then spoke up as if upset. To each of their words I started to understand a little more about these white wolves. I had already started to see the Pixies as my family. I had already acknowledged those of this dungeon and myself are now united but I still had separated their deaths from myself and didn''t consider how it would make their brethren feel. "You think we chose you as our Alpha simply because you bested the previous reigning Alpha before?....We chose to follow the Alpha because of his resolve. For even in the face of annihilation. Even when he could have taken Balor''s offer and left this place you still stood true....For an Alpha must always have the resolve to stand even against death and remain unshaken in his convictions......That is why. We follow you." - Alderon I looked towards Adimar and Akino and they both grinned and bowed towards me with their arms rested over their chests. "Alright....I''m sorry. I didn''t mean to dishonor the words of each of you and those of your fallen brethren...Alright. Let''s go save our Elkia then....." To my words each of the Annunakes then nodded with pride and so did the Pixies as we each started to move towards the settlement in the distance. We each remained quiet knowing our illusions were already in place and continued forward. As the storm clouds started to creep overhead I activated Dark Aura only because Midnight Aura had not cool down yet. While we could only see the tops of a few buildings at this point we continued to advance towards the city until we started to feel the ground beneath our feet start to shake heavily. YEEEHEEEE HAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!! We came to a large clearing after following a dirt path we could see a walled city with several large stone buildings and what looked like dozens of shacks and stone buildings towards the center of the village. While there were some lights on in the city the majority of the city was mostly dimly lit and without my night vision I wouldn''t have been able to see anything. ''¡­.Where is.....Oh there you are......'' I saw a large Fomorian standing close to the city walls and looked to have been eating several of the livestock right outside the city gates. HEEHEHAHAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!! Another Fomorian I then saw started to come in from the north and was barrelling straight towards the city wall. Each of these Fomorians were some of the stronger ones Balor brought down from the top floors. These Fomorians each almost look to have tentacles coming out of the back of their heads and necks but I don''t see any Dark Elves with these too. "...It''s just these two Alpha. I can''t.....I can''t smell anymore than those two." - Nanu "¡­..Ok I''ll take the one barreling towards the city. These aren''t normal Fomorians and they are a lot stronger than the normal ones so don''t let them catch you. Stay off their backs too..." Everyone nodded and I covertly pulled out Abgrund and warped away. While I had Cyanin on my shoulder I was told I get to use one attack before my illusion spell would fall off so I have to do this the right way. Hee Hee HAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!! "WAHHH!!!!!!!!!" I could hear the laughing Fomorian shaking the very earth with his long strides and I could hear screams coming from the distance. ''While I can''t use Abgrund''s skills I can use the abilities gifted from Balor......'' "Dark Sever......" SHHHHHEEEEEEEEEAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!H!H!H!H!H!H!H!H!H!H!H!HH!H!H!H!H!H!H! A large crescent mooned blade exploded out from Abgrund and its size and shape was simply horrendous compared to when I had originally used this skill. The size was nearly 4 times as thick and extended further and further the more it darted through the sky and toward the sprinting Fomorian. Just as the Fomorian got close to the wall the Dark Sever flew threw the air at alarming speeds and had managed to travel straight through the Colossal beast. This caused his upper half to split apart from the lower torso and plummeted down to the earth below. WA..AHHHHHHH!H!H!H!H!H!! As the large half of the mutilated beast crashed through the walls I could hear loud screams from citizens in the night and warped in closer and delivered a Moonlight Wind Claw into it''s severed head to attack straight into the beasts brain. I continued to swing Abgrund repeatedly into the large beast not giving it a single moment at retaliation. I can feel myself even becoming stronger in the night and wanted to test out more of my strength so I activated Demonic Awakening to feel a sudden rush of power I''ve never felt coursing through my body before. With every swing the black tentacles continued to be chopped away and I could hear the loud wails coming from the dying Fomorain who couldn''t seem to heal his wounds as easily anymore. As I was fighting its slowly increasing its health I delivered one final blow with Lord''s Earth Shattering smash directly with Abgrund and increasing it''s weight severly. The tough furred Fomorian started to feel like soft jello and started to erupt from below Abgrund''s increased weight and its health had fully dropped to zero. I then warped back to in front of the city and appeared close to where everyone else should have been. When I warped back to in front of the city everyone I could sense was around me due to Cyanin still being on my shoulder and allowing me to see through their illusions but none of them had tried to attack the other Fomorian yet. They were all simply standing several dozens of meters away from the City Wall where the tall Fomorian who towered over the small trees continued to reach down and pick up dead horses and cattle scattered across the field. After dropping a large severed cow into its grinning mouth it started to turn around and look toward the direction of the other Fomorian. The large Fomorian started hearing the loud cries come from the beast that now stop the remaining Fomorian turned around and started to approach the city. "Ai...Ai.ai...ai....." - ? "No.no no no no......please ¡­...please turn around please." - ? "Ru..run Rory it''s going to crush you!" - ? "Ai..ai..ai..nnn....I can..i can''t ......he..help..." - ? I heard the voices of someone crying and pleading for their lives just out in front of us. When I looked not far out of the stoned city wall I saw what looked like young a rather small demi human. It had round furry ears and a very large puffy tail that had stripes on the end but couldn''t discern with it was a boy girl. Out behind the short demi human were kids? I looked around and out in front of the wall I saw some feeble looking old demi human men and women while even some weak and dirty looking human children wearing rags. Some of them looked like normal dirty citizens and didn''t have any slave collars on them. There were several of them and all of different ages but each appeared to be slaves but each of them were holding weapons? No that''s a wooden shield....That''s actually a wooden dagger! I think only three of them are even holding an actual sharp weapon? What is this? "Alpha...." - Adimar Being shook awake I activated Dark Sever on my scythe and flung it horizontally to the slowly encroaching Fomorian approaching the City Wall and sliced right through the massive beast with one swing. "Akino, each of you go grab those ones out in front so they don''t get crushed." To my words the Annunakes moved without hesitation and turned into white blurs that practically disappeared entirely. Within a few moments each of those who were out in front of the collapsing Fomorian were now back further away from the wall and only a few feet away from me. BOOOOM!!!! The beast slowly fell down and crashed into the earth below causing a massive crater to form while the side of the City Wall behind it had a large hole blown through it. I was in Demonic Awakening and for whatever reason my senses I feel are incredibly sharp....That Fomorian''s life force was practically torn in half......It''s quite vulnerable to Death Grip now. I reached out my hand and started to concentrate on the large almost diamond hard life force of this colossal tyrant. I could feel my hands slowly forming a proper hold and started trying to forcibly crush this beasts life with the power of my will. AHh...AHhhaha...WUUHAhh...WUAHhhH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The viciously mutilated beast started to struggle and I continued to focus my mind around its weakened life force and started to feel it''s almost indestructible feel start to give. I could feel cracks appearing throughout my grip and slowly the beasts life force started to slowly shatter within my hand without having any way of defending against it at all. Booooom! I heard another loud ''boom'' and the bloody corpse erupted out of what of its openings and slowly started stop moving entirely. "¡­......." - Everyone I looked around and noticed that there were almost a dozen slaves standing outside these city walls. Holding weapons, shields? None of them were injured in any way but each and everyone of them were terrified the moment I approached them as they couldn''t stop themselves from shaking. ''There so....weak. Are they all slaves? Not all of them have collars on and all of them aren''t demi human either. Some of the old men who looked homeless just looked too old and feeble. One of them even looks to be Lilly''s age...Wait is that? That granny who ran that diner in that other city?....What is going on right now?'' I turned and looked towards the partially destroyed city wall and there I saw standing over the city gate were several guards in full Aldain armor and matching weapons. "¡­......." Even though my heart doesn''t beat any longer it''s as if I could feel my breathing start to change rapidly as if I had. Rattle....Rattle.. Rattle.... ¡­....They dare do this.......They deserve......DEATH!!!...... "Those.......those cowards...." The gate started to open and out ran several guards from behind the safety of the city gate and came to investigate the fallen monster. Rattle...Rattle.. Rattle! ¡­..They do not deserve to hold a weapon.......Kill them......Kill them all..... Rattle.Rattle! Rattle! I couldn''t even think straight seeing what was in front of me. While this was not the same city of Aldain but all of their cities are ran in such a vile and sickening way? ''I''ve....I''ve never seen such evil....'' ¡­...Eat them.......rattle.... "Hello! Greetings from Aldain young Hero. You truly saved us this night from such a terrifying beast...We must have your na...na.....what the?" - Aldain Guard I could feel all of those around me start to flinch as Dark Pressure naturally exude off my flesh I could no longer contain my anger. My hatred. ".....Kill them." "...Wha...wha NO!" - Aldain Guard Not but two breaths after I spoke a white blur flew past me and intercepting the incoming Aldain Guard who was just speaking and severed the man in half from his head to his lower torso. Within the sudden mist of blood into the air, Alderon emerged wielding his great sword with one arm. This sudden image caused the three Aldain men behind him to sudden crash down onto dirt and slowly crawl backward. "What are you waiting for an invitation?! The Alpha has asked for their heads! " - Alderon WhooooOSH WHoooooOOOOOOOooooooSH WHooooOOOOoooooshh! Three white blurs then flew past me and towards the now retreating Guards and impaled each of them through their hearts. The guards up on the wall couldn''t believe what they had seen. Some of them tried to call out in alarm but while they started to raise their voices the Annunakes continued moving at mach speed towards the City Gate and leapt clean over the 12 foot wall. "AHhhhhHHH!!!!" - City Guard "What''s happening? Ahhh my ARMMM!!!!!!" - City Guard "Why are they attacking?! Call for supahhhHHH!!!!" - City Guard Several of the guards standing atop the wall were met with the emergence of several Annunakes who had moved from my sides and leapt onto the wall and in the span of less than two breaths had taken each of their lives. BOOOM! BOOM! Two heads also exploded from a few of the guards on the two guard post towers when a sudden flash of white light had shot out towards each of them. "Hmmm...The power of this bow is not normally this strong. Interesting...." - Alec I turned and looked to see Alec pulling back on a bowstring and seeing a white arrow being created out of nowhere and once he had let go of his bow it had killed a target with every shot. "¡­.Anyone you find with this collar on take em off with your claws but be careful.....If you don''t wish to follow me into the city then don¡¯t...." "...We''re with you Vali." - Freyki "They''re cowards who send their females and children out as bait....They don''t even deserve to wield a weapon...." - Grayfia "Alpha...What is it you wish for us to do?" -Alderon "¡­.The Elkia aren''t here you should each go home. This next part won''t be very pretty...." "If brother Vali says these humans are evil then they are evil. Family always sticks together so we''re not leaving..." - Freyki "Right! You''re stuck with us now bro. Your battles are our battles." - Tanin Out from Tanin''s eyes and fists started fluttering in a bright orange fire started to grow in intensity. "You know where we stand Vali. We follow the Alpha...." - Adimar "Like the little one just said...You''re stuck with us." - Akino "¡­.Then take those over there with us. It''s starting to rain so Tanin can you and Freyki stand near them?...Let''s go ask some questions and get some answers...." As each of those with me nodded we started to walk towards the opened City Gate and into one of the cities of Aldain. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wyndia''s POV: ''How?...How...How could this have happened!!!!!!'' 1500 good soldiers were horrendously slaughtered... EATEN! Under my command 100 Elite Inferno Knights, 200 Whistling Wind Wyverians and their riders, and 3 of the 6 Captains who were being groomed under Lord Warren''s direct command is even more of a horrifying figure than the ones before it.¡­....All of them...Everyone.....Wiped out. ''Ughh....This is my first time being given command due to my family backings...What in the heavens names were those things!!!! Such giant beasts picked up and sent their victims into an unimaginably gruesome end.....I....I can still hear their screams like it just happened.'' I feel like my entire body has simply gone numb and I can''t control my rising fears. By General Warren''s command, we traveled to an area south east of one of Aldain''s 3 cities. Searching for the man in the mask who had slayed General Valentine in battle. Other than myself no one knew this masked man from the earlier crystal images floating around the Kingdom and the one who had killed Lord Valentine were the same. We weren''t even tasked with doing anything more than gaining intel on this man''s location and awate for further orders..... I was leading a small force that was to unite with a coalition force from the Kingdom of Trost that was composed of multiple assortment of races and almost 600 slave soldiers. 1500 troops and our force of 500 were suppose to meet up with them in a designated location to hide our further movements but nothing could have prepared us for such a terrifying sight. It was dark and under the cover of the storm clouds forming overhead made it increasingly difficult seeing what was out in front of us. Our movements slowed down but we continued to the designated area and were met with the sight of the complete annihilation of the forces from Trost. All that remained were destroyed carts and wagons with a blood bath of mutilated corpses of horses of what remained of the Trost forces. We could hear screams and cries for help screeching through our ears from the distance but could not determine their origins at all. As we cautiously advanced forward a horrifically loud laughter followed by seeing a large shadowed figure crashing into the area just out in front of us. BOOOOOOM!!!!! HAhhhh.......ahhh...... When we discovered it wasn''t an enemy attack but one of the Wyverian riders and their mount smashing into the dirt everyone of us froze. We looked at each other confused but were only met with watching dozens of our Wyverian riders plummeting from the dark clouds overhead and were dead before even crashing into the ground below. Some were even missing their heads and looked to have had their bodies torn apart. Out from the darkness they came.......Those two creatures from the night who took us a mere three breaths just to scope the height of this massive beast. Even taller than the Giants race these two beasts were also abnormally agile and within two long steps they had already leaped within our ranks causing chaos. Could those two monstrous things really have, have....Killed them all? Only 57 made it back to the rallying point. Within moments those two beasts starting attacking and they seemed completely unmoved by all of our attacks. One after the other was crushed or hurled into their massive gaping mouths that continued to dawn a most unsettling grin... We scattered and each fled for our lives. Though even on our famed Blazing War Stallions hailed for the unmatched speed on the continent, those fleeing right alongside me were even gripped and drug away by flying beasts that would only carry them back into the dark clouds overhead. I could only hear their screams echo louder than any war drum that has ever entered these ears. Even now I have to suppress my broken will to keep my sanity. How could it have all turned into something so tragic under my first command? A simple errand and we would run into a catastrophe. Why? Why did I ever try to ask to lead such an expedition over any of the Captains? To curry for General Warren''s favor? Ugh! Like he''d even notice! ''What are we going to do now? I can''t even think of lifting myself from my seat as I''ve been paralyzed in this spot ever since arriving....'' " We should probably get out of here soon. Regardless of what may be happening outside this city, we must report this to Myro at all costs. Besides no reason for those things to stop heading north and head this way either....At that point it would be too late to flee." - Captain Calder "Are you kidding?!! Absolutely not! There is no way we''re going out there at night with our Blazing Stallions we''d simply be ringing the fucking dinner bell for those things! Count me out on your suicide mission. I''m staying right here until morning." - Captain Zhengtilly Captain Calder was facing out the window while holding firmly onto his necklace he has had since General Warren recruited him from a small hunting tribe on the outskirts of Myro. He was a hunter who grew up and lived in the wild and his innate talent has always had a way of sensing danger I''m told....and yet he had no way of sensing the emergence of those, those horrific fiends! "Regardless of the dangers or not...Staying here would be equally as dangerous. If those things don''t continue North and head West than maybe Myro will face a calamity....We must warn them of the potential threat even if we must risk our lives...." - Captain Calder "Hmph...good luck with that. " - Captain Zhengtilly "¡­.And the King...kingdom''s...dangers...I ..lift u..up..to bear Only....to..to..to...tread..where those...never...dare... Lift up...my sword and shield... Pray..to the Gods... I''ll never yield....For Myro...I..." - Officer Horis "Hey can you cut that shit out?! No one wants to hear you have a meltdown right now. Get ahold of yourself." - Elite Inferno Knight Horand The small petty officer only continued to shake and the Elite Knight of General Warren''s Inferno Knights seemed to be close to his wits end as well. Coming from the rooms entrance was a tall thin blonde man wearing glasses. He was wearing the same Captain''s uniform as the other two captains and same black cape with Myro''s insignia. "Ah....Well I dealt with some of those noise complaints coming from down the hallway....I swear these walls in this city are truly too thin." - Captain Theodore Walking in with his same noble prestige he came over to the small table I was sitting and sat down beside me. Without even giving me a glance he started to pour himself a bottle of wine and take a big drink. Breaking the silence was yet another individual barging into the room and looked into the small meeting room with a sinister anger in his eye. "You! You dare ruin my fun you! Just wait until my father hears of this and I''ll have your rank pulled for this!!!" - Prince Landis Tyrule "....Shut up...." - Captain Theodore "You!..." - Prince Landis Tyrle Captain Theodore continued to take drink from his glass without even looking towards the angry City Lord..... However, not a single person in the room gave this man any respect regardless of his title even if he was the King of Aldain''s first son. "AAAHhhhhHHHHHHhhhhhhhhHHHH!!! " BOOOM! Just then a loud ear piercing scream came from outside and Captain Calder appears to be trying to see what is the cause. Captain Theodore didn''t turn around but only made a solemn glare towards the table. "Hmph...Well looks like my fun is ruined for this evening because of you. I guess I''ll have to go find something else to appease my body while I allow you foreigners entry into my city. Don''t you forget who the City Lord is here, I haven''t forgotten this! " - Prince Landis Tyrule The 30 year old prince then stormed out of the small mansion alongside his fellow guards. The scream just now....We had heard it not long after we arrived in this mansion. This Prince to this small Kingdom is merely the blood of a fallen noble. He fancied the new bride of a young man and took her with him even after listening to our reports over the vicious monster sighting in the area. The women''s screams during what should have been her wedding night was too much for us to listen to especially after all that has happened. Captain Theodore spoke that he would take care of it but I guess the women decided to commit suicide after surviving such an ordeal. Noticing my now angry scowl I was making Captain Theodore spoke out. "Oh don''t worry my dear lieutenant Wyndia. He shant be in power for very much longer....Puppet King''s rarely last for longer than their needed....This one hasn''t even discovered the real truth to why they were allowed to ascend the throne here....Once a patsy is going to be used it will undoubtedly be him and his father...Oh you look at me as this is news to you? It happens quite often in foreign affairs. Our country is no different..." - Captain Theodore "I...I see...." "Now, now for now we should just sit and wait. No sense in making a fuss over things...Gulp...Gulp...Ah! Not bad wine actually...." - Captain Theodore "Captain Calder spoke how that would be a mistake. You believe we should wait till morning as well? " "I do...Us traveling in the den of night with our supplies and rations just to send Myro a message that in all honesty could beat us there....Is suicide. We wait till morning and pray those giant beasts haven''t ventured in the direction of our homelands....Our movements at this point after traveling here are now meaningless." - Captain Theodore "See, it''s suicide...Staying here we at least have a chance." - Captain Zhengtilly "Oh you mistake my words Captain Zheng. If those beasts do decide to inevitably turn back, which they most likely will as this city is downwind over where they were last seen heading, then we''ll really be screwed...gulp..... However, if we left now that wouldn''t be good as we would no doubt run into them but if we fled to Myro instead of coming here then maybe we would have had a shot .... Or maybe we could have been wiped out and lead the beasts back home. Honestly whatever we decide to do will have no effect on whatever happens at this time. That alone should give each of you some sort of peace I suppose...." - Captain Theodore As Captain Theodore spoke everyone in the room remained quiet thinking over the possibilities of his words we couldn''t help but shutter. All that could be heard was the loud rain still pouring down outside. "Heh...You think they could be coming back this way?...Why didn''t you say this before? Hah, you''re just trying to scare us....If that''s true then why are you so calm. I know for damn sure you wouldn''t be trying to get drunk right now either!" - Captain Zhengtilly "Hmm....Yes, it''s probably due to this wine not having enough alcohol in it.... But I figure if whatever decision you make is equally as meaningless then you just sit, wait and see what happens...." - Captain Theodore "I still think we should leave...." - Captain Calder "Heh! Go ahead and go no one won''t stop ya." - Captain Zhengtilly As Captain Calder turned away from the window he looked towards Zhengtilly with a fire in his eyes as if he was looking at something that disgusted him. "Do you not care for your own countrymen? All those muscles don''t amount for much huh?." - Captain Calder "Careful there ranger... I just might have to come over there and teach ya a lesson." - Captain Zhengtilly I didn''t have any response for these two captain''s words. The tensions were starting to tear away at each of us....I honestly just wish I could be back at home. Even trying to take over the family business wouldn''t seem quite so bad anymore. Repeatedly thinking of what I could do a loud noise came from outside and even shook the entire room. ROAAARRRRRRRRRRRrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You have heard the Roar of the Fomorian Due to the Effects of your Leadership some of your Fear has been Diminished. You were unable to succumb to your Fear and have become momentarily paralyzed! Agility has been reduced by 35% Strength has been reduced by 25% * Ability to perform magic has diminished due to the effects of fear. Magic has become 20% less effective * Ability to hold a weapon has diminished due to the effects of fear. Overall Attack Damage has been reduced by 33%
''¡­.....It''s happening....They''re......they''re back....gulp....n..no....It''s going to happen....a....again...'' We each looked towards the window where Captain Calder was standing and all he could do was stare with his eyes wide looking outside. "¡­..Time to go.......Now!" - Captain Calder With those words we each stood up even though we each looked like we had heard the cries of the dreaded Reapers from Hades had come to drag us to the Netherworld. "¡­.Lieutenant Wyndia come let''s leave, pull yourself together!" - Captain Theodore Captain Theodore came and shook my shoulders and I had shaken awake from my fear and he started to fiercely grip my arm and pull me to come along with him. Each and everyone of us in the room tried to run through the confines of the small mansion and out the front door to the courtyard where the extent of what was left of our troops were stationed. Our hearts continued to thump out of our chests when a loud scream that seemed to have come from the world itself caused each of those fleeing next to me to stop and shutter. YEAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!H!H!H!H!H!H!H!H!H!H!H!H!!H!H!H!H BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!! Not long after the ear shattering scream came a loud boom causing the entire small city to shake. ''We....we...have to flee now.'' After the large boom the earth below our feet stopped shaking and I could feel my heart begin to race. This was it and if I couldn''t gain control over my fear now we may all fall here. I took a deep breath and raised my voices for all under our command to hear. "To the horses! All troops prepare to retreat out the West gate of the city! We flee West back to Myro immediatley! Let''s move!" None beside me had any objections and we each burst from our positions and ran towards our Blazing steeds and took out our battle equipment in case the inevitable were to occur. "And what of the people of this city? Should we not assist the citizens here to escape the city as well? " - Captain Calder "...There''s no hope for them we can only hope they can make it out of the city and pray to the Gods for a merciful judgment. In case you forgot our attacks are meaningless to those two demonic creatures and would be no different than throwing our lives away. If you wish to stay that is on your own soul my friend. But you will only be met with a much sooner death." - Captain Theodore I couldn''t speak back to Captain Calder''s worries. I too wish there were a way to provide assistance to this small city but if we were to be wiped out and Myro were unable to receive word to prepare themselves.... I gritted my teeth and clutched onto the reigns... This caused Scorching Envy to brighten her flames and permeate around herself and I. Even though I have such low affinity with fire my bond with Scorching Envy allows only me to survive her fierce flames without any harm to myself at all. Even under the constant downpour of the strong winds and rain her fire will never be put out unless in the event of her death. These flames have always protected me as our bond together is undoubtedly strong. I could hear screams and loud wails coming from the distance behind the Manor gates and could only lower my head in shame. I can only pray they can escape to safety as well, we simply don''t have the ability to help them at this point anymore. Sometimes we have to make difficult decisions and they''re never easy. Just as we were all mobilized and prepared to flee out the front gate of the small City Lord''s Manor a lone figure appeared right in front of our means of escape. It were as if even through the pouring rain the loan figure stood strong and didn''t move and inch. The figure looked large and had bright silver eyes but appeared to be carrying something massive hunched over his back towering over his oddly shaped head. "Ah...Who is..." - Captain Theodore "¡­.How did that thing get there?" - Captain Calder "You speak like it isn''t human. How can you tell?" I peered over my shoulder to where Captain Calder was in the formation but he simply stared in shock at this large dark figure standing by the front gate, while sitting atop his blazing stallion. "....Are you kidding look at it....That thing''s big. Too big to be a human." - Captain Calder ''I don''t quite see it...It''s just a shadowy figure but due to the dark clouds overhead it''s quite hard to make out the shape of the figure let alone its size under the cover of the night.'' "Who goes there?!! Do you even know who you''re blocking the way of? We are from the great Kingdom of Myro and are taking our leave of the city! Can''t you see it is under attack by vicious beasts? You need to flee! Now get out of our way before you become trampled to death ya hear?!" - Captain Zhengtilly The loan figure didn''t speak but only continued to stare towards each of us with his brightly shining eyes. HHHOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "What?" Each of the three Captain''s and myself immediately tried to cover our ears as an incredible loud roar came from the loan figure and almost caused my whole body to shake slightly. A large lightning bolt appeared right behind the figure illuminated his large oddly shaped body and I could see a slight white glow around him. "Shit! What is that thing? " - Captain Theodore "Heh, well no less we still need to.....Eh...." - Captain Zhengtilly Just then the faces of each of the Captains opened wide and I turned to look forward. There were now 3 pairs of eyes and figures standing in the intense downpour and staring back towards us. ''Wha....What f...four?'' I blinked and then another figure appeared just next to the three.....How did? How did they get there? "Ho...." Just as I was just about to speak the four figures slowly walked forward and I could hear a growl coming from out in front of us. Where is this sound coming from? Is that sound coming from them? Just as I was about to give the command to attack thinking these to obviously be our enemies their appearances finally emerged close enough to where our torches could beam towards their white faces. Each of them had white long hair and large white ears above their heads getting drenched in the storm. They were big, no other way to describe them. At least two heads taller than any man with the muscles definition of a supreme expert. The two female demi humans beside them too looked quite tall and looked equally as intimidating as the two wolves standing next to them holding large weapons at their sides. ".... Beast Men? Kinda look like a Lycanthia''s but....I don''t think I''ve seen a variant like this before. Anyone got any eyes to tell us anything anymore?" - Captain Theodore "White wolf demi humans? Fuck those things are big.....The females are simply enchanting though...." - Captain Zhengtilly "....I don''t think these guys are nobodies. Look at the sword on that one''s back. They don''t look like simple enemies either they got within our perimeter without me noticing at all. Don''t take them lightly. Let''s see what they want...." - Captain Calder Sensing a looming crisis I asked to find out what their level might be. "What''s there level? Intel unit Report?" "Ah, that unit was practically wiped out. I can try to see some but I''m not getting a level from either of them which is bad.... There called Annunakes... Huh I''ve never heard of them....There old too close to a 100 but I''m not getting anything else they each appear to have titles though but I can''t see them." - Captain Theodore As Captain Theodore pushed up his glasses and looked forward he too seemed to be equally as troubled by this fact as I was. "What? How is that possible? Then what level could that mean they are for you not to see anything?" "PPooooutttt.....Yooooourrr...Weapppponnnsss...Dooooowwwnnnnnn.........." We heard a deep voice coming from one of them and the one holding the massive sword over his back started to speak very strangely. "Orrr.....Diiieeeeeeeee......." As he spoke those last words in one fluid motion he pulled out the massive object from behind his back and fluidly swung it towards us which sent a shiver crawl down my spine and caused my legs to shake into Scorching Envy''s sides. The large brightly silver weapon on his back was even bigger than he was but he wielded it with only one arm. As he swung it towards each of us a large gust of wind flung forward and pushed past each of our faces as if the weight alone could cause small storms. This for some reason made the rain currently hitting my back start to feel much more cold. ''How heavy could that weapon be for him to be holding onto it like that? Could these be strong figures appearing before us right now?'' "Wait! I don''t hear anything from those giant creatures anymore nor have there been anymore earthquakes.... Maybe....Maybe these things are with them. Look how calm they are..... No way they couldn''t be aware of those giants attacking such a small city." - Captain Calder Captain Calder shakingly pointed his fingers towards the four figures and spoke as if this too could be a possibility. We started to hear howls and screams coming from behind the City Lord''s walls but like Captain Calder said not a single sound from that giant beast could be heard at all. The ground too continued to stand still.... Could these things be with those nightmarish beasts that ate all of my comrades? "There''s only four of em and they''re not even wearing any armor.....Let me take care of it Captain Zhengtilly. Each of you should retreat outside the city, I shall try to accompany you when I am done holding them off and providing cover for Lieutenant Wyndia and our commanding officers.... First Battalion on me!" - Elite Inferno Knight Horand Leaping from his bright red stallion he left the protection of its flames and pulled out his large claymore hoisted up over his back. "Roger!" "Let''s take them down! " "I''ll show these demi human''s who can fight with a great sword. Shield units behind me and provide cover..... Captain we will try to meet up with you as quickly as we are able....We can at least hold them off for a few minutes if we are unable to vanquish them. " - Elite Inferno Knight Horand "Thank you Horand. Your courage is appreciated and we bid you a safe journey out of the city. Everyone come with me and flank around the sides of the First Battalion as they provide us the opportunity to move for Myro!" On my command everyone raised their weapons and waited for Elite Inferno Knight Horand to keep these four busy. Even if they are strong with the strength of the shield units and archers behind them they will be unable to gain an advantage. His level is 189 and is highly respected by all those in the Inferno Knights Corpse. He has a commanding courage and true love for his Kingdom which has rewarded him much favor by General Warren and even the King. There''s rumors his sword strength is enough to rip straight through an iron shield in one swing. He was one of the oldest in the Elite Inferno Knight Corps and lead troops into dozens of battles already and has gained quite a deal of fame within the unified armies. "Hehe...Listen here demi human! If you just would have left maybe we wouldn''t have had to get forceful with ya. I see you got some talent with that blade....How''s about you come show me?" - Elite Inferno Knight Horand Horand continued to swing his large sword and revealed a beautiful mastery and powerful strike with each swing and pointed it back towards the large two legged wolfman. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...ha ha ha....... The figure who pointed his sword at us then started to growl in such a way it echoed through the incoming rain, followed by what sounded like a short laugh. As the shield units started to circle around Knight Horand in the shape of a horseshoe they provided us an option to slip past the gate. We followed around each side on the shield wall awaiting the opportunity to flee the city hoping to spread our numbers so regardless of what threat these four may hold we can potentially reduce our casualties and get word back to Myro. CrackkKK!!!!!! BOOOOOOOOOOoooooOOOOOOOOM! An explosion tore through the area and the Lord''s Manor behind us rumbled as if it were hit with the power of one of our new War Balista''s invented by Lord Adel and partially started to crash down on one of its sides. I looked back to where the fight was happening and noticed now there was one figure missing from in front of the shield wall. I looked around until I had noticed that Knight Horand had disappeared. All that was left was the large muscular wolf standing in the middle of the large walled formation. It was still raining hard and now there was clearly a visible blood stain on his humongous sword which slowly dripped onto the ground creating a muddy puddle below its feet. "AHahahaha....Med..iocre!" - ? The wolf started to laughed and shake its head while looking to the ground oddly. "What...where is Knight Horand?" - Captain Zhengtilly "¡­.I couldn''t even see him move. We....gulp...we have to flee now or we''re all going to be wiped out! There''s probably more of them in the city. - Captain Calder Just as Captain Calder was about to finish his sentence the same wolfman made a movement and then I could see those currently holding position in the shield wall out in front turned into a bloody mist. Screachingly horrid yells came from the several meters away and I could see the shield wall crumble so effortlessly. Each of those in front began to back away subconsciously as this large demi human moved at such speeds even from here I was only able to see clearly. I was met with a brief image of him swinging his towering weapon and left with the pieces of my comrades that were cleaved in two. The image of the wolf then appeared several meters away and swung his great sword again severing three men who were holding their large square shields and spears. Each of them were severed from them their shoulders up with one powerful swing from this large wolf..... ''No damage was done nor was there any time to defend at all....It was just death with a single swing. Our armor and shields were practically meaningless and ripped in half along with each of our men''s bodies...'' Each of the other officers faces as well as mine was completely frozen by this simple exchange that turned into a one way massacre. Arrows were even being fired but nothing even came close to hitting him. We could each see a slight white blur but the movements were so quick so perfect. We were unable to even see him until the white wolfman had already left the scene with a bloody result. With only a few swings of his massive sword, each of their lives were ended one by one. None of us were even capable of following his horrific speed and within moments he started to move into the formation of shield users and continued to kill mercilessly. Not even shielding themselves or attempting to deflect such a tyrannical weapon as it would do no good. This simple exchange is causing the air to slowly escape its way out of my lungs. "Ho...how?....so......strong?" - Captain Theodore "¡­......" BOoom! Splat I was shocked from my frozen state as the Knight riding in front of me, had his head explode and shower me in a rain of blood. His body leaned back and I could now see a large spear had landed straight on the soldiers head and killed him instantly. As his body fell over I then saw the image of a female demi human appearing not far in front. She had a long braid coming down the side of her hair and was holding onto a similar spear than the one that just killed the man in front of me. She looked emotionless and started walking rather menacingly towards our small unit of mounted troops with a evil grin. "Move...Everyone move out! Retreat now! Lieutenant it''s either now or never!" Captain Calder "Create a path forward. Knights it''s time to flee! If they get in front just mow them over!" Everyone started to strike at their steeds sides to escape and hopefully push past these incredibly strong warriors who have appeared out of nowhere. ''Just what else could go wrong.'' I continued to hear horrendous screams coming from the our troops trying to fend off the attacks of these strong foes but it were as if it were all meaningless. Elite Knight Horand offered us a few minutes if they were unable to win but he didn''t even last a single strike and his condition at this point is unknown. The mounts of each of the Captains and myself started to flutter and blaze around us and our speed started to accelerate towards the gate entrance and now we could see the other figures begin to move. White blurs began to flash with each light strike in the sky and by the time I noticed someone had fallen their images had disappeared. The three Captains and myself were guarded by a small unit of what was left of the Elite guard and just as we were about to reach the gate a quick image swept past me leapt through the air and onto Captain Calder. Within an instant his figure disappeared out of my view and fell behind but I could hear the loud screams attacking my ear drums. "Ah...Damnit my arm!!! You want to kill me!!! AHhhHh!!!" - Captain Calder I clutched my teeth together and tried to speed up and then coming from behind me was another blur and Captain Theodore was pulled to the side along with his steed crashing to the ground. "AHhhhhHH!H!!!!!......" - Captain Theodore I could feel tears streaming from my eyes but I kept clenching my teeth and praying Scorching Envy can get up to her full stride. I continued forward and just as I passed the gate I could start to see fires in the distance of the small city and hear the loud cries of its citizens. I turned the corner to freedom and could feel Scorching Envy take off and our speed was simply unmatched. Everything around us on the city streets started to turn into a blur and I could feel us tearing straight through the city until we could gain freedom. I could feel her giving every possible effort to her master''s pleas and with every kick of my heel her flames grew even larger. Everything throughout the city was in utter chaos and I also caught glimpses of each of those large white wolves. As I started nearing the edge of the city I looked back and immediately started to feel the sweat pour down my forehead. Those same white blurs I could see advancing on our position and within a moment darted around the sides and out in front of Scorching Envy and I. I was horrified by their speed as these demi humans were impossibly fast. With just their legs they were able to catch up with Scorching Envy? ''How is this possible?!!!" They moved out in front of us and I tried to turn away but they had turned back around and darted back toward my position. They moved to quick for me to say a magic incantation so I tried to pull out my short sword and defend myself but by the time my hand reached for the scabbard I could feel a powerfully heavy force attack my breast and throw me away from Scorching Envy. BOOoooooOOOM! I landed on the ground and once I tried to reach for my weapon I could feel my arm being crushed.. "AHhhhHHhhHHHH!!!!" I could feel an incredible heavy weight forcing my down into the ground and my right shoulder was heavily wounded with a spear possibly passing completely through it. I was in shock and within each blink of my eyes I could see the same white haired demi human holding a large sword alongside the female with braided white hair and they had each been my pursuers. "I, who command the power over the rushing winds and power over the law of .a.ahahahhhhH!HH!H!!!!!!" The image of the braided demi human appeared before me and shoved her large spear into my other shoulder and impaled me farther into the dirt. In one motion my body became weightless and lifted off of the ground. My body was in an unimaginable amount of pain and I couldn''t even think straight. All I knew is this was the same person who threw that spear and she must have had amazing training to be able to lift me up with such little effort. Her silver eyes gleamed back at me as my blood started to drip down onto the ground in front of her and I could only awate the inevitable. She didn''t smile nor did she frown. She made a quick motion of her arm and I could feel my body thrown down and slamming into the earth below me. BOOOooooOOOM! The air had been completely taken out of my lungs and I couldn''t breath. As I tried to speak for mercy I could hear a crack and then my brain was again invaded with a tremendous amount of pain I had never felt before in my young life. Cracckkk! Crack!!!!!!! AAHhhHHHHHH!H!!!!!!!!!!!!! "MMmmmm.....ahhahhhHH!HH!!! YOU...you....nnnnnnnn!!!!!" The female demi human had then broken each of my legs by crushing my knees with a swift stomp of her powerful feet.. She had actually ruthlessly shattered my legs and immobilized me! I continued to try and curse the ones who had done this to us. Who had dared to attack the Kingdom of Myro so openly and viciously but I could hardly even think straight with how cold my body was starting to become. I was unable to cope with tremendous amounts of pain searing through my entire body. I knew that by the distance of the screams I was the only one to have made it this far and out of the city....With my death it would have meant the entire annihilation of the Myro troop sent on this mission. "You''ll...you''ll...receive....jus...jushitish.....for.....thish......" The two demi humans did not speak at all and remained motionless and unmoved as my vision continued to fade in and out until everything went dark. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ".......please....please...please let us go. We didn''t do anything!" - ? "Why are you doing this?" - ? "You''ll pay for this! You here! When the King gets back he''ll have your heads!" - ? "I said......SILENCEEEEEEE!..............................." - ? I could vaguely hear the sounds of loud chatter coming in and out and just as I was about to open my eyes a loud voice reverberated in my ears and caused my entire body to violently shake. Even through all of this unbearable pain this voice alone caused my whole body to shutter. I heard two distinct voices one human the other.....not. '' I...I don''t want to open my eyes........Who could that voice possibly belong to?'' As I started opening my eyes I could see the horrid sight of my comrades who had been laid out in front of me. Each and everyone of their states were truly appalling and not one of them had light injuries. Captain Zhengtilly had been laid out several feet in front of me and had heavy wounds all over his body while also missing his left eye. His shoulder also looked badly wounded and looked to have had bite marks all over him. Captain Calder was laying on his side facing me and dully trying to look in front of him. He had three large gashes in his face and looked to be dying. Captain Theodore was laying on his back and staring up towards the sky and remained motionless as if he were already dead. Everyone had their armor and weapons removed or in tatters. Each of our bodies were broken and I could see that each of them were unable to move even if they had tried. "Lieutenant....Ugh....Wyndia....What''s your status? Are your legs broke too? Hah......." - Captain Calder "My legs are indeed broken.....What? What happened to Captain Theodore? Is he...." "He''s alive but...." - Captain Calder "Cough...Cough..cough.....I.thin....i..i think........my back''s...broken......cough cough...." - Captain Theodore Captain Theodore then continued to cough up blood onto his chest and I could see from here his body were lightly shaking. Each and everyone of us had our health in the red and were unable to even attempt to escape. I could see that lying around us were less than a dozen of our men remaining and weren''t in any better condition than we were. Our fates were sealed....... "Cough...cough...You''ll pay....You''ll pay for doing this to me you bastards!!!!! Do you know who my father is?! Huh? Once he gets back here you''re all dead! 15,000 troops coming here to slaughter you ahhhhH!!!!!!" - Prince Tyrule A loud bang occurred and I looked up to find the City Lord over this small city being thrown out in front of me and the large crowd of villagers and guards currently shaking on their knees. Each of them had their hands raised over their heads and were cowering in fear over the emergence of these strong warriors. Even some of the top fighters in all of Myro were turned into such a ridiculous state by whoever these people are. Standing over the Prince was a female demi human like before and had viciously beat the Prince. His face was almost unrecognizable from before. His cheeks were swollen and had blood coming out of small cuts all over his face. It looked like it was impossible for him even to see as his face was almost completely swollen beyond recognition. "AH...eh...ghgh...acouch...ghg...." - Prince Tyrule He continued to cough up blood and teeth and sounded just from his squirming to be in a lot of pain. "Where are we?" Captain Calder then spoke that we were in a small arena in the center of the city and when he awoke he found all the villagers and those living her being gathered here by the same race as before but also......This person. As he spoke I looked forward and there stood a dark cloaked figure of a white haired human. He was standing next to a large crowd of what looked like villagers and was kneeling beside a young child who looked to have been crying. There were also strange looking short demi humans near him, some looked to even be on fire. He wore black pants and a black shirt and had a hood over himself to cover his face from the rain. According to Calder whoever this cloaked figure is he believes to be the leader judging by how each of the others are treating him. The white haired leader then looked towards the screaming Prince and looked back towards him angrily. "Did you not hear me?!!!Cough...couhg.... I said 15,000 soldiers from Aldain coming here to kill you all? Don''t you care who I am! said I''m the first Prince of Aldain!" - Prince Tyrule "Oh, I heard you......It''s just that I don''t care. Why else would I have hit you so hard before after you were screaming those very same words. Do you think they hold much more weight now?" - ? ".......gulp." - Prince Tyrule "Your voice is however starting to annoy me....It''s sleepy time for now." - ? The white haired man spoke and a loud lightning bolt appeared in the sky behind him and the same demi humans from before. BooooOOM! A loud roaring sound came from the side of the Prince''s head and forced him to the ground where he was now kneeling on the ground with a puddle of blood next to him. Whatever the man had done to him he is now unconscious and I am uncertain if he is even breathing. "You''ll pay for this you murderer! " - ? "You...you monster! So many innocent citizens killed! I pray the God''s punish you for your wicked crimes!" - ? "You''ll burn in the lowest pits of the Underworld for this! Do you hear me!" - ? "There will be JUSTICE!" - ? One voice started to ring out one after the other from the frightened crowd and the white haired man just started laughing rather manically. "Ahaha! You know what monster.....You''re probably right. But innocent citizens? Wicked crimes to be punished by the Gods? As if such depraved and truly the dregs of this world could dare ask for the Gods justice for anything is simply astonishing to me..... Just the short sightedness of these words make me not want to spare a single one of you........" - ? Gulp..... The sounds of each and everyone of us here started to gulp quietly to themselves. With our current injuries those of us from Myro are simply helpless to whatever fate this group is prepared to give to us. The hundreds of us who had no ability to stop this person from killing us we could only hold our tongues and pray for mercyful fate. ''Does this person command each of those large wolves?.....Who is this person? What is he truly after? How powerful could he be to command such a strong demi force? There, doesn''t look to be that many though here only a couple dozen at most.....'' "Who''s the leader of this city?............SPEAK!!!" - ? Everyone of the citizens started to cower back but there behind them stood a wall of tall and powerful demi humans that were the same who attacked us from before. I looked around and also saw on the other side there stood a lot of small glowing demi humans as well standing next to the kneeling citizens of Aldain. "He ...he he is s...sir...." -? A large bulbous old man pointed frighteningly to the now unconscious Prince and didn''t dare to make any sudden movements. "This person? Is no one else in charge of this garbage city other than this idiot right here?!!? - ? The same old man from before shakingly said that he was the city mayor and tried to ask what it was that he wanted with everyone of the villagers while trying best to humble himself first. But to these words the white haired man didn''t say a word but only stared back at him even more aggressively than before.... Just the look coming from this intimidating figure caused the large old man to start shaking even more. "Si...sir? I hear there were sightings....of ..of...large beasts attacking...the cities....If right now we are here....then...surely they might..." - Mayor "The giant beasts you speak of are dead but you need to be much more worried about me than those things........You!.....How FUCKING DARE YOU!" - ? As the enemy leader pointed his finger at the old man I felt like the air itself had started to involuntarily leave my lungs. It was as if a large rich blackness started fly out from this figure and sweep all around us. An intense weight came crashing down on top of me as if the weight of a small mountain were forcing me to the ground.
You have become Paralyzed with Fear from a Dark Soul. You will be unable to move until Paralysis is withered or you have succumbed to your Fear. All Stats have now been reduced by 15% Mana Recovery has now been Reduced by 10% You are under the effects of your Fear All Attack Power has been reduced by 20% All Attack Speed has been reduced by 15% Stamina will now reduce at twice the normal rate. For angering one who feasts on the dreaded creatures from the endless Abyss; Abandon all Hope.
My whole body shook and I could feel the color leaving my face. What''s happening? Is this a skill?!" Feasts on...what? The face of the white haired man began to darken and all I could see were a piercing pair of black eyes and a dark shadow masking his face and body. All that I could distinguish from the same person as before was the white hair on top his head. I couldn''t stop shaking and it looked like the man''s whole body had turned into darkness itself. What is this evil entity?! Could this be just an intimidation skill?! It was as if my body were weakening and the strength this person were exuding were only increasing by leaps and bounds. ''How...how is he doing this.....What sort of power is this? Ha...ha..ha...ha....!'' Those next to me including the three Captains continued to clench their teeth and shutter not knowing of any possible way of escaping this place. ''Who is he? How could we be unaware of such a strong force of demi humans living on the Continent? Where did these strong warriors even come from?!! Did he actually say he killed those giant beasts????.......What could all of this possibly mean?'' "I..i...Ugh...Wha? What could............could you mean?" - Mayor The chubby mayor started to shake but couldn''t at all find the meaning to this white haired man''s words. Was he going to kill everyone here? And what for? So many questions raced through my mind as I looked up to the dark figure standing over all of the cowering citizens. "¡­..We arrive in the city gates.....Come to aid you in fending off those giant monsters you were just speaking of and are met with young children being used as bait by your cities guards while they just sat on top the wall behind cover.....You even used your own citizens fleeing here from one of your other cities and instead of being provided with sanctuary you give them the same treatment because as I was told...they were ''homeless''. As the Mayor over this damned city I DEMAND...some answers to how you could allow this to happen in your town!!!!" - ? To his words the cowering citizens continued to shake and an eerie silence took over the small arena. His eyes were mesmerizing but simply made my whole body shutter. It''s as if I were staring at evil incarnate and am unable to even run away. "I...I wouldn''t possibly...." - Mayor "Don¡¯t you fucking dare try to say you were unaware of this or I''ll take your head right here....." - ? "¡­....." - Mayor These few words which almost seemed to echo in a deep and inhuman tone sounded like we were standing in the presence of something not from our world at all but something ancient. The Mayor sat quietly and didn''t dare to utter a sound as he couldn''t find the words to appease this angry man in front of him. ''Could this...Could this possibly be why he attacked the city? Truly the deeds of this town are soaked in carnal lusts and depraved atrocities but I was unaware that these guards would do such inhuman acts and demand for justice right afterwards....If?...if this is the only reason then maybe...Maybe there is a chance for us all to survive this. Maybe...Maybe we can...'' Just as I was thinking this to myself one of the city guards quite close to me spoke up. "You...You mean the slaves?....Wha...What does that matter? We used the citi.......we.....we used the some of the citizens shitty property to defend her walls so we could have a chance to survive.....And..you can''t prove about the....ah...ugh...Why should that matter to some outsider about what belongs to.... ....... You...you....yu....." - City Guard The white haired man then turned his darkly clouded face and stared daggers towards the city guard who had just spoke. This simple action caused the same guard to now freeze and didn''t dare move a muscle. "Alderon...." The white haired man moved his head and within an instant the same guards head had been lopped off his body. To this amazingly fast action no one had any words to say and were left shaking in despair. No one wished to attain this person''s wrath as he clearly didn''t care to beat the City Lord which was also the Prince of the very Kingdom he''s standing in. ''How merciless....'' "Heh..I thought he would just rough him up some but that works too...If I hear one more stupid thing from you primates I''m really going to fucking lose it!...... To all those who have the power to pick up a sword should have the resolve to be stabbed and you dare show such cowardice as the City Guards! Guardians who are suppose to put the lives of others above their own, each of you throw away lives so easily...Refugees from your own Kingdom''s cities flee here to seek refuge and instead of providing them sanctuary and assistance you throw them out as bait for monsters?.....To all those from the Kingdom of Aldain! You ask for justice from the Gods but I say to each of you now......The Gods will not ever listen to those with such vicious natures such as yourselves so your cries will only fall on deaf ears......To the Guild of Snearing Ogres which are pretty much all of the guards in this city I speak to each of you thieves....murderers, kidnappers, sex traffickers, rapists! For the crimes against the innocent, the young, and most definitely the world itself ever since coming to rule over the original village of Anston. I don''t even have the want to explain all of your crimes out loud but we''re both aware of what they are....How do you plea? " - ? To these words no one made a single movement and couldn''t stop staring towards the dark figure ahead of us. The rain continued to pour down and I could feel my body becoming even colder. Then a familiar voice came from my right breaking the silence of the crowds. "Hey! You! We''re not from here! I am Captain Zhengtilly emissary to the Kingdom of Myro...We are high ranking officers in the King''s Elite army and you dare treat us with such disrespect! Do you wish for war! " - Captain Zhengtilly "¡­.Oh Myro huh..... Hehe what a small world it is......Is this true?" - ? As he looked towards each of us I tried my best to tell him where we were from and confirm Captain Zhengtilly''s words hopefully to escape death this night. My heart started to race simply being stared at by this person whose face is masked behind a cloud of blackness I simply wish for all this to be over. As I told him we were originally headed to Aldain in accordance with our command his figure then twitched and looked in my direction. "And what were you coming to the small Kingdom of Aldain for I wonder?" - ? "We...we......we were on orders to find information on a masked man carrying a large scythe....We we were only passing through when those ¡­.those giant creatures attacked our troops and sought sanctuary here in Aldain.....We ...we really have no fault with you or what you are doing here sir...So if we may please just leave if, or receive treatment that would be......" All of a sudden I started to shake yet again causing me to stutter. I bit my lip attempting it to stop but it wouldn''t work. I was terrified of this person for some reason. He''s the boss of those things that have practically crippled each of us....They killed those colossal fiends? I''m simply terrified I can''t even fully process what it all is going on. "¡­......" - ? "You mean the villain who attacked Aldain''s outer village?" - ? "I...I heard he was like a demon and killed all the spectators simply for being at the Coliseum that day..." - ? "You''re wrong! I was there....He was like a Death God who descended from the skies....All those who got in his way received divine judgment! All those who even got close to the rubble afterwards fell awfully ill and some died. He was obviously a messenger of the gods come to save his suffering people!" - ? "That''s impossible!" - ? "Is it? Where you there?!"- ? Some of those from Aldain started to speak up but this white haired man never stopped looking away from me and those of us from Myro now for some reason. Other than I and the three Captains, no one was aware that he was also the person who had killed General Lestat earlier this week but none of us are sure of who the man''s true identity might be. And we don''t have much information other than his weapon and possible whereabouts. Those higher up believed this person needed to be dealt with but only upon our travel here did I find the entire story strange to send so many troops after this one criminal. The dark figure just stood there and quietly stared back at me with that blisteringly strong gaze. Just then the violent weight pushing me down and feeling attacking my skin stopped and I felt I could breath much better. I wanted to smile but then a frightening laughter came from the white haired man as his face began to become visible again. "AHaHAHAHAAHAHA!!!!!!" ? "Aren''t...Aren''t you their leader?...Do...Do you not fear Myro?!" - Captain Zhengtilly " I suppose I am...But we''re a far away from home aren''t we Captain from Myro? I don''t think your Kingdom can help you all the way out here do you?" - ? These words felt like a hammer had struck down on each of our heads as this person was clearly a lunatic! He beat the prince of the nation he is standing in to such a horrid degree and doesn''t even care of who he offends or attacks. Even words of the mighty Mryo who reigns stronger than any Kingdom on the Continent only causes this person to laugh. "Are you MAD?! Do you not fear what could happen to you and your people for treating high ranking officers of Myro like this! Do you not fear losing your head!!!" - Captain Zhengtilly "Hmph....I suppose not." - ? "You''re a lunatic! If...If you won''t provide us ¡­.assistance and sanctuary....I bear the right of CHALLENGE!!!!!" - Captain Zhengtilly We each looked back towards the broken appearance of Captain Zhengtilly as he attempted to rise but it was clear he was in a lot of pain. "¡­....Excuse me?" - ? "I said I bear the right of challenge! Or do you not dare? Cough..cough...." - Captain Zhengtilly "Right of challenge? And what might that entail exactly ? " - ? The dark figure then looked towards Zhengtilly and then approached his shaking figure and asked what that exactly is. ''Has he really never heard of this term before? Maybe he is a foreigner?'' Captain Theodore tried to stop Zhengtilly from doing this but the Captain then tried to stand on his one healthy leg and stuck out his large muscular chest. "We have a fight just the two of us as leaders over our men. If I win.....you must let myself and those from my Kingdom go. We are warriors from Myro and are not a party to the sins that were committed here. If I must challenge you in a battle to the death than I must....It is our words as men that make us different than monsters..." - Captain Zhengtilly "Doesn''t seem so beneficial for me the results would simply stay the same." - ? "...Coward. Is that why you sicked your dogs on us? Simply hiding behind you''re warriors...All of you will however meet your end under the hands of our King who commands the strength of the Continent at his fingertips. But you will only receive a cowards death. Taking off your head and leaving it for all to see in the City Square of the Capital, while your body is simply fed to the dogs." - Captain Zhengtilly All of those who were listening were simply frozen listening to Captain Zhengtilly''s taunts and hadn''t any idea what it was he had in mind going from not saying a word to threatening this person. The dark figure however hadn''t spoken a word for a long time before showing such an odd reaction. Again the dark shadow disappeared from his face and there stood the image of a young man laughing hysterically. "Ahahahahahahaha!!! Such interesting words to the person whose in control of your lives isn''t it? Very well then I agree...If you win I''ll let all of those from Myro leave....But with how beat you look how''s about I fix you up first so I''m not bullying anyone." - ? ''His face was smooth and he looked far too young to be someone with such imposing power that surrounded him. He''s clearly a mage of the dark arts....But I can''t even fathom just how strong....'' The fare faced man then began to wave his arms and a golden light approached and circled around Captain Zhengtilly. His health started to rise gradually until almost being close to full. His cuts and bruises were even gone and showed to have powerful healing magic. Simple health potions only add to your health but healing magic is something that actually can heal and mend wounds and stop infections. It''s why Priests and Medics are so sought after. "Am...cough..cough....amazing..." It was at this moment my jaw had opened wide and I couldn''t help myself but shiver.....'' No...no...He has voiceless incantations in something as Holy as Healing magic? Never on this Continent has that ever been seen before nor in my entire life had I seen it either...Even some of the Cardinals and Bishops in some of the many churches of Myro aren''t capable of such an incredible feet. Who is this person? Where could he have come from because it can''t be from this Continent? That much is impossible! He is clearly a very important person with a lot of influence.'' No wonder he acts so confident....But if he''s only a mage in Healing magic then how is he possibly giving orders to such strong demi humans? Let alone where did he learn that creepy skill that drapes dark shade around him like that.... That part still doesn''t add up. Perhaps he is stronger than he looks... Zhengtilly needs to not underestimate this foe. "Heh....My leg''s even better now.....Hmhmhmhm....." - Captain Zhengtilly Captain Zhengtilly now appeared to be healthy and was applying pressure on his other leg and looking confident. His eye was still missing but the rest of his body had looked to being close to a full recovery. He looked back at the white haired man from before and said in a confident tone. "¡­...No weapons or magic!....Just our fists and fight it out as men of valor....Or do you not dare to fight me mage?" - Captain Zhengtilly "Ho....I suppose I dare. Let''s see where all this confidence of yours comes from." - ? The enemy leader then took off his dark cloak and underneath held only a black long sleeved tight skinned shirt. He had a muscular frame but not nearly as large as Captain Zhengtilly''s, who was older than him by at least a decade. If compared to Zhengtilly, even if this person is at least 50 levels higher than him then Zhengtilly would still pose a threat to him. This person must have a class fit for a mage so he wouldn''t have the ability to defend against something like Falkner Zhengtilly''s martial arts. "Hehe...You don''t wish to adorn any armor? I wouldn''t blame you if you were scared. I''ve killed a well over a hundred men with just these hands...." - Captain Zhengtilly "Mmm trying to get a rise out of me?....But no need, I don''t need to where any armor anyways the result would just be the same. Besides were not fighting with weapons just our fists as men of valor right?..... Funny you try to bait me in such a way and you¡¯re the one adorned in a full set of armor. I applaud the effort your giving though by the way in all of this...." - ? "Heh...My armors practically in tatters cause of your dogs, I''d much rather fight with my spear but this''ll do....It''s only because my fists can be considered just as dangerous as any sword boy but if you feel confident then I won''t stop ya.....I''m Captain Falkner Zhengtilly of Great General Warren the Red''s Elite Infernal Blood Knight Guard that have formed history on this Continent. The great Horseman of Blood to Lord Adel and Knight to the Kingdom of Myro and who do I have the honor of dueling today...." - Captain Zhengtilly "That''s quite the long intro ya got there. Oh no one just a concerned citizen of the world is all.... " - ? "AHA! You expect me to believe that. From what land do you hail from mage. Healing magic like you just showed is something that has peaked my interest. Why a rogue from Freya''s church would show up. I merely wish to know of my own curiosity?" - Captain Zhengtilly ''Wait...Church of Freya?'' "Wha...what does he mean by that?" - Captain Calder "Haha....I hail from the country of America. Quite far away from here mind you I doubt any of ever heard of it....." - ? "Must be a small Human Kingdom if I''ve never heard of it....Heh! What is this some power grab from the Great West trying to snatch other''s territory out here in our side of the world?..." - Captain Zhengtilly "Actually my country is one of the strongest countries in the whole world..... Built on a reputation of bloodshed and war since the day of its birth. But my place of origin has nothing to do with why I''m standing before you today...." - ? "Hmph...If it''s so mighty then how come I''ve never heard of it great mage?" - Captain Zhengtilly "Never said it was your world now did I......Now come, show me how a warrior from Myro can use his fists....Cause from what I''ve seen so far from you and those dumb Horseman you speak so highly about, seem to do more speaking than fighting.....Perhaps you shall too not end up much differently than he did....Lestat was it?" - ? Within a blink his image had left and I heard a whisper coming from behind Captain Zhengtilly as the dark figure emerged. Just before Zhengtilly could react however the enemy leader had again emerged just as he did before. Simple the feeling around him is something I''ve never felt before. How Zhengtilly is so confident I can''t possibly understand. If it wasn''t pouring rain constantly in my face and hair I would honestly be sweating non stop. I admit he is only a mage class but the simple vibe I''m getting from him is very mysterious. His words were each like daggers with the amount of disdain he shown the Heroes of our country and the strongest figures on the Continent. "¡­..." - Captain Zhengtilly These words caused all those who heard it to twitch.... Zhengtilly however looked as if he had just seen a ghost. ''Wait...What did he say? He even spoke so harshly of General Valentine as if he were speaking of the once famed Hero of Myro were simply beneath him. As if all of those from Myro and Aldain were beneath him.... '' "How? Ah....how does he know about General Valentine?" - Captain Theodore "....I don''t...I don''t know..." I didn''t have the answer for him but my mind wasn''t given any time to think as Captain Zhengtilly had then spoke up again to the enemy leader with loud roars that competed with the thunders raining down overhead the arena. "General Lestat Valentine was a hero and will be remembered for his glorious tributes to the Kingdom of Myro.....You dare speak such words about a fallen hero have you no shame! You deserve death for such heresy.... And by my words as Captain I''ll kill you this day or my name is no longer Falkner Zhengtilly!!!!!" - Captain Zhengtilly With a loud roar Captain Zhengtilly started sprinting towards the dark cloaked man. Captain was much larger than him by at least a foot and held the upper hand in a head on attack with this unnamed person. Captain was known for his overwhelming power with a spear but not quite as much was his expertise in Hand to Hand combat. Regardless of his size he was one of the Instructors at the Military Academy and has taught well over 100,000 soldiers in his entire career. As he grew closer to the white haired man Captain Zhengtilly''s hands started to glow in a dull blue color and send a powerful swing of his fists towards the enemy leader. This was a technique he had won back in his days at the Military Academy he trained in since he was accepted at the young age of 17. He won a competition that allowed him to earn a technique scroll from the Central Colonies. Just by reading the scroll it didn''t take long for him to learn and master the powerful martial technique that even allows him to wield a form of ice magic with his fists. Even if he was unable to use magic like I am, this technique helped him to learn to focus what mana he did have flowing through his body to allow him to achieve a strong martial technique. While he doesn''t have the ability to create Ice or Fire this rare martial technique that can slow down and weaken his enemies with every swing. While it is not essentially magic and doesn''t open any doors for those learning a technique to learn other magics it is a powerful martial technique that can give those without magic powerful abilities to fight with. He has also trained his strength to practically fourth in all of Myro. The famed Frozen Tundra Fist technique is from a strong guild in a large nation in the Kingdom of Kario and has earned Captain Zhengtilly a lot of fame with his martial arts. All of the surrounding demi humans didn''t move but continued to stair forward without reacting in the slightest. The human leader too hadn''t made a single step to try and evade and simply waited for the incoming fist with his arms at his sides.... BOOOM! "AH......hah?" - Captain Zhengtilly A loud bang shook the walls of the arena and caused my ears to start ringing. It almost sounded like a blacksmith slamming his hammer into hard metal but what we were left staring at had completely shocked everyone present. The intimidating image of one of Myro''s elite captain''s martial technique came crashing towards his opponent but appeared to have been frozen and staring into the eyes of a Demon Lord. With one palm the white haired man extended his hand and halted the fist of Captain Zhengtilly and stopped it from moving any further. ''¡­.....Wha...what?'' "Wha...what''s happening? Someone...tell me..." - Captain Theodore "¡­..Impossible." - Captain Calder "You got some power but I''m pretty heavy, and if ya can''t break my bones then you''re not going to be able to move me an inch.....I hope the strong warrior of Myro won''t give up for his comrades lying not only a few feet away...." - ? With his words provoking Captain Zhengtilly he continued to swing his heavy fists forward but with each movement he was either parried from the enemy leader or dodged within the last second. His movements were small but each stopped the violent swings of Captain Zhengtilly and pushed each of his fists back as if he were swatting back the attacks of a child. His movements were odd and even seemed slightly clumsy trying to defend against Captain Zhengtilly''s long reach. But with every swing at the last possible second would get deflected before reaching the enemies body. The enemy leader raised his arms up in an odd way which guarded both sides of his face and started hopping weirdly on the tips of his feet. He smiled and gave two practice swings towards his opponent out in front of him. He looked like he was trained in some foreign form of martial arts as his stance looked like that of a monkey''s paw. His movements weren''t those of a master but they were incredibly sharp. Captain Zhengtilly moved showed his long years of expertise and countered with a heavy strike after being blocked. Boom! One of Captain Zhengtilly''s large fists had finally struck the side of the enemy leader and pushed him back several steps after finding an opening. The white haired man nimbly moved to the side looking to be unharmed entirely. This caused Zhengtilly''s face to grow more fierce. The enemy leader then darted to the left and to the right while evading the advancement of the Captain''s devastating strikes. Yet still the enemy leader is dawning that frightening smile. He''s so young....yet ....Very strong..... BOOOOOOOOM!!!! Just then a large explosion erupted within the middle of the two fighters and Captain Zhengtilly''s body was sent flying several meters back and crashing into the ground. I couldn''t even see the enemy leader''s swing it only looked like he had remained completely motionless the entire time but he must have used some skill just now. The crowd started to gulp and frighteningly look towards the Captain as he stood up his already destroyed armor had a large dent in the chest that looked to have been almost entirely sunken in. The Captain did look to be struggling to breath but his eyes did not lose any bit of his determination. He looked at the enemy leader now with much more respect but even in the face of death he would never cower. No warrior from Myro would ever lay down and die if given the chance to fight but how tyrannical is this person''s strength? "Heh...I guess without using any of my skills and this being my base strength I guess that was somewhere close to a third my full power. Well.... I only used a bit over half my strength on that so it''s probably closer to 20% my full strength.... I admit your technique is better than mine but in the end....Like I said the result stays the same...." - ? The enemy leader spoke casually back to the Captain and smirked while trying to ridicule his opponent who had fallen down even further. He wasn''t out of breath or even looking to be fatigued in the slightest....How is someone his size overpowering someone as huge as Captain Zhengtilly? He''s not a mage...He''s a warrior with voiceless healing magic...This is rare...This is something that could shock the Central colonies as well I''ve never seen such a rare class before. Just what could be this person''s background? It''s too strong to be a Guardian!...I know of their being geniuses from the Central Colonies and some of the legends of our time exist there...But not even I''m sure of hearing of such a strong combination of power and healing like this. Not to compete with Zhengtilly with such minimal effort unless he''s someone of incredible influence that even Myro must dare not offend.... "Hah! Impossible my strength is over 9,000. I''ve trained my whole life and ranked 4th strongest in the entire Myro Kingdom in hand to hand combat! There is no way a puny mage can stand my Frozen Tundra Fist Technique!" - Captain Zhengtilly "Hah...it''s over 9000!!!...Oh you wouldn''t get it....but again sounds cool...Impressive stats for around here....but results stay the same." - ?." The enemy leader didn''t seem bothered by Zhengtilly''s statement at all and merely shook his hands jokingly. ''He''s strong. Even now he looks casual and unafraid of his Zhengtilly''s fist entirely...Perhaps he really is stronger than those demi humans beside him.'' "Ah!...Ah! Even if I die I won''t let you live past this day boy!!!" - Captain Zhengtilly With one swift motion from Captain''s hand he made a movement and leaned right and then swung his left hand in an odd slashing motion. Even if the enemies leader movements were very quick and lightning fast Captain Zhengtilly still seemed to have an air of confidence when trying to attack his opponent. Crunch.... "AHAHA!!! ¡­...And with this....You die! " - Captain Zhengtilly After the Captain had backed away he had shown the image of his smaller opponent holding his chest which had a small dagger with an ornamented handle pressed into the heart of the enemy. I thought it was a horrible breach of the agreement but at this point I could only breathe a sigh of relief. But what is to possibly happen to everyone now?.....Just what did Captain Zhengtilly have in mind next? We''re each all immobilized and there is still all those ferocious wolves to worry about. I looked up at each of them and they looked incredibly angry. I could hear some of their growls through the loud thunders but they aren''t moving at all from where they stood. The small glowing demi humans too were.....smiling? ''Wait what is going on?....'' "He....he was hiding a weapon?" - City Guard "He...He killed him!" - Mayor "¡­.Hmph....." - ? "Don''t look at me like that....For making yourself an enemy of Myro only death will await you. Even if I die today I can die with honor as vanquishing an enemy of our great Kingdom of Myro. I will die with glory as you will simple die without a grav............" - Captain Zhengtilly Falkner stopped talking as if he had just choked on his own tongue looking at what was in front of him. "Guards! Now is our chance... Everyone kill these wicked beasts and we can overwhelm them with numbers!" - City Guard "Yes! Kill the beasts first! Try to save the some of the women! Go now everyone grab a weapo........what?!" - City Guard Captain''s words then ran short as all the surrounding chatter immediately died down. Now all that could be heard was the loud rain pounding against the soft dirt and soft snickering in the distance... The enemy leader who had a dagger pressed tightly against his chest had casually placed his hand upon the handle and slowly pulled it out effortlessly..... He did it all while staring at the red stained blue blade in his hands as if curious over it but showed now sense of pain or anger whatsoever. ''Wha...what''s happening?'' "I was wondering when you were gonna take that hidden weapon out. Hmmm Mithril....Must have gotten this from that war of yours with the Elves?....Well it''s sharp I''ll give ya that but useless against something like me....." - ? "....................." - Everyone As the enemy leader removed the weapon which must have pierced his heart yet no blood rained down from his wound. It didn''t even appear like this attack on him had caused him any pain at all and were acting normally.... His shirt hadn''t received even so much as a cut nor did he show any signs of dying. Seeing this I could feel my pupils shrink trying to comprehend what I just saw. I squinted my eyes and noticed his health was at full. Only 3 marks ''???'' stood over his full health which is all we could hope to obtain with the low Acquire ability I have. ''How is this happening?....How is this happening? Why is he not dead? Not even hurt?!'' "What? Have I lost too much blood I must be hallucinating cough...cough..." - Captain Calder Calder struggled to raise his head and too was unable to comprehend what we were just seeing. Is this person even human? I''m aware of some strong healing magic even from the higher ups of the largest Churches but....None of them can do anything like what we''re all seeing right now. Healing Magic that can make even a fatal strike into something meaningless? "Yahhhugh! ...What? Is he...Is he a monster? Why is he still standing? " - Mayor "Ho.....how? Magic? Was your shirt a magical item? Or is it perhaps....You healed yourself even with a knife through your heart? I...I.....how...HOW! You?....." - Captain Zhengtilly Captain''s eyes were bloodshot and his face was drained of all color as if he had saw the face of a one those horrid beasts who ate all of our comrades. He couldn''t fathom how his plan had all crumbled to the ground just before his eyes and his last sliver of hope had died with him. The enemy leader who was still smiling then spoke which even through the rain and roaring thunder....We heard every word he said so clearly. The voice that echoed behind his own was something......evil. The sound of it sent goosebumps down my spine and felt as if my heart were being gripped by the dreaded Reapers of the Netherworld. Even those of his own group started to stare towards him with looks of caution on their faces and everyone was simply too afraid to move. "Hmph....Aw I didn''t think you''d be one to complain about us breaking the rules I mean come on now you just stabbed me in the heart......You know what I honestly can''t stand?......" - ? As the enemy leader started to walk towards the slowly retreating Captain Zhengtilly every soul within the Colosseum held their breath. To his question no one dared say a word. The rain and lightning blanketed the skies and shook with just as much strength as this persons words. However with every sound of his rising voice sent shivers down each of our spines. Whatever this person is...He''s not human. He can''t be....He can''t be....he...he can''t be.... ''¡­.....'' "¡­.It''s the MEDIOCRITY!......Talk like your justified and somehow in the right just because of your titles....With such.......LITTLE POWER!!!.....You stand over those weaker than you and force them into whatever fate you desire. You don''t for one second even think about the possibilities of someone...Something far more powerful than you coming in and treating you with just as much viciousness. It''s like your all stupid! With a world so violent and so big how could you dare to be so heartless to others and not expect a grim fate to arrive at your door some day...And you beg for justice, for mercy?...... It doesn''t matter who your daddy is...It doesn''t matter if you have hundreds of thousands and strong allies to stand with you...You think I cared that you hid a weapon in your waste pocket? You think I care if I have to fight you bare handed? Or without armor as if you could gain some sort of advantage? As I said the end result will always remain...... the same. If you only could see it from my perspective ......I could kill each of you with a THOUGHT!" - ? As his voice started to grow deep and give off a powerful echo that didn''t even seem human no one was able to take their eyes away from what we were seeing. Whoever this person was had an incredibly violent nature directed towards not only Aldain but even Myro it seems like. Just what did we do to anger such a person? ''Oh for the love of Lugh what is this monster! There''s blood on that dagger how is he not affected in the slightest from being stabbed in the heart? There''s no way he''s human? Magic can''t do that can it?! I''ve heard of simply godlike magical spells from the Central Continent but something like this? ¡­..Wha, what is he?!'' With the downpour currently attacking our bodies and causing us to tremble. Just as he finished speaking he lifted up his hand and pointed over to the left of where I was laid down. I peered over and then saw there standing hesitatingly was Falkner holding onto a woman''s neck firmly with his large bruised fists. He looked haggard but he firmly pressed his fists into the women''s thin neck as she desperately fought for air. "Stop where you are or...or ¡­.or I''ll kill this one here! With all that talk you act like you¡¯re the hero then if you try anything at all I''ll fucking kill this innocent girl right here in front of you! You here me! Let''s see if your one to judge who is good and who is wrong! You''re fast but what do you want to bet I''m faster you little bastard!" - Captain Zhengtilly "Captain...Zhengtilly....How do you....stand without a spine?!! - Captain Calder "What are you doing?! Put her...ah.....down!" I tried to fight the pain I was currently in and screamed towards the Captain but he didn''t even seem to pay any interest. The look in his eyes were that of a person who had truly gone insane and was desperately trying to cling to life. The woman tried to beg for her life but couldn''t get out any of her words as she was trying to fight for air. "Hmph, that''s what I get for messing around I suppose....." - ? "Put down my grandaughter right now you hethon!" - Old Woman "Everyone shut up! Now I want a horse! And I''m going to take this person with me and if you or any of those fucking demi humans of yours comes close enough to where I can smell them! I''ll kill the girl you got that?" - Captain Zhengtilly ''You shameless bastard! You are trying to leave us! '' The enemy then smiled back towards Captain Zhengtilly who had lost almost all the color in his face. "Hah! What you think I don''t dare? I can see how much you don''t want me to hurt the little lass here so just give me a horse and I''ll...." - Captain Zhengtilly "No....." - ? With a soft voice with such an unworldly echo reached to each of our ears through the loud thunderous strikes. The enemy leader didn¡¯t take his sights of the tall stature of Captain Zhengtilly. "You!..you think I won''t do it?" - Captain Zhengtilly The Captain then firmly choked the young maiden in his arms harder and her face started to turn purple. "Captain Zhengtilly I orignally thought you were quite admirable for standing up for those of your own men but now I find you quite repulsive. You go against your own words as a Knight of your Kingdom and tried to stab me for what? So your name would have some glory with it when you died? What of your men if you were successful in killing me? Even if you didn''t know if I wouldn''t kill them by just my words wouldn''t your actions leave there to be no other alternative?.... Then at the first chance you get you throw away your honor as a Knight you''re so proud of!... Try to take a hostage. Was that whole rant about you wishing for your comrades safety all bull? You speak so highly of yourself being in the right after such actions and have the nerve to call me a monster?.. Yet in your final moments you throw away all else and only think for yourself ¡­.Hah, like I said, you warriors from Myro seem to do a lot more talking than fighting and it''s just all garbage.... you think about that whenever you wake up in the next life." - ? To these words Zhengtilly made a troubled look and opened up his mouth but couldn''t seem to find the words to speak. Then his entire body twitched and jolted. The enemy leader then raised his hands and formed a strong fist BOOOOOOOOM!!!!! With a loud ''bang'' the head of Captain Zhengtilly exploded and showered the area in a mist of blood and flesh. All that remained was the kneeling headless corpse of the once famed Captain of the Elite Infernal Blood Knights. Blood continued to rain and spill out of his open head and blanket those who were kneeling not far away from him. He lifelessly fell over and his body hit the ground with a loud thud. I could feel as if my entire heart were about to burst from out of my chest. Just where did he learn such world defying power?! Is..Is this the power of...of a.... Sage? He then turned and looked towards the crowd who was currently unaware of what they had witnessed and were frozen in place. The young maiden who had fallen back to the ground was covered in blood and had a look of shock on her face but she more so looked happy to be alive. The old grandmother then rushed to her side and held onto the girl and they both cried in each other''s arms. Just then the enemy leader then raised his other hand up into the air and I could hear the sounds of those around me cry out. "Houghhhhh!!! Acchchchchh!" - ? "AHH!!H!H!...AH..aH..ah......No..no...nnnnono." - ? "Mercy!! Ple...please my lor..lord... Have mercy!" - ? Each of those adorned in Aldain armor rose up and started to levitate in the air shaking and firmly grasping their chests convulsing. Their voices seemed horse as if they couldn''t breath or were trying to fight for air. "To those of the Sneering Ogre Guild and all those of the Aldain City Guard.... For all of the sins you have done in this world I will no longer allow you to remain in it. Honestly, not a single one of you doesn''t have blood on your hands. Though I am not a Holy man I feel justified enough to end each of your lives this day and rid the world of your filth. I sentence you all to death...." - ? He waved his hands around in a series of motions and the hundreds of city guards began to shake and contort violently. BOOOOOOOM! Splaaattttt! Each of the Captains and I turned my head at an awkward angle that my torn body allowed me and noticed a horrifying sight that looked to be out of a nightmare. The eyes of all those same floating guards were missing and had blood endlessly streaming out from their mouths an empty eye sockets. At least a hundred of Aldain''s soldiers were killed by some form of magic and died horrifically right in front of me. I hadn''t heard a single word from the enemy leader but knew just by his previous actions that he was the cause over every one of their deaths. "Is...is this magic? Or....the...the power of a god? This!" - Captain Calder "Wha...what happened? Tel....tell me?" - Captain Theodore ''What? What is this thing?! There was no damage done with that attack at all simply death with a few hand movements....How? Why?Why?WHY?WHY?WHY!!!!!!!! WHY DID I HAVE TO COME HERE!? I''m so terrified....I just want to go home...I just want to go home......'' I could only feel each of these chilling images one after the other continue to shock me to my very core. There were no casting spells nor chants? His mastery over magic was.....Boundless he used it in the same way a monster would and create a magical law enternally ! These are warriors we cannot compete with? Who is this amazingly powerful person? Where did they even come from? And why now? I couldn''t even think straight my mind was racing of every decision I ever made that lead me to this place. The white haired man then waved his hands and each of the Aldain men were then hurled back to the ground as if they were all garbage. ''Is this a dream? This must be a dream? Just what is this horrifying magic?! Is it even magic or the judgment of some all powerful and vengeful deity? Humans can''t even wield such power.... I''m dreaming! I''m dreaming! I must be dreaming! With the appearance of those horrible giants I must be going insane and this pain attacking my body isn''t real at all! That must be it! That must be it!'' Each of these events that have happened today will forever haunt me. I felt as if I were losing my mind. The fear over what I was seeing was simply enough to invade into my soul and make me unable to even look in this strong figures sight. I may never recover from the trauma that is currently eroding my heart and will inevitably continue on in my nightmares even in the next life. I couldn''t stop shaking and then the enemy leader looked towards me and smiled. I shuttered violently and I felt as if all the blood in my face had left me at that moment. I only looked at the dirt in front of me and closed my eyes. "Me..me..mercy...mercy...please......please....." For what felt like a long time no words were spoken but I then started to hear gasps and chatter from some of those around me. When I looked up the same figure was standing before me but as my eyes neared his face I now saw that there covering his face was in fact a white mask with a dauntingly frightening grin.... "Looks like you all found me....." - Vali Upon the realization of who the man we had been chasing and the violent killer to show simply unfathomable powerful magic were in actuality the same person. ''Him? Him? The masked man we had been searching for who was rumored to have killed Lord Lestat from the higher ups? Why would Commander Adel think we could possibly find and attack an enemy like this. This is the reason there were so many troops gathered on this mission!!! General Warren even stated not to approach him, he even knew this person could have been potentially this dangerous! Have they angered a monster that hides deep within the mountains of the continent? Or invited the wrath of the heavens?'' Just by the sight of this masked figure bending over facing me in such a violent storm felt like a lightning bolt had suddenly struck my head and I could only tremble in fear staring back towards the godlike being breathing in my face. I tried to move back but my heart was simply panicking to the extent I couldn''t even remember how to move. End of Chapter Ok so i''ll never have a chapter this long again but enjoy. This story has a way of growing longer the more I write it seems.... The story will however start to get pretty intense here pretty soon..... New characters and villains will be introduced and you''ll find that each species and strong figure has different and unique combination of abilities, items and magic effects that make them all a force to be reckoned with. Some who will test the mc mentally rather than physically. There are plenty of other blessed beings with growth correction with strong builds who have come to power in this world with their own legends and strong techniques. Thinik of the Pixies....before it was just a skill that shared their lives. Once they gained a legendary skill to regenerate they become a completely new force to be reckoned with....The world will have a lot of figures like that who might be introduced soon. They each will hold great power but not necessarily have the ability to kill the other for so long because each is considerably strong... just what situations and conversations that would lead into... Looking for more editors! Looking for maybe an artist to make a cover for me maybe if interested? Thanks again everyone! Don''t forget to leave a long comment about you''re thoughts. Description Page Hey guys just thought I''d give ya a little updated Description page. While I''ve updated some info here and there again remember this is just what is currently known in the world currently. It can be subject to change as more information is given and revealed as the story goes on. (CURRENT CHANGES!) While I did say I wouldn''t make a habit of making much changes to the current story until I go back and polish, clean and redo old chapters to help the flow of the story go much better....I will also try to make changes here and there to help in explaining the story better or whenever I''ve thought out something and decided a change is necessary. - Skill Mastery System has now been changed and the Adept stage has been added between the Advanced Stage and the Expert Stage. It will not effect the current storyline and everyone who are Advanced, Expert and Masters have not changed at all. (I will not make a habit of changing the world laws but also I feel this will help out later on in some explanations here and there.) While I have read a lot of your comments and reviews I realize there are a lot of things I need to polish and fix about this story but at the same time I''m not going to listen to every single suggestion as this is my story. Many people think Vali is too cautious and already too OP but that is only because of what you ''the reader'' have been able to see so far. I threw you into a world in which Loki''s influence caused Vali to sort of ''leap frog'' over the earlier levels and his origins and blessings sort of boosted that as well. There are plenty of other legends in this world, powerful cheat like items and skills that are just insane. A lot of people think the story is broken simply because I didn''t want to reveal so much of that yet but there are Blessed Beings with Time abilities, Immunity to Elements things that are just....I won''t ruin the fun but I decided to add some slight spoilers in this description so you can get a slightly better understanding with a couple of the races having their own hidden talents and what not. I also haven''t gone into the higher mastery systems vs say someone with just a higher level either but I was planning to throw it into next chapter instead of the last ones. I''ve also decided to throw a few scenes introducing a few characters and figures here and there earlier than I originally intended to maybe showcase that. But don''t worry...I''m still learning how to write. It''s almost been one year since I started this story and I can honestly say after this one year.....I''m not a very good writer, but I am a pretty good story teller. So give me some time and understand that some things that I don''t properly explain or reveal will come in time. I even plan to add some chapters inbetween Vali killing the Lord of the Forest and his meeting with Malthiel whenever I rewrite some of this story to fix some of the pacing issues. If I mess up here and there I will polish and fix it eventually because I really like this story and I love this world. I still feel it''s a rough draft and so with that expect some changes like the one above but I promise I won''t make a habit of it and will do it only when I feel absolutely necessary....It''s still a rough draft but I hope you guys hang with me! Thanks again for reading, I threw in some extra content here and there that will also be introduced soon in the story as well so enjoy.... (Also...I''ve been talking with a badass artist that wants to do some artwork for us so perhaps we''ll have a cover soon for ya. Honestly I''m amazed with this guys work so I can''t wait to see what he''s going to do so be ready for that. Description Page (Updated) Magical Crystal Rankings: Green - > Blue - > Yellow -> Purple -> Red -> Black Weapon rankings: Normal - > Rare - > Unique - > Magic - > Ancient - > Legendary - > Phantasm - > Celestial - > Divine Holy Weapons or Items are considered Pseudo-Divine and can fit in between Ancient and Phantasm class items. They also cannot be placed into any inventory nor destroyed while the God is still alive. Skill mastery: Beginner -> Intermediate -> Novice -> Advanced -> Adept -> Expert -> Master -> Divine Monsters and other races can vary on personal skill trees. Dungeons: A place where Adventurers and all can come to test their courage and might for high rewards and treasure. Dungeons are always a place where one is at their most vulnerable, their level and status will be revealed to all. - Level Penalty only applies to Monsters of dungeon once one enters inside. Class Categories: 12 Combat Classes that constantly have a growing number of Subclasses that fit into each Class category. -Warrior: -Weapon''s Master: -Monk: -Assassin: -Ranger: (Hunter) (Archer) -Guardian: -Druid: -Cleric: (Priest) -Sorcerer: (Warlock) (Battle Mage) -Summoner: (Necromancer) (World Spiritualist) -Enchanter: (Bard) -Rare/Unique: (Hero) (Dark Lord) (Beast Tamer) Races Confirmed: Human Kingdom- Holds highest population in the world currently as well as the highest versatility in Class variations. Have largest number kingdoms and nations and are currently trying to expand to other continents. The Central Continent is where 4 great empires rule over the majority of the kingdoms and territories there. The Human Kingdoms also have high officials of rank in their society in both fighting and magic known as the 9 Legendary Heroes and the 12 Saints. They each stand as the pillars of the Human Kingdom and looked to almost as religious icons in some nations and cultures. Azure Cloud Dynasty ¨C (North West): - Made up of a Republic of Nations and unified armies. - Home of the largest Warrior Guild; (Knights of Middle Earth) Holy Alliance ( also known as the Holy Empire )- (North East) - Home of the Heavenly Sword Saint Kingdom of Kairo - (South East) - Home of the famous Shield Hero Rose Empire - (South West) - Matriarchal society, highest reigning official is the Empress of Rose also known as the Ring Hero. - Home of the Earth Saint ''Immortal Amura'' There are also a large number of Experts, Sages, Blessed Beings and powerful Guilds who operate within the Human Kingdom as well. 12 Saints (Identified) - Saint of Thunder: Donner - Earth Saint: Amura - Heavenly Sword Saint: Name Unknown 9 Legendary Heroes (Identified) Each weapon has their own abilities and characteristics that give aid to the Hero or even their own party in ways that far exceed any weapons if the same class. (While Abgrund rises the dark abilities,even stats due to increase in Dark Magic, in some cases, some of the Hero Weapons have similar benefits to the wielder in different effects for each of them.) - Ring Hero - Sword Hero - Shield Hero Elf Kingdom- A race that is united under one Elven Queen in the Eastern continent. Are a race that is said to not be a physical race but one that is more of a spiritual one. Said to have originally came from Alf¨ªem and settled here long, long ago. While some of their ages can almost said to be eternal it is not currently known if this race has a life expectancy. Very adept in magic and receive large benefits from earth spirits in the Sacred Forest in which the majority of their race live. Due to their strength in magic as well as warfare they haven¡¯t yielded the eastern continent yet fully to the humans, though for unknown reasons a majority have holed themselves away from other races for a long time. They are viewed as Demi-Human to all other races but Vali claims he finds that odd as they are simply too old and different from other demi-humans to consider them alike. He however has considered them to be...''Cool.'' However after meeting a few dark elves he currently doesn''t hold much good thoughts toward their race at all. - Home to several Blessed Beings as well as powerful figures that originally came from Alf¨ªem. - High Magical Affinity Dwarf Kingdom- Race of small humanoid like race that are adept in handcraft and blacksmith related work. Though small they have incredible strength. Large number of their population live under the rule of 8 Dwarf Kings in the Western continent living deep within the mountains. Due to the strict environment surrounding the mountains, not many other races come into contact with them for a long time. - Said to be brilliant crafters while also vicious in battle. - Some are known to wield powerful War Hammers capable of destroying the durability of equipment on contact. - Home of the famed Dwarf King that is said to have such a strong Earth Affinity he has a high control over metal. Demon Race: A race said to be the descendants of an old race of beings that came here long, long ago. Their ancestors were extremely strong and durable to the point that all the Gods had to come together just to push them back and stopping them from killing them all. Loki considered them to be wild beasts roaming on the battlefield and causing havoc and claimed they killed many gods in the old war. Even with the power of all the gods uniting they were unable to slay the leaders of the Demon race which have now been looked to and revered as gods themselves. They live in the northern continent and stay to themselves. Alongside the western continent, the north has been unsettled in its entirety by the human population. They are under the rule of one Demon Emperor alongside his Demon Lord and several demon kings. They pass down special and unique abilities in their family clans that make them monstrously more powerful than the other demons around them. Said to have low birth rates but naturally live longer and have higher aptitudes than most of the human population. While the humans consider all to be the same race there are differences in their society: Ancient Demon- Said to be the original Angels who fell from Heaven alongside Lucifer in the first war. Like Angels/Fallen Angels they two have vessels which contain their true forms which are destructive to even look at. - Sacred-Blooded Devil- Spawn of two Ancient Demons. Not the same as the offspring of two gods since Ancient Demons/Angels/Fallen Angels were never intended to procreate. - (100% of Ancient Demon blood) - Pure-Blooded Devils- Spawn of 1 Ancient Demon parent with any Devil. - (50% of Ancient Demon blood) -Royal Devils-Offspring of 2 pure-blooded devils or 1 Ancient Demon with another race. (25% - 50% of Ancient Demon blood) -Noble Devils/Demons- Offspring of 1 Pure-blooded devils with another Devil / Demon. ( < 25% of Ancient Demon blood) -Demons- Offspring of Devils with humans or any other races. - (Lowest % of Ancient Demon blood) Beast Man Species: Species much like Demi-humans but show their beast traits much more than demi-humans do. Sub Species: Aker Race: Race of humanoid lion-like beast man species. Very large and fearsome. Currently the Beast King in the southern Continent is ran by a member of this race, though not much is known about them at all. It is only said that they hold the power to suppress all the powers of the Human Kingdoms from advancing on their territory for over a thousand years. Arachnee Race: They are entirely female race and must mate with males from other races for them to survive. They have the lower form of a spider and the upper form of a human female. Though some show their traits more than others. Very strong and adept in close quarters combat and can see quite easily in the dark. - High Control type fighting. Demi-Human: Hold second highest population next to humans. Have very many different subsets of their species but are still considered different than the beast man species as they are for the most part humanoid. Due to the large number of differences and social orders between them, they are not united as a whole and were crumbled by the united forces of the human race in the eastern continent. - Sub Set Species Confirmed: Neko Race: Catlike race with many different kinds of different lineages. All lineages however have great eyesight and are said to actually adopt more catlike traits than human ones. High evasion Reiki Race: White Tiger Race, not much is known about them currently. - High Elemental Defense Annanuke Race: White Wolf Race, One of the few divine races of Demi-Human said to be created by a God wolf long ago. Said to have fur tougher than steel and magic imbued in their claws and fangs. -High Agility -Strong Defense from their thick fur that is as tough as steel. -Claws Ignore 100% of All kinds of Defense. Adler Race: Humanoid Bird-like race. Has feathers coming out of hair and head looking similar to a war chief headdress. Has sharp talons and large wings giving them the ability of flight. -High Ariel Agility Elkia Race- Deer like demi-human race known to be highly intelligent and majestic. They are noticed by their large white antlers that come out of the of their heads and give off a faint light. They are known to be adept in healing, and light magic (Barrier). Pixie Race: Short demi human race that resemble thin hobbits with fairy like wings on their backs with pointed ears. Known to be quite mischievous and are adept in illusion magic, though are not very strong physically. -Strong Magic Affinity -High Illusion Magic -Hildr Pixies: -Fought alongside the strongest Valkyrie in existence, Byrnhildr, in Ancient times -High Growth Potential -Magical Absorption Jiji Race: Race of small demi humans. Though their heads and faces are covered in white or brown fur, they have the torso and appendages of a small human. The hair is so bushy it is hard to distinguish a face as it looks like they have bushy facial hair as well. Their feet are quite big for their body and have patches of fur on their hands and feet. Though they are small and not powerful physically as a race, they are very good with their hands and enjoy making things. -High Crafting skills Ruffian Race: dog like race of demi human. Usually not known to be very adept in magic but naturally have a great sense of smell and tracking abilities. Vampire Race: Not much is known other than they live in the dark lands which is in the northern tip of the eastern continent. They don''t travel outside of their home but are considered to be very dangerous. Once ancient humans who would worship the blood god Shemzu, would drink blood to gain extraordinary power only to turn into a new race entirely. -High Agility -High Magic Ability -Weakness to Light Damphir - a demi human race that is part human, part vampire. Not as strong as a pure blooded vampire but doesn''t share the same weakness to sunlight. -Strong Agility -Low Magic Ability -No Weakness to Light Aureum Hunds ¨C race of demi human said to have left Middle Earth long ago to live alongside their God Lugh inside the interior of his Golden Sun. (After gold has received the light from Lugh this race can use this gold as a sacrifice as a way to increase their abilities heavily. Once skill is used the Cooldown time however is large and the Costs to use this skill will increase in the sacrifices needed after every use. Gold is said to be transported to another location but the location is unknown.) -Fought alongside Lugh in Ancient times. -High Strength -High Defense Character Page Humans: Vali- Our troubled hero. Travels to a distant place simply to find what he¡¯s lost. All so he can return home and reunite with that he holds most dear. The hero however quickly finds this new world of magic and make believe is never what he originally thought to be and is a constant tug on his already fragile heart. He craves for power to protect those he wishes to save only to walk down and even more dangerous road. The time spent alone for him may have been more damaging to his psyche than he currently realizes but continues on to hopefully one day reunite in heaven with his family. Vali however is finding his journey to becoming a god is a road quite less traveled, filled with blood and death. Cassandra Kraiser: (Female Knight): Blonde hair and blue eyed and considered to be the beauty of the royal knights. She is not the highest level of the knights in Asher but she is quite well known for coming from a prestigious noble family that has long since been revered for their masteries in the sword. Rank 11 Master Shen: Turquoise short spiky hair with scars riddled down his face and body. He however wears them with pride and thinks they make him look quite cool. He also has a large metallic arm that is a prosthetic and was given to him after he was in a horrific monster attack. Regardless of his injuries and being the oldest of all the royal knights however. He is known to be the strongest in the entire Kingdom of Asher. Though he has never seen battle, he has never once lost in a 1 on 1 duel, which is why everyone just refers to him as Master Shen. When kingdoms and guilds sought out his strength he simply sought for a life of simplicity. He became a royal knight to the King of Asher who was his childhood friend. Becoming a royal knight allowed him to not accept the hundreds of duel requests he would receive daily and considered it the only way to have people leave him alone. He soon found out however that there was a lot more work in becoming a knight but has learned to enjoy his role as the kingdom¡¯s strongest. Rank 1 Sumei: Not much is known about this mysterious woman who has been taken under Shen¡¯s care as a student. She however takes her role as a Knight of Asher as great honor and uses all of her strengths to protect the King and Queen. She has long black hair and wields a black katana that was said to be made form a sea war beast. Rank 2 Shakko: Another member of the Royal Knights of Asher and is considered to be ¡®the oddball¡¯ of the knights. No one to this day knows what he looks like since he always wears a ceramic mask to cover it up. He is however a master of daggers and hidden weapons. Once an vigilante in the kingdom of Asher he hunted down and killed criminals of the kingdom with his own hands. A lot of crime families around the kingdom want his head which is why he agreed to become a Knight of Asher and to protect the King and Queen. Rank 6 Sting- Adventurer from the central continent who was defeated and bound by Vali. He is strong with poisons and is known to be quite skilled with a spear. He has long green hair and is considered to be a nice man by Ari and Elyria. Lucy- Thought of as a tomboy princess but in all actually just doesn¡¯t obey rules very well. Vali doesn¡¯t know how to treat her currently but she finds him to be fascinating and wants him to become her own personal knight. Kaylan: Vali¡¯s sister and currently somewhere in the new world that Vali has found himself in. She too has been on adventures too and according to Loki has taken many adventures. Loki however said he wanted Vali to come here alone to find strength in his own way before reuniting with her. --------------------- Divine/Demi Devine Loki-God of Mischief and Trickery. Has chosen Vali as his champion but also found a loophole in the ancient treaty amongst gods finding a way to have two champions. His other being his sister Kaylan. He is a master of spatial magic and wields the mighty staff Gungir. Hjokk- Valkyrie of Storms and watcher over Vali during his time in becoming stronger. She was made for battle so she doesn¡¯t comprehend human emotion quite as well but is slowly understanding more of it being close to Vali for so long. She continues to stay in her small purple crow form even after Vali has pointed out she doesn¡¯t have to anymore. Skuld: Valkyrie who was sent to protect Kaylan during her time on middle earth. Not much is known about her currently other than Loki thinking she was ''mean''. Balor: A fallen Dark God who has been given the title of Mad God. Capable of creating armies of darkness easily he only wishes to bring the world into darkness and ruin to get back at the gods. He plans on unveiling his creations and Fomorians loose on the world to cause the gods to either descend or lose everything. He however has the ability to see through anything due to his all seeing eye. He was even capable of seeing all the skills Vali had and knew how they worked more than he did. Malthiel: One of the Four Kings of Death. Beings who fought in the Ancient War of the Gods and were so adept in death they were thusly given the Title of Death themselves from those who fought them. Once a Reaper King which is similar to a Vaklyrie, though masters in Death Magic, and was the right hand and body guard to the God of the Underworld Hades. After being killed by Vali and Hjokk Vali absorbed his core into him and then took his weapon. Balor however warned Vali of this saying he was a being who has killed more people than his race even had a number for, and implied that he didn''t have the ability to contain such an ancient being. --------------------- Arachnee: Queen Nhaili- Very knowledgable and enjoys reading like a large majority of her race. Her race enjoys collecting information from other races and finds Vali to be very peculiar while also having very tasty blood. Reinma- Mother of Karma and was saved by Vali on floor one. While her and her races were saved by Vali she is constantly surprised by his treatment of even her race as they are usually looked at with slight reverence normally. Karma- Reinma''s daughter. Fuch Race: Elyria- Vali¡¯s mother now that he has arrived in a new world but not much is known about her life in the forest. All Vali has come to know so far is that his mother was once considered to be something as a high shaman in her village but he thinks her understandings with magic are the most he¡¯s seen in anyone yet other than Loki. Sasha- A Fuchs slave that was once in the same tribe as Elyria. She was once bought by a rich and powerful noble who would use his power and authority to buy and abuse slaves for his amusement. She eventually decided it was enough and tried to flee with her fellow slaves but two of them died before her and her fellow slave Neko were later captured. She was then bought by Vali. Iris- Elyria¡¯s daughter. She was separated from Elyria not long after birth and sold into slavery. She is roughly around 8 years old. Jiji Race: Henley- Jiji who had lost his mate in the Balor''s dungeon and was once an inhabitant of Floor One with his daughter Joxen. Is known to be able to make things out of some of the worst materials and still make houses, items and equipment that have a decent level of durability to it. Pek- Looked at as the leader of the Jiji race even though they don¡¯t have any social order of leaders in their society. He is however revered as one of the more brilliant minds to have ever lived in Balor''s hidden dungeon. Not many people can understand him which makes him a grump but compared to the other jiji his speech is even more difficult to understand. He however is in the expert stages of several skills he uses to make top class armor that has never before been seen in the outside world. Adler Race Kirah- Current king of the Adler race however there are still oppositions to the crown. She however is from a particular race of Adler that is said to have lineages from a legendary beast, the gryphon. Her strength like all other Adlers is far and beyond the other races and covets in having one of the highest Attack Power, in the dungeon. Regardless of her tough exterior she is considered to be breathtaking by the MC as she herself looks divine. With golden hair, eyes and wings everything she wears is also adorned in gold. She loves her little sister Ikaros more than any other and hopes to one day be able to leave the dungeon with her. She likes Vali for his willingness to heal her sister without any purpose to himself other than because he wanted to do so. Ikaros- Small Adler girl whom Vali attempted to heal. She has bright purple eyes and small purple feathers that have started to fall from her body. She lost the ability to fly when her feathers started to fall off and due to a birth defect was even unable to speak. Knowing this however her father Griphlocke threw her from a high location during her right of passage to test if she could fly or not. She however survived but was abandoned for not being strong enough. She however was rescued by her older half sister Kyrah and placed under the protection and care of Gwen. Her brain damage has now finally been healed and now gets to speak to her sister for the first time. Gwen (Mother Hen) - Gwen is an Adler woman who no longer fights but has chosen another role in the dungeon she has been trapped in. Gwen runs a small home for children who have lost their parents in Balor''s dungeon and takes care of them. Alec- Four winged Adler who works directly under King Kyrah. Is said to have an odd personality but that is mainly due to the fact that he doesn''t talk much. Annunake Race Adimar- A once proud warrior who fought on the front lines in a dungeon. He is a member of the legendary god wolf race and appears to be a large 8 foot tall white wolf. He stands on two legs and appears to be a humanoid wolf with high intelligence. He has been through constant battles and struggle that has forged him into dignified warrior. He once rose to the highest rank as Alpha of his entire race, but was then stripped of all authority after an accident that happened on one of the floors of Balor''s dungeon. While after the fall of Balor many of the Annunakes now are higher level than the current Alpha Unit, it is still believed Adimar is currently Ranked 1st in the Elite Alpha Unit and possibly still the entire pack. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Akino- Adimar¡¯s niece. She is 19 with long white hair, ears, and a tail. She prides herself in being the fastest of the Annunakes. She was once in line to marry Adimar¡¯s brother in law who was also of the Elkia race. Due to her mate later turning out to a puppet has affected her with the opposite sex. She is currently ranked 7th in the Elite Alpha Unit. Alderon- Alpha Elite and wields a massive sword over his back and like many of his fellow Annunakes are in the Expert stages of his form of combat. Currently Ranked 4th in the Elite Alpha Unit. Grayfia- Alpha Elite who wields twin spears and is currently ranked 3rd in the Elite Alpha Unit. Za Za- The younger sister of Grayfia and in the same generation of litter as Akino. Her white hair is buzzed on one side while the other has medium length hair that is braided behind her back. She is a Moonlight Guardian and tasked with the protection of the Elkia units in battle. She is now tasked by the Elders of the Annunake race to protect the Alpha''s family. Lilly- Small slave girl around 10 years old. She has the same features as other Annunake but doesn¡¯t seem to enjoy violence as she was once a slave for a short period of time with her brother. She was the first person Vali met in this world other than his mother and has slowly grown attached to him. Even with her brother¡¯s initial warnings she always saw Vali as a kind person. Pixie Race Cosmia- (Red Pixie) Queen of her race and is a master of illusion magic. She is however young and not the oldest of all the other pixies. She is coveted as the queen of her race and is looked at as royalty in her race. Regardless of this however she still seems to act similarly to all the other pixies. She thinks of Vali as also a part of their family. -Yellow Crystal- (Barrier Magic) King Hydra -Purple Crystal - (Defense) Adamantine Spider -Purple Crystal - (Healing) King Hydra -Red Crystal - (Ice Magic) Unknown Monster -Titan Tear - (Health) and (Divine Skill: Fire) Cyanin- (Turquoise Pixie) Once an inhabitant of floor one Vali saved her from the beginning stages of a powerful rot that diseased many of the pixies not long after their family had died. . She has now been promoted to a Pixie Elite and is the personal guard of Cosmia. She likes Vali and enjoys teasing him. -Green and Blue Earth Crystals -Yellow Crystal - (Barrier Magic) King Hydra -Purple Crystal - (Defense) Adamantine Spider -Purple Crystal - (Black Magic) -Titan Tear - (Health) and (Divine Skill: Fire) Tanin- ( Orange Pixie) Inhabitant on floor 1 and is the only pixie who received a yellow crystal from a monster that must have had strong fire ability. He can shoot out fire like a flamethrower out of his hands and now with the effects of the Adamantine spider his fire now has a new trait. He has now been promoted to a Pixie Elite after conquering several Floor One Devourer¡¯s Nests with his powerful flames. He currently is wearing Mithril armor that he too engulfs in his constant flames but doesn''t use weapons as his fire he shoots off like a flamethrower out of his hands. -Yellow Crystal - (Fire Magic) Fire Elemental -Yellow Crystal - (Barrier Magic) King Hydra -Purple Crystal - (Defense) Adamantine Spider -Titan Tear - (Health) and (Divine Skill: Fire) Vale- (Silver Pixie) Vale is one of the few Elite Pixie¡¯s left in the dungeon. She''s not much of a talker but is amongst the stronger pixies who were set to guard their Queen. Whenever Cosmia became the new queen Vale as well as the other pixies have joined in protecting her. She currently now is the only pixie with a lightning ability and is now revered as the strongest pixie with the highest level as well. She currently wears the Grootslang Shock Armor as well as an Adamantine spike given to her by Vali. -Yellow Crystal - (Barrier Magic) King Hydra -Purple Crystal - (Defense) Adamantine Spider -Purple Crystal - (Lightning Magic) Grootslang -Titan Tear - (Health) and (Divine Skill: Fire) Daisy- (Yellow Pixie) She doesn¡¯t enjoy getting up close in fights and scares easy. She however like all the other pixies enjoy playing games with everyone and playing pranks. To Vali he believes Daisy to be the gentlest pixie. Whenever the other pixies would play games for new armor or weapons that were given to them, she gave her rare armor away to those that could use it better. She however now has a unique ability that Vali says is ironic towards her name. After absorbing the white King Hydra¡¯s purple crystal, her healing abilities on herself and other pixies is unmeasurable. She always tends to stand next to Vali whenever he is around. -Green, Blue, Yellow and Purple Earth Crystals -Green Crystal - (Poison) King Hydra -Yellow Crystal - (Barrier Magic) King Hydra -Purple Crystal - (Defense) Adamantine Spider -Purple Crystal - (Healing) King Hydra -Titan Tear - (Health) and (Divine Skill: Fire) Kai- (Purple) One of the Pixie Elite and the strategist of the Hildr pixies in Balor''s hidden dungeon. He currently wears the Grootslang Shock armor as well as wields an Adamantine spike given to him by Vali. Known to be the strategist of the Pixies and has come up with several formations that incorporate the new skills the Pixies are capable of gaining through their Crstyal Absorption ability. -Green and Yellow Earth Crystals -Blue Crystal - (Ice Magic) King Hydra -Purple Crystal - (Defense) Adamantine Spider -Purple Crystal - (Black Magic) King Hydra -Titan Tear - (Health) and (Divine Skill: Fire) Jade- (Dark Green)- One of the Pixie Elite and currently wears the Grootslang Shock armor and wields an Adamantine spike given to her by Vali. He however hasn''t had much interaction with her yet. -Green and Blue Earth Crystals -Green Crystal - (Poison) King Hydra -Blue Crystal - (Fire Magic) King Hydra -Blue Crystal - (Ice Magic) King Hydra -Purple Crystal - (Defense) Adamantine Spider -Titan Tear - (Health) and (Divine Skill: Fire) Cari- (White) Cari is one of the few remaining Bifrost pixies in this dungeon, but was not given the name Bifrost as she is the youngest of the 3 while there had never been more than 1 Bifrost Pixie at any given time. She has a bright white light that surrounds her with long flowing hair that resembles a rainbow. She is cherished by all of the pixies and treated unlike any other. Since birth she has been unable to walk but after meeting Vali she was healed from the Tears of a Titan. Not only can she now walk but her abilities have drastically increased and currently is the only pixie or character to have a ''divine'' skill. She currently is wearing the King Hydra''s Armor given to her by Vali that was created by Pek and the Arachnee. Vali considers her to be the kindest and most innocent pixie as not only how she is treated but how she treats others. -Green, Blue and Yellow Earth Crystals -Blue Crystal - (Ice Magic) King Hydra -Yellow Crystal - (Fire Magic) Fire Elemental -Purple Crystal - (Defense) Adamantine Spider -Purple Crystal - (Healing) King Hydra -Titan Tear - (Health) and (Divine Skill: Fire) Bifrost- (Black) One of the pixies who was kidnapped and experimented on by the Dark evles. She was given the name Bifrost like all the other Bifrost pixies before her until their race started to have more of their kind at the same time. She looks similar to her younger sister Cari but now has dark black pixie cut hair. During her time in captivity the Dark elves used her and the other pixies to create a particular rotting disease that eats away at magical power. Since pixies are practically made of magical power this was a death sentence to their race. For years she had been missing from her race and after finally being reunited with her family she only wishes to be able to protect them. She like all the other pixies who were kidnapped don''t like to be around any of the other races besides their own family and is rarely seen with others. While the violent acts portrayed by him were enough to scare her, she looks at Vali as the one who has saved all of her family from the very pits of hell, even if she is cautious to tell him herself. -Green and Blue Earth Crystals -Yellow Crystal - (Fire Magic) Fire Elemental -Purple Crystal - (Defense) Adamantine Spider -Purple Crystal - (Black Magic) King Hydra -Black Crystal - (Bone Magic & Black Magic) Bone Dragon -Titan Tear - (Health) and (Divine Skill: Fire) Uri- (Gold) One of the pixie elite who went missing while protecting Bifrost. He has dark skin with gold hair and looks different than any of the other pixies according to Vali. After failing to protect his family, he couldn''t even look towards his Queen blaming himself for his failures that lead to his family being captured, raped and tortured for months. Once hailed as the second strongest pixie continually would stand up and defend his family members who were being tormented in front of him only to take on the full brunt of aggression by his captors. When Vali and the rest of his family found him and the captures pixies he had lost the ability to even get up and had to be carried. -Green, Blue, Yellow and Purple Earth Crystals -Blue Crystal - (Ice Magic) King Hydra -Yellow Crystal - (Barrier Magic) King Hydra -Yellow Crystal - (Fire Magic) Fire Elemental -Purple Crystal - (Defense) Adamantine Spider -Titan Tear - (Health) and (Divine Skill: Fire) Freiki- (Pink) - Though he is male due to his color he was mistaken for female when he was kidnapped. After being forced to watch as his family was wrapped in chains and received constant abuse it turned Freiki from his once happy calm demeanor. He hates the Elves and the Annunake''s for allowing such atrocities occur to his beloved family. Even though he was never a pixie elite he fears nothing anymore after what the Elves and Diaga had done to him. Even though the other pixies who were saved are scared of Vali, Freiki was unaffected by the violence and was even thankful Vali had done the things he did. -Green and Blue Earth Crystals -Green Crystal - (Poison) King Hydra -Blue Crystal - (Fire Magic) King Hydra -Yellow Crystal - (Fire Magic) Fire Elemental -Purple Crystal - (Defense) Adamantine Spider -Titan Tear - (Health) and (Divine Skill: Fire) Jana- (Pink) - Once hailed as the strongest pixie before she was kidnapped along with her family and the one she was suppose to protect, Bifrost. She however through her time being tormented by the Annunake and Elves, remained the loving leader who tried to keep her family attached during their time in captivity. She is the older sister of Queen Cosmia and is also the oldest pixie in the dungeon currently. She loves her brothers and sisters more than anything else and that is the only reason she was able to mentally survive her horrific time with her captors. Regardless of the amount of abuse, violence, and experimentation she continually would try to step in and protect her family even in her weakened state. She is curious about who the man known as Vali is and how he was able to turn the pixies into something so different from her memory. She no longer trusts any other race besides her own but due to her families actions she is slowly coming around to talk to Vali and has discovered she along with her fellow siblings have become innately protective over him. -Blue Crystal - (Fire Magic) King Hydra -Yellow Crystal - (Fire Magic) Fire Elemental -Purple Crystal - (Healing) King Hydra -Purple Crystal - (Defense) Adamantine Spider -Titan Tear - (Health) and (Divine Skill: Fire) Reiki Race Malfius - 2nd strongest survivor in Balor''s hidden dungeon and race leader of the Reiki. Not much is known about him other than he is the leader of the Reiki race and father of both Meifeng and Ollierion. After Vali''s first fight with Meifeng he admitted she was stronger than him if not for his skills and thinks of Malfius as someone who would be able to defeat him if he ever got the first punch. He poses as the second highest health next to Vali while holding the highest defense in the dungeon. He as well as all the other Reiki build their resistance to elements while training their white tiger race into the ideal tank class immune to elemental magics. . Meifeng- Daughter of Malfius but chose to take the path of a sword. She joined the Eis Neko''s Dawn Bringers Corps and rose to one of the highest ranking officers in the faction. According to Vali she has spectacular sword skills but it almost pales in comparison to what she can do with her fists. She promised to help train Vali in sword mastery only to betray him and aid in his capture with the fellow Annunake''s but was then revealed to have been made into one of Balor¡¯s puppets. Ollerion - Son of Malfius and also joined the Dawn Bringers corps and is now the Commander of the Away team. He as well as all members of the away team continued to fight past the Great Wall on floor 52 to continue the fight against the beasts known as the Fomorians. He has long white hair with a black streak and bright blue eyes. He is more carefree than most officers in the Dawn Bringer''s though he fits in well with the other members of the Away team. Eis Neko Race Alysteir - Currently ranked 1 in the Balor''s hidden dungeon. Known to be on the Master stages with the sword and can even move as fast as the Annunake. She has long blue hair and curvy body that doesn''t show to be as deadly as she truly is. She once took on a floor boss by herself and came out victorious. Ecclaire - Captain in the Dawn Bringers Corpse. The first and only puppet that has been identified in the dungeon. Commander Erwin Locke - Commander of the Dawn Bringers Corps Away team. Regardless of the number of loss after loss he has received over his long life trapped in a dungeon he continues forward against giants with only his twin swords to someday bring he and his people the freedom they have never tasted since birth. Even when faced in front of Balor himself, Locke didn''t back down and even attempted to attack him which ended in failure. Malaki ¨C Was once the Race head of the Eis Neko''s and later found out to actually be a Dark Elf in disguise. He was later killed by Alysteir. (However recently it has been discovered that some Dark Elves who have been killed while controlling the body of another have been shown to still be alive.) Aker Race: Wahlrung Lionel ¨C The current head of the Beastman Tribes in the Southern Continent. Said to wield a pair of mighty Gauntlets on each arm that have become known as ''The God Fists''. Vampire Race: Lord Rahl ''The Impaler'' ¨C A name that once caused entire armies to retreat upon hearing it over 600 years ago in the Eastern Continent. One of the 17 Vampire Pillars and is considered to be immortal. Other characters Ari- A small slave girl who has been in slavery for the entirety of her young life. She was separated from her parents at birth and has what has caused Vali to slowly forget some of his past pains. When first meeting Vali she thought him to be the one who was taking her away to die but was later saved by him instead. She had extensive wounds and a skin eating disease that left her face and most of her body ruined whenever Vali first met her and she was so small that she could no longer stand. To her no one had ever gone as far to touch her or treat her so warmly as to feed her that she quickly warmed up to Vali sooner than all the other slaves. Ari sees Vali as the most important thing in her life while Vali sees her as someone that has slowly began to heal his past wounds. Comparing his life to hers makes his life''s problems seem not so bad. Ari and Vali have now grown very close over their constant time staying up late together while Vali helps her learn to speak. According to Loki, the Aureum Hunds aren''t built like other races and once they select a ''Master'' it is for eternity. Not even after death and leaving to the Netherworld has their loyalty ever been broken. Noah- Older brother of Lily but did not inherit the same genes of the Legendary Annunake race as his sister. He along with Lily were both attacked with their families by slavers from an unknown kingdom. They were then sold into slavery not long after. Before they could be separated however Noah managed to kill one of the slavers and allow for his sister to escape. He was later saved by Vali and reunited with his sister. He is currently learning to fight by Vali to be able to protect his only remaining family, Lily. Vali''s Current Stats/Skills
Status Window
Name ValiLevel 240
Race: Human Age: ???Sex: Male Job/Professions: N/A
Class Dark Lord
Titles Lord of the Forest, Slayer of Death, Death Canceler, Family of the Hildr Pixies, Hunter of the Grootslang, Slayer of the King Hydra, Creator of Miracles, Alpha of the Legendary Annunake, God Slayer, Dark Lord of the East, God Eater
Health 266,890Mana 572,330
Strength 18,380Intellect 30,310
Stamina 15,600Wisdom 21,225
Agility 15,780Defense 25,980 (+5,780)
Courage 68Luck 18,110
Battle Aura 996Endurance32
Indomitable Vitality 150Magic Defense 125
Magic Resistance 25%
Paralysis Resistance 3 %
Poison Resistance 13%
Immunity to Fear 43%
Elemental Resistances:
Fire: 30 % Earth: 6% Dark: 71 % Lightning: 7%
Water: 1% Wind 4% Light: 10% Void: 8 %
Ice: 3%
Bonuses ¡û-- / Skills / Items / Current Bonuses in effect: (During the Night) + 25% Rise in inflicting Fear onto an opponent. Title: God Eater + 20% Effectivity of Healing Magic ( Titles: Death Canceler, Creator of Miracles ) + 15% Effectivity of Darkness related Skills/Spells (During the Night) + 5% Immunity to Fear (During the Night) + 3%Darkness Resistance/Affinity (During the Night) ( Title: Dark Lord of the East ) Dark Lord Class: + 50% faster Mana Regeneration (During the Night) + 25% effectivity and strength of Fear inducing Skills/Spells - 15% Reduction to All Dark related Skill/Spell cost Gift of the Night +Dark Lord of East Title: +57.5% Rise in All Stats (During the Night) Hand to Hand Combat Mastery: Novice Level 1 + 50% Rise in Evasion and Attack Power while fighting unarmed + 40% Rise in Attack Speed while fighting unarmed White Tiger''s Thunderous Paw Technique: Level 1 ( 3% Completion) + 10% Bare handed Attack Power + 20% Bare handed Attack Speed Magic Defense: + 5,780 Defense * 50% rise in all general Attack Power due to increased knowledge in unarmed and multiple weapon masteries.
Skill List Divine Blessing of Loki: Spatial Magic Universal Language Acquisition Gift from the Darkness: Atramentous Nebula*???(Passive) Class Skills: Dark Lord''s Terror (Active) Gift of the Night (Passive) Glory of the Night (Active) Divine Skills*: Dark?Apparitions*?(Passive) Promethean March* (Active) Racial/Acquired?Skills: Achtung Vis?(Semi-Passive) Adamantine King''s Fortification (Active) Adamantine?Thread (Active) Bite (Active) Blade Tyrant (Active) Burrow?(Semi-Passive) Crescent Cleaver (Active) Dark Aura (Active) Dark Cloud (Active) Dark Pressure (Semi-Passive)?Stage 2 Dark Pulse (Active) Dark Spear?(Active) Dark Wave (Active) Death¡¯s Grip (Active) Decaying Mist (Abysmal)?(Semi-Passive) Demonic Absorption (Passive) Demonic Awakening (Semi-Passive) Dullahan Creation (Semi Passive) Grade C Echolocation (Active) Eclipse View (Semi Passive) Fire Ball?(Active) Flamethrower (Active) Flicker (Active) Grade 2 Fomorian Claw (Passive) Fomorian Hair (Passive) Gravity Spike (Active) Heat Control ( Hide Presence?(Semi-Passive) Hydra Regeneration (Passive) Ice?Coffin?(Passive) Ice Veins (Semi-Passive) Lightning Armor (Semi Passive)?Grade D Lightning Step (Semi-Passive) Limit Break (Active) Lord¡¯s Earth Shattering Smash (Active) Magic Manipulation (Passive) Mystic?Projection (Active) Moonlight Claw (Active) Night Vision (Active) Omega Tribulation (Active) Phase Shift (Semi-Passive) Pheromone Excretion?(Active) Poison Sky Domain (Active) Root Vein (Semi-Passive) Sense Presence (Semi-Passive) Grade 2 Soul Ripper (Active) Selfless Soul?(Active) Synesthesia?(Active) Temperature Control (Passive) Tool Creation (Passive) Tough Exterior (Semi Passive) Thunder Jammer (Semi Passive) Wind Claw (Active) Eclipse of the Unforgiving Night (Semi-Passive) Vampirism (Semi-Passive)?ii Learned Skills/Techniques: Cooking Mastery:?Advanced Level 1 -?Added Flavor (Passive Boost) - Glisten Effect (Passive) -? Knife Work - Beginner Level 1 Farming Mastery: Beginner Level?8 Freya¡¯s Soul Recovery: Novice Level 9 Hand to Hand Combat Mastery:?Novice Level 1 -?Powerful Strike (Active) -?Stunning Blow (Active) -?Quick Fists (Semi- Passive) Ingredient Identification Mastery:?Advanced Level 1 Negotiation Mastery: Beginner Level 2 Petting?Mastery: Beginner Level 1 Scythe Mastery: Intermediate Level?3 -??Slice (Active) -?Staff Strengthening (Semi-Passive) Sword Mastery: Beginner Level 1 White Tiger''s Thunderous Paw Technique: Level 1????(Passive + Active) Combined Skills: (Decaying Mist) + (Darkness Affinity) = (Abysmal Mist) (Freya''s Soul?Recovery) + (Cooking) + (Ingredient Identification) = (Niche''s Soul Cooking) (Dullahan Creation) + (Lightning Armor) = (Dullahan Storm Knights: Grade C)
Book 2; Chapter 3: A Darkness Awakening ... (Part 1) Hey guys...It''s been a while. Sorry about the long lapse. I had originally had in mind to post this chapter about 2 weeks ago but had some difficulties arise. **Please Read.... As you can probably read somewhere in the comments I spoke about how lately I''ve been getting a lot of bad feedback in my reviews that are written and so I had kind of went out of my way to correct some discrepancies or things that people where having trouble following in the story. But I kind of got out of hand and was like...Wait this isn''t Vali and he''s the type of guy who would just Say...Fuck it and push it deep down and move on. Vali you can see can be easily influenced in some circumstances and his attitude/behaviors will even change a bit now that he is slowly discovering just how strong he is compared to all those on this side of the world and possibly the entire Human Kingdom. Without the threat of Balor he will also become almost more joking and kind of how he was before he was tortured but not exactly. I mean if you were practically unbreakable/immortal and almost nothing you knew of could hurt you wouldn''t you adapt that behavior. (You''ll see a lot of this sort of thing with some of the stronger figures in the world who hold a lot of power and find it hard to be killed. Within the game as well as this world the lower levels are very fragile and a simple dagger to the throat can end a fight. Though the Higher your level gets the harder it becomes to sever things like limbs, even things like getting stabbed in the head or heart wouldn''t necessarily kill a high leveled person but it would critically wound them...And that''s for people who don''t study in some magic technique to forge their bones/flesh/body into something not normal. So fights for the higher leveled beings are usually very long and drawn out conflicts and the fights last much longer. You just haven''t seen a lot of this because Vali''s Scythe is ''the nuke in his backpocket'' that is his greatest cheat/weapon. I''ll stop.... As most of this will be in the character analysis I place at the bottom of the chapter..... While there are people who speak about the plot points in the story they enjoy the majority of readers lately say things like ''Thanks for the Chapter''. Don''t get me wrong, I''m honestly very grateful for anyone reading this story and being nice enough to show their encouragement but I''m also someone who loves hearing what people think and what they liked, why they liked or disliked within the story. If the majority of readers are posting what they disliked and ''Thanks for the Chapter'' it''s not as helpful. Because it honestly helps me mold this story into what I''m hoping to turn it into. I use this site to help me with that and because of many commenters I already know so much more than what I did a year ago and when I rewrite this I know what I need to do better. Most of the complaints weren''t things to work on though but rather stuff they haven''t been introduced or shown yet in the story. SO i decided to show a scene of a particular group that won''t necessarily play a big role until later in the story but wanted to show how they are even at this moment active and this world is full of evil groups/ and conflicting parties all striving for their own goals. The reader doesn''t get all the information of things at once, you get them from multiple perspectives and opinions so don''t forget this is still the beginning of the story. That last arc just set up the playing board. So info given isn''t always exactly accurate but detail what that person or race may feel about a certain something. Sometimes though, overtime and due to certain points brought to my attentions i find better ways to explain certain aspects of the story later which is also another reason for that. (*For example: With the benefits to people who first find a dungeon receiving the best possible loot from those who fall in the dungeon. There were complaints with this but Vali and the reader are going to soon find out Dungeon Mechanics and things like how when an adventurer or monster die within the dungeon all those items go to a certain place and the person who killed that adventurer/monster only gets something from their storage and it''s kind of a luck of the draw thing. I never explained that but overtime came up with it and decided it explains that earlier complaint a lot better. Finding a dungeon and receiving that best loot bonus just allows them to acquire more/better loot. A reason I didn''t have before but does fit well into the story structure. ) Ive acknowledged I''m not a terrific writer so I try to post chapters and introduce certain story elements and gage the readers response and mold the story accordingly but stay steered towards my original idea for where this story will go and ultimatley why I titled it what I did....Lately a lot of readers who want to send reviews more recently post things they disliked about the story and things they couldn''t understand. So I felt I went overboard trying to show all that within the last few chapters and well, Idk it just didn''t sit well with me so I got back on and tried to revamp the chapters a bit. This chapter may seem shorter than normal and feel like not a lot has happened but keep in mind that I split this chapter up into two parts to try and make it a habit to have around 20-35K chapters from now on. Obviously, I messed up again and decided on where I wanted to end my chapter and then was like, Oh shit there''s a lot to do between where we are and where that place is so....It got to be a little longer than I anticipated. Sorry I''m still working on this but I wanted each chapter to feel like an episode rather than a small 10K count where you only would get 1 possibly 2 POV''s or scenes. However....I''m still working on it to also lower my descriptions of things as much or at least not continue to explain multiple times just so a few disgruntled readers didn''t get it the first time I tried to portray/explain it. After this chapter I will show a small character analysis of some characters and answer some discrepancies and complaints to hopefully help some of the readers see perspectives from particular characters better and explain some plot points to better explain to them hopefully. If you have written a review, I encourage you to write an Advanced review with things you enjoyed and didn''t enjoy in the story and then it gets posted on the front page of RRL and would be a great advertisement. I''d also be very thankful for it. If you haven''t written a review yet I also encourage you to do an advanced one as well and as always everyone...Thank you so much for reading and helping me mold this world. Oh I almost forgot.....Here''s a teaser pick that hasn''t been finished/colored/detailed yet that a reader/artist had been gracious enough to do for all of us....He did a few others and honestly this artists work is incredible and fits so well with what I wanted to do for a cover. I was blown away to be honest and can''t wait to see his final products. His style is something I love and hope to get to work with him some more after this..... Lenni Ollinson thanks again your work is amazing. Teaser Cover Art.... http://s1.postimg.org/rw5fbso1r/thumbnai...ods_04.jpg Thanks again to my editors and all my readers. Ladies and gents I give to you Chapter 3..... (For the first POV try out this music when reading it definitely sets the mood....) http://www.yourepeat.com/watch?v=6crMKpLx7r8 Book 2: Chapter 3 A Darkness Awakening.... Ol¨¹m Dal''Morne''s POV: (Unknown Location, Unknown Time) The darkness shrouding my Master and I dissipated, revealing to us both the location to which the meeting of the Dark Masters will take place. There is no sky. There is no earth. There are only floating rock and a single, large building hovering over the empty space surrounding this unfamiliar world. I continued observing the landscape of this unique realm, believed to be created by the First Founder, and is somewhere in between Middle Earth and the Netherworld but still within the realm of Midgard. A shrill voice echoed out beside me, causing my bones to twitch. "Come my Apostle, let us proceed... Hmph, don''t forget the name you shall now refer to me from now in this world until the end of time other than Master is...The Great Dark Master, Insidious Doombringer!! Wuahahah!!!!" - Master Master opened his skeletal jaw and a high pitched laughter echoed out from under his dark-hooded robe. ''Ugh....That''s even worse than his last self-proclaimed surname. Why must my Master have to always come up with these horrendous names for himself? ....And then ask me to call him by it in front of others is just....'' I wonder if the other Apostles have to put up with such things¡­ He comes up with a new alias for himself every so often at a whim and is never happy with any of them it seems. Master never told me his real name, only told me to refer to him as Master since I came into this world. He gave me life and even named me, he says it means ''Death Bringer''. "Yes, Master..." We then started to proceed on the large floating rock with a walkway carved into the stone. "The gods be damned¡­! I forgot how annoying that excessive laughter of yours can be. So, First has also requested the presence of the Dark Master Fifth, formerly known as Supreme Overlord Apocalypso. How lucky are we to be graced with the stench of the dead? I see you have a new Apostle now. Pity about the last one....¡± - Fourth My Master and I both slowly turned our heads toward the sound above and there floating in midair where two oddly shaped figures. Each figure wore a dark-hooded robe that covered their faces like that of Master¡¯s and mine own. They however have no lower torso and constantly permeate black smoke from their bodies, while both having bright flames scorching in their eyes. The larger of the two had four arms, shiny gold plated armaments covering its body, with two long dark purple horns that curved out from its head, pointing backwards. It was Dark Master Fourth alongside his Apostle who may have also been from the Djinn race. Powerful users of Void based magic but like Master has told me Fourth had originally came from such a place that is a rift between worlds. They however, much like the rest of us are unable to leave this mortal world. "If it isn''t Master Fourth. How long has it been? 100? 200 years? I was hoping to at least go another millennia without having to see that ugly face your whore mother brought into this world." - Master The floating deity-like being started to snicker while I sensed increasing blood lust coming from his Apostle. "You dare speak such insolence in my Master''s presence! A simple Lich dare speak to Master Dhul Khal so arrogantly is practically begging for my Master to reduce you into a pile of bones...." - Fourth''s Apostle "Oh?... Care to teach me some manners then, young one....?¡± - Master Master gently lifted off the black hood draped over his head and casually looked upon the Apostle¡¯s grim demeanor. "Ugh......" - Fourth''s Apostle The dark-clouded Dj¨ªnn froze upon glancing upon Master¡¯s visage. Something any mortal and even some Deities have come to show similar reactions upon their first sight of his exquisitely unsettling appearance that bleeds a deathly odor. My Master, like all other Elder Lich Kings, has an oversized human skull with a bulky jawbone. Atop his head was a bright golden crown with large jeweled spikes, resembling violent flames, covering the entirety of his bulbous head. Next to his left eye was a slight crack with black piercing eyes staring back at all who gaze upon his insidious face. Master Fourth however did not twitch at the slightest, showing off his dignified level of power. ''Master however claimed he could deal with Fourth as easily as raising his hands in the air if the need ever presented itself. ¡¯ ''I am unable to doubt Master¡¯s words for even a second. While his behavior doesn''t sit well with many and his voice is numbing even to Undead, like me. I''ve seen him do things that leap over common thought. Destroy known magic theories. According to him even the Gods respected him for his powers over the Dead. I can never forget the day I saw him open up a portal to another dimension, pitch-black, alive even. He forced his enemies who obtained knowledge to who he was through it to never return again.¡¯ After a short silence my Master again began to speak while I remained quiet and alert. "Fourth sure has trained quite the Apostle. Bloodthirsty. Ruthless.....Stupid. Just like him. Mphaha!" - Master ""MMm!!!!" - Fourth''s Apostle A loud humming noise began to come off the Apostle¡¯s body while Fourth just smiled to my Master''s words with his four muscular arms crossed. "SSssssyYYyyyaaaaaa AH AH AH AH AH AH AH RAH!H!!H!H!H!H!H!" - ? A high-pitched screech then came from behind Master Fourth and his Apostle, its origin a large black serpent-like creature suddenly appearing through a tear in space. It looked like a black serpent with large bat-like wings and has curved horns coming out from the sides of its head. This strange beast also seems to have legs but they are hunched to the sides making it appear like an Imoogi. The black creature flew through the sky and had a lion-like mane except it¡¯s made of dark feathers. Fluttering behind the large beast however were hundreds of skulls and bones connected to large ropes being drug behind its tail... Collections from all the fallen Champions and Heroes of many races who have fought and lost. Riding atop of the black creature were two dark-hooded, powerful figures as I can tell even from here their powers over the darkness are profoundly deep. "Ah, if it isn''t Third....." - Fourth Dark Master Fourth casually glanced at the emergence of another Dark Master whose presence was also requested at Master First''s command. SSYA AH AH AH HA HA HA HA HA!!!!! The black, feather-headed serpent then landed on the same floating land mass we¡¯re on and both figures stepped off their mount without a word. As the dragon-like beast landed, its large wings started to vanish into space. The hundreds of bones being pulled by a long roped chain behind it also made a loud racket as its drug across the ground. From their shrouded hoods covering their faces, all I could see coming were piercing red eyes that almost rivaled my Master''s insidious atmosphere. "New pet from your time in the North? It gives off a peculiar energy...." - Fourth As each of the large figures started to walk past us, a short whisper came from underneath Master Third¡¯s hood. "I advise to not look into my new pet¡¯s eyes. From legend, The Basilisks are known to grant death to mortals with a single glance. Even to some Undead I heard...." - Third Without saying another word Master Third and his Apostle both walked past us not looking to be in the mood to talk. With just his words, neither I nor Fourth''s Apostle wished to look back at the mysterious creature behind us. While both of our Masters didn''t seem to care and each peered towards the beast Third mysteriously taught to travel into this artificial realm made by our Order''s First Founder. While their faces were both covered, I could however see coming out from Master Third''s hood were two large horns coming from the side of his head resembling a lamb¡¯s. With a notion from my Master, we too quietly followed behind them and towards the location where our presence was requested by the First and only surviving Founder of our Order. ------------------------------------------------------------ Of the ten seats aligning the large black table, only nine were filled each with figures exuding a magnificent yet deathly aura. Even this room was created by the founder of our Order and his seat is the only one left vacant. These were the Dark Masters. There on each and every filled seat was an absolute Master of the Dark Arts and their Apostles training under them. According to Master, everyone seated in this room is a Dark Master and like the Apostles under them, were once all Dark Lords in their lifetime under the ''World Laws''. Something Master claims that also shackle each of them here to this mortal realm since they first touched down. Master has taught me how this mortal world has a Level-based system operating within it that affects all sentient life in it. Yet each of the Dark Masters present can hide such information from any prying eyes. While others present disagreed, my Master believes Level is meaningless in this world and should only be used as a general basis of power, while increasing it does little to nothing in the long run or grand scheme of it all. Everyone here are Magic Casters, and my Master claims Magic is something that cannot be computed in such a way. Only Comprehension, Speed and Dominance are what are required when combating magic of the same system. To something that was once believed to be the work of miracles; magic is not something that can be evaluated in such a way my Master believes. The higher the level one obtains, the harder it is to raise, even if one were to kill much higher-leveled opponents after the other. While the experience gained is surely more. Master states the line separating experience needed from experience gained towards the higher levels becomes a towering mountain with its height growing increasingly vast and unclimbable. If one were to attempt to climb such an increasing obstacle, they would forever be stuck in this world. Time should naturally be spent into different avenues and one should only attempt to further their training and masteries and allow level to rise overtime. Unlike some of the other Masters present, he believes that the World Laws themselves work against this realm¡¯s residents, that there is undoubtedly a limit system set in place for something as meaningless as ''Level'' in this world. But it¡¯s still all my Master''s speculation. Each Master present practices in a different form of the dark arts and come to the mutual understanding that Darkness magic is something of a precursor to our own forms of magic. While the method to advance such a class like Dark Lord to Dark Master is still a well-hidden secret within the Order, which even my Master is unwilling to tell me how just yet. His power is surely heaven-defying. The sheer limitless potential of Master¡¯s dark arts is a magic he was once unmatched in even compared to those from the Divine, Necromancy. While my Master''s casting methods are fundamentally different than the way some of the Human necromancers use I''ve found, his speed, comprehension and even ability to command so many is truly extraordinary, to which he has no equal. ''Master is even able to overwrite those under my command by rewording and interfering with my spell casts.'' I''ve learned in my study and guidance under my Master that Necromancy is something of a combination between Dark Magic and Black Magic. A magical spell is needed to create an encasing of darkness to house a soul while my Master only needs a shred of one during the integration process. Combined with powerful curse magic the spell binds the Undead corpse under the caster¡¯s complete control. Master Fifth is known even within the powerful figures of the Dark Masters as one of the most powerful and possibly oldest of them all. He like a few of the beings here fought in the First War, and regardless of his rather odd behavior and rather....irksome voice, he holds absolute mastery in his control over the dead. Even I¡¯m not sure how many are currently under Master''s control. ''Master surely did the same with my own soul. I''m unsure of what sort of man I was in life. Undoubtedly a sinister one to have to endure such endless torment it took in creating me into what I am. All he did say was that I was unique. As my power grows I will soon learn how much.¡¯ My body is of a tall human Undead with red and black tattoos seared and carved in my every bone. Where my heart used to be only lies a bright red core, matching the red piercing glow now stemming from my eyes. Looking around the quiet room, I can tell each Dark Master present is of a different race even with their faces concealed. Just then Master Seventh raised her white and partially transparent hand up and spoke. "Where is the First Founder? I was under the impression he called for this meeting?" - Seventh Her face was hidden, but her long white hair reached out past her hood and a soft and gentle voice came out of it. According to Master, Seventh is a very powerful Banshee that became something unique herself in this world. "As did I. Second, is there a reason for First''s absence?" - Sixth A red-skinned figure with dark-black lines flowing up his arms, resembling tattoos, also spoke up. While Master said he¡¯s unsure of Master Sixth¡¯s true form, he knows Sixth has a powerful magic to create Dopple-Gangers from his murdered victims and replace them. When our Order flourished a thousand years ago, it was said that Sixth turned an entire country into minions at his bidding and was consequently hunted down by several Human Heroes of that time after killing three of them. They however were unable to slay Sixth, only capable of forcing him to fake his own death. Master Sixth was supposedly in charge of working within the Azure Cloud Dynasty while Master and I were tasked to infiltrate the Rose Empire. Each of the Dark Masters present were puzzled as to the Founder''s absence and I too was curious, hoping to meet such a mysterious entity this day. My Master has only stood in the Founder''s presence once, but according to him, even he is unsure of what First¡¯s true race stems from. Master is even unsure if the form he witnessed that day was even the First Founder''s true form but was a face that made even my Master twitch. His only words in describing First were ''He''s like a phantom, in that he is constantly moving from place to place. Taking a different form wherever he may go. Even I am unsure of just how old First truly is. As his talent in the dark arts seem almost unreachably deep.'' Every Dark Master present here has the ability to sense the darkness that lies within all. Each of them also have the power to manipulate the darkness within almost any sentient life, and even twist their thoughts, emotions...desires. While I am unable to manipulate others, Master has taught me much. My Master along with every Dark Master here was ordered to mask their appearance and infiltrate the large seat of power within this world¡¯s powerful Kingdoms, spanning every Continent. Everyone now has been requested to present themselves before Master First undoubtedly to speak on such things. Just then a rather delicate voice interrupted the silence and for some reason caused my core to start pulsating strangely. "The Founder is currently busy at the moment and will be unable to meet at this current time. He however has instructed me to receive an assessment over each of your assigned tasks. I trust each of you understand the reasons for this meeting." - Second A tall, thin figure stood up from the end of the long table and addressed all those present while removing its hood. The dark shroud covering Master Second¡¯s face dissipated, revealing a long black-haired maiden. Half of her face was covered by her long dark hair while the other reveals an alluring golden eye staring at us all, causing each of my bones to feel rigid with a deathly cold. Although at first glance she appeared human, her skin color however was dark and ashy, not something of the Human race. She wore black makeup smeared underneath her eye in odd designs looking similar to a crying human woman, which appears to be intentional, along her lips were poorly smeared with black lipstick, streaking across the side of her dark-gray cheek. Her long black hair¡¯s were also adorned with bones and skulls tied crudely on its ends. Each exuded a very dangerous overwhelming aura, such that it¡¯s hard to stand so close to after revealing herself. ¡°¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±"¡­.."¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡± - Dark Masters Judging from the expression of some those present, this may be the first time Second has shown her face to said persons as well, even a few Dark Masters. Second¡¯s voice was always distorted so it is impossible to tell what¡¯s behind the cloak until the hood''s shrouding spell is removed. All gifts from the First Founder. Some of the Apostles too seemed to look upon Second lustfully as her body despite being unnaturally thin and sickly, she had an unusual power leaking off her skin. ''That alluring scent of death is practically enchanting me.....Ugh....I miss my nads...'' Each of the Dark Masters began to speak on their current tasks within the multiple races we infiltrated in this world. To the outside world, our Order was thought destroyed over a thousand years ago. However in truth, we were lurking in the shadows just underneath their noses, in absolute secrecy. Biding our time... My Master spoke about his time infiltrating The Rose Empire, how he obtained a high rank within the Human Kingdom for now. He also acquired an adequate measurement of its total strength as well as describing the incredible benefits that even the land gives its troops. He also spoke of his encounter with a spy of the Demon race that used possession magic to infiltrate into the Rose Empire just as we were. However, the rival spy is dead and now under Master¡¯s control. We are both now remaining low as per instructions according to plan, set in motion over a thousand years ago. While many of the races in this world can extend their lifetime by increasing their levels or other means, some races live to be so old it is increasingly difficult to infiltrate some of the races within this world. Many of the other Masters also reported their run-ins with Demons as well, including Master Seventh and Master Tenth operating in the East. "As I am sorry to report. Infiltrating the Demon race has become increasingly strained. I am... unable to provide an adequate estimate of their total strength. I am sorry for my failure......" - Third As Master Third''s deep voice resonated, some of those seated at the table scoffed and snickered at Master Third¡¯s silent shame. He continued to look at Master Second, appearing frustrated with his dilemma. "Heh! So Third is having trouble with demons eh? Expected.... Perhaps we should send my Apostle to the North. He already killed over 20 beings blessed by the Gods and his power I can vouch for...Within a year, he would have already infiltrated their strongest clans without a single notice and retrieve a proper estimate to you and Master First.¡± - Master Eighth "GrRrrRRRrrrrr....Hah....That, would be ill-advised...." - Master Third Growling with an intensity almost like that of an enraged dragon, Third exuded heat-like energy off his body, drastically increasing the room temperature to burning hot. ''I suppose I should be thankful I no longer have any sweat glands.'' Master Third''s eyes then glowed a fiery crimson and the air around him became briefly chaotic just before subsiding. Third then spoke in a serious but harsh tone that only made Master Eighth snicker in disbelief. "The Demons you all encountered were merely pets of the powers in the North. Dogs released from their masters¡¯ leash. To this world¡¯s inhabitants, their entire race goes by the collective term ¡®Demon¡¯ but it is false to categorize them all under the same phrase. They are too visibly diverse and varied to be categorized under one word... Within their society the term ¡®Demons¡¯ are merely labels for the lowest dregs of their culture. Mere polluted inbreeds spawned to strengthen their numbers due to their very low birth rates....While I place their entire population close to only over 110,000 in estimate, their monster horde I was unable to ascertain enough to see through its depth. Don''t make the mistake of underestimating this race....You will only be met with disappointment.¡± - Third "Scared of some mere demons? Pitiful. Your ferocity and power must have grown weak from age, Third, if you can''t even get close enough to provide a simple scale of their power. While they¡¯re a bit stronger than Humans at the same Level, and have a higher average of Magic Casters, their minds are no different....Easily twisted. Easier corrupted." - Master Tenth Master Tenth¡¯s deep voice echoed throughout the space, leaving us with a dull passing silence. All grew quiet until Second asked why Third started to speak of his troubles in the North. "The Demons are far different than the other races I''ve met on this planet. Not quite as physically strong as the Dragons, but their durability is horrifying... Just from a mere whiff of blood, they can actually smell the bloodlines within a person. Making it very easy for them to tell who''s a friend or foe. Even if someone like Sixth replaced one of them with his Dopple-Gangers, the so-called Sacred Bloods holding control over the Demon Race have power unlike anything I''ve ever seen. They''d see you coming from hundreds of leagues away, I''ve already been discovered on two separate occasions and escaped by the edge of my fangs. They even laid a trap for me. We may have to postpone our plans for another thousand years." - Master Third Each of the words that Third had spoken as if he himself couldn''t believe what he had come to find in his travels to the North. It almost as if he actually fears this race. To Master Third¡¯s solemn words, everyone again snickered to themselves at Master Third¡¯s failure. Only Second, Fourth and my Master all seemed to remain quietly comtemplating the words of the Third Master. I could even see my Master nodding his head as his request for another 1000 years seemed feasible to him even. Second just stood there without a word peering at Third and his Apostle leaving him unable to speak. "Unacceptable! A thousand more years in this prison?! For a Deity you sure lack any backbone to dare request such an absurd stretch just so you can fulfill your mission....Honestly, for the offspring of a Divine to willingly lower his head in shame to some damned horned beasts. If the gods weren''t merciful back in the First War their race wouldn''t even exist today. How disappointing...." - Master Tenth To Master Tenth''s words some of the Dark Masters and their Apostles nodded while a very familiar shrill laughter started to envelop the room that to this day sends chills down my bones. "Muhaha! Merciful you say? You think the gods ¡®merciful¡¯? That is why the ''weak'' and ''powerless'' Demons were also invited to sign such a treaty amongst all those gathered on that day after disgracing and desecrating corpses of countless fellow Divines. Even ways that would make even someone with the grand title of ''Ex Pet Reaper of Hades'' cringe his pants, and you say the gods were ¡®merciful¡¯? Mmphmphahaha...." - Master Fifth "¡­." - Master Tenth "...You damned skeleton!" - Master Tenth''s Apostle An evil hum followed by a shrill laughter echoed out the Lich King''s open mouth confusing all those present. "Take it from one present the day those ''Demons'' first appeared, on a world already drenched in blood. Each and every Demon had the words ''Blasphemy'' carved in their faces and chests as a way to almost mock the gods they enjoyed killing so much. Violent, absurdly bloodthirsty creatures with an absolute lust for war like the Demons today. They craved for battle unlike any other races, intelligent or not, and enjoyed it even in death. If you were finally able to grant one of these sinister creatures an end, you would only be met with a space-splitting laughter in its final breaths...." - Master Fifth My Master continued describing his experience with the parent race of the current demons here and how they carved a path of blood and death everywhere they went so many eons ago, that to this day has instilled a scent of fear within all who know of their influence on the First War. "Truly tenacious, those ancient Demons. Something even a spoiled brat of the once ''Mistress Nyx of the Night'', Thanatos should not ignore. The Demons by no means lost to the gods, they won. The fact that they are still among the realm of the living is testament to their might alone. One shouldn''t be too eager and make the mistake of underestimating such insatiable beasts..." - Master Fifth I could see both Master Third and Fourth each nodding their heads in agreement as they too seemed to be aware of this already. Master Fifth even spoke of a now deceased Goddess in Olympus he was familiar with named Hera holding power comparable to that of the God King Zeus. The former wife of the God King had each of her limbs torn off in combat and eaten right in front of her lover on the battlefield. After this, the Demon race rammed a long rod up through the Fallen Goddess''s chastity and raised her corpse up high for all to see, then continued to march forward leaving only a bloody path in their wake. According to Master, the beings who lived back then are undoubtedly still alive and well, most likely living on this world as well. While they are obviously not stepping out and meddling in worldly affairs, their influence is still present and to ignore the fact of their existence would be outright absurd. The Demon Continent is something Master originally planned to be an incredibly difficult obstacle to climb in this task given to each of them by the Founder. "If this Demon race truly hates the gods so. Why not try to bring them over to our cause." - Master Eighth "Horrible idea....." - Master Third "Heh!...Wouldn''t work...." - Master Fourth "Mphmpahahaa! Master Fourth is correct for once. It''s not that they simply hate all divine, it''s as if they hate all existence but themselves. They¡¯re very antagonistic with other species for whatever reason and is probably why they were given such a grueling name as Demon. Even known to fight amongst themselves... Hilarious really as they don''t seem to care if they have no allies. While the Demons tolerate the other species in this world, they absolutely despise Deities and have an almost unceasing hatred for the Divine...Revealing yourself would be the equivalent to serving yourself onto the chopping block." - Master Fifth Master''s long winded laughter and eccentric behavior came off rather twisted as he almost admired their cut-throated brutality. All of the other Masters present made subtle nods and then looked back towards Master Second before a sound came from the opposite end of the long table. "Well if the great rotting corpse Apocalypso says so, I guess I should heed his council." - Master Tenth "Hmmphmmph so stupid...." - Master Tenth''s Apostle Master and Apostle both began snickering to each other while I could feel an intense rage surge out at the mockery of my Master. It is one thing for another Master like Fourth or Tenth but for a mere Apostle, his punishment cannot be light! "That''s Insidious Doombringer to you Master Crybaby. Muahahah!" - Master Fifth BOOOOM!!!! Master Tenth''s fist struck the table and a loud shockwave flew across the artificial space. "...That was a reaction from that cursed Hex bag you sent me, you rotting pile of bones!" - Master Tenth "Ahahahaha! Dark Master TEAR-anos, has a nice ring to it ahaha!" - Master Fifth I shook my head at my Master''s very unique, poor sense of humor. "¡­.Are you trying to mock my Master?!" - Master Tenth''s Apostle Just then a dark glow appeared from the hands of Tenth''s Apostle and his aura grew chaotic while glaring at my Master seated beside me. "Astral Frah Zheem!" I stepped forward and used a skill at Tenth''s Apostle before he can react. A black vortex appeared around the targeted Apostle''s body, freezing him despite his attempt to evade. He is trapped.... While I cannot move from here, my target will be forced to stay within the dark barrier conjured by a powerful spell I learned from an old book Master gave me. Its attack speed and ability to enshroud a target almost instantaneously is what gives this spell its charm. While Light Magic is the strongest form of Barrier/Formation magic, the properties of this ancient spell renders the target unable to use any magic to resist in any way. "Mphahaha! Like my new Apostle! He subdue your disciple to helplessness sir Thanatos with such minimal effort and he was born just a few decades ago mphmph.....Extraordinary, no?¡± - Master Fifth "Quite...." - Master Tenth Master Tenth then looked to his frozen Apostle at his side and casually raised his hand. A single dark purplish finger appeared and tapped onto my barrier and shattered it. ''Su...such power.......'' "Don''t forget old lich...I am still a God of Death in this world. So willing to enter that eternal rest, I shall aid you gladly." - Master Tenth "God of Death? Bahahaha!!! Oh that''s rich coming from someone who''s known to grant others such a ''peaceful death'' wasn''t it? Such a laugh honestly...Even I holding a Title of Death, I still will not dare utter such nonsense. I doubt even Hades sitting on his throne has the gall to claim such a Godly name for himself....I sir have met Death, and you CryBaby Reaper, even in your prime....Are no Death....." - Master The two figures showed anger towards my Master''s provocations as a deathly aura started to envelop the entire room, causing the core in my chest to tremble. Thanatos was once a Reaper of Hades and has powerful Death Magic, such that I have seen him able to bring death with a single touch of his finger. Rumble...rumble.rumble.rumble.rumble!!!!!!!! The entire space we¡¯re standing in started rumbling as a powerful rising bloodlust completely overwhelmed us, crashing down on everyone present. It feels as if the entire space is about to cave itself in. The entire space must have dropped by dozens of degrees, making my bones rigid and almost cracked, while the dimly lit orbs lighting the room started to falter and bleed a bright red dying everything present a deep crimson. The force enveloping my entire being was more profound and powerful than even my Master¡¯s. It was practically godlike. The force crashing down on my body felt as if the bloodlust itself wants to pull and rip each of my bones apart. The strong bloodlust subsided, and then a cheery almost completely different tone of voice came from Master Second. "Now, now.....This is not the time for petty quarrels. Besides...Master Third and Fifth are right. We must be cautious. Even the Humans are much more capable than they were a 1000 years ago growing more and more by the day. Finding ways to even extend their lifetimes long from the average for their speceis. Some of the races even have guardian Deities residing in their lands and forces strong enough when banned together are capable of moving even the gods or possibly eradicating each of us. Many of the races though mortal, are more than capable of threatening our plans. They are each surely to have hidden weapons lying in secret, waiting for such a possibility as to our return. We will only reveal ourselves to the world when the time is right.... When our numbers have properly grown. And right when all the pieces are aligned, we strike at even the slightest opening they and crush their skulls beneath our feet......" - Master Second To Master Second''s words everyone in the hall nodded cautiously as her killing intent was unlike anything I felt since Master brought me into this world. Judging from Master¡¯s expression, I''m sure the level of power she just displayed was something that may have even shocked one who once reigned as one of the Undead Legion¡¯s most respected during their time. "Now....If we can get on to the next subject, I would like to ask if anyone here... Felt the sudden surge of darkness awakening in the East? First is curious of this phenomenon and is hoping to hear Master Tenth and Master Seventh''s take on this¡­" - Master Second "Yes, I too felt it within the Dragon Tribes. Do you believe it to be a Dark Lord¡¯s emergence?¡± - Master Ninth "No, while it was similar to an awakening, this was far too unfathomable. Even I was unable to sense the depth of such darkness. It was far too deep to be something like a Dark Lord emerging. Even some of the Vampire Lords were able to perceive such a phenomenon. It came from somewhere in the southern region of the Eastern Continent, Second. That sadly is all I can tell you.¡± - Master Seventh Master Tenth then nodded and agreed to Master Seventh along with their Apostles who were also in the Eastern Continent for a long time. However they were unaware as to what caused this emergence of powerful dark energy that swept all the way to the Western Continent on the other side of the world. I felt it with my Master in the Rose Empire but to think this strange occurrence even peaked the curiosity of one as mysterious as First? Second now wishes to send a scout to investigate this phenomenon and if it happens to be the emergence of a new Dark Lord, it is possible we might invite him into our Order. However, Dark Lords are chosen by a Master only and each Master can only have one Apostle at a time in order to properly train new members of the Order. Both Seventh and Tenth have been given strict orders to only observe and report what they find and not reveal themselves under any circumstances unless authorized by the Founder. "The Founder is serious of such words. Under no circumstance are you or your Apostles to unveil yourselves to the world for any reason or you will be punished gravely by the Order. I hope I made the words of the Founder clear....." - Master Second Even with half her face covered, her glaring golden eye swept across the silent room with an intimidating gaze. Each of the Dark Masters nodded their heads in agreement and were instructed to further infiltrate each of this world¡¯s societies as the beginning stages of the Order¡¯s long-scale plan. With that, the meeting of the Order of the Dark Masters has come to a close. ---------------------------------------------------------- Vali''s POV: ¡­..Just kill them....They don''t deserve life....You must grant them death..... Rattle!...Rattle!..Rattle! Rattle.rattle. RATTLE! ''S(rattle)o lo (RAT(rattle)TLE!) ud....'' "Pu...t..Her down! Cough..cough!" - ? ¡­When the suffering under their hands end...So shall your pains end..... ''Dea(Rattle)th...Th(rattle)ey deserve..(RATTLE!!!)..death!'' "Ughyah...ughgcough...cough.....Ple....ase...cough..ghghg....Nn..o...." - ? ¡­.You must...end all of their pain...You must...feast! ''I....Must....'' My mind was being overwhelmed with sounds and the rattling of my crumpled heart. Just when I thought I was growing numb, the sounds of every rattle sent shivers down my spine reawakening my torment. My loneliness. All my fears had come back to me. I could hardly see anything. Everything was pitch black and moving around me. It felt as if I had lost the ability to breathe and control over my own body, I was filled with so much rage. I had almost completely forgotten the atrocious acts I had just seen. I wished only to kill the evil surrounding me. I have a splitting headache and a fury that only feels to be rising with each passing breath is only growing harder to suppress, making it almost impossible to think of anything else. I couldn''t stop myself from shaking it were as if my blood were boiling like a liquid lava beneath my skin. I remember threatening the people of this city, I remember....Killing so many without even a passing thought but.....It wasn''t me. It were as if I was sitting in the driver seat with no control over the wheel in my hands. I was conscious but...was that still me? ''I remember turning off my Demonic Awakening before even entering the city but that disgraceful Captain''s actions must have, no.... My Demonic Awakening ability had activated itself long before that. But I...Ugh I messed up. I...(Rattle) I gave that Captain too many choices. ....This....This rage!....I (Rattle) have....I h(rattle)ave to get under con(rattle)trol or...Or I''ll.....what..(RATTLE!!) Ah!(RATTLE!!!)...Hj?(Rattle!)kk said...just might....happen...'' My whole body started to shutter thinking of Hj?kk''s explicit warnings and I tried to gain control over this boundless rage. The surrounding noises only grew louder and shifting my thoughts, making it all more difficult. This intense heat that felt to be fueling the fires of my rage was making everything else seem so cloudy, it was hard to let go. All I can see are dark creatures surrounding me in this dark world that appeared around me. Each of them leering back at me with eyes filled with a sinister light. An almost celestial glow started to shine from my chest distracting my eye-line, while the darkness around me started collapse. A warmth started flow through my chest and rejuvinate my entire body. For a brief moment I felt a sense of clarity. I could see through the vast darkness that had suddenly began to encroach and wrap itself around me. It felt like I were given a breath of fresh air. These overwhelming emotions that were almost beginning to take control over me started to subside and the loud rattling filling my head began to cease. I could see again.... The deformed evil creatures in front and around me each turned back into frightened villagers who were looking towards me as if I were a monster straight from Hell. The pouring rain came down from the heavens and caused the surrounding pools of blood to become rivers of crimson death covering the entirety of the stone arena. Within my grasp I was holding in the air, the same short female military officer who alongside that depraved Captain also came from the Kingdom of Myro. She showed a look of pure terror in her eyes looking back at me but didn''t even dare to pinch the hand that was currently gripped firmly around her soft, fragile neck. ''She and her friends came here to kill me.... I wasn''t planning on starting a killing spree when I stepped through the gates of this cursed town but the things I saw. I am unable to ever erase from my eyes.'' I kept fighting through my thoughts even trying to recall what had all happened as I started to gain control over my breathing. I dropped the young woman onto the ground and she started desperately breathing in the air back into her lungs. The short military officer then started frantically crawling away back towards the sides of her worn and injured comrades with pure terror in her eyes. The Annunakes were vicious enough to see these weren''t friendlies and understood if they turned out to be I could always heal them afterwards....They were supposed to have removed all weapons and items on their person if they fought back but they clearly missed that Captain''s dagger. The Alpha Group ended up destroying the bones in their legs and left them in a condition where none of those from Myro would die but would be unable to fight back in the slightest. The one''s who were still alive and from Myro had fang and claw marks covering all over their bodies with fresh blood flowing out. Most would have probably died from their injuries but the average level of each of them are in the high 100''s and are still holding on. Each of those from Myro looked at me with nothing but hopelessness as I had foolishly revealed to them I was the one whom they were seeking. While thinking over all that I was told and all that had just happened, I stared back at each of them without a hint of mercy. Everything Hj?kk warned was true, it was as if my inhibitions were lifted and all I could see was only one thing. Realizing it now it were as if it had left me with only the alternative to kill them all, and yet...I had still made such a decision almost immediately? ''Whenever that Captain gripped around the neck of that young waitress I actually remember meeting in the other city of Aldain I felt fear. With her life in that man''s hands it were as if all of my previous inhibitions were severed within a heartbeat. The decision to use my Death Grip were almost instantaneous even though I had made the firm decision not to use it unless absolutely necessary in public. Even if this is a backwoods Kingdom who wouldn''t see much magic if at all, judging by the looks of each of them, that is not any kind of magic that any of them had witnessed in their lifetimes. That includes those from Myro as well....'' His head just exploded when I felt his very life being shattered in my hands. ''Whenever my understandings of Death Grip rose, so did my understandings of Death Magic itself. Using it on a single target much lower level than me was overwhelming...Addicting even. Being able to wield such a frightening power that controls something as infinite as life and death gives off an empowering emotion in oneself. Giving off the same stimulation and hormones as if I had just ate or had sex.'' It was a feeling of being high like that of a drug every time my hand passed over a person''s very life force that would begin to tremble each and every time. But as my rage began to erupt I focused all of my energy and thought on making him suffer. Death Grip no longer felt like blowing out a candle with my hand like it did with the Gnolls. It felt like a dominating and crushing force of a supreme overlord that left most of the victim''s inner organs, including his heart to have ruptured entirely from within. It''s not like I regret killing any of these heartless bastards....But is it possible to kill so many people and not feel something for me? Was I even capable of this in my last life or is it really all the darkness? ''I feel I can almost remember a whisper that were even speaking to me. Coaching me? Speaking for me? Is this what Balor and the Darkness meant, what Loki and Hj?kk had both warned? I had already been pushed past the breaking point long ago but it''s as if the weight keeps piling down on top of me more and more.'' The moment that trigger was pulled it were as if the earlier struggling on how to deal with each of the corrupt figures the Asher''s had given me the details over, became utterly simple. ''...Ah! Fuck it...I don''t really have time to dwell on my actions right now though even if I did almost lose it right there. I already knew the Darkness can corrupt those in this world. I just have to get a better control over it from now on.... I need to handle this situation here first though, I don''t have time to think about such things.'' I looked out towards the audience in this grim show I had just displayed and each and every one of them had lost the ability to speak from what I had done. After not even batting an eye at some of the priors threats and even going as far as doing what I did, the fear has already began to eat away at any hope of them trying to resist me in any way. Just as the rain continued to pour down I felt a soft warm sensation press down onto my shoulder. When I saw who it was I was surprised to see it was actually Bifrost. Her black wings towered higher than the other pixies. Even though she looks the most sinister of her siblings, the warmth and gentleness she shows in such black eyes are just as kind as her sisters. Bifrost and her siblings who were held captive together have personally never done this before like the other pixies do. The black pixie looked towards me and smiled just before turned towards her siblings who were actually surrounding everyone in the arena underneath an illusion that only those of our group can see through. "Kai, follow me ok.... The lonely traveler walks a jagged road, A monster appears from worlds untold....." - Bifrost The small black pixie began to whisper a short chant to herself while gently swaying each of her long black hands similar to how a maestro would with their orchestra. When acting together each and every Pixie can include or incorporate their own illusions while providing layers of their own illusions on themselves or others. "Oh...no..no...they''re back!" - Villager "AhH!!!!!!!!" - Villager "Do...Somebody do..something!!!!" - Villager "AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" - Villager "Mo..mommy!"- Villager Each and every citizen who was shaking on the ground started to lose all the color in their faces and screamed at the top of their lungs. Every villager inside the arena started to show looks of pure terror and kept closing their eyes or trying to flee but were far too petrified. "It''s ok Vali. I made them each think that a group of Fomorians had just appeared and are currently surrounding us.¡± - Bifrost When I twitched upon hearing this she smiled and told me not to worry about it. She said she was aware that I was probably regretting revealing such a skill that she and her siblings knew I had wanted to keep a secret. She could tell what I must have been struggling with and thought she could make everyone present believe it was all an illusion. ''She seemed almost aware of what was going on with me too....'' I peered over to where a small group of weak looking individuals in rags and some of those we saved from the brothel standing motionless and unaffected. Some kept their hands over their eyes but those that weren''t seemed unaffected by the surrounding illusion magic. A few of the Annunakes were still holding some of those who had to be carried from the amount of drugs in their system or were simply too weak to come with us. Noticing what I must have been thinking Bifrost whispered into my ear that they were seeing a different kind of illusion right now and didn''t think I''d care because I was probably taking them with us. She said if I wanted she could certainly add them into the illusion array as well. "Why would you assume I was going to take each of them with us?" I was curious as to why she''d assume that. Bifrost just smiled while gently waving her hands alongside her siblings and didn''t look back towards me as she spoke. "You took us with you....." I didn''t have much to say and just nodded back looking at the reactions of all the surrounding villagers cowering in fear trying to shield themselves and shaking violently. Kai and his siblings each came down and started to destroy the dead bodies that were littering the area unknown to everyone present. They were ruthless and uncaring of their victims with every swing of their small arms and elemental magics. They would deliver a Light Hammer to the corpses of one of the guards smashing their head into the dirt, causing the body to appear to have died from something other than the magic I had just shown. Bifrost giggled to me and started to whisper in my ear while she continued swaying her long fingers with every random scream from one of the villagers. Being able to multitask her abilities with magic seems astounding. ''According to Bifrost, sometimes I mumble to myself when I think I''m alone and there are usually a couple of Pixies with me even if I''m not aware of it, even when I was with H?kk....Hah, and since all of the Pixies talk to each other like one big family they are each all aware of me wanting to hide some of my abilities as well. Bifrost then knew that was what I was thinking of in such a moment which I''m surprised of. But I''m thankful for it....'' I nodded to her and watched the scenes unfold as some of the villagers continued to panic and look between me and the rain clouds overhead. Some of them then started to show grim faces when looking at me like I were about to attack each of them. The military officer I had by the neck was lying next to one of her fallen comrades and shivering under the rain not taking her eyes off me. Each and every villager who was staring in our direction then started to raise their heads up in terror and looked to not believe what they were seeing. "Im..Impossible!" - Villager "He..He''s ...he''s one of those...those monsters!" - Villager "He was wah..wah..one of those...giants too?" - Villager "Gods please save us!" - Mayor "No..not...ha..ppening...not..happ..ening...lie..all lie...must..home..must..go home...mu..mu must." - Female Officer I started to hear some strange things so I looked towards Bifrost who just smirked. "We have to make them think everything they saw was not real. Might as well give them something that will stay with them forever...Maybe if they imprint this fear they feel now, then they''ll change their ways...." - Bifrost As her voice started to grow colder she glanced back towards each of the frightened citizens who were now too scared to even remove the hands over their eyes. Many seemed to have even lost their mind to the insanity they were witnessing before their eyes and were unable to resist to the fate staring back at them. Trying to shield their eyes their fear had overtaken them to the point they couldn''t move. "Thanks....." Bifrost just smiled and continued to look out in front of her continuing to wave her hands back and forth. I''m truly thankful for these pixies. "Alpha...What are you doing?" - Adimar A couple of the Annunakes behind me walked up and whispered to me unaware of the situation. When I explained it to them they didn''t say much in response however. Adimar turned his head to where I could only see his eye patch and unable to see what he was thinking. "And what of the rest of the armed humans Alderon and Grayfia''s group took down?¡± - Akino "¡­.We cannot let them leave here alive. Less they gather with their allies and return.¡± - Bifrost Bifrost budded in without even blinking or even looking back towards the Annunakes at our backs. "Hah....We would be striking down unarmed opponents?¡± - Akino "Hmph, what difference does it make? If we killed them before or kill them now? Adimar said this group is the same people who wanted to kill Vali. Just look at how they treat their own people. We kill them all." - Tanin A small ball of fire came floating down from above next to his sister Aurora. I was surprised by Tanin''s words as it wasn''t the same sarcastic and energetic personality I was used to. ''Perhaps the Fire element is affecting his behavior too, but then have the other pixies acted any differently?'' "Hmmm....We will follow the Alpha''s command." - Adimar Akino, Alderon and Grayfia behind me each nodded their heads after a short pause and awaited my further orders. "Hmph, it is no matter Akino. These humans are not warriors. They are cowards who have chosen to lift up their weapons and hide. They don''t deserve a warrior¡¯s death.¡± - Grayfia "Have to agree with the little fireball on this one. Wouldn''t change anything and if we allow them to return it would only breed more adversity.¡± - Alderon "Hmm, then perhaps we should take a few of them to learn more of this new enemy who has revealed themselves to us.¡± - Adimar Each of them nodded and then looked back to me. Everyone with me has dealt in similar situations before and have much more experience than me. Killing an enemy to them isn''t a trivial matter regardless if they''re armed or not but I can''t disagree with anything they have each said. "I agree....Bifrost you can set down the illusion now." She nodded and each of the Pixies started coordinating together and the illusion spell had dissipated. Many panicked voices started to die down and all that could be heard was the loud pouring rain slamming against the puddles of dirt and blood. ''I don''t regret killing a single one of them. While I did let my emotions rule me, I feel I still would have inevitably killed each of them at some point.¡¯ In fact I''ve already decided in my heart that every single member of this rotten guild who are responsible for this, responsible for what could have happened to Ari....will all die alongside their newly appointed King. No exceptions. "Ah!..It...Wait ...where? Where did those...huge creatures go?" - Villager "Gone? They''re all gone!¡± - Mayor "¡­..." - Villagers "H...how?" - Villager "Illusion?...Illusion magic? Of course! How could that man be one of those giant monstrosities! It must have..it must have...all just an illusion. The giant creatures who ate our regiment. His powers! Everything?" - Myro Soldier "...all a lie? Cough...cough.cough...." - Myro Officer "It...it wasn''t real?...Not real?..." - Female Myro Officer "Everything?....All of those giant beasts?" - Myro Officer Each of the villagers started clamoring about and looking at the now dead and smoking bodies that appeared around them. Coming to the realizations so fast, Bifrost and the others must have made it all start to really feel real towards the end. I''ve already made the decision on what to do now and whatever emotions that may rise from it I''ll just push down from here on out and accept it. With those with me as support, I won''t lose to this darkness. I won''t lose to my fears. "You three...." I pointed at three shivering and drenched officers huddled together on the soft dirt. While there appeared to be less than twenty troops left from the force Alderon and his group encountered. Not a single one of them was left in a condition to where they could fight. The girl I choked had a large bruise around her neck and each of them began to grow pale with my sudden action. "You appear to be of higher rank than the others around you.... For that, you''re coming with us.¡± "Wha...what about our men?" - Myro officer "Wha...what are ...gulp..you going to do with us?" - Female Officer "Cough...cough...." - Myro Officer with glasses I didn''t like sounding like the bad guy, but they came here with the intent to hunt me down by orders of their command. They made such a choice to follow such leaders, and while I have no enmity with any of them, they each prepared to die whenever they were willing to pick up their swords and come here. ''Heh, it''s weird but I''m almost thankful for the effects of the darkness element almost leaving me with an absence of guilt over what I''m going to do ....'' "You all came here to hunt me down. No doubt because I killed that chatty Horseman of yours who just so happened to try and assassinate the leader of a Kingdom I have just recently joined. You tell me, how would your superiors treat a group of foreign assassins?" To each of my words caused their eyes to bulge as if they were being stabbed by tiny daggers thinking over every single word. "You dare! Cough..cough." - Myro Officer with glasses "Villain. You''d strike down unarmed men! Savages!!!" - Myro Officer "You think your illusions can save you? You have become an enemy of King Myro! And his reach extends over the entire Eastern world! Nowhere you can hide! No sane person would invoke such a might that will come and crash down on each of you harder than you can imagine!!! Now I demand you release all of us or you''ll regret it!" - Female Officer GRrRrrrrrrrrrrr!!!! Each of the Annunakes behind me and standing within the crowd started growling towards the three in front of me. This sudden change caused the three to shut up and unable to speak with the silver eyes of each Annunake locking in on them. "Dare to show such bloodlust to the Alpha again human and I''ll jam this spear through your skull." - Grayfia Grayfia had jumped out from behind me and raised her spear towards the Female Officer''s head. The earlier anger on the female officer''s face had instantly become erased from her face looking at the spear point only inches from her eye. I interrupted and spoke back to each of the three trembling figures. "Villain? So was anything I said false? You each came here with the intent to kill me and seem shocked at the treatment you''ll receive in return. Like that name backing you will erase all past debts. You! Tell me....If I was to walk within your city streets and threw down my weapon would that mean your superiors wouldn''t still execute me for killing some of their idiot commanding officers? Even if I was unarmed?....Yah, I thought not, so...." Their pride was still quite heavy. Each time I mocked their commanding officers or spoke their customs back to them it were as if I had already pushed in the knife. Snif...Snif..snif...snif.... I couldn''t help but hear a familiar sound that somehow echoed through the rain louder than everything else. As if these sounds were hardwired into my brain to bring back instincts that have been seared all the way to my soul. Not far away were a small huddle of slaves young and old. While there were only around three I''d consider as children, two of which were human, the less than 20 individuals each varied in ages and races from one another. The majority of them however were demi-human and a couple of them even had green skin. Several of them were from the brothel we entered upon our arrival here and some who were recovered from possibly worse conditions throughout the city. Some of them were wearing nothing but rags and each of them were dirty, bruised and frail. While others were drugged or beaten to the point they couldn''t flee here even if we let them go. I could still see hints of fear in each of their eyes, some gave dead looks as if they had already died inside long ago. The sound of one of the small demi-human children somehow caught my attention through all this downpour and I started to walk towards her direction through the shaking villagers and pouring rain. Images of a happier time appeared in my eyes while I walked closer towards the frightened girl and saw the crying form of Kaylan holding onto her scraped knee. "K...kayle....It..it hurts...." - Kaylan I could hardly even believe my eyes as this hallucination was such a familiar scene from my past and had perfectly integrated itself within this very moment. The entire image caused me to shake slightly and I shook my head to break this hallucination that had suddenly appeared in front of me. It wasn''t the first time... The image of my crying sister had turned to ash in front of me and there standing a few feet away was a frightened slave standing in her place. She gave me a frightened look as my face must have been frowning while looking towards her. ''¡­.I''ll never get use to that.....'' The Myro officers each gave odd puzzled looks to one another and before anything else happened, I felt an intense heat coming from behind my back followed by loud horrifying screams. A bright colorful light came pouring from behind me lighting up the surroundings and I had realized that the pixies had each jumped the gun and started shooting their fire magic at the other surviving members of Myro. I turned back and saw now that several Annunakes and Pixies had already started killing the fallen members of the Myro besides the three officers causing loud screams of pain and agony to fill everyone''s ears. Before I was going to say anything in response to the Pixies actions Bifrost who was still quietly sitting on my shoulder had whispered again in my ear. "Don''t worry Vali. Your struggles are our struggles now. That''s what family''s for. You don''t have to worry about us dirtying our hands...They became dirty long ago. Ugh? What? Why are you looking at me like that?" - Bifrost ''¡­.I honestly don''t know what to say. Without even thinking it, I was thinking that way. I didn''t want them to have to kill for reasons that were my own. I should be the one to clean up my own messes, but I''m lucky to have made such strong bonds in such a world...They probably wouldn''t even listen if I tried to argue against them either....'' "Just surprised is all...Not just by your words but even you sitting on my shoulder is kind of surprising..." "Oh..Um of course. And I''ve just seen some of my siblings do it and well, I didn''t think...you''d mind...." - Bifrost "Well...Thanks..." "...Of course Vali." - Bifrost The small black pixie on my shoulder looked warmly towards me with eyes that had no pupils but were simply pitch black. "Ahhhh!!!! You''ll pay for this!" - Female Myro Officer "Cough..co....no.....cough.cough...cough.." - Myro Officer ".....Stop this please! I beg you!" - Myro Officer I didn''t pay much mind what was going on behind me nor the loud shouts coming from the surviving three officers who were unable to do anything. As I drew closer the small demi-human with a large striped puffy tail and ragged hair started to shake violently noticing I was looking at her. Her eyes kept jumping from those burning behind me to those around her and myself not knowing what to do. When I arrived close to the small girl who couldn''t have been any older than Lilly, each of the slaves around her dispersed away. She was a lot shorter than those around her but she kind of had a large head with small fuzzy ears. It was hard to tell if her face were streaming with tears or the rain. She gripped onto her tail that was practically bigger than she was and wondering what I was going to do next. "Hey...You scared?...." I kneeled down in the dirt and got close to her could see scratches and bruises all over her small feet and legs. There aren''t many child slaves in this city as from what I''m told it''s one of the last locations a slave trader would probably bring their stock. Even acquiring a slave here is probably only to those with wealth in this city. Every single one of them looks to have seen some truly horrific times in a city not bound by any law or order. Even the citizens here have been suffering in this place. To my question the small trembling girl''s eyes grew large and while holding onto her tail nodded very cautiously. "It''s ok....You don''t have to be. No one''s going to hurt you anymore." I tried to use a calm voice to reassure each of them but I feel that must have been much more frightening for some reason. Her mouth grew wide but she stared back at me as if she didn''t believe it. She just continued moving her eyes all over not knowing what to think of such words. Everyone else surrounding us started to give strange looks towards me wondering what I was doing. Even if they couldn''t hear what I was saying, my sudden change caused everyone to be momentarily speechless. I didn''t care how I must look to anyone for this. ''For some reason this just seemed, important....'' Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. "Yo...You promise?" - ? The voice that came out from this rather short girl sounded almost like one of the ''chipmunks''. It almost squeaked but it was also soft. I had to hold myself from chuckling it a bit just from her voice. "Yeah, I promise...We only hurt the bad guys...." The small girl started to bite her lip and some of the slaves around me started to look towards one another curiously. Each of the slaves were looking up towards me still not saying a word like everyone else here. ''Geez I feel like a terrorist right now but Fear is part of being a Dark Lord and each of those here have been affected by it. Even in my last life fear was something I was acquainted with and even used it often to stop future fights. I''m going to leave every witness here with a lasting imprint of fear that will hopefully change their lives. I don''t blame the children or some of those here as they are products of a bad environment, but that doesn''t mean it''s all black and white and all of those here are innocent either, including some of these kids.¡¯ "Hey! You bastard look at me! You''re going to pay for this you hear me!" - Myro Officer "AhhhHH!!!!!! You bastard!!! You murdering...sob...bastard...sob...sob..." - Female Myro Officer Just as the sounds behind me grew loud several of the Annunakes had approached each of them and knocked them unconscious. Those in front of me looked behind me and gulped just before slowly turning back towards me. I looked towards each of the victims of this city and thought to myself what they''d probably wish to hear right about now. Just so happens to be the best way to heal a worn out body and heart. I turned to each of the slaves and those who were being carried. "Hey, who''s hungry?" To my words, light was rekindled in some of their eyes and perk up slightly but only to those who were younger. The small girl in front of me made a small gulp and continued biting her lip cautiously staring back at me with loss of breath. Kind of reminds of me of Tierra a bit cause of her ears, I''m sure this is the first time a human has spoken to her like this too. "Yah, I thought so. Well before we came here to fight those big monsters attacking this place, we were having a large feast back home... How''s about each of you come with and fill your bellies. We have more than enough for each of you." As my words trailed off none of them said anything and looked towards each other as if not believing a single word. Everyone seemed more mesmerized by the fact that I was speaking with them instead of anyone else. I tried to look some of them in the eye but none were able to do the same. I could still see resentment in their eyes and even with everything around them trust isn''t something they have in the world any longer. The small terrified girl in front of me however was the first to speak up again. "Y...you''re not going...to eat us?" -? I smirked at the scared small girl''s words and felt a little guilty. ''Ah, poor thing, what is she even thinking?'' "Hmph no, who would eat such a cute little kid like you. What do you each say? Would any of you like to come back with us?...Leave this place? Forever....¡± To my words the small number of slaves and victims of this town didn''t say much of anything back to me. Not able to believe any of the words I said but too afraid to call bullshit. I decided to address everyone present and depart with a few final words and an opportunity to leave. The several hundred villagers cowered together looking back towards me unable to guess what was going to happen next. "To all those of the Kingdom of Aldain, with this we part ways. The vendetta I have against the Sneering Ogres and the King of this little nation is something that truly goes beyond bone deep with me. I myself have no enmity with any of you. But I can''t say that means any of you aren''t just as guilty as they are and could meet the same fate one day....but I''ve had enough killing for today. For those who tonight have lost their homes, husbands....fathers.... I''m sorry. However, to the victims of the atrocities of the powers in charge here I only wish to speak to you. To each of you....." Thinking of something that I probably would have liked to hear in moments I were struggling I looked at each of the slaves and trafficked women who the Annunakes and Pixies had huddled together before all this started. "If you ever prayed for a moment to change each of your destinies....Now is that time. Come back with us and you will no longer receive the same treatment you have each had to suffer here. You''ll be one of us. I can''t promise it''ll be an easy life but you''ll never grow hungry and will have a place to call home if you join us. If you wish to leave afterwards you may, no one will stop you. I''m offering you all a chance at a better life and we will take you away from this city. But you must decide that now..." I then looked back towards the waitress and her Granny and peered over all the crouching villagers still unable to speak from fear. Every time my eyes passed over one of them they would freeze and unable to speak. The Mayor looked back at me with bulging eyes but I could tell he was unable to want to speak. I gave him a look not to say a word in rejection or I would make him sorry. Each of these citizens know of all the deeds that have happened here and with them gaining the opportunity to leave would bring to light some of the depravity that dwells in this place. Obviously the only reason he is in power because he is receiving large benefits from the Guilds many businesses. Knowing that I threatened all of those in power here I think he is now controlling his tongue and doesn''t dare to say a word. If no one wishes to come that''s fine, I just want to be content knowing I did what I could. I''m not some justice freak looking to right out injustices. But with the power I''ve been given I feel I can at least help those who are around me. ''With what I''ve been given in this next life, this is the least I could do for those who remind me a lot of myself in a way. I wasn''t strong enough when it mattered, now even if it''s inconvenient for me I won''t ever sit by and watch again. I''d rather die then go through that torment again. '' Just then one of the slaves who looked only a bit younger than me jumped out and walked forward. He had a dirty face and thin frame and was a couple inches shorter than me. He was also missing his left hand and was wrapped heavily into a stump. He also had green skin and two large fangs coming out from his lower jaw. It gave him a rather tough appearance but much like the others here he was weak and only nodded to me just before lowering his head. I nodded towards him and just then an older female demi-human with peach colored hair and a large dirty tail coming out from behind it. She was dressed more like a worker in one of the businesses rather than some of the slaves here clothed in rags. She had darker skin than most but even in her old age her skin was oddly smooth but like all the others around her was soaked and dirty. One after the other, many started to walk forward and stand next to the two demi-humans looking to struggle with these thoughts but for whatever reason still came forward. The small puffy tailed little girl started to oddly waddle forward to stand next to the small group while still holding onto her tail with big astonished looking eyes. Now she was no longer looking around at the surrounding people but only at me. The two other human slaves I considered as children since they were around Lilly and the rests ages, also walked over while some older villagers even got up and ran towards a few of the slaves. "Mom!" - ? "It''s ok...It''s ok, sweety...Come now...come...let''s leave..." - ? "Bu..bu..." -? "This is what we''ve been praying for...Come now we can''t let this opportunity leave us." - ? They hugged a few of them and by some of the slaves¡¯ reactions it was possible some of the teenagers were even children to some of those in this town. They too came forward and stood with us. I looked towards the waitress, who had a bruise on the side of her face, and her Granny crouching next to her. After looking me in the eye for several seconds the Granny had nodded. She stood up and tried pulling her granddaughter who seemed reluctant at first but upon further nudging started to walk forward with a surprised look on her face. Some who were kneeling within the crowd who weren''t slaves also stood up and started walking forward. Some who had lost their homes and some who even possibly came from this village. Some of the parents are even taking their children whom had more than likely lost some of their family members just now too and yet they still decided to join. Until a group of a little over 30 stood out in front of me I looked back to the Annunakes and ushered them to grab the 3 unconscious Officers and Prince of this backwater kingdom, and prepare to leave. None of those who decided to stay had even a word to say back in fear of obstructing any of us and remained crouching in the mud. I nodded and all of the Pixies and Annunakes did as well and started to walk alongside me. With Bifrost on my shoulder we walked towards the group who immediately jumped out of the way from me and cleared a path. While I wanted to just use the Spatial Magic here and warp us all away this sudden action of theirs made me think I should wait till we leave the vicinity of the arena.... ''That is also an ability I don''t want others knowing about. The less anyone knows what we can do the better.'' As we marched out of the blood soaked arena being lit by the glow of the pixies and piercing lightning striking overhead. The 30 plus we gathered decided to follow behind us and I had some of the Annunakes help those who had trouble walking that I''d heal each later. Most of their levels were less than 20 and some had crippling injuries I wouldn''t be able to fix at my current power. ''I''d help them, but even promises of freedom, they don''t wish to be anywhere near me... Illusion or not...As a Dark Lord, this is also expected, instilling fear from even the slightest spark, though I hope it''s just the effects of my new titles...'' "We have made enough distance away from the stone structure Alpha." - Adimar Walking up beside me were some of the Alpha unit who are now cleansed of all the blood covering their fur from the constant rain. While nodding I looked towards the former Alpha who looked troubled. "...I''m sorry for the detour and that we couldn''t find any of the Elkia tonight...." "...Hmph. Think nothing of it Alpha. We will next time... " - Adimar "Mmm...." I felt bad we weren''t able to retrieve any of the Elkia from this trip and feel I may have gotten sidetracked here. Adimar however seemed to be understanding. "One shouldn''t ever have regrets in their actions young Alpha. Only their failures. Besides we have gained something from it, perhaps we can learn something about this foreign nation who keeps dispatching large forces to this area." - Adimar While nodding back I walked out in front of everyone and turned around to face each of them. We haven''t left the City but using my Presence Sense I can see there isn''t anyone close by. "Alpha! What of these beasts who were being mounted by the foreign army''s troops?¡± - Alderon I looked over and saw next to Alderon and Grayfia were roughly 10 horses that all looked to have been broken in and trained. What I couldn''t take my eyes off of however were two of them had flames coming out from their mains and they looked to be an incredibly rare breed possibly? They had to grab the reigns to pull them but the fire coming off them was pretty intense so some of the Pixies had to take over. "...Those are called horses but those two with flames seem pretty interesting. They''re often used in battle since they''re speed and stamina are higher than humans and they can help pull things." "Hmph, they weren''t that fast..." - Grayfia Grayfia smirked while they pulled the reigns of some of the horses they had gathered and we decided to take them as well. Stretching out my hands all of the people we gathered started looking towards me oddly and some with looks of fear. After a few waves of my hands I stretched over the space everyone was standing in and warped it back to a spatially marked point I placed inside the dungeon on Floor 52. I couldn''t create many of these when I first learned of how to use this particular spatial marker that allows me to use spatial magic across much further distances and bring large groups with me. But now my abilities and basic comprehensions seemed to have expanded greatly making me able to create much more. Now it was just me standing in the silent city in Aldain looking to see if my ability had successfully warped everyone away. The once outer colony of the fallen Kingdom of Anston was later stripped and taken over by several other clans and surrounding Kingdoms after losing a war. A local guild master had collected and gathered a large force of bandits and thieves and created a fortress city within the current Kingdom of Aldain and have practically trapped its citizens from escaping to other towns and obtaining taxes from them as a form of ''protection'' they claim to be providing. They may allow traveling merchants to enter but exiting the city is not something many of the citizens are even allowed to do. '' That''s also probably why that red crystal was being sold at such a price in that shop. I assumed it was just because it wasn''t a good alchemy ingredient and too difficult to work with as the shopkeeper had said.'' While the now deceased Guild Master who was once an Earl of fallen Kingdom was dethroned, the corruption and horrors in this town are still grimly present. The Queen had even claimed that those who the guild sex-trafficked like those from the newly decorated brothel, are the lucky ones. The intel the Queen had provided had even spoke of a deal that was made from the newly appointed King Tyrule with a surrounding Orc clan that they sell women to once every few months in return for them not attacking their citizens or traveling merchants. If I wasn''t affirmed at killing this man already, his actions make me think death is far too light for him.... The Sneering Ogre guild has gotten out of control and King Asher believes the reason for this is due to no one willing to expend a large enough force to take care of them within their inner City that is built like a fortress within a small forest in the west not far from here, especially when it isn''t really their concern. Things like this aren''t uncommon in this side of the world and involved in their own affairs. With a Continent almost 30% larger than Asia and most of the land still unsettled for Humans, things like this just get swept under the rug. Such acts alone make me furious! Aldain is now even considered a small Human Kingdom that alongside several other neighboring Kingdoms have been absorbed within the Kingdom of Myro. Aldain''s land however is a little too close to the Dungeon entrance so....Two birds one stone.... With one final look at this city stained of evil, vowing to one day return and finish what I started in this Kingdom, I too warped away.... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Akino''s POV: ''Hmm, life sure has changed following the new Alpha.¡¯ Looking down, the short demi-human child was walking kind of funny trying to keep up with my pace. While gripping onto my hand which was holding firmly onto hers, she suddenly looked up at me strangely. After a few seconds of awkward eye contact she smiled brightly up towards me while trotting alongside me. She wore small scraps of cloth held together by a string and walked on her bare feet. She looked to have barely even grew in her fangs in yet.... far too young to fend for herself. ''Alpha wasn''t able to let them be left to fend for themselves. I suppose I can''t blame him...Such a disgusting place that was.'' I couldn''t really communicate with her so I just smiled back to ease her frightened heart. I looked forward towards some of the others who decided to come alongside us who weren''t able to walk quite yet. Some we found in chains strung up on large cuts of lumber and others lying half dead in their streets. Even before Alpha arrived, the place already reeked of death. ----------------------------------------------------------- "Anyone you find wearing this matching armor you tell them the phrase I wrote down and if any of them don''t throw down their weapons, put them down!" - Vali "As you command Alpha!" - Alpha Group Within a breath of Alpha''s command the Alpha Group and a few other strong members of the pack began sprinting through the vacant city streets. After hopping over their city wall which was a mere fence, those who dared brandish their weapons donning the same colors as the city guards would be killed on the spot. The image of 10 armed humans came around the side of a building brandishing their weapons and shaking. WHOOooooOOOOOoOOOshh! Adimar''s figure had flew past me at an astonishing speed and ripped through rain in between each of them. Shink.. Shink... Shink.... Each of the figures then dropped their weapons and fell to their knees with their heads now leaving their bodies. Unknowing of how they even died as they were unable to react to the once fallen Alpha''s unmatchable speed. Even myself I can feel my legs and body feeling a power unlike anything I''ve ever felt before. I can run so fast the rain pouring down seemed almost stalled before us. AHhhhhHhhhhh!!!!!!! Loud screams started echoing throughout the quiet city until the every citizen within the settlement had become aware to our presence. The new Alpha was appalled at the scenes that continued to reveal themselves at every street corner, the blood lust he was showing was only growing more and more. By his command every citizen of this city was to be gathered and brought towards the large arena like structure on a hill within their small city. Adimar and I both followed behind Vali as we rounded the short street corner and their appeared 5 large pieces of lumber sticking out from the ground. Each of them held the body of a brutally beaten and some disfigured demi-humans who were wrapped in chains high above the ground. "Noooo!!!¡± Just then one of the green-skinned demi-humans we found being used as bait jump from behind us and ran towards one of the figures wrapped in chains. The figure wrapped around the large slab of lumber also had green skin and looked to have large gashes covering it''s face and body while missing it''s left hand. "Get them down...All of them!" - Vali Immediately by the Alpha''s orders several members of the Alpha Group took down each of the figures and amongst them only 2 had survived. Vali performed his healing magic on both of them but didn''t say anything else before he then took back to the city streets. "Ple..please..don''t die..please don''t..don''t leave me...." ¨C Green-Skinned demi-human Several of these slaves we were also slowly gathering in the city as a number of around a dozen have each appeared wearing those same strange collars around their necks, no different than a leash. "Akino, pay attention, keep up." - Adimar I shook my head and noticed Adimar was quickly following behind Vali who had just entered into a large building that had lights on inside. "Sorry...Did Alpha just enter into this place?" "Yes, he..." - Adimar BOooooOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!! "AHhhhHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" - ? The sounds of a loud explosion shook the dust off the building and a loud scream of a female erupted through our ears. Adimar and I both looked at each other and we both entered into the large stone building. Upon stepping through the doors we were immediately met with the stench of blood and the sight of over 7 dead figures who were all donning the same armor. We saw only a few frightened figures crouching in the corner but were too scared to move. "Ahhh!...Loo.lolloookk at..att them!" - ? "Wh..wha...what are..are they?...." - ? "Where did Alpha go?" - Adimar "I''m not sure..." Splatttt! A low bang came from a long corridor in the back of the building and we spoke to some of the other members of the Alpha Group to collect the survivors and bring them to the stone arena at Alpha Vali''s request. Entering into the room we saw a disgusting image that I was unsure just how so much blood could be drenched in this room with such little time. There were only 4 figures in the room. Two female maidens one of which being fairly young, while the other two were Vali and the human male he was holding by the base of his skull. There were 3 bodies on the ground of other human males but they weren''t adorned in armor but just judging by the site of the two girls and the blood falling down their legs I can already determine the reasons for each of their deaths. "I won''t ask again, now SPEAK!" - Vali With just the sound of Vali''s voice felt like a violent force flew through me and caused my entire body to shutter. It was Vali''s voice, but it wasn''t Vali''s voice. The echo coming off of it were almost so familiar to....B.... "Adimar...." "......" - Adimar Adimar too had no words for what we had just heard coming out of Vali''s echo that caused the hairs on our fur to stand on their ends. "I..i.i.....Pl...please don''t...PLease....I''ll tell you..I''ll tell you I swear...Just..just don''t..don''t kill me...." - ? "....Tell me who''s in charge of this place and responsible for kidnapping all of these women and maybe I don''t kill you." - Vali "¡­.The...the prince..He..he''s in in. The basement!!! He went to hide when reports came of monsters attacking the..the city....I.I.. ...I am just the caretaker of this...." - ? Snap! BOOooooM! Splatttt!!!! Vali in one failed motion crushed the man''s skull causing a rain of blood to fly out from between his fingers and shower over the surroundings. "...Thanks." - Vali "AhhhhhHHHHHHHH!!!!" - ? "Huouhhhhhh!!'' - Frightened girl The sound of a loud crushing sound following by the horrendous scream of one of the maidens cowering were staring at the same site as Adimar and I. I held out my urge to vomit like the young human girl not far away but I myself have seen much more hideous sights. Vali dropped the lifeless corpse on the ground and turned towards the door to where we were both standing and started nonchalantly walking towards us. His eyes were pitch black and he didn''t even look to be looking at either of us anymore. "Move...." - Vali At Alpha''s command we both took a step back and allowed Vali to walk past us and he started heading back to the back of the building. ''¡­.....'' Both Adimar and I had frozen for a brief moment looking at the Alpha''s back as we heard him tell each of us to explore each of the rooms and he would look to find the basement of this building himself. "We shall accompany..." - Adimar "No need.....I''ll handle this myself." - Vali After his faint voice had left his lips the sounds of loud screams continued to come in from the back of the building including the streets outside. Adimar looked towards the dark corridor for a brief moment then looked back at me and spoke it was time to move. While that voice made my fur itch, I still know it''s Vali. I looked towards the two cowering figures and smiled. "As the Alpha commands. I''ll collect the rest of the slaves I can find and rendezvous with you back in the stadium." Adimar nodded and then continued searching through the rest of the building and headed upstairs. It only took a few minutes before we had entered all the homes and buildings by force and gathered each of the citizens of the human city. While I couldn''t imagine having such a fate such as this one befall me, the people here have truly made a grave mistake in inviting our new Alpha''s wrath. ------------------------------------------------------------ Recalling all that had already happened I continued alongside members of the pack and all that had come alongside Vali, heading back to our home. I looked over and saw Alderon who was carrying one such maiden who was unable to walk as her body was far too weak. She was collected alongside the Alpha Group that found those of the same Kingdom who attacked on our last trip out of the dungeon. The human female continued shaking in Alderon''s arms and looked terrified looking back up at him. As he looked down at her she tightly shut her eyes and turned her head in fright. The looks they gave some of us were truly that of one you''d give a monster. ''Hmph...The looks they gave Alpha were just as bad which I couldn''t fathom why. Even with his merciless actions I didn''t bad an eye. But for Vali he seemed, troubled almost. His whole atmosphere just....changed once again. He''s nothing like Alysteir or those with the ''sickness'' but... I and possibly even some of the others in the pack too sensed that something had changed in Vali. The entire aura he gave off was filled with a bloodlust unlike anything I have ever encountered before. Completely unlike that of the same person who cooked a meal for us with a small child after our most recent victory together...'' Alderon tried smiling down while his body started to contort and reshape while continually marching forward. Within a few moments his figure had slightly decreased in height and size and what remained was Alderon out of his beast form. The maiden started to cautiously open her eyes and when she saw the face of Alderon she started to blink several times and her face began to grow red. Some of the other females here also started looking towards Alderon''s sudden change like that of admirers that he''s quite used to . The small girl waddling at my side, looked up at me with eager eyes half expecting my form to change as well I assume. "Hmph..." Suddenly my hands started to grow fur around them and my long hair grew more bushy and wild. As the length of my hair grew longer the small child opened her mouth wide and smiling and mumbling something underneath her breath. "...wow." - Bushy tailed slave ''Cute kid...Hmm, I do however wonder what it is Alpha is planning with gathering each of them to join us. It is not like we know any of them and is not our responsibility to aid any of them either after releasing them from their captors. How can we so willingly trust all of them to join us either?... Vali just, doesn''t seem to be able to look the other way when seeing the weak harmed in front of him. After hearing him share some of his inner struggles with us before our final battle against Balor, I know now that is all because of what he lost before gaining the terrifying power he now wields. Perhaps he feels guilty for not being able to save those he lost and this is some kind of atonement for his past failures.¡¯ As an Alpha, one must be able to make difficult decisions that could lead to the deaths of many from his own pack. The Alpha must be one who is resolute in the face of any tribulation and enemy without ever yielding nor breaking. That is why the Elders and most of the Elite Alpha Group chose to press for the other Annunakes to accept Vali. Even when given the chance to flee or join Balor he didn''t falter in the slightest and chose to fight alongside us. Even facing the horrifying beast practically alone with his violent bird and wolf to keep Balor within the confines of his final move. This is the ultimate truth that all Annunakes must always live by. If one were to simply bow before a stronger opponent, it doesn''t matter the amount of power they would ever hope to obtain, they would forever bow to foes stronger than them. The Alpha must be one who yields to none...But even as an Alpha in our society, that position has never held as much weight as it once had when the Elkia were still among us. The Elkia were our teachers, our strategists. We trusted the words of our beloved brethren race wholeheartedly and as the Annunakes our way of life was to uphold theirs. With their deaths, the Alpha position became one that included the roles the Elkia had once held. Adimar had even once stated how the role of Alpha itself has now changed and he no longer feels him or many of the Alpha Group are even capable of leading the pack any longer. ''His eyes are different than most. They however can''t seem to tolerate such sights as if it were impossible for him to look away. Vali''s a lot like an Elkia in that right. They always had such a way of seeing the world with their eyes that they always enjoyed sharing with us.'' After Vali had warped us back to Floor 52 he instructed each of us to take the slaves to the Arachnee floor so they could all bathe and get out of their soaking wet clothes. Several of the Alpha Group left to speak to the Elders over everything that happened and some of the Pixies had left as well. Vali instructed that all of the items we had obtained and give them to Pek to analyze each of them for when the races will split everything after it has all been collected and identified. I had told Vali before we arrived on this floor about the small monster cage the Elkia had invented to keep a steady food source by allowing some of them to breed during times of low respawning seasons. He seemed impressed we had something like this but some of the other races have done this too as it''s not that rare of a thing. A few of the Alpha Group took the 10 four legged monsters and took them there. After we arrived Vali came over and a large amount of spider silk flew out of his fingertips in a spray like motion towards four unconscious figures at our feet. It covered most of each of their unconscious bodies but looked more like he was just making a mess. "Ah, that''s embarrassing. Spiderman made this look so easy....Ugh, could you guys wrap them up with that sorry....But it''s Adamantine Thread so I don''t know if it''s any better than the Arachnee''s but this should do for now. You guys checked their pockets and everything?" - Vali "Yes Alpha....Just some odd quality material with writing on it and some hidden weapons and items, nothing else really." - Alderon "Alright goo....Hmmm?" - Vali Queen Nhaili of the Arachnee happened to be there alongside her guards to apparently grab more liquor they had kept away for the feast that is currently going on. ''¡­.They''re all drunk.'' "Mmmmm....If it isn''t Valiiiii....Who are your frie...gup...ends....nnnn" - Queen Nhaili The Arachnee Queen walked out from the dimly lit cave walls and strutted towards Vali while swaying back and forth. All of those who came alongside us looked towards her and the other Arachnee in fear and backed away. The small girl was now hiding behind my leg and holding even tighter onto my hand while peeking out from behind me. "Hello Queen Nhaili. I was hoping you could help us out a bit letting each of them shower off and clean themselves up before they eat....I''ll explain later. Um, and if it''s possible if we can have some fresh clothes for each of...them...umm...You''re standing very close to me......" - Vali "Mmmmphmph.....What''s a matter Vali? Your blushing. Mmm....I don''t mind any of that we''re just grabbing some more celebratory wine. You are each missing such a splendid party! And I suppose I can have some of my sisters to provide some clothes for them. We sell clothes to the races here so I''m sure we have enough lying around here somewhere...Gup...Raja can you mmm...Attend to that. But Valiiiiii......If....you could help me out with a little....ssssssomething for the favorrrr...." - Queen Nhaili The Queen started leaning over closer and closer to Vali to where her robust cleavage was in perfect view for him and keeping her lips dangerously close to his ear. "¡­.And that would be?" - Vali "Hmph, why some of that delicious blood of yours of course..... What? Not a good deal?¡± - Queen Nhaili "...Hmph, fine. Go for it...." - Vali Vali smiled oddly and tilted his neck to the side in front of the Queen who then straightened up oddly, not expecting such a straightforward response. "Hmphmph....Oh you thought I meant here did youuuu....No, no....Mmmmm I''ll wait to have my taste of you on an empty stomach. I wish to savor every. Last. Drop.....Mmm..." - Queen Nhaili "...gulp." - Vali ''This damned promiscuous spider!......'' While Queen Nhaili started gently grazing her finger over his face, neck and body she also started walking clumsily away. ''Did she just graze down to his?! Does she have no shame? Wait is he into that? That green-haired human seemed to be into it... Do humans find the Arachnee....Appealing? Hmm...'' Queen Nhaili looked to be humming a tune only she could hear and swayed back and forth as her two guards walked out behind her. "...Oh, what have I done? Ugh whatever...¡± - Vali Alpha gave an odd look to the floor while scratching his head just before looking towards all of those who came with us and instructed everyone where the males and females could both shower. He then spoke if any of them were sick or injured to come to him now and he''d heal them. None of them spoke out and Alpha smirked with lazy eyes and walked towards one of the demi-humans who was being held in Dogun''s arms. A familiar bright light came out from his hands and flowed onto the weak demi-human in his arms. It was a green-skinned figure with large gashes covering its back and chest where it looked to have been whipped horribly. Its arm was also bent in a way it would be crippled without the Alpha''s tremendous healing powers. ''This was one of the ones we found strung up as we entered into the city and lost the ability to walk.'' Within only a few passing breaths each of the wounds covering its body and face began to wash away. ''Alpha''s healing magic is even more miraculous than the Elkia''s. Not just in healing, his magical abilities let''s me think...No, they let me know, that our lost brethren won''t be lost for much longer. Alpha has done everything he said he would so all we can do is have trust in him.'' He isn''t one to go back on his word, I know he will try with all of his might to bring our Elkia back and in turn bring our pack and family back to its former glory. After Vali''s show of powerful healing each of the eyes of those who came upon his words started to grow astonished. Vali didn''t wait and continued walking towards each of us and healed the injured and weak. As Alpha walked closer to me he didn''t even glance in my direction before he knelt down to the small girl next to me. She slowly backed away behind my leg and continuously shaked looking up at him. ''It''s as if she doesn''t even know what he''s doing for each of them right now....He took each of them in without even thinking twice of it. I''m not even upset we weren''t able to find our Elkia brethren tonight as I feel I''ve come to know a little more about the new Alpha seeing the things that make him move. It''s like he doesn''t even know I''m even here and only focusing on those we have just freed.'' Alpha reached out his hand towards her and she lowered her head but allowed him to place his hand between her ears. Her hands gripping onto my leg started growing even tighter. I felt a warm emotional glow enter past my skin causing my heart to race. It was a calming touch. A warm hand in a cold world that felt the same as the last. This touch wasn''t only washing away my wounds from battle but felt like he were wiping them away by hand. It touched all the way down to my soul. It were the same and yet so different than the Elkia''s healing hand. It felt as if every time he used it our souls had briefly met, even if for a moment. As I opened my eyes I noticed Vali had already moved onto the next person without saying anything. ''Hmm, this Alpha does not even seek praise for the things he grants others. Even with all those who came to embrace and adorn him he showed a rather awkward demeanor...He even gave me back my tail and my ears....I still haven''t thoroughly thanked him for such things. Would he even care to hear it though? Ugh, this Alpha is also hard to please. No one ever knows what he''s thinking! How could I even show him my thanks?....'' Vali continued healing all of the others around us and told each of the Pixies and Annunakes to help some of those who are too weak to wash themselves. Without question the Pixies nodded with a smile and took some of them by hand. The Annunakes as well agreed to their Alpha''s unorthodox command that is showing more and more to be different than the Alpha''s before him. Within a moment his image disappeared and he had again used his peculiar warping ability. Now it was only a small group of us while some of the slaves and those who came with us cautiously walked forward without saying a word to the Arachnee''s bathing quarters also on this floor. Only a few of those who came with us were still unable to walk even after Alpha''s healing so a few members of the Alpha Group helped carry them. "Hmph...Life sure is interesting since following the new Alpha." - Grayfia "It has been rather strange....Alpha Vali is most definitely a different thinker compared to the many who have held the position." - Dogun Dogun turned and finally released his beast form while walking by a nearby stone and sat down. Some of the Alpha Group started walking over to surrounding yellow boulders connected to the dungeon walls and sat down. "Yes, but that isn''t necessarily a bad thing either. It is what we need." - Adimar "...Nanu thinks Alpha has reasons for doing the things he does. He''s a gentle Alpha." - Nanu Feeling some of the other Annunakes had some of the same thoughts as I did thinking over the recent events each of the Alpha Group started to sit down together. "Hmph, gentle...? You forget that thrashing he gave some of us so soon? I''d be willing to guess a few hundred of his kind tonight would now disagree with you. Along with that old bastard too. Gentle isn''t the words I''d used to describe Alpha Vali." - Alderon "Did you not watch him cook a meal for us all with that small one? How he was with the Pixies is the same as how he was with each of those he just brought with us. Nanu believes Alpha to be gentle to his own, but fierce to his enemies." - Nanu "...He''s someone who changes a person''s destiny with no second thought. He changed ours as well. He''s a little rough around the edges but his will is still unshakable. Besides, can''t really argue with his results now can we?" - Grayfia Each of the Alpha Group started to speak over the new Alpha that for the first time in our history, has not gone to an Annunake. "I agree with you. Being allowed to gaze upon the moon and feel the touch of the blessed mother Fei reach my fur was something I waited my entire life for. Being able to move so fast I don''t believe I''ve ever felt so wild and free." - Dogun We each nodded towards Dogun thinking about the new power we received entering into this new world. It were as if our whole lives we were living with shackles that once broken made us what we were meant to be. I''ve never moved so fast and felt more free in my entire life. It had almost awakened the primal natures within us all. "Though with the possibility of war so soon is pressing my heart. For Annunakes all we know is war. But now we have entered a realm of endless possibility, we cannot forget our sworn duty to those we lost. With Alpha...perhaps we do have a higher chance of survival and allowing us to truly leave this dungeon victoriously and alongside what we thought lost. Though his age was a concern for me, his actions sometimes are quite....peculiar. More of a brawler than a warrior but by Amarok himself that human is fucking tough...Took a shot right on the chest from that dead bastard and I thought that was the end for all of us... Very durable the new Alpha. Not like I''m not thankful for him and all he has done...His actions sometimes are just confusing to me." - Dogun While beating his chest Dogun laughed at the abilities our new Alpha had shown that was horrifying enough to be able to survive such a shocking blow and remain fighting with us when so many had died from one swing. "As they should.....As an Alpha it was always law to uphold the will of our Elkia. I didn''t always understand the things they asked of me but it did not matter....Alpha is not like us. The things that move and drive him are different than our own. I think I''ve only actually seen him truly smile once and it was with that small demi-human who wound up saving each of our lives this day. Never did address her as anything but his own family. She too I''m sure was a victim of this world just like those we''ve found today....But like many of us he has been forged by his past failures. Vali is unwilling to break in his convictions he''s set for himself and would sooner die than do so. I understand your worries, I''ve listened to the Elders and what''s been said. But take it from me, war is inevitable. We will never escape it with this lifetime. But with the Alpha''s help maybe we can eradicate it from our future. For our sons, daughters. Our pack can live on..." - Adimar As Adimar spoke each of the Annunakes halted their words and listened to him. Adimar always let his actions speak for himself but whenever he did open his mouth they were always remnants of our lost brethren race. Several of the Annunakes probably wouldn''t favor the idea of following a human. Many wouldn''t favor the idea of lowering themselves in such a way even in the forms of his requests can be considered as so to some. However, upon hearing this many of the Elders and Alpha Group spoke out in rash contest including Adimar. Alpha Vali has already done so much to at least ask that much from us is nothing. If it was just that alone it''s one thing, but Vali himself does everything he requests us to do and doesn''t find it lowering at all for himself. "I agree. Peace must be earned. If war is inevitable then so be it.... We were all dead the moment we were born. Just haven''t determined when that time will be yet. The moment you accept that you''ll never fear it when your time comes. Alpha so willing to forget our past transgressions and only looks towards the future. With such a beast who preys on creatures who lurk in the night reigning as Alpha, we will see a new future unfold for the pack." - Alderon "Adimar and Alderon are right... We all knew Alpha was a little rough around the edges when he displayed such violent aggression to those who prey on the weak before. Like us he''s suffered loss. But even with so much power he does not abuse it and only uses it to help those who can''t do it themselves....Even as the once Legendary Annunakes we are no different from any of them he''s reached out his hand to save. His choices he makes might be unorthodox but perhaps there is reason for each of them...Hmph, let''s just be glad he isn''t like our last Alpha who only cared for finding females to fill his bed.¡± With each of my words each of the Annunakes present smirked and lightly nodded. "Hah! That''s true I suppose... This Alpha doesn''t quite care for such things I hear. He''d rather enjoy cooking or playing games with the Pixie race...." - Dogun Dogun just shook his head while revealing his crystal white fangs and laughing. "Hmph, clearly Dogun didn''t see Alpha''s reactions to miss Grayfia and Akino in the shower earlier or Nanu thinks he wouldn''t be saying that mmphmph....Alpha is still clearly an Alpha." - Nanu "Wait what?" My ears twitched hearing this and each of the Alpha Group looked back towards my puzzlement since I wasn''t aware if her words spoken were just a joke. "Haha, so you didn''t notice Akino, the Alpha''s eyes flowing up and down your bare wet body? He practically bumped into me with his sword when Grayfia first approached him." - Alderon Everyone started to look at me and Grayfia and she just started to laugh. "What? It''s not like I was seeking skinship with our Alpha or anything. I simply wished to show him my respect. He just happened to show me his ever growing mm....admiration mphmph...He did have a nice ass though." - Grayfia "Ahahaha!" - Adimar and Dogun Gray''s tail continued to sway back and forth while she chuckled to herself causing the others around her to laugh. ''Was he really gazing at our bodies? I too had looked at Alpha who seemed to be rather awkward with showering alongside others but I hadn''t noticed him looking at me. I had noticed his well....It was impossible not to take a glance at the Alpha''s strong frame and large back muscles. Under the glow from the yellow stones his skin tone underneath the water glistened alongside his frosted hair as white as our own. Even if his ass was a little too bare and white, his muscle definition and strong leg muscles wasn''t far and away from those of us. It was in an odd way attractive in its own right. But he chose to stay close to the cave wall for so long... Mph...So he''s a shy Alpha then...Mphmphmph....." "Ahahaha......" The Alpha Group continued chuckling to themselves about our new Alpha and sat down together waiting on the group to continue showering off. We continuing poking fun at some of our new Alpha''s behaviors until Adimar over to my side started making an odd face. "Hey, has anyone here ever heard of the term ''demon'' before? I remember hearing the phrase before just, can''t seem to recall just where it came from." - Adimar Adimar spoke out and after hearing the word of what Vali said his father was I became alert. I too have heard such a term before but I can''t recall where from. The one who was to be my mate he, he used to say something like ''We all have our demons....Hmm, he always spoke of it like it was a bad thing.'' "Ah yes, it took me a while to remember that term too after Alpha had spoken of it with that Human King....Rholhorne used to love telling me about all the tales and legends from beyond the walls here, that his father told him and his father before him....It was just one of his hobbies to read some of the mysteries and stories of old he obtained from manuscripts collected from several of the ancestors of the races here...." - Grayfia "Yes, Joslyn too had such habits." - Adimar "And what were Demons exactly Gray...?" Grayfia looked back towards me and shrugged her fiercely toned shoulders. She herself is the great, great-great granddaughter of the first and only female Alpha the Annunakes had ever had, even if it was for a short time. "All I can remember, is they weren''t really on good terms with the Gods of this world or any of the other races for that matter. More like beasts than anything else from what it sounded like. Well Rholhorne spoke as if they were quite vicious which probably explains some of his, rather violent agressions hmph... Though I''m sure that''s all for other reasons too......" - Grayfia Listening to Grayfia''s words I nodded back thinking to myself over this. Alpha is such a mystery we know so little about the one we have chosen to follow. It however was a decision that has ultimately changed our lives in ways we never thought possible. He doesn''t ask for much either, he just continues to always look out ahead as if not even looking at us at all. Like he''s planning for times far away from now and not even here with us. Just then as we continued speaking Alpha appeared only now with two demi-humans I recognized from being the same who lived with Vali before we met him. The dark-haired brother of the fellow Annunake who was living with Vali and another demi-human he bought in that other human city who looked sort of like Vali''s adoptive mother. They each continued on towards the caves with Vali and he only glanced towards us while passing by. We had made eye contact for a split second and in that brief moment I couldn''t tell just what tugged on the Alpha''s heart that seemed to be troubled behind that mask of his. He doesn''t say much but I can tell by the troubled looks he gives at times, he appears to be in constant thought. "Still, with the Elkias appearing and the possibilities of finding more...I can''t help but be ultimately thankful this Alpha has such skill with magic. Amarok himself must have sent such a blessing." - Alderon "Same here...For the first time I feel, alive again. As much as I wish to stretch my legs and run free, how can I possibly contain my excitement over anything other than bringing our beloved brethren back from the brink of extinction?" - Dogun "True...With two of the Elkias being female we could increase their numbers much quicker too." The Elkia always had higher litters than Annunake girls did. While more than half are usually birthed in the same race as the mother hopefully we can gain our numbers back in time. Each of the races will be repopulating soon and it has been spoken from the Elders to all Annunakes to start thinking of finding a mating partner as a means to save our species. Our numbers have been....Heavily demolished. We still don''t have a population count but it''s probably less than 1000 of our race left. With the appearance of another member of our kind behind this wall, there is now a new ray of hope. Not many of us made it to freedom but now it is almost our duty to repopulate. Even Adimar who spoke of never taking another lover again seemed as if there was no other way for our race to continue surviving. Especially if we ever hoped to take on the mantle of guarding those we were created to protect. There were even talks about impregnating them even while they were under the same dark magic Balor has them trapped under. The arguments were quickly dispelled by the Elders and such a decision wasn''t as difficult to make now that Vali has too joined us. ''He never left after saving us...While I know the reasons he chose to fight after telling us, it still does mean a lot to those of us that he stayed...'' "Hmph, hey Adimar...I think we might need to have a new ranking competition soon. Most of the pack who stayed on the higher floors this whole time even have levels higher than our own....You never know some new Alpha Candidates could make an appearance..." - Alderon "That is true...The Alpha Group has now dropped to 12 remaining including myself. A competition would be good. Raise the spirits of the pack..." - Adimar "Hmph, I honestly want to test my strength against some of the other races now too. The gains some of the pack received after rising over Level 300 is phenomenal. The stat gains after crossing the threshold practically doubled again and the level gains are starting to stack up. I imagine the power rankings over the whole dungeon has probably changed quite a bit.¡± - Alderon "Hmph, sounds like you want to have a rematch with that Viktor fella now that he''s the new race leader. If I recall he barely beat you in the pre-lims getting your health in the yellow due to the earlier match rules, just barely am I right? Hehe!...." - Dogun "Psh...If the rules were different in the pre-lims and was like a life or death battle that fight would have gone down differently. That little fucker had some weird evasion skills and had some impressive sword talent knocking out so many critical hits after the other... Grayfia had only just barely managed to beat him. I wouldn''t mind another rematch though. Honestly, I''m more excited to see the new strengths of all the races along with the pack. They may have gained a lot but with the touch of Fei....Things are going to change a bit.¡± - Alderon Each of the Alpha group started to laugh until one of them grunted oddly. "Mph, ya well...Those pixies are still pretty awesome though right? I mean not like we can forget them. Super badass now can''t forget them." - Horand An almost unnaturally deep voice came out of Horand as he spoke up. Jhakks who was seated next to him also started nodding his head while smiling strangely. "Hmm? What''s with you Horand? New fan of the practical jokers? I admit each race has their strong dragons fighting for them but as far as the strongest combat party, the Annunakes might be able to take consecutive victories like we always have....Especially at night. Not even Alysteir could keep up with us I''m sure." - Alderon The Alpha Group started chuckling to themselves and nodded their heads. Vali said we could move fairly close to something called ''Mok 2?''...I''m not sure what measurement this is but...No one could keep up with us. While we haven''t always held the number one strongest position in the Dungeon throughout the centuries, we hold the record for the strongest combat party for almost a hundred consecutive years. Other than this past competition we had received our first lost in almost a hundred years.... ''The Elder''s now aren''t going to believe how easy it was for us to take that city down with such little numbers. We weren''t even able to use this new Magic Skill we gained from Balor''s castle...At night, who can be our opponents? Speed is always our strongest strength so now, with such a defensive skill like our Alpha''s, could Alysteir even keep up with us let alone stand against us?'' "Haha, but does any of this speculation even compare to Alpha? Even Diaga was unable to utilize any of his techniques or combat experience against him as an opponent. I too am interested to see the new combat potential of everyone though..." "Haha...Alpha doesn''t really correlate to common thought though does he...But I''m sure the rankings have changed a lot. But even if some of the Pack has grown to be stronger than or as fast as us, we must remain as a pillar as we always have. Constant competition breeds growth." - Adimar "True. I wonder if the current top three positions will change for the Pack at least. With Diaga and Boro both gone it is still up to speculation...." - Dogun "I guess the favorites would have to be Adimar, Dogun and Grayfia then for the Alpha Group...." "Nanu agrees with Akino. Even if members of the pack are high level now the top positions shouldn''t change too much.¡± - Nanu While the overall ranking of the Annunakes has probably changed quite a bit over our newfound freedom, I feel the current top spots will most undoubtedly remain unmoved. With several members of the Pack rising over level 300 the gains in stats with every increase in level has started to pile up where a separation of only 10-20 levels becomes increasingly strained even with higher masteries in comparison. Other than Adimar I may also no longer be the fastest Annunake within the Pack anymore and there are possibly several members now who can outrun me. While Alderon is a close 4th, I''m still confident the top 3 spots after the deaths of Diaga and Boro to undoubtedly go to the three I mentioned before. Each of them can take on almost a dozen members of the Pack all at once and have been speculated by some to be some of the strongest our race has ever produced. They are each high level experts and to reach such a stage must have several sub skills already in Expert just to reach such a strong position. Each of the three also carry higher tier equipment as well that have been passed down throughout our clan that also gives them a strong edge against other members of the pack. Grayfia herself studies in a highly difficult heavy twin spear technique that has been passed down for thousands of years from our clan that is highly difficult to master. She however has shown incredible talent in studying in such a technique and raising it to such an extent. I myself have never been able to defeat her. "Yah same here, but it should breed for some interesting matches...Hey speaking of...Where is Grayfia?" - Alderon Each of us started looking around and noticed that Grayfia had at some point vanished from the spot she was sitting. We looked around and saw that other than the few of us from the Alpha Group only a small number of Pixies were in the corner of the room appearing to be playing games. ''Hmm, that''s strange...'' We continued chatting about possible members to join the Alpha Group and waiting for some of those who Vali invited into our Alliance to get done bathing. An untold amount of time had passed and as we waited for everyone so we can escort them all to the feast currently going on. With how each of these newly added members of our Alliance it is highly possible they could run in fear of something here and be attacked by monsters so Alpha has asked us each to remain close by. BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!! A loud bang occurred and rock began to fly out and scatter around the surroundings from an opening in the cave wall. A bright bluish green glow came out and two figures were standing where the dust had started to settle. "Wait....Gr..Grayfia?" I saw the image of Grayfia appear only wearing a towel covering herself standing out in front of that loud Pixie. I think her name was Cyanin.... "Hmph you think you''re fast! Then how about you try this!" - Cyanin A large dark smoke started to appear around a bluish green bubble surrounding her and then the images of dozens of the same Pixie appeared and all flew out in the direction of Grayfia. Large balls of fire began appear around her and fly out from her small hands, blowing past Grayfia who looked to be skipping across the yellow stoned floor. It almost seemed effortless for her as she continued to jump back and forth narrowly escaping each powerful gust of fire magic. Grayfia kept a smug look on her face but continued to try and hide her bare body while firmly holding onto her towel covering only small portions of her now dripping wet body. ¡°¡­.What now?¡± -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of Chapter. Thanks for reading and remember this chapter was meant to be a two parter. A lot more happens next chapter and after the next chapter the pacing of the story will start to change as well. Character Analysis/Explanations: Most will still be covered in the story if it hasn''t already.... Hey guys just a few words from the author about some plot points brought up in the story and different things I just wanted to talk about and explain maybe for any of those who care to listen I suppose. I''ll discuss each point I can remember and answer any questions in the comments as well. A lot of people after the last couple chapters started thinking Vali was being too overly cautious about this new world after slaying Balor and think things like the power rankings and level system don''t make sense. Vali is naturally a very analytical and descriptive person and thinks about things thoroughly but once he makes a decision he doesn''t hesitate. I think one reviewer claimed that killing Balor meant they shouldn''t have anything to fear now or thought the logic was stupid but they seemed to have forgotten a Valkyrie from the Divine Realms was also present in that fight and helped them tremendously even in keeping Balor within that Age of Death spell. - While I admit it''s not perfect and I''m correcting a few things. You also haven''t seen much yet and only seen those from this particular region. I also kind of messed up too on this as I made Sting the Scholar look a little too weak. He however has a High Dexterity which will also come up soon and I''ll change some things around and explain some of that too. - I think another review commented how it didn''t make sense for Hjokk claiming to be stronger than what Malthiel was but still almost killed by him....Well Hjokk had to hold back a bit of power. Those from the Higher Realms can unleash power that practically destroys everything and can even cause high levels or radiation from things like Hjokks higher levels of lightning..... Even the environment would become toxic. Vali at that point would have been smoked if she wen''t all out and that reader probably forgot that Malthiel''s initial attack had immobilized her. That Dark Aura ability is also unique and will be brought up later but it obviously gave Hjokk some difficulties. -Vali''s Healing Magic is only in Advanced when wearing the Crown so some people have forgotten about this. -Another review who stated this was the most disappointing on RRl said it was inconceivable how Elyria could buff so many troops at once and thought her abilities make her the strongest mage in the world and anyone of the Sage Level......Why? Elyria is a special class that specializes in large scale buffs with Earth Affiniites and Stamina gains, and her race is naturally more magically inclined than the average human. She raised the Defense of a large force of the front lines and a few VIP''s around her by I think it was only 30% or something like that among a couple other things....Well to that I ask you what a bout someeone who has a Buff to increase Attack Power by 300% for a short time or any other combination of things I could describe, that argument just again was something thrown into the review that was information someone doesn''t know yet and still made that complaint about the story having plot holes..... -Some say Pixies are invincible but the reader doesn''t know yet how many of theres they can have enter a fight with having that 0% yield like Kai described. 9 People when they duked it out with Alysteir was no problem but if all of their siblings are taking damage at the same time they at this point will have extreme difficulty. They can''t always use the Divine Ability either considering the cooldown too so that is a final move if anything. -Some people think the Concept of the Heroes and the abilities of their Weapons are a cop out but that hasn''t even been revealed yet and how is Vali''s OP Scythe in itself not a cheat that can also increase Vali''s stats/abilities.... -I also haven''t gone into maybe ranking orders between Divine yet, or the difference between some Deities and other entities like Valkyries compared to Gods, Reapers, and other races I haven''t shown yet. Oh also I haven''t gone into things like Skill Rankings yet or even detailed how Items receive their Rankings like from Ancient-Legendary or whatever and how strong some Magic Tier Equpiment can be considered it is something that is capable of being created..... Almost all of Vali''s skills he gained from monsters that are rare or have stronger than average abilities and thusly have higher potential when he raises his level as well as those skills....Some skills and Weapon masteries also need a person to raise their level to achieve as well. Most basic skills like the one Ikaros showed was something that raised the Agility by a small amount but it is better as a base amount than increasing by a % at the lower levels. A lot of Vali''s skills start out by increasing his bases by 30% and up which means the ranking of these skills/techniques are obviously higher and have better potential. Later Masteries could even increase by a large base amount as well as a % and adding plenty of other affects so the room for growth is not small.....You''ll see this with the Reiki soon too whenever looking through a bunch of scrolls and what not trying to learn other techniques like the one that Captain had. (PS using a scroll has to have special ink/paper/high level scribe/ and someone experienced in the skill being transfered. It basically downloads to a persons brain and that doesn''t mean they immediately learn it but it does help in learning a skill. It however can only be used once after that it''s just a scroll with the movements/techniques written down onto it. ) Um, what else. Oh a lot of readers seem to be perplexed a bit by Vali''s current strength and what he is capable of so I''ll clear up just a tiny bit of that right now. I won''t reveal too much as I want to reader to see that when the opportunities come. Vali won''t use something like Abgrund unless there''s no other choice just because he doesn''t want the trouble especially after his conflict with the Elliots. He however will find ways to use it''s power while not letting others see as you''ve seen already in the last chapter. With all of Vali''s skills I''m not going to say Vali isn''t so OP he can take on hundreds if not thousands even if all he used was his Frost Sword....However let''s say...10,000 enemies at level 200 each all having different magic/skills/classes all with different buffing abilities, ensnare skills, debuff magic Idk you get the picture...Vali would obviously have to get creative to even accomplish something like this and even then his stamina wouldn''t last that long especially after his magic goes so he''d have to use his Divine Abilities or higher tier magic sparingly as not to leave him stuck without a way to warp out incase something happens. He however cause of his High Health and other characteristics will become something like a tank for his group and there will be strategies made with this where he could even retreat to the backlines and start using Balor''s Divine ability. But to explain some of Vali''s skills just a bit to give you a comparison .... - Vali''s death magic will only at most without use of the Infinity Ring and the Annunakes helping him can only kill around 60 people of a similar level before his magic will be completely gone. It also has some limitations that hasn''t been seen yet in the story. -Vali''s regen magic depending on the level of damage can last only roughly to around 2 minutes of continuous fire. It uses his MP even if Vali doesn''t want it to which will show up later when he fights enemies with strange or unique abilities. -Using Demonic Awakening along with Limit Break will obviously drastically lesson the amount of time he can actually stay in his let''s call it ''Ultimate Form'' so don''t believe it''s 5 Minutes quite yet.... Whenever Vali can keep a majority of his skills on 24/7 that''s when you can start calling him OP because right now his MP isn''t high enough to be considered Godlike either he''s just fucking durable...Sages are pretty extreme especially since the costs for using their skills are heavily less and their MP pools are massive. - Stamina is a big thing in war and Vali would have to get very creative and even with all of his skills active as he is now, he wouldn''t be capable of it in my opinion currently without a few tricks and choosing to take out specific enemies first. He''d probably use his Fear statuses to also help him to kill most of them. In this world I also wanted to convey there are plenty of ways to be thought OP and become strong. Player A can beat Player B Player B can beat Player C but that doesn''t necessarily mean Player A can beat Player C. The reader will through time see instances of this as you already have. Conditions will also play a huge role. For example...Malfius and Adimar both have Limit Break but in Adimars case his is more supierior.... Malfius'' greatest ability is his defense and Adimars is his speed, with claws that can rip through anything (even barrier spells if their shallow enough) they can also tear away Mana and Stamina making Malfius at a now disadvantage during the Night time. Then you look at someone like Alysteir who not only has the highest Level but also the Highest Mastery and a Legendary item with a ''Higher Tier'' magic in it and you can start to see the separations. In the story you''ll see why a Master 2 would have extreme difficulty infront of a Master 4 and things like Master 7-9 are like the Grand Masters who are on a completely different level. (However techniques that are studies also play a factor in growth speed/battle potential/ etc...) Everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon of wanting an OP MC that doesn''t make mistakes. I think one commenter had even said I don''t understand my readers who don''t want an MC with emotional problems and I was like....What? I love the idea of an imperfect MC who has a shit load of issues. One who can get knocked down and beaten bloody but will just keep coming at you....It''s so much fun to write about and you get to slowly walk alongside Vali in his teetering walk against the madness encroaching on his mind. I''m not hating on other fictions but so many now a days have an MC who just keeps an emotionless face and obliterates anything and even doesn''t feel much when doing it. I liked the Walking Dead''s take on this when they have to murder. Each of the characters are so much different from the beginning to how they are now because they were torn from their everyday environments and forced to do such actions. Even killing bad guys still caused them to feel something about it. The MC who doesn''t make mistakes or just beats everyone just doesn''t fit Vali''s character I had for him. He is someone who will make mistakes, decisions based on emotion and do things in this story which won''t sit well with some readers. Vali will slowly adapt to this new world and the reader will over time get to see that. A few readers even stopped reading this story because of Vali''s forgiving nature in some places and how he was influenced by Loki or Bifrost but that''s just it....This story won''t follow what a lot of people will anticipate. A character will die whenever I feel it''s their time and I''ve gotten what I could from them and won''t kill them just because a few readers who msged me and said they''d drop this story because of that. Idk I just feel Vali when given the opportunity is one who tries to be the better person and because of his upbringing and his own thoughts on himself that I still.....Haven''t gotten into yet.... There will be plenty of characters who embody a hero mentality more than Vali but that''s just it, the things that move him and make him what he is are different than any of them. That''s why even in a scene where he had just freaked out and killed a 100 people he sees some things as being more important.... That is what makes Vali different and you''ll get to see more of this overtime when more about Vali starts to get revealed. I also feel some readers forget this sometimes as not a lot of time has gone by yet in the story and there is still plenty of time for things to develop for different characters as this is all essentially just the beginning. This story will soon start going into some darker elements in some places and hopefully go to some places some other fictions might not with their MC and particular story elements. Hope this clears up a few things as well for everyone. Well don''t forget to leave a comment or write a review, and if you have already then do an Advanced one to help promote the story on the front page! Thanks again for reading you guys. Book 2; Chapter 4: A Darkness Awakening ... (Part 2) Hey everyone. Wow sorry about the long delay on a chapter I said would be out 3 weeks ago. Honestly, I wasn''t happy with a lot of it and after reading earlier chapters I felt like I went a little overboard with a lot of what I spoke about before and after last chapter. So REMEMBER that when reading this a lot of the points I addressed then are actually more so a part of this chapter. I had just originally planned on posting it right away then got sick and and just didn''t have time. This chapter is about 60K which is basically 2 chapters, and a lot like the second chapter of this arc and I''ll split it into 2 chapters after a few days....Honestly, I''d post them separately but I''m tired of looking at old dialogue, jokes and things I''ve been working on for over a month now. (Which can be very boring to a writer.) I''ve loved all yalls feedback and thank you so much to my donators and editors for all your support. I''ve now decided to not take all the Reviews and comments I take to heart since there was a lot of people voiceing their opinions which was nice. Just know that while I may read all comments and reviews, the moment you say something like ''Oh how could Vali kill Malthiel which is something i think Frenzy85 brought up somewhere in his complaints, I''ll usually just stop reading your review at that point because you obviously don''t read the chapters and just skim them if you couldn''t even comprehend that in the chapter. Or reviews like Riley656 who seem to think if Vali and co were able to kill Balor (With the help of a divine no less), it immediately means they are now just as strong. By that logic a kid who sneaks into a famous sword masters bedroom and cuts his throat while he sleeps means everyone can now say that kid is just as strong as that sword master. And no I won''t change the romance tag, because the story just started. Just because the story hasn''t gotten there means the genre changes. Sorry I didn''t mean to call you out personally, I just remember your review last and wanted to point out usually the moment I read a strange comment like that I usually stop reading cause like I said I''ve already elaborated on it enough. NOTICE BEFORE READING: I realize these past four chapters have been much different than the earlier chapters and while I rewrote a large bit in this chapter, I feel I need to go back and restructure. I''m constantly reminded less is more and I honestly still need to go through and trim the fat as it were, especially in this chapter. But like I said I don''t want to look at it anymore. I wen''t overboard trying to convey Vali''s situation and also his emotions for a lot of the reasons I mentioned last chapter. I originally didn''t plan on even showing the audience the Dark Masters until later but I wanted to get some readers to get just how big this world is and there are multiple groups all active vying for power. **Changes!: I didn''t make much changes to the earlier chapters other than some stats of a few characters. Like Alderon. Some might think this is me making someone stronger or weaker than I originally showed, but that is NOT exactly correct. I''m just showing what characters stats should look to how strong they should be. Soon we''ll see Vali''s base strength compared to others around his level, to the dungeon dwellers and see kind of were everyone stands not only in battle power but damage and stats too. You get a hint of that at the end of this chapter and some people might be surprised when they see Vali''s actual Attack Power for the first time. But with his low masteries just remember that and I haven''t really shown a lot of characters Attack Power in stat form yet. Just know I will be obviously be going back and forth trying to balance out the stats like a beta designer so bare with me. So ladies and gents...Without further a due the next two chapters I felt needed to be delivered together. (My goal is 20-30K a chapter from now on until I try to transition this story into book form, which is the way it should be read. Book 2; Chapter 4: A Darkness Awakening.....(Part 2) Vali''s POV: ''Already needing to take another shower hmph... For some reason I just felt like I needed it somehow.'' I stood alone in one of the large bathing quarters where warm rain water continued to trickle down from overhead. "Finally a little quiet..." While rubbing the water over my dirty face and hair I took a deep breath and exhaled, enjoying the momentary peace I don''t really get to have much in this world. I remember a time where I was practically tormented by loneliness, seems pretty far and away from now though. I wound up having Noah and Sasha both help some of the slaves here since they could both speak the Human language and could probably help some of them to adapt well. I told them both that they will each be in charge so as to hopefully make some of the younger, new members feel more comfortable and hopefully not try to flee at the first opportunity. Just some of the looks some of them gave the Arachnee after entering the dungeon, I heard many whispering they were definitely going to get eaten. Hopefully after they shower and see how the Arachnee are providing new clothes for them, it may reveal a different side to the Arachnee for them. While the new members came with me, that doesn''t necessarily mean they probably all did voluntarily when I asked them. I saw the way some looked at me. I can''t blame them either.... For now it''s probably best I just give them some space to get acclimated to things better. All I told them is that we will be moving to our new home soon and they would each get to work and live alongside us in our new home. None, however, spoke back. Not even that Granny cook and her granddaughter, but I feel that is mostly due to them still being shaken up. ''Well, whatever...There are plenty more pressing matters to attend to as it is.'' "Hah......" I exhaled and closed my eyes and saw image after bloody image reappear within my mind. Seeing the look in the eyes of some of those terrified kids, hearing screams of torment from within the brothel...I can''t seem to be able to get any of it out from my mind. Everytime I close my eyes in fact. So I just continued letting the warm water wash over me and cleanse all the last traces of blood from my snow white hair. Unable to cleanse away what I truly wanted. ¡®Hj?kk was right, I mean...Loki, he was right.... ¡® With Hj?kk''s warnings she gave from Loki''s own words about some of the dangers in this foreign world, also came a word of caution over what is currently happening to me. It''s not like I never lost control back in my old world, but when I''m not in control of my own actions whenever taking a person''s life is something that terrifies me. One moment of weakness and giving in could have led to a completely different outcome today that maybe I couldn''t have stopped.... Murder is just....You don''t really get used to it. Some can grow numb to it sure but... I''m plagued by them for some reason. In my hallucinations, my nightmares. Eventually I''m sure I''ll grow used to it. It''s not like I have regrets for the things I''ve done, but that doesn''t simply erase each of the images out of from my head either....'' I''m changing, and as much as I''m aware of it, it still makes no difference. My fears of becoming a monster seem to becoming more and more vivid. While I seem unable to stop it, and even at times almost unwilling. Hj?kk said this new Dark Lord class would help with my control over the darkness inside me while also aiding in things like comprehension or training speed. But she also highly insinuated the dark element is by no means similar to any of the others and didn''t differ much with what Balor had said either. The darkness wraps around your fears as well as your desires and embraces them. Inhibiting all reason, doubt and understanding. Until you give in, and all that is left within the person is nothing but a shell. It is why Dark Magic is considered so dangerous for a person to study. For me, who had lost all I had ever cared for in my last life, the darkness awoke an emotion in me I had never once noticed about myself. A wanting, a carnal craving that feels like an itch that won''t cease even after being scratched. A dominating will, born within me....To exert out all those pains and frustrations from my own failures and onto the wicked. For their sins, and equally for my own. ''Is this what it feels like to be a Dark Lord? Or was this insatiable lust always within me?'' Dark Lords were never really the heroes of the story. My entire class is one that¡¯s based on ''Fear''. Overcoming those fears and introducing them onto others. Something I''m no stranger to. It''s helped me a lot in my life in fact. It stops future fights from every occurring. Whenever gangs would come down on me sometimes there would be well over a dozen at a time...I didn''t always win, in fact I remember getting my ass kicked a few times but I always made them regret ever starting it. In a fight it''s not about who is the bloodiest in the end, its who''s still standing that¡¯s the real winner. ''And if they ever threatened or messed with my family then the gloves came off, it was always different for me. I''d wait until I could find their leader when he was alone...punish him until he understood the consequences. I didn''t beat them until they asked forgiveness or for mercy....I beat them until they didn''t dare utter another word in fear of what I might do next. Until I could see the fear in their eyes was enough that they no longer wanted anything to do with me from then on because they weren''t sure just what could entail provoking me again....As a Dark Lord, fear is now just a part of the job.....'' While I won''t take a life unless absolutely necessary from here on out, for the possible dangers it could implement, I''m not afraid to get my hands dirty either. ''Heh...They already are anyways....Honestly I''m just tired thinking about it all. I''m mindful of it, that''s what''s important. But if I sit here and continue to dwell on every life I take, decision I make...I feel I''ll truly begin to lose it. Best I just shove it all down like I have been, only thing I can do really. Sadly there''s no resets in this game world....'' Looking towards my open palms that had been washed away of all the blood, my mind continued going over all the things that had been plaguing my conscience. I was simply unable to do anything other than worry, so like Kaylan and my mother use to always say ''why worry at all? ''. The warm rain water cascaded down the bright yellow stoned cave walls and fell down towards me. Not far away from me, there was a metallic plate-object showing an obscure reflection that I could faintly see myself staring back. Even looking into the reflection sometimes, I can hardly recognize who¡¯s looking back. I just hope the changes I make aren''t too many and that she can even recognize her older brother when that day comes... ¡®It''s hard to find words with how I feel over all the things happening to me. I''m just so used to pushing it all down, but even then the lingering fear in the back of my head won''t fade away. I came to this world for a purpose and in hopes to one day return, but now....I feel those dreams are dead. For me at least. I hardly even have thoughts of returning to my world these days. Seem almost baseless hopes at this point. Sigh*¡­.. I guess I only feel the need to evaluate my actions now so I don''t wind up losing side of myself again. I''ll undoubtedly have to kill many more in the coming days even if I didn''t set out to. I''m not even sure if you can live in such a world without getting blood on your hands.... I sometimes wonder how many lives I''ll end up taking before I reunite with Kaylan again, what kind of person I''ll be when that day comes...Even if Loki spoke like her magical ability is strong and can probably take care of herself...She however does not have the same origins as I do, and as her older brother how can I not worry for her in such a broken world?... I won''t lose her again, I can''t. I have to become stronger...¡¯ "Teeheehehe" Splash Splash ¡°Cyanin catch!¡± Booom! Splash!!! ¡°No snowballs Jade! Hehehe! Come here!¡± Splash! Teeheehehe Tehe Beyond the yellow, glowing cave walls I could hear the Pixies in the other corridor probably playing games like normal, causing me to crack a small smile. With my cerebral capacity starting to change from what it originally had been, I feel information and memories come to me much differently than they once had. I can almost recall a memory as if it were a movie I could withdraw and watch from memory, but usually only happens whenever something sparked such a memory from my past to be recalled in the first place. And for some reason the Pixies¡¯ distant laughter made me somehow recall something Loki had quoted from a book not too long ago.
A guy goes nuts if he ain''t got nobody. Don''t make no difference who the guy is really.....I tell ya, a guy gets too lonely and he starts to get sick.
''Tst¡­that goofy ass-hat can get annoying sometimes but I feel I owe that clown a lot. Picking a guy like me I honestly don''t know why. Giving me this second chance in this life¡­.when at times I felt I never even deserved the first. As much as this world has started to change me I''m still fortunate in this life. I can make something of myself here. For those I cherish as well. To where I won''t ever have to go through what I had in my last life ever again...¡® After getting the water out of my eyes I noticed how my dark metallic grey nails make me look like some Hot Topic wannabe. I took my finger and made a slit in my palm opening up a wound. Warm red blood appeared and within a second the cut began to glow a pale white and green just before sealing up entirely. The water then washed the blood away making the cut appear to never existed at all. "Being a monster though definitely has its perks.....Heh." I''m surely a more rounded class and build that should compete with those a hundred levels above my own due to the rare/unique skills I gained within this dungeon. Even if my skills are each at the beginning of their masteries, with my higher stats, and some of my defensive abilities that could outshine other techniques/skills that have been trained in or studied for decades. However, in a Level based world, all one needed was time, effort and a bit of luck and eventually they could become uniquely strong existences themselves. Hj?kk had already hinted about there being plenty of other Champions like myself, but what I didn''t know is that even in the Divine Realms, there are rules and regulations to abilities, items or gifts that can be given from the Gods to their Champions during their lifetime. So naturally they can only provide their Champions with blessings based on their own levels of power and ability. That means there are undoubtedly other Champions out there with probably an even higher Growth Correction than me, with just as much potential ability as my spatial magic. Even if my stats allow me to fight against some of the experts within this dungeon, this world is surely a big one, and by no means should I think myself infallible because of this unique body. It was hard to disagree with her, even without Abgrund I probably would have trouble fighting even one Fomorian with all my current skills. The only reason Hj?kk and Loki were even able to help me as much as they have so far is due to this Dungeon being warded so heavily, and now it feels as if the training wheels are off. This world is just full of too many mysteries and even harmless elements from my world can be dangerous and corrupt the minds of those here. Now Hjo?kk wanted to make it a point, that Loki''s influence and my own lineage haven''t put me at the peak of my race. More or less, I''ve just had rockets attached to my shoes up until this point and now they''ve finally ran out of fuel. "Loki honestly wanted me to figure out mostly everything by myself too, with limited knowledge from either of them. They have however found ways to help greatly while still bending the rules....He''d probably just stand behind the notion that telling me too much could violate that stupid treaty or some bull crap like that. Or, maybe Hj?kk was just saying some of this to scare me now that she won''t be nagging in my ear for a while?....Heh, yeah... Honestly, both seem equally as convincing a theory at this point...Damn I can never understand that bird.... " She is loosening up though since I first met her, I could tell she also worried greatly for me knowing she would be gone for some time. She definitely tried to nail in that whole ''Don¡¯t get into too much trouble while I''m gone'' gag over and over.... "I wonder where that bossy Valkyrie went to anyways¡­." All I can do now is to heed her advice and not trust anyone lightly. She seemed troubled by all of this which is why she seemed so adamant before. Not only enemies from this world but possibly those from beyond it as well. With a weapon like mine, it''s even likely to assume Hades or any of his Reapers might come looking for Abgrund if they were ever to find out about it. Such a horrifying weapon on Middle Earth and in the hands of a mortal is plenty of reason to act. While I doubt there''s much on this Continent that can push me to use Abgrund, I should also listen to that purple bird''s threats and not begin to take lives lightly until I''ve properly learned to tame this darkness within me. But if I need to kill, I''ll kill. But I should learn control over this darkness and strengthen my mind first.... If I can''t do that it doesn''t matter how strong I''ll get, I''ll only be a danger to those around me. ''Oh! Speaking of, I need to question our new prisoners soon after they wake up. I healed the one with a broken spine only because I thought he would kill over if I didn''t. The rest still had broken limbs and were tied up from head to toe and left in separate cells. I''ll have to have a little conversation with them soon.'' The water overhead came down and warmed my skin as I continued thinking over all of the things we need to accomplish over the coming months. There definitely was a lot to handle and I''m probably in all honesty not the best person for the job that is orchestrating the integration of thousands of races into a Human population. Something I never thought I''d be doing and I have no idea what problems may show up. Now that we have made an Alliance with the Kingdom of Asher though, we have bought ourselves time to properly stabilize and build the foundations of our new home until we can stand on our own towards any potential threat. ''It''s not like the Kingdom of Asher holds as much power as we do with all the Experts and Legendary items we''ve acquired. Regardless of their strongly founded history or large numbers they will still all become meaningless in the face of Abgrund... But with this Alliance we aren''t some tribe of demi-humans like the Elves but a force allied with a Human Colony. That is why I originally wished to make this alliance between us... '' "Hmm, what I need to do is get some of the other races to start training each other in some of the abilities they share....That''s a must...Wait, who''s there? " During my thought process I heard the sounds of steps slowly growing closer to where I was. As I turned around I saw a lone figure appear from the edge of the small corridor walking towards me. "...Grayfia?" The silver eyes beamed back at me and what emerged was the image of Grayfia who was now wearing a towel around her curvy figure. "Hello Alpha, might I join you?" - Grayfia Grayfia''s mature voice flowed out with a smile and she continued walking towards me, casually arriving next to the waterfall currently pouring on top of my head. ''Seriously! This one again? What does she want?¡¯ Grayfia approached me until we were both almost eye to eye and only a small space was separating her from me. I tried to cover myself not out of embarrassment but common decency. Last time she practically gave me a full rub down in front of two kids and I have an idea what this one''s probably up to. I¡¯m just not used to a woman coming onto me in such a way. "What''s this about?....." To my words Grayfia rolled her eyes and dropped her towel while taking a step towards me revealing what laid beneath. I for whatever reason backed away letting her bathe under the water overhead that started falling onto her bare naked body. With her back arched and head raised she fully accepted the rainwater coming down and shut her eyes as if not caring if I were to admire her incredible figure or not. She starting massaging her body with the rain only revealed her large breasts even higher and in full view. The water dripped down her face and soft but narrow chin. The rain water continued down her slender neckline and softly toned shoulders before reaching what may be the two most perky breasts I had ever seen. Not as large as some of those I''ve met in this world, but that didn''t matter at this point. While larger than what any woman could obtain naturally in my world, they were still both shockingly round and perky. The water continued to slide down her round and supple chest until falling off her small caramel colored nipples to the stone floor below. It was impossible to look away from this breathtakingly alluring figure in front of me that no man would be willing to possibly ignore. While I tried to be polite before, not looking would just be crazy. Her slender hands continued rubbing water up and down her breasts, tight stomach and large legs that almost appeared like an erotic dance underneath the rain. Grayfia was in incredible shape and had a thick waist but powerful legs that in no way looked unattractive. With a puffy tail and two small dimples above her large ample ass that would practically cause my breathing to stall each time she twisted her bare naked body. As if each of the curves of her body were almost inviting me to explore over ever crevice and inch of her angelic skin. ''I knew exactly what she was doing but....At the moment I honestly didn''t care to stop her. It''s been so long for me how can I not enjoy the feast sitting in front of me. Even the smell coming off of her is causing my lust to rise. If she remains here any longer, alone with me, I honestly can''t say I''d be able to contain myself from reliving all of the things my mind''s currently imagining. "You know what I was thinking Alpha?" - Grayfia Her eyes opened up suddenly and peered towards mine causing my whole body to jolt for some reason. "...What''s that?" "My mother use to always say that in such a world we live, we can''t possibly take it on all alone. Someone to comfort our hearts, our bodies. To soothe the stresses this world that brings death at every turn, we require such companionship to relieve ourselves from such a dreary and lonely fate.....Would you agree to this Alpha?" - Grayfia Bringing her arms to her sides she slowly approached past the waterfall and towards me without breaking eye contact. ''If my heart could beat anymore, I''m sure it would be racing at this point with each of this Annunake''s words. While it isn''t the first time a girl has shown me this much attention or taking off her clothes in front of me, this easily beats any fantasy I could come up.... '' "¡­.Sure." I no longer backed away and stood my ground until Grayfia was now just a breath away from me. "¡­.I''ve kept my eye on the young Alpha. Never willing to take a break from his ''duty'' and constantly placing others ahead of himself....I also see how you look at this body and I''ll be direct with you. If Alpha wishes to take it and relieve some of his pains and sorrows....This one is willing to receive the Alpha''s touch and his lust if he so desires for it." - Grayfia ''She''s so forward! Is she serious?....'' "¡­.Hmph ugh. Not that I''m not turned on by the thought of it....¡± With that Grayfia slid her eyes down and up my body then peering back up towards me with a devilish smirk. ''Ugh, that was hott...'' "Mmm...I''ve always been more into the slow seduction thing, so this...I''m not usually into. " "¡­.Is that so." - Grayfia Grayfia however didn''t seem to show a look like she believed it. "Listen, I know you Annunakes are looking for mates now with wanting to repopulate but, sigh*......I''m not your guy. Ugh, heh...Not really relationship material if that makes better sense...." I tried to smile, wanting to kick myself for saying such things. Passing up such an opportunity my dick will never forgive me. I''ll probably be cursed by the heavens to never have such a golden opportunity again. It''s not like I''m not interesting but getting involved with someone right now is just... Something like me. I''m not even sure about myself currently let alone starting some relationship with some girl. There are just more important things I should rather be doing.... ''Something like this isn''t rare in times of war though and is used often as a means of relief from the stresses of the outside world. I myself am someone who tried this too in my last life a few times. However regardless of how I feel, is getting to the point I can no longer think straight with this naked angel with a tail and furry ears seducing me full throttle right now.'' I tried to keep eye contact with the enchanting beauty in front of me while containing my lust down so I could at most face her without my body showing what I''m really thinking. "Hmphmph....Oh you misunderstand this one Alpha. It is not that I''m trying to mate with you. Mmm, the young Alpha changes others'' destinies without a second thought. Takes on responsibility after another as if it were his sworn duty and asks for nothing in return. Never does he stop working for others, even willing to cook for the worn and tired without the slightest selfishness in his heart.... It however is what makes me worry for the Alpha...Eventually you¡¯re going to crack under all that responsibility you''ve placed so readily on your shoulders. It''s part of what makes me admire the young Alpha some. And it is our job to serve the Alpha and take that weight and responsibility as our own as well...." - Grayfia I kept trying to contain myself but it wasn''t easy. I tried to not let my eyes wonder yet again but Grayfia''s large curves and still dripping wet body were close enough to where I could feel the heat from her skin transferring to my own. ''It''s not like I can continue saying no to such a feast being handed to me. I''m not Ghandi or some crazy person, but I''m one who likes to at least think about such decisions before making them. With my past how could I not...'' And should I even trust such words ? "I see....So because I''m the Alpha huh? You yourself seem to be taking on quite a bit of responsibility....Wishing to ease my pains. So if I were to take you on your offer." I warped behind her while gently placing my hand around her thin waist causing her tail to twitch and whip around rapidly. Her slippery skin almost slipped right past my grip around her and she was now facing me. Her eyes showed a hint of surprise and before she could speak, I placed my other hand on her on hip and lifted her off the ground. Forcibly pressing her bare naked body against the cave wall. Thud!!! I lightly slammed her back against the wall and looked into her silver eyes while she lightly panted staring back at me. While still holding her weight against the wall I whispered in her ears causing her slippery thighs to rub against mine. "..You wouldn''t have a problem with that? I mean, it''d be hard for me to keep refusing when you ask so nicely." ''If she wants to play this game so can I. Let''s see how you handle turning up the heat.'' Looking back at me, I grew closer to her face and her legs started to tremble while she began panting rather heavily. "Whatever the Alpha wishes....ha...ha..." - Grayfia "Well, only cause ya asked me to..." I could almost hear her heart beating through her chest. Grayfia''s panting caused her large perky breasts to bounce up and down and it was impossible to not get excited even if I was only playing the same game she were just doing to me. Her body continued breathing heavily but her legs continued to tremble making me think she were not prepared for this. My body also continued to grow closer to hers and would rub against her thighs and chest causing her whole body to grow even hotter. She turned her head while biting her lip and closed her eyes as if giving up entirely. She looked too nervous, frightened maybe. I leaned into her ear and spoke as if I had won. "Hmph...That''s what I thought. Listen I don''t know why you came here and offered yourself to me, whether it''s for me or the Alpha or however you want to call it, but you¡¯re clearly not into this. So even if this is something you and the pack do for the Alpha or to ease each other¡¯s problems, I''m not the kinda guy to take a girl just because it''s her duty to me..." With that I let go of her and she lightly fell on the ground just before catching herself. Splash.... "Feel free to pass that along for me..." I smirked at her and while taking a deep breath she stood up facing me and smiled for some reason. "Mmm...you have more experience than I would have thought for such a young one, but I think the Alpha may be wrong. You probably think me a whore do you? Well, I''ve only lay with one person before...Don''t believe me? It''s the truth, I''m not really one for games....And no it wasn''t Diaga, hmph though he wishes...And it''s not that I wasn''t into that just now, it''s just... To us Annunake maidens submitting to one weaker than us is not within us. Thought of as a curse by some of the young cubs, though not like I''m complaining or anything... For me I I just, haven''t allowed someone to touch me like that for such long time so I was just, unfamiliar is all..." - Grayfia While shaking her head and smiling she started walking past me and closer to the waterfall and glancing back. Her mature and soft voice was gentle but also very direct. "Ever think you might be doing this just to numb yourself before your race does start repopulating? Just maybe... " With a full view of her bare ass facing me she glanced back at me after my comment, allowing the water to fall over her head and smiled. A soft laugh came from her mouth and her eyes peeked towards my direction before going back to enjoying the water. "Hmphaha...I think the Alpha may be the one trying to come up with his own reasons to not get close to others haha! That''s what I think..." - Grayfia I couldn''t come up with a response and Grayfia continued speaking nonchalantly and continuing opening up to me without reserve. "...What Alpha hmph? It''s just sex, that''s all....I gave up on the idea of mating with anyone long ago...Kind of wish I did back when Rholhorne was still alive, but we wanted to wait to have a litter of our own for some reason that I can''t even remember now....You would have liked him, in some ways nothing like you but he too had a gentle side I can''t help but find in you....Mphaha! I would also catch him staring at me with the same drooling look while still trying to cover himself ahaha....It does bring back some pleasant memories." - Grayfia She started giggling to herself while walking in my direction while fixing her wet hair unashamed to hide even a square inch from me. She had a hint of sadness in her voice but I could tell this mature wolf had a rather positive outlook on everything. "Now with the idea of repopulation of our species we all have to think about such things to continue our bloodlines. So... I honestly don''t know what to feel really these days so maybe the Alpha could be right mph...But I''m not looking to have your child Alpha. You don''t have to treat me as you would your mate and worry it might hurt me.....While I am unsure just how much I can help the Alpha, I do truly wish to ease some of the pains in his heart as well as his body if I am capable... And as I can see now...." - Grayfia She continued taking light steps towards me after each word until her luscious breasts began to press firmly against my chest until I could hear her quickening heart rate. Even if my words spoke a different tune, I''m sure my now almost throbbing member being sandwiched between her soft wet stomach and my own tells a different story. The sensation of warmth and how soft and slippery her breasts felt pressed against my chest felt heavenly. It was impossible for her to not notice my body reacting to hers and giving her the wanting to continue what she was doing. I only thought about taking ahold of her right then and showing her things she''s probably never seen before. She slid her body up until her lips were close to my own and I could feel the moisture from her breath entering into my open mouth. ''Fuck she''s hot....This is too sexy. Ugh, I can''t take this anymore, is this seriously about to happen? She definitely brought out the big guns....'' "Alpha looks like he could use a little....skin ship...." - Grayfia She leaned her lips past mine and whispered in my ear just before giving it a lick and light nibble with her teeth. Just the feel of her hands and body grazing against mine felt like a glass of ice cold water in a desolate desert. "...You do so much for us, why not let this one do something for you?" - Grayfia I could feel her fingers going from my chest down my abs making my whole stomach begin to churn. I glided my hands slowly over her perfect waistline of this mature maiden since I could hardly suppress my lust any longer. I could see her smiling out of the corner of my eye and watched as she reached her hands over mine, lacing each of her fingers with my own and wrapped them around her curvy waist. Taking each of my hands with hers and firmly placing them onto her ample, and very round ass. Each hand could hardly take up even a third of what they were holding onto and my hands felt like they had just entered into the pearly gates of heaven. ''Her ass feels amazing!'' Her hands tightened her grip around mine causing me to fully enjoy the sensations almost flowing out between my fingers which caused my whole lower body to twitch into hers. I could feel her body shudder with mine, and rubbing against each other¡¯s skin to where her breathing started to grow moist in my ear. My breathing started rapidly increasing keeping up with Grayfia with drenched hair covering her face which gently rubbed against my cheek until we were eye to eye once more. Her breath was now hot and I could almost taste her exotic scent touching my tongue. We continued to breathe into each other¡¯s mouths and leaning towards the other slowly teasing the other''s lips not ready for them to touch just yet. They were thick, smooth and inviting in every way. Just as they were about to press down however Grayfia''s ears perked up suddenly. She then pulled away from me slightly and her eyes darted to the side just before turning around to face behind her. Then I heard the sounds of feet splashing against the wet floor. "HEY! So you were here trying to seduce Vali! Get away from him!!!" - Cyanin ''No...! You have got to be kidding me!'' She too was wearing a towel around her waist as she was one of the Pixies who were helping some of the girls who couldn''t bathe themselves. Grayfia smiled while covering herself and her tail started to wag. While Grayfia''s body was covering mine from Cyanin''s view, her tail wagging had continued to lightly pass over my crotch causing it to twitch and throb even more. ''Seriously, bad time...'' With Grayfia''s body backed up closer to mine, my dick started to accidentally tap against her large supple butt even if I was trying to cover up. The thing is...She''s slightly taller than me like many of the Annunakes so even with her large round ass, my groin had slid right up her large thighs and teasing her against my will. "What''s the matter little...ugh one? We were just mnn, bathing as the pack normally does with one another....Are you crazy?¡± - Grayfia She then looked back at me with an astonished look and whispered while with my eyes I tried to tell her it wasn''t my fault. But at the moment the now throbbing head of my shaft had actually moved right below her two large cheeks before lightly pressing up against her warm, wet behind. Her tail jerked and her whole body shook while trying to hide it from the Pixie in front of us. Grayfia took a moment just before walking away to retrieve her towel knowing this was no longer the time. I quickly covered myself up and could see Cyanin across the corridor look furious at Grayfia slowly moving figure. "Psh...Whatever! You were making him grope you just now! And don''t try to say you were bathing cause I know that''s a lie you hairy wolf! Right Uri!" - Cyanin ''Wait...What?'' Cyanin who looked off to the side with her hands on her hips oddly before a blur appeared out from the cave wall. Once the blur dissipated I could see the image of a sullen Uri looking too embarrassed to even look at me. ''This whole time? ....Dude....'' I started shaking my head and Uri looked back at me dejectedly and feeling rather apologetic over spying. "I''m...I''m sorry Vali I was instructed to watch over you and I ugh...well....May have mentioned over Daisy''s sound crystal that you um...weren''t alone......I''m so sorry she made me tell her!" - Uri ''¡­..Oh fuck that''s perfect just what I wanted to hear... Cock-blocking little bastards.¡¯ BooooooOOOM! A ball of fire flew out towards Grayfia who was walking slowly to retrieve her towel, when a large gust of fire magic shot out towards her. Grayfia took two quick steps forward that almost looked like a ''skip'' and narrowly dodged the ball of flames. After the fire ball missed her, she started to casually walk over and pick up her towel off the ground to cover herself. The ball of flames flew right past her and crashed into the stone wall causing the cave walls to all shake. With this I grabbed my towel nearby as well and covered myself up now that Grayfia was no longer shielding my nudity with hers. "What did we tell all of you?! If you want to try and kiss our big brother Vali, you have to ask permission!!!" - Cyanin "Oh is that all? Well not like I was planning on kissing the Alpha or anyone anytime soon but if that''s all it takes. Then I might as well ask now in the event Alpha ever wishes to partake in a little skinship with this one....." - Grayfia Hearing Grayfia''s frequent use of words I can tell she''s trying to play this no differently than she had spoken before. She didn''t want to advertise anything and doesn''t seem like as promiscuous as I might have previously thought. Cyanin, however, was now showing bright fire within her eyes and started gnashing her teeth. "...MMmm you filthy wolf! You''re just trying to lure Vali away from us! Take this!...And this! Hah! And don''t forget...This!! " - Cyanin "Miss, miss......miss...." - Grayfia The long haired Annunake continued narrowly dodging each attack with small very small steps and spins, not unlike an exotic dance. Each missed attack however started making the small Pixie, who almost seems to have forgotten I was even here, much angrier. "Grrr!! Like Vali would even want some big breasted bimbo with those things slapping his face all the time. Why don''t you go howl at the moon somewhere?!" - Cyanin "Oh this one seems to be getting agitated? What''s the matter tiny, scared the Alpha might find this body of mine too seductive to resist tasting?¡± - Grayfia "MMmm! Quit calling him that! His name is Vali and he''s our brother first! Don''t think we''ll ever let you steal him!" - Cyanin Cyanin continued lobbing fire at Grayfia, but Grayfia¡¯s movements were too fast to be tied down by only one attacker. Uri continued shaking his head in embarrassment and the two half naked girls continued fighting in more dangerous ways than ever thought possible in my world. ''Hmph Cyanin making fun of Grayfia for having large breasts seems strange considering hers are rather big for a Pixie anyways. For her size they''re probably D''s...easily C''s...Ugh look at me...These are honestly the kinds of things I''d take notice of after being blue-balled like that. I gross myself out sometimes.....'' "Geez, maybe Grayfia was right. I do need to get me some." I whispered to myself such words while large balls of green light flew throughout the corridor and pummeled the stone walls. Boom.....BOOOOM!!!....BOOOOM! "Hmphmph...Too slow. Almost that time...Are those wings just for show?" - Grayfia "Rrrrrr! Sit still will ya!" - Cyanin Boom! The small corridor lit up in a bright turquoise light and loud explosions shaking the walls. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Ohohoho!" - ? "Ah.....awwww!! So close?" - ? "Come on, come on....Ahhhhh again?!" - ? BOOOM! BOOOOOOOM! "Seems like someone might be losing her steam. Is someone running out of her mana?" - Grayfia "Just you wait! I''m gonna burn your tail off you loose wolf!" - Cyanin BOoooOOOOM! "Haha! Hey, I take offense to that title, tiny tits." - Grayfia Just then two bright turquoise flames appeared in Cyanin''s palms over her head, that she starting push the two of them together to make a large ball of raging flames above her head. "Die!" - Cyanin BOOOoOOOM! Each of the two half-naked beauties continued firing off attacks and evading while trying to keep their towels firmly around their bodies. Not taking the time to get dressed and giving the now large group of onlookers a live show. No one paid attention to the bright turquoise flames that blew over our heads but instead were focused on the towels of each of the two demi-humans that would flutter up just enough to seduce the audience before dousing their hopes like a cold bucket of water. "Ahhhh!...." - Everyone The group of men consisted of Annunakes, Pixies, slaves and even some of the other races like Ollie and their group coming to see the large group they had heard I brought back with us. Each of them, however, now couldn''t take their eyes off both Cyanin and Grayfia whose every acrobatic movement and twist of their bodies would flash just a bit more skin, was then only met with disappointment. It was almost as if their towels were magically infused to not reveal anything too lewd while they danced around the Arachnee den. Even I was perplexed by how the two of them had kept those towels on that practically seemed to have magical properties themselves. However it was not the threads that were the cause but the series of precise movements from Grayfia and Cyanin trying their best to keeping themselves modest while still trying to best the other. Part of the wall was now broken and just about all the slaves have gathered outside due to the loud noises coming from this fight. Each of them now however were wearing long sleeved shirts and pants that were placed on large racks provided from several members of the Arachnee. Now everyone was just watching the battle in front of them not being able to take their eyes away. No one for whatever reason is trying to stop it and Cyanin and Grayfia pretty much ignored everything I said so why even bother..... Not like I bet any of those here are going to stop them. "AH!!! Damn that cursed towel!" - Reiki "Such rotten luck! How has that towel still not been blown off yet?!" - Neko I just shook my head and looked over to Ollie and Malfius who stood next to me and told them some of what happened on our excursion outside the dungeon. At first Malfius seemed astonished over some of what was said but shook it off and seemed like it wasn''t a big deal. He even agreed adding to our current numbers is by no means a bad thing as there are plenty of things we''ll have to do in the coming months. "Hey Vali...." - Ollie "Yeah...." "Why are they fighting in their towels right now anyways?" - Ollie Ollie looked over at me and without taking my eyes away from the two charmingly half naked females thinking on how to answer him. "Mmmmmmmmm....... Who knows? You know how girls can be Ollie...." "Mph...Can''t argue with that. So that''s how it wha......" - Ollie BOOOOOOOM!!!!! A large torrent of flames flew by and crashed into Ollie''s chest and pushed him back a couple steps. I turned and looked at him and the damage done to him from the brilliantly hot flame hadn''t even taken enough Health to even be noticeable. His body was smoking and his uniform looked partially burnt where the flames had struck him. "Ah. Seriously?" - Ollie "You clearly have been forgetting to train in your basics Ollierion. That attack was practically moving at a snail pace. " - Malfius Ollie had no words to his father and just shook his looking at his partially destroyed uniform. The Pixie''s Fire Magic they had just learned still had low Attack Power just like all of my new skills I''ve learned that are in the beginning stages. But even now watching just how much the Pixies have changed with just Cyanin''s use of hurling Fireballs the size of a basketball is still impressive. Just then the image of Adimar started walking towards the two annoyed with what was happening around him. As he grew closer to the two Grayfia started to grow alert of him but continued to evade from Cyanin''s onslaught with relative ease. Adimar''s towering figure appeared over each of them and cleared his throat while ushering each of them to stop immediately. "That''s enough you two...Honestly now is not the time for this...." - Adimar However just then the Annunakes beside me started making strange faces. "Wait...what?" - Akino "How is...Oh, I see now...Grayfia better watch out hehe..." - Alderon Akino and Alderon both stepped forward looking shocked causing even Grayfia to look in our direction while also tilting her head. As she tried to turn back around, Adimar''s large hand held within it a massive hammer of a light resembling a mallet. Within a second it had been swung towards the now unsuspecting Grayfia''s bouncing chest with extreme force. BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!! Within an instant before the hammer arrived, Grayfia took on defensive positions and used her arms to block while dodging backwards to decrease the force of the blow. The hammer however came down too fast and crashed straight into her causing a loud ''bang'' to shake through everyone''s ears. The force from the light hammer knocked Grayfia several meters back, sliding across the tips of her feet. As she slowly started to stabilize herself she looked back over to the image of Adimar and Cyanin with an evil glare. "Whoooo!!!" - Reiki, Neko, Pixies "It blew of....ahhh...seriously still! What shitty luck is that?" - Reiki "Not fair. Seriously...Not fair..." - Neko Many of the spectators got excited then the chatter died down after looking towards the half naked Annunake only a few meters away. Grayfia''s health had barely even dropped by 3% with that last attack but had practically obliterated the sides of her towel only leaving a long strip left covering her front. She used her large puffy white tail to cover her ass and what was left of the cloth to cover her front. Grayfia however just stood there glaring towards Adimar who seemed to have been smiling oddly. The image of Cyanin disappeared and what remained was Adimar with his long arms on his waist. "Mph! I win! Take that right in your big boobs and score another one for the Pixie race!" - Cyanin The cheery and excited voice of Cyanin came out from Adimar''s body revealing it all to be one of her illusions. Adimar and the rest of the Alpha group looked over to the image of the other Adimar with his arms on his waist in a weirdly feminine way. The image of Adimar started to distort and blur until a turquoise Pixie started to appear underneath with Cyanin raising her fist in the air towards her siblings. Cyanin glanced at me for only a brief moment and smiled before looking back towards Cyanin. ''She clearly doesn''t regret giving me blue balls at all... '' All the Pixies surrounding the area started to cheer and dance, all but Uri who held a rather troubled look while glancing back and forth between the fight and me. "Oh, yeah! Pixies win!" - Auroa "Haha. Pixies vs Annunakes ¨C 2 : 0 ! Pixies Rule! Annunakes eat stool!" - Tanin ".....?" - Annunakes, everyone else. I could feel everyone was probably making the same face as me by lowering our eyes and shaking our heads... ''She thinks with one hit that she wins the skirmish? Maybe this is just a pride issue or something.'' "Win? Were it so easy to achieve tiny." - Grayfia " 2 : 0? What is he talking about? " - Alderon "MMm, I think I know..." - Dogun "You caught it too huh Dogun?" - Adimar "Yeah it all just now clicked....." - Dogun "Hmph...I just wanted to show you I meant what I said you hairy wolf!" - Cyanin "Is that right... You Pixies have grown quite a bit I''ll give you that. Enough to even use a trick to land a blow on me. And how did you get 2:0 from that, don''t tell me you guys haven''t learned to count yet? ¡± - Grayfia "Psh.. You think you''re so funny! You don''t even know just how much you''re all being toyed with by us...Mph! Learn to count, 1 is from me just hitting you. And 2 is from....Oh wait, that''s right. Hey Freyki! Jade! Take off your illusion spells I forgot about that part." - Cyanin To Cyanin''s words, two of the Alpha Group who had also came alongside the 20 other members of their race stepped forward. Each of them hadn''t talked much even while standing in the large group but after walking forward the images of each of them turned into two small glowing Pixies. This reveal however caused the looks of several of the members of the Alpha Group to widen their eyes thinking how they couldn''t have perceived this before. The Pixies had even tricked me too. ''Damn, that''s impressive even the Annunakes weren''t aware of it. I don''t know when they took the forms of the Annunakes and where but even if this is a joke the Pixies like to play, it''s still an incredible skill they use for almost everything...mostly pranks though.'' "Horand huh...Well that explains much..." - Akino "Unbelievable..." - Alderon "Mm, what I was expecting to be the case. Depressing we missed that for so long. Hmph, we must be getting old...." - Dogun "Hmph! I find it thrilling!...They''re getting much better at this which is only beneficial to everyone hehe." - Adimar All of the Alpha Group started clamoring sorely except for Adimar who started to laugh at the sudden development even their noses weren''t able to pick up. Malfius, Ollie and I each stated nodding our heads to Adimar''s comment because it was impossible not to notice how remarkable a change their race as a whole has made. They aren''t shy, weak or pensive in any way anymore. In fact, after that little show they made in Aldain, I can almost see how Queen Nhaili''s information on ancient Pixies being by far the most violent amongst the other species may have even been true. Grayfia''s eyes twitched but she just started chuckling at the new and improved Pixie race that are no longer burdens hiding behind them, but fellow warriors to fight alongside. "Hmphahaha! Fine then you win. I''ll give you this one squirt." - Grayfia Grayfia then turned around and slyly walked away to go change. Her white tail hung down covering her bare ass as she walked away leaving many of the onlookers glued towards the heavenly goddess walking away. Just as she passed the wall, however, Grayfia sent a quick glance in my direction and gave what looked like a slight smirk before disappearing. ''Hah, while I do think there are more pressing matters to attend with than just getting my dick wet in another world. If that sly wolf comes at me like that again I honestly don''t know what''ll happen. I seriously doubt I could push her off for very long either. Especially, if she isn''t wanting anything to come out of it. Works out real well for me actually now that I think about it... Guess I''ll just put a pin in that too for now....'' "Mph! Squirt! Rrrr! Just you wait you promiscuous wolf, this isn''t over!..." - Cyanin Some of the Pixies on the sidelines started clapping and cheering for their sister and some of the other races just shook their heads almost disappointingly now that the fun had ended. "Hmm, these Pixies have changed quite a lot due to your influence new Alpha. Hard to consider them even the same people." - Malfius I nodded back to Malfius agreeing with him as the Pixie''s change was almost a complete 180 to what they used to be. Each baptized by the fires of war they even knowingly provoke those stronger than them unafraid. Now because of their power we were able to even kill Balor. They can no longer be called weak from now on and even if they don''t know it yet, their race will become something that all of us will eventually rely on in the coming years. I have no doubt about that. Looking around I noticed the now clean and clothed members we had collected from Aldain where each standing in a small group curiously looking around. "Ah, Vali. The reason we came here was to gather you all as the Grand Funeral is about to begin. I know you have a mentality that doesn''t stop working until the job is done, but we would prefer if you were there...You are our savior after all and it would mean a lot of you there." - Malfius "Hmph, I don''t know if I''d go that far. We each survived for everyone coming together. It definitely wasn''t a one man show." "That may be true. But like the late Commander Locke said in his final letter Vali. You awakened a fire in all of us for coming here and standing with us. You didn''t have to but you chose to. Watching from edge of Floor One''s city walls while you stood unmoving in front of Balor made my fur stand on end.... My dad''s right even if we all fought today, it was you who brought us together and made us believe we actually had a chance to live till this day...." - Ollie Ollie came over and placed his hand on my shoulder and many of the Alpha Group were staring at me warmly while the Pixies started to fly over to where we were. Looking towards each of them and back at Ollie, I couldn''t find much to say in response only causing each of them to start laughing for some reason and shaking their heads. Deciding it was now time to leave I instructed the large group of the newly added members of our alliance to follow us to where the rest of our group was holding a feast and funeral for all who were lost fighting in this place. None of them looked to have any complaints and I guess decided not to speak up unless I had directly addressed them it seems. Each of them had seen such horrific times it may take time for some of them to properly merge into our society and I''m sure there are bound to be plenty of unforeseen problems. I, however, am not someone who is able to cast them all aside just because the time isn''t convenient for me. With Noah, Sasha and my mother, the younger one''s will probably be alright but it''s some of the older slaves I''m worried about. ''Not all of them can be as carefree and uplifted as Ari. I guess only time will tell how each of them will be able to get over their pasts. '' We each then left the Arachnee den and walked over the fallen debris and destroyed ground to outside the dungeon walls. I noticed as we were each walking outside the dungeon appeared to be very slowly repairing itself. The large mountain supporting this dungeon had a large hole in it but after several hours I''ve noticed slight changes in some places. ''Hj?kk was right, there must be a power source somewhere within that Black Palace...We''re definitely going to send search parties up there again to explore everything but it must be done carefully. Without Hj?kk on my shoulder even with all those here around me, for the first time since coming here I''ve honestly felt vulnerable.'' Starting to miss that purple bird I stepped outside the large hole in the mountain and we were each met with loud music and cheering coming from not too far away. We could hear laughter and songs being sung in a massive celebration. Each of the new members gave odd looks to each other and tried to keep up so to not get too far away from me. They weren''t able to trust with just words and only something they could be shown to be real was something they could properly wrap their heads around. HOOOWWWWWWWW!!!! HOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!! Loud howls came from the Annunake pack and there were large numbers of different races dancing around the bonfire and holding their mugs in the air, each celebrating the night away. The bright moon was massive and after the rain clouds had started to disperse it brightly shown down onto everyone present and gave every Annunake a slight glow around themselves that made them appear like Deities. Our small group began to near the celebratory feast and each of us could see a large bonfire with thousands of different race members dancing and drinking having a good time. I could see several of the Arachnee dancing with other races and not one of the races present wasn''t mingling with another. I could see those from Asher enjoying their drinks next to some of the Reiki and Nekos while everyone from the dungeon was out here now There were Adlers dancing in the sky, the Pixies looked to be flying around and playing tag, annd members of the Reiki, Annunake and Neko races joining in what looked like drinking games. There were even targets set up away from the crowd with knives embedded into them from several of the drunk patrons attempts at throwing them into the targets while intoxicated....''Seems like a horribly dangerous drinking game idea but whatever.'' Not far behind where the celebration and bonfire was happening, a massive hole in the ground with fresh corpses wrapped in spider silk. They spanned for almost a hundred yards and were no telling how deep. All the races helped dig a shallow hole big enough but mostly the Jiji and Pixies did most of the work, with their ability to dig and move the earth which is incredible. The bodies of all those who fell today and were able to be collected were placed alongside one another. No separation between the species in any way and were buried alongside one another. The number of dead almost came close to the total population and it was obvious our losses were extraneous. Even with the alluring smell of the cooked meat, the stench of death was ever so present. It was almost hard to look away from the grim sight. Even with the music and loud cheers the number of wrapped corpses all lined beside each other brings a very bitter taste in my mouth that makes it increasingly difficult to pull my eyes away. I shook my head to awaken myself, remembering I had a responsibility I had to fulfill first. I and a few of the Annunakes and Pixies each then helped some of the new members come over to where they could each eat some food. Each of them looked eager but still showed the same look of confusion each time I would address each of them, like the words they could understand but the reasoning for going to such efforts was something simply too foreign to them. Many of those who were currently celebrating around us noticed the now small number of new faces and peculiar races appearing around me but seemed too drunk to even care. ''Hmm, that''s new... Most of the Annunakes in the Pack always give me strange looks when I''m cooking and have even several times tried to take my place claiming this position isn''t fit for an Alpha...Regardless if they were coming back for seconds or not. Whether it was a child or an Elder almost after every time I plated something for a member of the Pack, I''d be met with that same response... They probably just feel uncomfortable celebrating while their leader ''works''. But maybe they''re starting to see I find my own sense of enjoyment and tranquility when cooking...Even if they don''t understand it, they do seem to be trying to overlook it as much as it shows to be troubling them.'' Now that most of them are drunk, this should hopefully stop each them from bugging me every 5 minutes. I walked over to one of the grills and started grabbing some of the already seasoned meat that was laid out on the table. The amount of dead Fomorians alone in this dungeon is probably enough to feed an entire country for several months, if not years. Several of the Pixies had started to collect some extra plates and utensils that were lying around and come hand them to one of our newest members. They each happily did it with big smiles on their faces when I asked them and they flew away giggling. It was probably their weird behavior that caused all the new members to feel more comfortable and relaxed but mostly they just stared in awe at the magically infused race whose very skin sweats magic through its pores. There was still a lot of cooked but uneaten meat as we honestly had prepared too much. The meat from Balor was far too filling and even after it was finished only a few wished to eat some Fomorian steaks afterwards. No one was able to consume an entire kilo so we are still unsure just how many benefits will come from eating such meat but Ari''s Strength and Stamina increased by over a 150 each already while not even eating that much, which is a God send. I started to fix a plate of soft Fomorian meat with greens and veggies for the first slave who was standing in the front of the small cluster and reached it out to him. Each of the slaves and victims of Aldain shuddered as they looked towards me and no longer looked around to everything happening around them. The green-skinned demi-human with two fangs on his lower jaw pointed at himself and a very deep voice for someone his size came out. "Me...Meat?" ¨C Green-Skinned Slave "Really? It''s for real?" - Slave "Gulp....." - Puffy tailed Slave "¡­..Me?...S..sir?" - Green-skinned Slave I nodded and continued to usher him to take it and the slave slowly walked towards me but now with a skip in his step. His face was now clean with black hair and I could see this slave is probably older than Sasha and Noah. His level was 1 like all of the other slaves present who must have had their levels reset before ever arriving in this Kingdom. ''According to Asher, Aldain wouldn''t have the means or ability to use such a spell as their Kingdom is one of only 4 places in the Eastern Continent even capable of doing it and is used on all slaves or prisoners from war. The green-skinned demi-human cautiously reached out for the plate and took it from my hands as if he thought I were going to retract it. The moment it went into his arms however he grabbed a piece of the meat and jammed it straight into his mouth and tore into it like an animal. I was taken back at first but after seeing his expression, a warm meal and meat is something I''m sure many of these slaves haven''t had in a long time....If they''re like Ari, they probably have never had one. ''Aldain seems to be one of the lowest and smallest Kingdoms in the East and is one where slave traffickers visit rarely or on their last stops. There really weren''t many compared to the number of citizens, as it is probably only something the wealthier people are able to afford. The slaves and kidnapped girls are probably from the raids those Sneering Ogres conducted throughout the region. Why no one dispatched anyone to take care of them long ago is astonishing. The King of Asher only stated that it was once a small boundary town from a fallen Kingdom that fell in a war. The previous King of Aldain allied himself with a large guild and gathered roughly 30,000 members of bandits and thieves throughout the region until they were too difficult to control. They took a small stretch of land for themselves and no one cared in the least to stop them, at least not enough to send a large enough force to eradicate them. The Continent is just too large to be able to control everything so injustices like this go on for a long time before eventually stopped...Now this Guild has founded a small Fortress City deep within the south western jungle and have a few members even over Level 100 living there, which impedes the idea of many from this general area doing anything about it. A large group of bandits like this is just out of control. Those bastards are responsible for almost killing Ari....They also happen to be on the land that is between our new territory and the dungeon so acquiring it is a must at this point. Those soon to be Squealing Ogres just happen to be unlucky for both reasons....'' "Ah!...Ah...so....so good....it''s so good...sob...sob....mphmph...MMMM!!!!" - Slave The green-skinned slave started watering at his eyes and several of the slaves behind him all started to gawk with their mouths wide and licking their lips. Several of them started to look back towards me eagerly and I smiled and started helping each of them to a plate as well letting them know there was enough for everyone. This why I thought nothing of bringing those from Aldain and adding them to our numbers. Food is not a problem for us right now, and neither is money or resources at the moment. Creating a house would probably cost us close to nothing with what this dungeon can provide but the extensive labors will still be present. This dungeon could be a fountain of wealth that could support an entire Kingdom with untold benefits that cannot be leaked to the outside world. ''While I still allowed outsiders to come here, I believe giving them this one chance is something I''m able to offer. If they wish to leave still, I guess we''ll handle that road when it comes to us. It''s not so black and white always and, to me at least, these are extenuating circumstances. '' "Mmm! MM...MM....UGh....Gibli...Here. Eat. Good. Very good! " - Green Skinned Slave Now a green skinned female demi-human stepped forward quickly to the one handed slave who was having difficulty eating and grabbed the small strip of meat on his plate and ripped it up. Placing a thin strip into her watering mouth. They were both of equal height and each had two small fangs coming out the bottom of their mouths. Now that they were dressed in clothes however, they each give off a less primal feeling than before. Without a second thought, she shoved the piece of meat into her mouth and chewed the food with her mouth open in complete ecstasy. "MMMmM!!!! Mah!...Mmm....Meat...Meat! So good...So good...so good. " - Green Skinned Female Slave Each of them chewed on the meat like animals only with tears in their eyes. They each had deep voices and spoke in broken sentences but it was impossible for any of the slaves here to misinterpret the feelings the two were now feeling. With all the loud noise many of them didn''t try to speak but after the arrival of food most of them couldn''t think of anything else which is why I first offered it to them in the first place. When you''re hungry, this is pretty much all you think of. Several of the Annunakes and Pixies present also went to prepare a few plates for each of them and hand them out as a way of helping out. Each of the slaves were shaking under the flavors of the meat currently entering into their empty stomachs. Every one of them were practically shoveling in all the food in as fast as possible, some had even forgotten to chew. "Good, so good. Mm...Ugh...ha...ha...ha..." - Female Slave "Ah, ahaha....It''s warm!...." - Puffy Tailed Slave "MMm mish..sho....yoummy! Hehah!" - Human Slave Some of them had started to make looks of insanity even like they couldn''t fully perceive what was happening nor cared how either of them appeared. Within seconds of handing a plate to one and preparing one for another, the first would come back holding an empty plate towards me with a grippingly eager expression on their now slightly brightened eyes. The slaves who were currently eating even looked towards this just to see if I would grant any of them seconds. These are seasoned slaves and look to be trying to eat as much and as fast as possible afraid this might be the last time in a long while. "Hey, don''t worry there''s plenty to go around...Don''t eat too fast or you''ll choke. Hehe...I''m serious slow down it''s not like the food''s going anywhere....." To my words I could see some of them looking back at me with such a strange expression of curiosity before looking back at their plates without anything to say back just yet. The younger ones however could hardly take their eyes away from the warm meal in front of them and continued swallowing half eaten food excitedly. Each of the three younger ones held such a happy expression that it brought warmth to my heart while some of the older ones even had tears streaming from out their eyes. It was almost like they were trying to eat as much as possible now, expecting that this could be the last opportunity to eat a meal for who knows how long. I tried to reassure some of the one''s who surrounded the grill but it honestly didn''t seem to work on them. They would only nervously look towards their plates for just a breath until they went back to shoveling the food in without even trying to chew it. Both Noah and Sasha were still standing close by trying to teach some of the younger ones how to eat properly without even being asked to. As for some of the weaker members we had carried out of Aldain, it was decided they should rest on the Annunake''s home floor and possibly even need help being fed for the most extreme cases. RUF! "Va...liiiii....." - Ari Ruf!...Ruf!! Hearing familiar sounds reaching my ears, I turned over and saw the images of Ari wrapping her small fingers around Fenrir who was running over with my mother trailing behind them. They each arrived through the large dancing crowds of people and must have been able to smell me even with everyone here. While I''m sitting down and sort of hidden from the proximity of the bonfire with all those around me, they were still able to find me. ''I wonder if my smell is really that distinct? Well, Elyria and Ari seem to like it so I guess that''s what matters....'' My mother came walking up with a concerned look on her face when peering towards me and some of our new members that had come back with us. "There you are...I was told from Sting you went away for a bit. Is everything alright? Where, where did all these demi-humans come from?" - Elyria I showed a grim look and revealed some of the things we came across while searching for other members of this dungeon. I didn''t need to go in too heavy of detail as someone who is also from Aldain knows full well the evils that transpire in such a wicked place. Her eyes showed such sadness looking towards each of them currently filling their stomachs with such expressions it was hard to look away. After a short while my mother showed a warm smile and looked back to me and placed her hand over my cheek. "You''ve done well son...." Elyria then told me each of the younger ones like Tierra and Lilly are happily playing games with the Pixies who even took them flying. Even from here I could see Tierra, Lilly and Princess Lucy with her companions with a Pixie holding onto them and trying to play a game of ''Tag'' with each other. Each of them had bright smiles on their face and would fill the skies with laughter each time a Pixie would throw a snowball or cast an illusion just before being tagged. "They each wanted to come see you but I told them you were busy taking care of everyone like you normally do. Hm, Ari and I however just couldn''t help ourselves when we found out you had returned... We haven''t gotten much time with you so obviously the two of us feel a bit neglected some mphmph..." - Elyria Elyria''s tails continued swirling back and forth which I''ve come to find is a determinant of when my mother is happy. Actually Elyria''s, Fenrir''s and Ari''s tails are each wagging quite a lot these days. "Uh...Um...." - ? After I heard a high pitched voice that came from the small slave with the puffy tail and saw her standing out in front of us. Even now she''s cleaned up it''s hard to tell how old many of them are due to malnutrition but this one''s so short even asking her to do hard labor or live life as a slave? Some of them are so young if we had left them in such a place, it would have been no different than if I had left Ari in that cage. Me being the protective older brother that I am, it''s hard not to take notice of some of the younger ones that I know aren''t able to fend for themselves. It''s an almost instinctual feeling but I couldn''t stomach the idea of leaving any of them behind. The poofy tailed girl looking up at both of us now had a clean pale face but was wearing clothes that almost looked 3 sizes too big for her. The Arachnee even provided the slaves shoes for each of them but the ones around her feet look far too big for her as well. With a half empty plate in her hands she shyly walked over but found it hard to look me in the eye as she spoke. "You want some more?...." To my words she shyly nodded back to me with eager eyes and making an awkward face. I, however, noticed she hadn''t really touched as much of the greens on her plate which brings up so many memories with my own siblings. ''Now, she''s too scared to speak up? Heh, kids are all the same I guess when they''re younger. Doesn''t matter where you¡¯re from....'' "Well if you make a deal with me to eat those greens first then I''ll give you some more meat. What do ya say, do we have a deal?" The small puffy tailed girl didn''t say anything back for a few moments and seemed to have been going over my words over and over in her head. She then lowered her head and nodded while trying to walk away. Before she could step away however my mother frowned and walked towards her causing the young slave to stall in her tracks. "Did they not have anything to fit you dear? I''m sure we can find something else that will, how''s about we go get you changed first and then you can come back and finish eating. How does that sound?" - Elyria My mother came and knelt down next to the shaking girl who was looking up at my beautiful mother with not knowing what to say. Many of the other slaves too I can see have been listening in on our conversation including the waitress and her grandmother. "Oh..um...well I...I picked these for whenever I grow up...I just... wanted to have some clothes for, for then..." - ? The small girl made a troubled face and lowered her head nervously. My mother smiled down at her and grabbed one of her small hands with her own. "Well let''s get you something to wear for how you are right now, is that alright?...Then when you start to grow big and tall we can always make you something else...How''s that?" - Elyria ''Hmph. Got to hand it to my mother. She''s really good at this and is something she shows to even enjoy doing since her responsibilities of being a parent were once taken away from her so abruptly. She''s amazing with kids and has so much love to give...'' Now she''s making up for it. I need to make everything up to her. She truly is someone who deserves a happy ending in such a fairy tale world. Even though I know she isn''t my real mother, she has obviously stepped in as a motherly figure that I feel I can no longer live without. ''Elyria is in all honesty the single greatest reason I have chosen to make my alliance with the Asher Kingdom...With this Alliance I can give back to this incredible woman in my life. I want to make it up to her for all she has had to suffer for and all she has done for me without even being aware of it. It''s almost hard to remember how I felt before meeting Elyria. It''s hard to describe my feelings for her but this woman does have a heavy impact on me and my wish is to be able to grant her everything she desires in this life....Now with this alliance I''ve made with this Human King, I will bring her daughter back to her and with their connections and spy networks, they''re capable of providing much quicker than I''d be able to.'' Every passing second is another moment that Elyria is separated from her daughter, and with every thought of this entering into my mind reminded me of the fears of her ending up like Ari or any of the victims here. I couldn''t help but recall all of the reasons I''ve chosen to ally myself with King Asher and this being the most important. We didn''t have to make an alliance with them, this Continent is still a vast and unsettled territory....But while looking towards Elyria who was kneeling down at eye level with the small puffy tailed slave girl who was biting her lip, I know I made the right decision. The puffy tail girl looked cautiously back towards my mother, not knowing how to react with the way my mom talks with her. Elyria even asked her by saying if it''s ok, but still implying she''s going to inevitably get her way.... ''Come to think of it she does that with me too. Hmph, this little girl should just agree because my mother pretty much always gets her way....'' "O...ok.¡± - ? My mother and the same demi-human slave started to walk away followed by several Annunakes to grab the young girl some more clothes. My mother''s tails swayed back and forth behind her and the small girl waddled slowly beside her. She walked kind of funny with those large shoes around her feet. All she could do though is stare awkwardly towards my mother just before shyly glancing back in my direction before leaving. Now I was left with both Fenrir and Ari both looking back up me while making the same odd face. When I picked Ari up off Fenrir''s back each of them looked back up at me while wagging their tails and implying they wanted me to show them each attention. They both to like it when I scratch their furry ears and after all they''ve done I don''t mind spoiling them. Ruf!...Rrrrr.....Rrruf!
Congratulations! Petting Mastery: Beginner Level 1 has just advanced to Beginner Level 2! Petting is all about showing love and devotion to those by integrating it through your heart and out through your fingers. Every brush of your hand will now start to add a slight calming effect to those being touched by your skilled hands. *5% Increase in Stamina Recovery to those under the effects of Petting! Wisdom + 10 Intellect + 15 Health + 50
"Hmm?" ''Oh nice, can''t forget the pedophilia and beastiality warnings while trying to have a moment.... Thanks World System.'' Each of the two however didn''t seem to notice any change and continued wagging each of their tails almost in unison. With this sight however I started to notice many of the surrounding Annunakes and Pixies helping others eat strangely smiling towards each of us, while the new members could only stare with strongly fixed gazes. Some of the faces each of the slaves started to give were one''s who had maybe finally started to realize the inevitable truth...That they were all now, truly saved. I''m sure not all of them have come around to it but in many of their eyes I can start to see at least a glimmer of hope. The two with their eyes currently closed however couldn''t care less. Ari''s fluffy ears were much softer than Fenrir''s and the face she was making made it impossible not to crack a smile. ''Seriously...I don''t know what it is about fuzzy ears and a tail but it definitely raises the cuteness factor of anything. How there can be so many who wish to cause them all harm is beyond me¡­ Hmph, I''m honestly just thankful Noah''s a guy or I would start to look weird to some people scratching behind all of these people''s ears, who aren''t even animals... Pft, well whatever...'' Ari''s tail continued wagging in my arms and she seemed excited with all the music and celebrations going on around us. "And..it was so much fun! Fly...ing was the most fun I''ve ever had in my whole life! We umm..we even got to play this fun game up in the clouds." - Ari "Really were the clouds soft?" "Hehe, they tickled my face. It was so amai..zing...You have to come with us next time." - Ari "Haha next time for sure, I''m in. Sounds like you all had a blast." "Hehe it was...a buh...last..hmph.." - Ari I continued plating more food for the slaves while listening to Ari talk about playing an interesting game of ''tag'' with the Pixies. Her speech is only getting better by the day and she hardly has trouble with a word after learning it. She really has been putting forth a lot of effort in learning with Elyria and I. Anytime I would say a phrase or something she didn''t quite understand, she would then just try to repeat it back to me in agreement with a big smile on her face. "You sure you don''t want to go play with everyone else? Tierra and Lilly look like they''re having a lot of fun..." "Mm? No...I''m fine....." - Ari Ari refused my offer and instead decided she would rather stay and chat with me. At this moment I started to hear the music had then started to die down and I could see not far away, on top of a small makeshift wooden stage that was prepared, now stood several Adlers and many of the race leaders. I could see Viktor standing next to Kyrah holding a large glass, Cosmia, Pek, Malfius, Ollie and an increasingly inebriated Queen Nhaili who looked to be swaying back and forth. "Everyone if I could have a moment of your time. If I can have your attention!....." - Viktor The voice that came out from the short Neko was rather deep and slightly horse. It however still resonated throughout the thousands present causing all the surrounding chatter to die down. "I know all of you wish to continue celebrating such a glorious day...But that does not mean we cannot forget those who bravely risked their lives and died so we could be able to stand united here today....It would all not be possible if not for our ancestors who continued the fight, pushing and crawling for every step to get to this very day! We cannot forget all the brave sacrifices that were made in this place. We can never forget the pains and torment our people have suffered and had to endure for thousands of years until this very day. To a time where their great, great, great, great, great.....You get the picture, great great grandchildren....Would have a day like today....¡± - Viktor "Whooo!!!!" - Queen Nhaili Many of those standing around the bonfire started to raise of their mugs in unison but Viktor rose his arms to quiet them all down. He just looked over at Queen Nhaili and then to the Arachnee Guards to help their tipsy race leader. "My Queen, careful!" - Arachnee "Care..careful! You''ll spill my wineeee......Gup! I''m fineeeee reallyyy gulp!" - Queen Nhaili Queen Nhaili''s two guards caught their swaying Queen and helped her stabilize herself while she just continued taking a drink from her glass. "Hey Vali....I got the numbers of each of the surviving races you asked for..." - Kai I heard a whisper coming from behind me and Kai appeared alongside Uri and Vale. The leaders however continued to address the crowds while I proceeded to listen to Kai''s intel he had gathered from each of the races. "No longer will we have to tell our children to accept the fate that was forced upon them. No longer will we ever bow our heads in shame. We will each go forth into this new world together and make a home for ourselves. Underneath such a full and beautiful Moon tonight, I know that our Ancestors and loved ones are looking down upon us and celebrating such a joyous day, just as we are.....¡± - Adimar "To the grateful dead! May they find peace in the next life..." - Kyrah "We brought the Dawn! But we can never forget the brave souls who made the ultimate sacrifice so we would be able to stand together now. Our brothers and sisters who came into this world alongside us will return back into the world...together!" - Ollie "Let us tread into the unknown together as our fallen brothers and sisters have each done this fateful day. Though alone we are strong, together even the gods should fear what we''re capable of! Every step we take henceforth shall be beside each other, never to broken till we all take our final breaths!" - Malfius "Whoooo!" - Queen Nhaili As each of the leaders came forward and spoke I started to hear about the losses each of the races had incurred from our bloody fight with Balor and his Fomorians from myth. Kai had collected the exact population count of most of the races and spoke over each of them to me while reading them off a piece of thin animal leather. While the majority of our forces were killed on Floor One in our final stand against Balor and the hundreds of thousands of Undead warriors old, Balor''s monster horde who had done more damage than we could have ever predicted..... The Annunakes who were already close to extinction still had the majority of their race all fight on the front lines without fear. Now the ''Pack'' has a population which has dwindled down to 779 remaining members. The Adler''s had the highest number of losses of their species from when Balor initally touched down as well as keeping those winged Manticores, that were each larger than a house, from interrupting our battle. Their current race now have barely over 2800 remaining members from different species of Adlers. Vale said they had even lost one of the members from the same race as Ikaros and there is now only two members of their species left that was said to once come from something similar to a Divine Beast. The Reiki lost the least number of their race but even in Balor''s final moments he was capable of slaying many. Their race now has 2947 remaining members. The Arachnee are now down to 877 members. The Jiji race are now down to 1103 members. The Nekos who took on a role as the military force for all of the races present have now dropped to 3,012 members. The Dark Elves are still at a population count of 1 and hasn''t changed. The Pixies are the only race who haven''t lost any members today and currently have 377 members remaining. After listening over the collected data, hundreds of thoughts began to flash through my mind thinking over what this all currently means. While at the same time knowing that we survived trying to get a better understanding on what we are capable of with our now diminished numbers. With the addition of the new slaves and members of Aldain our total numbers are roughly close to 12,000 but they aren''t all combatants and can''t be consider added to our war potential. While each survivor here is far stronger than just regular civilians, even the surviving Elders of some of their races cannot be ignored, our battle power has still been heavily reduced. We currently need to rely on one another and with each of our races numbers, individually no one is confident to risk treading this new world alone and potentially becoming extinct. What were once 10 strong races who thrived thousands of years ago and gathered together have dwindled to such an extent. While everyone is celebrating their victory it is a bittersweet moment for all realizing many of their races are close to extinction to have obtained their freedoms. While I''m not confident to jump into a head on collision with another nation right now, including the some odd 30,000 members of the Sneering Ogre guild, but that''s not because I fear them... In fact compared to the warriors of this continent I doubt many could hold a candle to us in open combat unless magic or uniquely strong equipment was used. Each survivor here is a bonafide ''God Slayer'' regardless if they share the title or not. Every single one of their lives are worth much more than theirs, and I would be pained by the loss of a single member of each of these incredible races just to fight a battle we could win easily in an upfront collision. The Annunakes who can practically move at Mach 2 at night or the Reiki with their bodies that allow them to train their resistances much simpler than any others are probably going to become a force that hasn''t ever been seen on this Continent before. Many of them are even high level experts proving they have several sub skills already close to the Master stages like Alysteir and their each of their potentials are still unseen. I wouldn''t want to risk a single one of their lives since each are more precious than thousands of idiot thieves and bandits hiding in the woods or some self-righteous King''s in a dick measuring competition. ''I''m not even sure if the beings in this world are familiar with guerrilla tactics but with the forces here there is no question in a short time there won''t be a single human power on this continent that we wouldn''t be able to smash underneath our thumbs...I''ll see to that.... Ugh, I say human just because lately the idea of these Vampires and Elves who live to be so old, there is simply no way there aren''t high level beings living deep within their lands. Hj?kk''s explicit warning even hinted at that very possibility. There are even many Deities who live in this world who even live within the Kingdoms of some races and rarely ever get involved with mortal affairs unless it is deemed truly necessary. With my Wisdom over 20,000 I feel I crossed over an imaginary barrier within my mind. Somehow I can just feel that my brain processes information differently and my mental capacity has not only grown but changed in the way I process information. It almost feels like I have more control over my own body and movements even... And now ever since, I''ve been having doubts about this ''Elf War'' situation every time the thought appears in my mind....In a world with time and experience making a person practically godlike compared to my old world... ''No way the Elves wouldn''t have some ridiculously powerful beings not revealing themselves or getting involved for some reason...If Human Saints can become pillars of an entire race, than Elves who naturally live to be much longer should be able to fuck some shit up. Even if they don''t hunt monsters often, or any other reason I can logically come up with...It just doesn''t add up in my head from what I''ve heard about this Elven war with the Humans and what I''ve come to learn about this world''s laws and logic since coming here. Well...I say that though I''m starting to grow more aware of how frightening our power is compared to those in this part of the world. I may have been too cautious for nothing but with what happened earlier tonight, my eyes have been opened a little more as to just what those here are truly capable of. Even while holding back.'' Regardless if Aldain only had less than a couple hundred or so people guarding the city, I was able to see just how a fight between our two sides would compare if our sides were ever to collided... Possibly some insight into facing Myro''s warrior classes as well since they couldn''t even fight back. ''My bet, their forces would undoubtedly flee for their lives before the battle even reached its climax after watching a few of their leaders being torn to shreds... Even those so called ''hot shots'' from Myro eventually acted no differently when being faced with the same fate as Aldains. To me, they¡¯re just cowards in armor. Those of this dungeon have lived in fear and have been forged by the fires of constant battles of life and death every single day of their lives. Alongside all of the benefits and weapons we''ve discovered now in this dungeon, I find it highly likely the only forces who would be even comparable to us warrior for warrior would be those in the Central colonies with some of these figures who can supposedly take on a 1000 man themselves. Sting the Scholar wasn''t a very good comparison I feel with the Human powers in the Central Colonies, but he does have a good understanding of what goes on there which is still beneficial....While there are Masters in the Human Kingdom I stand firm in believing the forces here can compete with anyone given the right conditions. Killing a Fallen God gives life to this belief....'' Even if everyone here doesn''t hold the title, they each fought tooth and nail together to get to this moment so everyone has developed a bond with one another that can''t be explained by mere words. We have fought life and death struggles against near unshakable odds and came out on the other side victorious. Such an accomplishment has made the bonds between each of us grow deeper and while we don''t know each other fully yet, our will to live for a better future is strong. We''re all survivors.... The race leaders of the Alliance continued to acknowledge and speak of the courageous members who had all died in this twisted game invented a long time ago. Driven into a world darkness, that was hardwired to kill and drive you to the brink of death with every step through an unknown corridor. Only able to tell yourself to push on if ever a chance for you or your offspring is ever possible to leave such a damning place. After generations of suffering their souls are finally free... "Let us not forget the words a wise Commander once spoke to me....Blessed are our dead, for those who so willingly journey and leap into their inevitable end, it is for our sake...If we only focus on making the best moves, we''ll never be able to gain an advantage over our foes. At times, we must be willing to risk everything we hold on to, everything we are to achieve victory. So that we may obtain true freedom...I must be honest I never really paid much attention to the late Commander''s words until now but they make much sense to me this day....We''ve risked a lot, and we''ve all also lost much to stand joined together today. But in the end....We actually brought the Dawn together that many of us had lost hope of ever seeing in this lifetime. So let this day not become a day of mourning but a day to rejoice!.... We''ve been on the losing end of a long game our entire lives but now it is our time to start anew. As we say our final goodbyes to our loved ones and fallen brothers in arms, we will not mourn our dead....We will celebrate their sacrifice.... We place our brother''s and sister''s bodies outside of the walls that have imprisoned us all for so long.....As the late Commander would say, let''s step into this unknown world just like each of our fallen have finally left it.....Together!" - Viktor The short Neko''s words like his predecessor had ignited a passion in the hearts of all those who were celebrating their victory, while still mourning the loss of those they cherished now leaving the world for good. Everyone heard him and many started to raise their fists, weapons and mugs high in the air with pride making it hard to see those standing on the small stage. Each of the races then started forming a long line and bent down to grab a pile of dirt with their hands. When each of them began to walk past the massive grave, they would each throw a piece of the Earth onto the dead honoring their sacrifice and assisting in burying those who had fought alongside them. The massive hole held the silk wrapped and slight blood stained corpses of all those who didn''t make it to freedom. It was difficult to watch. Even when I walked over and too had joined the ritual of burying the dead, looking at all those I was unable to save from this place started to tug heavily on my heart. If Ari wasn''t in my arms right now I''m sure I''d be feeling a lot more grief than I am right now. All she was doing however was sitting quietly with her small hands on my arm sadly peeking out towards the all the dead. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. I tossed the dirt onto the large gravesite while looking from start to end. The massive grave extended the length of a football field and was stacked neatly with bodies of many love ones from all those around me...I stared solemnly at all those who lost their lives today thinking about some of those I had met since coming here. Corpses that amounted to barely less than all who are currently left. It was hard to stomach such results and still claim it all as a victory. Not to far out in front of me, however, I saw several races throwing flowers but what caught my attention was the image of Alysteir driving one of her swords into the grass out in front of her. Even with all the surrounding sobs and crying all around me I felt I could hear her whisper something to herself. My hearing isn''t as great as some of those here, but my senses are much sharper than a normal human after absorbing all of those monsters alongside the World Tree essence. "...I never forget those who were able to land a blow on me. You were a good warrior. Have a nice nap....." - Alysteir With that I started to watch her slowly walk away and disappeared into the crowd around her. "Hmmm...." ''Who could she have been talking about? Boro? His body however couldn''t have been recovered though...Would she even care about such things? I honestly don''t even care enough to think about it at this point, I won''t begin to try and know why she does the things she does.'' "Valiii...sob....there you are.....sob..." - Cosmia I could hear the sounds of whimpering Pixies and a small cluster of them had started to fly in my direction. In the middle of them was Queen Cosmia who had tears streaming down her face and she came over and wrapped her thin arms around my neck. Each time she got close to me I could feel the constant icy chill surrounding her almost disappear. Some of the other Pixies came over and couldn''t handle such an emotional time for everyone and like their Queen were also in tears. Cari had Bifrost and Jana next to her and she too had flown over in tears bringing a massive warmth that touched over my whole body. Sometimes I guess pranks aren''t enough for these little guys. I decided to let them do what they wanted after such a day whenever I saw something odd...There across the massive grave site were other pixies who were crying and dropping flowers and dirt over the corpses of what looked like....Pixies? Wrapped in cloth were a small amount of tightly wrapped bodies with wings coming out the back. "Wait a minute....." I tried to change my vision to see if there was an illusion in play but couldn''t tell as the bodies were no longer alive. As I whispered this to Cosmia she abruptly shook up and looked towards me while wiping away her tears. As did several of the other Pixies. She then leaned into my ear and whispered something odd. "We just...We wanted to be able to join everyone here in mourning to so..." - Cosmia "We wanted the other races to think we had members die as well....Everyone''s lost so much and because of you Vali!... We just, didn''t have to today...." - Aurora "...We thought now if we did this, maybe everyone will be able to grow a little closer somehow...You''re not, mad are you ?" - Cari The Pixies revealed that they casted an illusion to make it seem they too had lost some of their own in the battle today and seemed to have convinced everyone around of this. "No I''m not mad...I understand where your hearts are at...." Each of the Pixies surrounding Ari and I warmly smiled but this whole feeling from Cari felt to be one that was a little different than when I''d first met her. Cari too had then slowly wrapped her arms around me like Cosmia had. Whispering in a mature but soft voice in my ear that felt to be from someone much older than herself. Almost from that of an older sibling that is completely different than the atmosphere her and the rest of her siblings normally give off. Their race naturally show their emotions much more than the other races, but there are no illusions about this. These Pixies actually see me as their family. They love me no more, and no less than each of their siblings which sometimes even surprises me. "Vali, thank you for being our family. We each just love you so much...And, we''re never going to leave you, because snif...snif...you''re ours snif..snif....." - Cari Both Bifrost and Jana were each floating not far behind their sisters but each warmly looked back towards the scene in front of them. It however had quickly been interrupted by a slowly approaching thin framed Annunake. "While I personally think the idea of the unkillable Pixies would be much more beneficial to the morale than something so small...I won''t say a thing...mphmph..." - Akino Walking up towards us was the slim figure of Akino who had appeared through the crowd surrounding the large grave and at our sides. While the Pixies didn''t argue with what Akino had whispered to each of us, they also didn''t show to want to reveal such things just yet either. Cari and each of the Pixies let go of me and looked towards Akino and their Queen, who now dawned a more mature and aged look than she once held since I first arrived here. "...It''s not that we don''t agree it seems silly of us. But this is the first time everyone is treating us so nicely now and no longer look down to us as they once did....We just weren''t ready for that all to end just yet. It''s not like we haven''t lost any of our family in the last few weeks....Sob...and while we miss them more than anything....I know they''re happy wherever they are now. Playing games with all of our parents, and their parents. One big family...Just like all of us here....Sure we might disagree and fight sometimes Akino, but we''re still a family at the end of the day..." - Cosmia "Snif...Cosmia''s right..." - Jana "Oh Vali thank you for everything. We''re truly...very thankful for you!....Snif..Sniff!" - Cari Some of the Pixies started to tear up and call out the names of some of those they had lost recently and turned around and gripped onto me yet again. ''What is this? I''ve heard of a shoulder to cry on but these Pixie''s take any space that¡¯s available...'' Akino smiled back towards the Queen''s words while nodding quietly and not willing to break up the emotional moment for some of them, as she too understood sometimes feelings need to be let out. Akino started walking away from us and threw a piece of dirt into the still open grave with only a lingering glance. She like many others decided not to look at the large grave for too long less she would have been unable to walk away. The funeral lasted for almost an hour and many got to say their last goodbyes before Daisy and dozens of the Pixies began to appear to move the large mound of dirt off the ground and started to cover over the long strip of land. While it didn''t cover everything many of the other races started helping to fill the grave as well, unwilling to walk away from their comrade¡¯s final resting place just yet. Not many words were spoken. Many of the races were hugging one another and comforting those who had even lost their whole families today so none would feel alone on such a tremendous day. Since each of those here have all felt a tremendous amount of loss, there is comfort in knowing those around you share the same grief and are willing to lend a shoulder to the other. I was no exception to this either. "Thank you Vali...Now...now my parents are finally free to leave this weary place. You have avenged them!!!...Sob...Sob..sob....Ahhhhhh! Ah....ugh...For helping avenge them, I thank you Vali. I owe you my life. And whatever fate may bring this one, I will never erase what you''ve done in my heart." - Holland A wide shouldered Reiki man, who was the same one I remember was screaming about his cabbages being burned, shook and balled manly tears while holding me in what felt like a death grip with his massive arms. I was almost taken away by how such a man could cry so loudly, but he''s clearly an emotional person and wanted nothing more than for me to understand how thankful he was. He eventually placed me back on the ground and tried to ''slyly'' wipe the tears from his face as if they had never even existed. "You owe me nothing....Let''s just work together from now on and make a safe home for those we cherish. That''s plenty...." "Humph.....Right, right. That I can do....Live free, die unshackled....." - Holland The large Reiki then bowed to me while cupping his hands in his stomach and said a familiar phrase I had heard many of them addressing whenever they part with someone. I started making my way back to where Elyria stayed with everyone and continued walking down the length of the large gravesite. I then started to notice a purple glow slowly encroach from behind me and started quickly nearing my left. "...We have to become stronger." - Kai The small purple pixie flew out beside me and started to hover while glancing over the newly settled dirt over such a massive grave. Tanin was next to him and they each held serious looks when peering back towards me. "I agree...." "We need to start testing our abilities....Find any weaknesses we may have and cover them completely...." - Kai ¡°Yeah, until we are as strong as Balor individually...then maybe I can feel comfortable with my sibling¡¯s safety... How about you bro?" - Tanin I agreed thinking I too had been thinking over the same things while looking at so much loss. Kai started telling me how he himself doesn''t only wish to come up with new formations and improve their strengths but mostly to find whatever weaknesses they may have and improve on that first to increase their chances of survival. As I started to walk back to where I had originally left my mother and everyone else Kai started to explain to me some of the things he already thinks their race needs to be wary of when going to battle. Kai believes the weaknesses he is currently aware of are enemies with strong poisons like the Arachnee and those who can drain magic like the Annunake. While after fully regenerating their Health with their abilities from the Hydra, Regeneration has showed to have some light poison detoxification characteristics. But not enough to remove a Status Effect if one were to be acquired according to Kai''s data. He also says races or individual builds like the Reiki would also be a bad matchup for them unless they were to use their Divine abilities which each of them individually can only use for at max 5 seconds. ''Even with my massively higher MP pool I''m probably unable to go over 5 seconds using that skill either. With their cost reductions to skills and cooldown times they are even able to use the skill again after only a few days while I have to wait a week to use such a Divine ability again. Their affinities are just high enough to be able to sustain such a skill without using as much energy and magic to pull it off and the heat we both were able to produce is like the difference between this bonfire and the unstoppable power of the sun. And that''s only with 50% Fire and Light Affinity. Considering from what I''ve come to understand from Hj?kk, even having 100% is just a basis for this particular world''s logic. There are plenty of other realms and worlds where something like 100% Fire Resistance/Affinity could just be the basis for all life that lives there.'' Regardless the Pixies abilities using Promethean March are enough that the heat from their skill was enough to roast anything that stood far enough away to where the flames could even touch them. Yet still able to control their flames heat whenever they used it on Floor One. Kai also believes that if they ever faced an opponent like me who can cancel out magic it would also be a problem for them to face. But he has already actually come up with a particular method of attack against something like that which I was astounded upon hearing....and maybe a little grossed out... "...Seriously?" "Hah! That''s what I said when I first heard the idea hehe..." - Tanin "Why not? It only hurts for a split second until the wounded flesh and muscles are already regenerated? I''m just saying if ever facing against such an opponent where we are unaware of their strengths this could be an option. I''m even thinking this is something we are going to implement into each of our formations from now on. I just need to convince a few of them first...." - Kai "Cari will surely be against it...." - Tanin "Ugh, yeah I know. I''m thinking of asking her last. Hmm...." - Kai Kai started nodded his head while he was thinking out loud. The idea he came up with was kind of morbid, but he just recently came up with such a crazy idea while thinking of new ways to protect his family from here on out. Even if he didn''t lose any of his brothers and sisters today he''s fully aware that they were only incredibly lucky Balor wasn''t able to use his full power or even his magic against us. From now on Kai wants every Pixie who is going to enter into battle or fight on the front lines to leave a limb alongside one of their healers who they can hide in an untold number of ways. Kai''s already experimented with this some and has found that his five sisters who can regenerate close to my speed, or even faster, are able to choose where to send their life force. He believes if the Pixie''s body were ever destroyed they could just regenerate their lost sibling within a short amount of time through the limb that was left behind. The limb itself stops giving off any feedback to receiving any life force after a short window of time, since they believe the limb no longer contains traces of the former''s life force any longer. However, now they are possibly able to implement a new and interesting way into their fighting style that is unique only to them. ''Kai''s right though, it doesn''t hurt really long enough to matter....Even when that guy stabbed me in the heart it felt excruciating but only for a brief second before the damaged cells started to repair themselves around the blade that was lodged deep in my chest...Heh, interesting idea though.'' "I got to say that''s an interesting idea Kai....Creepy and maybe a little morbid? Definitely.... But, hey if it works then who''s to say it''s a bad idea. Have either of you tested how long it takes for a limb to no longer receive any feedback from your life share skill?" Kai just shook his head and said it varied and he can''t be sure yet based on how many times he''s apparently done this to himself. ''He''s definitely not like his other ''child-like'' siblings. Hacks away at his own body and calls it an experiment....Heh, honestly though compared to every Pixie, I feel he is probably the most valued sibling amongst his family even if they don''t vocalize it.'' We continued talking for a bit while we arrived back through the crowd of people talking and the music starting back up. I could hear a few of the Adlers had again jumped on top of the small stage and started singing once more to liven up the crowd. We arrived back to where Elyria and Fenrir were sitting with the newly freed slaves who were quietly seated in the same place I left them. Tierra, Noah, Lilly and some of those with Princess Lucy are now over here as well laughing loudly alongside some of the Pixies. Some of them were trying to play and communicate with the Pixies who are playing an interesting game of tag with their illusions. Each of the slaves just stayed put watching the mysterious races walking around each of them while huddled not to far away from where I last saw them. I told Malfius about everything. He and the Alpha group should have spread around what I''m planning with these newly freed slaves. Since no one is against the idea I guess I don''t need to explain myself to anyone. With that the night continued on for several more hours and once some of the races started bringing out more liquor the celebration had now started to truly begin. We stared off into the full moon and free sky over our heads. Each of us got wrapped around the moment, forgetting about everything else in the world other than the simple fact we were all alive. The King and Queen got drunk and even started dancing while the trio also didn''t shy away from drinking too and asking a few of the other races for a dance. As I was looking around and observing all those around me enjoying themselves a small white haired girl very quickly ran up and wrapped her arms around my leg. There were several white haired Annunakes from the younger generation not too far behind her and were each curiously looking up at me. "I just wanted to come and say thank you Alpha!" - Annunake girl I recognized the short haired Annunake as the same one who was in the bathing area next to Kato. He however seems to be trying to communicate with Noah and Lily who are also standing around a few Annunakes who are also in their generation. Not knowing what this was for I just gently patted her head which caused the short haired Annunake to giggle and wag her tail slightly. "Hehe look, Alpha''s really nice...." - Annunake Child "Jirha was right, Alpha seems real friendly!" - Annunake Child Several of the young Annunakes as well as the adults are sometimes rather awkward with me in how they view me as their patriarch. Usually, they won''t speak to me unless I have initiated conversations with them. But after hearing some of these little one''s maybe after knowing how I killed the previous Alpha, I must come off as rather intimidating to many of them. Several people I also knew came up to me throughout the night and thanked me in their drunken moments like Reinma and Karma. Not only them but members of each of the races had come up to do the same and even Henley came up and hugged me with tears coming out of his furry eyes. "Tha...Thank you Vali...I thank you for this day. For all the lives you''ve saved...sob.You never lied that day we first met. My daughter can now do whatever she may wish in this life. As a father I just...Thank you...Sob... All I can do is thank thee." - Henley "Valiiii!!! Come dance with me!" - Karma "Vali! Come on one more drink!!" - Ollie "Valiii! Come play with us!" - Cosmia "Alpha! Over here!" - Alderon "Valliiiiii!!!!" - Pixies The alcohol wasn''t enough to get me drunk but with the night slowly going on I began to get drunk on the moments. These were my new allies in this world and I wouldn''t trade them for any other. We continued dancing and enjoying each other¡¯s company until the sun came up and many had started to pass out where they dropped. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Well from what I''ve seen, your talent in healing magic is possibly on par with Cardinal Hope or even the Pope of all the Freya Churches on the continent..." - King Asher "Is that so.....?" "Naturally. The ability you received is more of a battle appropriated spell the Freya Church uses to heal a small range of allies in their party and can even help cleanse the body of impurities I''m told... They however have plenty of other spells in their arsenal to do the same things in the ways in which you''ve described them. Hrumph! You don''t even need to chant the magical incantation the Freya Priests and Priestesses use, making the length of your healing magic end whenever you wish it....Simply remarkable Sir Vali. Even if it was by that incredible ability alone, no country in the entire Human Kingdom wouldn''t wish to pull you over to their side ahaha!" - King Asher "Yes, it is true our new relations with Sir Vali is surely a gift from the heavens.¡± - Queen Asher "A gift? Hrumph, a gift is nothing my Dear. This is truly a life changing experience for this old King aha! With this added vitality I feel almost decades younger hahaha! Truly remarkable!!!" - King Asher The King had stood up and started doing strange stretches in front of his wife bending his knees claiming he felt a lot younger after eating some of Balor''s enchanted meat. The poses he was doing however were ones someone would use in the bedroom so the Queen and the Royal Knights each made humorous faces towards the King''s odd behavior. In Loki''s game, raising your level would essentially do the same thing as the Vitality stat, in by making chopping off limbs or causing critical hits to occur. Making battles in the Higher Levels naturally last much longer for just these reasons. Vitality, if I remember, was just a stat to help a user survive through harsh conditions or battle much longer. Which in this world isn''t much different than what naturally happens to a person''s natural defenses when raising their Levels. However, each of these two things are both also believed to be partially linked with moderately increasing a person''s longevity as well. Which is incredible from just taking a few bites of meat, to say the least. While the King and Queen haven''t tried to raise their levels steadily for a long time, acquiring skills that any Guardian classed individual would even kill for is something they can''t stop laughing about for some reason. These two did dance a lot last night just before the King got drunk and passed out in his wife''s lap. Many others too had passed out near the bonfire during the end of the celebration. Fomorian blankets that had been cleaned and smoked by the Jiji had been passed out. There weren''t enough for everyone but due to the fire and growing bonds, no one cared in the slightest. There were many just like me who too had not fallen asleep and many of the races here awoke early for training and preparing for our departure to our new territory tomorrow that may take a while to prepare everything we need before we make the trip. Those from Asher awoke rather early as well and we had the opportunity to chat some more about the inner workings of the Kingdom we have now formed an Alliance with. I learned quite a bit about the Freya Skill from them and learned I don''t use it in the same fundamental way that their Church does. When they need to cast high level spells for healing something like shattered bone or life threatening wounds, they wouldn''t use such a spell like Freya''s Soul Recovery which is considered one of the more common spells in their church. If they used the Freya Spell in the same way I did, they''d have to cast it dozens of times with instant repetition to be able to do the same thing I was doing. With the Annunake Crown of Fei, my Healing Magic is even in the Advanced stages which is probably comparable to some of their high officials in their Kingdom''s churches. I also learned from the King''s knowledge that for Healers in this Continent, being able to repair shattered bones is also a difficult process. Sometimes medical experts or even doctors are needed to reset the bones in preparation for the healing process for lower ranking members of the Freya Church. Even then, in some cases it would take several weeks for some of the better Healers on the Continent to do what I can do in a few moments with much added mana infused into the spell. While the leaders of the Freya Church have the highest Healing abilities in all of the Asher Kingdom, they are also famed as one of the most famous churches in the East. Being able to do what I can do are very few even with using different spells and expensive resources than me. However, with this information I''ve also learned a bit more about how the Human Kingdom operates within itself. The Freya Church is not only famed in the East but also has a high amount prestige that extends to the Great West and their churches extend to every Empire. For the Goddess of beauty, love and fertility according to the King and Queen''s logic, in this world Freya seems to be highly popular and worshiped by farmers. "Really?...That''s interesting....Well she is supposed to be the Goddess of Fertility so I guess that can also extend to things like nature and of the Earth." "Hmphmph, quite correct Sir Vali. That is why the Great Goddess of Beauty and Love''s Church is so predominant and holds so much influence even within the Rose Empire. For that reason Freya is one of the more highly worshiped of the Asgardian Gods and has one of the more famous churches within the Human colonies who also hold their base of operations within the Holy Alliance...Have you ever been to the Holy Lands Sir Vali? It is a place where Champions of the Gods are looked at much differently than they are in most places and even treated as religious icons to some.....In fact the majority of the Blessed Beings within the Human Kingdom live within the Holy Alliance." - Queen "You don''t say....And oh uh no. Never had the chance to yet sadly...." "Well you should most definitely travel there some time while you''re still so young. Truly many of the most beautiful sights one can see within the Human Kingdoms lie within the Holy Lands. I myself have only visited such a place once as a child and even I wasn''t permitted from entering into some of their more sacred cities. My whole life I''ve always wished to travel into one of their Sacred Grounds and possibly even have the chance at seeing a glimpse of a real-life Deity.... However, such an exceptionally sacred place, even many Blessed Beings and High Ranking members of most Churches aren''t even permitted to enter into such a holy place. But as a Champion yourself I''m sure you would be allowed to visit much more than I was ever allowed. I''m told if one were ever allowed to witness such gloriously beautiful places, they would have considered to have lived a rich and fulfilled life. " - Queen Asher "...Sacred Grounds? Wait do Deities actually live there?" "Ah, Sir Vali has not heard of such a majestic and spiritual place before then hmm?... The Holy Alliance is believed to may even have a Sacred Ground within the Eastern Continent as well but would most likely inhabit deep within some of their territory here on the Continent. And, my wife were just speculating before Sir Vali, just hopeful dreams that''s all. No one truly knows if Deities live within the Sacred Grounds but it is known that the land there is undoubtedly a blessed place. Tis just a rumor Sir Vali that is all.... I''m told a few Blessed Beings on the Continent reside there though....I can see Sir Vali might be curious so I''ll continue....The Sacred Grounds on this Continent aren''t really considered a Kingdom and more is just territory that is owned and occupied by the Holy Alliance. Usually, if a Blessed Being ever appears on the Continent, it isn''t rare for a few members of the Holy Alliance on Continent to come and rate that Champion''s talent or heavenly gifted ability. They could even be invited to visit and train there under the Holy Alliance''s tutelage which has happened only a handful of times over the last few decades.....To the other Human nations a Champion might be considered a weapon but to the Holy Alliance they are considered Sacred treasures that are living blessings from the Gods they worship. " - King Asher "I see, hmm maybe I can check it out sometime. But for now I''d rather no one knows I''m a Blessed Being just yet." "Ah, of course. Of course, not to worry of that as our lips are sealed Sir Vali." - King The King waved his arm reassuring me and we continued talking about random things that came up and intrigued my interest enough to inquire further upon. The Ashers have seen many incredible things since their travels to the Great West. Due to their Royal bloodline that holds power even within the Rose Empire, they have seen what no one else present has and hold a great deal of knowledge. While originally all I sought for was an Alliance with them, but with the proposal or, more accurately put, the demand I made to change their laws, I was obviously asking for more than just that. I had told the Queen and King that releasing every member of my mother''s race is an absolute at this point. I explained to them that Elyria''s race has never been in any wars and don''t live freely within the Human Kingdom, so they couldn''t have been prisoners of war nor held a massive debt. Just to this understanding then they shouldn''t have any moral convictions and agree that this treatment is truly inhuman and they''ve allowed it to occur for so long in their Kingdom. I looked them each in the eye and let them know this was something I was unwavering on, as even if I didn''t say it aloud...This was the biggest reason I had allied together with this King, or well the reason that tipped the scales over. So I demanded my mother''s people be set free and if Iris is within Asher, we''ll find her and a lot faster than if I hadn''t made this alliance.... Someone from an alliance of two nations couldn''t effect things like foreign policy, but I wanted authority within Asher. If we were going to join this Kingdom and ally with them, I couldn''t stomach the same things that happened in Aldain happening within the Kingdom we were becoming a part of. We wouldn''t join them if we did. So with the authority I asked for and my demands, obviously there are certain responsibilities that come with that. Now because of that the King has started to go into detail over my new responsibilities to the Kingdom as well as himself for obtaining this new position and authority. His role for me was intriguing as it seemed more like an enforcer than anything else. Now there are other noble factions that have been growing more powerful from increasing their manpower and level. Making many of the Noble factions growing more arrogant within the Royal Court and questioning the King''s ability. Which from this King''s perspective is essentially a form of trying to degrade his Highness and make him seem unable, or even weak to the masses. My responsibilities now will be to showcase his power with mine to protect the order of the Asher Kingdom by affirming the King''s rule. As long as we continue to want the same things, I''m actually all for this little business venture of ours. "You are not one of my Royal Guard, you are just a Vassal. This means you will undoubtedly receive a large number of dual requests in the near future from several strong adventurers and warriors from other factions looking to take you out. Or just those attempting to gain a deal of fame so you should prepare yourself for scrutiny... It''s not unlikely you may even become the target for multiple assassination attempts for what you hope to achieve just as I have in the future. You are although allowed to handle each of these situations according to your own discretion." - King Asher He spoke non-hindered over many of the problems currently going on in their Kingdom right now and what my role would be as a Vassal to his faction. He seems to think because I''m a Champion of the Gods that my input is important to him. I however expected all of this and thought out the ''pros'' and ''cons'' of this Alliance long before this moment. The King seemed to look at us as an Alliance between two groups benefiting in our own ways while also joining as one. Personally I just like that he didn''t see us as just adding our troops to his but he didn''t try to hide any of the fears he''s been currently facing within his Kingdom with me. I was apparently right about my earlier speculations over his control over the Kingdom being rather shaky over the last several years. The King currently has roughly 50,000 strong and loyal soldiers at his command but he doesn''t necessarily have the loyalty of all the forces of Asher. There are some strong factions even within the upper echelons of the Kingdom including noble families and powerful guilds that now appear to be trying to dethrone him. Some of them even have strong connections to the central colonies of the Human Kingdom and could possible even be working for some powerful figures within Rose. While his relations with the Empress of Rose are good, this world is a dangerous one and deaths happen quite regularly. The Central Colonies hardly ever expend much effort towards anything other than their own affairs that they are dealing with in their own territories. The world is simply too big to delve into the conflicts of every single one of the Kingdom''s within their Empire, especially an outlier Kingdom on the other side of the world. I was surprised but it makes since after I remembered the scale map display in Balor''s dungeon. The central continent was vastly larger than the East and considering how large this continent is it''s not so surprising that the Empress or other rulers would meddle within the affairs of every single nation that is under their rule. As long as the resources, trade and tax revenues aren''t interrupted and no proof of the assassination or culprits ever arise, it''s likely they wouldn''t get involved or look too deeply into things it seems. The world is just too big to be able to control every little thing... King Asher however said if he ever were assassinated and the Empress found out who, she would undoubtedly see to it the culprit along with their entire bloodline would be erased from the world entirely. The Empress of Rose is the current Ring Hero and has an ultimate command over nature according to the King but apparently it seems so much more than just that. With her Phantasm classed item, she holds a supreme power that doesn''t give her just the control over plants, but sounds like it gives her the absolute authority to create magical laws that practically distort reality. She can turn fields of grass into small blades capable of puncturing through steel, bring out thorny vines of death for thousands of leagues that can practically obliterate through enemy formations or even absorb the biological materials of the world to enhance herself overtime. "So with all this power from the Central Continent. Why wouldn''t Rose send any troops to aid you in the event of a crisis or station troops here for that matter? Seems a little strange to me that they don''t or while we''re on the subject, why this Kingdom of Kairo doesn''t send troops to help with this war Myro is having with another race...." "Ah, well Sir Vali, it is honestly quite rare for Empires to step into the affairs or conflicts over all her nation''s Guilds and Kingdoms that fall under her authority.... The Central Continent essentially still has many places that have yet to be explored and are still unsettled territory...Hmph, Sir Vali seems perplexed by this? Hm, perhaps you''ve never left the East before then?....Well, the Great West is quite vast and there are even some strong demi-human clans and beastman nations that still reside there, though if I recall they mostly dwell within the Azure Cloud Dynasty since other races are treated quite well there. And to tell you something perhaps even King Myro does not know, the Empress had once mentioned why the Great Shield Hero would never send troops in aid in Myro''s war with the Elves. She speculated there was more than just Elves that lived within the Sacred Forest and the Great Shield Hero was not willing to involve himself in such a war that started over some strange ore, or something like that....." - Queen Asher "Ore...Wait you mean Mythril?" "Ahaha! No it wasn''t the fabled heavenly iron from Alfe¨ªm it was something else... It was ugh...Ether... something. I''m not sure to be honest but apparently it was valuable enough that the Great Shield Hero also never stopped that damned Myro from continuing his almost century long war with those Elves just to acquire such a material. " - King ''I fucking knew it.... Even the Four Great Empires are wary of going to all out war with the Elven Race and they aren''t viewed as weak.... Perhaps they are just like the Four Great Empires and aren''t sending in their heavyweight fighters in fear of inciting the other side to send theirs? Could that be the reason?... Well, I knew that feeling in the back of my mind every time I thought of the Elven war seemed strange to me...Hmph, honestly I thought perhaps they were losing because the Elves were just ''tree hugging'' pansies that wouldn''t kill monsters. But that whole image seriously doesn''t come close to what I saw from my last meeting with them...more like hunters that could move the forest around them.'' The King being Royalty regardless of living so far from the Great West, he''s still aware of a lot of things that isn''t known to the public. According to him, he''s also aware the Empress also has a very powerful healing ability that was gifted to her from an Age of Gods dungeon that lies within the World Tree within their Imperial Capital. I wanted to press further but apparently even that skill, how it''s obtained and who else has it is very highly guarded information. Apparently telling me was already probably saying too much. ''So it''s true. Having something like a Dungeon in your city would only benefit the growth of the city tremendously. If we can make the dungeon respawn vegetation and even things like stone or lumber. If we could control this mechanism inside the dungeon then we could possibly even control the respawn rates of things like vegetation and even rock. We could essentially cut the costs of building to practically nothing but we don''t have the ability to carve and cut lumber very efficiently which could extend our building times. Hmm....'' After thinking of such needs I told the King some of the things we might need in the coming days and he just waved his hands saying it will all be taken care of by him after their return. "Oh, not to worry, not to worry Sir Vali. That will all be taken care of by this King. You¡¯re now the Lord over a small territory of mine that is on the edge of the Asher Kingdom and has a small lumbering village within the eastern forest of Hyrule, which a small portion of now falls under your rule. They don''t produce a whole lot of lumber for what you require but I will send for a meeting of all local guild masters, architects and stone smiths to come present themselves before me. It will all be handled swiftly I assure you..." - King Asher The King waved his hands claiming it would all be taken care of all by him and the Queen. When we take him back to his Kingdom he will send out a message to all architects, builders and even some guilds to visit his majesty. Something interesting he told me is that within Asher every city is allowed certain rights and benefits for settling within Asher. While we are just a starter city we are still allowed to have one guild who is sponsored by the Kingdom. This is something that guilds strongly thrive for as they are able to become the official guild of a particular town and the Kingdom builds them a guild house of a certain rating. They also get a stipend of some kind and the Asher''s believe this will help to promote and gain more to join our town. A town with an official guild with strong prestige would promote the town. Wars between guilds in this world aren''t even treated similarly to wars between Kingdoms and nations. Rarely will rulers even get involved with the conflicts of guilds between other Kingdoms unless it is a personal issue or there were other factors involved ''Hmm...that''s really cool actually, I''ll get to choose my own guild then whether it''s combat oriented or even a crafting guild? And on the Kingdom''s dime which is nice.... The Guild I have to choose though is one that the King approves of since according to him some of the Guild''s within his Kingdom though show loyalty to his Highness, are also under some Factions he believes to be conspiring against him.'' What''s interesting is that within the King''s royal guards are considered the strongest warriors in the Kingdom, it isn''t universally believed since some of the noble factions have some who have slowly increased their levels much higher than Shen who is their faction¡¯s strongest warrior. The sword technique he studies, however, is enough that has gifted him with the talent to challenge foes practically 40-50 levels higher than himself making him a genius amongst his peers. Since his expertise in several sub skills within his Sword Mastery allows his Attack Speed and Attack Power to even rival the Attack Power of someone practically 60-70 levels above his own. That metal arm also doesn''t make him by any means weaker either. I''m not sure if it''s rare to see a low level Expert but from what I''ve learned is the technique this Shen guy trains is seems to have a legend of its own right that doesn''t just extend to this Continent. ''I remember it was like that in the game too but there were usually Level Requirements for some of the later mastery stages though. Sure, rising your stats and level is good and will obviously raise your Attack Power in turn, but rising one''s Mastery directly raises things like Attack Power and Speed by several leaps and bounds amongst other things as well. Every increase in a stage in mastery practically makes their reflexes and perception abilities sharper and movements more fluid in their techniques by several fold. Which is almost incomparable to the small stat increases between lower leveled beings. Which makes me think that a person''s mastery is usually a better determinant than someone''s level that just shows a general prediction of a person''s base ability.'' Many of the Annunakes even trained using a method of intense training in mastery and comprehension, then rising levels after they had reached a bottleneck in their study. Making each of their foundations incredibly solid. Just as I was thinking this to myself I noticed King then made an odd face looking towards his wife and then nervously looked back at me. "What is it?" "Oh yes, uh about the gold we were going to offer you, it well... I''m unsure of how to say this Sir Vali but..." - King Asher As the King slowly spoke out my mind had suddenly remembered something and I remembered how I had never even properly thanked this man in front of me. While he is even unaware of it at the moment, because of him I didn''t lose something that is very special to me. "Oh that, don''t worry about that...In fact I should honestly thank you for your incredible gift and I''m very grateful for what you did. It''s all gone but seriously don''t worry about. It''s not like I asked for this Alliance for money... It was well spent and I''m already very thankful." After I spoke the King smirked and looked back at his wife. "I see...Well, very well then." - King The Queen and the three Royal Knights smirked but chose to remain quiet during his Highness'' conversation with me. The 2,000 gold I was supposed to receive was actually supposed to be split between me and my group they were just unaware I had so many races backing me. The gold was also something that was supposed to land a 10 year contract with them as I''m sure that is a large amount of gold even for them. I tried to probe how much money the Asher Kingdom had but he was unable to tell me the amount in his treasury stating we all have to have some secrets to keep. But I got him to ballpark it somewhere over 100,000 in gold I think. ''Hmph...If he even knew we currently have ten times that he''d probably choke.'' Thinking of we still haven''t split everything up between the races but everyone will receive something. While those who lost more of their race members would probably have more money to be split between them, things like the 5 Legendary Items that were found alongside all the items we recovered from the Black Palace and materials there is a lot to be split between everyone. This very second Pek and Izzie are analyzing all of it while most of the Jiji and Arachnee are taking some of the materials to make more blankets and now even coats upon the increasing requests after a few of the Annunakes started wearing them. I believe they too had chosen not to sleep last night and were already hard at work. Izzie and Pek seemed too busy messing with some of the items on his workbench including some of my own to even notice earlier so I just left them to their work. They both just continued mumbling quickly to themselves, writing down on a small piece of tanned hide in a strange filing system they''ve come up with. The newly acquired members are mostly all awake though they were still remaining quiet without bothering anyone. They did perk up however when they saw there was another meal to eat for them after they awoke. "Alpha, we have decided on taking a small party to join you. All have been wishing to stretch their legs and are prepared to follow the Alpha to the Human Capital." - Adimar Following behind Adimar were ten large Annunakes, almost all of which were in their Beast forms. Several of the Alpha Group were also wearing their Hydra armors and holding those same Fomorian Claw''s that Za Za had requested. Each of them looked prepared for battle and ready to come with us to the Asher Kingdom. "Yes Alpha, I hope you''ll allow this old one to join you today..." - Elder Annunake I looked towards one of the large white wolves and nodded towards him. He was among one of the Elders within the Pack and ever since the Elkia''s presence had left them, these were the ones in charge of preserving valuable information and techniques from the Pack. From what I know, there are seven of them and each of them are early to mid stage Experts within their styles of combat but have long since been passed up by the elite members of the Alpha Group. Each of these Elders were at one point pulled from the front lines for injuries, age or other varying reasons. Some of them even are around 250 years old which you couldn''t tell unless they came out of their beast forms...Even then their bodies are that of an ultimate warrior''s, who have studied and excessively trained each and every day for their entire lives. Each of the Annunakes seemed eager today, after hearing about stretching their legs earlier many are wishing to do the same. I looked towards the King and his people deciding it was probably time to leave. "Hope you don''t mind me tagging along as well..." - Alec Flying overhead was the same four winged Adler that followed us to the Black Palace and held the same emotionless face as he normally does. With sleek black hair covering his left eye and always for some reason just looked bored. He said Kyrah decided to sleep in with Ikaros today on some other Floor he''s not allowed to disclose and asked not to be bothered. "Oh yeah, she heard about that shower venture of yours, thanks a lot by the way I got yelled at for like 20 minutes." - Alec "What? How is that my fault?" "Hmph, this one...It seems the King must fancy you if she is expanding such efforts to extend such efforts in guarding you. Even provided this one a new bow to do it. I myself haven''t seen her show much attention to many males before but if you can''t see it then whatever.¡± - Alec Alec solemnly looked away with his practically emotionless face. "Heh, so the Alpha has taken the new Adler King''s eye is that it?¡± - Alderon "Some may find her charming but they don''t have the luxury of working under her....She likes to spar with her subordinates quite a bit and well...you know how that goes." - Alec "Ow! Ow! Lady killer over here. Hope ya don''t mind I tag along too. Father would come but he has a little lady to take care of now. Hmphmph...You should have seen him trying to change diapers earlier... There''s nothing quite like seeing a famed warrior so skilled with his hands struggle so hopelessly haha!" - Ollie While walking up, Ollie in his full battle armor and a red headband parting his striped hair came up and spoke. I had originally smirked after remember such an embarrassing moment they had each just brought up until Ollie''s last words caught me off guard. Ollie told me that Cameron''s wife had been killed in battle and Malfius was something like a godfather so he has now taken custody of their only daughter. ''I didn''t even know she died... I hadn''t spoken with her much but, hearing of her parting made me even feel more grim remembering Cameron''s passing and now his mate had joined him after protecting their only daughter until her final breaths. While the Reiki, Annunake and Pixies do a good job at taking in the orphans of their race I''m not sure completely about the other races at this point.¡¯ I''ve already decided to speak with that Gwen Alder about hopefully taking over as something of an orphanage to all those who lost their parents in this dungeon. She seems almost born for such a role and maybe I can even offer her and Elyria a paying job doing if they''re willing. ''I can at least do this much....Hmm?'' I felt something sit on my shoulder and there Cyanin had emerged and she looked down at me while revealing her shiny white teeth. Then Cosmia came down and sat on my other shoulder and several Pixies emerged from behind the Ashers and started floating around us. "Hey Vali! We''re ready for our escort mission!" - Cyanin Cyanin flew over and winked at me and looked forward to the incoming sunset up ahead. "Right, everyone ready?!" - Cosmia "Ready!" - Everyone "Wait, wait, no....Not happening." I looked at the 300 plus Pixies and told them we couldn''t just take a large force into a foreign Kingdom. We are simply helping escort the King back and make sure his home is now safe. I was only going to lay a spatial marker down and come back to the dungeon when we were done as then I could simply come and speak to the Ashers whenever needed. The Pixies however gave me looks of heartbreak as if what I said were the words of pure betrayal. After firmly explaining to the Pixies my point many of them looked disappointed and tried to argue with me. Several of the Alpha Group members started told the fellow Elders just to let me handle it as it was probably not even worth it to get involved. "Bu..but the Annunakes got to bring 10 we should at least get to bring 20 of us!" - Cyanin "Right Vali, that''s only fair!" - Aurora "You can bring 5." "What?! The Annunakes got to bring 10!..Mm...15!" - Cosmia "10." "Valiii!" - Cyanin "........" "Mmmm 12!" - Cosmia "10...." "Mmm! Fine you meanie! We''ll only bring 10." - Cosmia The short Queen stuck out her tongue frustrated almost immediately taking away the entire mature attitude she had recently just started to show. Cosmia looked towards her siblings and nodded. ''Wait a minute...'' "Cosmia...Only 10 no illusions...." "Mm! No fair! " - Cosmia ''There are times the Pixies can show such moments of keen intellect and wisdom that far passes many of those here....Then there are these moments that even their Queen is guilty of.'' Many of the Pixies started sticking out their tongues and everyone surrounding us just rolled their eyes. Pixies can be a little hard to handle sometimes but they essentially mean well, and honestly I don''t even want to begin with that so I just decided it was time for us all to go. Ruf..Ruf...ruf....! But before we could head out I heard the sounds of Fenrir who was trotting alongside Sting and one of the Annunakes holding Ari who looked to be breathing heavily in her arms. "Are you leaving now? I tried to hurry. I, I''m sorry we..''re...late..." - Ari Ari was leaning over the sides of Za Za''s arms looking over with a worried expression on her face. I glanced back towards the Ashers and signaled I would just be a moment. They just waved it off as not a concern while stroking their daughter¡¯s long blonde hair as she slept in her mother''s laps waiting to leave. ''With all this little girl has done and given me, I''ll always treat her warmly. She feels to be almost an extension of myself. '' The three Knights each gave me perplexing looks but I didn''t really care to be honest. ''I don''t care if others may think of Ari like some lost puppy I found on the side of the road and couldn''t abandon. With her it''s somehow more than just that and I know that now after surviving such an ordeal. I just always feel so much warmth coming from this girl it''s hard to explain into words honestly.... She just, makes me feel human. Makes me remember what it was like being an older brother....I went so long without this feeling and... I''m never going to take these small moments for granted again like I had with Hayden and Kaylan. Daring to think what my life would be like without them, unknowing of how it would truly be with them gone is one of my life''s greatest regrets...Not anymore.'' Za Za walked up to my side, still holding a lightly panting Ari while smirking and told me that Ari had tried running here but had fallen over and had trouble standing back up afterwards. Whenever she couldn''t move anymore, Za Za had came and picked her up and took her to where Ari had wanted to go. ''Her legs are probably just real tired after all she did coming here. She was playing with the Pixies practically all night yesterday and pushed herself more than she ever has before. Even with her strengthened body and newly given ''Vitality'', she wasn''t able to eat too much of the Balor meat and is still recovering.'' Increasing your stamina doesn''t necessarily increase your recovery time, even I''ve felt this after such a battle. The fact that this little girl was still able to continue running today shows just how close she is to becoming a healthy girl for her age. She''s also real stubborn and even tried to run everytime I came home even when her legs didn''t work, so that behavior surely won''t disappear now. I put my hands on Ari''s soft head and leaned down to eye level with her. "Ah, I think you''re still a little tuckered out from such a busy day we all had yesterday. It''s ok if you don''t come with us this time Ari....You should go back and rest with Elyria and everyone else. We''ll have a lot to do in the coming days so you should take your time to relax for now....¡± The look she gave back to me was one of extreme sadness and sorrow. "I...I''m sorry I''m so weak.I, I really wanted to come with you...." - Ari While patting her head and rubbing the top of her head I couldn''t help but wonder where she was getting this from. "Hey...Who says you''re weak?...." To my question, neither Ari nor anyone else said anything back and just continued staring at me strangely. "Heh, just a few weeks ago you couldn''t even walk and look at you now....Talking back to Fallen Gods who are threatening you and saving the day... Who alive here could ever call you weak?...It''s ok if you don''t come with us this time and get some rest. There will be plenty of time to go hunting on another day...How about you keep Elyria and everyone company until we all get back? Then we''ll all spend time together when we return...Ok?" Ari and everyone around me couldn''t help but be slightly moved by my words making them each rethink just how important and vital this little girl is for us even standing here right now. She shly nodding back but I could already see the joy come back into her eyes having heard such reassuring words and instead of arguing, thankfully agreed quietly. I thanked Za Za for looking after her and told Ari to tell my sleeping mother I''d be back soon. Za Za waved goodbye and took the now smiling Ari back to my still resting mother. "I''ll be back soon...Come on Fenrir." Just before whispering the soft words to which only I could here, I noticed the silver wolf cub staring up at me with his tongue hanging out. Ruf! Ruf! The small silver furred wolf cub with a dark mist permeating off his body barked and joyfully started rubbing his face up against my leg while we walked. I looked at the group who were going to come alongside us and noticed now a new figure was also standing quietly amongst everyone. I couldn''t help but stop what I was doing and notice her the moment I scanned through the small group and noticed her. The blue haired figure hidden within the group just shrugged while looking back towards me and decided she wanted to tag along. "Hope ya don''t mind... High Commander Viktor wished one of ours to come along as well to the Human City. While my trial date has yet to be decided, I figured I''d enjoy stretching my legs some with each of you if ya don''t mind...." - Alysteir I could see some of the others shaking their heads but also not willing to speak up in protest. ''Honestly, I''ll never understand what this person is thinking. For whatever reason I don''t think she''d even run if given the opportunity. She would have done it by now if she was planning on it. For her I''m sure that would be like retreating...Well, whatever. We can have our little rematch another time...'' I didn''t say much in response and just hoped quietly this wasn''t going to become a problem. I looked towards the small group now standing around and facing the Ashers shaking my head. "Well, this is going to be an interesting trip..... " --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sting''s POV: "While I would appreciate not being left in the dark on most things, you will now become an extension of myself within the Asher territories and hold all the authority that comes along with it. Here... take this, this is the Royal Seal of the Asher Kingdom and is not something I make a habit of given out lightly. In fact, other than the Royal Guard, the number of individuals who possess such a Seal within my Kingdom can amount only on one hand....With this, there are no longer any doors within Asher that will not be opened to you, but with this I also ask you do not abuse such privilege and responsibility that I have granted you within my territories....." - King Asher Not far from where I was sitting against a tall tree while trying to listen in on Vali and the King''s conversation during our medium sized party a little break. Or well, Vali''s taking a ''break'' would probably sound much more accurate. While seated down on a small rock next to some small brush I couldn''t help but observe and listen in on some of the King and Vali''s conversations. Tis a habit I suppose. His Highness, King Asher reached into his crimson Royal robe and took out a large golden seal with the imprint of a lion roaring underneath a blazing sun and several stars each representing one of the Royal sons of the Asher Clan. Even within Rose, giving out something like a Royal Seal is done very rarely. It is essentially providing someone authority of the King throughout his territories. Most Royal Guards would naturally hold such a precious Seal on their person at all times. But what this Royal Seal essentially bestows onto a person is the ability to kill first, and report later. While I doubt Vali would be able to call upon or command the nation''s troops like any of their Ministers of Military Affairs or these Royal Guards, but I honestly doubt he''d probably even care for something like that to be honest..... The King held the Royal Seal attached to a small golden chain and handed it over to Vali. ''Hehe, this King must really trust Vali to show such a grand gesture of granting something with such value over to him just like that....'' Who could blame his Highness though? Surely just trying to curry more and more favor with Vali as best he can and to further insure his relationship with Vali in the future. It''s only a matter of time before other much more powerful and wealthier figures begin to take notice of his overwhelming talent and potential. I couldn''t think of any of the Four Great Empires who wouldn''t wish to speak with him and undoubtedly try and curry favor from him by offering things of much greater magnitude and authority to which a King of a small outlander colony would not be able provide. ''The King granted Vali a territory within his Kingdom? Hmph, the Empress could have provided him an entire country with millions of subjects and an unceasingly amount of unattainable beauties to fill his bed. Or even become something like a religious icon within the Holy Alliance. He would never have to worry for money another day in his life and could live out the dream many Champions of the Gods aspire for... Like he needs anymore beautiful women around him. If I had to describe this mysterious Champion Vali with just one word, it would be ''Lucky''...That lucky, lucky bastard....'' Since Vali who strangely enough was acting humble in front of his Highness and even wished to assist the King against a potential coup that is currently threatening his Kingdom, I''m sure Vali''s personal character must have resonated with this King. This King of Asher might not be the grandest member within the Royal Asher Clan within the Rose Empire, but he is someone who was once famed for his strategic genius in warfare and high regard for justice. It was for these reasons I''m sure the Empress gave the Twelfth son of the Royal Asher Clan a seat of power here in the East. I''m sure now this old King is surely reevaluating himself from how much he keeps humbling himself before Vali right now. A Champion of a God is by no means something a King from any nation within the Human Kingdoms would not wish to be able to bring over to their side. Their abilities can range from almost anything with complete varieties of uses and ability that could greatly benefit the region in which they call home. This kid really is really something though, he''s so young and yet his potential is practically limitless. I am still unable to etch the sounds his scythe made ripping through the air and looked to be almost polluting everything it touched with a deathly energy. ''I wish I could have used his astonishing traveling ability when coming to the Eastern Continent. Could have saved me month on a boat traveling to the Floating Isles and the small fortune to use their teleportation array from losing another month just to get to damned place...'' With Vali''s teleportation ability apparently traveling vast distances aren''t even a problem for him, he only needs to have physically visited a place before and teleporting himself and others becomes possible. Or he didn''t say it was teleportation, he spoke as if he wasn''t moving us but was actually moving the ''space'', if that''s even different. Well, he did say that the entire process takes longer to explain than it does to do so maybe I''m overthinking it. Vali''s not arrogant nor dumb as well I''ve come to find. But at times he shows such a demanding presence I can''t help but be swept up by his charisma. While he appears to have his moments of immense abrasive behavior I can''t possibly forget, his actions prove he is a rather cautious and very careful individual. He''s quite intelligent and shows a tremendous amount of courage than someone his age would make you assume. Many Champions and heroic figures not unlike him have had their legendary journeys within Middle Earth come to an untimely halt because they were ill-prepared or just simply unlucky. Vali for whatever reason however does not crave for things like fame and instead seems to wish not to reveal his prowess to the world just yet, which is something I find truly admirable about this young man... ''The white haired ''God Slayer'' hehehe....'' Vali extended out his arm and took the large Royal Seal and placed in into his jacket pocket while giving that same smirk he always does. ''Hehe...He seems almost unaffected by the sheer magnitude of what he is now in possession of his facial expression hadn''t even changed when looking at it as if he didn''t even know what it was. However, to a being like him I''m sure this is only a small stepping stone in his journey that many will one day speak about in legends... I myself lived through it all and still find everything hard to imagine just how we were each able to make it out alive from such a terrifying place. Where monsters there even feed on a persons very soul, making him unable to experience a life even in death.'' After leaving the confines of the Dungeon where so many had perished after such a horrific battle, Vali had started warping each of those who came along for the trip making incredible time. We are now somewhere within Ironrock Forest that lies within the Asher Kingdom. Vali was amazingly able to warp each of us into the horizon, skipping over entire terrains of forests, lakes and even entire cities. According to the Royal Knights if they were to have made the entire trip while marching alongside the King''s Guard in a Royal Procession would take roughly a week to march, or around 2~3 days on a fast horse without stopping. ''This kid was able to cover half that distance before the sun had reached its highest point within the sky....Now he apparently needs to take a break which caused me to laugh. I guess even Champions can run out of steam.'' He doesn''t travel alone either that''s for sure. Our medium sized party would look unnatural to any within this region but because we were able to travel past the obstacles of cities we have moved almost unhindered....I''m sure our group consisting of large overbearing white Lycanth''s, crazed fire-starting little monsters with wings and a demon spawn wolf cub that scares the living shit out of me, to raise a good deal of attention. ''They are however now all lounging around and admiring the new world they have for the first time stepped into...Such an amazing experience this must be for each of them. I almost wish I could feel the sensations that must be coursing through their very hear...ah!!!'' Pooooof! Teehehee! "What? Ah....Who!" A very cold dust of powder smashed against the side of my face on such a warm day it was almost refreshing. But to such a sudden action I couldn''t help but react in such a way and to my dismay I saw a green and blue Pixie giggling to each other before flying away. ''I guess, those little monsters don''t much care for such a rich and life changing experience unfolding before their very eyes. They''d rather just... throw snowballs at me. Typical.'' Ugh, I honestly don''t even have the energy to chase them again at this point. It never ends well for me anyways. I actually caught one of them once, the ''silver one''...Boy, did that not end well.... I lost feeling in my hand for the rest of the day, I thought I was going to become a cripple. Then those little bastards didn''t even help me up afterwards when I had fallen and couldn''t move either of my limbs!!! Then! Then they just colored on my face with paint! Even the affectionately warm one with hair not unlike a majestic rainbow gifted from the Heavens joined in on the atrocious act! ''And Vali...He just laughs anytime I try to say anything about it. Trying to say it''s how they show they like someone? Seriously what is that even about?!....Those little bastards set me on FIRE!'' Now they''ve even made friends with Vali''s demon spawn of a pet wolf. The evil beast now has such a creepy black cloud rising off his silver fur to show just how insidious that little monster truly is..... ''You spawn from the dreaded Underworld, cursed beast with a truly terrifyin...Ugh!!!......'' Looking forward I noticed the small wolf cub rolling around on its back being petted by several Pixies for whatever reason had abruptly looked in my direction while briefly licking his lips and smiling. Why does he always do that?!! ''Ah! I will never be in the same room with that thing unless that albino Champion is present. He must have gotten a taste for me the first night we met. Slowly thinking of the day he may enjoy such a taste to enter his lips once more perhaps?! Ugh, why did I even make this trip?!...Oh that''s right, Shiva''s still ignoring me. Hah...Shiva you icy cold temptress forcing me into such situations! '' Fenrir after a few agonizing breaths had finally turned away. I gritted my teeth and tried to get my mind off it when I noticed Vali placing the Royal Seal within his jacket pocket while listening to the Kings description of it, hereby awakening me from the my many troubles I''ve experiences since meeting this strange youth. "I won''t abuse it. No worries your Highness...I do appreciate this show of trust and only wish I could also provide someth...oh wait there is something..." - Vali ''So young and now even being granted a Noble title of Baron within this region. It is quite an impressive achievement for anyone his age to acquire by his own means, that is most sure. But holding that Seal makes his authority no longer comparable to a simple Baron. If a Royal Seal holds the same meaning within Rose as it does here then he could even directly ask for an audience with a Duke or any high figures within the Kingdom, and probably would not be ignored. To the Nobles in Rose they wouldn''t even consider the Royalty here as anything more than trash, but I almost feel like I''m starting to see the rise of mythical figure in legends. And since no one knows if this person yet, it is all just beginning...'' My expanding thought process stopped the moment I saw the strangest thing happening in the side of my vision. Vali stood up from the small rock he was sitting on and started disrobing. I was not the only one perplexed by Vali''s sudden action and all those from Asher as well as the surrounding party members of our escort party, taking a short break in the surrounding area, also started taking notice. After taking off his shirt revealing the toned and large chest and back muscles, he took the Hydra Armor X armor and without wiping off the sweat or even folding it neatly, handed it to his Royal Highness, King Asher. ".....Eh?" - Queen "Oh, hmph. Well thank you Sir Vali, I will surely accept any gift from you with the highest gratitude. Hmm, such an interesting fabric it almost.....Whah! Cough, cough!! MMm! " - King Asher The King after glancing over the black snake-skinned fleece was obviously not just an ordinary shirt. This also caused the Queen to show looks of curiosity to Vali''s strange gift. "Yeah, this should hopefully keep you safe in case something were to happen when we weren''t present... Hopefully we can make more in the future but for now I can only provide this as a proper gift in consideration of our new Alliance, and show of trust that I don''t want ya to die hehe..." - Vali "This...Mo..more you can...Make these?...Cough..coughouchhahahaah!! Look at this old King is about to have a heart attack, ahaha!" - King Asher "Dear, look at yourself! You must settle down. Why must you act in such....Pffttt!" - Queen Asher The Queen spat out water from a small golden canteen she had taken out from her storage and spat out all the contents in her mouth rather suddenly. She could hardly speak let alone take his eyes away from the Hydra Armor in his hands and must have chosen to ignore Vali''s strange joke just then... Vali just nodded his head back to the King''s frantic questioning and behavior looking almost unphased. ''Hehe, he doesn''t care at all for pleasantries which is kind of funny to watch to be honest, now even I''m laughing.'' I then started hearing footsteps coming from not too far behind where I was seated from the small stream behind my back. "Di...did he really just give his Royal Highness the shirt he was wearing?" - Royal Knight Cassandra "Hehe, that seems to be exactly what happened... Doesn''t seem like his or her Highness truly cares though." - Royal Knight Shen The three Royal Knights each grew closer to where I lay seated after they had ventured to fill their water gourds during our brief ''break''. "Hmph, you folk act like such a precious treasure is in some way devalued because the manner in which it was gifted was crude?" I spoke up to the passing Royal Knights who had each stopped to see the image of their King and Queen being told from Vali just what they were holding. ''I couldn''t help but wish to spark a conversation with fellow humans for once....Honestly, after all this time trying to communicate down here and not be ignored by the only Human was torture! I shan¡¯t ever take for granted the gift of speaking with another person who shares the same Human language ever again. I can somewhat communicate with that Ollie fellow and a few of the other races I''ve spoken with due to some help and only being able to pick up a few things. There is still a large language barrier between these Dungeon inhabitants and those of us outside I don''t think Vali has quite thought of yet... Regardless, however Vali''s coordination with the relations of other races could build relations with many exotic races with that really lucky Universal Language skill of his.'' I''ve heard of some interesting abilities gifted from the Gods like precognitive abilities to see into glimpse of the future and those even capable of controlling the weather...But an ability to communicate with simply enchantingly rare and exotic beauties from all over the world sure would have come in handy on this adventure. ''That unbelievably lucky asshole...Oh, I forgot I''m not alone anymore!'' "Haha. Adventurer Sting is not wrong. Such a treasure and he even gives it away so willingly....Interesting character this Vali. Can''t wait to see how the Nobles are going to react to him..." - Royal Knight Shakko The masked Royal Knight came and sat down on the ground near me, abruptly causing my raging thoughts to stop wondering. Even when I was young I was told I had such a habit to drift away at times and even now at age 29 I''m no different. Royal Knight Shen to followed alongside the other Royal Guard and leaned his back into a large tree and sitting down. "Hehe, don''t we all Sir Stache...Don''t we all...." - Royal Knight Shen Royal Knight Cassandra however just looked back towards her King and Queen with Vali and looked back towards the other Royal Guards with a look that said she no longer cared. Royal Guard Shakko looked towards his fellow officer but went unnoticed as he had already shut his eyes resting his hands behind his head. "I almost miss the quiet days...." - Royal Knight Cassandra "Humph, Shakko does too... With all the stress, he''s likely to start losing his hair and even that kick ass mustache of his...hehehe..." - Royal Knight Shen "Heh, funny that''s exactly how your mother described it when I was going down on her... Real kick ass hahaha..." - Royal Knight Shakko "Cough..Cough... " - Royal Knight Cassandra The blonde female Knight coughed abrasively into her light silver gauntlets but it seemed to go unnoticed by the other two. ''Geez, I forgot how odd each of these Royal Guards truly are. I''ve never been to the Eastern Continent before in my travels but I can honestly not understand how these figures acquired such prestigious positions within their Kingdom.'' While the Asher Kingdom does hold the second highest Human population within all the Eastern Kingdoms, they only hold the third highest total population amongst the stronger Kingdoms that have been founded within the East. There are new Fiefs and land being colonized more and more within the East over the century long expansion and many have also been destroyed. The Human Kingdoms however continue extending their reach further and further, but from what I know is that the Asher Kingdom has stood as one of the first founded Nations within the East and has remained for more than 200 years since the Four Great Empires first started making land grabs and dividing their territories around that era. ''Makes me wonder how these three actually received such high positions with such a low level even within an outlier colony is truly a mystery to me... Level 96, 105, and 116 and they are responsible for the protection of the royal family in this Kingdom? I''d ask how but I''m sure that would come off as rude. It''s just so exhilarating getting to chat with Humans once more I don''t wish to foolishly lose that privilege again....Now with Shiva giving me the cold shoulder I do crave conversation....'' I used my Acquire ability I had through the amazing boosted effects of the dungeon and got it to reach Adept Level 5. It is a much higher quality information skill compared to the generic skills that do the same thing. I use this ability for almost everything and after more than a decade within the Academy I''ve gained the ability to see quite a lot of what the people in this world try to hide. No one should however join a party without at least one adventurer with a high enough Acquire ability. The majority of most humans aren''t born with the innate ability to see a glimpse from the God''s wisdom over all within creation. I wasn''t even able to see a person''s Health before acquiring my ''Acquire'' ability. Now I can see a person or monster''s level practically a 100 Levels above my own and am even capable of seeing things like age, sex, title''s and can even allow me small glimpses into what their strengths or weaknesses might be. Raising such an ability by over 3 levels in one trip is more than I could have ever hoped for. There was so many rare and ancient things I was able to use the Acquire ability on and even doubled all of the experience over the time I was still trapped there. This one with the metal arm however has honestly showed some incredible perception and combat prowess for someone who has only just crossed over the First Great Threshold. Age: 32. Hm, I still can''t see all his titles but a few of these seem interesting.
Title''s:...Royal Knight of the Asher Kingdom, Infinite Sword Wind, Sword Expert, Metal Man, Lady Killer,
''Psh please...'' I remember this Knight also showed to have a very interesting movement skill as well that even for me was hard to follow. He did show to have trained in a rather strange sword technique that even I was unable to grasp fully. Even the female Knight had also shown a surprisingly complex technique that treated parrying and defense as a major component of how she attacked someone. But this metal armed fella I''ve heard some of them even call him Master Shen, but from what his titles would have me believe, he isn''t one who has truly stepped into the Master stages. Such a thought is truly unbelievable to me. If so then this Kingdom would have gained a tremendous amount of fame and undoubtedly have a famous Sword Sect or Guild somewhere within the Kingdom. Even in the Great West for someone who has received true enlightenment in their field of study and entered into the Masters are as rare as a Phoenix feather and treated just as valuable too. Even within the Academy, there are only four who have achieved such a tremendous status and mastery, excluding Elder Amura who is one of the 12 Saints, making a grand total of five. Three of which aren''t even a combat related mastery either.... With Mr. Shen''s incredible mastery and comprehension with the sword, I at least know he isn''t an opponent I would be able to take on lightly. Especially with one of his arms being practically as tough as an iron-kiteshield that he could deflect any of the poisons I could attempt to use. It''s not his level that is a concern but his technique that could spell disaster for someone who would pick a fight with him unknowing of this. ''Now that we are finally outside that dungeon, Level Penalty now exists once more and I had almost forgotten about it since the dungeon dwellers have lived without it for so long. Only monsters within dungeons have level penalties added towards them.'' It is for this reason and so many others that dungeons are considered to be places were adventurers are surely their most vulnerable... Something that has been the very reason for many to lose their lives in such places. Even if Royal Guard Shen''s stats are incomparable to mine and he was having to face a heavy Level Penalty when facing me, I have however only just recently crossed over the Second Great Threshold and was able to cross over what is known as a truly unspeakable gap from Level 199 to 200. Once crossing over, all the efforts you made before achieving such a tremendous accomplishment will slowly start to change a person''s body into something much stronger. It is highly known that crossing over the Level 200 boundary only comes to those who have fulfilled conditions worthy enough to the Gods to allow for your continued growth. There are many tales and very common stories of those who stopped gaining experience for long periods of time and being stuck at such a boundary until finally earning the God''s favor. But all from this amazing adventure I have come on, I didn''t have to experience such an event and am already at Level 202.'' I immediately received an additional 5,00 in my bodies Defenses and 4,500 in Strength. My Agility rose by 3,000 and my Health jumped by over 15,000 the moment my level passed over 200. This much is practically triple the amount of stats I received when becoming level 100 almost 9 years ago. This is even considerably higher than the average amount of stats one would receive upon crossing over Level 200! For my assistance in conquering the Age of Gods dungeon... I can''t believe I gained such tremendous benefits from this place even though I didn''t even lay a single strike on the Final Boss. ''Hmm...If this Royal Knight''s Mastery is that much higher than mine or even on the Expert stages then there would be no Level Penalty when facing me. '' While my body I can already feel has changed tremendously to what it was, it however isn''t comparable to those who have crossed the Second Great Threshold for much longer or those who have already passed over the third. At that point things like Critical Strikes and even cutting off a limb becomes increasingly difficult regardless of my lower defense.... It''s not uncommon to hear about warriors who have crossed over the Third Great Threshold to survive sword wounds to the head or parts of the body that would be fatal for anyone else. I only think of such things, because I''m truly eager to see just how much this body has started to change since I first started this legendary adventure. My stats have surely risen much more than I could have possibly anticipated. Undoubtedly from all the additional stats I gained from training within this dungeon and eating all that enchanted meat. Whether your Level is High or Low, gaining additional stats is coveted by all in this world. As one grows it becomes harder and harder to increase things like strength or defense by even a few stat points. Stepping into new heights becomes more and more difficult. The idea that someone can roast up a Dungeon''s Floor boss and gain ''permanent'' stat increases is definitely something I''ve never heard of before...Hmphmph for all these amazing benefits how could I just leave once Balor had fallen one final time. Surely, if I spend more time within the dungeon and help Vali and all those who will fight some of the remaining Floor Bosses will surely allow me to gain even more tremendous rewards awards! I can only hope at this point. With such a unique and powerful Barrier Skill the creator of such a place had invented I simply must try everything in my power to get my hands on it. That same ability Vali has shown to be truly remarkable and is the reason so many had actually survived such a heavenly tribulation...If I could acquire a Dungeon Skill left behind from an Age of Gods dungeon than I feel my return to Rose will surely shock some of the other Elders of the Academy for sure. Hmphmph.... When gaining a magical skill from a dungeon is not unlike one who uses the magical enchantments within a skill scroll being read for the first time. Having all the information pertaining to the basics and fundamental levels of comprehension being sent straight into the brain on how to use the ability or spell. However, skills from a dungeon are almost always more rare and higher rated than one''s you could learn from a simple scroll. Most of the time if a scribe isn''t talented enough then the skill one learns is usually much less effective than having learned it the old fashioned way. Much of the technique or skill could be lost and never to be understood fully, leading to one facing an insurmountable wall in their training. Learning an ancient or possibly even lost spell from a Dungeon, you wouldn''t have to deal with having a low wisdom or intellect capable of comprehending the skill right away like you do with scrolls. Since Dungeon abilities transfer all knowledge pertaining to the skill deep within the person''s mind waiting to be unlocked fully after long study and increasing one''s mastery. Just from assisting in the conquering of an Age of God''s dungeon before rising over Level 200 and acquiring so many additional stats and experience has probably made me comparable to a Warrior around my Level. Even with my low combat power, with such a heavenly recovery ability I could even face some opponents or monsters even several levels above my own without the use of any poisons or rare techniques....Mphphphp This will show some of those arrogant Elders back home. I however mustn''t return just yet. The rewards to be gained are yet to be seen and this is a once in a lifetime experience I cannot afford to let pass me. While I haven''t the idea of how comparable this Age of God''s dungeon is to the ones that have already been discovered by the Human Kingdoms and all are rated over SSS, With all the beasts from Legend, Deities and even having a Fallen God as a Final Boss for it then that dungeon already passed the qualifications for a Pantheon Level. It could even be something comparable to the Mythos Dungeon which was first discovered long ago in one of the Forbidden Zones located on the Dragon Continent. Well whatever it is, my body has truly changed from gaining so much experience in such a horrific and dark place. Having survived, now my Defense is just over 8,200, my Strength and Agility are now both over 7,000 and my Dexterity Stat has risen by over 1000! Someone who deals in poison extracting as much as I do, my Dexterity is even considerably higher than most intermediate Rangers within the adventuring guilds within Rose''s prestigious Guilds. But now my hand speed is incomparable to what it was before. Handling my Spear also feels much different. Too light almost for how quickly my hands are now able to handle it. "Ohohho! Oh dear! I was unsure how my husband would act but such a gracious gift Sir Vali we are truly honored by your generosity. Even providing the clothes off your back, or should I say armor hmphmphmph....." - Queen The Queen''s loud laughter caused each of us to forget whatever it was we were just thinking about and stare back towards the King and Queen. Each of our eyes were met with the image of the King had now actually already taken off his Royal robes and was trying to put on the tight fitting Hydra Armor with some difficulty. Both the King and Queen were showing looks of elation and couldn''t care for what their behaviors could look like for two royalties to behave. For some reason both of them couldn''t stop laughing like they both couldn''t properly put into words what they were seeing right in front of them. ''Hmph, it''s all thanks to that kid I have gained so much. I should do something for him to show my gratitude....'' Watching the King and Queen gawk at the Hydra Armor they were I looked at my own I was currently wearing and couldn''t help chuckle to myself as well. "Well I didn''t anticipate that reaction...." - Cassandra "Hmph it''s probably hard to process for them... What''s amazing is that the Healing factor of the Armor already does so much under its most basic properties... Hard to imagine what would happen if Vali were to find something like a decent enchanter somewhere or a gem carver......" The Royal Knight looked at me strangely and I realized that something like this is probably quite foreign in the East. They don''t have nearly the resources or wealth as the Inner Colonies so this isn''t unnatural. She continued to stand while the rest of us sat there but looked towards me as if she were curious over to what I had said. Since she didn''t seem to be against it so I began explaining to the lovely blonde Royal Guard that usually always dawns a serious face and doesn''t talk as much as the other two. I started explaining to her the basic properties of the Hydra Armor and meat while also describing some of the tremendous luxuries and industrious avenues in trade that take up a large amount of the Central Colonies market. Wearing this Hydra Armor x alongside the skill ''Hydra Healing'' gained after eating the enchanted meat of the once Legendary beast, the wearer will recover 6,500 Health in 1 minute. Never in my life have I seen or even heard of anything like this, and even seeing an item or rare technique that has a permanent recovery trait to them is almost never seen in an auction house. Something like this could honestly allow Vali an entrance to meeting the Empress of Rose or probably any power within the Human Kingdom and be treated with a tremendous amount of respect. Even something like that Shock Armor all the Pixies are currently wearing has the inherit ability to deliver an attack on whatever enemy ever attacks the wearer. It''s even comparable to steel even though it''s leather and has a chance at causing paralysis. So while the Hydra Armors underneath continuously heals them with every passing breath the shock armor causes damage with every attack which is a truly horrifying combination to think of fighting against. All I know is that there is currently nothing even close to either of them on the market anywhere today. "Sure, there are items and defensive wears that are Ancient and even Legendary Classed that surely couldn''t be compared. But what is tremendous about these two fine pieces of magical armor however, is that it can be produced given the right materials and crafter.... And that''s all without even adding things like Enchantments, Rune Markings or even Magic Crystal Embroideries that are quite popular amongst the Imperial Guard within the Rose Empire. The materials used to make magical grade items are simply that magnificent... So just trying to imagine integrating such wondrous additional effects to an already phenomenal piece of craftsmanship is enough to make one''s mouth water mphmph....." I continued talking without interruption from the lady Knight who didn''t show signs of astonishment or curiosity but held the same face she normally does. ''Not really the talker huh...'' "Intriguing right?....." "............." - Royal Knight Cassandra ''Ugh.....'' Looking towards her she hadn''t a word to say in response making the moment rather awkward. "Hmph, don''t take it to heart. She''s not ignoring you to be rude...Cassandra''s still just a little pissed at you for embarrassing her the other day." - Shakko The masked Knight spoke something bizarre and I looked towards the icy cold maiden who still didn''t show frustration, annoyance nor really much emotion like many female Knights I''ve met. "What did I ...Oh wait, now I remember...." Remembering the last I spoke with this one I had tricked her into doing a little dance for the Pixies for my own benefit and seemingly forgotten. "Hehe...Ugh sorry about that...." Without saying a word she just turned and looked away back towards the King and Queen, unmoved. ''Hehe...Whoops. Boy my trouble with woman has never been so awful. I even got dumped by a beastman girl and it was done as if it were as simple as ripping off a bandage. How did it all become like this?'' Giving up and looking towards the masked Royal Guard who just shrugged it off I too decided to just let it go. Woman can be quite difficult to understand. Sigh....I wonder when we''ll get going soon. I kind of wish to head back to the Dungeon soon. Honestly I just wanted a little space from Shiva or I''d undoubtedly try to go speak to her.... ''Hah.... Something I don''t know if I could ever admit to anyone back home but something about that Arachnee is just mesmerizing for some reason to me. And the sex....Ugh. Heavenly! It felt as if her body was even trying to unnaturally suck in every drop of mine.'' And those delicious breasts, her small ass that sticks out from her waste and the monster half. Surprisingly gentle for one who has such an appearance. Hah.....I just don''t understand why she is acting in such a way all of a sudden. I feel I truly connected with this person and I can''t possibly leave our situation where it''s at. I noticed in the brush next to me was a small web with a tiny black and grey spider lowering itself onto the ground. I couldn''t help but be reminded of Shiva yet again by this and watched as the small spider slowly walked through the tall grass towards my leg. ''Shiva you curvaceous temptress. How you torture me... Ugh that thing you did with your tongue, I can''t possibly forget even in death. I must have you again, even if it kills me I will make you pine for this handsomely gifted scholar. Yes, until you are unable to contain yourself for how wet I''ll start to make your almost caressing and velvet....Ah!'' "Alright, everyone I think it''s about time to go....." - Vali The loud call of the one who had been the central cause in joining these groups came out causing everyone to stop what they were doing and prepare to leave. He started walking away from the King and Queen and instructed all the Pixies playing with the Princess and her companions that it was time to go. He started walking towards me and I had just remembered that I should probably tell Vali about some of the potential enchantments and additions he can look into for these Hydra Armors. As he drew closer to the four of us the three Royal Guards all got up and looked at him and he for a brief moment peered towards me. He looked down towards the ground next to me and started to smirk like I''ve started to grow familiar with. "Hehe, what''s up Sting... Trying to ask that spider out on a date or what? Guess that''s just your type now huh?" - Vali "Eh?....." For some reason I couldn''t respond to such a ridiculous statement that came out of nowhere, I was left momentarily speechless. Teeheee Hehehehe Hehehehee Several of the surrounding Annunakes and Pixies started laughing together as if all part of some joke. "Haha, come on Vali. You know Sting misses that bondage play...." - Ollie "You too monk, you too?...." "Hahaha......" - Everyone ''What the fuck?!...Why is everyone messing with me today?'' "Haha, come on Sting.... Let''s get going...." - Vali Vali patted my shoulder and walked past me and turned around to face our small group. ''Alright....Alright Vali...For that I''m not going to tell you what I was going to then just yet....'' Everyone was now standing right next to each other waiting patiently when Ollie came over and put his large hand on my shoulder still laughing. "Ahahah! Ah come on pal, don''t keep that long face we''re only joking...." - Ollie "Hehe...Yes, yes I know. You''re all dicks hehe..." I tried my best to communicate what little words I knew to their language causing Ollie and a few others to start laughing strangely. "Hahahaha! " Some of the surrounding members of our party who understood me had laughed and even Vali too had been laughing to himself. ''I guess I forget this is just how some of them behave. With even the threat of Balor they still behaved no differently and constantly found time to laugh and joke with one another, even in the darkest of times... It''s hard not to be swept up in their atmosphere sometimes that seems almost infectious....Huh?'' Just then a small dark green Pixie with jade colored wings and hair had landed on my shoulder just now. A warm glow started pressing into my shoulder but was surprisingly light for as sharp and durable their wings each look. Not knowing what she was planning I didn''t even move to do anything but I was instead perplexed by what I had just saw. With just warm smile looking at me, the small Pixie turned towards Vali who also had a red and green Pixie now sitting on his shoulders too. ''Huh, so these little pranksters can be like this too?....'' A loud snap came from his fingers and with that, the scenery around us had all completely changed. Taking me away from my thoughts once more just to watch the amazing scenery around us change again and again. End of Chapter ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hey guys decided to make the split here between Part 2 and Part 3. Don''t forget to leave a long comment/Advanced review if you haven''t already. Thanks again for reading! Book 2; Chapter 5: A Darkness Awakening ... (Part 3) Hey guys, I decided to split up that long chapter so for those who see a new chapter and got excited I apologize. I just decided to split up that real long chapter now that it''s been out for a few days. Don''t forget to leave a long comment or Advanced review if you''ve only done a regular one for now. Any constructive criticisms or just things you enjoy about the story I always love to read about. Plan on going back and start rewriting/restructuring/ & editing the past chapters now but I might not add all my corrections/extra chapters/ or particular points I wanted to do differently with the story to the past chapters just yet.... Mostly just stats for characters, titles and things like Cost for skills most likely since next chapters will start to delve into that a bit more while training everyone and some interesting competitions between some of the races coming up. This will hopefully give the audience a broader view on how someone can become strong in completely different ways, and some characters will have weaknesses and strengths towards others so it''ll be interesting for those who are eager for that. Thanks again for reading guys! Book 2; Chapter 5: A Darkness Awakening ... (Part 3) Cassandra''s POV: "Again I cannot stress enough that last part. In fact none of you should even think of speaking in this meeting nor should your hands ever touch your weapons unless I have chosen to do the same. Even if you think it is a matter concerning His or Her Highness'' personal honor or integrity you are to do....NOTHING! If you do not follow these orders that I have given to you, you may lose your life this day...Am I understood." - Master Shen "Sir, yes sir!!!" - King''s Guard The 100 loyal Elite Knights of the King''s Guard were Master Shen''s private unit he has helped train and selected personally for their exemplary ability and undying loyalty to the crown. Known commonly throughout the Kingdom as the ''Golden Lions Guard''. All the men and women present were each adorned in the same red cloaks and bright silver armor as the Knight standing beside them. Each adorned with a golden lion on their chests as each of them kept their arms firmly at their sides. Master Shen, Shakko, Sumei and I were each gathered outside with their personal units who each stood in a small courtyard in single file columns facing the rear of the Castle''s inner walls. Hanging from the stones on the castle walls were long banners of Asher''s gold and red colors with a Lion insignia. Each of them, as well as myself had on our Royal Guard''s uniform that had pure gold on the insignia and trim on every singular piece of armor. The Royal Castle stood proud and majestic with white stone creating 5 towers hoisting the banner flag of the Royal Asher bloodline. Not long after we left the Age of Gods dungeon we had reached the outer gates of the Southern District, L?wengrove, which bordered the south wall of Asher''s capital city, Fosei-De''le?n. Which from what Lucy informs me was something that means ''The Den of Lions.'' Astonishingly with Sir Vali''s tremendous abilities we were able to leap over entire cities and skip through the normal hassles that would normally come if we had just taken a royal procession the entire way. What would have taken an entire 2 days of travel from the time we had first entered the Asher territory was reduced to less than an hour. Not long after we journeyed to a private location we had agreed to meet with Sir Gaven and the King''s Guard who had been patiently waiting for us in the southeastern forest of Hyrule. They were each mounted and there waiting with the Royal Carriage as we arrived. Gaven told no one of this and only alerted the King''s Guard this morning of wishing to take a stroll around the Kingdom. From there it was only a short Royal Procession through the L?wengrove District to the inner cities capital gates and back to His Highness'' Royal Manor. It was still so early in the day and there were thousands of citizens out and about doing business. We had the King''s Guard ride their mounts in our common royal procession procedures just to stop any conflicts from potentially rising between our and Vali''s groups. The King and Master Shen were both very cautious over this and made it very aware to the King''s Guard to keep a tight formation during the royal procession. This way no accidents would occur while journeying through the city streets. While Vali rode in the Royal Carriage, his followers had each marched out in front of the Royal Carriage in single file columns and just the looks many of them received was enough to undoubtedly cause a stir within the Capital that is probably being discussed as we speak. The reactions of each villager, merchant and adventure that gazed upon each of the enchanting figures of some of their females were enough to make me want to vomit over some of the things I had heard. But what made everyone gasp in shock were not the beauties but instead were towards the overwhelmingly imposing figures of the large white wolf beast-warriors that could stand at eye level with each of the King''s Guard riding atop their horses. Even if Demi-Humans aren''t unanimously accepted within the Asher Kingdom, not a single man, woman or child who witnessed these righteous figures could say these were mere ordinary demi-humans. Each and every one of them completely unaware each of the majestic and imposing figures they had just witnessed for just a brief moment were all in fact, ''God Slayers''. Master Shen held a serious look commanding the King''s Guard while also appearing troubled over just what he was even able to do. "...I don''t believe I''ve ever seen my Master show such a troubling look before. Are things really so grave?" - Sumei Sumei adorned in her Royal Guard uniform which matched my own, spoke while standing right next to me. "....." - Shakko and myself Our silence caused Sumei to now turn towards each of us standing in place out beside her looking concerned. "...While we''re not permitted to speak much on the matter, Sir Sumie. I believe Master Shen is only troubled because he fears he may be unable to accomplish his duty should the need arise for it, regardless of his efforts. " ''I too am troubled by this....'' "Cassandra is correct....A change is going to come to the Capital soon. One that none of us are capable of stopping. Best we can hope for is to minimize the damage as best we are able....." - Shakko Sumei was the only one to turn and look towards Shakko and I who didn''t even respond to her amazement. ''How can you even explain it to someone without seeing it for yourself. Sumei and the Royal Guard who came along the first time to meet with Vali were sadly only one small piece of an even greater existence that makes me feel we have now seemingly attached ourselves to his heals almost. '' Just the simple fact of there being such a large and overwhelmingly powerful demi-human force within the Kingdom is enough reason to cause a massive stir within Asher that I''m sure we are even currently unaware of. The King and Queen have however instructed we are to just do our best to reduce any of the strife and damage the Kingdom may take on in the coming days. It''s at this point I think Shakko, Master Shen and I had finally come to a realization of this undeniable truth and are unable to properly put into words over such a strange and unsettling feeling. On the Queen''s orders, any information regarding Vali and his demi-human forces, the Age of Gods dungeon and even what they are capable of is now highly guarded information. We were instructed to not even tell any of the other Royal Guards anything that has happened over the few days of our absence or anything we''ve witnessed. If information got out about Vali and if we had caused such a leak from occurring, then we would face the consequences of having done something he made very clear would sever our relations with him. We aren''t even allowed to reveal to any of our family the ever lingering fear that continues to suffocate my thoughts each time I think of a large herd of those giant creatures that are now wondering free on the Continent. Thankfully, we were unable to see any tracks anywhere within or near the Asher territories from any of those grotesque creatures. Sir Vali seems to think the Fomorians he witnessed must have headed more North, up along the Jheroki mountains that extend almost the entire length of the Continent. We can only pray they do not ever turn West, or Asher and any Human Colony within the Continent would undoubtedly be faced with unspeakable disaster. Apparently only two of those things were able to destroy an entire city from what Vali had claimed. While our Kingdoms are incomparable in terms of military might, I fear our Kingdom would no less meet a fate no different than they had if we hadn''t met with such a tremendous blessing in Vali who is now acting as a watchful guardian at our backs. "Hey, how much of those...things did Sir Vali say escaped?" I whispered to Shakko who was to my left and without turning his head I heard him whisper back something that caused a cold bead of sweat to roll down my face. "200 he believes.....I know, I felt the same way when hearing that. It''s simply impossible to predict the chaos that may soon blanket over the continent. " - Shakko This piece of intel that Vali had revealed to have seen during the big battle is something that caused me to lose my composure I prided myself in as a Noble daughter of the Kriaser family. I could feel a bead a cold sweat slowly run down my forehead and into my eye causing me slightly shake. "C..Cassandra...Are you alright?" - Sumei I felt nauseous to my stomach over what I had just heard but after taking a deep breath I shook my head to compose myself. "I''m fine, so where is this Envoy from Myro anyways?" To my question Sumei spoke that he is somewhere within the Capital and has probably received word the King has arrived. They are now heading back to the Royal Castle to receive an audience with his majesty and it is something that is causing quite a bit of commotion within the Royal Manor. "Probably here to apologize for their failed assassination attempt on his Highness and losing one of their highest decorated officers in the process as well....Such an unlucky individual to have ran into such an enigma as Sir Vali." - Shakko "Most likely Shakko but I''m sure they will just feign ignorance over such things. I''m more interested in knowing how an envoy arrived within Asher''s capital so soon. Even with one of their famed wyverian riders or their blazing war stallions it would still take much longer to arrive so quickly... They however didn''t arrive within Asher territory until just this morning." - Sumei "...Perhaps members of the Envoy were contacted when they were already not far from the Kingdom." "Yes, or they were already sent in preparation of the assassination attempt already failing." - Shakko Each of us looked towards Shakko after his strange comment when we heard one of the members of the King''s Guard speak out. "Sir, Master Shen sir!....." - King''s Guard Master Shen stopped pacing back and forth and looked towards one of the older members of the King''s guard who had spoken up while saluting his superior officer. "What is it?......" - Shen "Is everything alright sir! Is, is it about those large demi-humans? Is there something we should know?" - King''s Guard "Sir Master Shen I too am curious? Are things really so serious for you to show such a look and speak with such heavy words? Is there anything we may do to assist you Sir Master Shen?" - Female King''s Guard One of the few female members of the King''s guard then spoke up with a rather hoarse voice for a lady. "Yeah, I''m fine just thinking is all... And you will all be provided information when I''ve decided the time for it. Till then, as I said....Best behavior and don''t ever forget your duty to Asher! You are to uphold the safety, dignity and wishes of His and Her Highness while also putting the safety of this Kingdom''s citizens above your own. For a Kingdom Knight none of these words are false. Whether they be Noble, demi-human, rich, poor or...even a slave. They all live within our walls and as protectors over all those who call this beautiful Kingdom home, it is our sacred duty to each of them, and we mustn''t forget this..... " - Master Shen To Master Shen''s strange words several of the King''s Guard began to make odd faces and peering around to one another. Each curious over Master Shen''s words and why he would say such things. "Umm, you wish us to...Place the lives of demi-humans above our own Sir, Master Shen? " - King''s Guard ¡°Sir Master Shen I dare never say such words are not true but is Sir, Master Shen really insisting as a King''s Guard we are to place the lives of a slave before our own? Isn''t this just..." - King''s Guard "Is this about those demi-humans we were escorting before? Is it that they have befriended his Highness so...That is why Sir, Master Shen is speaking such words?" - King''s Guard Even Sumei made a strange look to her Master who looked unpleased by each of their looks. Asking someone who has trained their whole lives and hold such honor and respect throughout the entire Kingdom as a member of the Golden Lions Guard to commit to such words is asking a lot. Even if each of them are upstanding and moral individuals who have a strong sense for justice, but I doubt many of them would necessarily leap into a life threatening situation to save a slave. Someone who isn''t even necessarily a citizen within Asher but at the same time holds rights and like Shen just stated, call this Kingdom home. As a Kingdom Knight we are sworn allegiance to uphold the virtue of the King and to protect all who call this nation home. None of Shen''s words had in anyway violated this oath. Shen took a deep breath and stuck out his large chest the caused the steel plates on his armor to start to expand outward. Thinking over everything he knew about Vali from the first time seeing him in Aldain. Thinking over all of the things he spoke with King Asher and each of his aspirations for not only him and his people but for our Kingdom as well but naturally wasn''t something that could just be talked about. "Your responsibility is to uphold the safety and wellbeing of all those who live within our walls...That is your duty. Some choose to forget demi-Humans living freely or not within these walls still hold rights in this Kingdom. Which is unlike most of the Kingdoms in the region. We don''t treat slaves like items, we see them as living beings... I''m not asking you to do anything differently than what is already required from a Kingdom Knight or to change any of your normal routine. I''m simply reminding those here to be very mindful of your actions from here on and as I said, best behavior. This Kingdom will soon face many tribulations and if we are destined for greatness then this is where we our Kingdom will enter into a new age. So from here on be mindful of how you treat others whether they be Demi-Human, child or....no especially a child. Act according to the Knight''s Code and that will be enough for me.....Are my words clear?" - Shen "Sir, yes Sir Master Shen!" - King''s Guard "Sir Master Shen! Word from His Royal Highness. " - Mounted King''s Guard Riding atop a stallion and galloping over to where we each were was someone bringing word from the King. Shen took a small piece of parchment from the mounted King''s Guard and read over his Majesties words before looking towards both Shakko and I and nodding. "So this is what they have planned? This should be interesting..... It''s time....." - Shen "Hehehe, should be for a nice show whenever everyone gets a glimpse of the Kingdom''s new and most orthodox Vassal." - Shakko ¡°You have a rather generous outlook on things." "Hehe how can I not? Asher is about to enter a new age and it should at least be fun to witness such monumental days to come....." - Shakko "If only we can all be so carefree.... Don''t forget your purse before we adjourn to the Royal Throne Room." - Shen Master Shen turned and walked past Shakko who followed closely behind making a sarcastic laugh for all the King''s Guard to here. Each of us followed behind Master Shen while the King''s guard marched in perfect unison behind each of us. Shakko, however started overly elaborating with his hands while he spoke so others could see how sarcastic he was being while still wearing a mask. "Oh ha ha ha. Lucky for us all I''m not a maiden or you''d probably try to fuck me too.... How your dick hasn''t fallen off yet due to rot is probably a bigger miracle than the Gods gifting the world with the embrace of their ever warming flames... Not unlike that crotch of yours, no doubt..." - Shakko Some of the surrounding King''s Guard began to chuckle to themselves and Shen who was softly laughing back without even turning around. "Haha, if I found it so hard to find a beautiful lass to fill my bed, I''d probably say something like that too...." - Shen The two continued their bickering like an old married couple all the way until we reached the entrance into the Royal Court. I no longer wished to think on all that was plaguing my mind, but instead couldn''t help but be impressed with how these two are both able to cope with such pressing matters. "...Hey do you think if in the inevitable time comes that it does fall off, you think that you could get a metal attachment for that too?.... Oh, what a sad day it would be for all the nation''s beauties and trees that happen to have a small enough opening, that''s justtttt at the right height." - Shakko ''Mmph.....'' "Ahahahaha!" - King''s Guard ------------------------------------------------------------------- We were all gathered within the Royal Court which was commonly known as the throne room. Even when first entering, I was surprised to see almost a hundred members from all over the capital had already arrived and were waiting for his Highness to appear. Many Noble families were being represented, several Dukes and Ministers over military affairs as well as some wealthy families who own several businesses and properties throughout the Asher Kingdom. Almost half of the powerful Noble families and wealthy figures of Asher were actually already present here this afternoon awaiting inside the Royal Court where matters to Kingdom''s affairs on business and policy are discussed. There are even several high ranking officials within the local churches present today which isn''t exactly uncommon. But word must have obviously traveled around the Capital over the appearance of an Envoy from the Kingdom of Myro. It also happened to be the 14th Prince of the Royal Family who had appeared as the Envoy and many present were surely curious as to his reasons for appearing here today, claiming to have a message from his father, the King of Myro. Myro held a tremendous deal of prestige within the Continent that no other Kingdoms are even capable of being compared to. They hold the strongest and largest army within the East and even have a Champion from the Gods winning many heroic battles that are being sung throughout the surrounding Kingdoms. They have also recently extended their resources and have successfully absorbed surrounding nations in the area, one of which being Trost which holds the second highest population of any Kingdom on the Continent due to such a large number of slaves they have added to their armys already strong numbers. News of Myro sending an Envoy has surely traveled to the upper echelons of Asher of the alliance between these two large and strongly founded Kingdoms. Some of those here are probably no doubt working with Myro, but Gaven was unable to find any leads on which faction the assassination attempt came from because it had to have come from inside the Kingdom. They wouldn''t have gotten so close or successfully persuaded members of the Royal Guard who were sworn to protect the Royal Family from their unforgivable betrayal. "His Highness the Crown Prince "Ah! Such a lovely day is it not...MMm.... How are you today? My lady...My lady.... Hmphahaa" - Prince Dominique The familiar voice of the crown Prince entered my ears and I had almost forgotten the one whom I was betrothed to. So much has honestly happened in such little time, I''ve honestly had much more pressing matters to attend to. "Look! It''s the Crown Prince! He looked at me. " - ? "He''s so handsome and his golden hair is so noble! He is just the embodiment of what royalty truly looks like." - ? Prince Dominique strutted through the Royal Throne Room''s long hall with a large smile beaming on his face while receiving the crowd¡¯s affections. He greeted many that he walked past with the same flirtatious behavior he is known well for throughout the territories. Standing next to him were a few members of the Royal Guard and James Standing at attention behind him. When he saw me standing next to several members of the Royal Guard standing in a line in front of the Royal Throne and waiting for His and Her Highness to reveal themselves. "Ah, if it isn''t my betrothed!....Cassandra you are looking lovelier and lovelier with each passing day. Your hair brings a shine as glorious as the sun and skin fairer than daphodile''s petal when caressed by the rain... " - Prince Dominque Because I didn''t wish to even dignify that with a response, I chose to instead bow and greet his majesty. "Your Highness....." "Hmph... Where have you been? I''ve missed seeing your continually growing beauty in my life." - Prince Dominique The Prince''s words caused many of the surrounding noble maidens to swoon to the Crown Prince''s rather clever display he likes to put on in front of others. I''ve already known this to be an act long ago. I''ve also seen the way he looks at me and what he really wants behind all those polished words of his. "Oh, his Highness is such a hopeless romantic?" - ? "She''s so lucky to be able to become one of Prince Dominique''s wives. Why can''t he show me some attention!" - ? The Prince smiled at me for a bit longer and without saying anything else to his fianc¨¦ he walked to another side of the large hall to greet several members of the Nobility. ''...There was no definitive evidence of the Crown Prince''s involvement with the King''s assassination so as to the true culprit, we are all unsure to who their identity may actually be. Someone willing to pledge loyalty to his Highness and dare show such wicked dreams of betrayal is an act that should damn a hundred generations with ridicule and spite... Hah, my father always did speak that the Royal Court is a den of vipers and lions all vying for their own benefit.'' "Sir Cassandra! It is such a pleasure to see you again...." - Elder Priestess Irvene I noticed the voice of a close friend of mine I hadn''t seen in several months since her time traveling the continent with some of the Elite Paladins and some high figures within the Church of Freya. Her and I are both the same age and grew up together playing games while our parents would meet and discuss business, so we have naturally become quite close over the years. She was wearing a light yellow robe with green trim and embroideries made from the finest fabrics that are given to all the Priests and Priestesses within their Church. She, however, last I spoke with her, was only a Blue Robed Priestess symbolizing her status as a Reverend member of the Church. But now she is wearing a light yellow robe signifying her new status as an Elder within the Asher branch of the Freya Church even at such a young age. Her abilities with something as divine as holy magic is what caused us to not be able to spend as much time together since we both went on to do completely different things. She is, however, my oldest and dearest friend. "Irvy...Or..Hmph, I guess it''s Elder Priestess Irvene now isn''t it?" "Hoho, oh hush it''s not like I''m a Bishop or the Patriarch himself. Come here and give your childhood friend a hug....." - Irvene Irvene''s long orange hair is what made her stand out as a child but even as a young adult she looks hardly any different than when we were kids, she even laughs the same. I wrapped both my arms around her, wishing to tell her all the tales from my time since we last spoke but since I was unable all I could do was quietly continue hugging her. "Irvene!!!!" - Princess Lucy Just then Lucy wearing a large blue dress came running through the Royal Court next to her older sister and came over to greet Irvene. With me being the Princess'' Royal Guard, she has obviously gotten to meet Irvene before and like me cares a great deal for this holy woman. "Ah! Look how big you¡¯re getting! Come here and give this Priestess a proper hug right this second..." - Irvene Irvene picked Princess Lucy off the ground and brought her close to her chest and gave her a big hug. "Hehehe... I know I''m getting real tall! I''ve missed you a whole lot Irvene. Hehe did you know I got a new Knight!" - Princess Lucy "Oh, is she anything like and of your other friends. I really like them...." - Irvene After setting the Princess down, Lucy started giggling and I was then worried at just how much this little one would disclose with so many open ears around. Though not many are really paying attention to us either, I mustn''t let Lucy forget her Royal father and mother''s orders. "Hehe, nope! He''s really, really, really strong! And so cool with all these amazing friends! I can''t wait till everyone gets a look at him ehehehe...." - Lucy "Hoh! Is that right?... A male Knight this time? Well, I''d always be happy to meet the young Princess'' new friend." - Irvene Irvene looked towards me curiously and I just shook my head unknowing what really to say. "Hmph, little Lucy keeps bringing up this new Knight of hers. Even I''m a bit curious as to what has caused her to act in such a way hmphmph....." - Princess Olivia Walking up and entering into the conversation was the Royal Princess of Asher, Lucy''s older sister Olivia. Both Irvene and I bowed in greeting her and she came over and picked up Princess Lucy in her arms with a large smile on her face. "Cassandra, I feel like I haven''t seen you in ages my dear sister. Both of you, it''s not nice to leave this lonely Princess all alone without any girls to talk to." - Princess Olivia "Hmph, well I am not your sister quite yet your Highness, but yes I have missed our chats as well.¡± "Oh psh, what''s the point of waiting to address you as such? You¡¯re a lot better than all the loose bimbos dear brother seems to only bring around....Hah, you both mustn''t leave this Princess like that again do you hear me hmph...." - Princess Olivia Princess Olivia gave a big smile towards her sister in her arms and then back at me treating us no differently than actual sisters. She looked towards both me and Irvene and asked what we had each been up to since last we spoke. Irvene began speaking about her time traveling and getting to work closely with Cardinal Hope who has recently went to visit the Pope of the Freya Church on this Continent and lives within the small area occupied by the Holy Alliance and is believed to be one of their Sacred Grounds. Not even some high officials of from Churches from the most High Gods, and even many Champions are ever allowed to enter into such a holy place even in their whole lifetimes. It is even rumored that a living Deity lives there. However none of this is truly known since it is one of the Holy Alliance''s most sacred of places. It is only ever talked about in rumors so much that it has become a mysterious legend. Most humans would spend their whole lives without ever seeing something as Divine as a Deity so naturally it would be something many would often dream about. I wonder what these two would say if they knew I myself had witnessed a God and watched his downfall just before my eyes....Hmph, ignorance is bliss as they say. "And what about you dear sister Cassandra? How was your trip with Royal Father and Royal Mo....." - Princess Olivia "Hmmm?¡± - Irvene Both Irvene and Princess Olivia both lightly twitched and turned their heads to look towards the Royal Court''s main entrance. Each of them showed such distinct looks of curiosity until I had noticed just what it was that had caused each of them to turn. Just then an ever increasing feeling began to press against my face and then fully wrap itself around my body. All the faces of those in the Royal Court began making the same face and slightly trembled when turning towards the throne room''s entrance. I could feel as if my heart was beginning to beat rapidly and noticed now everyone within the Royal Court was no longer talking and were all staring towards the main entrance of the great hall. The entire room started to grow silent until it was quiet enough to hear the sound of a raindrop all the wan on the opposite side of the hall. "....Who is that?" - Olivia "....What is this feeling? I''ve never felt such an intimidating aura before not even from Cardinal Hope? This is..." - Irvene "Ehehehe....These are all my new friends silly. Hehe...What do ya think?" - Princess Lucy To the Princess'' words both Irvene and Princess Olivia glanced back towards Lucy with concerning eyes, but only for a brief moment before turning back around. Not only them both, but several members of the Royal Court had also faintly heard the Princess'' words causing each of their eyes to twitch unnaturally. The entire Royal Court was then met with the image of several large figures now being given access to enter the throne room and advancing through the great hall. The image of Gaven and Master Shen both were walking out in front of Sir Vali whose entrance was impossible not to take notice of by any of the eyes within the grand hall. It was to the point that all those staring towards Master Shen and Gaven with their high prestige within the Royal Court to be completely overshadowed by the towering figures walking behind each of them. "What in the heavens!!! Look at those things!" - ? "Ugh, they''re...They''re huge!!!" - ? "Wh..who are they?" - ? Some of the same banter we heard in the city streets again started once again inside the Royal Court and all eyes were glued on Vali and the members of his party that demanded attention from their incredible aura. It was as if the faintest glow was around their bodies that beamed with such charisma and authority that no one could stop themselves from staring. Irvene held an open mouth with eyes frantically moving from one figure to the next just before turning and looking towards me who could only give back to her an apologetic look. From the small silver wolf with a black mist floating around him, to the brightly glowing pixies that some were even lit ablaze, to the overly large white furred Annunakes who stood at roughly the height of a man riding a large horse. All eyes within the throne room could not stop looking at the imposing figures who just appeared before them this day. With every step Vali and those with him took, everyone could only more so feel the overwhelming presence from each of the God Slayers all walking side by side. Sir Vali however didn''t seem too phased by all the looks they were getting nor did any of those with him. The sounds of the Pixies laughter however also began to echo inside the grand hall causing many to start to come out of their brief trance. Gaven and Shen both walked to their positions and pointed to the left of the throne room, not more than a few steps from myself and the Royal Guard. Each of the King''s guard were surrounding the entirety of the grand hall and were also acting as barriers from standing between Sir Vali''s guards and anyone else. Since I was standing at the bottom steps from the Royal Throne behind me, Vali and his group were actually very close to me. "Hehe....Valiiiii!!!!" - Princess Lucy "Ugh..." - Princess Olivia Princess Lucy climbed down from her sister and ran over to Sir Vali and grabbed one his hands excitedly while spinning underneath his arm like they were both dancing. Sir Vali still wore the same black cloak but now wore a black V-neck underneath. ''Perhaps, Dark Lords need to where black for some reason...'' His attire could also be considered excessively rude to some. But considering many of the Annunakes here aren''t wearing anything on their upper bodies, who would say anything to him? Many of the onlookers now had their eyes glued on Sir Vali and the Princess not knowing what to make of this scene. Many of them started whispering to the other trying to make sense from it but eventually just started showing looks of no longer caring. Some showed looks of curiosity while there were many who showed ones of disdain towards the Demi-humans that were standing at such a VIP location. Right at the foot of the Royal Throne and closest to his Majesty. Eventually though most of the eyes that were each looking towards them had eventually ceased after seeing Sir Vali. Whispering that he wore the clothes of a commoner which upon many of them noticing had decided to no longer care. Those whispers started coming from sides of the Nobility and were undoubtedly said to be heard causing many of the onlookers to lose attention towards Vali and those of his followers rather quickly. Making the great hall return to what it had been before. "Royal Sister! Irvene this is him! Isn''t he amazing!" - Princess Lucy Irvene gave a calming smile and nodded back while Princess Olivia gave a very curious look towards the white haired man standing next to her younger sister. She however after only sparing a glance like many of the other Nobles didn''t show as much interest in him after thinking him to be a commoner. It is however not been revealed to the public just who Vali is yet and his newly granted ''Noble'' status. I''m sure those here are in for a very rude awakening, but from what Shen says this is only the ''first act'' of what his Highness and Vali have planned for today. Irvene and Princess Olivia both instead of trying to make sense of it all, had both walked over to the opposite side of the Royal Court after they noticed the emergence of both the Queen and King appearing behind the throne. "All bow before the presence of His and Her Royal Highnesses, the King and Queen of the glorious Asher Kingdom!!!!" - Gaven Gaven''s deep voice echoed throughout the great hall and after that, both the King and Queen came out wearing their Royal Crowns and robes made from the finest silk and perfectly cut diamonds. Each reflecting the sky light leaking in from the stained glass towering over the throne room here today. All in attention immediately bowed their heads within his majesty''s presence while he and his wife both adjourned to the Royal Throne. His Highness then sat down while his wife stood stoically next to her husband while placing her hand on her husband''s shoulder. Pst... Pst..pst... I began to hear whispers in the Royal Court and before I could determine to where the sound had come from, a loud roar came from the left side of the great hall. "Psh! Outrageous!!!! How dare you not bow in the presence of our King!!! " - Duke Zong "How dare you disrespect his Royal Majesty and within the Royal Court no less! Have you no eyes!!!!" - Minister of Military Affairs "Unforgivable! Truly a slap to his Majesties honor!" - Volner Noble "Audacious!" - Ghellner Noble Many large outcries began to erupt within the Royal Court causing many others to start voicing their outrage upon looking up and seeing that Vali alongside all those with him had chosen to not bow down. ''Oh, no I completely forgot about this!....'' I quickly looked towards Shen who was now standing to my left and gave a look that this was all to be expected. Such an act to some can be seen as an extreme act of defiance and heresy. It is surely a sign of disrespect but the King has already been acclimated to such new experiences. GRRRRrrrrrrr!!! GRRrrrrrrr!!! GGGGRRRRRRRRRAAAhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Immediately several of the large white wolves alongside Vali''s pet had each taken a step forward while wildly baring their fangs for all those in the great hall to see. "Dare growl at me you disgusting dogs! " - Ghellner Noble "How dare a mere demi-human act so audaciously in the Royal Court! Such a sin is worthy of death!" - Duke Zong Such an action had caused many of the Noble Factions in attendance show looks of horror and disgust. Many then started to take out their weapons in response after some of the Nobles and even the prestigious Duke Zong had spoken. Which then had caused almost all members of the King''s Guard to then reach for their weapons. But Before any of them could however the image of Shen holding his arm out to the side instructed them to hold back, had forced each of them to obediently not unsheathe their weapons. "SILENCE!!!!! Who dares raise your voices within this court before I have even addressed you. Have I yet given any of you such liberties to speak? Yet you actually commit such a crime as unsheathing your weapons within my Royal Court! Have you no self control as leaders of our great nation! Do you feel your King is unable to speak for himself!!! Go on speak! This King demands an answer or bare the rightful punishment that follows.... " - King Asher The King''s loud roars echoed throughout the great hall causing all those present to become silent in response. The King rarely had outbursts like that but to such an outcry over such a situation had caused many to give his Highness looks of disbelief and shock. Duke Zhong''s long, white beard furrowed and he seemed almost unsure at what he had just witnessed from the King. He was not angry with those with Vali but those who had decided to call them out in place of his Highness. "Ah, my apologies my King!!! I did not dare mean to offend!" - Volner Noble "I apologize for my abrasiveness your Grace! I ask forgiveness for such a foolish outburst!" - Ghellner Noble Both Nobles lowered themselves and prostrated themselves on the ground placing their heads on the ground begging the King''s forgiveness over such actions that caused him to become so upset. Only Duke Zong had yet to prostrate himself in front of his Highness. He looked towards Vali and his group with anger but did not dare say a word that could further infuriate his Highness and instead turned back and bowed. "My deepest apologies your Grace....I just could not stomach such blatant disrespect to his Highness'' majestic dignity, I had lost side of myself. I beg the King''s forgiveness....." - Duke Zhong The King had waited until Duke Zhong had bowed and pleaded for forgiveness and several members of the Nobility had no longer spoke. King Asher''s entire tone had calmed down and he instead addressed Duke Zhong in a much friendlier matter than before. "Hmph...So that is why you chose to speak out Duke Zhong? Is that all?...Hehe, it is but a small matter and is not something to even be concerned about. They never meant it as an offence to me. They are only showing respect to the God they worship.... That is all..." - King Asher To the King''s words everyone didn''t know how to respond but look back towards the small demi-human group that is now all of a sudden being granted a most abnormal treatment. Such an event is something causing many of the strong factions represented within the great hall to wonder just who these strange figures the King had returned with and why he is showing them such respect. "B..but your Highness? A God that commands they do not bow before our King? How could we allow for such aud....." - Noble Volner "Enough!!! ¡­. I don''t wish to hear about this any longer. My Royal Guard do not bow whenever we entered the chambers and why? Because I gave them the authority not to so, as to stay better alert....It is a privilege I have decided to grant and who are you to say any different? What I say is law... And if I permit these few to such an indulgence it is my right to give.....Or do you believe the King to be wrong?" - King Asher "Ah!...Of course not your Grace! I dare not ever claim the King to be wrong. I only speak up for your honor." - Noble Volner The old man continued fumbling with his words and deciding it was best to not even speak over it any longer. "Haha, is that so? Well then so be it... This is the last I wish to hear of this though. These new faces you are each seeing here today are my honored guests. They are going to become a new addition to the great Kingdom of Asher soon and this King is truly honored for such an alliance together between our two groups..... Ah Sir Vali, may you approach?....." - King Asher The King sat atop his throne and ushered Vali to step forward and approach the throne. To the King''s words not a single sound could be heard as if it was unbelievable. Every single person present did not have a look of amazement towards the seemingly common young man who was being treated with such high respect from His Highness there are now many here rethinking the identity of such a mysterious person. Vali smirked and walked forward while letting go of Princess Lucy and stepping out and facing his and her Highness. The Princess then ran over towards her sister with light echoes of her feet tapping against the stone. Now standing just a few paces in front of myself was the so called ''monster in the woods'' as he so readily claimed for himself. With a brief glance towards me his gaze then moved towards the throne. "Hmph, today is a day that will one day undoubtedly be rejoiced by the masses for the times to come I am sure. And this King has decide......." - King Asher The King''s words stopped mid-sentence when his line of sight stopped looking towards Vali and instead somewhere just over his head. It was then we heard the call from a member of the King''s guard introducing a small group of figures entering into the Royal Court. "His Highness, the 14th Prince of Myro presents himself before his Royal Highness the King!" - Asher King''s Guard "Why hello there your Highness.... I was hoping to catch you on your return to the castle. I sure am fortunate you had appeared so soon which is truly splendid for this Prince...." - ? Walking through the great hall behind Vali, were two approaching figures being tailed by several heavily armed guards. They had a very imposing atmosphere around them that caused all the great hall not to clamor. From the 10 black armored guards to the two noble looking figures standing out front and the black beast at their side had each caused a stir to occur within the Royal Court. Each of them wore matching black armor and red robes and were each dawning the colors of the Royal banner of Myro. "Huh, it''s Prince Fredrick! The 14th Prince of Myo''s Royal Son''s...." - ? "Hah! What is one of his majesty''s royal sons doing here in the Royal Court, delivering a message from his father the King perhaps?" - ? The hall started to grow quiet as the small number from the envoy entered into the great hall alongside the 14th son of Myro wearing a bright red robe with black pants and a large fur black coat that matched his hair. Each of the figures approached closer and closer towards Vali and the King at my back. "Ah, if it isn''t the 14th Prince. Of course I don''t mind getting the opportunity to see the young Prince whenever he has the time to visit my Kingdom." - King Asher The young Prince walked forward and now started getting almost as much attention and looks of awe than even Prince Dominique had received in his own capital. If I looked at him now I''m sure he would be fuming. Prince Dominique lost a duel when he was much younger by the Seventh Prince of Myro and is also Prince Fredrick''s older brother. Regardless if they are only brothers however, they both shared the same air as each other and had an enormous amount of arrogance each time I''ve even heard about one of them. The black armored guards next to him looked to be strong warriors of Myro and the man next to him had a thin face and long black hair. He also had a strange looking large black panther beast standing next to him with large muscular paws. "Hmph, while I don''t rather care to travel to such a place I did however wish to extend a message to you from Royal Father and grant his Majesty and his Kingdom an invitation to join in a special cross country tournament for each of the 12 strongest nations on the Continents greatest warriors! Royal Father has personally asked me to deliver this invitation to you, your Grace. In hopes that you would be so willing to attend ....." - Prince Fredrick The Prince reached out with a pale white letter that was then grabbed by Sir Guren and then brought forth to his majesty. Many of those present continued talking amongst themselves over the news over the Prince''s message and the great hall started to buzz. "Humph, did we not have the annual Festival of Nations just half a year ago? What is this cross-country tournament that I am hearing of so suddenly?" - King Asher "Hmph, why yes your Highness is correct. Hard to forget such a spectacular event but this is much different than the previous tournament. Only the 12 strongest nations within the East will be allowed entry into competing in the event and this is not a battle between the younger generations, but rather a friendly competition between the strongest fighters and wizards from our Kingdom''s we hail....." - Prince Fredrick "A cross-country competition? " - Ghellner Noble "Hah! Is this just to proclaim your so called Hero of Myro, and winner of the last tournament to spread his fame more!" - Volner Noble "That''s right, and why would Myro be willing to step away from their war with the Elves just to show off?" - Wealthy Merchant Chatter continued to fill the great hall and the Prince looked around smiling before claiming this was merely a friendly competition between nations. He also spoke of the Grand Prize to the first participant would acquire a Martial Skill of a ''Rare'' quality and a custom grade magical armor fashioned from their finest blacksmith Jeoff Grenfell, who is famed throughout the entire Continent. In fact the prizes for the top 10 which was listed off by the Prince was enough to cause all those in the Royal Court to clamor on and on wishing to know how to be allowed to take part in such a tournament. Each nation would be allotted 5 slots that they are allowed to fill with any number of magic or fighting class competitors of their choosing and rules and knowledge over the styles of combat will not be revealed into the day of. Everyone was giving such looks of wishing to acquire such magnificent treasures and hoping to earn one of the 5 slots to represent the Kingdom of Asher. All but a small few.... "Seriously...Yeah, I''m not lying, no way I can make that up." - Vali "Ah, but ah that''s just......" - Adimar "So wait, before every battle from now on, they''re wanting to cut off their own arms and legs?... That''s just going to happen now?" - Alderon "Hey, if it works right?...." - Vali "I suppose...." - Akino "That''s just morbid...." - Grayfia "Psh, your morbid you loose wolf." - Cyanin "Do you even know what morbid means little one?" - Grayfia "I don''t have to, I''m sure it describes you perfectly!" - Cyanin The chatter from over to our right had started to get noticed by everyone after Vali and his companions voices continued echoing even as the hall grew quiet once more waiting for his Highness'' answer. The King and Queen had finished reading the invitation and the Prince was left waiting for their response. While he continued looking around the room he would occasionally glance over towards Vali, who had moved over towards his group, and couldn''t help but be attracted to the strange sense pressing him when standing so close. The God Slayer''s each have this strange ability where it''s like you can almost feel them. The Prince''s eyes stopped on several of the Annunakes who were originally standing behind Vali and the large wolves had suddenly emerged into view. His eyes grew large and didn''t care to hide his curiosity either. "My, my....What do we have here?" - Prince Fredrick The young Prince started walking over while trying to woft his long hair and approached Vali''s group. "No, you¡¯re a loud, small minded little Pixie!" - Cyanin "Do you hear yourself?" - Grayfia "Guys, seriously knock it off....." - Vali "I hear myself just fine! And I do it without those big goofy things on top of my head too...." - Cyanin The Annunake maiden''s ears dropped to the sides and all those of Vali''s group seemed almost uninterested with everything happening within the Royal Court. None of them had even acknowledged the 14th Prince who was now only a few steps away from them. He stood just a few steps away from Vali and his companions but none of them had even glanced in the Prince''s direction this entire time and were instead focused on some conversation that no one was able to understand. All that could be heard and understood was from Vali who was now just shaking his head. "Careful little one, I do bite..." - Grayfia "Psh, you think you can hurt me..." - Cyanin The Prince''s face started to turn grim as he looked towards Vali who now had one of the Pixies being held back by him with his hand also around the tall Annunake maiden keeping them away from each other. They weren''t fighting but it was clear these two were arguing and trying to taunt the other. As they each continued to wiggle around Vali all the surrounding onlookers were now staring at only Vali and the majestic Pixie whose skin shined like a diamond and the curvaceous maiden who was wearing rather revealing clothing. She dressed like the other Annunakes but their tops were short and didn''t cover much, and they each wore white cloth that had slits do the legs revealing her smooth skin and nicely toned figure. BOom! With two swipes of Vali''s arms, he chopped downward on both girls causing them both to immediately duck down and hold onto their heads after a loud bang could be heard from my ears. "Oweeouch! Vali, wha''d you do that for?" - Cyanin "MMmm, yes why did Alpha strike this one so suddenly?" - Grayfia "Seriously? You''re being loud...Yeah, see that now everyone''s paying attention to us now?" - Vali Vali nonchalantly scanned around the Royal Court and the 14th Prince in front of him and looked back towards the two crouching girls. I could almost see Prince Fredrick¡¯s line of sight and see his anger boiling from being ignored entirely by those in front of him. Without even willing to acknowledge his presence seemed to almost caused his emotions to boil. Then just as quickly his face had turned back to normal. He then started slowly approaching and then reached his hand towards the white haired Annunake who was closest to Vali. The King began to speak up whenever just what each of those who knew Vali started to think would happen.....did. "Ah, Prince Fredrick.... I have read over the...." - King Snap!!! Within a moment from the Prince''s hands about to touch the beautiful Annunake''s shoulder Vali''s hand had darted towards it and viciously grabbed him by the wrist. "Ah...You, you fucking dare! Let go of me...Le..Let go of me, this instant!" - Prince Fredrick "How dare you!!! What is the meaning of laying your hands on our 14 th Prince?" - Myro Knight "Release him before I take your hand for daring touch his Royal Highness! " - Myro Knight Each of the members of the Myro''s envoy grew angry looking towards Vali who was firmly gripping onto his Highness'' wrist. "No touching......." - Vali With one stern warning Vali had then pushed the young Prince by his arm forcibly causing him to retreat several steps and rubbing on his wrist angrily. Everyone in the great hall held such shocking looks not even knowing how to witness what was just happening in front of them. Even Irvene held looks of bewitchment at such abrasive behavior that came from Vali just a moment ago. The Prince started laughing, unable to fully process how someone had just treated him which is probably something he had never had to deal with in his entire life. I noticed Shen wasn''t going to do anything and was wondering why the King had not spoken up yet as well but before the Prince lost himself in his anger a loud growl started echoing throughout the throne room. "You...How dare someone treat this Prince in such a way! I can''t believe in such a small, insignificant place I could witness such treatment from such a peasant no less!!! Haha aahh....What makes you think I won''t behead you where you st...." - Prince Fredrick Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!! Grrrrr Ruf...Ruf...Ruf...... Just then each of the white furred Annunake''s who were looking back and forth then sharply turned towards the young Prince and immediately began to bear their fangs. Each of their silver eyes had fallen down on the 14th Prince and didn''t move from his position at all. Whoosh! Whooossh! Fenrir too had started barking and within a blink I saw appearing out in front of Vali were several of the large male wolfmen, each standing over two heads taller than any man, slowly approaching the young Prince. "YOU dare threaten the 14th Prince!!!! Now you die!!!!" - Myro Knight Just as one of the black armored guards pulled his sword from his sheath and shouted, a large figure had already appeared just a single step away from where he stood. All of those behind him had already pulled out their weapons on fear of their Prince''s safety but the first to have taken out his sword had appeared frozen in place looking at the massive enemy who had just appeared right in front of him. He had an eye patch and was the one I saw around Vali from the beginning. Even amongst the large demi-humans around him for a wolf he appeared to have the most dignified and magnificent appearance amongst his peers. All over his massively figure and harshly toned muscles were battle scars revealing the look of a true warrior that has experienced battle. This was another God Slayer The Knight from Myro had dropped his sword and looked no different than those who are caught in the tracks of Vali''s pet and started to tremble lightly at the incredible speed this figure could move. BOOOOM! With one motion from the one eyed Annunake''s leg, the Myro bodyguard had his back slammed into the ground and was now being ruthelessly stepped on. Whooosh! Whoooooshh!!! Within an instant appearing close to those from Myro who had started to brandish their weapons were the large forms of the same intimidating wolfmen who could move as fast as the wind. I could faintly see a blur from when they had left Vali''s side but their speed was truly astonishing..... It was enough that no one in the entire Royal Court had expected such a quick turn of events. AHhhhhhh!!!!! Several loud cries rang out from some of the Noble woman and within a breath each and every one of the bodyguards from the Myro envoy had ended up on the ground before anyone knew how they even got there. "Ughhhh....ahhhhouu!" "Ahg....nnnnn" "Yo...yough.......Wh..what did you ¡­.do?...Ughh!" Each of those who had brandished their weapons were lying on the ground holding their guts with small puddles of blood surrounding them. A few of them even had large claw marks on their faces dripping with blood. The only ones from Asher who had remained standing were the 14th Prince and the thin framed nobleman who came alongside him with the black panther at his side. Within only the span of a few breaths it had all happened so quickly. The great hall had again grew deathly quiet looking towards the usually imposing manner of Myro''s Envoy and holding a such vast power within the Continent behind them, now lying on the Royal Court in embarrassment and pools of their own blood. Each probably had a Level over 100 and coming from the Prince''s select guard must have held a great deal of power that when compared to most of those present in the Royal Court here could hardly compare. With Myro''s soldiers having a much higher level it would take the Royal Court''s strongest warriors just to stand a chance against even one of them. But the image in front of them had been like a hammer striking them on the head. Now every single one of those lying on the floor had their health in the yellow and were unable to get up for some reason. ''.....Is what Vali said about them being able to move as fast as his warping ability true? I knew they were all fast but I had only ever seen them when they were fighting alongside Vali. I had no idea they could easily subdue 10 strong warriors from Myro without even breaking a sweat. Without even wielding any weapons like they treated their opponents like children holding sticks.'' It was enough that even I was at a loss for words. All anyone here could see where white blurs that moved faster than our pupils were able to track. "Hmph, sorry about that. These guys don''t like someone sending a lot of blood lust towards me. It makes them a little edgy whenever someone would make such a mistake towards their Alpha. So if you value your lives I''d probably wise up pretty quick.... " - Vali "........." - Everyone All of those within the Royal Court had grown silent and peered towards the white haired man dawning an unenthused expression. I could see Irvene glancing towards me alongside Princess Olivia whenever these words from Vali had admitted to actually be the leader of these incredibly strong beastman. The 14th Prince however after looking towards each of his guards now lying on the floor and having trouble getting up, didn''t know how to respond to what he had just heard. He just looked back towards Vali with wide eyes after witnessing the large Annunakes swift action that dealt with his forces before he could even understand how. "¡­.Seems you got a lot of balls Prince. Coming in here and actually taking out your weapons within the Royal Court. All because you didn''t like that I stopped you from touching someone who hadn''t ever granted you such liberties in the first place?...I think that''s a big no no is it not? I''m sure there''s a law against somewhere right Cassandra?" - Vali Vali then looked towards Shen and I, and both of us didn''t know what to say. I glanced around and now saw Irvene, Princess Olivia and Prince Dominique all staring strangely in my direction like they didn''t even know who I was anymore. My eyes grew wide from being so frustrated he would put me in such a situation! Why are you addressing me anyways right now you imbesile?! ''Mm, calm down...You must calm down....Mmm!'' "Yes....That is correct Sir Vali....." I tried my best to calm my voice and Vali looked back towards the still silent young Prince who was now standing next to the noble figure and monster pet that came alongside them. The Prince did however start to show a look of increasing rage but was still processing everything he had just seen. His eyes were even bulging as if he were trying to kill Vali with a stare. "Yeah, see right there....What are you doing here anyways Prince? Coming up here starting trouble in a foreign nation you¡¯re already in a bad relationship with... Kind of stupid but you got balls I''ll give ya that...." - Vali After Vali''s words fell the entire Royal Court again stopped their whispers and couldn''t believe his words of provocation towards the young Prince. "Stu....stupid...Stupid!!!....You hah......" - Prince Fredrick "Yeah, I don''t know what other word there is for that.... Being who you are, you obviously must know some of your Kingdom''s activities and know you¡¯re probably not in friendly territory right now. But for some reason you still want to start a fight?...So long away from home too no less....." - Vali As each of Vali''s words echoed through each of our ears, I could feel each member of the Royal Court had shuttered when weighing each word Vali had spoken and couldn''t believe the apparent threat within his tone. Even proclaiming our Kingdom''s were on bad terms was also something they couldn''t believe was said so abrasively by this random figure who the King had just showed extreme favor towards. "Hah....A threat?...Is that what you just dared utter in my presence? Oh, never before have I been treated in such a way...Not in my whole life has someone dared act so brave. So foolish to speak to this Royal Prince in such a way! Mark my words boy, your life is over for this!" - Prince Fredrick The Prince''s threats caused the whole hall to break out in commotion and I could feel that his and her Highness as well as Shen, Shakko and I each sucking in a deep breath. ''This is exactly the one thing we hadn''t wished for to happen. But within only a few moments it had turned into this. Is this what the King and Vali were trying to accomplish?...The King has yet to step in yet though, why? '' To the Prince''s menacing stare everyone looked towards Vali and saw a very calm and stoic demeanor. Smirking back towards the Prince''s words like they were the rantings of a small child throwing a tantrum. "Ooooo, scary. Kinda hard to make that happen with just your power though huh? Thinking about maybe asking your daddy for help since you and your crew can''t seem to do much yourselves? Hmph......" - Vali Vali''s words had felt like a hammer had crashed down on each of our heads and even the Prince had begun to lose all color in his face. Vali''s sarcastic tones and behavior had been no different than slapping the 14th Prince on the face. "What did he just say?" - ? "I..is he mocking the 14th Prince right to his face?" - ? "W..who is this guy? Is he crazy or want to start a war?" - ? Each of those from Myro held such violent expressions to Vali''s provocations and wished only to take his life in this Royal Court but a cheerful laughter had started erupting through everyone''s ears. "Ahahahahaha!!!! " - King Asher This unfamiliar laughter came from the throne causing the 14th Prince and everyone else to look towards King Asher slapping his knee and smiling heavily. He was clutching his stomach and his white cheeks had grown red from laughing so hard. "What is...." "Don''t worry, this is all part of King Asher and Vali''s plan...Just watch...." - Shen Shen had whispered in my ear calming my nerves.... "It''s been a while since this old King has heard something so funny. I''ll have to thank the 14th Prince for allowing this King to laugh so much and so early in the day...." - King Asher To the King''s provocations everyone within the great hall were looking at the King if he was a completely different person. "I...is his Highness also mocking the 14th Prince?" - Noble Volner "I..I don¡¯t believe this..." - ? The Prince then looked to the floor and started twitching in anger as if he had just heard his lover had died. Clenching his fist I could see the young Prince was slowly losing reason due to the difficulty he felt dealing with such embarrassment in front of so many people and not being shown any respect. Those from Myro had gathered behind the 14th son of King Myro and stood around him with looks of anger towards the King for mocking their Prince. "Amazing... Ahahaha! You foolish old bastard! Dare mock me like you are someone even worthy of my attention! It seems this Kingdom which has been living so peacefully has forgotten its place!....AHahah! Not to worry this Prince will educate those here today....." - Prince Fredrick The black haired prince then pulled out a dagger and cut his hand while laughing loudly to himself. Those of the King''s Guard all the Royal Officers as well as many from the noble factions were preparing to brandish their weapons in the event they would need to defend the King. The Prince then reached underneath his Royal robes and pulled out a small round shaped medallion. "Kohta dhal sameh hok shee! I invoke the authority of this totem and bequeef the power within to relinquish me the power of royal blood. Invoktus Gigantes!!!" - Prince Dominic Red lights began pouring out from the small disc shaped totem and crawl over the Princes body causing many of those in the Royal Court to panic the moment they recognized what power the young Prince was revealing. "Oh, no! The Prince is revealing his royal bloodlines sacred totem ability!!!" - ? "Protect his Highness!!!" - ? "Everyone get back!" - ? AhhhhH!!!! The surrounding crowds of the Royal Court started running away after hearing the words ''sacred totem'' had caused many of those within the great hall to turn into panic. It is with this Bloodline ability several members of the Royal Family within Myro are able to use that is exclusive to their family''s bloodline. This ability has become famous amongst the Eastern Continent with its overwhelming use in warfare that have allowed their bloodline to remain dominant on this continent for centuries. It is a spell respected even within the Great West and is thought to have been a power the Royal bloodline of Myro had discovered in a dungeon almost 300 years ago. Irvene gave a look of panic and looked back at me with worrying eyes and I tried to say with my eyes that everything would be ok. She looked at me strangely and looked back towards the 14th Prince who started having a deep red glow surrounding him. Each of those from Myro started snickering behind their Prince and backing up away from him. But to Vali and those who were now standing behind him hadn''t moved a muscle yet and instead had continued staring curiously towards the young Prince. His figure started to distort and grow at an astonishing pace. His legs began to grow long and thick, his back had started extending to the ceiling and within moments the visage of the young Prince had grown to almost as tall as the stone ceiling. Now he was looking down towards Vali while laughing loudly in a much deeper voice than before. "Hahahaha! You see now where your places are! At our feet...Daring to utter such distasteful words of provocation to this Prince, I should squash you like bugs beneath my boot...Ahahaha! It would be just as easy to you little peasant. ¡° - Prince Fredrick Such an imposing figure looked horrifying to try and fight to any warrior but to those of us who have witness much bigger..... This Prince is in for a violently rude awakening if he thinks that means anything to these people. The giant Prince''s voice had grown very deep and started laughing while looking down towards Vali and his companions who were still staring towards Prince Fredrick without moving muscle. The King had not said anything yet and had remained in his throne and looked unaffected while signally his guards or those from the magic guilds present not to attack. All eyes now were on the young Prince and Vali staring up at the giant in front of him looking unamused. "Hmph....That¡¯s it?....You just grow a little bigger? Ahahahaha! Wha¡­what''s with the whole fancy light show before...Was that all for this hehe?¡± - Vali "Ahahahahahah!" - Vali''s companions Loud laughter then started to echo through the Royal Court sweeping through all the ears of those here. To such words they looked like they had heard a bad joke and looked towards the laughing group with eyes like they were mad. To everyone else Vali and his group may have looked insane but compared to the massive Fomorian beasts, this 14th Prince must look like a clown to them. "Is he still mocking the 14th Prince? I, eh..."- ? "Does he wish to be crushed?!!" - ? "Is that idiot crazy? He''ll be squashed like a bug for sure!" - ? The Prince did not look amused and looked towards Vali with a burning hatred at caused even his towering figure to start trembling. "Ahaha, thanks for the laugh Prince...I needed that. Hehe...." - Vali "Hehe, you think it''s funny now. Let''s see how you like becoming a meat patty you fucking peasant!!!" - Prince Fredrick Prince Fredrick''s massive form rushed forward causing the whole Royal Court to quake from his sudden movement. Prince Fredrick through his fist that could smash through a City Gate towards Vali, attempting to crush him with one blow. Hoping to somehow appease his pride that had been damaged. As the Prince''s massive fist flew towards Vali and his group, the white haired man started shaking his head dejectedly. Looking towards the giant who wasn''t even half the sheer height from those colossal beasts and nowhere near as menacing, he gave an atmosphere that was as calm as can be. "Even if your power has skyrocketed you think your capable of squashing me like a bug?.....Ever been swatted before?...Wind Claw....." WHooooooOOOOOOSH!!!! With a single swipe of Vali''s finger a faint blue ray of magic flew out from his finger and towards the incoming fist. SHhhhhHHHHEeeeeerr SPlirt! Just as the massive fist was about to collide a large rain of blood erupted out from the 14th Prince''s giant arm. With one clean motion the small stream of magic went straight through the Prince''s hand and halfway up his right arm. AHHhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! Loud roars came out from the giant Prince as he took several large steps back, upholding his arm which was causing a large pool of blood to form below his enlarged feet. The 14th son of Myro had his entire arm, from the tops of his hand all the way to his elbow, had been severed in half. Now dangling under the young Prince''s shoulder looked like a monster''s hand that was covered in blood and mangled beyond belief. ''What did he do to him?......'' "AHHhhhhHHH!!!!!!! You bastard!!! YOU dare ughhh! I swear my Royal Father will make you pay for this! Ugh....AHhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHH!H!H!H!!!" - Prince Fredrick The young Prince fell down causing the entire hall to shake and those from Myro had a look of panic emerge on their face. While everyone else within the hall including Irvene, Princess Olivia and all the Royal Court to be dumbfounded. I however just noticed....Where''s the Prince Dominique? I had no time to think about him right now and turned back to see that the young Prince of Myro had shrunk down to his normal size and was now being held up by his comrades shaking in anger. "Ahaha...There it is, the ''I''m going to tell my daddy on you'' ahaha. Weren''t you going to squash me like a bug beneath your shoes? Was all that talk and light show just a silly act put on for our amusement pft? ...." - Vali ''¡­....'' The King then ushered several of the Priests and Priestesses standing around to help tend to the young Prince as best they could. Now however all eyes were on one person and now had started looking towards him in an entirely new light. There standing in the same place as he was standing before with his arms over his chest looking towards the critically injured Prince with disdain, was the Kingdom''s newest Vassal. "Like I said... If all it does is make you grow bigger than what''s the big deal? Those behind me are experts in fighting giants so we welcome a good fight anytime....But you think you can be so arrogant and get away with taking anyone''s life when you want, where you want?...Tsk tsk.... I mean you can''t even make your weapon grow bigger which just makes you a giant walking target in my eyes.... " - Vali The still bleeding Prince had no words to say anymore and looked as if he was losing his mind to not only the words of ridicule but the intense agony in his arm. Whatever the reason the young Prince didn''t dare to even look towards Vali anymore. All he could do was stare at his arm praying that it could be saved. He didn''t dare try to react to Vali''s provocations again even if he were going to make fun of his ability, bloodline or even his Royal Father. With one move of his finger had been able to subdue the 14th Prince which must have been a massive blow to his pride. Not only that but now I''m sure they are contemplating just who is this white haired person who has dealt with him and his men as if they were the insects waiting to be squashed. The thin framed man gritted his teeth and looked towards the King and barked at him asking him how he thinks he should tell King Myro about how they were treated in such a matter while within their walls. "Insolence! Your Highness dares to allow such an injury befall our young Prince. How do you plan on answering for this? What do you wish us to tell his Royal Highness, King Myro over such behavior towards a Royal Envoy!!!" - Myro Noble "I don''t care what you tell him. Just get your asses out of our Kingdom. " - Gaven The large Royal Knight standing next to Shen then addressed the thin framed man, causing him to sneer in anger thinking they had never imagined been treated in such a way when traveling here. "Yeah, that''s right! Your Prince dare stir up trouble within the Royal Court and you demand justice?" - Merchant "Exactly! How dare they think they can get away with such behavior! Do they think this is their land where they can do whatever they please? " - Noble "¡­.MMm, hmph. Tell your Royal Father I look forward to this Cross Country tournament, and hope to see him in Trost within 2 month''s time for the big day.... I hope you''ll send my regards to him 14th Prince...." - King Asher Again the King had said something that was shocking to the crowd making each of those here even rub their eyes to see if it was still the same person they had known for so long. The King had usually not acted in such a way and was always a person who spoke for peace first. But now he was adding fuels to flames and showing the imposing manner of a King with peerless courage and authority. The Prince gritted his teeth towards the King just before glancing back at Vali before having his men assist him in leaving. Regardless of the Healing magic that was used the Prince drank several health potions his men had force fed him until they had properly wrapped up his arm as hopefully to keep the Prince from permanently losing it. Those from Myro started slowly retreating out from the throne room with bitter faces on. "I shall tell him for you your Highness....Cah...And believe me you will regret this day. Mark my words. Ha...ha....ha....All of you will¡­. - Prince Fredrick The Prince started to be ushered away and he was still seething in anger. They did however choose to withdraw after facing such a vicious and bitter loss. Clap! Clap! Clap..clap "Good job Vali!" - Cyanin "Yeah that was awesome bro! But why didn''t you let us have any fun?" - Tanin Those from Vali''s side had smiled looking back towards him and started noticing all the gawking looks that they were now given as opposed to the sneers they were having to put up with before. Irvene, Princess Olivia and members of the Clergy and Royal Factions gathered here each gave somewhat startled looks now towards Vali who now appeared much more stoic than before. Vali turned around and faced his Highness and smiled. The King looked back down towards him and also nodded his head approvingly to Vali. Just as the King was about to say something however, what felt like an overwhelming force had gripped into my heart and made it hard to breath. It was the same fear I felt within that dungeon. An overwhelming feeling of death that had started to encroach into the air. The very aura around Vali I could feel had turned and it felt like an immovable force had practically swept right past me. Vali''s eyes instantly grew wide and were now seething with rage. A blackness started to appear around his body and slowly started to cover his face. "SAY IT AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! " - Vali Vali spun around and faced those retreating figures of Myro who hadn''t even made it out the entrance again. Those from Myro had immediately halted in their tracks and shook as Vali''s echo sounded again and again throughout the hall causing all those present to do the same. Vali''s excessive roar had sent shivers down my spine and felt to have been followed by a wave of an overwhelming sensation of death. Whatever Vali had just done with his voice was enough to send almost everyone present to drop to their knees. The light orbs which were illuminating the room began to flicker and whatever was happening I could almost feel blow right through me. Something powerful is subduing all those who are within the hall making everyone tremble while staring back towards the now furious Vali. Other than those who knew of Vali and his group showed looks of intense fear while there were even a few within the hall who could even remain standing. From Irvene, and a couple of those from Myro didn''t seem quite as affected but each held looks of horror looking towards the one who was responsible for such an oppressive force. Even the King and Queen showed a look of shock meaning this was not something they had planned. Now looking towards Vali with confusion and perhaps slight worry if we were to make a rash decision they had not prepared for. Vali started slowly approaching those from Myro. It was so quiet we could all hear each of Vali''s footsteps going towards them and none of us were aware of what Vali was doing. "SAY that again! And KNOW....The moment, those words about my family leaves your lips..." - Vali Whooosh! Vali''s image flickered into after images and burst off the chamber¡¯s floor and towards those from Myro. This sudden action caused each of their faces to turn into a panic. Without any effort Vali reached out towards them and snatched the trembling figure by the neck, yanking him violently in the process. It however was not the 14th Prince that Vali was now holding by the neck, but the thin framed man who stood beside him. Each of the Myro Guards were unable resist from Vali''s sudden movement and now alongside their Prince were looking back towards Vali with one of their men squirming for their lives in Vali''s grasp. His shiny nails were embedded deep within the man''s neck causing small trinkets of blood to fall down onto the floor. Whatever it was that Vali was able to hear across such a large hall had caused his behavior to almost turn berserk, even the look in his eyes was nothing like I had ever seen in this man before. It was at this moment I could truly see a look of regret not only in the man''s face but also the Prince and those from Myro as well. It was then I noticed how much he had truly wished he hadn''t provoked Vali at all or even has spoken to him in the first place. Now they are right back in the situation they had just escaped from. Vali''s voice made his voice as clear as day for those to hear him speaking into the man''s ear. "¡­.I will rip you apart and send you back to your King in pieces¡­ Then hope the next guy they send will be a little smarter. - Vali "Yo...you...d...d.are...ckk....." - Myro Noble "P..put him down now! Or....or...." - Prince Fredrick Vali without even paying attention tossed the man gasping for air onto the ground causing the eyes of those from Myro to brighten up. But just before they felt a sense of relief that same hope was ripped away once more. Slam! BOoom! Within one movement Vali put his foot on top of the same man''s chest and stared towards him struggling. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Wh..what are you going to...do..." - Myro Noble. ¡°W...Seriously, who is this rash person?¡±- Noble ¡°Is he a mad dog! Does he wish to bring our Kingdom war, why threaten a messenger?!¡± ¨C Ghelnner Noble Vali looked towards those from Myro, the Royal Court and then at the young Prince. He then peered around and saw all the gawking spectators waiting to see what was going to happen next. "Hehe, I don''t really think that far ahead....But this person here, just crossed my bottom line." - Vali As Vali''s words echoed out I could feel the intense longing that Vali had felt for this man and he wanted only to take his life for whatever he had just said. "Sir Vali... I agree the young Prince and his envoy have been foolish in their actions today. But he has already learned his lesson don''t you think? Why not show them mercy just this once and possibly overlook their nation''s distasteful nature. " - King Asher The King calmly interjected and Vali looked back towards him and smirked. "Hm¡­Not to worry your Highness. I won''t take someone''s life cause they¡¯re ignorant of such things but I will hold them accountable for crossing my bottom line after knowing it. So for this guy here, the Prince and your little posse, and to all those able to hear my voice. You''d do well to listen up...My name''s is Vali and you''ll come to find that this world has caused me to grow very paranoid.....You want to call me a peasant or whatever this bitch just called me, do what you want. I honestly could care less... I have better things to worry about than what some smug Prince says about me anyways... Want to try and step up to me then go ahead....I''ll just send ya on your way with a few broken bones and regretting your decision making skills......" - Vali The light orbs again started to flicker and another wave of a pressure reverberated from Vali and causing several of those present to gulp. "But the moment you bring my family into this and threaten them like this little prick just did... I don''t care who it is even if it''s this dumb Prince¡¯s daddy. I, will CRUSH YOU...like a BUG!...Got it? - Vali Vali''s words echoed to all within the great hall reminding each of them over the Princes words spoken just a few short breaths ago. The man being stepped on had no words but could only slightly nod his head after realizing no amount of effort he gave would move Valis foot even an inch. "¡­Hopefully you''ll learn this lesson." - Vali Snap! Vali''s fingers snapped and within moments his pet wolf had rushed towards the thin faced man''s monster pet at astonishing speed. The black panther just stood there shaking looking towards the incoming wolf cub and could do nothing while he came and sank his fangs straight into his throat. RARRrrhfh.Nnyaa... "N...Norghva!! NO!...Stop please...NNnnoooooO!!!!" - Myro Noble Within moments the tamed beast had finished squirming for life and those who could see, were able to watch the Health drop rapidly before disappearing entirely. Before anyone could speak again Vali had claimed that was a price this man had to pay but there won''t be another price high enough to save his life should he ever dare threaten his family members again. The young Prince and all those from Myro could only grit their teeth in acceptance that they were simply not strong enough to do anything. The overwhelming feeling of death has disappeared as quickly as it had invaded each of those here today. Many of those in the Royal Court then began to stand back up and stare in awe of the man who came back with us. I''m sure no one doubted Vali''s words considering he was willing to treat the foreign envoys in such a manner and threaten even King Myro. The Myro noble who had stared begrudgingly towards the death of his tamed beast shook with anger but under his Prince''s eye he dejectedly got up and went towards though from the envoy. Each of them now held grim looks and didn''t dare look Vali in the eye not once. While they still held rage in their hearts none dared to provoke Vali again. I could feel my heart racing and now Irvene was looking back at me as if she were saying with her eyes that she had to hear everything that has happened since we last spoke that has led to right now. Those from Myro now no longer dared to speak up after watching Vali''s brutal nature and learned they were vastly inferior. Instead they scurried off rather quicker than they had the first time, until each of their figures had all disappeared. Vali''s entire mood and demeanor had changed back to his normal look and he walked back towards his group. Everyone got out of his way and only those from his group had gave him accepting looks. Then a loud laughter had erupted throughout the quiet hall causing all to look towards who was the cause. "Ahahahahahahhaha!!!!!!!" - Alysteir Vali looked towards the blue haired Neko and made an unpleasant face towards her. If I remember actually this one and Vali didn''t get along either when we first met. The thin Neko continued holding her stomach and laughing while wiping a tear from her eye. Vali instead of addressing her looked towards the King and said it was probably time they got going but he would be back to speak with him as they had previously spoke of before arriving here. The King and Queen however both looked troubled as this was actually supposed to the part where Vali was officially to be introduced into the Royal Court and he was to meet all the important figures. Then in a few days we would have the official Knighting ceremony. However, the King hadn''t expected Vali would skip out after his and the King''s plans to show off their new prowess in front of the Royal Court to showcase the King and Vali''s power within the Kingdom. While all the Noble families and factions aren''t present today, this is surely something that will undoubtedly spread throughout the Asher''s 32 cities like a wildfire. "Ah, well....I suppose we can discuss this further when you return. I''m fully aware you have much business to attend to and I''m thankful for providing us your time today. You are dismissed Sir Vali. My wife and I look forward to your visit. I shall have everything in order for you by early tomorrow. Please do come by at your earliest convenience....." - King Asher Vali nodded and instructed it was time for him and his group to leave. Since Vali''s ability to warp locations is currently unknown to the public they have chosen a spot within the Royal Manor where they will be able to leave the Kingdom unnoticed. "Wait!!!" - Princess Lucy The small blonde Princess'' small feet tapped against the white stoned tile and towards Vali before he had left. She ran and wrapped her arms around his waist and happily. "We''ll play again tomorrow ok Vali?" - Princess Lucy "Sweetheart, Vali and his people have quite a lot to do in the coming days. You know this." - Queen Asher "Bu...." - Princess Lucy "It''s fine. We''ll be back tomorrow and I''ll even bring the Pixies along with me. " - Vali "Perfect! I have so many friends I want them to meet! I''m so excited I can hardly wait!!! Hurry back kay!" - Princess Lucy The Princess stepped back with her hands on her hips looking back up towards Sir Vali. To this small interaction again the surrounding crowd had been growing more and more curious as to this mysterious person''s identity. Within such a short time a new face has appeared within the Royal Court which has somehow gained such a close relationship with the Royal Family and wields an overwhelming dominating presence that even sends one of the Princes from Myro to retreat with his tail between his legs. "Hmph, sounds good Princess.... Your Highness....." - Vali After brushing over the Princess'' hair Vali shot one final glance towards the King and Queen and nodded to each of them. "Bye Vali! Bye everyone!!!" - Princess Lucy With one hand raised in the air signifying a wave as enough of a response for the Royal Princess, Vali continued walking forward followed by all those who came alongside him. Both the King and Queen looked at each other oddly and both looked towards Vali and did the same. I suppose they are slowly understanding Vali doesn''t seem to wish to spend time with such matters when there is work to do. He isn''t like others who have gained a good sum of land and use it as a means for financial profit. I think he is certainly going to be someone who works diligently to build his settlement and will no doubt not shy away from the work that needs to be done. As the images of Vali and those who came along with him exit the great hall after such a big show, all that was left were the surrounding Nobility and members of the Royal Court that were left in utter disbelief. A new power had emerged within Asher and by Vali and the King''s hand put on a show that clearly represented their power within the Royal Court. I imagine someday soon Vali will become a name that no one within all of Asher''s 32 cities does not know, and one day maybe even the world. I glanced back at Shen, Shakko and Sumei who now looked to finally understand our earlier emotions after finally returning. Irvene and Princess Olivia both showed similar looks towards me and back towards the King and Queen. Princess Lucy had jogged over to her sister and Irvene and started giggling. "Hmph... See I told you. My new Knight is really, really, really strong hehehe!" - Princess Lucy To the young Princess'' laughter, made both Irvene and Olivia give the short Princess looks of extreme curiosity and amazement. Each wishing to know just who this foreign figure who had befriended the second Princess and Royal Family, and mostly why they had never heard of him until just now.... ------------------------------------------------------------ Elyria''s POV: "Hmmmm Hmmmmm hm hm hm hm.....There all tucked in. Comfy?" The small puffy-tailed demi-human just nodded back to me after I tucked her in bed. I continued humming a peaceful melody while tucking in the small demi-human girl who came alongside Vali from his last trip to Aldain. Each of them, obviously weren''t comfortable being given a room each to sleep. Some of the woman had even shook violently when I tried taking some of them to one of the rooms to sleep in. Poor things have received such treatments, they seem unable to fully trust what my son has done for each of them. This one was unwilling to even give her name. She just looked saddened when I had asked I didn''t wish to press her. "Um..." - ? Just before I reached the door to the hallway of the large mansion within this dungeon, I heard the soft voice coming from behind me. "What is it dear?..." "Is...is it really, ok?" - ? "I''ve already told you that dear....It''s all going to be ok now. You won''t be treated the same way you have been... Not here. Now you should get some rest alright? We all have a big day tomorrow. " "......" - ? She looked like the words were still confusing to her and bit her lip and looking at the black-furred blanket covering. Struggling with some of the words she were trying to say as if they were a confession. "¡­.I''ve just, never had my own bed. And..and such a warm...tasty meal before...." - ? "...Well, before tasting my son''s cooking I probably wouldn''t say much different hmmph.... Lucky for all of us, my son enjoys cooking so we should be enjoying it for quite some time...." To my reassuring words the young girl turned back to the wooden bed that was no smaller than the one I had slept on for years of my life in captivity. This one however was soft and warm and was surrounded by something much different. Somehow I think it''s all about the family and people you love that makes a home, what it is. "You try and get some sleep ok...If you need anything I won''t be far away..." I reassured the young girl once more just before slowly closing the door but leaving a small crack just like I did all the rest. Just before I stepped into the hallway where there were two tall female demi-humans waiting for me, I heard the faint whisper from the same girl saying ''thank you''. "Ah, Ano Wei. Ru Ru Kai Vali is apparently getting drunk. Now that we''re finished, Za Za and I wanted to see what this was about. Would you like us to escort you?..." - Rei "Hmph....I can understand a bit of that....." ''While I know ''Ru Ru Kai'' is what these demi-humans use for Vali, Ano Wei is something I believe is what they refer to me. I just shrugged my shoulders and they both nodded and turned around to walk towards the front of the large stone mansion their race have somehow built down here. I can''t imagine just how deep within the earth we must be, but It''s amazing the sort of environments and even cities that exist in such a place. Errrrrr..... Pat...pat..pat..pat.pat Just then the three of us saw one of the cracked doors open up and a small human girl had opened up her door and walked into the room of another one. After investigating and slowly opening the room she had entered. I saw the small human child climb up on bed and had already laid down right next to two other figures one which being not much older than her. She had snuggled up to his back and quickly shut her eyes and tried to fall asleep in this new place. ''Each of them didn''t look to be related...Hmph, maybe it was wrong of me to try and separate all of them? Well, perhaps we can fix this another time. '' After closing the door, the two Annunakes and myself continued down the long hallway and towards the front of the large estate that even made Lord Tyrule''s castle pale in comparison. Everything had such beautiful carvings in the walls of antlers or paw prints. Everything is so beautifully made I''m almost more bewitched by this manor than the actual dungeon itself. Each of our ears had perked up when we had heard the music coming from nearby. Upon entering into the room I was met with the same warm glow each time I stand within the presence of one of these extraordinary Pixies.
You are now under the effects of Call of the Songbird + 30 Courage while under the effects of the Songbird''s Cry After listening to the enchanting melody from the majestic Songbird''s cry, you will be swept away in the joyous song with friends and lovers. *All forms of Recovery will now replenish at 35% the normal rate while under the duration from the Call of the Songbird.
We each heard such a beautiful voice enter each of our ears followed by an uplifted spirit and each of our hearts beginning to race. "OOoooohhhhh.....Oooh oh oh oh Ooooh oh oh ohh oh! Go out finghtinnnnnnggg. Go out youngggggg. Oh oh ohhhhh! Go out fighting, till our day comes..... Ohhhh oh oh oh ohoh!" - Alder Walking down the long, finely crafted steps of the Annunake manor, I could see the enchantingly uplifting song had came from a long haired demi-human with red, green, yellow and purple feathers coming out from her hair that looked like silk. She had large multi-colored wings and dazzling dress showing off her slim figure and continued dancing while shaking her feathers with each beautifully sounding word. Looking around there were several people still celebrating and opening bottle after bottle of liquor they had apparently just found. Not only that, apparently the Pixies had discovered something rather joyous on the floor they had lived on, and from what I think many of the races within this place are still there now. Though, that doesn''t stop those here from enjoying the gift of life together with uplifting song and close bonds. Clap..Clap..Clap..clap The music continued playing and instruments strummed, while the Pixies each clapped in unison when one of their own would jump out in the middle and start dancing. "Go Cyanin....tehehee!" - Daisy The small turquoise colored Pixie jumped out and spun around and started quickly moving her feet in quick shuffling motion. Clap..clap..clap..clap! Looking around there were many others who also were swept up in the song and dance as well while many of the races even appeared to be fraternizing happily with one another. "¡­.Oh don''t worry pretty kitty. These flames won''t burn you hehe hiccup!...." - Tanin "Ugh?....." - Neko The two Annunakes and myself each stood towards the entrance of the large hallway at the foot of the staircase and each stopped after seeing what we each had. Everyone was enjoying themselves merely. Even my amazing son....surprisingly. With Ari happily sitting on his shoulder and holding his hair, Vali was dancing in a small circle of Pixies while spinning the same Pixie who had white wings that glowed with all the colors that this world could ever produce. Each of the Pixies were dancing barefoot and clapping along with the beat right next to Vali who had a yellow, red, and blue little demi-humans all dancing right next to him. I saw Sasha quietly laying down on Fenrir who looked to have already fallen asleep or were each just relaxing along with the music. Even Lily and Tierra, who I just tucked in bed, were there standing amongst the Pixies and giggling while looking up at Vali who was now appeared to be enjoying himself for maybe the first time I had ever seen during our time together. Looking around the room there are many others dancing and having a good time, but I''m not the only one looking towards my son at the moment. Many of the Annunakes and other races of demi-human are looking towards Vali with such warm, loving eyes. I can see just how much the people here truly adore my son. "Is Ru Ru Kai drunk?" - Za Za "Heh, I''m not sure but look Za Za. Ru Ru Kai is smiling for once..." - Rei "Yes, I''ve seen him make this face a few times with that small child on his shoulder.... He clearly values that one quite a bit." - Za Za "Well, is she not the same child who had awoken everyone from Balor''s dark illusion spell that threw each of us into the pits of despair? Of course Ru Ru kai would hold her in high regard." - Rei "This one thinks it could be a bit more than just that. But, this look suits Ru Ru kai. " - Za Za The two Annunakes standing next to me each were saying something about my son but I wasn''t sure as to just what that might be. Vali continued dancing merrily with a smile on his face while still keeping ahold of Ari with his other arm so she wouldn''t fall off. I couldn''t help but snicker seeing this. ''Hmphmph... Even while enjoying himself, he still shows such care and concern for others that never stops surprising me with each time I witness it. '' It''s honestly so much I''m truly thankful I had lived through such heartbreaking times to see such a beautiful day. I had almost never been able to witness such a warm and loving emotion before and had even once had tried to taking my life to end all my pain. If not for the actions of a small baby, I honestly don''t know where I would be without him. If this fox is honest with herself, I''m not even sure who I would be without him. Vali went out of his way to take in others who were no different than me or any of those now cheerfully celebrating in this place. Taking it all upon himself to not only free us all from our own personal torments but even providing those who had no one to look out for them before, an overwhelming sense of safety and security with his ever protecting embrace. Ari''s words over my son having wings don''t just sound like a metaphor of profound wisdom but words that are truly able to describe this sense of safety and comfort we both feel having him in each of our lives. It is unlike anything I had ever felt before and something I couldn''t fathom ever losing him. That is why both Ari and I thought of nothing listening to what the Divine Loki had asked of me to find my son and help him at the risk of my own life. Seriously, how is a mother suppose to punish his son when he has been misbehaving but does things without so much as a petal of selfishness for himself. Hmm, it makes this fox feel I should rethink his punishment just a bit. He has obviously been working very hard lately. The music then had just started to die down and everyone clapped towards the lovely singer and other winged demi humans who were playing their instruments who each bowed to the incoming applause. Each of the winged demi-humans had however stood up abruptly and scurried closer towards the entrance and then all started to bow together. "Seems everyone''s having a good time in here heh. No point in stopping on my account Irishia." - Kyrah Just then a tall winged demi-human with bright golden hair, golden feathers and golden lips entered into the mansion and into the large corridor where everyone was mingling together. She had beautiful bronze skin and wore a bright golden gown that showed up her very enchanting figure. With each and every curve the lines of her dress drew out the image of a stunning Demi-human with a rather lustful body. It was almost hard to take my eyes away when seeing such an attractive person, I could feel almost all of the eyes in the room had turned towards this one person. She as well as those with her were probably a part of the large group who are currently on Floor 4 after a recent discovery by the Pixie race that has seemed to have caused a very large commotion. Vali and many of those here had actually just came back from there not too long ago, and is the cause for most of the dungeon inhabitants for probably still being there right now. Without greeting anyone else I noticed this tall beauty had walked in with a few attendants and started swiftly walking towards where my son was standing. "Ah, so even the hardworking hero has decided to have a few drinks tonight? How is that liquor you boys picked up by the way...Mind if this King gets a little taste?" - Kyrah As the beautiful demi-human adorned with gold stepped closer to my son with a rather odd look in her, I could feel each of my whiskers twitch. ''Mmm....I''m not sure how I feel about all of these females with such....lustful bodies hanging so closely to my son. Mm, he is a man after all....'' Vali with his free hand grabbed a bottle looking almost like a fruit gourd with a dark purple liquid swishing around inside. "Sure, drink up. With all the bottles that were recovered from our little ''excavation'' project, there''s bound to be plenty more." - Vali "Hmph, that''s an understatement. I just left from Floor 4 just now, and our ''little project'' is probably going to take several days just to finish tagging each item so that noisy little nerd will stop screaming every few minutes...." - Kyrah "Yeah, Izzie does seem to have that sort of behavior. Here ya go King....." - Vali The golden winged maiden took a small dusty bottle of liquor and without dusting or wiping it off took a drink right from the bottle. "Mm....That is good. Ah, where''s the music in this place? Let''s get this party started again huh? What do ya say Alpha Vali....Care for a dance with this King?" - Kyrah The golden haired maiden then glanced oddly towards my son and then a Pixie with red hair had flown up to eye level with her and held a strange glare in her eye. "Maybe next song King Kyrah...Vali already promised he''d dance with me next so you''ll just have to wait." - Cosmia "Yeah, then it''s Daisy, then me so you''ll just have to wait your turn." - Cyanin "Hmph, it isn''t the little night lights, I almost didn''t see you standing down there hiccup...Oh wow this liquor is s...strong mm..... " - Kyrah The Pixies started clamoring on together while the golden haired maiden seemed almost bewitched by the drink in her hand and started ignoring everything around her. While all of this was happening I noticed my son slowly walk away with Ari still on his shoulder and went to sit down towards a large black box-like object. Out in front of the strange box made from a black and aged old wood was a small bench he had went to sit down, swaying slightly with each step. Feeling I would join my son too I walked out in front of the two Annunake guards one of the races decided to provide Vali for himself as well as each of his family members. Even within their own home, I noticed each of the two Annunakes behind me start to now walk forward and follow quietly behind me. "Hey, look....It''s the Alpha''s mother." - Annunake "Oh, wow she''s breathtaking.... I wish I could go speak with such a heavenly beauty.." - Neko "You seriously want to try hitting on the Ru Ru kai''s mother? Hehe...good luck." - Alderon "Seriously do you have a death wish?" - Annunake "Oh, calm your hearts obviously I''m not that crazy. I was just saying how beautiful she looks hiccup..." - Neko Walking through the stone floor and towards the corner where Vali was I saw Lilly, Tierra and even Noah who had already made their way over to where Vali was sitting. I walked towards all those who were seated and mingling together with drinks in their hands while I noticed many eyes start to turn towards me and show different looks than this fox is at all use to. They give me looks of reverence and not that of a common whore like I''ve received for almost half my life. It is a rather new feeling that is for sure, but it almost makes me uncomfortable at times just how respectful each of them are and many have even began bowing in front of me. ''Hm, all because of this son of mine hmph.... '' "Really, sounds like each of you have been having a good time....Tierra how about you? Have you been trying to learn anything new while I was away?" - Vali "Oh, hehe..Well um..I didn''t really learn any skills like Lilly and Noah but...I, I''ve been learning to read and it''s been so much fun....I can already read a full sentence even, even though it may take me a while....Mhpmph..." - Tierra "Already? That''s great Tierra, I''m proud of you. You''ll have to show me how much you''ve learned soon...." - Vali "Th..thank you master hehe...I, I''ve been trying really hard." - Tierra "I know you have...You guys have each been working hard. Lilly already making it to Beginner Level 3 in Hand to Hand Combat after just learning the skill only a few days ago...That''s awesome. " - Vali "Hehe, well I''m nothing like my brother...He''s the one who helped me learn the movements and everything..." - Lilly "Yeah, but you put in the effort...Keep it up. And seriously Noah already reaching the Intermediate stage after only 9 days is pretty impressive. You''ll be beating me up in no time." - Vali "Hehe, I don''t know about that. I felt like I stopped gaining experience until I started hitting trees like you said and even more when I was sparring with Lilly. Then I finally made it into Intermediate hehe. Oh, I did learn a new cool skill too...Look at this." - Noah "Di..did he just say he went from Beginner to Intermediate within 9 days?" - Rei "I think so? That boy''s training speed is almost comparable to even Kato''s who took only 7.... Even Adimar took 8 days to clear the beginner stage, is this kids training speed truly that formidable?" - Za Za "I wonder what technique he must be learning though to have achieved such a substantial training speed. Perhaps it is weak technique or one that does not require much movement? " - Rei "Hmph, regardless. It is still an impressive achievement. Ru Ru Kai''s family seems quite remarkable don''t they hehe?..." - Za Za The Annunakes behind me spoke out while listening to Vali talk with each of the young kids I feel have been adopted within our family even if it hasn''t been said. Each of them wanted so much to impress the one who had saved each of them and continued talking with Vali and each showing him their achievements. A small blue screen then appeared out in front of Noah and Vali without getting up hazily looked at it and smirked. "Hehe, a ''berserker'' skill. That''s cool... Each of you have been working very hard, I''ll have to give you each a little reward soon...gup!" - Vali "Mph, thanks Master." - Tierra "Yeah, we''re all really happy you''re back Vali. We...we missed you." - Lilly "Well, I missed you guys too...." - Vali Vali then reached out and picked up Lilly and placed her on top of the black box, and then did the same with Tierra who each giggled while being picked up by him. Now their feet continued dangling over these strange pedestals and kept giggling when they looked up and noticed me. Each of their tails started to swirl and even Ari''s had started going the same when she had noticed that I had came over and sat next to my son. "Oh, hey mother.... I was wondering where you went." - Vali "Hmph, oh has my son already forgotten I was attending to some of those you had recently brought back from Aldain?...This fox thinks you might be drinking a little too much hmph...." "Hehe, maybe I have had a lot. You are starting to blur a bit...." - Vali "Ugh, what sort of mother am I to let my only son who hasn''t even had his first birthday get so drunk... " "I''d say a pretty cool one hmph... You should have a drink too..." - Vali I smirked towards my son who then started putting his fingers towards the small pedestals and started pushing each of them downward. We were each met with a strange sound coming from it and held an almost musical tune after each pedestal was pressed. Each of us continued quietly watching my son play with the black box with a hazy smile in his eye and drink in his hand. "Do you know what this strange object is? Wasn''t it recovered on one of the lower floors of this place with all that liquor you just brought up?" My son glanced towards me while still trying to figure out how the strange large box had worked. "Heh, this thing I think is a sort of piano even though it differs a bit...Mm, it''s a.... Sort of instrument from my world...Even though the keys aren''t attached to anything. Strange seeing something like this here to be honest gup....Mmm..." - Vali Vali continued swaying back and forth while trying to play the strange instrument which caused the "So my son can play this pee-a-no then?" After a few brief movements of his hands clumsily, my son started to make the sounds coming from this large black box to produce a melody of intertwined tunes that flowed in such a beautiful way. "Hmph...I guess maybe I can play the piano. Ah, this is crazy...." - Vali "Oh, so was my son a musician in another life is that it ?" While smiling towards my son he shook his head and closed his eyes while making a face of enjoyment. "Hehe, not at all...But with my cerebral capacity not being what it was I feel, some basic tasks or actions that should be complex to memorize, seem to have become rather simple. Hehe.....Mmm...there it is...." - Vali A sweet tune started coming from Vali''s fingers that caused everyone in the large hall to turn and look towards Vali closing his eyes and playing, almost ignoring everyone around him. Ari who was now seated in his lap held an excited look in her eye looking towards Vali''s hands slowly playing a beautiful melody from his fingers. Vali almost seemed surprised at his ability to do what he was doing but the melody he played was perhaps a song from his world. "Hehe, oh is the Alpha going to play a tune for us?" - Za Za "It''s such a sweet sound. Mmm...." - Rei "Oooooohhh...Look everyone Vali''s playing a song for us!" - Daisy "Oh, wow! It''s so lovely....I didn''t know Vali could play music too!" - Cosmia "Hehe, big brother Vali''s so cool....Hiccup...Ah...why is everything so blurry?" - Tanin "Because you drank too much you hot head!" - Cyanin "Mm...You say that like it''s a bad thing..." - Tanin "Shhh! I want to hear big brother Vali play now hush!" - Cari While ignoring all the sounds from those now drawing closer and listening in, Vali continued playing like no one was even there. Seeing this was something that made my heart flutter with joy towards my son who had always showed to be at times so distant. Now he looked to actually be enjoying himself. "Why do you play us all a song from where you''re from Vali. I''m sure we would all love to hear it." To my words I heard both Lilly, Noah and Tierra all excitedly perk up and clap while Ari turned and looked towards Vali excitedly and wagging her tail. "Hmph...want to hear a song from where I''m from?...Ah, I don''t know if I know any umm....Hmm." - Vali Vali continued playing a soft melody while speaking out causing all those in the surroundings to react and become increasingly more interested in hearing the music from Vali''s homeland. While I doubt many here know that Vali is not of this world, I''m sure each of his family who do know would love to see a little more about the one who has truly gathered us all here together. "Oh, Vali are you going to sing us a song?" - Kyrah After a few words from the bronze skinned demi-human, a few of the others who were singing and playing their instruments had started to quiet down. Several voices sounded around and looked to all be now paying attention to Vali who was feeling his fingers over the large instrument. "Hah, I''d personally love to hear a song from Vali''s homeland...What do you think everyone?" - Ollie "Hehe, yeah! Let''s hear a song Alpha. Play us all a tune from where you''re from." - Adimar "Hmph, you all are terrible trying to get the Alpha to sing while he''s drunk hmphmp?" ¨C Akino ¡°I don''t see you stopping him.¡± - Alderon "Alright, alright I think I got one....I think I remember my mother singing this to me when I was just a boy...Well I think it was my mother." - Vali I felt my ears drop to the sides hearing my son speak while many eyes continued to look between both my son and I. None however spoke and quietly listened to the sound coming from my son''s hands that had caused each of us to grow quiet and enjoy the mesmerizing tune. It was then that Vali had done something I hadn''t expected of him and opened his mouth to sing. "¡­.Carry on my wayward son ... They''ll be peace when you, are done. Lay your weary head to rest....Don''t ya cry no more...." - Vali With each of the slowly sung lyrics, the voice that came from my son was one that I had not expected. It had such a calming and soothing tone that made all who listened grow even more quiet. Vali''s fingers continued quickly pressing onto each of the small spoon shaped pedestals making such a lovely sound it was impossible not to be swept away. With every lyric he sang softly but with a strong voice that echoed out and into everyone''s ear. "Once I rose above the noise and confusion. Just to get a glimpse above beyond this illusion. I was soaring ever higher!!!.... But I flew to high...." - Vali Looking around there wasn''t an eye that was not on Vali whether they were the short and gitty Pixies with tears in their eyes, to the large and majestic looking Annunakes, to even that same beautiful golden haired beauty. "Though my eyes could see, I still was a blind man Though my mind could think, I still was a mad man! I hear the voices when I''m dreamingggggg! Ohh! I can hear them say..." - Vali Without a care in the world my son continued to sing the lyrics from his heart I was unable to keep my eyes from resisting the tears from forming. He played such a beautiful melody from his own world while trying to forget the massive destiny that has been placed before him by the very Gods themselves. My son even said this was something his mother use to sing for him when he was just a child. While I know Vali''s relationship with his last mother was not one of affection from what he spoke little over, she was still someone who created a large hole within his heart the day she left him. I was happy, and yet I was heartbroken. With each of the words he sung, I felt just how much anguish still existed within my son''s heart. But with the image of him now I can see him truly opening up more due to the surrounding love from all those here who show to truly adore him. Vali use to always tried to act like he didn''t want to become attached to anyone in this life, why I can only assume because he never wished to feel the same amount of regret and loss as he once had to hold onto. It is why I didn''t wish to bring up Vali''s mysterious world he hails from until he was ready to speak about it with me. ''Mm. He needs us just as much as we need him.....Oh, my dear son.'' I leaned my head onto my son''s shoulder and continued to listen to his sweet music in my ear. I felt him turn and look towards me and then had too leaned his head into mine while he continued singing such beautiful words and soft melody that almost put one to sleep. "And if I claim to be a wise man, Well, it surely means that I don''t know! Carry on my wayward son, They''ll be peace when you are done.... Lay your weary head to rest...Don''t you cry no more....." - Vali ------------------------------------------------------------------- Vali''s POV: "Mmm....This, wine is mm, really good. Never really been one for the stuff, but damn..." "Mphmphmph. Mmm, I don''t think I''ve ever seen you so relaxed before. But this is good too, you should also have times like these after working so hard for everyone else with such little time for yourself... Even if you are a little humorous when you''re drunk, hmm." - Elyria Elyria''s whiskers perked up while looking down at me and still playing with my hair. ''She says her mom use to do this to her when she was young...I''m not complaining cause this feels incredible. Mmm...I wonder if she has a petting skill. Or maybe it''s just this alcohol....mmm, it is oddly strong.'' Within a lot of the artifacts and ancient items we found on the Pixie''s home floor were surprisingly quite a lot of aged old liquor. I was honestly astonished by the taste that was practically addicting just to experience every drop. After finding out that it was still safe to drink from some of the Arachnee and Jiji who analyzed some of the bottles, many of the races decided it was good idea to uncork a few bottles in celebration for finding such a massive bounty. According to Ollie they didn''t need a reason since the festival''s that are normally held after conquering a Floor usually last for 1 full lunar cycle. Which I don''t even know how long that is for them under the seasonal changes here, but why not? ''Who would have thought Cari landed the final damage point on Balor...Unbelievable, and all of the items that the Dungeon Master had accumulated within the span of this dungeon''s creation would have all dropped upon his death....For the Dungeon Inhabitants, each race has an option to place a ''marker'' down for items to be teleported to, should the event their storages become too full after a large battle against a Floor Boss or massive monster hordes.... Something that was never a feature in Loki''s game for anyone. But I don''t really know much about dungeon mechanics either....'' With such a massive haul, there are still hundreds of different race members still on the Pixie''s real home floor searching and tagging new items, before sending them to Pek and Izzie for analysis. Every single race is present for this and that is not only to keep everyone humble, but also because of the massive severity of what Cari and the Pixies have just recently discovered when we had arrived back home..... Everything within Balor''s storage was released and who knows what kind of old, possibly even Divine items could now just be lying there. While Hj?kk hinted that there is undoubtedly a place in the Black Palace that should house most of the items and rewards for conquering the dungeon, but just judging by the simple amount of stuff that got dumped on the floor, maybe Balor kept it all within his own personal storage? Just thinking about how Pek was frantically running around observing and tagging new items, I''ve never seen him like this. When I tried to speak with him after arriving home, all I could understand from his battered words were; ''Can''t talk...momo...This is a nightmare....jiji..momo...''. Izzie however has been drooling nonstop last I tried speaking with her. It''s honestly getting to the manic stages so I just decided to leave that little, overly obsessive kitty to her work and I''d undoubtedly here all she''s learned at some point. ''Regardless, we can''t have anyone even tempted with such an idea of taking something so destructive for themselves, so every single race is present just to take away such temptations. Everyone''s working in shifts and those here celebrating are spending their time drinking instead of getting some rest....Well like Alderon said, we can all sleep when we''re dead.'' I honestly had no idea the Dungeon System in this world worked in such a way, that all monsters and dungeon goers who die within its walls, have most of what''s in their storage taken by the Dungeon Master. This is probably why dungeon''s can reap massive amounts of rewards and gains in this world. Dungeons essentially could even become their own form of business in some Kingdoms. ''Heh, that''s why the message when first discovering the Dungeon said I would acquire the ''best loot possible'', because all the rest of it would probably have gone right into Balor''s pocket. I checked my drops and while there were a lot of peculiar things that came from those Manticore Lions, I have enough stuff from Balor and Malthiel I''ve yet to fully go through. Now with Balor''s death maybe I can find the needed time, and maybe I could find something of value....'' There were honestly so many items lying around on Floor 4, ranging from large to small, I assume those still searching and identifying items will be at it for days. Sadly, even the monsters that have inhabited that floor have also had an entire day to grab some of the items and move them away from the site location that Cari had originally placed for herself and the Pixies. Since Cari never has much of anything in her storage but a few personal things, she had no idea something like this had happened. Until they were collecting some of their personal items on Floor 4 is when they saw one of the native floor monsters wearing a strange and dusty top hat atop his head. Since monsters in the lower levels now inherently dread the Pixies, many of the weaker ones still flee in fright upon seeing them. Since the peculiar monster wearing a top hat intrigued the Pixies, they decided not to kill it and instead followed it to what in all honesty to me, looked like a garbage dump that went on for almost 2 miles. There was honestly so many different items piled high enough to make several small mountains worth of items, weapons, scrolls, clothes, elixirs, gold and a massive assortment of equipment we have no idea just how valuable any of it could be yet. There was even an old school piano that we had decided to bring to the Annunake mansion where everyone was sleeping for the night, before journeying for our new territory tomorrow morning. Just an old dusty piano shaped relic that was found in the assortment of items that I had noticed to be a device looking similar to something from my world. The black keys however aren''t connected to anything I''m aware of and somehow are able to make a tune whenever pressed. ''How this world acquired knowledge on such an instrument like the ''piano'' is peculiar to me but judging by how it looks and the mechanics that are used to make the tunes are far too different from my own worlds.....'' ''Mmm, feels good listening to the melody though... Apparently the Adlers have an instrument somewhat similar to this and were even able to play a short tune for everyone that''s winding down due to the strength of some of this aged alcohol we have just acquired.'' Honestly, with so many things we have to do in the coming months, it feels good just to relax on Elyria''s amazingly soft legs while she runs her long, slender fingers through my hair. We don''t get to share a lot of time like this together which is weird considering she is the first person I ever met coming to this world. She has been an emotional pillar of support in my life and...gup....Mm, this liquor has such a oddly sweet finish, I can''t seem to want the taste to leave my lips. "Hmph, maybe I am getting a little drunk... It''s kind of surprising actually." "Oh, why is that. Because you''re finally a little vulnerable for once oh stubborn son of mine, hmphmph...." - Elyria My mother''s tails continued swaying back and forth on the small cushioned bench she had graciously helped me over to lay down. Now she''s even using her lap as a pillow for me and playing with my hair now that all the younger one''s are finally asleep, and even many of the members had started to pass out. "Haha, what''s with calling me stubborn?.... I didn''t really pick up a drinking habit till the end of my last life...Mnn, I have however found it kind of hard to get drunk since coming here. Wasn''t sure if it was the alcohol or just this new body of mine...Mnnn..." Looking hazely around the slightly blurry room I saw Ari, Lilly, Tierra, Sasha and some of the Pixies sleeping next to Fenrir. Akino and Adimar both left not long after everyone had somehow gotten me to sing for all of them, quite hurriedly too for some reason. I scanned the room and my eyes came back towards the image of Elyria''s calming emerald green-eyes looking down towards me. She held a look of someone with vast intelligence but also a gentle and caring heart. I honestly would have liked to see what she was like when she was younger, before she had her life taken away from her. "Hmph, I honestly can''t seem to find any other word you Humans would use to describe my deceiving little boy who never had the time to tell his mother just how strong he truly is.... It''s almost like he wants his loving and caring mother, he left waiting all alone at home, to only have thoughts of the very worst possibility to have happened...sob...." - Elyria Though Elyria''s words were in a soft tone and she were half-smiling, I could also clearly distinct a hint of humor within her voice. From where my head was resting however, it was hard to see just what expression Elyria was giving. That was roughly due to my mother having a massively round bust size that is considered large to anyone, even in this fantasy world. ''I''ve already caught Sting, Ollie, Alderon and dozens of others guilty of checking her exotic figure out on multiple occasions... I''d honestly be a bit skeptical about the Annunakes who all bathe together and constantly escort my family members everywhere be responsible in guarding her, but the Moonlight Guardians who are responsible for watching over her are all female anyways...'' I chuckled at my mother''s lame but almost refreshing attempt at trying to guilt trip me. "Heh, alone? I don''t think you were necessarily alone though hehe...I''m sure being alone isn''t something either of us should worry about from now on hmph...." "Well, maybe I embellished a bit hmph...But everything else still stands. Such a troublesome young man you grew up to be. Telling me you were going out hunting.... If you weren''t always so warm spirited and working day and night for the sake of others, I''m sure I would have spanked that bottom of yours till it was blue...." - Elyria "...I''m sorry about that. I honestly hadn''t really gained that much strength until the last time I had returned to cabin just before disappearing for a few days.... Even I''m surprised at just all I can do now...gup...." I smiled up at my mom and raised one of my hands in the air and started trying to manipulate the darkness around us into my palm. I attempted using the Divine Ability I got from Balor but I could only gather and distort some of the darkness swirling around my hand that flowed like the wind. My mother watched me struggling with a smile on her face, while still continuing to run her fingers through my shaggy white hair. "...We''re you not a warrior in your last life Vali?" - Elyria "Ugh, no not really hehe... My world''s much different than this one. Magic doesn''t really exist in my world, or who knows maybe it does but it''s not publicly known. In fact there''s probably not a single person from my world you probably couldn''t beat up...." I smirked thinking about the fact that Elyria and I haven''t really gotten a chance to discuss much about my last life since coming here. It''s not that we haven''t had the opportunity, I just honestly don''t make it much of a habit in bringing up old issues. I just find her much more easy to talk to than all those therapists I kept getting mandated to go see by the city for trauma relief victims.... ''Psh, what a bogus scam that was....Hmm, damn this darkness is intangible. It''s incredibly difficult to compact and form into a solid structure no matter how much I try to manipulate it....Just...gup...It honestly feels like trying to make a sandcastle with water. It''s incredibly complex and somehow Balor was able to make thousands of moving and practically living creatures with simple waves from his hand.'' The darkness continued swirling around my wrist and warping around my palm, but I couldn''t seem to do more than just this. "Ah, this is difficult hehe...." "It probably doesn''t help that you''re a bit drunk dear...." - Elyria "Probably right hmph...." "What are you trying to speak of now? Of course your mother is right. She was once a Temple Shaman in her clan and could compete with some of the Elder Druid''s in magic competitions when only just a young girl. Even selected to be the next High Priestess for her tribe once upon a time hmphmph...." - Elyria I stopped attempted to distort the darkness in my hand and instead turned towards my mother''s warm smile that held a hint of sadness within them. "¡­.I''m going to bring your people back to you." "Oh, I know you will my son. I just can''t help but worry about you with that nature of yours...Always trying to do things yourself and getting into such dangerous situations... I honestly think I should spank that bottom of yours until I know you can learn to behave from now on." Peering down towards me I could tell that this was something my mom may have actually been contemplating. "Hmph, I guess I''m lucky my body is a bit more durable these days. Or this poor ass of mine might be in trouble hehe...." "Oh so my child thinks I am unable to still provide punishments is that it?...Hmph this is for using such language, when you know I don''t care for you speaking in such a way." - Elyria When Elyria''s words turned sharp, one of her swirling five tails halted and wrapped around her back and pointed towards my chest while lying in my mother''s lap. Poke.... Zap!....
You have been struck by Energy Wave You have received 607 Damage Stamina has been greatly reduced from a wave of suppressing energy that has now entered into your body and caused your internal energy to turn chaotic. You have been Stunned! For next 2 seconds, all physical movements will become heavily strained for receiving the Stunned status. All Skills using SP will become heavily strained for the next 2 seconds. - 500 Stamina Stamina will now replenish at a 20% slower rate for the next 2 minutes until the suppressing effects of the foreign energy now coursing through your body has dissipated.
A pale yellow spark came out from one of my mother''s tails and felt like having a syringe puncture into me with a light punching sensation that caused me to choke after I felt this immediate rush of stinging pain enter my whole body tingling. Though it didn''t cause a lot of damage, it was still slightly more painful than what I would think from the amount of damage that followed it. ''Even some of the descriptions the World System provides me are a bit more in depth now. I wonder if my higher Wisdom and Intellect play a part in this too. But what''s got me more surprised is all the interesting effects she has giving this interesting skill she had just delivered to me unguarded chest.'' It''s almost like Malfius'' technique but not nearly as dangerous. This however isn''t an elemental magic but something different. "Hehe owe, that''s not Fire or Earth magic...What sort of magical spell was that? " "Hmphmph, oh is my son under the impression this five-tailed fox is merely a Duo-Affinitied mage you humans find so rare? Who''s only capable of using Caster classified; Elemental spells then? Hmph, Fuschs Shamans are nothing like the average Human and cannot be compared with ones who share a vast knowledge and friendship with so many of the world''s Earth Spirits... Something like Duo-Affinity or Tri-Affinity wizards that for your race are perhaps 1 in a million or billion... A Fuschs'' number of tails also amount to the number of types of magic we excel in using.... For this mother of yours that would be Earth, Fire, Water, Enchanting Magic and that last one is another form of magic that is something like manipulating the natural energy currents that are expelled from the environment and all living things...." - Elyria Even though Elyria''s time with Humans were spent as a slave she still seems to hold quite a bit of knowledge over the Human Kingdom and knowledge over magical laws. "Caster classified magics? Earth Spirits and Enchanting Magics, is that like the ''party buffing-skills'' you used on most of the frontline fighters just before the fight with Balor?" "Oh, goodness. How this son of mine could not know such basic and fundamental magic terms and theory makes this old fox truly disappointed with herself.... Hah, Caster Magic is just one of the three major classifications for magical spells and how Humans and most Demi-Human races including your mothers'' are able to use magic. While ''Magic Casters'' would use Magical Spells that are expelled from one''s own body or personal magic ability, there are also ''Magic Wielders'' who use Magical Skills from say a Magic Item or something of the like. Not unlike that haunting scythe you seem to like carrying around so much...And asking a Fuschs Shaman to explain Earth Spirits to you? Do you truly wish to make this one speak for days lecturing you?" - Elyria My mother''s tails continued swaying back and forth with a matured elegance and somehow was still able to give off a somewhat playful behavior. A side of herself I haven''t really gotten to see before. But it was nice getting to talk like this with her and learn from this incredibly talented fox. "...Hmph, I guess I just forgot how much of a badass my mother was hehe..." Snap! Elyria moved her finger down towards my face and flicked my nose before snickering a bit herself. "Language....But yes, it would seem you have. Hmph...." - Elyria Looking back down towards me with a sneer, I couldn''t help but find my mother''s charming personality and warm behavior was very easy to talk to. I just forget sometimes my mother, is a woman too and not even that much older than me either. The maturity she holds and wisdom that is found within each of her words however seem decades older than myself though, that''s for sure. Loki obviously picked this person for a reason, and maybe it was not just for her knowledge but because of her warm, caring nature that doesn''t fade nor wilt even in the harshest of conditions.. ''I never had this sort of relationship with my real mother.... I use to wonder what it''d be like if things would have worked out differently in my last life, maybe things would have been different. But if I''m honest with myself....I''ve never had such a close and personal relationships with anyone other than my siblings. But this Fuschs woman who was leading an even more tortuous life than my own before we met, was the first person to continually try and peel through the many layers of my torn heart. Making me feel a sense of comfort around her that differs from anyone else....'' I started hearing a calming and slow melody that had started entering my ears, reminding me that Elyria and I were not the only ones left awake. We continued chatting together with for who knows how long. Talking with Elyria was rather natural for me even though I''ve never really been one for talking much about myself. There were still a few members in the room who had decided to not turn in just yet and were still ''celebrating'', probably unable to shake the excitement over tomorrow''s journey which is something they had only ever dreamed of. "Mmmm ahaha, is that so? Well personally, I wish to open my own food market, with all the herbs, vegetables and fruits provided from my own personal farm. That way, I can make sure the quality of every single cabbage leaf is of the highest crisp and flavor ...I just hope the soil there is fertile...." - Holland "Oh, I wouldn''t worry too much about that. I''m sure there will be plenty of land, and don''t you remember the message everyone received when conquering this shit hole? Our Earth Affinities have risen, and the darkness cursing the land here has vanished...It will surely be much easier than what your race has had to preserve through until now I''m sure...." - Neko I could hear many of them talking about such things and even speculating about things they wished to achieve in the future. Ollie and Alderon were passed out and it looks like Tanin gave up on trying to hit on that Neko from earlier. The Pixie''s flames were still slightly fluttering over his skin now that he''s passed out alongside his sister Aurora and other members of the Pixies. Each now softly sleeping in the corner together . .......... ~~~~ piano music ~~~~ ( http://www.yourepeat.com/watch/?v=4N3N1MlvVc4&start_at=0&end_at=95 ) ¡­..... Such a faint tune coming from the piano had caused my eyelids to flicker and become increasingly heavy. The gentle massage from Elyria''s fingers brushing my hair caused my relaxation from the aged alcohol to only increase. "Mm, when you do that it honestly makes it feel like all the stresses and worry from the last couple of days just disappear...." Elyria''s ears slightly drooped to the sides looking down towards me and looked to be having trouble finding the words to say. I was just enjoying the quiet relaxation until I''d eventually fall asleep in my mother''s soft lap. "...What seems to be troubling you my son?...." - Elyria "Hah, I guess everything going on.... I thought with Balor''s death I''d have room to breath but¡­Ah, I don''t know...." ......~ All around me are familiar faces, worn out places, worn out faces ~........... With the softly growing melody surrounding us, I was practically lost to the world and somehow unable to find the words for what I truly felt about everything that is happening to me. "Wish to talk about it with this old fox? You know you can tell your mother anything, she will always be right here for you." - Elyria "Hmph...Just some stuff Hj?kk and Loki had said that was troubling me some. That''s all. " ¡­... ~ Bright and early, for the daily races....Going nowhere.....Going nowhere..... ~.......... "...This wouldn''t happen to be about the dark element''s effects it may have on the magic user who studies in its influence?...." - Elyria My mother spoke concerned and had actually hit the nail on the head. ¡­.. ~ No expression....No expression..... ~¡­..... "Hm, judging by that look, I know I''m right. Why you choose to try and do so much on your own is what I dislike most about you Vali. As your mother, is it not my responsibility to worry for my son and help him with his struggles?....I too have held such worries... I know how dangerous it can be training in something as mysterious as the dark arts. I''ve always worried for you ever since I first noticed your affinity to it. I didn''t need to hear of it from Hj?kk... Even if it can alter your emotional state, it doesn''t change who you are Vali nor does it take away from who you really are, my son. Don''t ever forget that...." - Elyria To my mother''s words that were spoken so calmly, I could feel each held such emotion. I feel...So comfortable around her. Almost inviting me to want to open up more to her over the things that troubled me. "...You say that. Hmph, want to know what I felt when dealing with that arrogant Prince from Myro? That idiot who even threatened my family, all those bastards from Aldain....Hehe. Good... I felt, really, really good. Pummeling that little prick, bullying him surprisingly felt really good hehe... And yet, it felt no different than when I ended all those lives from Aldain...Almost, unsettlingly satisfying even...." Listening to my words that almost sounded like a sullen confession, Elyria however hadn''t changed her expression in the slightest, looking towards my devilish grin I couldn''t help but feel ashamed for. ''Just thinking how exhilarating it truly was is what I don''t want to think about...Unlike anything I had felt before. Like an angel of death, I snuffed out and destroyed the evil before me. It was like something in me had finally clicked, a nameless void inside me that had finally been filled. And yet, I''m unable to deny within the darkest crevices of my mind, this new, almost carnal lust that appears each time I feel a life end in my hand, brings an emotion that is almost eary.'' ¡­... ~ Hide my head, I want to drown my sorrow.... ~ ¡­........ "And you think this somehow makes you an evil person? Because you enjoyed killing those who deserved it for probably more reasons than we could even count....You''re not evil Vali. You could never be evil. Never to me.... " - Elyria Elyria used her fingers to massage my head while she spoke words that together had comforted my very being. ....... ~ No tomorrow.... No tomorrowwwwwww.... ~ ......... '' I''ve never had this feeling before. Maybe this is what having mothers are for I gue.....Huh? Wait?!......'' The soft melody that was filling the room sounded, oddly familiar somehow. Those lyrics?...How? The faint sound coming from the piano, had caused me to almost sober up upon hearing each growingly familiar lyric. "What?...." "What is it Vali?" - Elyria ¡­.. ~ And I find it kind of funny.... ~ ...... I lifted my head from my mother''s lap and looked towards the old, wooden piano and there sitting on the piano stool was a short blonde haired human girl. She had on clothes that didn''t fit her, and a short pony-tail that swayed with each of her movements with her back facing the two of us. "¡­.Im.....impossible....." Just from the sight of this girl''s small back had instantaneously caused both my eyes to water. Even the voice singing had began to blend and merge more along with the one who was playing so beautifully, making me only gasp for more air like it had suddenly left me. " ¡­ I find it kind of sad...The dreams in which I''m dying are the best I''ve ever had. " - ? I ignored my mother''s concerned gaze and had immediately used my spatial magic to appear just behind the image of someone I''ve wanted to see for, so long. " And I find it hard to tell you, and I find it hard to take. " - ? The image of my little sister which was beautiful and healthy had then turned her head to the side and looked me right in the eye. ''I...is this just another illusion? This can''t be real, c...can it?...ha...ha...She''s...she''s not suffering like all the other times she''s appeared before me...Is....is this....'' "...When people run in circles, it''s a very, very.... ....Mad world........(*piano music)¡­.." - Kaylan ''Real?....'' "......Kaylan." ------------------------------------------------------------- The image of my little sister gave a cheerful smile looking back up towards me unlike any I had seen in any of the illusions I had witnessed before now. In dream or not. Just seeing her image whole, and smiling.... I was afraid to do anything and find out if it were truly just an illusion or not. "Ka...Kaylan? You mean....Is this little girl suppose to be your?...." - Elyria ''.......'' Each of us looking towards the short blond haired girl, I felt like the entire world had stopped. Just before the silence had started to take over a young but familiarly soft voice had entered my ears for the first time in, in a very long time.... "....I felt for having performed so magnificently in your first major accomplishment since first venturing into this truly dangerous world, perhaps you''d find it rewarding with getting to see your little sister''s face. Oh, and what''d you think of my playing? I''m thinking my Tears for Fears cover band just might have what it takes to make it big... " - Kaylan "...Wh......what?" "Yeah, my manager thinks I could even be the next Curt Smith. So...We''re pretty awesome." - Kaylan ''¡­..What is happening right now?'' It was then I had noticed that the large black, wooden piano were still playing music even though Kaylan had removed her hands from the keys. Not only that, but everyone around me other than Kaylan, myself and Elyria are all....frozen? ''!!!'' "Loki!" " ERR!!! I''m sorry Player 1, but you must answer in the form of a question." - Kaylan Kaylan brought up her small hand and moved her fingers back and forth while making a loud buzzer noise out from her lips. ''Is this goofy bastard out of his mind?!'' "....You, wh....what the hell is this? Do you think this is funny you stupid clown? " "Hrumph, what''s the big deal? Don''t look at me that way, I thought you''d enjoy the gesture. I made mistake, I''m sorry... Come on, we''re all adults here...Well, maybe not right this second since I happen to be in a child''s body, but can we not argue semantics please? I just felt you would have wished to see your lovely sister''s face after such a long time..... Stupid me, I should have obviously went with a more...Robust model." - Kaylan The image of my sister then started sarcastically waving her arms and slowly morphing into a much taller and curvaceous figure. She had long blonde hair with the same white ribbon in her hair as before but no longer looked like my younger sister when her face began to distort. Loki put his hands on his hips, while in the form of a beauty with a now rapidly growing chest. I had no words with what I was seeing and couldn''t care less with what look I must have been giving this ridiculous douche bag. "Wh...what? " - Elyria The maidens tits continued growing larger and larger until they were the size of two watermelons and I could hear my mother scoffing from behind me. "There....How''s this? Don''t worry, I didn''t forget the best part. I know you''re an ass man." - Loki Stopping him before he could do any more lame poses I snapped at him. "Why the fuck are you appearing as anybody you pompous god!" "Vali! Don''t use such language before the person who has done so much for you. Just where did you learn such manners? Because it didn''t come from me?" - Elyria "Hmph I agree Elyria...Very rude indeed. No, ''hey thanks Loki''. Cool of yah to come to the rescue...again! And to answer your question Mr. Cranky briches, because somebody let loose a ton of souls into the Netherworld from this area only just recently now didn''t he?.... Not only that but with the foreseeable beast infestation problem that''s fallen on your hands, I can''t just walk around in my normal skin in such a place at the moment now can I?.... While I''ve set up a simple sound omission array, this dungeon''s wardings that were originally shrouding the place broke when than horny old bum ''bit the dust'' as they say. So anything done within this place for the time being is still technically..... Observable...." - Loki Loki started strangely twirling his fingers around pointing towards the surroundings making a dumb face and nerdy voice while explaining it. "¡­.That''s it." With all my strength I exploded off from the ground and launched myself towards Loki in his female form and launched a punch right towards his jaw while activating Demonic Awakening, Flicker, Lord''s Earth Shattering Smash all at the same time. But because I learned my lesson from last time I also had activated Moonlight Claw at the last minute to negate any and all defense hopefully around my fist and not just my claws. I lifted my claws forward to rip through whatever defense he had then deliver a fist right in his smug nose. The arrogant smiling face looking back towards me gleefully smiled watching my fist flying like a rocket towards his nose. "Wha.." Just as I saw my arm phase right past his face I saw the image of my own fist appear to just the right of me, giving me no time to evade. I tried to turn off my moonlight claw skill at the last possible second and had felt a crashing power violently smash into the side of my head. BOOOOOOM!!!!!
You have been struck by Lord''s Earth Shattering Smash You have received 8,380 damage Due to your durable bones absorbing most of the recoil, you have succeeded in halting the shattering effect from Lord''s Earth Shattering Smash. You have been Stunned! *All movements will become heavily strained temporarily! *All Attack Power will become diminished by 25% until effects of stun have left your body.
"Oh Champion of mine, when will you ever learn some new tricks....." - Loki ¡°Mother...fffffffucker!!" ¡°Hoh, that an invitation?¡± ¨C Loki ¡°¡­Shut. Up. Loki!¡± "Vali! Lang....mm well that was kind of loud. Are you alright dear?" - Elyria I felt like I had just gotten hit by a train in my jaw that caused my entire body to crash into the floor. However, my defense seemed to overpower my own strength allowing me to fully absorb the crushing blow. Elyria had hurried to try and help me up but I had already brushed it off. I didn''t even bother checking on my condition and got up and looked at the arrogant face staring back at me that had again morphed into a long haired gentleman wearing noble clothes and swirling a small pocket watch on a chain. He had an odd tattoo of an upside spade above his right eye and a small red heart underneath his left. "There, that''s better. I don''t know how you ladies put up with such things just to nourish your smaller ones but ah, a question for another day perhaps. Elyria darling, you simply look smashing! I''m truly proud of you, you sly fox. Thanks for delivering the little gift to Vali for me." - Loki "Oh..oh of course Lord Loki. I am simply just happy enough to be granted such an opportunity to be useful for you, your Divineship..." - Elyria "Oh, come now girlfriend. You don''t need to speak with such honorifics with the likes of little ol me. Now, you must tell me everything that''s been happening with you these days darling...How''s are you enjoying the new look? You must be giving these men severe neck pains from all those double takes you''ve been getting, you simply take this God''s breath away?.... " - Loki "Oh, ugh well hmph, I surely thank you for all you have done for this simple fox..." - Elyria Elyria''s face began to redden and I for some reason I just couldn''t take it anymore. "LOKI! " "Ah, what is it? I''m just right here, no need to scream....What? Are you still pissed about that? I apologized already, you humans really have such complicated emotions....Come on. Let''s hug it out like bros? " - Loki Loki extended his arms signaling me to come in for a hug and I honestly don''t know what it was about this clown that just got under my skin sometimes. Even if he could do so many incredibly amazing things and is responsible for changing my life, his personality is just... He''s such a ¡­ "Nutty Fudgesucker?....Here you simply must have a taste?" - Loki With one fluid motion Loki pulled out from behind his back a cone shaped object with a brown snowy substance that gave off a sweet smell off of it. "......" - Elyria and I "Looks like excrement with small nuts in it right? I know... But seriously you''ve got to try this tasty treat! It''s seriously the most exquisitely decedent thing I think I''ve ever come across in all my years, but oh so addicting. Leads to a fun social tasting experience too mphmph... Found the stuff in this strange pocket dimension right next to your Universe actually. I found a merchant there selling the stuff in bulk so I couldn''t resist stopping by....Ah, Oz...If there''s one thing you did right, it''s your deliciously scrumptious sweets....Mmm....Try shome you two...." - Loki After taking a large bite of the brown fudge, snowballs sitting in a cone he reached out and handed myself one and causing one to appear right in front of Elyria as well. ''It really did look like shit....Mom, seriously your not going to...Oh wow, I think I somewhat hate Loki now for making me see this......'' "Oh, ah...Well, I guess I could try it I suppose. OH!..Mm...Th..this is good...Mmmm...Oh, it''s so warm but sends a chill to my tongue. It is so sweet hmphmph! Mmm...." - Elyria Watching my mother''s tails sway back and forth enjoying it I couldn''t help but look towards the strange coned desert in front of me, that did strangely smell good. "Oh, stop being a little fudge sucker...Everyone here''s already been enjoying some top quality liquor from yours truly I got from a close personal friend''s er... acquaintances'' prized wineries... Oh, what, you thought that old liquor you guys found in a cave could be so delicious? Hogwash.... Now, I didn¡¯t quite give you the good stuff but I just figured my new champion, with such an interesting metabolism, would enjoy getting a little tipsy for once..." - Loki Loki nonchalantly revealed his actions and continued waving his hands for me to have a bite of the disgusting looking ice cream brownie, or whatever this is. "...I don''t know about this. I don''t find anything appetizing about a name like Nutty Fudgesucker? And did you just say Oz just now? Seriously, like the Wizard of....Wait just a minute! Ah! No fuck you!! See you do this... You do these weird, obnoxiously bizarre things that mentally just fucks with me and say something obviously ridiculous to throw me off. Which causes me to forget what I''m pissed off about and for once I just want you to be straight up with me!" I noticed I was breathing heavily looking into the eyes of the person who had brought me to this place. "Mmmph..MM Vali..No curshhingg...mmm..." - Elyria Loki in the form of a tan, dark haired man in his early thirties had his hair slicked back with a sleek look. He quickly started waving his hands back and forth apologetically while trying not to snicker. "Ahaha, ok, ok Vali I surrender! I''ll play ball and answer some of your questions. I''m sure you have plenty, and how could I not reward my little Champion for doing so well on his first exam! Why not ''chill-out'' a bit. Mph, oh what I''m sorry I couldn''t resist...But I thought we could enjoy some tasty, snowy treats I brought with me from my travels...." - Loki While making a weird smirk I didn''t know whether to still be annoyed or finally relieved. Would I finally get some answers from this loony Norse God. I honestly just wonder if all beings who live for millions of years are always this crazy. "Ok. Fine, fine.....You don''t believe me? I''ll answer your most previous questions right now, then will you have a bite?.....Yes, the same Oz from your story books. Seems that ol Lyman Baum must have really found his way to such a lucid place once upon a time and managed to find his way back home....Oh but I wouldn''t ever recommend going there. Oh surely, I wouldn''t even think of sending Hj?kk or Sk¨¹ld to such a dreadful place....." - Loki Both mine and my mother''s mouths were wide open but were both given completely different expressions. While she was caught up in her sugary treat, I was shaking my head at what I had just heard. "That''s not what I''m talking about Loki...." "Mm...it wash just....the first quesh ion......Mmm...sheriously though...try shome......" - Loki "¡­.You''re ridiculous....Hah, and really Oz?...It''s real? And what, it''s seriously that dangerous a place?...Those flying monkeys really that terrifying?" Loki made a large gulping sound and peered over towards me making a strange face before going back to enjoying his treat. "Dangerous? What? No nothing like that. They just sing about everything they do.... Thirty minutes in that place after the seventh song and dance number, and l feel like I''m going to blow my bloody brains out...." - Loki Loki started making a pistol motion towards his head while he and my mother continued eating the tasty treat in front of each of them. He had somehow made it to where his voice were coming from a different location so he could continue to stuff his mouth with food that insanely enough, looks like what this guy usually spouts out from his mouth. "....Unbelievable." I continued shaking my head at the one who brought me here, and started all of this. I want to hate him, and yet I owe him so much. ''But does every Champion blessed with the Gods power have to put up with this? I feel most of what he does is done purposely though to annoy me......'' I looked around towards the two who continued eating their tasty treats while all those around us remained in a practically motionless state within Loki''s special space. "Mmm...Oh Vali you have to try this, it''s so sweet!" - Elyria "Mphmph. Come on, you know you want a lick on some fudge....Now give it a taste already and enjoy yourself for once ya ''Nut''..Hah! Ah, one of these days ol Champion of mine, I''m going to climb over that little wall of emotion of yours and it will be, Divine... Mmm.. Show gerd....Mmm!..." - Loki With food in both of their mouths trying to both get me to loosen up some more, I looked towards the cone shaped treat in front of me and eventually took a bite. ''......Oh, wow. That is good.'' I ignored him and took another bite, and for a short time the three of us quietly enjoyed a the tasty sweets. End of Chapter. Try listening to ''Carry on my Wayword Son'' to kind of get a feel how the song was played. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYME1QBrXw4 Please give an Advanced review if you haven''t already. Remember I plan on trying to fix these past 5 chapters and trim off the fat when I went into too much detail here and there. Don''t forget to leave a long comment and thanks for reading. You commented and I listened.... Hey guys, VanZans here. I''m sitting here working out the details of the next couple of chapters and since soon we''ll be getting into the dynamics of characters stats/skills costs/items/& statuses, I''m having to go back to the earlier chapters to re-read and fix some of those things. By doing this, I will show the difference between Expert stages with someone like Shen compared to one of the Experts in the Dungeon. I wanted to show the difference between a Champion and a normal person at the same level, or class weaknesses and strengths. And finally I wanted to show what someone who is a master of magic compared to Vali or a Master in a fighting class like Alysteir. Since we haven''t really seen enemy classes that use magic in this region yet other than a few scenes with the elves or the Pixies. And we didn''t get to really see what Balor could fully do because if we did I don''t believe they should have ever been able to kill Balor. It''s honestly amazing to go back and look at how my writing has changed over the course of this year. While I''ve corrected some old ''bad habits'' or grammatical errors, I''ve also acquired new ''bad habits'' here and there as well that I''m trying to fix too. Obviously the last 5 chapters didn''t feel a lot like the first arc, especially after rereading the older ones. Like I said the info dumps were quite a lot and Vali starting to look deep within himself & towards his inner demons was quite a lot. But I REALLY feel that with this the stage has now been properly set for this next arc. So I won''t go as overboard with it as I have these past few chapters anymore. When rereading old chapters I would go oh wow I didn''t detail this at all, but it still worked. Or go ''wow i really thought this sounded good?'' Some things I wanted to change and add detail towards, while other scenes I thought were great and wished I structured the more recent chapters like the older ones. It''s also been a while since I''ve had some of those emotionally impactful scenes whether they are heartwarming, explicit, violent or just very thought provoking. But those are the scenes I''ve had the most fun writing, now that the stage is set hopefully I can tap into some of those moments just like before. (And don''t worry I still have a long list of fun scenes that I''ve been waiting to write all the way up to 2 ''Arcs'' from now. Now that the first Arc which wasn''t originally planned is done and the stage is set, I''m pretty excited to get to the good stuff & show the differences in levels of power from what you''ve seen and what''s to come lol.) So why am I messaging you guys?... Well, because now that I''m going back and rereading everything I''ve made a short list of things that I''m going to change/edit/ or restructure whenever i do rewrite everything. (No worries though! I won''t take a break from writing this arc to rewrite the old one for a while but I have made a list of things I want to do better my second time around.) I''ve listened to you''re comments and concerns over the story. I''ve heard the hate and the love and am currently writing down in a small notebook each part of the story that needs to be told better. So if you guys see anything more I haven''t spoken of in the list, I''d love to hear some other things you''d like to see as well. Maybe not even in this arc but in future arcs. Honestly I''d love to hear it all. You have no idea how fun it is for a writer to read fan theories about your work. And this website has been a big help in writing this story so while I''m structuring out the next couple chapters I thought I''d write down my list and see if there was some stuff I left out. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Story Fixes: 1. Flesh out beginning of story and add chapters before stepping into dungeon arc. / Slow down level progression. 2. Detail Titles, Stats & Skills much better and fix each of them in the earlier chapters to become more balanced. 3. Possibly lower starting effects of some skills and explain what they could eventually do when mastered with possibly in-game logic. 4. Show a longer progression with Ari learning to speak. 5. Correct and detail political venues of the story to feel more fluid and realistic. 6. Show more individuality towards the Pixies. / Slow down level progression¡­. 7. Provide more world building before the 2nd arc so it is not so convoluted. 8. Correct timing & pacing issues to help flow of story. Increase time between some scenes and chapters as well. 9. Restructure some old scenes and add dialogue and detail throughout the earlier chapters. 10. Possibly wait to introduce some minor characters until others are more fleshed out. 11. Add scenes with Vali walking through the inner cities in the dungeon and having some interactions with the dungeon dwellers other than just the leaders. 12. Add scenes with the fight against Balor and detail it out much more. Again thanks for reading this story, and bearing with me throughout all of this, considering how effing long it all is lol. I know I''m no pro writer and have plenty of other things going on instead of this. But regardless, this is a world I have fun writing about and building up. I think even if most people hated it I would still continue with it just to have the story I love finally laid out. I always loved the idea of what would happen if all these mythological, godly and biblical beings all interacted ever since Supernatural. And Vali is sort of loosely based off Dean in some ways too. It means a lot to see how much love and support this story gets to the point that it overshadows most of the ''hate'' mail and trolls on the internet that can be discouraging at times. So I just wanted to say that to everyone reading, thank you for your support, even if I never hear from some of you readers I still see interesting comments/threads here and there with people talking so well about it even if they never comment here. And honestly guys...It means a lot. Thanks again! *Oh, and if you''ve only written a regular review please write an Advanced one if you have the time. ***Also this is a thread for Constructive Criticisms and comments on the story they liked or disliked. Let''s not make this a complaint thread about what you wanted instead please. And yes there is a difference. (Like quirks with some characters or some plot points that don''t get fixed immediately as it''s suppose to be ventured through and worked out throughout the story. Or things you didn''t comprehend from the story like ''How gods interfere with mortals like Loki is doing and thinking it''s ''breaking the rules; when instead it just hasn''t been explained yet.'') PS...Sorry for the update not being a chapter. I guess the author can troll some too. Race Power Rankings / Growth Path Rates / World Mechanics Hello everyone it''s been a while. No this is not the next chapter, so I apologize for that. However this thread will have a lot of important information about the story like the world mechanics and a few things that will get briefly detailed by Loki in the next chapter (in his own goofy way). I''ve now properly developed a Growth System for stats as well as different paths one can take in this world but more importantly, it provides a way to properly scale everything in an easy way for comparisons. This way whatever level/race someone is you will have a decent way to properly gage where that individually should ''at least'' be at. I''m like a lot of people I have a need to make sense of things. In a world with an almost limitless # of ways to grow, it can be hard to find a balance but I feel I''ve at least come up with something for now which I''m pretty happy with overall. Since I didn''t want to have these large ''Growth Charts'' taking up space or have Loki talking on it too long, I decided to have it here since it basically just adds more detail to the world as is. So...Let''s get started. There are 3 basic rules of thought when determining an individuals ability or potential. There can be exceptions to these rules (User training rare techniques/studying more powerful magics), but each rule helps a person to properly scale how powerful they are. 1. Race / Inheritance / Legacy - The first and most basic rule is determined by the person''s race or heritage. Inheritances are similar to someone becoming a God''s Champion or passing trials to gain abilities that have been passed down from deities or the like. Legacies are no different but are left over challenging trials from dead gods/deities that will usually reap more rewards considering there can only be 1 soul inheritor. (*There are also distinct Power Levels that are used when comparing between different races at similar level/ability.) ((**The difference in power between Divine however is so vast from Lower Divine and up, it is natural that the gods have their own separations for this level as well. While the distance between certain Power Levels can be mind bogglingly huge for some comparisons, some special cases can be considered as well and won''t fit along with fellow race members at the same level. Example: Brynhildr/Valkyrie and Malthiel/King Reaper are labeled at a Celestial''s level of power, but they can compare to even some strong Divines and have grown to that point.)) Half-Divine Power Level ----------------->Celestial Power Level-------------------->Divine Power Level --------------(At least 1/2) -------------------(At least 3/4)-----------------------------------(1/1)
Race Comparison List: (Not full list) (A (*) means that on average this particular race has special circumstances that will make them stronger/weaker than others at the same Power Level.) ((At Half-Divine Level is shown for races at their peak receive at least a Half Divine''s level of strength.)) Primordial Level : Death* (+) / Titans / ? Divine Level : gods / ancient demons / fallen angels / elf (Gods) / Primordial Phantasms / dragon gods*(+) / divine beasts* (+) / angels* (+) Celestial Level (Pseudo= close to): Reapers / Valkyries / Greater-Deities / True Dragon Emperors* (+) / Arbiters* (+) / Godeaters* (-,+) / Highborn Demigods* (+) / Sacred-Blooded Devils* (+) (*Highborn demigod- Two parents at Divine Level or born in higher realm) (*Sacred-Blooded Devils- Two parents who were Ancient Demons) Half-Divine Level: Peak-Sovereigns / True Dragon Kings* (+) / Dragon Emperors / Elf Didacts / Primal Vampires (Alphas) / Pure-blooded Devils* (+) / Lowborn Demigods* (+) (**Half Devine level shows most races at their peaks until Celestial level that shows them at their base strengths due mostly to separation of realms of their births.) (*Lowborn demigod/Pure-Blooded Devil : 1 parent at Divine Level. ) (*Peak Sovereigns = sovereign 10. Known as ''Peak'' because their cultivation towards the end looks like a cluster of Mountain Peaks that they ''metaphorically'' sit on as the pinnacles of the world. When one at Sovereign 9 creates and consolidates final 12th ''orbs'' together they will combine and create ''mountain peak'' that surrounds entire cultivation and are thusly looked upon as the Peaks.
Again while not all this is 100% how it is decided all the time, this is just 1 method for determining an individuals power base after one has acquired enough power. (You can also see that those with Divine blood in them have higher potential at the same level. ) 2. The second way to determine a person''s ability is to view the person''s ''Growth Rate'' when leveling.
There are (4) different ways one can grow when leveling and one can quickly determine the difference between mediocrity and a hard working genius who acquired every ''Additional'' stat one could acquire and while doesn''t show much results right away will become impossible to not notice in late game. (*When a person crossing each ''Great Threshold'' they''re bodies will drastically change and be rewarded tremendously for their efforts at being able to step over each boundary so the separation of even 1 level can become quite large ( Level 99 - 100 , Level 199 - 200 , Level 299 - 300 and so on. ) - Crossing each boundary will immediately double the amount of stats one acquired from the last threshold while at the same time adding ALL possible additional points. (NOTE: ONLY ADDITIONAL STATS COUNT and not stats gained from grinding levels or mastering skills. Can come from things that give permanent stat points like Titles, raising a Combat Mastery (Hand to hand combat) or even permanent stat gained from enchanted food. -Gaining Additional Points will then greatly affect the users growth if they were to acquire the MAX number of ''Additional'' Points one can for each boundary. (**NOTE: MAX number of ''Additional'' stats one can acquire is = to the Total # of stats gained from the previous ''Threshold'') 1) (Mediocre Growth Rate) : If someone received ZERO ''Additional'' stats upon crossing every threshold, however do note that acquired FULL sats for the Level 100 threshold is fairly easy and lacks much requirements considering achieving level 100 is already an accomplishment. *Class will affect stat growth as well as what Additional stats need to be acquired. **Chart only shows Health/Str/Def/Agi At Level 100 : + 5,000 Health , + 1,500 Strength , + 1,500 Defense , + 1,000 Agility At Level 200: + 10,000 Health , + 3,000 STR/DEF , + 2,000 Agi - Would at least have 15,000 Health, 4,500 Str/Def , 3,000 Agi At Level 300: + 20,000 Health , + 6,000 STR/DEF , + 4,000 Agi - Would at least have 35K Total Health, 11.5K Total Str/Def , 8K Total Agi At Level 400: + 40,000 Health , + 12,000 STR/Def , + 8,000 Agi - Would at least have 75K Health, 22.5K Str/Def , 15.5K Agi At Level 500: + 80,000 Health , + 24,000 STR/Def , + 16,000 Agi - Would at least have 155K Total Health, 39K Str/Def , 31K Agi This is the lowest possible growth path and normally one would have many more additional stats. 2 - 3 ) Normal & Superior Growth Path: Normal is if someone acquired Additional stats that affected an individuals growth rate. Counts as a % in ''Additional'' stats per level. Superior is when someone received ALL possible ''Additional'' stats for one category but not necessarily the other stats. For instance if someone was awarded FULL ''Additional'' stats for Health after crossing each threshold while possibly not receiving Full Stats for something else. The differences between the two aren''t as noticeable and does not effect the equation for this growth path. (*Chart and equation only shows growth rate for someone who accomplished a ''Superior'' growth rate for Health / all other stats not shown.) Level 100: + 5,000 HP , + 1,500 Str/Def , + 1,000 Agi Level 200: (+ 5,000 HP x 2) + (+ 5,000 HP = Received ALL possible ''Additional'' Stats for Health ) = User will be awarded + 15,000 HP - Would at least have 20,000 HP Level 300: (+15,000 HP x 2) + ( 15,000 Health = Received ALL additional Health Stats) = + 45,000 HP - Would at least have 65,000 HP Level 400: + (45,000 HP x 2) + (45,000) = + 135,000 HP - Would have at least 200,000 Health Level 500: + (135,000 HP x 2 ) + (135,000) = + 405,000 HP - At level 500: This person should At least have 605,000 Health. As you can see the differences at first are minimal but towards late game the difference between hard work and mediocrity will start to show in a huge way. 4) Supreme: This growth rate is for when someone has gone the extra mile and acquired ALL possible "Additional'' stat points for every category before crossing each threshold, then there will be a ''Combination Effect'' with every passing boundary. -One would have to receive ALL additional stats for Health, Str/Def or whatever stats that correlate to your class. Being off by even 1 additional stat point will then take you off the ''Supreme'' path. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. (*Chart and equation only show stat growths for Health) Level 100: + 5,000 HP , + 1,500 Str/Def , + 1,000 Agi Level 200: (+5,000 HP x 2) + (+ 5,000 Possible Additional Stats = Perfect First Threshold ) = + 15,000 HP - Would at least have 20K Total Health Level 300: (+15,000 HP x 2) + (20,000 HP = Perfect First Threshold: +5,000 + Perfect Second Threshold: +15,000 ) = + 50,000 HP - Would at least have 70K Total Health Level 400: (+50,000 HP x 2) + (First+Second+Third =70,000 HP) = + 170,000 HP - Would at least have 240K Total Health Level 500: (+170,000 HP x 2) + 240,000 = + 580,000 HP - Would at least have 820K Total Health As you can see the differences one would be able to gain when properly training their body and fulfilling unique conditions. The equation changes and a combination effect will occur by combining each previous threshold together. 5) Apex* : If someone successfully followed the Supreme path while also fulfilling certain conditions like Advanced Mastery by 100, Adept by 200, Expert by 300, Master by 400 and ''Titled Grandmaster'' before 500 will receive a few astonishing rewards.
As you can see a good number of those in the dungeon are already on route for the Supreme path and even a small handful on route to achieve the Apex. **Do note that even if Vali wasn''t able to Achieve the Apex route for martial arts he still has the ability to steal skills from those who do lol.... There are also ''Rules'' for people trying to gain ''Additional Threshold'' stats. Basically a Level 800 Warior can''t just pick up Cooking and receive all those ''Additional'' stats to be allotted into the Threshold stats.
*Additional Points one can acquire from raising Masteries over a ''Combat Class'' can only count towards Threshold stats if trained at a proper level. Level 1- 49 All ''additional stats'' for any ''combat style'' mastery will count towards ''Threshold stats'' ) (50 Level gap) Level 50 < (Must have Intermediate or above mastery in something for Additional stats to count towards ''Threshold Stats'' ) (75 Level Gap) Level 125 < Must have Novice or above mastery (100 Level Gap) Level 225 < Must have Advanced above mastery (125 Level Gap) Level 350 < Must have Adept or above mastery (150 Level Gap) Level 500 < Must have Expert or above mastery (150 Level Gap) Level 650 < Must have Master or above mastery (125 Level Gap) Level 775 < ''Titled Grandmaster'' stage ( Equivalent to Master Level 10) and above mastery (100 Level Gap) Level 875 < N/A - Unnamed Mastery level (75 Level gap) Level 950 - 999 N/A - Unnamed Mastery level (50 Level gap)
3. Now the 3rd way for someone to judge/compare a person''s base abilities is to view that individuals ''Combat Specialty''. There are an untold # of paths one can take in this life to gain strength. While many may believe their path is the strongest, each has their own level of difficulty in the beginning vs the end and each share in different strengths and weaknesses. Here are 3 completely different paths one can take and their comparisons to one another. Martial Path vs Magic Path vs Qi Cultivating Path Master 1 Swordsman (Martial) = Sage 1 (Magic) = Empyrean Realm 1 (Qi) Martial Path Expert --> Master -- > Martial Lord (Placeholder name) Magic Path Arch Mage --> Sage --> Enlightened One (Placeholder name) Qi Cultivation Path Unnamed Qi realm -- > Empyrean Realm --> Sovereign ***Important Note - It is also important to know that just like in one''s Growth Path, fulfilling unique conditions can allow someone to achieve unique rewards or even step into ''bonus'' stages not permitted to just anyone. - For example) In ''I shall Seal the Heavens'' if someone had a perfect foundation or followed a particular path one could step into the 13th Qi refining stage while others just skipped it. Or if someone had 6 Perfect Dao Pillars with no cracks they would then be rewarded a 7th....Same principle thought. Each path has this option however the information surrounding it is extremely hard to come by, let being able to fulfill each of the hidden conditions. ''Bonus'' stages'' - Master 9 --> ''Titled Grandmaster'' (Sword mastery) : Path of the Sword Immortal Sage 9 --> ''Heavenly Saint'' : Path of the Heavenly Body Empyrean Realm 9 --> ''Deva Realm'' : Path of the Eternally-Severed Soul (*If one were to properly make it to these ''Bonus'' stages they would be given the opportunity to attempt these stages to hopefully acquire major rewards. If they are unable to achieve they could be stuck at this Realm for the entirety of their lives, however if they succeeded then they will each enter into the proceeding realm yet bat the same time become something much more different.) Master 9--> Martial Lord Master 9--> Titled Grandmaster--> Martial King Sage 9-->Enlightened One Sage 9-->Heavenly Saint--> Unnamed Empyrean Realm 9-->Sovereign Realm 1 Empyrean Realm 9--> Deva Realm --> Celestial Sovereign 1 I won''t go into too much else. This was all just to give you a little taste of a few things that''s to come while also providing rules and conditions to bring some balance to this world I''ve created. If there aren''t rules then things become kind of difficult to fathom and this will just be a basic ''road map'' when comparing two fighters and possibly be able to gage their basic level of strength. Now Loki will obviously touch on some of this next chapter briefly but this is just the in depth overview. Some of these things are subject to change but for right now I like where it is. Some side notes) - While Sovereign 1 should = Martial Lord 1 = Enlightened One 1 I''m still unsure if Martial Lord and Enlightened One are the same number of stages as I''m thinking it will be different but still correlate to each other. Like if Martial Lord/Enlightened One had 2 or 3 stages then they would be split up. Especially since the distance from Sov 1- Peak Sov is going to be a shit ton. -Also those with Divine heritages naturally will have benefits when gaining levels and will be given the opportunity to choose a ''Demigod'' path at a certain point in time. As you can see by the chart the difference between a a Peak-Lowborn Demi god and Highborn demigod is the separation of an entire level and that is one reason Loki wanted Vali to spare the Annunakes and hang onto them. Simply stepping into an area = to Sovereign 10 or Peak-Sov for an Annunake would actually give them the power of a Celestial''s level of power instead of Half-Divine because of their strong heritages from a God wolf/ something that became close to a deity. -Random note- All the Saints are around Sage 5 and above. None of them are Enlightened beings though which gain abilities to sense and use world energies but I''ll get into that at a much later date. Next chapter should be out soon and the following chapter shouldn''t be long behind that one. Hopefully a week. I just wanted to give you guys something to taste on while providing you some of the stuff I''ve been working on during my edits/rewrites/changes to the story. NOTE: i have not added any changes yet to the story. I will eventually change things like Stats/Titles/Skill costs and things of that sort. I won''t add the ''rewrites'' yet but will show the changes to properly fit this information. Small number of other story changes will occur but I''ll tell you at that time. Until then guys thanks again and let me know what you all think. Lol I don''t think I''m going to get anymore ''You made Vali too OP too early'' bs anymore lol. You can properly see how Vali and Co are pretty damn OP at their levels and the dungeon dwellers are practically perfectly formed clay for training their bodies to such an extent that leads room for massive growths in the future. While at the same time see some potential races/existences that could be hiding out in the world somewhere. Oh and PS!......After looking at those stats one might be asking themselves ''Ok, well then how the fu$# did they kill Balor?'' Lol not to worry, that will be touched on next chapter too and while not trying to spoil, Loki too finds it incredibly odd Vali and co were even able to kill Balor. As he essentially gave him that ''power up'' so he could flee, but instead stayed and fought. So I won''t spoil anything else but like you, Loki finds the whole thing suspicious since Balor was known for being a brilliant strategist. Let me know what ya think in the comments and as always thanks for reading and sticking it out with me. Where have I been the past several months???? Hey guys....Gah I''ve been dreading getting on here and typing this message out for months. No worries though, this isn''t the infamous ''Im done'' speech. Far from it, and for those of you who still care I am NOT quiting this novel. But to kind of give you guys an update on what''s been going on in my life and let ya know....I''m not dead lol. At the end of last year my computer had a meltdown and after I finally got it all fixed and retrieved all the oldfiles and what not the 2 new chapters I had been working on at that time had pretty much all been erased. Good news though is that all my old chapters and everything wereok, but those latest two chapters pretty much only like 4roughly started scenes had been saved. To give you guys a better reason of what''s been going on with me. After I got my computer fixed, the reason I didnt just jump on right awayand message you guys what was going on was because first getting the passwords for everything like my email/cloud accounts and even this siteIneeded SUCKED and took a while. Secondly I didn''t want to just get on here and give ya guys the bad news without even knowingwhen the next chapter would be out...So i blacked it All Out, and wanted to wait until I had chapters toeven post on here...Well a few weeks turned into months and now we''re here lol. I didn''t even get on to read messages, comments or emails simply because I knew it would make me depressed that I didn''t have an answer for you guys. Also I was for the last several months trying to find a new job after graduation (which was a HUGE bitch). I didn''t want to spend time writing during those periods because I had more important things I needed to take care of in my life...But GOOD NEWS!!!! I found a new position and will no longer be working the normal late, late hours till after 1am and I now get done early in the afternoon. Which is awesome because since I was younger and even studying for exams I only really get my work done at nights. I''m not the type to wake up early and attempt writing.... So after the next month or so I shouldfinally be done with all my training at my new position and just by judging from my schedule I should be able to jump back into writing more sometime after that time. I''m not sure how the new format is going to look, but simplyput the newer chapters wont be quite as long but still maintain that level of detail. And that is as much for you guys as it is for me, because I will have more of an adaptability to just try out scenes with you guys and not wait for lonnngggggg periods of time trying to figure out how to fit certain things together. Mostly just a a couple to 3 scenes each I''m thinking. I''ve actually been steadily working on past chapters for the last several months and even sent the first book to an editor of sorts and got tons of notes back. Enough that I have been putting a lot of effort into that and learning new ways to sort of change my writing style a bit. More of the show, don''t tell as much while also gaining a lot of insight on making the flow of the story much more entertaining....Lot''s of things will change when I attepmt to turn this into novel, things ive already explained before from when certain events take place, characters get introduced so its not too jam packed at the beginning and even some characters like Elyria will get changed here too most likely....She wont be so much like an anime typical character but more of a very seasoned, mature warrior/shamman who was just shamed and at the end of her rope before Vali and her met. She will be more serious and I guess in a way for humor the only thing that Vali is sort of afraid of angering in this novel. I doubt I''ll post the newer versions of the firs book on here but idk, the 2nd book and onward I will be using this site for oppinions on scenes and gaging the audience about certain places I take the plot, but whenever this gets in book form expect the LONNGGGG detailed and drawn out version. But ive also learned of ways to simply certain things to make the read more rhythmic and enjoyable hopefully. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. But after the next month I shouldbe a little more acclimated into my schedule to try and start writingout some chapters again, though I don''t have a definitive answer of what date exactly just yet. But i''ll have much more freetime than before. I''ll probably start working on those 4 scenes that weren''t completley erased and kind of see how writing shorter chapters with just a couple scenes with them go. For those of you who are curious the4 scenes I still have from the last two chapters are: 1 scene is just Loki going on a trolling adventure in the Demon continent before he met up with Vali in the last chapter and you get to see him meet, well just say a very important character and you get to see these two heavy weights with a lot of old world knowledge interact. 2nd scene you get to meet a Hero or 2 and introductions to a new rival character that is not a Hero but super powerful and of the younger generation and get to see their gang in the Central continent and find out their plans that will be taking them away from the Central continent to eventually meet Vali and the group. 3scene that got saved was Vali and co towards the end of the 2nd chapter going to Aldain''s fortress city where you finally get to see Vali ''snap'' and well do something I''m sure many readers have been anticipating was inevitably going to happen fora longggggg time and get a very awesome....''To be continued'' afterwards. 4thscene we get to see the Elves and their nation and what they are up to and kinda see what happened with that army of fomorians and dark elves and sort of an event that cascades the plot of this next novel. For those of you who have commented in past chapters for me, messaged me on here, rated my fiction or even emailed me....I''m sorry i haven''t gone through those messages yet. I will try to get to them all sometime soon, I''ll probably use them as a means for motivation for writing out new stuff...Like I said i didnt even get on here becasue I knew it would make me depressed reading all the messages/emails from fans on here without being able to give them any good news at the time. But hopefully this will let ya guys know I''m not dead nor am I out...Give me some time here soon and I should start bringing you guys some of the good stuff again. For those of you who are still here thanks so much for all the love you''ve given and know that it means a whole lot to me. If ya need to get ahold of me comment on here, message or email me and I''ll try and get back to ya when I can. Thanks again guys!