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?” – Sting

“…I’m not particularly brave…. Nor do I have much faith in the God who gave me his blessing. ” – 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

“….” – 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.” – 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.” – Akino

“A what?” – Vali

“Oh yah I heard about that hehe! That’s awesome Vali becoming the Annunake’s Alpha” – Ollie

“Ok, Ok Ru Ru Kai! What does that mean? “ – 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.” – Akino

Akino said this while smiling and nodding her head in Vali’s direction.

“……” – Vali

Vali just gave Akino a weird look and then cracked a smile.

“So what? No title hehe.” – 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. ” – Sting

“ …Sting what are you saying now? - Vali

“What no one even understands me anyways?” – Sting

“Haha! Some of that Alpha ass!... That’s right, he’ll be seeing a lot of that ha ha!.” – Ollie

“That’s the one word you both understand…” – 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…” – Ari

“Thank you! … What have you been doing?” - Lily

“Just petting Fenrir. “ – 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.” – Emmanuel

“I see….” – 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….” – 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.” –Sumei

“What? What are you talking about? Why have you bound me?!” – 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.” – Shen

“What you too? What is going on? We need to reunite with the Queen. His highness is dead!” – Emmanuel

“Yah about that….He’s not dead.” – Shen

“Huh?” –Emmanuel

“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.” –Sumei

“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…” – Sumei

“What about you Shakko? You seemed to think he was hiding something from us as well.” – 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…” – 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?” – 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.” – Shakko

“……..”

“Where is his highness?” – 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?” – 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.” – Shakko

“…He’s right. Last we heard his Highness and the Queen were still in their bedchambers. We should go there.” – 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!“ – 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.” – Shakko

“…Do you think the breech is only with Emmanuel?” – 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. “ – 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.” – Shen

“We can do it. We’re closing in on the royal bedchambers right now.” – 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.” – Shen

“Wha…Master Shen?...” – 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. “ – King Asher

“…Your Highness…Got to say I’m glad we got here in time.” – 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.” – 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?” –Shen

“I killed Nevelle. He came at me when I was headed to the bath…. I got lucky.” – 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. “ – 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.“ – Sumei

“ Or can we trust every one here….” – 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.” – Shen

“Now, now Shen. While the King and myself may trust you wholeheartedly, Siri as well is someone I have absolute faith in.“ – Liriana Asher

“…No my Queen. I am the one who cannot ascertain where she was or if her intentions are pure. “ – 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.” – Siri

“….I’ll watch her. “ – Gaven

“Gaven? “ – 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.” – 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.” – 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! “ – 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.” – 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?” – Shen

“………” – King and Queen

“………” - The royal guard

“…. We could go to Vali’s house.” – Lucy

“….” - Everyone

“!!!!!” - Everyone

“Yes!” – 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. . “ – Shen

“Cassandra you said you had been there before correct? Could you find it again?” – Shakko

“Well…I can possibly try and find again but honestly it was Cana who got us so close the first time.” – 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.“ – 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. “ – Lucy

“Then we must leave….Now! Behind me your Highness.” – 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.” – 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.” – Shakko

“So… What’s your point? – 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. “ – Shakko

“….Who do you think could have been involved? The only other guards on the premises have been spoken for besides James. “ – Shen

“Well that doesn’t mean they were the only people in the castle. There are servants as well. “ – Shakko

“…There are also the other royalties. “ – 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.”

“…….” – Shakko, Shen

“Hmm….She’s right…That actually did happen. That is quite the discovery you’ve made there Cassandra.” – Shakko

‘Was? Was he being sarcastic? I was only saing…’

“That ‘Hm’ mean something Shakko. Cause it better or we’re flirting with treason.” – 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?” – Shakko

“I actually said spear catcher…You know cause of the gay thing.” – 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. “ – Shakko

“Yah well can ya prove it. Cause that’s all that’s gonna matter. This whole situation just smells like shi….” – 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!” –King 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. “ – 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.” – King Asher

“Oh I’m afraid that’s impossible now….” – 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?” – 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.” –Elyria

‘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.” – 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.” – 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!” – 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.” – 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.” – 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?” – King Asher

“I’m Ari…” – Ari

“Well Ari…It is a little more complicated than that.” – 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.” – 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. “ – 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…” – 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?” – 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.” – 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.” – Elyria

Shen then looked back at the floor and made a grim smile.

“Geezes….” – 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?” – 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?” – 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!” – 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?” – 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.” – 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.” – 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. – 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.

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.” – 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.” – 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.” – Queen Nhaili

“Ok..Wha….” - Vali

“Vali!....I’m so happy you’ve returned!” - ?

“Huh?” – 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? “ – 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” – Aurora

Aurora and Cyanin then flew over and stuck their tonges out towards the queen spider.

“What did that little blue one just say?” – 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!” – 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.” – 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.” – 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?” – 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!” – 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?” – 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.” – 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!