Soft and firm, a great support for my head. I inched back into consciousness, continuing to appreciate this comforting pillow. My eyes opened and a tan skinned elf was cheerfully smiling at me.

“Hello there!” said the elf with a smile.

I rubbed my head – it throbbed softly. I questioned the elf, “What happened?”

“Well,” she tilted her head up, finger on her chin, “Knights came by and slaughtered my entire village. I got shot in the stomach by a crossbow bolt. I thought I was going to die – maybe I did – but you came along and used some sort of magic to heal me!”

“Uh-huh,” I replied, still light-headed and nauseous.

“And you passed out after that!”

“Figures.” Gathering my strength, I lifted myself up. However nice the lap pillow was, I couldn’t stay there forever. Everything just got worse: a slaughtered village, knights coming by, nobles wanting this land. So many new problems – and complicated ones at that.

“So, uh, are you a mage or something?” Asked the elf girl, “Is that how you saved me?”

I sighed, “No, not a mage. My situation is complicated – it would be best if you didn’t get involved in it.”

She crossed her arms and frowned not satisfied with my answer. “You better tell me what’s really going on – don’t be vague,” she demanded, “Everyone I know is dead and you are the only person that knows anything. I think I’m already involved in it.

“Fine,” I bit my lower lip. She had a point; she was already caught up in this. “What do you want to know?”

“Everything,” demanded the Elf.

“Very well.” I took a deep breath, “I saved you because I have a large pool of mana, the result of fusing with a dungeon core.” I waited for her to object, to question, but she patiently stared at me. I continued, “It happened several days, maybe weeks, ago, how long exactly I’m not sure. My unit of knights were assigned up north, so we left to meet up with others. On the way, we found a dungeon. We went to clear it.” I scratched the back of my neck, sighing, “I was the only one that survived, somehow fusing with a dungeon core.”

“So that’s where the knights they were looking for went…” she mused.

I stood up and lowered my head at her, “And for that, I’m truly sorry. The Hevagrain knights came here looking for my group and some adventures. I never thought they would blame your village on their disappearance. That’s why I will ask you to leave here at once. They will be back, and there will be trouble.”

The elf got up and patted her clothes, shaking dirt off of it. Of all things, she asked, “Your name?”

Taken aback, I took a moment to prevent myself from stuttering. The shock wore off; we had never introduced ourselves, so it made sense. I cleared my throat, “I am Hector.”

“Full name?”

“… Hector Sageus,” I confided.

“So, Hector, I’ll be in your care,” she proclaimed.

I blinked in confusion, “What?”

“You say it’s dangerous, that I should leave, but where do I go? My home is torched. My family is killed. I have nowhere to go to – no future. And, if it is as you say, some blame is to be placed on you. The knights came because of your mess and you took the liberty of keeping me alive and in this situation. Take responsibility.”

Her words stabbed me in the gut like a dagger. Painful as they were, they were the truth. “I don’t know if that’s possible, but I’ll try my best,” I said. “Anyways, what is your name?”

“Me?” The elf pointed to herself as if there was anyone else I could be talking to. She grinned and proclaimed, “I am Lia Elden. And, uh, can you use your magic to check me out again? I feel kind of… off.”

“Off?” Puzzled, I tilted my head.

“Yeah, ever since you save me from not dying, I’ve felt strange, as if something inside me is swelling. It’s not a bad thing though! I feel great, full of energy even, but it’s strange.”

I rubbed my chin, “All right, I’ll take a look.” A doctor, I was not, but I did have the extended senses provided by my dungeon side. Activating my extended self, I took a look.

A troubling diagnostic, but it wasn’t because of her injury. Hiding in the forest, I could sense two presences watching us. One of them was thoughtless, free of any distraction. The other was violent beyond all reason. The word ‘kill’ echoed repeatedly in its being. They were the zombie and slime. I had a lot of questions: how long were they there, what they were doing, what’s going on. However, a gut feeling told me they would not answer any of them.

As for Lia, my dungeon senses presented her to me as something normal – yet strange. The world presents itself to me in colors I didn’t even know existed while using my dungeon senses. With its sight, I can tell one type of tree from another, where the bugs and insects are, the flow of mana, and the ebb and flow of the dungeon. The slime and zombie in this sight appear as natural objects of the dungeon – a part of it. Lia was visible in the same way.

“Well,” I rubbed my neck, “Nothing is wrong, per se, but it looks like you are showing up as part of the dungeon.”

“Part of the dungeon?” She repeated. “Like a monster?”

I nodded, “Just like that. Speaking of which,” I turned around, “You two! Get out here.” Out from the brush lumbered a zombie and hopped a slime. “What have you two been doing?”

Can I Kill?

“Tch, you can’t kill her. From today on, I guess she is one of us.” The slime remained silent at this. I introduced the two to Lia, “These two have accompanied me for some time, one is a zombie of an adventurer and the other is a slime that has gone metal.”

She frowned, “Do they not have names?”

“I guess not?” Perplexed, I looked over the two. Naming them never came to mind since they never used mine. “I think the zombie was name Ta-something. Tawlin? Tol? Maybe it was Tall?” I hoped the zombie would give me confirmation – it didn’t. “We can go with Tall. Sounds close enough. As for the slime, it never had one and I never gave it one.”

It interrupted me, Am Slime.

“‘Am slime’, so it says.” I told Lia with a shrug.

“So,” Lia surmised, “The zombie is Tall and the slime is just Slime?”

“Yup.”

“Now what?”

Now what? I asked myself. A great question. It seems trouble always found a way to me. ‘Let’s get to my dungeon first, out of the wilderness,” I suggested, “We can discuss things there.”

It was a short walk, but it felt like a trek from the Orphant mountains to the Ilm ocean. An eerie quiet persisted. The pristine forest was tainted by the body of elves. We came across several as we made our way back. The sight troubled me, so I wondered what Lia’s state of mind would be. I would glance back at her, but her face was steel; there was no sign of distress on her face.

“Isn’t this surprising,” the elf remarked upon seeing the room I had carved out for myself at the bottom of the dungeon. “Who would have thought that a dungeon of all places could have a place like this.”

“I can do a lot with mana, you know. I spent a great deal actually furnishing out this area. The only thing in here that is really all that great though is the bed.”

She hopped on it to test it out. And let out a ‘fwee’ in joy. “Wow! This really is great! We didn’t have anything like this in the village?”

“Really? I thought the quality was just okay…” It was clear we came from two different worlds.

“Yeah, really! Never in my 27 years have I ever been on something so comfy.”

“Wait, you’re 27?”

She giggled, covering her mouth, “Oh? Didn’t know? I do look youthful for my age, I guess. I thought perhaps you saved me cause you were into older women…” She teased me, slanting her eyes at me in a lewd manner.

The slime hopped in place.

“N-no, that’s not it! You were the only one I saw alive, and what makes you think you are older than me?!”

“A woman can tell, ya’know? I wouldn’t put you past 21.” She sprawled out on the bed, laying on her side.

I gulped. The dubious elf was right. “You’re right. I’m 20.”

Lia chuckled, “Knew it! Anyways, Hector, what’s the plan? Don’t we have more trouble on the way?”

“Right, we do.” With nobles and knights eyeing the land, there was no avoiding it. Fighting and defense was the obvious choice, but was that all I wanted to do? Witnessing the massacre erupted a long dormant rage in me. The kingdom was exiting its golden age. Many people didn’t believe or acknowledge it, but for the longest time I felt that way. Watching that idiot Lacus and his farther handle the throne made me sure of that. Life had placed me in a difficult place from the start, full of trouble. It was because of that I wanted a quiet, peaceful life.

I was never going to get that. “Lia, your home was lost.” She nodded her head at the obvious statement. I looked at the palm of my hand, “You can say I lost my home as well – no, actually, I never had a home I was welcome to to begin with.” Closing my hand into a fist, I gazed towards the ceiling, “This dungeon has become my home, and I intend to make it somewhere worth living. Not just for myself, but maybe for all people. The kingdom won’t last acting as it is, and I don’t intend to stay on a sinking ship.”

“That’s great and all, but what do we do about the people after this land?” Asked Lia.

“If they come, we fight. To do that we need to do something I tried to avoid: expand the dungeon and become known. I have no intention of creating the normal monster-spewing-dungeon that harms the land. The dungeon needs to expand in a way that keeps the land healthy, monsters need to be made that can be controlled and don’t prey on others, and relations must be built with others to ensure ourselves politically and economically. My power is strange and with a lot of potential. I’m sure many people would like to work with us given the chance.”

Wide-eyed, Lia looked on in astonishment, “Wow, I never took you for a smart one!”

I rolled my eyes, “I passed from one of the top schools in the kingdom, I’m not an idiot!” I left out the part where it was just barely. But in a way, she was right. I was prepared to do these things in a way most people weren’t. My life was one constant cycle of trial and failure, continuously put down by those around me. Now I was free and alone. The ambition that has long since smoldered sparked into flame. I took out my journal and went to a clean page. Surrounded by the elf, the slime and the zombie, I announced, “It’s time to get to work.”