Edwin Elliot POV
"Well Edwin regardless I would like you to make contact with with this masked man. I do not care how many you have lost or how many it takes to gain an audience.....I wish to meet this person. There is no telling just how valuable an asset having this person joining our kingdom will be."
"Yes sir. Though we have not heard back from certain members of our household, we assume they have killed."
"Then check the whereabouts those men where suppose to be looking. We can eventually find this person but I do not have the same opinions as Aldain. I wish for you to gain an audience with this man and see if we can lure him to our side.....A few kingdoms by the coast of the central continent have already seen the viewing crystal with his images. He's going to start having people lure them into their kingdoms households to strengthen themselves. I don't want to miss this opportunity before any guilds or central kingdoms try to get to him first. "
"And if the masked man simply refuses our offers and won't join us?"
"Then kill him. That weapon he had showed to be something your family claims to be beyond anything I've seen in the central continent....then prove it to me."
"You have seen the crystal images your grace?"
"Yeah I saw it....though I didn't have anyone with the appraisal skill there with you when you saw it so I have to just take your word for it that it will be profitable for us."
"Yes your grace....It will absolutely not disappoint. We believe it to be one of the strongest weapons we've ever found on the eastern continent so far. In fact we compare it with with some of the higher grade legendary weapons.....if not higher."
"Surely you can't think it's a"
"Phantasm Class....No it didn't show the same color scheme during the appraisal, though we believe it could potentially be as strong as one of the 4 Hero weapons. We cannot be sure until we look at it but I believe it is a great find your grace!"
"Very well. If you think this is an item comparable to one of the 4 phantasm weapons then I am sending some of my own in as well."
"Your grace?"
"What we have to handle this quickly before word of this spreads to anyone else. You said that entire colosseum he wrecked was filled with people didn't you. Well then that's a lot of mouths talking about this person and word spreads fast. Regardless if it's across continents. We can't be the only one's looking for this man, so I'm sending in two specialists."
"Two specialists? Sure we believe this person to be rather high level along with some dangerous class of magic."
"Then we will simply beat him when he is at his weakest and offer him his opportunity then. These specialists are both over 150 and are world class assassins that have already slain 3 divinely blessed beings. They have a interesting way of getting things done. So they will be headed to your continent soon and I want your joint efforts in tracking this person. Find out what will make him turn to our side!"
"Yes your majesty..."
The crystal display turned off and the two way transmission that allowed one to speak to another from leagues away had ended. Truly just another remarkable invention in the central continent. Our family has always collected ancient artifacts and collected old text. That is why we offered to explore the eastern continent in exchange for finding strong individuals for the kingdom we hail from.
His majesty wants to get his hands on the masked man, I simply want to get my hands on that weapon. It is a magnificent device. The king just isn't thinking grandly enough, though it's not like he was ever a wise king. Just a brilliant tactician in warfare. He was once a general of one of the four strongest empires in the human nation. He's been through many battles and has now made a kingdom of his own by the coast of the central continent.
That weapon.....If it is what I think it is then I feel like taking on this masked man will be much more difficult than I previously inquired. We can't simply attack him, I'm sure that is what happened to Elijah. Though I don't know he just went missing in the woods to east close to the Jheroki Mountains.
Sending in more clansman just to get slaughtered would only hurt our clan. We need to play this strategy out right. We need to find him and I need to find out what makes this masked man tic.
Vali POV
The large disk shaped platform continued its descent to floor one. Out of all of the inventions I've seen so far in this world, this system seems to be by far the most advanced. Even though we aren't't descending at a very fast pace, something like this that has been working for hundreds of years running between each floor like an elevator is fascinating. It must run on some kind of magical power. There is apparently another form of transportation between floors for the leaders of the races but I'm probably not allowed to use that.
Though I have much more pressing matters to think about currently. I need to find out more about the races that are trapped in this massive dungeon Balor has created. I need to somehow come up with a plan, as I am hoping I can benefit someway in helping them as well. This won't be a free service I'm providing them, I can't just throw my life around like that, though for the plans I have for the future I will need some aid soon in accomplishing them. These people hopefully can become those allies I need when the time comes.
I've been thinking about a lot of things since I spoke with Loki. Honestly it has given me a lot to mull over of what I need to do to provide a safe place for Kaylan and those close to me during my time here in this world. Since the kingdoms on this continent doesn't treat demi humans well, or from what I've seen, it isn't possible to live here with my mother. In my world if the treatments were so unfair I would simply try to travel to a different country. Though in this world, I don't know of anywhere that I would consider safe for all of us. Why did Loki drop me here of all places?
'...Though according to what I've acquired this continent is still fairly new settled territory and the kingdoms here are not as powerful as the ones established in the central continent. That Lucy girl said the King of Aldain happened to acquire rights to this land after defeating some local dungeon....Hmmm. Perhaps the humans of this world are doing a sort of land grab policy with newly settled lands? '
Back in my world when our countries were first being established it wasn't uncommon for leaders to issue large pieces of new land to individuals to help bring in new resources and expand territory.
If I somehow defeat a dungeon I might be able to acquire some land of my own. Since I am human this might be able to apply to me. Hopefully I can gain some good relations with the Asher kingdom through this Lucy character and be able to have a small land of my own. Essentially it would be like forming my own country.
To build a country all you need are land, citizens, and a government to run it. These demi humans are all high level from what I see. Having them as allies when things get bad would be beneficial to me, and if we can possibly beat this dungeon together we might be able to acquire some territory of our own. Though this is all based on assumption by what that little girl said.
'Honestly I wouldn't have even believed she was a royalty if she didn't have that female knight with her...Hmm she was a rather alluring women now that I think about it. Her name was....Cassandra. She had long chestnut blonde hair and wore some slightly flashy armor. She seemed to be wound up rather tightly, though her level was low she did show to have talent with a sword....Hmm I wonder if I can get those black clothed people to teach me to fight with a sword. I still haven't gotten to practice with this frost sword yet and I would like to get a sword mastery skill on it. I apparently now have a Scythe Skill Mastery on it now. After killing that smog dragon and dark fomorians my scythe mastery has gone up.
Scythe Mastery Beginner level 8
15% added attack power when using a scythe as a weapon
I guess this is due to doubling the experience of everything I attain in this dungeon for the next week. Mastery on weapons is usually much different than masteries of other skills. Like every skill the higher masteries take forever to increase. It takes a lot to level up a weapon skill, it is not just doing an action over and over again, but also takes into the account the intensity and way you use it as well. So if you were to use your skills properly and facing opponents far stronger than you can help the growth as well. Though this is only the earlier stages of mastery.
So far I've only received two skills though for the mastery. Slice is an active skill that increases the penetration of my scythe blade by 10% and another semi passive skill called Staff Strengthening that increases my weapons defense by 10%. I also now get an added buff of 15% added attack power when using a scythe.
Though I don't really want to use the scythe honestly. It's far too destructive to simply use it to fight someone and isn't something I should just swing around for fun. That's why I was hoping to learn another weapon skill such as sword mastery from those black robed demi humans from before. They all seemed to be quite skilled at using a blade. Hopefully I can somehow get them to teach me as well, maybe then I don't have to lug Abgrund around so much and scare everyone...'....Though.....I guess it's not like its bad to have a nuke in your back pocket should the need arise for it.'
Abgrund does give an added boost to my dark magic when equipped, and since I gained abysmal mist I may need to use it more in this dungeon. Cam said those giants can heal rapidly but apparently the only things that can halt that were their odd shining blades and my mist. Since I was so high up on that wall and the mist destroyed them before I hit the ground....I never did get to see just how powerful those beings were.
Gaining that 25% affinity to fire also gave me an added boost to my fire magic, though I never really got to see those effects as the only skill I had pertaining to fire was fireball. If I didn't have magic manipulation I wouldn't have been able to bend the fire around my body the way I can...Truly there are many ways to become strong in this world and I feel I haven't even scratched the surface yet. That's why I believe it will be beneficial to gain trustworthy allies. Even if I am stronger than the majority of the humans in this continent, this world is just too big to fight in alone. I can't take villains here lightly either, hence the reason I had to have Fenrir eat all of those men from before. If I couldn't trust them and they came back with people to hurt my mother or anyone else, I'd never forgive myself.
Hopefully I can also somehow gain ties with the royalties of the Asher kingdom, I told Lucy I wanted to meet with them in an undisclosed location in a few days to discuss what we spoke of before. I guess only time will tell to see where this goes....'...Man this has been a long time, but the feeling of the large disc shaped platform we are standing on continues to fall deeper into the the planets core.
".....So....Is that bird as weird as your other pet?"
Cam not seeming to enjoy the quiet as much as me decided to try to make small talk. Lately I've felt like I have much more time to think to myself, this could be due to my cognitive functions expanding, though I guess for others my odd silence can seem strange.
"Ha....I don't know if she is as weird as him, but she hits pretty hard. What's wrong? Didn't get along with Fenrir too well?"
"Ha...is that what you called it? That little thing creeped the hell outa me."
"...Yah, haha, he is a rather interesting animal. This however is Hlökk."
As I motioned towards the small purple crow sitting on my shoulder Cam acknowledged her and greeted her. Though she didn't say anything back. She doesn't reveal herself to just anyone and I honestly feel this might be for the best right now and has just been quietly observing everything on my shoulder. The less the know about us for the moment the better.
"Hm...Is that bird not a monster?.....I don't see a level for it like everything else in this dungeon?"
What Cam said wasn't incorrect. Hlökk doesn't show to have a level and since a dungeon is a place were a person's level is at all times shown, it could be considered odd that something that is alive in here doesn't show such information. A dungeon is meant to be a place where you are at your most vulnerable so this has probably lead to Cam and the others in this dungeon to be quite mindful of their surroundings.
"Yah....she is a bit complicated too."
"...."
As Cam stood there, he stared back and forth between me and Hlökk if trying to determine something but eventually just shrugs his shoulders as if deciding it wasn't important.
"So...What other races are trapped here in this dungeon Cam?"
"There are currently 7 races remaining. The Reiki's, Eis Neko's, Annunake's, Adlers, Arachnee, Pixie, and Jiji race. Though the only combat efficient races to continue the fight with Fomorians are we the Reiki race and the Eis Neko race."
"To continue the fight?.....What do you mean?"
"...We have suffered great loss here. Many of the races have given up the fight to conquer the dungeon and have determined the fight hopeless. A large number of what is left of our population is apparently fine with just remaining here for the bitter remainder of their lives. It's funny to think only several years ago we felt like we were truly going to conquer the dungeon in our own lifetime. We celebrated in having the strongest generation in the history of each of our clans....."
After Cam said this he just turned his head and bit his lip. I guess the thoughts of better times can always make a person cringe when seeing how bad it can turn into. I know all to well of this fact.
"So your generation was considered the strongest in this dungeons history?"
"Yes...In fact we conquered floors at tremendous speeds compared to our predecessors. The accumulation of boss drops and increasing our population some races actually became quite strong and dominate over the others. Since all monsters besides the boss spawn in each floor after death, certain hunting grounds were acquired by certain races and for the first time in our history it seemed like it would be possible to escape this place. There was peace between each of the races even though it was a constant struggle for getting out of here, we worked together."
"And when you hit floor 63 that stopped?"
"No....it happened sometime before that."
"The death of the Elkia race left us in a very vulnerable position. Though each race had its own respective commanders, the Elkia race were our unspoken leaders in this place. They were brilliant and were responsible for a lot of our advances over the years. They were our healers and are what actually helped unite all of the races together....Their deaths came as a shock and happened just before the discovery of the Fomorians.....Things got chaotic.....we just didn't know our whole order was strung on such a thin string."
Cam seemed to have many regrets in his life. He and his generation were considered to be the strongest generation in this dungeons history and due to the races acquiring manpower and high leveling spots they acquired strong weapons from monsters. They were clearing floors much quicker than ever before and it was thought they would be able to accomplish the other 37 floors within their own lifetime. Though tragedy struck all the dominoes tipped over. Though the death of the Elkia race seems foul play to me.
"....You said before there were only two combat effective classes against the Fomorians? Are you saying that the only two races in the dungeon that are able to fight are yours and that blue haired race?"
"That is correct."
"So because those dark giants started coming down to the lower floors it pushed all the races back. I'm assuming these non-combat races live on the lower floors you spoke of before?"
"That is correct."
'Hmm....He doesn't speak much about the lower floors when I press him. He was certainly talkative about the situations of what was happening on the upper floors though.'
"If I recall that one woman, Ecclaire was it? The Eis Neko....she thought I was a resident of floor 1. Why is that?"
".......You actually could resemble some of the Annunake race with your white hair. Though you don't have the same bushy tail or white ears as they do. Many residents of the lower floors aren't in the best of health. Actually many of the remaining white lycanths that have survived live on floor 1 along with the other races there."
"If I recall Ecclaire acted as if your race was dwindling as well?"
As I pressed him he just looked down to the floor and lowered his eyes. He kept his hands behind his back but struggled to find the words to speak.
"....We too have been met with extreme loss do those titans. Though we have lost many of our number we haven't lost quite as much as the Annunake. Due to a disaster that happened to floor 44 they lost a large number of their clan. Some stayed and fought but a lot of the remaining were crushed on floor 63 by the emergence of those dark beasts. If it were not for the death of the Elkia race many months prior to this then the Annunake family would have probably been the next race to leave us."
"....Why would the Elkia races deaths keep the Annunake alive?"
I don't get what he's getting at. The Annunake are apparently a race of white wolflike humans. The Elkia race would be a race that resembles a deer.....I'm assuming their relations would be bad?
"The Annunake's cherished the Elkia race. In fact it was always known that their races have been on good terms since the 10 races were all brought here centuries ago. It is not known why the mysterious Annunake race always acted so friendly with the Elkia's but they always regarded them as family. When the Elkia race were wiped out....Many of the Annunake lost desire to continue fighting and left to live on the lower floors. "
"I see..."
Seems that the death of the Elkia race had a large effect on all of the other races once tragedy struck. Though the death of their race did effect many Annunake to stop wanting to fight which lead to their entire race not getting wiped out months later on a higher floor. With the loss of the Elkia's for many of them they give up and chose to live out their days on the lower floors.
EEERRRCHHHH!
The elevator type device we are currently standing on has stopped....I guess we've arrived.
The large two gray doors open and the glowing orbs on the elevator wall glow into the dark interior of the first floor.
RARRRRRGHGHHH!!
Flap...
Flapp
Flappflafalfplalap
I can hear feint sounds of flapping and odd screeches in the distance. I can also hear a sound of water dripping in the distance as well. I feel my hearing has heightened but what this first floor feels like right now is a dark cave of some kind.
"This way Vali...."
As Cam casually walked forward into the darkness I quickly followed behind him. Since I cannot see well enough in the dark I pull out Loki's mask from my inventory and activate Night Vision, one of the mask's two skills. I can see in front of me is a very large cavern that goes deep into the core of middle earth.
Cam is walking down a wide path that looks to have been built into some kind of tunnel. There are large pieces of rock acting as pillars holding up the integrity of the large tunnels ceilings.
'Cam did say that floor 1 was a dark place that people wouldn't choose to live but I was expecting a lot different than this.'
Who would want to live in this dark chasm.
I activated presence sense and noticed that nothing appeared on my radar. Though it is still at its first level it can still get a grasp of an area of 50 meters around me. Though I just heard flapping from before I could have sword a monster would have been near by.
"Floor 1 is where our history first began in this dungeon. It is the location Balor first appeared before each of the races he brought and trapped here. It is on floor one where our first city was built and the unity of races first began. It once stood as the foundation of our unity, though it is now over run and over populated by many species today. The health of the city has diminished heavily over the last several years also due to the over population and shortage of food."
"You said that their were other floors that can sustain life correct? Why not just bring more of the races on this floor to the higher floors."
".....I agree to this. But the alliances council agreed that increasing the population on higher floors would actually hurt our cause much more. Many race's leaders live on a higher floor. But due to the population expanding too much over the years and with the appearance of the Fomorians, we have been pushed back. "
" .....So that thing about your numbers dwindling is actually bullshit it's just if your not considered a "combat efficient race" your forced to live on the lower floors."
Cam stopped walking and the large dark cavern remained silent. He didn't turn around to face me though I knew he was searching for a way to answer me. His hands remained clasped behind his back and his form remained unmoved.
"....Your quite perceptive...Though they are not my own beliefs they are the beliefs of some."
He started to walk forward through the path that I just now noticed began to get narrower and narrower as the the path grew forward. Looking around my surroundings this really is a dark and ominous dungeon. The ceilings and walls were shaped with sharp rocks coming out of them. They were odd dark spikes that looked to have an odd swiveled look to them. The cave we are walking through really does not give me any good premonitions of if I was one of the individuals brought and trapped here centuries ago.
"So....what floor do you live on Cam?"
"....I live on a small farm on floor 45 with my mate Waltrude."
"Oh so your a farmer eh? And you got yourself a wife look at that?"
"Yes...The Reiki train there hands to kill as well as to create...And I'm assuming wife is human for mate? You seem shocked I'd have one Vali."
"Not at all your a rather stoic guy after all hehe. So I take it your wife farms as well?"
"Yes Waltrude is quite the Reiki, you've actually met her. She was with me when we first met you on floor 52."
"Oh you mean the woman who dragged me through the forest? Hmm well congrats she seems like a fine woman."
Cam stopped walking and turned his head to the side to look at me. He gave a puzzled expression.
"...You have an interesting way of speaking. You refer to my wife as a woman? The tales from the past about humans is that you were a rather greedy and arrogant race. The stories told some were kind while many for the most part did not treat us demi-human races very well. Though I heard they couldn't all communicate so well with the other races."
"So you and your generation have never really met a human before huh?"
"No but there are some pictures and sculptures carved into the walls in floor one so we had an idea of how your kind looked."
'Hmm I never really noticed but I guess my train of speech isn't correct anymore. I refer to many female demi-human women as women, and I guess in regards to what I'm saying it isn't correct because a woman is a female human, not necessarily considered as a female Reiki. I guess I didn't notice it before now.'
"Well, I have a special skill that helps me to communicate in any language. It comes in handy."
"I see...."
As Cam and I pressed further into the quiet cave I began to smell a rancid odor. It honestly smelt like death but I couldn't see where the smell was coming from. I started to look around the dungeon floor but could not find any traces of life on this floor at all. Cam somehow noticing my distress turned his head back forward and said not to worry about monsters. The monsters here are around level 7-30 but due to Cam's and mine high level we won't be approached by any so candidly. But the lingering sent of death still remains in my nostrils.
"Well...we're here. The center of floor 1. The first city of Dark Eden, the city of Anfang, the city of beginnings."
As he stopped and gazed into a large opening into the pitch black cavern I walked up beside him to view floor 1 of Balor's dungeon. An overpowering stench of death passes through the white mask and into my nostrils. Even with my mask it is a poorly lit city.
It was.....not what I was expecting. In front of me was a large open space that looks to have been dug out. Many tunnels I can see in the distance but the walls bordering the large city in the center are the same as the ones in the tunnel we just walked through. The ceiling now is at least 10 times higher now than the tunnel and the city in the middle has large walls surrounding many oddly built buildings some that go almost as high as the ceiling itself.
Looking up towards the top of the buildings and along the ceiling I really am impressed by the way this species was able to build a city down here from nothing. They've dug out tunnels, built walls, spires and houses in here. They've even made carvings along the walls...Wait!
Staring along the walls I see odd designs and markings along the dungeon walls. At first I thought it was just part of the cave rock but there are carvings of some kind along the walls.
Moving my eyes along to the walls I then notice....they aren't carvings...They're....bodies. Skeletons are chained across the walls of rock surrounding the walls of this entire floor. The bodies are enough to cover the walls fully and reach up to the ceiling...Actually....the ceiling has some fresh bodies hanging from there as well. Some of them don't look quite as old as the other skeletons and haven't decayed fully. This entire floor is filled with the stench of death.
gulp...
I started to walk forward towards the poorly lit city in the center of the dungeon. The stench is starting to get more and more overpowering now and its starting to make my eyes water.
Cam continues alongside me and I can see that though his appearance hasn't changed at all his mood does seem to have gone rather grim.
"....The worst part I find about Balor's dungeon is that we aren't able to properly mourn our dead. Upon death here, your body will be transported to decorate the walls of each dungeon floor. Balor once joked that he use to burry the bodies beneath each floor but he ran out of space....This is... our struggle."
Walking further to the city born in a dungeon, I can't help but look now in horror. To imagine a fate like this and being drug here along with your family and clan. If you were to die here your loved ones would have to view your body lining the walls of the dungeon your trapped in forever....Balor truly is a sick and twisted fallen deity.
Drawing closer to the city I notice the wall surrounding the city doesn't have any gate. It just has a large opening between the wall.
Walking with Cam we passed through the entrance to the city and I then felt an odd cooling sensation and felt as if the smell of death had diminished some. It felt like I had passed one of those odd barriers from tv.
"Each city we founded has a barrier like this one that was left to us by the Elkia race."
"I see.."
Cam and I walked through the dark city and what's odd is there isn't any guards anything watching the gates. I can see people in the distance next to oddly shaped buildings that resemble crudely built shacks. I can see some fires lit around the city but the overall feel to this city is rather grim and dirty. Even though it has a somewhat different atmosphere than the cave surrounding it, this is still an unpleasant feeling.
Walking through the city I notice these small shacks must act as houses for the people here. I now have a closer glimpse of the races down here and they are quite odd looking. I see a lot of very small dwarf like races. Though they have the torso and appendages of a human, they're faces are covered in hair. Some of them have very bushy grey or brown hair. I'd essentially think of them as tiny humans but they have so much facial hair as well it covers their entire face. I can't make out any facial expressions though a lot of them have started to become aware of my presence.
"Oohhh"
"Wowawawa"
Many of those short raced demi humans were all huddled together around a fire and had turned and looked at me and Cam. We continue to walk past them and past the living grounds of the city of Anfang.
Anfang means city of beginnings but what kind of beginnings is this for someone to be born into. It's dark, the walls and ceiling itself remind them of being trapped down here. This isn't just a struggle like Cam said before.
As we walked past more shacks I can see eyes from the openings peeking through at both Cam and I. Though many of the eyes I'm seeing are red and glow in the dark. Though this floor is very poorly lit, the races here seem to have no problem seeing at all. We continued to walk and I could here a lot of chatter from my surroundings.
Many of those same small demi humans were wondering behind me and Cam and trying to act like they were hiding. I can't even tell if they are children or not since their faces are covered in fur. Though all their other body is not covered in fur. Many of them are wearing something that look like overalls made out of animal leather. They have feet that resembles a big foot and fur appearing on the top of each. Each of them look quite cautions of us actually.
We continued walking through the area as I wanted to get a good look around this place. Cam said the leaders of all the races weren't ok with allowing the higher levels to accept too many people from the lower floors because it would potentially harm more than it would help. I'm assuming if they moved a large number of the people on the lower floors to the floors that are capable of being populated the food supplies and availability for resources would decrease. But who is to say who is allowed to live one what floor, who is allowed to decide that the races that aren't combat efficient to live on other floors. It feels like there is a lot of inner strife between these races that I wasn't aware of. Though it's not much different than those in this world. The strong take control and make the rules, the weak simply don't have the ability to refuse.
'It's just amazing that these races are all locked in here together but there is still internal fighting and racial issues.'
"GET AWAY! RAHCHH!!!""
I hear the sound of a girl screaming followed by a loud screech that pieces my ear drums. Cam and I look at one another and and run towards the source of the sound. We sprinted past the crudely built shacks with eyes still pointed at us and round the corner. There I see.....
A small....ummm what is that?
In front of me I see two figures in the distance running away and turn my head to the side. Standing at about the height of stomach is.....a little girl? Though...she's not a girl. I see her eyes are bright red and she is staring back at me. Her teeth are glaring back at me and I can see she is huddled next to something. It's another woman.....though she looks to have been partially eaten by a monster. The little red eyed girl does too actually.
After I look over the scene I can now see that they weren't eaten by monsters....Their lower halves are that of a large spider. They must be the race of Arachnee that Cam said about before. They appear to be a race of spider like humans with the lower half of a spider. The little girl is now no longer looking at us and is covering over the larger figure that looks like a larger version of herself. The woman with the lower half of a spider the little girl arachnee was covering had her legs crushed and the lower half of her abdomen looked to have been slightly crushed and a green like liquid was oozing out of the sides. Looking at the Arachnee in front of me I see her Hp is dropped gradually to the bottom and is slowly dying from her injuries.
Her eyes look heavy and she clearly doesn't have long left.
I step past Cam and and he makes a reaction to stop me but I simply wave my hand at him. I kneel down and reach my hand out to the Arachnee woman with the puncture wound and the little girl rushes to stop me.
"NOO!!! Just go AWAY!"
".....I might be able to heal her."
"What?! HOW!?....How can you heal her?!"
I without answering reach past the little girl and put my hands on the woman's face and the other hand on her lower injured spider half.....I take a deep sigh and activated Freya's Soul Recovery as well as amplifying the magic power released by the skill.
A bright light rose from man hands and lit up the surrounding area. The open wound on the Arachnee started to seal up slowly but her hp was still decreasing. I continually activated freya's soul recovery and began to try to follow her pulse. Death's Grip opened a door for me in understand to tap into life. Though it's not like I can use the skill to heal someone, I can use the understanding of the skill to monitor if the person is at least stabilizing.
After the wound was sealed I began to put my hands on the broken legs of the spider and the crushed parts began to repair and come back to life. The Arachnee in front of me still had her eyes slightly open. Though her hp stopped dropping she had lost quite a bit of blood and was in a critical state. Her color in her human half was quite pale. Her hair was dark black and now she began to blink her eyes.....She has 6 eyes?
Four new eyelids above the Arachnee's regular set of eyes are two pairs of bright red eyes that still looked to be out of life.
'Though her hp has stopped dropping I can hear her pulse slowing....but I do not know why.'
" Truly you do have quite phenomanel magic. Malfius was right to put so much faith in you. Though her wounds are gone her chi is steadily dropping, Arachnee are a race that can survive quite well on blood, though they eat other things as well. We need to provide her with more blood ."
"Wait....can't someone with a different blood type just kill the person?"
"Blood type? Listen I don't know what your talking about but the Arachnee have the ability to absorb nutrients from other species blood and it gives them abilities and sustenance. That is why they haven't had the best of report with other races."
Figuring out what Cam was getting out I scratch my forearm and a slow trinket of blood starts to fall from my arm. I reach in front of the women and just shrug as if telling her this is the only way. I bet it's odd to offer your blood to someone and I honestly don't know how to ask her to do this but hopefully she doesn't want to die.
She picked up my hands and brought it to her mouth and began sucking my blood...'mmm it's a very tingly feeling. I can feel as if my life force itself could be taken away right now. Though it's not painful, it is just an odd experience. It does however tense up all of my muscles in my shoulders and arms. After about a minute the woman Arachnee lowers my hand and starts heavily breathing. The little girl closed in and started to hug her while crying.
"Mama!!!!"
"It's ok Karma...It's ok mama's ok.....Just....Wo are you sir? I..How can I ever repay you for saving my life."
"....Don't worry about it. "
'Honestly it's not like I'm a good person or anything, just helping someone that is in need right next to me. If you have the ability to do something you should be able to at least help those around you. Though I may be potentially going to war with Balor with these people. I need to get on their good sides. What comes after Balor....I need as many people as possible to survive. '
Congratulations! You have received a new title:
Death Canceler
All stats rise by 5 All healing magic receives a 10% buff
You have saved a soul that was marked by death, you have gained the title of Death Canceler. A highly awarded Title that Doctor's and Priests around the world covet. Many will marvel at the title of those who are capable of granting life when it is fleeting
'Hmm my Freya's Recovery skill has also gone up to Intermediate Level 7. It says I can heal wounds and injuries both seen and unseen. Though I was able to use it to the point of closing an open wound and repairing fractures to sustain her life. I'm guessing my magic manipulation is allowing me to repair things I shouldn't have repaired with the skill alone. I'm also receiving a bonus in this dungeon for a week so any experience I gain is doubled....I can probably heal a lot of people in this first floor and boost my skills a lot down here....I can accomplish multiple things at once with this actually.....'
I started to look around and noticed that the large buildings in the distance looked nothing like the shacks here. This must be the lowest part of the city. The buildings here look to be made with much more flimsy material and judging by the way everyone looks here it is likely that not many of those here have eaten. The small demi human race with faces covered in hair look like they all have dirt and bruises on their skin. They must work hard to grasp any amount of food down here there is. Looking at the red eyes in the distance I suppose there are more Arachnee here as well. I see another race peeking behind some shacks made of sticks that look like tiny elves. This must be the pixie race.
I started to walk a little closer and one jumped behind the shack. I'm curious what pixies look like so I walk forward and Cam starts to follow me.
Walking around the corner a small male demi human fell down and is looking up at me. He doesn't say anything but looks quite frightened when he sees me. He crawled backwards and there I see a girl that look quite similar to him. They look like a race of skinny hobbits and have pointed ears. They look like they have fairy wings on their back but the boys are torn and the girls look rotted. He backed into her and they both trembled while looking back at me. As I was about to say something the boy jumped up and yelled something.
"Don't...Don't take her!"
"....I'm not here to take anyone."
"ShutUP! That's all the people from the top come here for anyways. To take ours away. I won't let you!"
"I've actually come here to meet all of you. I plan on taking everyone out of this dungeon soon. Though....I think we need to start healing everyone and getting everyone fed real soon. We need everyone at our strongest if we are going to get everyone out of here safely."
"....I don't believe you! How could I trust anything you say!"
The small pixie boys eyes started to show a feint glow but then faded away.
I walked forward to him and reached my hand towards him. He swung his arm at me and I caught it before he could form a fist. Looking down at it his arm is covered in bruises and small cuts. He doesn't have any shoes on and his hair is brown. His face and body is covered in black dirt that appears to be the same from the dungeon floor. He's very thin, almost as thin as his female friend here. I activated soul recovery and watch as the small cuts on his body start to repair themselves. The light shines and the two pixie like individuals in front of me widen their eyes and I can see now the color of both of their eyes are a dull orange and a dull purple.
"....Tanin your hands!!!....He healed you!"
The girl started gripping the pixie boys hands and rubbing them as if trying to see if they were truly healed. They both seemed shocked at what I had done.
The boy continued feeling around his body while the girl jumped in front of me and hugged me.
"Thank you sir....Tanin is my little brother and well...thank you"
She gripped onto my the back of my jacket. Her small body reached around my waste and looked to have a ghastly appearance of her own. Her eyes were dull and her wings attached to her back were see through and looked to be breaking apart from rot.
Pixie's are said to be a magical race that are often compared with fairies. Though this race is much different than I imagined. Pixies are said to be highly playful and magical beings and enjoyed playing pranks on people. They look sickly.
I place my hand on the girls shoulder and activate my healing skill again. Though the small wounds start to heal the recovery of her wings does not happen at all. The large almost butterfly like wings that stood on her back were in a broken and rotted state. They have a dark brown color to them much like this girls hair.
'Hmmm....'
"Oh...Thank you!"
She looked at her cuts on her body and looked to be quite happy. Though I wasn't able to heal her or her brothers wings at all. They're wings look like decayed mosquito wings now that I think of it.
Thinking this to act as a sort of disease I remember using a crystal on Ari when I healed her. It said on the skill mastery menu that if you use one of these magical cores from a monster they can increase the healing affects and even help cure some disease.
What I need to do is start healing everyone in here that I can. I can raise my skill as well as intimacy with these people along the way and find out interesting information about this place.
I told Cam to go collect as much food as possible. If that meant hunting or whatever he had to do, collect it and bring as much meet and ingredients as he could down to the first floor. Anything that he could get from the Reiki's farms or monster meet that is edible to bring down is much as possible. He gave me an odd expression but oddly didn't refuse my demands. I'm not sure what his job is if it is to make me happy while Malfius is away so that I help them, or if he genuinely wants to help these people. Though he does agree to help with this.
I also have Hjokk go collect as many monsters with those odd magic crystals in their forehead. When I mentioned this Cam actually mentioned they had something similar to what I was referring to. It was magical cores that are found in many monsters in this dungeon. They are used in enchanting some weapons they had been using as well as other inventions over the years.
'They really are a crafty group of races.'
I then had him collect as many of those he could as well and had Hjokk just go and gather food. She like me had an ability to teleport to another area. However, she says her ability is more like a warp skill and she can tether it to locations she has been or to certain people, ie me.
"Everyone who needs to be healed of any injuries of wounds come forward now! I will heal you. Pass word around that in just a couple of hours we will be providing everyone who wants food to come fill their bellies!"
I yelled that to the crowd in the that were gathering around from the bright lights that were shining from me activating my skill. After I announced there had been food many of the residents here started talking amongst themselves and looking around at each other. I could roughly hear what some of them were saying and it seemed that even though I may have just said that they wouldn't just believe it....The lack of trust in this world runs deep. Not just with them but even with the elves I've met and some of the other demi humans when I'm first meeting them. People in this world don't naturally trust humans though they may not even know if I'm human or not.
After a while no one came forward. No one even ran away to tell anyone about the feast I had just spoke of. They just looked back at me oddly. I was about to say something when out of the group of small people came a small furry headed man holding a child with him. He ran up to me and held the small furry haired child up to me. The small Jiji race child had difficulty breathing and sounded to be quite ill.
"You...You said you could heal people?....Is...Is that true?"
'I guess it would be odd if you lived in a world where you thought healers were gone.'
I put my hand on the small child and activated my soul recovery and a large light left my hands and into the small child. I continued doing this process for about a minute and the child's breathing had stabilized. The jiji child had small bite marks all over her so I wasn't sure what had bitten her but it had caused her to fall into a critical condition and cause this kind of reaction. I guess there are still dangerous monsters of some kind on this floor.
"Her...her breathing is back to normal! Thank you! He healed my daughter!"
After that everyone started clamoring and making loud noises amongst each other.
"What is your name sir? "
"Vali, what about yourself?"
"I am Henley, and this is my daughter Joxen."
"Well it's nice to meet you both."
"Was what your were saying before....about the...food? Was that true as well?"
"Yes were bringing some food down here right now and prepare it for you guys."
"....Why are you doing all this.?"
The small furred man looked back up at me and I couldn't see through his hair to make out any form of a facial expression. Though the large dark brown fur shook when he spoke resembling a mustache, I couldn't really see the Jiji races eyes.
"Like I said...Hopefully soon I plan on helping you guys escape this place."
"Yes you said that before you.....you think we will be able to leave floor one soon?"
"No...I mean out of this dungeon."
After I said that the man known as Henley just stared back at me quietly in a large crowded area that was buzzing with noise with people running back and forth. Everyone started running up to me and I began to heal them one by one. Since I would be doing this for quite a while since the food is being collected I put on my black robe I got from Malthiel due to the MP increase and began healing the large line of people who gathered here.
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After about 2 hours or so I lost track of how many people I healed. I ran out of mana several times but due to the MP recovery of this incredibly high quality robe I was able to continue quite quickly. The 25% Magic Resistance I have also found gives me a slight boost in mana recovery as well. Though I wasn't able to cure some of the disease some of the pixies. I told the ones with sickness to wait to be healed later whenever I got my hands on more of those odd magic crystals from monsters.
My skill mastery for Freya's Soul Recovery rose to Intermediate Level 7. Now it states my understanding of recovering ones soul by the power of Freya has risen and my Soul Recovery will leave the soul and body more beautiful after I have touched it.
The experience gained from healing so many different races was ridiculous. That along with the benefits of being among the first individuals to find this place is amazing. I need to try fighting the monsters in this dungeon as well. Hopefully I can gain a few skills from the monsters here as well. I can already see this dungeon as a wealth of gain for myself if I continue to train here. Though what I've found after taking care of my mother and healing Ari.....I've found odd benefits in doing things I naturally did for my siblings since I was young. I gained stats and experience after every meal I prepared. After every time I used the healing skill. What better way to gain experience in this world than to increase my current skills and gain new ones. All while gaining new allies in this unknown world to myself.
This dungeons atmosphere is a cruel and broken one. The lives here of everyone I've healed I can see the struggle to live in this place. The wanting to live on. It's hard to imagine honestly in in such a place, where your dead are scattered on the walls around you and buried in the dirt beneath you...'...Their will to push on and fight to live on in such a place is quite admirable honestly.'
Some of the injuries were quite severe. If I didn't have the ability of magic manipulation there would be no way to repair some of the injuries of those who came forward. Many had large bite marks taken out of parts of there body and were poorly bandaged. They had said they tried rubbing some ointments they made on it but it got infected and many of them were honestly quite close to death.
Many had family members who carried them there and had very high fevers. The ones with large bites from monsters from their flesh were barely able to make the trip. I was somehow able to get them out of critical condition. I had Henley and a group of other Jiji race people with him to walk to every house and see if there are any people who need to be healed as well as fed. The idea popped in my head just in case there were some who wouldn't have heard of my message or couldn't leave due to injury.
After several hours of increasing my recovery skill and healing those on floor 1. I saw a large race. Much larger than the small races I have been healing so far. They stood tall and were very muscular. Each had long white hair and bright silver eyes that glowed in the poorly lit city. Some had pointy ears and bushy tails but some showed to have been partially torn off. They showed to have just as bad of injuries as those I healed before but they wore their scars with pride. None ever approached me.