[You have now entered the heart of the dungeon.]
The 2 adventurers trudged through the remaining portion of the dungeon. Their breathes were strained and their steps clumsy.
"How much longer till we're out of here..?"
The hoarse voice of the male adventurer of the duo sounded out, reverberating through the walls. His shaggy brown hair fell over his face and covered his dark eyes slightly. He grumbled as a pale hand came up to push the hair out of the way.
The female counterpart of the two pulled out a small item, her mini-map. Her brown eyes squinted as she was barely able to make out the upcoming dungeon core that was only a few meters away. They'd be spat out of the dungeon once they reached the core and took it out.
"Its close."
She responded, easing her partners tenseness. He clutched the wound on his abdomen tighter and muttered an affirmation under his breath.
"Lets just get this shit over with."
Nodding, she focused on the mini-map again, seeing that the dungeon core was a few paces ahead. Some of her black hair fell over the mini-map as she brought it closer to her face and hunched over it to see it better.
She looked up as they continued walking. The cave walls of the cavern-like dungeon seemed to twist the closer they got to the core. Perhaps it had an unnatural mana. She mused to herself, making out the faint orange glow of the dungeon core. It was embedded into a cave wall, sticking out rather plainly.
'Weird placement.' She thought to herself.
Perking up upon seeing it, the male adventurer's gruff voice resounded through the cave walls once again. "Is that it? C'mon, I'll break it. Lets hurry up."
He stumbled forward, drawing a shortsword from his [Inventory].
He drew it up above his head, and readied himself to deliver the ending blow to this shitty dungeon. Just as he was about to swing, something caught his eyes. Despite his injuries and fatigue, his passive [Keen Sense] skill still worked its magic, giving him the ability to see things normally unperceivable.
"W-what the hell.. Clara come look at this."
He put his shortsword down and stared at the giant dungeon core embedded in the wall. There was a baby.. Inside of it. Encased in the dungeon core as if it were some sort of egg or shell.
Stepping closer, Clara peered at the dungeon core, baffled.
She blinked more than a few times, gawking at the dungeon core egg that was seemingly housing a.. baby. "Is that real..?" She thought out loud. She had heard stories of people and children being found in dungeons and even stories of people being formed by dungeons, but she was astonished to see it in real life as it was extremely rare.
The male adventurers face hardened with resolve and morbid curiosity, he spoke with a hushed tone as he raised his shortsword again "Only one way to find out."
"CLANG!"
The resounding noise of his shortsword cracking the dungeon core shell rang through the cave. Despite just having cracked the dungeon core the both of them hadn't been transported out. The two adventurers exchanged anxious glances before their gazes fell to the now-exposed baby that was within the core. Suddenly, a loud wailing noise snapped them out of their trance.
"WAAAAAAH!!"
The babies cries were loud and healthy, much to this pairs chagrin. The male adventurer's head snapped around anxiously, hoping no monsters would come upon hearing that. Clara, on the other hand, reached out and picked up the baby. Swaddling it in the cloth it was already in. The babies skin was pale and milky with an undeniably adorable rosy tint, its hair was short, silky and dark. Its eyes were squeezed shut as it cried its little heart out. Clara felt a surge of motherly affection and rocked the baby, shushing it until it finally tired itself out, stopping its crying and settling to sleep instead.
Seeing that his partner had subdued the baby, the male adventurer looked at it, curious and unsure. "So.. What do we do with it?" He spoke after staring at the baby a bit and using his low-leveled [Inspect] skill on it. He fidgeted with his shortsword.
Astria {Baby}
Clara pondered on his question, stroking the babies face a bit. She opened her mouth to speak but was unable to get the words out before she, her partner, and the newfound baby were all teleported out of the dungeon in a flurry.
The trio found themselves thrown out and a bit disorientated. On the bright side, they were out of the dungeon now. On the down side, the baby they had managed to take with them was decidedly unhappy with how it was being jostled around and began crying again. Very loudly. Clara rushed to the baby and soothed it quickly. The authorities and guards that typically idled outside of gates quickly noticed the strange, loud noise and rushed towards the 3 of them. "What the hells going here!?" One of the taller guards snapped irritatedly at them.
Agitated, the male adventurer quickly stood up and challenged the guard, unhappy with how he was being addressed. "We found some baby in the dungeon core. Fuck you yelling for?" He stared the tall guard down, glaring at him. The guard looked even more irritated and looked just about ready to fight. Thankfully, 2 of the guard's colleagues quickly stepped between the 2 men that were now staring daggers at each other.
One of the intervening guards spoke, glancing at Clara and the baby she was swaddling, "We heard strange noise and decided to investigate, we don't mean to make a fuss. Do you know where that child came from?" Clara piped up, wanting to help and soothe this issue, "Mark, relax. They just want to help," She addressed her partner, now known to be Mark. Turning to the guard that asked her where the baby came from, she responded to the best of her abilities. "We found this baby inside of the dungeon core.. Once we took her out we were kicked out, that's about all we know."
The guards sat in silence, gauging the situation. They had never seen a case like this, although some of their superiors mentioned it possible. After a short bout of silence, one of the guards spoke and held his hands out. "Alright, let me have a look at it."
Hesitantly, Clara handed the swaddled and calm baby to the guard. The guard held the baby, wrapping the blanket around it a bit. Using his mid-level [Inspect] skill, he assessed the baby.
[Status]
Astria
Sex: Female
Age: <1 Year
[End of Information]
The gaurd peered at her status window, bewildered. Looking at the baby's blissfully ignorant face, he felt his heart melt a little. Pausing, he briefly pondered on why she had a name already.
'Whatever, this is weird enough,' He thought to himself.
He thought about what was protocol for things like this. He'd either turn her into his superiors who would send her to an orphanage, or allow this pair of adventurers to keep her in their custody.
At that thought, he looked up at the two adventurers and sized them up. They were a man and a woman who both looked beat up and tired. Their clothes and armor were grimy as they had no doubt spent a few days in the dungeon.
The woman looked nervous and the man looked nervous as well albeit a bit irritated.
Eventually, the guard holding the baby cleared his throat. He decided to give the pair an ultimatum. "So, you two can either keep her or turn her into the authorities. She'd be put into an orphanage."
After the guards straightforward statement, the two adventurers looked at each other. Clara spoke first, in a hushed tone. "Let's keep her." Her tone of voice didn't imply any wavering, she seemed intent on taking the baby home. Nodding, Mark listened to his partner intently. In truth, Mark and Clara had always wanted to settle down and have kids once they were done adventuring. This dungeon the both of them had just been through was hectic, and his buddy had recently offered him a job at the local smithy. Mark thought about it for a while. Taking one last look at the adorable baby, Mark felt his heart melt. Yeah, they were definitely taking that baby home. It may not have made much sense but after having been in that damned dungeon for 3 god-forsaken days, Mark was ready to change his way of living.
Finally, Mark spoke, this time his gruff voice came out warmer, softer. "I agree. We're taking her home." Mark smiled at his partner, thinking of how they'd live with this new baby. He turned to her, practically whispering now, "I'll start working at that smithy I told you about.. You could do that uh.. brewin' job you always wanted too. Oh, And.."
As he typically tended to do, Mark was now thinking out loud, telling Clara all about what they could do together from now on as she listened to him intently and smiled wearily. The guards quietly looked at the strangely domestic scene, not wanting to interrupt.
"WAAAH!"
Astria clearly didn't share the guards sentiments and began to cry again. All of the residing adults at the scene's eyes snapped to her, shaken by her wailing. Mark chuckled, finding it all a bit funny. He took the baby from the guard and cradled her in his arms.
"Guess she wants to get out of here." Mark mused, he soon turned to the guards and nodded to them, silently thanking them for their help. They walked away, one of them pulling out a [Communication Stone] to report the abnormal incident.
The pair walked away from the dungeon site and prepared to make their way home. Clara pulled out a [Teleport Crystal] and set the destination to the home that the both of them shared.
Soon a blue light glowed around the 3 of them as they were transported to the outside of a small cabin.
Astria had long since calmed down and was now knocked out for good, unbothered by the teleportation.
Mark and Clara smiled warmly at the baby. Their baby.
Clara stroked Astria's cheek, pinching it softly. Mark whispered to Astria, a hint of fatherliness in his voice.
"Welcome home, baby Astria."
[END OF PROLOGUE]