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Awakening: Book One of 'The Shackles of Humanity'
Chapter 15: Awakening: Book One of 'The Shackles of Humanity'

Chapter 15: Awakening: Book One of 'The Shackles of Humanity'

“The empire of mankind went into mourning at the passing of the emperor.

The first to stand up against tyranny, the slayer of demons and gods, the shining star of the empire, left this with the legacy of what was possible when humanity united.

His was the will that had struck against the Devil of Luna. His was the first that took a great demon's life. The first step of liberation was made in his imperial majesty Sonwabile`s boots.

When the imperial standard month of mourning was completed, a council of the high houses convened and elected a successor. The burden would fall on the son of Sonwabile, who took the name of Sonwabile the Second of the house of Luna.

The first command given to the people of the empire was. There would be no celebration of his coronation. Every effort would be given to liberate the stars within our reach in the Centaurus constellation.

It was rumored that Sonwabile the Second mourned the passing of his father too much to make a celebration of his succession, and in his eyes, he had yet to achieve anything worth celebrating.

At Alpha Centauri, a stable front was created. The imperial fleet started pushing the front further and further until the mobile barriers were able to handle any incursion of monsters entering the twin star's gravity well.

The passing of the emperor struck those fighting hard, but should they relent even a moment to grieve, more life would be lost defending the gate to Sol and the massive fortifications being constructed to make the system completely impenetrable.

With a hope for a better tomorrow, the improved and reinforced fleet set sail across the vastness of space. It was time to take back the territories that had been lost.

We would stop any more demonic monsters from attacking Alpha Centauri by striking at its core, even if it took every last ship or soldier. We would not fail again.

The march for freedom carried on.”

- Elistar Iscariot, Grand Magister during the second Kingfisher dynasty.

I started to wish for Mira Awakening almost as much as she did. Four hours, and we had yet to make it to the dungeon. I almost considered redirecting us to one of the closer ones, but those would not pose much of a challenge as they only reached levels 10 and 17.

I came to understand, from my research, that the higher levels represented not only more difficulty of enemies but also an increase in size and reward. A higher possibility of finding precious and unique materials and even artifacts. While no two dungeons were the same, they followed the same rules when it came to the max level of the dungeon, not only offering more dangerous opponents but the overall difficulty would be higher.

Sitting on a root, I watched as Mira came stumbling through the leaves, desperately trying to keep her feet on the ground as opposed to her bum.

“Ass.Hole.Relaxing.While.I.Am.Struggling.To.Breath.”

“To be fair, I told you to put that chainmail and arming coat in your backpack. At least you wouldn't get so hot and bothered.“

“Screw you. We never did this jogging, as you call it on other teams, and how come you're just fine? Your damn backpack is almost two of mine.”

Honestly, I was starting to wonder the same. It had only been a bit over a day or so since my awakening, and it was strange that it would improve my body this fast. Then again, I stole a lot of spiritual power from the goblins and Sir. Ugly`s face.

Since I had no reference as to what was normal when it came to an Awakened biological enhancement, it became largely subjective if what I was doing was fast or slow. For all I knew, it could take one person a week to arrive at the same results as it took another person a day. Personally, I thought things were going swimmingly as I ran a hand up to stroke my new feather.

“Maybe you have just been too lazy? No worries. Good old Alucard will get you in shape in no time. Now, where did I put that belt?”

“Yeah, you try that and see if I don't cut a piece of you. Starting with that beak, you only need about half of it.”

“I did suggest getting porters and a camp hand or two, but as the almighty team leader you are, you overruled that. What was it again? Only successful teams bother with that.”

“That's because we ain't a successful team. No one has heard of us. We ain't some nobles being carried through by mommies gold. Until we have the reputation, we need to go at it like serious hunters or no one else will join or want anything to do with us.”

She was going to be so pissed at me one day, hopefully in the distant future. That was neither here nor there, though. For now, I just wanted to reach the damn dungeon.

“If you say so, venerable Mira. If it's not too far off my calculations, we should be less than half an hour away. Up and at em girl!.”

“Oh, come on. You had a rest. Why can't I get s…Hey! Did you just call me old? Get over here, you oversized lump of troll snot, so that I can kick your teeth in.”

“Now, now. No reason to get angry. It can't be good for the heart at your advanced age. Besides, the exercise will do you good. Turn you into a lean, mean fighting machine and all that.”

“Did you just call me fat? Get over her, you!”

It took about twenty minutes until we saw another hunter team heading in the opposite direction. Looking at the heavy sacks of what I presumed was loot, each one of them was burdened down. I had to dab a bit of droll away before stepping to the side of the pathway that had been made by a thousand boots, walking it a thousand times. They only exchange perfunctory greetings in passing, but I can't say I blamed or detected any malice in the lack of respect. Considering how tiring the next few hours would be for them, I almost felt a bit sorry for them as I waved at the last in the group passing us by.

Minutes later, I could see the flag of the Hunters Guild and a green and yellow banner with a poleaxe across it a few hundred meters through the woods.

Unlike the one where the goblin camps had more than likely originated, this was a dungeon actively being delved, and quite a few hunters were entering and exiting it. If it weren't for the mercenary company sent by the guild to uphold the peace of the dungeon entrance and the queue going in, this would more than likely be a small battle zone despite the loss in guild standing that would bring if reported back, and that was the thing IF it was reported back. You needed living witnesses for that.

Despite the fact that the mercenaries' only duty was to uphold the peace of the entrance, they did occasionally help fight back an outbreak if some fools managed to drag a large group of monsters with them while fleeing. That did earn them quite a bit of respect from the Hunters themselves.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

More importantly, not many mercenary companies managed to keep their reputation clean enough to be on contract with the Hunters Guild, so when you came across a group that regularly took those contracts, you knew it was someone not trying to stab you in the back and took their contract with the out most sincerity. In other words, they were mostly decent, nice people you could rely on in a pickle and didn't play sides.

Looking at the fifteen or so people waiting around the entrance of a large gray rock that stood out like a sore thumb on the forest floor, I was surprised at how little equipment they were wearing.

About ten of them had what could pass as a homemade spear, a few clubs, and I saw one sword. None had much armor on. Three of them would probably get some protection from the leather clothes they had on. The rest just had regular cotton or something similar on.

“Are they trying to die?” I asked a panting Mira.

“What? No, why would you say that?” She actually seemed a bit offended at the question.

“You all at least had armor, for the most part, for all the good it did you against the goblins.”

“Thanks…The difference is that I had a sponsorship. Lars had inherited his armor from his brother, who quit. Max said he came from a wealthy family, and Balin…I don't know how he could afford to maintain his armor with how badly low-ranking freelancer work pays. The truth is, we were pretty much down on our last leg, and then you found me.”

It sort of confirmed my thoughts about how the Hunters Guild worked. A chance at riches and wealth was better than no chance at all for many people. All it would take was a lucky break, surviving long enough that an established team grew interested in you or, by some miracle, you became one of the Awakened.

The general idea was that the higher your affinity was, the more likely you were to awaken. However, that didn't mean there weren't treasures, natural or not, or even artifacts out there that couldn't expedite the process or even allow someone with low affinity to Awaken.

Personally, I didn't have a clue since I wasn't conscious when it happened or quite possibly still alive.

Making our way closer to the dungeon, we walked over to the guard sitting behind a table.

Stepping up, Mira said, “Team Mira requests an allotment to delve dungeon. #277.”

The guard who had been watching our approach looked at her, nodded, scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed her a small metal square with some squiggles on it.

Taking the opportunity, I stepped closer and said, “Hi there, I'm Alucard. Anything interesting going on?” while holding my hand out.

Getting a shake in return, he said, “Good to meet you, I`m Jacob. Not much. It's mostly just making sure no one comes back out with any critters by mistake. The tenth bases normally handle it just fine. Can't remember the last escape when I think about it. Hmmm, a late copper team called the Hawks of Castletown came in a week ago and told everyone they were going to set a new record in levels delved, but as I said, it has been a week since they came, and no one has seen them after they passed camp three. Everyone just keeps hoping they don't suddenly come running back with a hoard on their heels.” With a surge of his shoulders as if saying but what can you do?

“Seen any silver rankers enter?”

“Nah, they don't bother with dungeons this weak. The payout is negligible in comparison to the dungeons past the second ring of fortresses, so it's mostly freelancers and newer groups here.”

It was not exactly the height of gossip I had hoped for, but at least I knew I would look for some loot if we made it that far down. Nodding my head in thanks, I went over and sat down beside Mira, who was trying to empty her waterskin. Since she could just refill from mine if she asked nicely, I didn't see much point in saying anything about it. I could do it with a bit of peace and quiet.

Closing my eyes while chewing on a piece of bread with some cheese, I set my mind to see if anything had changed. Sadly, the answer was no. The closed rift still pulsed with limitless power, ready to blow me away the moment I so much as flinched. The Ability crystal was still close to full but not quite there yet, and the sparrow egg-sized pearl was doing pearl things, as in not doing anything.

Just as I was about to take my rest a step further, I heard a commotion from the dungeon entrance.

Standing up and spotting the culprits wasn't a difficult task. The team exiting the rift looked haggard. All three of them were a few steps from falling over by the looks of it.

Other adventurers rushed over to help the team get clear while the team preparing to go in was looking slightly green. From what I heard, the team that just came out started with eight people. True, they were freelancers, but they had only been down at level twenty-seven before things started going really wrong.

Apparently, they had been ambushed by large walking birds. That in itself wasn't too strange since some monsters grew in cunning and intelligence as they feasted on the flesh and spirit of other monsters or humans. They often became the leaders of a dungeon level or boss, depending on what you wanted to call it. Monsters born with intelligence weren't expected to appear until at least someone cleared level forty five, going by other dungeons' difficulty progression.

It didn't take long for the next team to exit, either. The Hunters didn't look much better than the last team, but six of the seven had come back from the delve, and going by the heavy sacks, I would say pickings had been good.

The third team to exit the dungeon was two fully cloaked individuals; there was nothing special about them except that they kept their faces hidden and the little mark of the King`s guard each worn on their left chest. Even I started backing away as they walked by, and they had no right to touch me unless I committed high treason. To most people, however, they were tales told to scare children.

Not evil, but often sent to do tasks that were bordering on vile. Their work was often as mysterious as their order. Still, they answered only to the king and took to their job with a draconian attitude that often left many innocent broken or killed to achieve the given objective.

To everyone's relief, they didn't so much as glance at us before they were gone from sight.

The mercenary came up to stand beside me, and he said, “The worst part is that we have a record or recollection of them going into the dungeon. That said, you're up next, Team Mira. Stay safe and have a good one.”

Tipping my wide-brimmed hat at the mercenary, I followed Mira to stand outside the dungeon entrances.

“Scared?”

“No, yes. I don't know. I've only been to one other dungeon, and that ended in level 12. Barely saw any action, the team leader was…protective.”

“Well, the first thing we should do is pick up a spear at level ten, or if we find one that's mysteriously without a current owner before that. While the hammer you got there is a fine weapon, its reach leaves something to be desired. It shouldn't be a problem until we hit the mid-twenties, but better to get used to it early.”

“I ain't killing nobody for their spear, you deranged lunatic.”

“Thank you. That was quite possibly the nicest thing you told me today.”

Stroking my feather for luck, I watched as a team of three made their way out. Somebody had been crying, and by the dead person two of them were carrying between them, I could almost make a guess at why. It could be they were simply so tired of his nefarious ways that it was tears of joy.

Since Mira seemed to have a moment of self-doubt, I walked past her and entered the dungeon.

The walls were of rough-hewn granite, and it immediately spiraled downwards to the right. I almost made it out of sight before I heard Mira's hurried steps behind me. At this point, I'm almost positive I would recognize her steps in a crowd of people. My senses had improved a lot, to the point where I kept hoping it would plateau, but they were still improving slightly. However, so were my endurance and resilience, or I was afraid it would become painful to hear other people talk soon. An issue was that my speed and strength still kept increasing until I started having trouble talking in a normal cadence. It would take some time to adjust, but it's incredible how a slight increase makes everything so much more difficult.

A major downside was that I was constantly hungry despite not drawing power from my domain. It was becoming worrisome, and why I had an extra sack with high-energy foods strapped to the side of my backpack. I would have to find some better solution to that soon, but I was far from figuring out what that could be. However, now it was time to delve.

Down we went. Shockingly, the air was earthy with a hint of wet stone. I would never have thought... The slight breeze hitting my face only deepened the smell.

After what I guessed was six turns, the tunnel straightened out and tapered until only two people could walk abreast instead of four. If not for the slight glow that seemed to come from the very rock, I doubt Mira would have been able to travel in this darkness without a light source. Speaking off, I only brought a couple of torches for appearance's sake. She had better have brought more, or this would not become a very long delve.

Then we are there. The entrance. A disc spanning the tunnel. Its almost mirror-like surface does not reflect light but hints at other places and unknown things. It was quite a sight, and I couldn't help but smile as I felt the anticipation of conquest and ruin. Even more importantly, loot. Lots and lots of loot.

“Ready this time?”

“Yeah. Every ten levels, we find the camp and rest, right?”

Turning slightly to her, I nodded in affirmation before holding out my left hand, and to my surprise, she took it as I stepped forward and led us into something new.