The darkness that filled the hallway she was walking through posed no trouble for Aperio's improved eyes, a fact that only managed to briefly stay in her mind before it was discarded as useless. She could see, that was all that mattered.
The first inhabitant of the first floor she laid her eyes on was a large, slimy-looking worm that started to writhe and spasm as she got closer. When a silvery flash of light appeared above the worm, Aperio paused. It was, clearly, the now-familiar sight of a soul departing a body and heading to her Void to join the others, and it perplexed her. Why did it die?
Lifting the corpse with a touch of magic to get a better view of it revealed nothing out of the ordinary. A closer inspection with her aura also brought no new insights; despite showing no sign of injury, the monster had seemingly just died due to her proximity. Even the crystal that, to all appearances, replaced the heart of every dungeon-born beast was still intact.
"Do you know why it died?" Aperio asked her daughter. She was mildly apprehensive of the answer she would receive. If it turned out that, eventually, normal people would start dying simply from being near to her, she would have a real problem.
"Perhaps being close to you disrupted its connection to the dungeon," Ferio replied. "We have tried removing monsters before, over a century ago, and the lower the floor the monster came from the greater the chance was that they would die once we crossed the dungeon's threshold."
"So it was simply too weak?"
After she received a nod from her daughter, Aperio ceased her magic, letting the monster corpse drop to the floor. With her aura she searched for another of the worms. She wanted to know if it was simply coincidence or if her physical proximity was really the cause. It probably is. The dungeon did try to keep its mana away from her, after all. No mana, no life?
It did not take her long to find another of the slimy creatures, for one was hidden from sight behind a corner only a few strides away. Aperio slowly made her way towards the monster, taking one step at a time to get an idea of when the creature would perish. How do I have to be so close if my aura spans the entire city… At least the entire city. She suspected that it might be greater than that, but she had not attempted to feel the true extent of her aura's reach in some time. Neither did she want to try, as the possible outcome was not something she felt ready to deal with just yet.
The answer to when the creature died was when she was within a couple of steps from its body. Seeking out another one, this time trying to keep the monster inside a bubble of nothing within her own aura, resulted in the same outcome. It died when she got close. Aperio poked at the corpse with her sword, the need to conquer the dungeon she had felt just moments prior already wavering. "Will everything just die when I get close? Does the dungeon not actually want to keep me away?"
"I wouldn't know," Ferio said. "Despite the centuries I spent trying to make sense of these places, I am no closer to understanding them. Not truly, at least. Some seem to be nothing more than a tool, infinitely spawning new monsters, while others show a degree of intelligence that is sometimes frightening. This dungeon, for example, creates treasures for intrepid adventurers to find and use. It even goes so far as to reward people who conquer it. Or, at least, it did the last time someone managed to do so, but to be frank that was more than two hundred years ago.
"I could ask Candrial to bring what their group received, but I am not sure if she was the one to keep it. And if she did not, whether the other members of her group have it or are even still alive..." Ferio's voice grew quiet towards the end, almost as if she was ashamed that she did not have whatever the dungeon had made on hand.
"That will not be needed, we will go there ourselves after all… Perhaps I’ll even get to see if I can still use a sword." The words were accompanied with an experimental twirl of the blade. Aperio was certain that her previous self would have ended with torn muscle and possibly broken bones if she had even attempted to swing the blade, but now, she had to be careful not to break it, even when she was just doing something that was not even remotely close to fighting.
"Perhaps," her daughter echoed before falling into a silent trot behind her mother who had started to walk deeper into the dungeon once more.
Aperio ignored the worms that died at her passing, instead focusing on the group of three mortals she had spotted through her aura. They were fighting a vaguely Human-looking figure whose body was made of what appeared to be a black, viscous liquid. Oil? It was conjuring the worms and throwing them, as well as occasionally setting a part of its oily self on fire before throwing that at one of the mortals. As far as she could determine, the ones it was battling were two Humans and an Elf.
Is that the monster that guards the entrance to the next floor? It had to be; she could not find another flight of stairs elsewhere on the floor. The presence of a little booth with the guild plaque and a Beastkin in the tell-tale blue and white uniform only reinforced the belief. Is that why we got the tokens? With a slight shake of her head, Aperio quickened her pace towards the centre of the floor. Maybe that oil-monster can fight me.
Before she got halfway towards the oil-monster, Aperio found a new beast that piqued her interest, one that did not simply keel over and die at her approach. The small green-skinned thing was poking at one of the deceased worms with its wooden club, seemingly not quite understanding that it had died. It screeched at the thing in what Aperio could only guess was anger.
As soon as she had rounded the corner, the green-skinned beast's head snapped in her direction. It let out another screech and began to charge in their direction. After a few steps, Aperio began to pity the creature. It stumbled their way at a speed only slightly faster than a normal walk, dragging its club behind it, and was not intimidating in the slightest.
Aperio made no move to intercept the club swung at her; she wanted to see what would happen. Much to the surprise of nobody but the monster itself, the club cracked and broke as soon as it made contact with her leg. The monster, however, quickly regained its resolve and moved to start punching the winged Goddess.
It never got the chance as Aperio simply thrust the blade she held through its skull. The ease with which she executed the movement was quite unnerving for Aperio. She had never fought with a sword before, or at least she could not remember a time, but there was a certain something that seemed to guide her hand. It did not do it fully – her movement, while executed with unnatural ease, had still felt clumsy to her. Much like my punching when I fought the fanatic.
With a wet thud, the small monster fell to the floor as Aperio pulled the sword out of its head. A touch of magic erased the blood that clung to the blade, returning the metal to its usual shiny golden-green again. "I think we have to go deeper before anything actually worth fighting appears."
Ferio only gave a small laugh at her words, seemingly finding her mother’s antics to be quite amusing. Aperio herself just lightly shook her head, and as she continued towards the centre arena she started to doubt the oil monster's ability to provide a decent bout. Though, the mortals seem to struggle with it.
The three had not been able to injure the beast, at least as far as Aperio could tell through her aura. Most of the time they spent killing the worms the creature continued to throw and dodging the puddles of burning oil it created. Aperio herself did not quite understand why it was a challenge as the monster moved quite slow and, even if the worms did not die due to her presence, they really did not demand the amount of attention the group gave them.
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Their continued struggle brought an idea to the Goddess' mind. She once again pulled on her mana, trying to replicate the feeling she had gotten when the guild master had tried to inspect her. A moment later the System window appeared over their heads.
Joshua Rivens | [Bonded Twin] | Level: 54
Heria Rivens | [Bonded Twin] | Level: 52
Lorkan Jestens | Level: 49
Much to her surprise, the monster too had received one.
Incarnation of Oil | [First Layer Guardian] | Level: 73
Is that why they struggle so much, because it is higher leveled? Curiosity got the better of her and she inspected the guild staff that still sat in their booth with a rather bored expression.
Angela Kellegrehn | [Devoted of Mayeia] | Level: 246
Mayeia? Isn't that the Goddess that ascended at the same time as Natio? Aperio would be careful around the woman; she did not know what her Goddess thought of her yet and while she could probably dispose of her as she did with Natio, she did not really want to. The pantheon has to exist for a reason after all.
With a slight shake of her head, she resumed the journey.
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Lorkan breathed heavily as he ducked below yet another flying mass of burning oil. We should have trained more before coming here, he thought. The floor guardian was over level seventy, something none of their group could claim. Why did I agree to this? After everyone had received the message that they could now freely view their [Status], the Rivens' twins immediately did so.
Their parents had forbidden them from using the stones and had never told them what they saw when they were first appraised. Now Lorkan understood why. The [Bonded Twin] title they both held was simply too enticing to not use. Apparently any System-given reward would get doubled if they faced 'challenging enemies'. That included experience gained. Life's never fair, is it?
Another stab of his dagger ended the life of yet another of the slimy worms. How many are there?
"Heria! Sword!"
Upon her brother's call, Heria immediately threw the sword in his direction and took the bow from her back to replace the weapon she just lost. Lorkan himself still did not know how the two managed to throw their weapons to each other in a fight and not get hurt, but he could not question its effectiveness.
Joshua caught the flying blade with practiced ease and slashed at the floor guardian. Much like his previous attempts, the attack left no mark. How are we supposed to kill it without magic?
Heria could infuse her arrows with a bit of wind magic, but they had already tried that to less than desirable results. The attack had only managed to splatter nearly every surface in the room with burning oil. Lorkan's own magic was also useless against the monster as it had no blood he could use. The best he could do now was to uphold the enhancement he had on their group. Their self-proclaimed leader, Joshua, had no real magic himself. All he could do was make his sword glow a bit, nothing useful.
Lorkan was about to ask his friends to stop and collect their things, to retreat and try again at a later date, when an oppressive presence settled over the room. For a moment he thought that they had angered the dungeon, that it had grown tired of their dance with its weakest boss, but that thought was quickly banished as he saw the monster itself pause.
A moment later he heard knocking on the door that sealed the boss room from the rest of the floor. Joshua motioned for them to group up, something Lorkan was very much in favour of. If something gave a floor guardian pause, it couldn't be good. That it could disregard their group so completely was, however, very disheartening.
There was a moment of silence before another, more forceful knock followed. He wasn't quite sure what whoever was knocking was trying to accomplish. Once closed, the doors would not open until the guardian was defeated or the group perished. Not that that happens with the Overseer here.
For a moment Lorkan thought he heard someone speaking behind the door, the voice somehow managing to carry through the thick, dungeon-enchanted stone. He could not make out the words, but something about the voice felt unsettling to him, like he should not be close to the one who spoke.
Further thoughts were interrupted by a loud crash that sent the supposedly impenetrable door flying from its hinges, barely missing the oily floor guardian. Stepping through the now-empty frame were two woman, one a Human and one an Elf that either had a feathered cape or actual wings. Neither of them wore armour, or had weapons aside from the longsword the Elven woman casually held in one hand. Does she intend to use that one-handed? And… Is that adamantite? Lorkan was by no means an expert on metals, but he was fairly sure the greenish-gold sword was at least partially made out of the ludicrously expensive material.
"I told you kicking down the door would attract attention," the Human woman said.
"It is just a door." The Elf waved her off, before turning to face their group. "You may continue with your fight, we will wait until you are done. ...Unless you require aid?"
None of them wanted to admit that they needed help, but neither did any of them want to ask. Something about the two newcomers was unnerving, and it wasn't just their lack of armour, or their single weapon that was not properly wielded. The Overseer, too, was looking at the pair and even the monster seemed stunned at the unfolding situation as it simply stared at the Elven woman.
It was then that Lorkan realised something he should have noticed earlier. "The worms are dead," he said.
The twins looked at each other and then the slimy corpses that dotted the room before their eyes settled on the newcomers. "When did they die?" he heard Heria whisper. Joshua just gave a shallow shrug in reply; much like Lorkan himself, he did not know.
Any further thoughts to why and how things had died were cut short by an ear-splitting scream coming from the floor guardian. Lorkan and his group took a few steps back as the monster grew taller and its liquid skin started to condense into a hard-looking, black surface.
A moment later the arena was lit up as the guardian set itself ablaze. The heat coming off of the monster was not something that could be compared to the bit of burning oil it had thrown before and caused Lorkan's group to quickly seek shelter behind the Overseer's booth.
Both newcomers seemed unconcerned with the proceedings. The Human simply took a step back and the Elf raised her sword slightly. With another inhuman scream, the monster charged at the sword-wielding Elf with a speed that Lorkan found almost impossible to follow.
The newcomer seemed unimpressed as she simply stayed where she was, letting the monster crash into her. Lorkan had expected her to be thrown back from the collision, repelled with enough force to exit the arena entirely. Shockingly, she stayed where she was and the force of the impact did not cause her to move one bit. A moment later, his astonishment grew as he saw that her sword had exited the back of the monster. Further incredulity ensued in his mind as he spotted something sparkling at the end of the blade: the crystal heart, found in every dungeon-born monster, was impaled upon the tip.
A breath later the heat vanished and, with a wet thud, the monster fell to the floor where it started to slowly dissolve into a puddle of liquid. The Elven woman just lowered her sword and sighed. A few patches of her dress had been burned, but even as Lorkan noticed them they were already shifting, stitching themselves back together. For a brief moment he asked himself why a fighter would learn a tailor's magic before he disregarded the thought. It was obviously useful.
The newcomers simply stepped around the puddle that was the former floor guardian and approached the Overseer's booth, both of them placing a small metal card in front of the rather shocked Beastkin. She took a moment to compose herself before looking at the tokens they had presented. Wordlessly, the minder of the booth handed them back to the pair and waved them through to the next portion of the dungeon.
As the two passed, Lorkan couldn’t help but stare at what he was now certain were wings. The Elven woman's eyes focused on him in reply, briefly lingering and sending a shiver down his spine. At the moment, he wanted to be anywhere other than where he was.