[HP: ɥ̷̠̹͌ʇ̶͔̮́ä̴̞͚̿͝ʇ̴͓̦̏ɥ̶͕͠ MP: ʍ̴̻̓͝ɥ̵̰̭̓ɹ̵̨̒̊]
--
“Ugh… What the…”
A girl lies on the cold ground of a prior Intermediate-Rank Dungeon. Slowly regaining the consciousness she had lost after her most difficult fight yet, she opens her eyes. Her body feels sore, as if sucked dry of all life, her head throbs, her brain feels like mushed potatoes. Yet, a new strength courses through her body: She has once again gotten stronger.
She remains in a daze for a few moments before her mind wakes up for real. Realizing where she is, she jumps up and checks the area for nearby presences. She holds still and intently looks around for what feels like a long yet timeless dozen of seconds. Then, she turns her attention to the left corner of the room where a pile of brittles lie. Not relaxing her guard for even a moment, she limps toward them. Brushing the stones to the side, she uncovers her backpack together with various items and |Artifacts|
Tossing everything on her shoulders, she looks at the room´s almost destroyed entrance. She glides along the wall and hides there, then glances outside. Her eyes wander up and down, left and right, but there´s nothing except for dead silence.
After hesitating for a while, Vienessa steps out and sneaks through the by-now-familiar corridors. She dashes into another empty room and hides in a blind spot from the entrance, making sure that she would get the first strike if anyone else were to come in. She takes off her backpack, leans with her back against the wall and slowly slides down until her behind connects with the wet floor.
Due to all her recent Level-Ups, the remaining enemies in the dungeon are no longer a threat to her. Normally, that is. In her current condition though, even an encounter with a simple Minotaur could pose fatal. That´s why she´s being so careful right now. The Demon isn´t afraid of taking risks, but she´s not reckless enough to take unnecessary ones just for fun. If she doesn´t benefit from them, if they can be avoided, she will certainly do so.
An exhausted sigh escapes her lips.
--
[HP: ɐ̶̙̝͉̅͊ɯ̵̨̛͕͎͙͐̍̎Ḯ̸̥͠ MP: ư̷̼̈o̵̰̞͂̊]
--
She remains in hiding for some time while her |St̴at̶s| recover steadily. Usually, one would appreciate an unhindered recovery, but the girl just can´t relax. Something feels off… She can´t quite put her finger on what exactly makes her feel that way, but she´s sure of it. There´s something weird going on. It induces an uneasy feeling inside her stomach, it makes her anxious.
Vienessa´s eyes start following the dancing light particles in the air as if to distract their owner.
Although she regained some of her physical strength, her mind gets more exhausted by the minute.
--
[HP: d̵̛̥̫l̶͎̿̐ǝ̶̠͗̔š̷̥̚ǝ̵̲̑ MP: h̴̡͕̠̄̓ẻ̷̺̖̈́̽l̴̦̹̝͑p̷̲͓͉̿̈́]
--
Eventually, Vienessa can´t take it any longer. Deciding that she´s feeling good enough, she stands up and leaves for the corridor again. Somehow, different from the previous times, it looks ominous. The passage before her extends like a gigantic, slithering snake. Yet there´s still nothing particularly different that she can point out. The cave echoes the sound of her uniform steps.
“This… Is weird,” she mumbles “Weren´t there Minotaurs around these parts? Where did they…”
Suddenly, nothing happens. The Demon looks inside every room she comes across, but it´s as if all the Monsters were swallowed up by the ground.
After a while, she shakes her head. The thought of just leaving popped up in her mind since quite some time ago now. With her initial goal of defeating the Silver Minotaur achieved, there´s no reason for her to lurk around here any longer. Yes, because this dank cave fulfilled its use for the Demon, she can finally say goodbye to it.
She nods, almost as if to reassure herself of her own reasoning, before continuing for the exit of the maze-like cavern.
-- -- --
B̴u̶t ̴th̷re̶ ̵s̶ ̸n̵o̸ e̶xt̶.̷
-- -- --
As she approaches the dungeon’s exit, Vienessa is engulfed by the bright light which barely reaches inside. It forces her to squint her eyes.
Well, no surprise.
For the first time in over a month, the Demon is bathed in the warming sun´s rays. The lively whistling of birds comes from afar and the scent of fresh air fills her nose. She feels a gentle breeze on her skin which also rustles some treetops.
The girl takes a deep breath as a sudden wave of fulfillment washes over her. Looking back at it, she made amazing progress in this short time: She Leveled up Seven whole times, obtained and improved a bunch of her |Skills| and even defeated an enemy over 100 Levels above her own. There´s no reason why she shouldn´t be proud of herself.
As she leaves the cover of the cave, the weird feeling which had been putting her on edge since earlier also gets left behind there.
--
[HP: 492/850 MP: 110/418]
--
“Mhm,” Vienessa nods to herself “You have given me much, Dungeon. But now, it´s time to say goodbye. Let´s go back”
Just as she is about to set out, she suddenly stops again
“Uhm… Where do I go again?”
…
At first, the girl had some difficulties orientating in the rocky terrain and dense vegetation. But, fortunately for her, she is quick to remember the correct pathing: Although a considerable amount of time passed since she came to the dungeon, memories of the way she had already once taken come flowing back to her mind once it´s before her eyes again. Some peculiarly shaped rocks, the uniquely formed passages in between trees and other clues spark her memories and make it surprisingly easy to navigate.
After a short while, she finds herself on the seemingly endless paved road which directly connects to the village. She smiles, having finally found her way back. But then, suddenly, she hesitates again
´How come both ways look exactly the same…Do I go left or right? Ugh´
She scratches her head, afterward letting it sink while sighing.
Thinking about it for a little, the girl decides to go left and see if she remembers anything on the way.
--
Left was the correct choice. After walking for a few hours in the basking sun, Vienessa sees the seemingly tiny village appear behind the yellow fields. A bright smile decorates her face as she subconsciously ups her pace.
´Wait, if the village is here, that must mean…´
Vienessa closes her eyes and to focus better on her hearing
´Found it´.
Taking a sharp turn to the left, she disappears into the forest. Some dry branches snap beneath her feet. The sound becomes clearer with every step. She follows it while humming a melody her mother used to sing for her and before soon the girl finds herself in front of a familiar river. “There it is. Finally, after so long, I can finally take a bath again!”.
The girl throws her luggage to the side and jumps in the water. She dives under while the cold, refreshing feeling submerges her skin and simultaneously sets her into a state of weightlessness. She presses the water down with her arms as her head emerges to gasp for air. Vienessa brushes aside the wet hair from her face and rubs her eyes before opening them. “Aaaah, this feels so good after being burned by the sun for so long”.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
The girl plays in the water for quite some time, washing the dirt away from her body and the exhaustion from her mind. Then, feeling refreshed, she leaves the cool embrace of the water and sits herself beneath a large tree to dry off. Standing up shortly after and stretching a bit, she continues for the village once the sun starts to set behind the horizon.
--
As she approaches the gate, a feeling of Déjà-vu overcomes her as she senses a familiar glare fall on her.
´Ah, it´s the same soldier as the first time,´ She thinks amused ´Well, this will make things easier I guess´
“Hey there, long time no see” Vienessa says in a friendly tone and waves at him.
He looks up and down at the girl before uncertainly replying: “Uhm, sorry but, do we know each other?”
“Huh?” Vienessa exclaims surprised “You were the one who let me in last time, don´t you remember? Look, it´s me” she says while shoving her face into his
“L-Last time? I-I think you´re confusing me with someone. Uhm…” he clears his throat while taking a step back, reclaiming his composure “Or, I let people in on a daily basis. There´s no way I´d remember everyone´s face. Sorry, but I´ll need to see an Identification before I can let you through”
´What´s his deal? I´m pretty sure I should´ve left quite the impression?´
The Demon shrugs her shoulders “Fine then, I have an adventurer license with me, is that good enough?”
“Adventurer?” the soldier clicks his tongue. His voice comes out somewhat annoyed. Then he slightly narrows his eyes “Let me see”.
Vienessa rumbles through her backpack until her fingers come across a rough material. The card. She takes it out and flings it to the guard. He panics for a second, then catches it out of the air and shoots the girl a confused glare. He goes through the information written on it.
“D Rank?!” his inner thoughts escape a little too loudly. His eyes wander between the card and the girl for a while before finally giving in. “That´s… certainly your Mana-length, impressive. Sorry for the holdup. Please, you´re free to enter, Miss Vienessa,” he says while turning sideward and freeing a path for her.
“Thanks?” she replies slightly confused, but just shakes her head and enters.
“What a weird guy” she concludes after a while of walking down the empty streets. Little is going on at this time of day in the village: The sun has already completely disappeared from the sky and was replaced by the moon and stars. The streets are lit by their faint shine and some |Artifacts|, apparently called ´lanterns´, that are placed here and there.
The very few people who aren´t home yet give the Demon curious glances, but like always she just ignores them.
´Now to find Madeleine,´ the girl says and begins skipping every third step.
Before long, she stands in front of the familiar house. Although she only lived here for a few days, she feels a warm sense of ´returning home´ flowing inside her. She swings the door open:
“I´m back!”
-- -- --
At this time, the receptionist was already tucked into bed, deeply trapped in her own thoughts. Sighing, she rolls back and forth until she remains lying on her back. Then, she puts one arm to her face.
The next moment, her door suddenly swings open
Madeleine´s heart jumps as she reaches for the staff on her nightstand in a panic, almost dropping it in the process, and points it at the intruder
“I´m back!” a happy voice resonates inside her home´s walls
“What? What do you think you´re doing?!” she shouts, but some fear manages to mingle into her voice “Why would you break into my house? Who–
Before Madeleine can finish her sentence, her eyes open wide in disbelief. She recognizes this girl´s features. She has changed, grown a lot since the last time she has seen her, but it´s undoubtedly her.
She´s now a splitting immage of her.
A whirlwind of thoughts coils into a dense, lumpy mess inside her head as tears form in her eyes. She slowly lowers her weapon. “V-Vienessa? Is, is that… you?”
“Duh, who else? First the guard and now you too, what´s wrong with–
Madeleine runs to Vienessa and hugs her tightly. She lets her tears flow without a slither of constraint while muttering something rendered incomprehensible by her crying. The Demon is slightly baffled at that
“Uuh, Madeleine?”
Suddenly, the receptionist´s grip tightens even further. Then, she pushes herself away from the girl as her red swollen eyes form an unexpected expression. One filled with... irritation and, anger. Madeleine grabs Vienessa´s shoulders and digs her fingers deep into her skin.
“Where have you been?!" she yells at her, her body slightly trembling
“Madeleine, w-what´s going on?“ She tries to free herself from Madeleine´s grip and retreat, but the woman doesn´t let her
“Don´t ´what´s going on´ me! Answer! What the fuck were you doing?!” Madeleine shakes the girl´s body
“Madeleine! Relax! What´s wrong with you?!” Vienessa raises her voice as well and grabs the receptionist´s arms
“Relax? Oh, sure! No problem after you let me go through all this! Are you kidding me? Do you even realize how worried I was? Do you expect me to just be fine?!”
The Demon’s face faintly distorts. It irritates her that what should have been a happy return turned out into this.
“First of all, I didn´t make you go through anything and secondly, you know exactly where I was. What´s wrong with you?”
“What´s wrong with me?! You were gone for so long!”
“Meaning I took my time! Why are you making such a big deal out of it?!”
“You…” Madeleine presses the word through her gritted teeth “Don´t you get it? I thought you were dead! Dead! Every day I prayed for you. With every passing day, I… It was so difficult because I didn´t know anything! Because I couldn´t do anything! Not even sleep at night...” Tears drop from the receptionist´s pretty face and splash on the ground “And now you just come back and say ´it´s no big deal´...?”
“Well… It, it is not a big deal!” The Demon refutes “Listen, I´m not an inexperienced dumbass who´s gonna go and die just like that. Even before coming here, I managed to get by just fine. And, and how should I know how you´d feel? Don´t try to make this my fault! Get your shit together!”
“Are you serious?! How insensible can you be!!” Madeleine´s crying gets worse “You promised to come back straight away! All you are interested in is this stupid dungeon which should´ve taken you a week at most!”
“Again, why do you make me the Villain now? I was just fighting to my heart’s content, you know?!” Suddenly, Vienessa´s bubble bursts “And also, I didn´t just forget you! I was thankful to you every day. If it weren´t for you, for your help, I wouldn´t have managed to do shit! Even today I was all excited, finally being able to tell you all about it! Don´t just jump to conclusions on your own!”
The Demon girl slaps away Madeleine´s hands and turns around. She leaves.
“No, wait! Vienessa! I didn´t mean it like that! Please wait–
Madeleine extends her hand, reaching for Vienessa´s back. But the girl already blended in with the darkness. Vanished.
The receptionist falls to her knees and looks straight ahead into the dark, into the nothingness before her eyes. “Why did I do that?” she asks herself “I was so happy… so relieved to see her safe. I-I didn´t mean to shout, to get angry.”. She bites down on her lip as hard as she can, even after the taste of blood fills her mouth
“Fuck!”. She clenches her fist and punches the ground, though this action only adds to her confusion.
-- -- --
“What the hell´s wrong with her? I thought she´d be happy, I thought she´d feel like I do! But instead, she gives me... this!” Vienessa stomps through the streets, cursing under her breath. It gets more violent, more ragged by the second. Her breath that is. At this point, she doesn´t really care about where she´s going if it´s only away
“This is so stupid, so stupid!”. The girl kicks a lantern in frustration. A deep dent is left behind. The light flickers a few times, but then keeps shining. It wasn´t enough to destroy it.
“God damnit!”. The girl´s slightly blurry vision only make her angrier. She wipes her eyes and finally realizes that she´s lost in some sort of alleyway. As if coming back to reality from her own world, Vienessa´s senses start working again: She feels a slight throbbing in her right foot as well as a pain in her heart. Muffled music and laughter come from around the corner, which slightly irritates her. She sits down against the wall and hugs her knees.
“Shut the fuck up”
--
She remains on the dirty ground while a train of thoughts and emotions rush through her head. Emotions of anger, of how it´s not her fault. Emotions of sadness, of how she didn´t expect her happy mood to be ruined in seconds. But most of all she feels regret. Because she didn´t want it to turn out like this.
“Hey girl, whatcha doin´ here all alone~?” a sudden, unfamiliar voice slurs.
The Demon turns her head up and sees two men wobbling over her. Her face twists in… let´s say confusion.
“The fuck do you want, Humans?”
“Woah there, what ya givin´ me that look for?~ We don´t mean ya any harm, ya know?” “Yeah, yeah, what he says”. The two of them fall into a stupid laugh.
“…”
“Hey, why´d ya get so quiet for? This doesn´t fit such a pretty face. It´d be better if ya came along for a drink, whaddya say?~” one of them says and grabs her arm.
The Demon almost...
She thought she had calmed down a little, she thought she had let her anger out and had her feelings under control now. But the storm of rage needed no more than the slightest trigger to fully relapse.
“I said–!”. Her voice manifests in a physical shockwave that forces the drunkards to fall to the ground. They release something akin to a squeal and appear immediately sober.
“You fucking insects crawling on the floor” The Demon raises her arm as a wet puddle forms beneath the two. She is just about to swing it down, but then sees a group of soldiers rushing toward them from the corner of her eye. Suddenly, a certain thought surfaces in her mind: She remembers Madeleine´s words to refrain from killing Humans at all costs unless it´s absolutely necessary, else she´ll make all of them her enemies.
´Why now?!´
With her claws still high in the air, she grits her teeth, not knowing what to do. “Fuck!” she curses and lowers her hand. She glares at the two men who still whimper below her, then turns around and proceeds further into the alleyway.
“You two! Are you alright?!” the girl hears from behind “The nearby |Mana Radars| suddenly went out of control, what happened?”.
Vienessa jumps from wall to wall until she lands on the roof of a large house, then keeps going until there´s only silence surrounding her. She lies down on her back and looks at the stars in the sky
Her mind goes blank
She remains lying there for a long time. Not thinking, just feeling.
-- -- --
A few hours have passed since her dispute with the Demon girl.
Madeleine is currently sitting on her bed, not knowing what to do since she already cried all of her tears out. Her eyes are swollen, her heart too.
Suddenly, she hears knocking on her door. Madeleine immediately lifts her head and stands up. She walks down her room and grabs the doorknob. But then hesitates a little
“Madeleine, it´s… me” a very familiar voice says from the other side.
The receptionist forgets how to breathe. “Y-You, came back?” her voice shakes as she opens the door
There, a flustered Vienessa stands, who turns away her head as she sees the woman. “H-Hey, Madeleine. Can I, come–
Like the first time, before she can even finish her sentence, she is hugged by Madeleine who finds herself reduced to a mess of tears. Again.
“Vienessaaa” she cries “I´m *hick* so sorry. I… didn´t mean… what I… said. I´m, Sorry. Sorry, sorry...”. Madeleine hugs Vienessa tighter
Vienessa´s arms, too, wrap around the person she was afraid of seeing. “I´m… back, Madeleine”
“Mhm, *sniff* Welcome... back”