"Alright, then I will just spawn there," said Five as he randomly selected a location in the blue zone, not too far from the red zone. There was no real reason for this choice since he could not tell much from the map he was looking at.
"No problem. I can send you when you are ready! Just set up your dungeon as soon as possible! Remember that there will be a sort of test at the end of every month!" said Gaia.
"Yes yes, this is just some minor details! Now that I have access to the open world, I can finally look for revenge!"
Gaia giggled, "You can do whatever you want. You already have a head start! Although you are still level 1 which is quite abnormal, you managed to get a powerful monster as a starting one and even its subordinates came along! That is quite impressive!"
"It was just pure luck! There were many things that coincidentally turned out the way I wanted. There were many factors I simply could not predict! As for Harriet, I see her more as a friend than as a subordinate! I saw how she hesitated to join me but it's also thanks to her that I was able to get out of the dungeon with so much profit," answered Five.
"Luck is also part of someone’s skills! But yeah, be careful when dealing with her, betrayal is always a possibility! I would suggest that you give up on the harpies.”
“What? Why would I do such a thing?” exclaimed Five.
Gaia let out a mischievous smile, “I am not supposed to tell you that but since I invested in you, I cannot let you go to waste. The monthly test that you will go through… Its difficulty is based on several factors, including the monsters that are present at your dungeon.”
“As real as this place looks like, this is still a game and the system will balance things out. If the system really allowed you to keep at level 56 Boss monster and fifty level 40 harpies, wouldn’t it be completely unfair to the other players? You will definitely be penalized in one way or another.”
“Harriet is powerful, but will you be able to level up your dungeon to her standards in just one month? Kroff took decades to build his dungeon like that. Of course, the system will take in consideration that you have just started, etc etc. But it will still significantly increase the difficulty.”
“If you don’t want to suffer the consequences, then I will suggest letting the harpies go, at least temporarily. The system will naturally reward you if you do so. It will provide you with a powerful monster that will be more adapted to you. Don’t let me investment go to waste.”
Her words struck a chord in Five’s mind but before he could say anything, Gaia continued:
“But well, this is probably the last time we are meeting, is there a last thing you want to ask me?" asked Gaia with a smile.
"Does this really matter? Won't you just say that you can't give me the information I want again? Every time I ask a question, I always get the same answer," said Five. The scene felt familiar. It was just like when he first woke up in this game, although they were saying different things, the atmosphere was no different. He was irritated when he first met Gaia and he did not like the way she was hiding information but, in the end, he was grateful to her for allowing him to play the game instead of rotting in prison.
"It is just for the formality. Since there is nothing you want to ask, I will teleport you to the Sylvester Empire!" declared Gaia as she stood up. She waited for a moment but seeing no reaction from Five, she raised her hands and started casting a spell.
The latter remained silent. He did not have anything to say. As he saw Gaia about to finish casting her spell, he let out a quiet "Farewell" as he vanished from the room.
The beautiful lady, now left alone, let out a smile. She sat back on her ethereal throne which started to float. The throne moved across the empty room and finally stopped in front of several screens. There were exactly twelve screens, each one showing a different player performing various actions.
Gaia momentarily focused her attention on the fifth screen. The character on the screen just appeared in the middle of a vast plain, that person was Five.
...
As he opened his eyes, the first thing Five noticed was not the landscape but rather, the dozens of harpies flapping their wings with confused expressions. They were all quietly waiting at the Avian Cavern when they all felt a weird feeling. With their instinct, they immediately understood what was happening; their master was being changed. They did not know what was happening in the Throne room and so, could only wait for Harriet to come back to explain but then, they suddenly found themselves standing in the middle of this plain right under the sun.
As soon as he appeared, Five received many different looks from the harpies; they naturally already felt the connection between them and Five. But they had mixed feelings about it. Some were not pleased of being stripped of their comfortable life at the dungeon while some were glad to be free and to have the opportunity to see the outside world.
Under the looks of the harpies, Five could not help but doubt his decision. Was it the right choice to ask Harriet to come with him? He basically just changed the life of an entire community. It was not just Harriet but also all the other harpies that were affected but at least, that meant that he was right. The harpies were indeed linked to Harriet and without her, Kroff would no longer be able to have harpies at his dungeon.
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Before he could say anything, Harriet quickly made her way towards Five. She was very sensitive and felt that her master had arrived. She was still stunned when she came to herself; she was previously on the verge of dying under the combined attacks of three monsters but suddenly found herself in this safe environment. When she saw her confused sisters, she quickly started explaining to the harpies near her what had happened.
"Five, no... Master, you were indeed right. All my sisters are here! But what should we do now?" politely asked Harriet.
"No need to call me Master. Just call me Five as you usually do!"
The latter was delighted to hear that; it was a weird feeling to suddenly have to change the way she addressed him, especially when her "Master" was now far weaker than her.
"As for what we are going to do, I will leave it to you, you are free to do anything!" continued Five while looking at Harriet.
"What do you mean by that? Are you not going to set up the dungeon? We need to look for a good location, it is essential if you want to build a good dungeon!" said Harriet.
Hearing that, Five let out a faint smile. "No, that's not it. I am releasing you! I now realized that I made a mistake. I disturbed your peaceful lives by asking you to come with me. This was something I did not want to do and so..."
"Wait Five," interrupted Harriet, "Why are you saying that? Did we do something wrong?" She looked at her sisters in case they were the one that did something, but none of them said anything.
"It is not that. Did you not say that you once wanted to explore the world? I remember when I was imprisoned in my dungeon core and you took care of me; you were saying you really wanted to look at the sea and more importantly, you want to go back to the chain of mountains you come from," said Five with a sad smile on his face.
"That is true..." said Harriet as she recalled these moments, "But I cannot do that, I must respect the contract our ancestors made, I have to stay here and protect your dungeon!"
"My dungeon? Who said I was going to set up my dungeon? I am giving you the opportunity to be free! You should take it!" answered Five.
He was not exactly lying. Five did barge into the harpies’ life and pulled them into a mess. They were homeless at the moment and Five felt guilty because of it. At the same time, the last few words of Gaia were still clear in Five’s mind.
The harpies would greatly influence the incoming test. Had he gone through a proper tutorial, Five might have had the confidence to keep the harpies but now, he was not certain he would pass the test if he kept the harpies. Furthermore, Five also had a hidden agenda; he never forgot the reason he agreed to enter the game. He did not care about the dungeons, all he wanted was to quickly meet his enemies.
"Of course you need to set up your dungeon! This is your role as a dungeon master! Don't you have a dungeon core?"
"Indeed, I do have one but when was it said that I absolutely need to use it? To me, founding my dungeon is only secondary, there are people I need to find first! Only after that, will I set up the dungeon. I did not choose to become a dungeon master, but I went with the flow to get the chance to come to this world. Now that I am free, I need to accomplish my own goals first… The dungeon is only secondary to me," answered Five.
That had been his final goal from the beginning; to take revenge. The dungeon core he obtained was only due to the circumstances. He played along the game but now that his movements were no longer restricted, he should naturally start working on his goal!
"As you can see, I have no dungeon for you to protect! And going around this empire will be quite hard if I am accompanied by all these harpies! Take care of your sisters, I will give you back your freedom."
Freedom? Harriet stared blankly at Five as she realized what was happening. Wasn’t freedom what she had always been looking for? She was sent to the dungeon in order to protect the rest of the harpies and her ultimate goal was simply to survive and return to her clan once everything was over.
Now that the opportunity presented itself, why should she not take it? A faint smile appeared on her face as she thought about all her loved ones she left back at home. She could finally reunite with them, with her mother and more importantly, her lover.
A deep feeling of guilt emerged from within as Harriet thought about leaving Five alone. How could she leave him alone after he paid a heavy price to let them go? Doing so was equivalent to burning the bridge after crossing it. As she realized that she was smiling, Harriet quickly hid it and convince herself that she needed to stay with Five. At the very least, she needed to pay back her debt.
However, it was too late. Five’s sharp eyes had already noticed Harriet’s behavior. He sighed. Indeed, it seemed that it was better to rely on himself. He did not intend to test the harpy queen but as it turned out, she really wanted to go back home.
“You are dodging the question! At least tell me why you do not want us to remain by your side!” exclaimed Harriet.
Five hesitated for a moment, “I have my own reasons. It might sound crazy, but this is my choice. I know that I risked a lot for this and having you by my side will give me a huge boost but was it the right thing to do? You might accept it, but you are also forcing the situation on the other harpies.”
“That makes me no different from the people I am looking for! So, you are free to do what you want but at least, allow the other harpies to go back to the place they belong! I don’t want to force them into serving me. I know that they were forcefully stripped of their comfortable life because of my selfish motives but at least, they should be free to return to their homeland.”
As he spoke, Five opened his interface to look at the monsters he owned; right now, this section only contained the profile of Harriet. He was about to press the release button, but Harriet stopped him.
"Do not do that, we will accompany you, we can stay at a high altitude, no human would notice us! Besides, if you release me, the contract of our ancestor would once again come into effect and I will be sold to another dungeon master! As long as I am not freed by the death of my dungeon master, then the contract will still be effective," explained Harriet with a saddened expression.
Although she was glad to hear that Five was willing to give them their freedom, deep inside, she could not help but think that it was because she hesitated when Five made his offer. Was it because he did not trust her? Harriet clearly knew that she no longer had any contact with Kroff or any other monsters but even if she said that, would Five trust her?
She wanted to apologize for her behavior and protect Five's dungeon and help him grow but before she even got to see the dungeon, Five was releasing her. It was not shameful to be released, in fact, it could be considered an honor. Yet, Harriet was anything but happy.
"In that case, I will just keep you as my monster. This way the contract will not come into effect and you will still be able to return to where you come from with your sisters! Do not worry about me, I can take care of myself! You should instead take care of them!" said Five and without even waiting for an answer, he turned to walk away.
It was painful to have to let go of Harriet, after all, she was a powerful monster and had many harpies. Yet, it was still the choice he made. He wanted to look for revenge and so, needed to be as discreet as possible. At the same time, he also felt guilty when he saw the accusatory looks of the other harpies.
He did not know the real reason for his choice. It was a combination of several factors, but it brought peace to his heart. In the end, he decided to leave behind Harriet; at least, she would be able to live a happy life when she will get back to the chain of mountains. Harriet was strong but not indispensable.
“At least go and bring your sisters safely to their homeland. If you really want to stay by my side, you can come back afterward when the dungeon will be ready. Look after your sisters.”
"Farewell."
A faint murmur left his mouth as he slowly walked away from the group of harpies. As developed as the harpies’ sense of hearing was, they were unable to hear his last words.
The harpies themselves wore confused expression. Now that they were really free to do whatever they wanted, they did not know how to react. They lived in captivity their whole life, the sudden change naturally had an impact on them. They felt lost. Many turned towards Harriet to ask for advice, but the latter was also shaken.
She did not know what to do! She knew that she needed to protect Five but at the same time, she needed to look after her sisters. Harriet looked at Five's disappearing silhouette. She then looked at her sisters. Still unsure of herself, a painful expression appeared on her beautiful face. She let out a sigh.