Opening a portal for Treia to walk into, I caught her as she fell asleep in my arms, bewildered. Mia simply poked her, deemed her alive, and kept chewing on her seventh sandwich, muttering something about the differences of ham and turkey in my head, which she, somehow, made sound interesting. With a shrug, I Eyed Treia, feeling my blood run a bit colder than usual at the resulting notification.
Treia Kia, Princess of the Void - Level 50
A Princess of unknown origin, not seen in many a year. It is advised to take caution around her. On another note, she is also your significant other, whatever that means, so she’s (supposedly) not a threat to you.
Threat Level : Little to none
“Well… that can’t be good, can it?” I said, not pleased in the least.
I rolled my eyes. “Oh stop it, you glutton.”
~~~
Treia stared at me in elation as she ran her own, new and shiny, [Void Armor].
“This completely negates the need for armor! I don’t need repairs anymore; I was spending far too much money on them anyways,” she said, knocking on her armor. “I’ve heard of skills like this, but never with this much… flexibility.”
I snorted and poked her armor, causing it to break. She stared down at the broken armor in confusion as I spoke.
“I like the Skill because it’s strange in the way that it scales with your Health and Skill Level, even if it doesn't say it. I assume that it scales off Health, depending on the Level of the Skill. It gets pretty strong later on. It’s pretty weak in the beginning, only being a piece of paper with a fraction of your Health. However…” I activated my own armor, letting it hum into existence. “Once you get it to Tier 1, it starts to scale better. It also gains some damage when broken. It’s far more reliable than its Tier 0 counterpart. Then Tier 2… well, once you get to Tier 1, I’ll tell you.”
For a few moments, Treia just watched me as if I was going to go on. Then, she blinked as she realized that I’d stopped talking. Even Mia was looking at me in wonder.
I frowned. “What?”
Treia just shook her head. “It’s just that you kinda… slipped into some different personality that I’ve never even seen before. I’m just a bit surprised, honestly.”
I looked at her, completely confused. Her face grew steadily redder as Mia just looked at me like I was insane, as Mia does.
Oh, you have no idea, I thought, keeping that thought from her.
Eventually, Treia shook her head and smiled. “Anyways, anything else you want to tell me about?”
“If it’s about the Void, then not much. Other than that I’ve already nearly killed myself twice with it. Though, I’m sure you could do it with little problem since you’re practically immune to it,” I responded nonchalantly.
Treia nodded before processing what I’d just said. “Wait, what?”
“Kinda like yesterday, when you got to Level 48. I had been attempting to make a sort of dimensional storage by opening a space in the Void. Still trying to secure the place I want. Had to beat up some weird amalgamation with Leah…”
~Yesterday~
Me and Leah kicked and slashed at the dark beast throwing spikes of Void at us, yelling “Die already!” about a thousand times. Eventually, it fled back into the Void as I closed the portal, Leah and I looking at one another in bewilderment.
“Well, that went better than I expected,” Leah said, blowing a few strands of hair out her face.
I raised a brow. “Which part? The multi-mouthed being that was probably something that could’ve leveled the city? Or the portal space?”
“How about both?”
I shrugged. “Good enough. How about we try that again?”
She nodded. “I wanna see if I can kill one.”
I grinned and she mirrored me. “Great minds think alike,” we said at the same time.
~Present Time~
I waved away the memory. “Eh. We beat up a few more, with one nearly escaping. Leah killed that one though and got like four Levels. I think she hit Tier 4.”
Both Mia and Treia looked horrified (Wait, I just realized they both have “-ia” at the end of their names…) as they listened. Mia had slowly latched onto my arm, not trusting me to go off on my own.
“What in the hells are you two?”
I blinked. “A Prince from the depths of the Abyss and a Demigod with social problems?”
Treia stared at me. “Okaaay. We are going to the next meeting now. Then, we talk. And you punt whoever tries to interrupt out a window.”
I nodded. “I say yes to that. But really. Do I have to go?”
She gave me a flat stare and I deflated.
~~~
New Skill!
Void Storage - Tier 4
By sealing off a portion of the Void, you have created an area where time doesn’t pass for items put into it. This can be used as a space to store items or other things. Also, you can’t put living things into it.
Warning : If an attempt to put a living being other than plants into your storage is detected, you will be punished by the System.
Current space : 80’ * 80’ * 80’
Cost : None
Note : If allowed, Bonds are also allowed to use this Skill, sharing the same space.
“Oh, finally!” I hissed as I finally sealed off the damned Void from the Void Ravagers that me and Leah had to keep killing. “Damned Ravagers…”
Mia looked up at me in interest, trying to figure out how I was pulling my sword from thin air. I patted her head and shared the Skill with her, something that took me about a minute to figure out. After a few moments, her face lit up, presumably seeing the amount of storage. She practiced opening and closing it, then she threw stuff into it and pulled it out.
She then pulled out my sword triumphantly… then promptly fell to the ground at its weight, squawking.
I shrugged. “I just have the touch, if you know what I mean.”
She gave me a flat expression, not impressed. She dropped the sword and hopped back onto the bed. I grabbed the sword with one hand (which Mia glared at me when I did) and tossed it back into my new Storage.
“I dub thee… the Bag-Away!” I said, raising a random item from my Bag, which just so happened to be a spoon.
As I grinned triumphantly, the door to my apartment opened.
“Jason, what in the hells are you doing with a spoon in the air?” Treia said, giving me a flat look that matched Mia’s.
I turned around, slightly abashed. “Well, my Princess, this is the great and holy spoon of the ages-”
“Don’t holy things burn you?” she interrupted, raising an eyebrow.
I scowled as Treia gave me a smug look before kissing my cheek. “Just teasing. Also, why didn’t you go to the meeting? Again?” she hissed, her expression contorting to annoyance, reaching for my horn.
I leaned back so she couldn’t reach me, but was reminded that Mia was there when she grabbed my horns herself, causing me to fall onto the ground. I looked up at the giggling Mia and the not-so-happy Treia.
“I was, uh, practicing something,” I said. “So I can teach you eventually. I mean, it worked, so-”
Treia bent down, still glaring at me. “And what would this ‘something’ be?”
I scrunched up my face. “A storage space?”
She blinked before her mouth opened slightly, taken aback. She was silent for a few moments, her mouth opening and closing.
I looked at her, confused.
<...Consent.> I said to her in a flat tone, though I still did so.
As I pulled back, I nearly snorted at how red her face was. Mia, however, had no such qualms. She openly giggled at Treia’s embarrassment as I rolled over to the bed. She then yelped as I pulled her off the bed by her feet and onto my chest, hugging her there. She struggled for a few moments before letting out a dramatic sigh and pressing against me.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Treia simply sat down next to me and sighed.
“Whatever. Not like anything meaningful came from the meeting. The council was questioning where you were again, though that’s normal at this point,” she said, her face still beet red. “But, we’re not talking about that right now. We’re talking about other things. Like the two of us.”
I nodded, making an attempt to sit up. Mia knocked her head against my chin and I sighed, laying back down on the floor. Treia watched with mild interest as rubbed Mia’s horns. Eventually, Mia fell asleep and I looked over to Treia, who’d, at some point, laid down next to me.
I looked over at her. “You may begin now.”
Treia rolled her eyes and pressed her side against me.
“Okay then. So, I want to start with the most important thing about… us. You’re a Prince and I’m a Princess. So, by technicality, our relationship is completely fine, in the sense of our titles.”
“Where in the sense of our Races, however…” I continued, trailing off.
She nodded. “Yep. The last thing my aunt and uncle want is an Abyssal at the head of this entire Kingdom. Not because they’re Racist or anything, but because of how the Empire would view it.”
I frowned. “The Empire?”
Treia looked at me blankly before realization dawned on her. “Right, you lived in the Abyss. You wouldn’t know. After the War with the Abyssals, maybe a thousand years after, the Empire was funded by the ones who basically carried the war. It’s made up of a few thousand Kingdoms spread out over this universe. It was founded so if some universe ending threat appeared once again… well there would be people to stop it.”
I nodded slightly. “So, where do you come in for this? Your family can't have such ties to whoever’s at the top.”
Treia cringed. “Er, I am one of the Emperor’s great, great, great, plus about two hundred greats, great granddaughters. Though, I’m so far down the line, there’s no way he’d notice me. I mean, unless I hit like, Level 250. Then I might get a fraction of notice from him.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
She looked away, embarrassed. “I mean, I’m not a direct descendant, but I still have a chance to get to the top. Like, becoming an Empress.”
“No, that’s not what I’m confused about,” I said, getting a frown from Treia. “I’m confused on how the hells this Emperor is still alive.”
She shook her head and sighed. “Of course.”
“What?”
Treia was silent for a moment before pressing closer against me. “Anyways, if anyone in the higher ups found out about the two of us, well, I’d be branded a traitor and exiled with my Levels locked while you’d be executed for existing, at worst. At best, you and Mia would be exiled with me.”
~~~
I laid down, deep in thought as Mia slept next to me, her fingers clutching my shirt.
Execution, exiled… What in the world did my kind do? I thought, absentmindedly rubbing Mia’s back. I just don’t understand. And more importantly what came upon Treia to suddenly fall in love with me?
I was still trying to process what Treia had told me about herself and this new “Empire”. Apparently, it was founded after Abyssals wreaked havoc (allegedly) and some random people decided that they wanted to form some sort of gigantic Empire to protect against it.
Damn it… I didn’t want all of this. I just wanted to get strong enough to protect myself and Mia, along with Leah (at least back then) and attempt to live a normal life. But now, my girlfriend is a Princess and my Bond… I looked over to Mia as she snored lightly, shifting as I stopped rubbing her back. I shook my head. Well, she’s my Bond. Not much to say about her.
I smiled at the little girl who sometimes had quite the attitude but didn’t change how I felt about her. I could clearly remember when her egg had first hatched, most likely because Leah had been far from thrilled that it was a snake. I could also clearly remember her screams as the egg had split open.
“Well,” I said quietly. “Those days are over.”
I simply pulled her closer and closed my eyes. She had a point.
~~~
Leah stared at me like I was insane.
“Of course I want to go into the Dungeon. I have to make sure you don’t accidentally kill yourself,” she explained, taken aback.
I snorted. “I clearly remember you being a pincushion,” I responded, rolling my eyes.
Char and Treia looked between us, looking appalled at the very idea of entering the Dungeon. Treia and I had been back and forth with the idea of me entering the Dungeon and had openly not wanted me to go.
I looked at Treia’s expression and sighed. “See? I’m fine. No need to worry, you.”
She simply glared at me, unimpressed. “Still not going to let you go.”
“Uh huh. And how exactly are you going to stop me if I decide to go?”
She slowly pulled her shackles out of her Bag with a flat look. I glared at them disdainfully, already trying to imagine a way to rip them into a thousand chunks. Mia, on my lap, seemed to think before shrugging and taking what little I had left from my breakfast and eating it.
I stretched. “Fine. You can come if you want. Not that I ever said you couldn’t.”
Immediately, Treia smiled and sat next to me, her expression doing an 180. I watched her warily as she leaned on my shoulder, watching Mia rest. I looked back to Leah, who looked at me suspiciously. I raised an eyebrow at her and she rolled her eyes.
“So? What exactly are you going to do when you get into the Dungeon?” Char inquired, sitting next to Leah.
Both me and Leah looked at her like she was insane. Then, we looked at each other and shook our heads.
“Our plans are beyond mortal comprehension,” I said sadly, trying to keep as much snarkiness out of my voice as possible.
“As we,” Leah continued. “Are beyond what you can understand.”
Treia just looked at us. “I’m assuming that your plan is, enter Dungeon, beat up whatever you can find while ignoring every trap, find Orchestrator, beat up said Orchestrator, break Dungeon Core (assuming you even know what that is), and leave Dungeon.”
I looked at Leah with mock horror. “Hark! Is thou divine?! How doth thee knowest thine plans?!”
Leah looked at me with the same expression. “Thee must have Ascended!”
Char and Treia looked at me and Leah with actual horror then at one another. For a few moments, the entire room was quiet. Then my sword fell from the air above me and hit me in the horn by the side of the blade, creating a loud crash as it hit the table and cut it apart as Mia glared at me. A yell from the other side of the room reverberated and we all fell out our chairs.
“SERIOUSLY? THAT WAS A NEW TABLE, DAMN IT!” Treia’s mother hollered, Mia quickly realizing her mistake.
I looked at her. “No, REALLY?”
***
Glaring at the screen, Harmony tried to make sense of what was happening there. There were spikes of what looked like pure Abyss falling from the skies like heavenly nails, accompanied by strikes of lightning.
“So, what exactly is happening here?” Harmony asked Girda, who was frowning.
She shook her head. “Some of this matches what some Abyssals can do, but there’s the unexplained Void Mana that Char reported. And this aura… I don’t think you could defeat whoever this is.”
Harmony snorted. “As if.”
Girda shook her head, like she was pitying her. Internally, Harmony was outraged. How could a mere Abyssal defeat her? She’d destroyed countless foes, none of them ever standing a chance. She’d fought people a Tier above her and came out on top! She’d-
“I can see you losing yourself in your thoughts,” Girda interrupted. “So stop.”
Harmony blinked, almost coming back to her senses. Then she scowled at her sister. “Who are you to tell me what I can’t do? I honestly don’t care. I’m going to beat this Abyssal. Watch me.”
“Your funeral,” was all she got in response.
***
After a short walk, I arrived at the wall, only Mia with me, though reluctantly.
she pouted.
“We’re not fighting anything, you,” I told her. “Just scouting. Need to make sure we know where the Dungeon is. And, before you complain, no, I’m not going to make you go into your Draconic Form.”
Mia gave me a suspisious look, but settled down in my arms as I looked over the wall, my enhanced sight watching the Beasts that moved towards the front lines. I looked up into the forest, trying to find the origin point, though I wasn’t high enough to see it.
After a short-lived scowl, I sighed. “Stay here a moment, please?” I asked Mia.
She tilted her head as I set her down, but nodded. After a moment, I activated my [Partial Draconic Form] and used the claws it gave me to scale the side of the wall. After climbing up nearly thirty feet, I began to realize I was not good at climbing.
As I was thinking this, I got the mental image of Mia attempting to wrap her body around a tree to climb and snorted. Maybe neither of us were good at climbing.
Once I reached the top, I waved at the people who gave me bewildered looks and peered down from the overly tall watchtower at the forest.
“Aha. There’s our Dungeon entrance,” I said with a grin. I committed the area to memory (or at least the best I could, since I didn’t have a crap-ton of Intelligence- oh, wait), and scaled down the side of the wall.
Soon I landed back in front of Mia, who hopped into my arms and closed her eyes.
I smiled as I deactivated the Draconic Form.
***
With an annoyed grunt, Xaila smacked Alex over the head.
“You haven’t joined a single meeting, you dimwit!” she hissed as he ducked out of her reach.
He looked at her like she was insane. “I’ve been at the front lines-”
“And you haven’t visited me at all!” she snapped, finally grabbing his ear as Treia watched, slightly amused. “Even Treia’s boyfriend visits her more often than you do!”
Alex blinked, then slowly looked over to Treia, confused. “Treia… has a boyfriend? No chance. This guy has got to have some low standards.”
“It’s more that Treia has high standards,” Xaila grumbled. “This guy’s Level 80 something and has gotten her to Level 50.”
Alex gaped at Treia, who had the gall to look flustered.
“Level 80?” Alex whispered.
“82,” Treia corrected, rolling her eyes. “It’s not that big of a deal. He’s more concerned about his Dragon than me.”
“Dragon?!”
Xaila looked at Treia, baffled. “She’s his Bond, so of course he is. You know how Bonds work.”
“BOND?!”
Treia looked a bit embarrassed. “I do know. But still… I just wish he’d pay me a bit more attention.”
Alex looked between the two girls, trying to make sense of what was going on. However, the two ignored him, perfectly content with not giving him any attention.
***
I jolted awake as Mia bit my ear in her sleep. I rubbed my ear and groaned.
“Ow…”
I put my arm around the little girl and lifted her back onto my chest, a bit annoyed she’d woken me. However, the annoyance quickly dissipated as I watched her sleep for a while. I realized that I'd grown completely used to having Mia around and, sometimes, I’d wake up at the same exact time she woke, which was a bit later than I was used to, but she liked sleeping.
I sighed and sat up slowly, carrying her to the kitchen without waking her. As I walked to the kitchen, there was a light knock on the door. I frowned.
It’s barely morning; who in the world could that be?
I made an attempt to set Mia down on the couch, but she clung to my shirt, letting out an annoyed hiss in her sleep. I rolled my eyes and kept holding her, walking over to the door, unlocking it, and cracking open the door.
“Treia? What are you doing here?” I asked when I saw the person who’d knocked.
She gave me a hesitant smile as I opened the door. “Sorry, did I wake you? I just thought you’d be awake.”
I let her in and she made a beeline for the couch, collapsing onto it. I closed the door as she made herself comfortable and sat next to her, letting Mia rest her head on my lap. Treia leaned against me and sighed, her body limp.
I let her stay there for a few moments before starting the conversation. “What’s wrong?”
She sat for another few moments before looking up at me. “I… I’m just really nervous. Because of the Dungeon. I don’t have a clue what’s going to happen.”
“Mhm. Never know what’ll happen,” I responded, earning myself a flat look. “What?”
“You’re supposed to be comforting me, dimwit,” she snapped, lightly hitting my arm, dealing an insignificant 1 damage.
I blinked. “Oh. Uh…”
Treia giggled at my confusion and closed her eyes. “Can I sleep here for a little bit? I don’t feel like going home right now.”
I let out a quiet laugh myself. “Of course you can. Big day today, right?”
“Mhm. You better make sure I don’t die.”
“I can do that.”