“So … all the blood you gathered for the portal is gone?” Eric asked after he rested for a while.

“Not all, but most of it. And the worst thing is that I had to use elven blood too. That will set us back quite a lot.”

“And you told me we can’t gather enough of it until I’m old.”

“Not unless we start hunting adventurers.”

“… and you’re ok with doing that? With hunting adventurers?”

“If I have to choose between you or them, the answer is clear.”

“Oh, my,” Eric gave her a look of feigned surprise, “Am I supposed to take that as a compliment?”

She responded with a serious stare, “You grew on me, Eric. So much so that I sacrificed almost all of the precious blood to bring you back.”

“I …” understanding the gravity of those words, he looked at the floor shyly, “I appreciate that …”

Her glare turned into a disappointed one: “I see death didn’t change you one bit. You’re still a wimp.”

“Isn’t that a good thing, though?” He looked back at her, “Imagine if I came back as a completely different person. That would completely defeat the purpose, wouldn’t it?”

She scoffed: “I hate it when you’re right.”

“But still … isn’t there a better way of gathering blood? Besides killing the adventurers.”

“We already tried everything else. We started hunting away from our lair. We are going after the big game now. But with our blood deficit, even that won’t be enough.”

“You know … before I lost consciousness … I talked with that … that adventurer.”

“You talked with them?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Hmm …” she stroked her chin while lost in thought, “the only one who could understand you is that pig.”

“How do you know?”

“You’re speaking demonic tongue now. He is the only one who understands it.”

“Do you know them? Have you met them before? Do you have a history with them?”

“Whoa, whoa, slow down,” she extended her arm playfully to stop him, “I can answer only one question at a time. And no, I don’t know them. I’m assuming that because he was the only holy person in the group.”

“Holy? Like, a saint or something?”

“No, don’t be stupid! I can’t say for sure what his title is, but he is probably an inquisitor. That would explain how he understands a demonic tongue.”

“Yes, he asked me why I speak in a demonic tongue.”

“Ha!” Phisola smiled mockingly, “Even he knew you’re too much of a wimp to be a real demon.”

“Ah, yes. I’m such a wimp for not being aggressive all the time and refusing to eat people. But we already talked about this. He did ask me though, if I was a demon.”

“And what did you say?”

“No, of course! But the thing is, I talked with him a little bit, and he said something … I’m not sure if I remember it correctly … a lot happened to me … but he said something about having better ways of collecting blood.”

“Did you tell him we are collecting blood?” Phisola gave him a stern look while crossing her arms over her chest.

“Uhh … maybe?”

“Now they will think we’re going after them!”

“He assumed that from the start, but I told him that wasn’t our intention.”

“It doesn’t matter what you told him! Why would he believe anything that a devil’s servant says? He’s an inquisitor, you idiot! Or worse! They’re brainwashed not to believe anything we say!”

“He seemed to enjoy our conversation, though.”

“Because he never saw a demon as lost as you! Who is completely unaware of his nature! Of course he’d be amused to find such a freak!”

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“Hey, hey, tone it down!” He pointed his finger at her threateningly, although the move was too weak to convey the meaning, “I may not be as strong and capable as you, but that doesn’t mean I’ll let you insult me like that! I told you I’m tired of acting like a little bitch, and I mean it.”

She stared him in the eye for a few moments before answering: “To them, you are a freak.”

“And I thought you were a freak when I realized you’re eating people. But once I cooled down, I also realized you aren’t doing it because you’re a freak but because you were taught to do that. So yes, while I may be a freak to them right now, things can change in the future.”

She frowned deeply at him: “Are you about to go and get a few more arrows in your chest? Or maybe you’d like a special piercing in the face?”

“No, I’m not that stupid. I do learn from my mistakes. Look … we’re being sidetracked here. We’re getting sidetracked with pointless things. What I wanted to say is that I talked with that … I mean … how do you call him?”

“The pig?”

“Yes, but … calling him a pig isn’t right if he’s a person. That would be like calling me a monkey.”

“His people do have a name, but I never bothered to learn it. So a pig will do.”

“Oh, for fuc …” he started rolling his eyes but stopped in the middle, “Ok, ok. Let’s call him that for the sake of simplicity. Anyway, he said that we have a much better way of collecting blood.”

“And that is?”

“Uhh … I can’t remember exactly … I was a little bit out of sorts back then and was losing my consciousness. But the point is that we can get the blood we need quicker.”

“Yes, we can. But that could also get us both killed.”

Eric’s eyes widened slightly: “Do you know what he was talking about.”

“Generally speaking, the more powerful the creature, the more powerful its blood is. Actually, it’s the other way around: powerful blood creates powerful creatures … but you do get what I want to say. The blood of those big felines is much more potent than the blood of those rodents who are so stupid that they get caught in my traps. And no, I’m not talking just about the amount of blood, since I know your dumb ass will think of it right away. I’m talking about the quality.”

“Ok, I get it.”

“So, the more powerful the creature, the more powerful the blood. And the most powerful creatures in existence are sentient ones. That’s why that elf and her friend were quite a catch.”

“Just a little digression,” he lifted his finger up, “I’m quite sure those big cats are much more powerful than I am.”

Phisola stared at him, looking somewhat taken aback by his statement: “Well … I guess they’re also much more sentient, too. Just because you can speak that doesn’t mean you’re smarter.”

“Are you making yet another lame mockery right now, or are you being serious?”

“The point is, yes, we can gather the blood faster. Much faster. If we’re going to extremes, we could collect all the blood we need in a single day. But that’s only theory.”

“And you didn’t tell me that because …”

“Because if we’d try that, both you and I would end up dead. We’d have to take on a creature so powerful that we’d have no chance against it.”

“What kind of creature are we talking about?”

“The kind that is powerful enough to guard the treasure. You know that the adventurers are coming here to get rich, right? I already told you that. Every level of the dungeon has a special chamber filled with riches. And those riches are guarded by mighty creatures. So powerful that you need an entire adventuring party to take them down, and quite often even that isn’t enough. In other words, you and I would have to take on such a creature ourselves. Actually, no. I would have to fight it all by myself because you’re useless in combat!” She pointed at herself with an irritated frown on her face.

“Would that be an issue for you? I mean, you fought off those adventurers with ease. Clearly, you’re a very powerful and dangerous person.”

“I am powerful and dangerous, but I’m not stupid. And I enjoy my life, so I’m not about to risk it on a fight I’m not certain I will win. The guardians are no joke, Eric. Even if I’d win, I could easily lose a limb or two fighting one of those.”

“By the guardians, you mean …”

“Yes, the creatures guarding the treasures. How else would you call them if not guardians?”

“Well … in my world, we’d call it a boss.”

“A boss?” She scoffed at him, “A boss of what?”

“I don’t know, we just … forget it,” he dismissed the argument with his hand, “By the way, is that why you’re here? Were you supposed to guard the treasure, too?”

She sighed: “I was tricked. It sounded fun and rewarding, but Dungeon Master had tricked me. I mean, it didn’t lie … I can’t say it broke a promise … but my experience here wasn’t what it had presented it as. So I just gave up in protest and started collecting blood to go home.”

“You can do that? And the dungeon master is just …”

“It probably got someone else to guard the treasure as soon as it realized I was leaving. I bet it was pissed, but it is at fault as much as I am. And it’s not like I broke its dungeon or something, so I think it is ok with me leaving. After all, it didn’t even try to stop me, so clearly it doesn’t mind it that much.”

“It sounds so weird when you call a god it.”

“I’ve explained it a long time ago.”

“I remember. Gods don’t have a gender. So … does that mean the treasure is now guarded by someone equally as powerful as you?”

“Well … technically yes, but really no. It all depends on what set of skills the creature has and how its set compares with mine. It’s not as one-dimensional as your simple mind thinks it is. You can’t reduce someone’s power to a number and say one is bigger than the other. There are way too many factors that need to be considered. And that makes it extremely risky. Because while it is possible that I could wipe the floor with the new guardian, I think the reverse is much more likely. Just think about it.”

She held her hands up in the air as if holding an invisible ball by its sides: “Dungeon Master knows I want to leave. And it knows I need the blood for it. So what is stopping me from killing the new guardian, taking its blood, and summoning a portal? Gods aren’t stupid, Eric … well, most aren’t. So I’m willing to bet Dungeon Master had summoned a creature that could defeat me easily. If you’d write our skills down and then use some classification to determine our power level, we’d probably be on the same level. But I’m sure its skill set is such that each of its skills easily counters mine.”

“I see, I see … I get what you’re trying to say.”

“So it’s not that simple, Eric. I’m not harvesting rodents because I like it. Hell, if my people back home knew what I’m doing here, they’d mock me for the rest of my life! I’ve fallen very low Eric, and there are damn good reasons for it.”

“Ok, ok … I understand.”