Undead city-Altraud
Inside the dungeon of shadows
Atop the tall mountain at the centre of the dungeon, Arya blankly stared at the scenery before her. There was no sun inside the dungeon, but the large moon and the glistening stars provided just enough light for anyone to appreciate the vast forest and the endless expanse of grasslands before them.
“Hello, Earth to Arya, are you there!?” Maya asked, snapping her out of her daze, and then continued, “It's time to go; Old Bones is going to be grumpy if we’re late.”
Maya then turned towards the undead bird to ask for a lift, but the bird refused as it wanted to collect more crystals for the ceremony and hence had to stay behind in the dungeon.
With no other choice, Maya asked for the black panther's help.
“I am not a transport vehicle; find some other way,” the cat huffed and promptly curled up into a ball. Irritated by its behaviour, Maya poked the cat with a knife.
“Stop being a lazy cat, do you want a vampire to roam in your dungeon for three more days?”
“I'm a panther, and stop poking me; it hurts,” the cat snarled while swatting the knife away. Reluctantly, it got up to provide them with a lift, causing Maya to grin in triumph.
“I will carry the vampire girl and that skull” it announced while pointing towards Peter, surprising the group. The cat noticed their surprise and elaborated, “I don't want that vampire girl to be anywhere near my friends, so I will carry her”
Arya just shrugged her shoulders, picked up Peter, and climbed the cat.
The alpha wolf saw that and crouched down, allowing Maya and Ervin to sit on it. With everyone aboard, the two beasts began heading towards the dungeon exit.
As they moved, Arya saw many different types of beasts in the forest. There were groups of two-headed goats, rabbit-ear monkeys, walking snakes, and even a three-tailed horse. Every group had only one thing in common: Arya couldn't feel blood from any of them.
“Why don't you guys have blood?” she asked the big cat, but it just ignored her.
“Hey, I am talking to you, you know.”
“Say something.”
She kept talking, but the beast tuned her out, and in the end, she could only shut her mouth and enjoy the scenery. Peter, who saw her trying hard to learn about the beasts, provided some information that he knew about.
“The dungeon beasts are born from the dungeon boss's imagination. He just imagined them like that,” Peter explained and then continued, “All the beasts in the dungeon absorb the minerals and energy from the environment and store them as black gas. That's why none of the beasts in the forest need food. Some still eat grass, but they don't need to eat for survival.”
Arya stared at the beasts again, and this time she observed that the two-headed goat and the walking snakes lived in the same area, and now it made sense. They were not predator and prey; they were a family. The word stung her more than she thought it would.
After a lot more awkward silence, the group reached their destination.
“Thanks for the ride; I will come to cuddle you after some time,” Maya screamed while saying her farewells and exited the dungeon.
"Alright, what next?" Maya asked while staring at the others. Instantly, Peter who was carried around by Arya turned up towards her.
"Teacher, what are you going to do next?" he excitedly asked her and after a second she said, "I want to clear more dungeons and enter a major dungeon."
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"Can I join you too?" Peter asked, his fiery eyes turning into stars with excitement. But Arya didn't know how to respond. "You shouldn't come with me. I... I am a devil. If you come with me, then something bad will happen to you," she answered while tightly gripping Peter's skull as if letting him go would hurt.
Her response surprised both Peter and Ervin. They had already assumed that they would accompany her on her next adventures, so her refusal stung them both.
They both didn't know what to say, and again it was Maya who spoke up. "Hey, why didn't you use the return crystal to escape from the dungeon? Paul gave you one, right?" she asked, catching the others off-guard. Arya nodded. She still had the crystal with her and had multiple opportunities to use it to escape, but she didn't. She thought long and hard, but only one reason came to her mind as to why she didn't use it.
"I didn't want to give up. Clearing a dungeon is my aim. I wanted to fulfil it," she said again, lowering her head. If she had used that crystal before things became dire, then there was a chance that Peter wouldn't have been hurt. But because she didn't use it, Peter ended up suffering the consequences.
"Is... is that it?" Maya asked. "You didn't use a life-saving option even though you could, and that was your reason for it? Don't you value your life? Pathetic" she lashed out, her voice raising with each sentence until she was almost screaming at Arya.
Arya remained quiet, fueling Maya's anger even more. "Do you even care about us? Or does only your dream matter to you?" she asked. Again, Arya had no answer, but she couldn't bear her scoldings any longer and screamed back, "I wasn't the only one at fault. You didn't use the return crystal too,"
Maya just scoffed at that "We couldn't use it. The crystal is activated by injecting hue into it, you know, the thing that we didn't have at that time," after saying that she snatched Peter away from Arya's grasp. "I asked you to take care of him, thinking that you were a caring person, but I was wrong. You only care about your aim," she spat and walked away, leaving only Ervin behind.
"Are you not going to scold me?" Arya asked Ervin, but he just shook his head and patted her head. "I also committed a big mistake four years ago. During an intense battle, I acted like a fool and got caught by an enemy human. It led to many deaths," he looked at her and continued, "We all make mistakes. You just need to make up for it by working harder and by teaching others so that they won't commit the same mistake as you do."
After saying that, he walked away, leaving Arya also inside the large tomb. Uncertain of what to do next, she instinctively moved towards the outer city, specifically Arthur's grave.
She remembered him asking her to come to the grave to learn about her special affinity and she did just that, hoping that it would help her achieve her aim.
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Undead city-Altraud
Inner city
Ervin entered a grave dedicated to creating skill scrolls and saw Maya on all fours and sobbing. Peter was beside her, trying to cheer her up but it wasn't working.
“If you were going to cry like this then why did you even scold her?” he asked and sat next to her. Seeing him approach, Maya quickly reached out and quickly grabbed him, her sobs only increasing in intensity.
“Why couldn't she give a better reason, I wanted to forgive her. I would have been happy even if she said that she forgot to use the crystal because of all the things going on in the dungeon, but she…she didn't forget, she just didn't think about our well-being. She only cared about her aim”
Ervin didn't know what to do. He didn't know enough about Arya to judge her actions, but he also couldn't fault Maya for being angry. So, he just stayed silent hoping that the problem would solve itself in one way or the other.
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Undead city-Altraud
Outer City, Arthur's grave
Arya reached the grave and used the obsidian crystal to enter it. As she moved down into the grave, she heard two people arguing with each other. They were Arthur and another undead wearing full metallic armour. Arya sneaked a bit closer to listen to what they were talking about.
“So, care to explain why you allowed a vampire princess inside the city? It might lead to war,” she heard the metallic undead say, and Arya felt a pit in her stomach.
‘Am I a devil? Does my presence cause more harm to these people?’ she asked herself. She was already responsible for bringing harm to a small undead. She didn't want to cause more harm to them, but before she could make any decision on what to do next, she heard Arthur speak.
“That girl, I didn't want to take her in. I knew that welcoming her might lead to war,” she heard him say, and her complexion became paler.
“But when I saw her all alone outside my city gates, desperate for help, I just couldn't say no to her. Her father allowed us to use his dungeon. It's the only reason why we were able to enter a major dungeon and grow strong enough to defend our cities. He helped us during our tough times, and I wanted to do the same. I would have helped her even if she were a devil,” he concluded, leaving Arya speechless. She jumped out from her hiding spot.
“Is that true!?” she asked, hope glistening in her eyes. “Will you help me even if I am a devil!?” she asked again, and though Arthur was surprised by her sudden intrusion, he still nodded with a smile.