Birds sang, engines roared and people chattered. A normal day until everything faded into nothingness.
A wave of white orbs swept into the afterlife.
“What happened? Where did all these souls come from? Nothing was scheduled!”
“Sir, according to the records the surplus comes from F34A4FG78QHK789.”
“The old faulty one scheduled for demolition? Did those idiots not check for inhabitants? We've never had souls of that one before, for the Supreme One's sake!”
“The scans show...no mana signatures in the entire universe.”
“Authorization granted for memory reading of a hundred randomly picked souls from that particular universe.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Sir, memory readings revealed that the entire civilization had advanced without mana. The entire soul cycle had arranged itself internally.”
“But...That's impossible!
Oh, this is going to be such a mess.”
“Extra soul number 2654813146, your universe was destroyed by accident. You are currently in limbo waiting for reincarnation. You are currently calm because you have no body therefore no emotions.
Because of this accidental mishap, you have been granted both a boon and a minor boon as compensation.
Your boon has been decided in advance and turned out to be...”
The entity squinted at the file with its eye appendages.
“Retaining memories and the sense of self. I hope that won't come back to bite them. Unlikely but whatever, none of my concern.” It rolled its body around a bit as if stretching.
“The minor boon will be decided by the local deities. Happy reincarnation.” Its tone stayed even throughout.
The soul orb whooshed onwards into a multidimensional roller coaster. After an indeterminate time, as time has no meaning in some of these places, it landed as a special delivery into the waiting arms of Qavira, goddess of death and reincarnation.
“Well, well, what is this, a soul delivery from way high up? Manaless universe? Destruction of an entire inhabited world? Minor boon to be reimbursed? So that's what had them all scurrying about. Ah well, as long as it gets reimbursed, no skin off my back. Let's do a spin of the Wheel of Minor Boons.” The wheel spun and stopped.
“And it's easier Class acquisition. Okay, off you go then, little soul.”
She chucked it into a tube.
The soul whisked through the Soul Plane and ended in an embryo.
The baby in the belly grew but the soul, now little boy, kept sleeping as the body could not bear the full weight of its soul.
Its brain was trying to adapt but it would take some time.
Finally, the time of birth had approached. The mother pushed, screaming at her husband how she wanted to hurt him for putting that baby in there.
Wanting to hurt him more than just crushing his hand.
Finally, the baby was out and wailed himself into exhaustion and more sleep.
The healer checked him over and said: “Everything seems normal, a healthy baby boy.”
She cleaned, swaddled him, and handed him over.
The mother beamed at her son. “Khaar is your name, little one. Mama's little boy.”
“Don't forget daddy's little boy, sweetheart.”
“Of course love, Of course.” She answered him with a radiant smile.
Her husband suggested: “Shall we call his siblings in? I'm sure they're dying to meet him.”
“Go call them, love.” He walked to the door and opened it, seeing three eager and anxious faces.
“Is he healthy?” “Is mom okay?” “Can we see them, please?”
“You can go in but be quiet he's sleeping.” He whispered. “Yes dad,” they answered in concert.
His first nine months were like a hazy dream, as if only part of his consciousness was present.
When he was finally fully awake at about nine months old, he cheered on the inside.
He gave his parents big hug when they picked him up.
Babbling was his only option for the moment with still undeveloped speech.
“Aren't you a happy one today my sweet little boy.” His mother cooed.
That day he wasn't even scared of the intelligent ape that tried to entertain him while his mommy was working.
He did wonder what kind of weird world this was, with not having a sun and all.
He still missed his old family, he dreamed a lot about them.
The wound would hurt for a long time but he was comforted that they probably were living a good life with their own boons.
At about twelve months he could decently speak, stringing words together to form simple sentences.
Magic was his foremost concern. It seemed accessible by everyone and used for day to day work.
He had learned that his father used plant and earth magic to farm crops in a quicker manner and his mother used summoning magic for her work as a tailor, using silk from scary giant spiders.
He begged his parents and much older siblings to show and teach him various magics.
They soon caved in but didn't think he could make it work.
“I don't know how much of what I'm saying you understand, so I'll try to say it in simple terms.
Find your center and connect with it. There you will find four balls. Three big empty ones and one small but filled one, filled with mist. Well you can treat it like mist, at least. Then you must will the mist to move. This step is probably going to be hard for you as normally it's a step done by kids a couple cycles older than you. Did you get all of that?”
Khaar nodded.
“Really? Wow. Well, when you can move the mist quickly through your body, you just focus on pulling the mist outside and saying an incantation to focus your spell. For example, a safe one would be: Air, move around me.”
His hair moved in the breeze.
“Now go play with your blocks.”
“Ye, Dada.” He fumbled with his tongue. Practicing motor skills was necessary too.
It was only the next day Khaar remembered about how to access his magic.
It was not easy, but he could feel something there. It became clearer every time he tried.
After a month of trying Khaar finally succeeded in reaching his center and it was glorious.
Three empty slots and a fourth filled but small as foretold.
He tried moving the weird gas-liquid. Nothing happened.
'This is gonna take a while.'
Khaar told his family he connected with his center with a lot of difficulty. He had to mime and circle his belly. But they were amazed. Khaar basked in their admiration and with renewed vigor he attacked the mist. He translated it as mana for convenience's sake.
The word in his new language seemed to mean something akin to 'inner power' which seemed quite accurate.
It took Khaar a couple days just to get some movement in his mana.
But there was clear progress.
He ran and moved and played about, training his body.
He tried to learn the language as quickly as possible, training his mind.
He sat and meditated, moving his mana around.
After a couple months, he finally got to the point where he could expel it through his hands.
Ai', mo'e a'ou' me. The slightest of breezes tousled his hair.
'I finally did it!' He went to find someone to share the news and to learn something new.
“Wow you actually did it. This has got to be some kind of record. Now give big sis a hug!”
She picked him up and held him tight.
“Now you have to practice all kinds of spells to prepare for your future.
“Ye, mi' si'.
“Now I'll show you some basic spells. Water, gather into a ball.”
An orb of water grew and wobbled.
She dismissed the orb.
“That was simple, right? You can do this for many elements. Just be careful with fire, you might hurt yourself without supervision. Okay? You can make plants grow like daddy and big bro, or summon animals like mommy, big sis and me. I'll watch you for a bit while you try.”
He tried earth and created a pebble in the air.
“You can create a bigger rock if you create it from the ground. Try it again, now on the ground.”
He created a bigger pebble on the ground.
“Now create a mouse for me. Do you know how mice look like?”
He nodded. “Summ' mouse.”
A mouse materialized in the air and dropped to the ground.
“Oops, don't forget to place them on the ground!” She chuckled. “Now dismiss the mouse and summon some grass.”
“Summ' g'ash” A small patch of grass grew and crumbled when he let go.
“You can also make yourself stronger by spreading your mana through you body and saying 'strength'. You can do the same for speed. Now practice. Then we'll go play some more.”
They practiced spells and played around.
“Khaar I'm going to be honest with you, I don't think you can become a Swordsman. Don't get me wrong, you can, but it wouldn't be optimal. You inherited you mother's physique, meaning you're both short and slender and not very good at physical stuff.”
Khaar pouted and answered: “But Melee-Speed-Time is such a genius combination!”
“I'd still prefer it if you became a farmer like me and your brother. Are you truly set on becoming a combatant?”
“I'm certain dad, I have a blessing, I should make the most of it. I'll think some more on magic combinations.”
“Just be careful. Your mother would break if you got hurt.”
“I know dad.”
“I don't want to be some stupid housewife, I want to fight monsters! They just don't get it.”
Serah complained. “They already forced me to take plant magic and now I'm basically useless.”
“Well, there is a way, but it's going to take a lot of practice. One of the combinations I thought up was Plant-Toxin-Time. That makes up for lack of damage and speed.” Khaar answered.
“Oh that's genius. But, isn't it going to be like nearly impossible for me to unlock those?”
“Not if I place toxin and time spells on you while letting Brakh heal you.”
“Oh, that's going to be so painful.” She grimaced.
“I managed to sneak out! Let's go!” Serah whisper-yelled.
Khaar and Brakh looked at each other and sighed. “Fine, let's move out.”
They left to not return for a long time.
“We're finally here! I can't wait to beat some monsters up!” Brakh yelled.
“Let's find the Association first and ask for beginner tips while we're there.”
“You're such a scaredy pants sometimes. You got to live a little!”
“Not everybody is as sturdy as you while being able to heal themselves on top of that.” Khaar rolled his eyes.
“Boys.” Serah mumbled.
The administrative worker peered at them. “Names and ages please.”
“Khaar, seventeen.”
“Brakh, eighteen.”
“Serah, seventeen.”
“Here are your identification plates, don't lose them as replacing them will cost you.”
“What do you recommend we do now as complete beginners at this job?” Khaar asked.
She smiled and said: “I recommend you travel to Qariash to train in the Lair there. It is famed for its regular scaling low difficulty. Good that you're smart. I've seen many newbies go off on some random mission they picked against advice only to never return.”
“Thank you for your advice ma'am.”
“You're welcome.” She continued filing out papers.
“Do we have enough money for a caravan? Or can we join one as guards.?” Serah asked.
Khaar answered “I suggest we join one as guards and ask others to teach us some tricks on the road.”
“The pay is pretty bad though, I thought it would be more.” Serah pouted.
“We just joined so it's only natural that our pay is bad. Be glad we don't have to pay for food or we would have barely made anything. See, Plant mages are so handy to have around!” Khaar made fun of her.
She just rolled her eyes. “Don't push it or I'm dosing you with something that causes erectile dysfunction.”
He gaped in shock: “Alright, I won't make fun of you anymore. You're just no fun.”
Brakh just chuckled at their antics.
Two days later after sleeping in the Association's bunks they stood next to the caravan at dawn. “Alright, this is the beginning of our first job. The road should be fairly safe but you never know.”
They looked on at the handful of wagons. A burly man of average height with an impressive mustache saw them and waved them over to where he was securing cargo.
“You lot the newbies that are going to guard the caravan?”
“Yes, we are, sir.” Khaar nodded and answered.
“Normally we only take one or two guards but you three should be able to make do, even with your low levels. We rarely have issues but you never know. We'll discuss guarding strategies and night watch rotations later. We leave in about half an hour.” He continued tying cargo down.
“Any of you lot a sensor?” The caravan leader asked them.
Khaar answered him: “I am an Earth mage, sir.”
“No need to sir me lad, just call me Grad like everyone else does. You being a sensor, you move ahead of the wagons and skate matching their speed. You can skate right?”
“Of course Grad.”
“If you sense anything suspicious, send a air message spell to me. Do you know how to do those?” Grad inquired.
Khaar responded: “Yes.”
“Good that makes it a lot more convenient. Alright, let's get moving.”
They had traveled quite a distance during the day and settled in on a campsite.
Grad looked in wonder at the woven beds Serah had made and spoke: “You lot seem well prepared. Now for the night watch, since you're new, we'll let you take the first shift every evening. Someone will relieve you at midnight. Have a good night.”
Khaar was scanning his surroundings in radar fashion while Serah had sentry plants out. Brakh kept them company.
Nothing happened during the night.
The next day the caravan spotted a handful of goblins in the distance, but they saw they were outnumbered and scurried away.
In the early morning they were woken up by air-enhanced shouting. The goblins had returned and had brought many friends.
“Grad, we're up, where do you need us?”
“There aren't too many, they will retreat once we kill a few. Brakh stays near in case they rush, Khaar and Serah, stay with the others and launch projectiles.”
Khaar ran to the other caravaneers' position where they were shooting projectiles daring the goblins to come closer. He launched some obsidian darts and prepared the area for other spells.
The goblins, seeing that their ambush had failed, ran away.
“Alright, excitement is over. I doubt anyone is going to sleep anymore so we might as well start preparing breakfast.”
The rest of the journey passed by without incidents.
“Well boys and girl, it was a pleasure meeting you all and working alongside you. I hope your future endeavors fare well.”
“Thank you Grad, until we meet again.” Khaar spoke and afterwards they let them deal with their merchandise while they strolled to the local Association to report their completed assignment and information on the goblin attack.
“I could use a fine meal and some extra sleep now.” Brakh spoke.
Khaar answered: “That's what we're going to do to celebrate our first completed mission. Nothing too lavish though.”
“At least I don't have to make the vegetables this time.” Serah commented.
The next day at dawn they hiked to the Lair entrance after obtaining information at the Association.
“For now, we practice on the first layer, maybe the second after we get better and higher level.”
After waiting in queue for an hour, they were finally allowed to go inside the underground labyrinth. They engaged their channeled light orbs so they could see.
“According to the overseer we're cleared to fight in the left zone of the layer. I'll keep on the lookout with my usual spell. Be prepared for an ambush though.” Khaar warned them.
“Yes, Khaar.” They chorused.
“A group of five is on our path, we'll see them soon. Usual tactics.” Khaar commanded.
Soon the goblins rushed at them only to be assaulted by obsidian darts, their movement restricted by earthen walls and when the remaining goblins finally approached closer, they were surprised by plants surging around them trapping them in thorned vines. Unfortunately for them, the plants were a parasitic plant known as blood drinker while the thorns were laced with fast acting paralytic venom.
They soon perished.
“Well that was easier than expected.” Serah commented.
Brakh complained: “I didn't even get to do anything.”
The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“I hope you never get to do much or we'll probably be dead.” Khaar replied.
The next few groups they encountered were similar in size. They just restricted movement with stone walls, plants and spikes while Brakh took point.
Darts and time-enhanced blood drinkers finished them off.
“There's a second group coming from behind!” Khaar yelled. “I'll keep them busy!”
Brakh finally got to do something as one goblin managed to cross the deadly field of plants. He feinted with his spear and bashed it with the edge of his shield before driving his spear into its throat. The goblin gurgled and died.
Behind, Khaar had raised a wall across the corridor while spreading his domain out. He used the clay to hold them in place for small spikes to wound their feet.
When they fell over under the increased gravity, he used large spikes to impale them to finish the goblins off.
“Well that was certainly something. I finally got to kill one!” Brakh cheered.
“Meanwhile we're killing all of them. Poor Brakh.” Serah faked some pity while Brakh just rolled his eyes.
“It was easier to hold on than I expected. But we can not relax, tomorrow we'll take on the second layer. That'll be another case entirely.” Khaar admonished them.
He continued: “Then we'll need to find a new assignment so we don't run out of money. But we'll stay in the area and fight in this Lair occasionally.
The next day they fought on the second layer of the Lair against larger groups of goblins in wider corridors.
“Brakh, we'll soften these up for you so you don't fall behind.”
Three goblins with thorns sticking all over crawled towards Brakh, hindered by clay clinging to their limbs.
Brakh kicked the first one in the throat and stabbed his spear into its eye socket.
He jumped on the second on and stomped its skull, crushing its skull.
The third he jabbed a couple times with his spear and finished it with a stab to the throat, leaving it to die choking in its own blood.
“So nice of you guys to leave me some.” He rolled his eyes.
Serah commented: “Healers tend to get shafted. At least we're sharing, in many parties you'd just be there to heal them after battle, if they get injured at all.”
“We're just nice like that.” Khaar continued and smiled.
“Being a melee combatant just sucks sometimes. Let's go get me some more!” Brakh finished full of vigor.
“Let's do this bounty, it's probably those goblins that attacked us.” Khaar proposed.
His friends agreed.
“Excuse me, we'd like to join the goblin bounty.” He spoke.
The administrative worker responded: “The group is set to leave in...Twenty minutes. Gathering spot is at the Square. Look for Carna, average heigth, red hair, loud voice. She's in charge for this mission.”
They thanked him and left.
They looked over the Square of the town and noticed a group of people chatting with a red haired woman yelling at someone.
They approached.
“Are you Carna?” Khaar asked.
“Yup. Are you the three newbies that are joining?” She responded.
“Yes.” They answered in unison.
“Since it's just goblins, that shouldn't be a problem.” She said, not disregarding them.
She continued: “What are your specs?”
“Khaar, ranged Earth mage.”
“Serah, ranged Plant mage.”
“Brakh, vanguard Healer.” They answered in order.
“A combat Plant mage?” She inquired.
Serah just smiled and spoke: “I got a working combination.”
“Feel free to disprove any doubts I have. Women should stick together.” She reassured and winked.
“Newbies, meet the team. Team, newbies. Newbies, team.” She gave a lacking introduction.
After getting prodded, an awkward looking man of fairly young age introduced himself. “My name is Xianni, I'm a ranged mage. Damage, crowd control, you know.”
Carna just rolled her eyes. “As you know, my name is Carna and I'm a vanguard.”
A tall, handsome, blond haired man of about thirty cycles introduced himself next. “My name is Feras and I'm a Fire-Air-Earth mage. It's great to see some new faces in the region” He smiled at them.
Next, a solemn middle aged man introduced himself. “My name is Pangga and I'm an Water mage. I hope we will have a smooth cooperation.”
“Now that we're all here, we'll go over the basic plan. We can stick to something simple since it's just goblins. We move to the edge of their suspected location and send scout birds and bears. Did you know bears have an exceptionally well developed sense of smell? That's why we use them to find those stinky goblins. Then we stealthily move to their location, bait them in, wall them off with earth, launch some volleys and the vanguard moves in to finish off any stragglers. Questions? No? Okay, let's coordinate traveling. Feras and Earth boy can skate on earth, Plant girl can ride on Xianni's mount, Pangga can skate on his ice while I'll be running with vanguard boy. How's your running Healer boy?”
“I can neutral stamina boost myself while just healing any overexertion.” Brakh answered.
Carna nodded and commanded: “We'll move at a firm running pace when were out of the city. Let's start moving.”
Xianni summoned a large black horse and made it kneel. Serah climbed on behind an even more awkward Xianni. Carna began to jog and they followed her out of the city.
“Mobility... Is... My... Weakness...” Brakh panted when they stopped after a couple hours of running.
“Density is a choice I didn't even know existed, but I can understand its synergy.” Carna responded.
She continued: “Now we take a break while sending out our scouts. Summon local bird. They followed her example except for Xianni who summoned a bear. The bear sniffed around.
“Check that direction with the birds, the trail is fairly old.” Xianni prompted.
They sent their birds to scout while lounging around and snacking from their supplies.
“Anyone found tracks?” They all answered no.
“Let's get moving again then. Lunch is next break.” And they were off.
The bear checked the environment first and found a newer trail. They again sent their birds out and this time they found traces of the goblins: a scouting group.
“Wait for them to return to their camp. We attack at nightfall.”
They let the bear track the scouts' path while Serah used her magic to make a temporary path through the underbrush.
They arrived at nightfall.
“Khaar, you wall up the right side while Feras takes the left. Leave them in confusion until the semi walls are up. When they turn to attack, use crowd control, I'll signal the attack barrage. Let's move.”
Feras went first, Khaar went second. They burst into the clearing and split up raising walls around the clearing. They raised themselves up and skated back on top of the wall.
The goblins finally understood that they were being attacked and looked to the exit only to see their way out blocked by several humans. They looked at their leader and he gave the order to charge as there was no other option for them.
“CC now!” Carna yelled.
They blasted the clearing with various attacks: water, earth and vines grasped their feet. A dark purple field was launched and rendered them nauseous. Gravity was increased and crushed them onto the muddy ground.
“Ranged damage! Keep some alive for us!” Carna yelled again.
Stone, ice and blood darts, black orbs that rotted afflicted places, root strikes alongside fiery and steam explosions. All struck the crushed goblin party.
“Hold! Release CC.” Carna shouted out.
“Now Healer and I will finish off the survivors.” She continued.
Brakh took the spear from Khaar with eyebrow raises from the older members as they saw him use a large silent storage spell.
The wounded stragglers were finished off by Brakh's spear and Carna's longsword.
“Now that's what I call a successful goblin hunting mission. Good work buddies.” She complimented them.
“Now we make a pit, dump the bodies inside and Feras burns them.”
Khaar volunteered for body duty. He dug a deep pit and dragged the stinking corpses into it with sideways gravity magic.
Feras then burned the pit with air empowered fire.
“Even roasting they smell awful.” Serah complained.
Carna answered her. “This is not a glamorous job sweetie. We do this half-time for a reason. We just turned out to not be overly suited for the life of a combatant and take on other work as well. This region is notoriously low on monsters and beasts and makes for peaceful living. Great for raising a family though.” She smiled. “Ah to be young! I too was once keen on fighting and proving my worth to the world. Alas it was not to be. Just be careful and enjoy every moment for it could be your last. That's my honest advice.”
Khaar responded: “We will.”
“Enough of that sappy stuff! Let's find another clearing and set up for the night.”
They hiked back to a clearing they had passed where Serah wove beds for them all.
They thanked her and took out their bed rolls after setting up their surveillance spells.
It was a peaceful night.
The next day they traveled back to Qariash and reported their successful bounty.
The friends said goodbye to their new acquaintances and took a shower to wash the stink off.
They relaxed for the rest of the day.
The next day the went back to the Lair's second layer. They reached level ten finally.
The two days afterwards they did the same.
Then they went on an escort mission to the neighboring city of Pikala.
Nothing exciting or dangerous happened.
Then they took the escort mission back.
This life continued until they hit level fifteen, when they descended to the third layer and stayed overnight. They found a large out of the way alcove, blocked it except for the top with a semi permanent wall and added some efficient plants for extra oxygen and atmosphere.
They returned the next evening.
Khaar had asked at the association what the future options were.
The local Lair was connected to the Depths but the connection between them was small so the difficulty was low as only goblins could get through and not hobs, orcs or ogres who were the local ruler of the Depths.
They decided as a group to continue fighting goblins till level forty.
It took them four months to get to level thirty five.
And that's when disaster struck.
They were fighting on the seventh layer when they heard explosions further down.
“Who fights with that much noise against goblins?” Serah wondered.
The rumbling became louder.
“It's coming this way whatever it is. We should head back to our base.” Commanded Khaar.
They were getting close but so were the explosions.
“Start running!” Khaar yelled.
Suddenly a person skated past at high speed in the wide corridor without paying them any heed.
They almost fell over in surprise.
“Continue running!”
They were overtaken by a living shadow, then a person on a lizard beast.
The explosions were right behind them.
The man causing the explosions flew past them speeding himself up with the explosions.
They were knocked down from the wind surge.
“Keep running!”
Then suddenly a three meter tall greenskin blinked into existence next to them and looked at them as if making a decision.
For Khaar, time slowed to a crawl. If only he acted earlier were his thoughts at that moment.
He did not have the power to blink all three of them to their base. So he made the split second decision to blink Brakh and Serah to their base and face the ogre alone.
The ogre looked at them at the same moment Brakh and Serah disappeared.
Khaar found himself in a large empty cavern.
He decided to not use a light orb. He sensed entities coming in his direction so he blinked to the other side trying to find.
The mana density was nothing like he ever experienced so he figured he was in the Depths themselves and tried to keep from panicking.
With all of his senses strained to the maximum he made his way forward.
After a nerve wrecking hour he found out that he had no idea were the exit was and that greenskins were all over.
His next best option was to hide and somehow get stronger.
Khaar found an alcove in a low traffic area and walled it off.
He made a checklist for survival. 'Food needs soil. Oxygen for when sleeping also needs soil.
Water not a problem. Killing things while surviving, big problem.'
He began with increasing the size of the alcove while putting the debris in his spatial inventory.
It took a long time due to the mana density inside the stone.
He was very careful while dumping all the rocks from his inventory some distance away.
When he had a nice space, he filled it with permanent loam. Then after mineralizing the loam, he grew permanent efficient plants for oxygen, refilling himself when necessary with an air spell.
He had enough food in his inventory to last for a week.
When he finally had a nice garden and had enchanted the ceiling to act like sunlight, the week had passed.
He knew he was going to go crazy if he didn't have anyone to talk to so he decided to make his familiar early. As it was going to be a companion and not a future mount, it was not a huge problem.
He summoned a small young dark gray mouse. It took him hours to make the summon a permanent one.
“I hereby name you Liz.” He told her and blasted her with his mana.
The next day Liz was intelligent enough to go alongside him on a trip outside.
“It's show time, Liz.” He told her while petting her.
“Squeak.”
Stalking the area he ambushed goblin parties, put their corpses in his inventory and cleaned the blood and guts away.
Barely getting away from an orc party, he blinked back to base.
The corpses he dehydrated and crumbled among his garden.
He then made dinner from his vegetables and fed Liz.
“Squeak.”
“You're welcome.”
Weeks and months passed with the same monotony.
He killed another orc party and went back home.
“What do you want for dinner today?”
“Squeak Squeak.”
“Okay, I'll make your favorite.”
The ogres knew that someone was killing their subordinates but they could not find them.
He had made bases allover and could now blink from one to the other.
Soon ogres fell just the same.
Only the brood mothers and ogre king were still alive.
Draconids and undead were fighting over the former greenskin territory.
They too suffered mystery losses in the area.
“It's time to finish this, Liz.”
“Squeak squeak squeak.”
“I know you're excited to see the surface for yourself and not just illusions.”
“Squeak squeak.”
“Yes, it's time to kill the king.”
After he killed all the brood mothers, he strolled to the throne room with Liz on his shoulder.
“Stay safe, okay?”
“Squeak.” She vanished.
He blinked into the room. The mana was truly dense here.
The ogre king was sitting on his throne. He stood up and roared.
They just stared at each other at first.
Then the king took his longsword from its place next to the throne and got hit with a spike in his bottom.
He stood and roared again, this time in apoplectic rage. The increased gravity hit him and he stumbled, only to take more spikes from the floor.
Now darts were launched at him.
The king charged at Khaar while trying to protect his face.
The darts could not penetrate deep into his flesh.
When the ogre came close, Khaar blinked to the other side and continued his attacks.
This little game continued for hours until the ogre king collapsed from exhaustion and blood loss.
They looked each other in the eyes while a large spike slowly pierced its heart.
Liz popped back in on his shoulder and squeaked in joy.
“Of course I won, you little nincompoop.”
He checked out what caused the glowing under the destroyed throne. The mana was truly dense there.
“Are these six glowing stones what I think they are? I thought that was supposed to be a myth.
Let's use them, I guess.”
Four stones connected with his mana, while one connected to Liz. They flowed into their bodies and they could feel their power surge.
“That was a rush! Wow.”
“Squeak squeak squeak.”
He tried his new level of magic out. He felt both a quantitative as a qualitative change.
“It's time to go home, Liz. See my family, see my friends. I hope they're all okay.”
“Squeak.”
He roved the Depths, killing everything in his way until he found an exit.
Blinking through layers of the Lair he reached the surface.
Khaar didn't recognize it while Liz squeaked in wonder.
He blinked upwards and floated.
Khaar found the nearby town and blinked towards it in a couple seconds.
The Association building was the same, as was the language.
“Excuse me, I was probably noted as missing presumed dead about two years ago in the city of Qariash. My name is Khaar.”
The employee's eyebrows went up at that situation.
“Indeed you were listed as missing presumed killed. I'll change your status.”
“Can you give me the current whereabouts of my then party members? Their names are Brakh and Serah.”
“In normal situations I wouldn't be able to, but I'll make an exception for this case.”
After looking through the files, she spoke: “Brakh joined a vanguard party and is in Denaris.
Serah joined an all female party and is abroad in Kalias.”
“Can I send a message through the association? Just that I'm alive and healthy.”
“You can for 3 danas for both.”
“Do that please, here's the money.” He gave her some coins.
“Now can you tell where exactly I am and what direction Qariash is?”
After getting directions he blinked upwards and blinked in the right direction.
It took a couple hours and some more directions but he finally arrived at Qariash where he oriented himself to his home village.
Soon he found himself in front of his childhood home and knocked.
“Hey mom, I'm home.”
After many tears, he slept in his old bed.
“Now what, Liz? Regular Lairs I can easily solo. There is not much of a point in joining a party much lower level than mine. Should I head into the deeper Depths I felt?”
“Squeak squeak.”
“You're right. Regular fights would just be an uninteresting slaughter.”
He met his siblings and many tears flowed again.
Khaar decided to leave after a couple days. The peace and quiet were getting to him.
After goodbyes and promises to return regularly, he traveled back to Qariash.
Then he bought a higher quality bedroll and moved back to the Depths.
He ignored the draconids and blinked into the second layer.
There he started his usual scheme of bases within blink distance from each other.
The ant monsters of that level still posed a threat at that point.
Time passed as he fought. Every couple months he would visit his family and reply to messages from his friends.
After another two years they met up again in a tearful reunion.
“You're so strong now, how am I supposed to keep up?”
He gave them both three mana stones.
“Do your best.” And he winked at them.
Years passed and they finally defeated the ant queen. She did not have enough level two mana stones for them both so they attacked the neighboring colonies for more.
He moved on to the third layer and fought there for fifteen years. His parents were growing old at this point. He sometimes regretted being such high level. Seeing everyone around you slowly age was painful.
Serah was still going strong but Brakh had settled down instead. He had a wife and kids now.
They fought on through beasts and monsters of varying types.
He stopped organizing family reunions when his niblings began to pass on.
Brakh was growing old. They still met up but there was a rift between them that could not be bridged.
Serah slowed down after the fifth layer of the depths. She still aged, but at a tiny pace.
Brakh finally passed away while he was beneath. He mourned the loss of his old friend.
The tenth layer was truly difficult and dangerous. He took a break to see the edge of the world.
Another time he took a break on an uninhabited tropical island and practiced his sculpting for a few years.
They finally defeated a tenth layer eldritch monster and looted its hoard of mana stones.
Activating them, they talked and knew it was time.
They ascended.
“Granny, tell us the story of where the moons came from.” One of the kids asked the old crone.
“Alright, kids. Let me tell you the story where the inspectable moons came from. That they are named Khaar and Liz is no coincidence. It began a long, long time ago, when I was still a little girl and I met a boy in my village named Khaar.”