54

Veleda's Journal

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The dungeon gate led to a dead end of a tunnel network. A structure - completely made out of mud - that was darker than tar. Yet light reigned over the darkness. Countless roots intertwined and shone their light inside the tunnel. Roots that resembled the cracks in the sky. And from this network a scent of fresh air escaped.

But something had changed.

Soft breathing broke the silence. Rhythmic noises could be heard, but nobody said a word. For the last hour, only the scribbling of a pen dared to make a sound.

Six people and a wolf pup rested here. They had nobody to guide them, nobody to inform them of the changes in this world. They were on their own. The only thing they could count on was their deduction, all of which was noted in a small journal.

‘A red dungeon had two waves before it collapsed,’ Veleda thought, ‘How many does a purple dungeon have? How many escaped from this place? Are they different? Will another group of lizardmen escape this one as well? Do we have to fight to the end?’ Each answer she found led to another question she noted down. And finally, after an hour of silence, she sighed.

“What’s the state of our rations?” Veleda asked. Her voice was the signal. The other survivors turned and finally started speaking.

“We have one full backpack remaining, it should last for a week if we’re careful, but…” Leon looked through the food they found in the store.

Ise, Alduin, and Leon, each dropped their backpacks before they entered the main street. It was a fight that required full mobility, yet the chaos that followed didn’t allow them to recover their preparations.

“Are we out of water?” Veleda asked.

“There’s one bottle to be exact.”

Veleda took note of their provisions and turned toward Bertrand, the man that scouted ahead. "What did you find?”

“Nothing,” Bertrand said while cleaning his shield. “There are countless traces of lizardmen, but I didn’t see a single fresh one. I didn’t even hear any sound from further in the tunnel.”

Veleda turned a page in her journal and looked at Ise. Black hair tied in a ponytail gave her a fresh look. But her torn clothes and haggard expression were enough to show she was still recovering.

“Can you show it?” Veleda asked.

It was something all of them were waiting for. One of two objects that could decide their fate.

Ise nodded. Her hands pulled a folded cloth from her pocket, but even this couldn't hold back the radiance of the object. Five people swallowed at the same time. A whimper was heard as Hati inched closer to Veleda.

From the palm of Ise's hand, a small gemstone shone with a deep-blue light.

“W-“ Hilda stuttered, “What are you planning to do with that?”

Both Bertrand and her had awakened. Bertrand had assimilated a high-monster’s core and acquired an attribute, but Hilda was the same as Leon, both had awakened with a regular core. One with the core of a goblin captain, and the other with the core of its feline counterpart.

Black cores. Sky-blue cores. Attribute cores.

Veleda looked down at her journal. This was the third attribute core that landed in their possession. But unlike the attribute core that Veleda gave Alduin, the intensity of this core's magic presence made all of them stare in shock. It was a core on the same level as that of the Goblin King.

Hilda broke the silence and rephrased her question, “I- I can be of help. I promise.” Her voice quivered with a desperation to survive. “You won’t lose out by giving it to me, I promise.”

Each person would go to great lengths to survive. The people that gathered here were more than aware of the significance of such an object. It was natural to covet this gemstone. It was nothing to be ashamed of. This object represented control over one's fate. Such was the attribute core, a tangible lifeline. Alduin, Ise, and Bertrand, each performed inhuman feats that directly led to their survival.

The six of them, as well as the small wolf, knew full well they needed to adapt to this new world.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“No,” Veleda replied.

“W-what?” Hilda staggered, she had reached her limits. Her thoughts dominated her mind as a multitude of emotions crossed her face. “You’re not thinking of giving it to Alduin are you? He already has an attribute, it would be a waste. If it’s because of what happened then I apologize for calling you that. I promise I’ll be of help to you.”

The blond-haired woman stood up and started pleading. Tears were welling up in her eyes. Everything she knew had evaporated before her eyes. Each event shoved their diminishing chances of survival in her face.

“It’s not that,” Veleda answered, “I was waiting to see if Alduin would pull through with a single core, and it seems like he did.”

Veleda paused and pushed Alduin’s hair from his forehead.

“Then what?” Hilda’s voice quivered with panic and anger, fear and desperation.

“You’re not suited for this core.” Veleda looked at Hilda. Her sharp gaze left no trace of her kindness. This was something she had to do to support Alduin.

“W-“

Before Hilda could reply Veleda continued.

“First of all, you didn’t kill it, Alduin did, this means that the core is rightfully ours. The other core was also acquired by our group. Which means that whatever decision we make will prioritize us,” Veleda said, “Secondly, you have proven to be unreliable, unstable, and aggressive.”

“So it was because of earlier,” Hilda snarked back with a frown.

“Yes,” Ise intervened, “We saved your life and you couldn’t even say thank you. Even before the world turned to shit I wouldn’t have given it to you.”

Ise was always cold and direct. She was much better at it compared to Veleda, not to mention she was stronger than her as well.

“So what? You’re going to use it yourself? You don’t even fight!” Hilda’s breathing turned erratic, tears fell from her eyes.

The feeling that pushed her to such lengths was shared by all. They all knew. Someone was going to die. Maybe not now, but sooner or later, someone would die. Each of them felt it, the danger of this world increased faster than they could adapt.

Veleda sighed and spoke in a soft voice, "Hilda, the most important reason is this."

A powerless figure had given up hope. Her sorrowful eyes stared at Veleda.

“We’re in a tunnel, Hilda. What we need most are close combat fighters. Even if we gave it to you, you only have 5 arrows remaining, which means you would have to fight them up close.” Veleda paused and rephrased her words, “You will have to fight a lizardman up close. One stronger than any we have faced before.”

Hilda paused as guilt dominated her expression.

"We won't leave you behind, I promise."

Soft sobbing followed the sound of Hilda sitting down.

“I’m not going to use it either, neither is Ise or Bertrand.” Veleda turned to Leon and said, “This one is yours.”

Ise smiled as she saw Veleda smooth down the tension.

“You can’t be serious?” Leon rebutted, “We should wait for Alduin to decide. He is the one that killed it, besides, he’s our-”

Veleda puffed up her chest and proudly interrupted, “He’s the leader and I’m his wife.”

Silence descended. Each of them stared in shock at Veleda.

“Wife?” Leon asked after a pause.

“He’s the leader and I’m his girlfriend,” Veleda stared with wide eyes and repeated as if she hadn’t just made a mistake.

“You also called him “My Alduin” before, didn’t you?” Ise piled on.

“W-well,” Veleda started stuttering, “That one was right!” She defended herself.

Her face started blushing she was surprised by her own words. Thinking about the future and the situation they were in had made her mind a mess. She didn’t even know she said it before Leon repeated her. Veleda coughed and continued as if nothing had happened. “Leon, this one is yours.”

Silence descended.

Veleda stood with a bright red face.

“Right…” Leon said, “But shouldn’t we wait for Alduin to decide?”

Bertrand had been watching with great curiosity and interjected, “That might take too long, we don’t have much time, and we don’t know if we can even find water. Just digesting this core took me an entire day. Take it, I’m sure Alduin will follow her decision.”

The playful look disappeared from Ise’s eyes as she turned from Veleda to Leon. “We’re counting on you, we can’t keep going the way we have been.” Ise paused to think. “I think the attribute suits you.”

Leon stared at all of them, his eyes looked at Alduin and even met Hilda’s.

A thick hand patted Hilda’s shoulder and nudged her. And Hilda replied with a calm voice, “I- I agree.”

Leon sighed and nodded, “I’ll do it, but please tell Alduin I didn’t want to. I-“

“Don’t worry so much.” Veleda laughed and grabbed the gemstone from Ise’s palm. “I’m sure he will agree.”

The glint of a predator returned to Ise’s eyes as she teased Veleda, “You sure know your husband well.”

“At least I have a husband,” Veleda quipped back.

“Oh.” Ise smiled coldly, “Do you? I’ll ask Alduin when you got married.”

But Veleda buckled instantly under the pressure of Ise’s gaze. Her entire face flushed from embarrassment as she started pleading, “I was wrong, please don’t tell him!”

Leon coughed and asked, “So how do I do this? Do I cut my hand as well?”

“Don’t you just swallow it?” Bertrand asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I noticed you cut your hand and wait for the energy of the core to heal you, but why not just swallow it? It enters your body all the same. That’s what we did as well.” Bertrand pointed to himself and Hilda.

Veleda and Ise turned to look at Bertrand.

“That’s the first I heard of that method,” Ise said.

“Can you tell me more?” Veleda asked as she reopened her journal.

“Haven’t you been feeding Hati all those cores?” Bertrand asked back.

“We-“ Veleda turned to the brown wolf pup. "We did..."

Hati - the pup that was malnourished - lay its plump body down on Alduin’s chest. Every trace of its moonlight fur had been coated with mud. Two large eyes were staring at the deep-blue core in Leon's hand before he noticed the attention had turned to him.

A whimper replied as it closed its eyes.

“Leon, let’s do it that way!”

Veleda's curious gaze now landed on Leon.

The preparations were almost complete. Tension also settled down as each of them prepared for the path that Alduin had decided on. Each of them wanted to survive, and they all knew they had to work together to make it out alive.