~ Day 121~
Today was another day of dungeon crawling for Alvir and I, Odwiff was also allowed to join us today with only a small amount of complaining to Torvinn. Unfortunately he wouldn't let Verros come with us too, much to his chagrin. I promised that I would take him next time.
Despite his size Odwiff weighed a lot, so we couldn't take the smaller boat this time, we had to take the main boat just for the three of us. Quite an odd group to any onlookers i'm sure, if there were any of course.
We made it down to the the fifth floor before lunch time, Odwiff commented on the oddness of the floors as we went down, the lack of consistency other than the Frogs, the strange entrances for each floor. He told me he'd seen stranger dungeon designs, but they at least held consistency.
The fifth floor however, seemed comparatively normal, it was still a maze, but the corridors were a lot larger. It just seemed to be a regular dungeon in most cases, rooms with monsters in, a few corpses here and there. Although not many, I can't imagine too many adventurers would go too far in a dungeon like this. There were two types of Frogs on this floor. One types were very large Frogs that must have stood around 20 foot tall that had furry tails and backs, which looked a bit odd. The others were strange. Their skin could sort of change to the colour of the surroundings. They could almost turn invisible, of course with my eyes and Odwiffs experience they weren't a problem.
There were also two other species on this floor. An odd passive Slug like creature, that crawled on the tall ceilings and a more hostile one. The hostile one was easy to tell apart most of the time as it has a large mouth with teeth jutting out at odd angles. However, with it's mouth closed and it's body hidden amongst a crowd of the other slugs it becomes an annoying ambusher. What's more the Slugs are around the size of a person and do a surprising amount of damage, I'm fine with them, but Odwiff is starting to show signs of fatigue. It's proof we're reaching the deeper levels, Alvir isn't fatigued, but he is taking a bit of damage.
Since I didn't want to risk Odwiff getting too injured before the battle, we headed back a bit earlier than usual. On top of that because of the size of the floor we didn't even finish exploring it. We found one large room only. It was another strange room, a lake of water on the ceiling above us and drips of water constantly falling from it. Vines hung from rocks dispersed throughout the ceiling with various slugs hanging from them dripping sludge on the ground.
The room seemed to house both the passive Slugs and the aggressive Slugs boss. Which was one massive beast. It sat against the back of the room, standing 20ft tall and about 80 ft long. This was a big beast. One side of it held the mouth covered in teeth, whilst the other silently chewed on the vines. I did wonder where the waste from either side goes though.
That's something I don't really want to think about though. Back on topic we weren't planning on fighting it as by this point Odwiff had already become tired, but the toothed half attacked us. The other side which seemed to have a separate will just kept on munching and holding the aggressive side back. So it was an easy win for us. I did feel a bit bad for the passive half though.
Anyway, we planned to come back tomorrow to try and find the rest of the boss rooms, if there are more. I hope there are more though, I managed to gain two levels from that Slug boss alone. In fact today I went from [Level 06] to [Level 10] which isn't bad at all. Alvir himself got a whole ten levels from the floor. Putting him at [Level 44], almost halfway to evolving again. His muscles do seem to actually be growing too.
So we managed a good day over all, and when we came back we found the camp had been completely finished, most of the Elves and the Ex-Slaves helped to finish it tonight. On top of that the rest of the families had also arrived. Due to that, Torvinn declared that tomorrow we would have a sort of strategy meeting with the family heads. He also said that all of us should be there. I'm not a strategist, but I can always try.
That does throw our plans out the window though, we'll have to go back to the dungeon the day after. At least we'll have everyone else with us. With our whole force here and ready, I ate my dinner in peace. Well, it was noisy, but at least I knew that Ekri hadn't gotten to the rest of our force. We had taken damage to our total number, but at least no more than we already knew.
I did have a bit of trouble getting to sleep though, so many of the new comers decided tonight would be a good time to catch up with the other families over drinks. There was certainly a lot of noise.
~Day 122~
It wasn't too late in to the day when the meeting started. Nine heads of family around a make shift map of the Dead Isles. Then dispersed amongst them us and a few others. Verros, Odwiff, Gial and I.
Torvinn looked us all up and down to make sure everyone was here, then nodding likely he opened his mouth. "So as you all well know, soon we are to face Ekri and her Orcs in battle. She has just under one thousand Orcs at her command. We thought we would have six hundred." He cleared his throat. "However, possibly to demoralise us, Ekri destroyed two of our families. We have counted and we number only five hundred and fifteen." He sighed.
Quiet murmuring silently erupted amongst the leaders. Verros and I exchanged glances whilst Odwiff took a deep breath. Gial kept his hand on his hip, the news not seeming to affect him too much. "We can still win though." He said smiling.
Torvinn nodded. "I believe so. We can take care of the average Orc no problem. They almost double our numbers, but one Elf is worth two or three Orcs."
"The main concern in Ekri and her Generals" One of the Family Heads interjected.
Torvinn nodded again. "That's correct. If it were just us against the Orcs it wouldn't be a problem. "
"I'll try to take on Ekri, I don't know if I can do it alone though." I commented.
"Heck girl, I can help with that, if I'm recallin' correct, we make a good team." Gial gave me a wink.
Torvinn shook his head. "Wrok won't leave Ekri's side, you'll have to fight both."
"I'll take care of the bodyguard." Odwiff raised his hand. I saw Verros in the motion to do the same, but he didn't raise his hand in time.
Torvinn scratched his head. "Our three strongest warriors fighting their two. Let's hope that's enough." Torvinn placed his hands on the table in front of us. "After Ekri and Wrok the biggest threat would be Ekri's personal Shaman Alka. Not as powerful as Wrok, but she has twenty Shamans for subordinates. So they should be our second highest priority."
I've heard of Shaman before, they're the only Orcs who concentrate on magic exclusively, I don't know much else though. "What makes them so dangerous?"
"Ekri will most likely have Akri concentrating on buffing the army as she excels in it. With the Shaman still active each Orcs strength will be doubled. We can't win with Akri alive, she needs to be taken out early and will probably be hidden at the back of the army somewhere. So we need speed."
"We'll take care of them." One Family Head took a step forward. "The Serania family is well known for being the fastest in the Dead Isles." He stood proudly.
They didn't seem that fast to me. "Not fast enough though." I turned to see Verros step forward himself. Ignoring the Serania Heads angry grunts Verros turned to me. "Ellena, with your permissions I'd like to Alvir with me to take out the Shamans."
I nodded. "No permission needed." I smiled.
Torvinn coughed. "That takes care of that. Now there are only two other Generals. Darc and Rezk. We saw Darc before with Ekri. The largest Orc in her army and the one with the most brute strength. He's a Ragelord just like Yurz was, but even more powerful. We don't have any powerful warriors left to spare on him, so I believe we should concentrate our mages on him. Ragelords are weakest to magic."
He then massaged his brow. "Finally Rizk. We've heard the name, we've seen him with Ekri, but we know next to nothing about him. He is smaller than a normal Orc, so he could be some sort of assassin or marksmen though."
"Then what do we do about him?" Another Family Head asked.
Torvinn shook his head. "There's no way to plan for him, we have no idea his weaknesses or strengths. Just makes sure to have your marksmen and scouts keep their eyes out for him." He lifted his arms off the table. "So they're our main threat. What about the battleplan? Any ideas?" He asked.
"I have a question." A rather scrawny family head drew attention to himself. "Why are we vying for open combat anyway? Why not just wait them out? Ekri can't attack us in full force where we are now. He asked.
Torvinn shook his head. "Ekri's not just some stupid brute like most Orcs. Her numbers almost double ours. She could blockade us in, she could take our numbers down slowly with assassins or hire some mercenaries whilst we wait. Maybe that's what Rizk is for, who knows. Point is waiting it out isn't really an option."
"If waiting it out isn't an option, what about attacking early, before they're organised? Why are we waiting for them to be ready?" The same Elf asked.
Torvinn rolled his eyes. "Do you want us to fight unarmoured? Without weapons? We're not ready. We'll be on the attack as soon as we are, but the chances are it'll take us longer to be ready than it will the Orcs." Torvinn spoke down to the other Elf.
It was worrying, most of these Elves have very little experience in tactics and war, even less than me most likely. If anything I would like more allies. Still after that Elfs suggestions there were some actual useful ideas. None that really concerned us that weren't Family Heads, we all had our jobs. Now they're just talking about positioning, where to put the archers and mages that sort of thing.
The rest of us gradually left the meeting, we had no reason to be there anymore. My job is to kill Ekri. Letting her live is not an option, she's too dangerous and seemingly not exactly stable. There's some hope that with her death the Orcs will surrender, most of them don't have anything against Elves like Ekri does.
As most of the day had already past there wasn't much point going to the dungeon, so with my little knowledge I helped the Elves and Ex-Slaves who were forging weapons and armour. I helped with the heavy lifting and whatever else I could do. Verros went fishing, of course and Alvir went with him. It seems like Alvir sees Verros like a second master almost, or more accurately a friend I think?
Odwiff and Gial helped with the forging like I did, well they helped with the actual forging not just oddjobs. Odwiff was a dwarf, so naturally he knew what was what when it came to smiting. Gial on the other hand had seen some useful techniques in his travels.
By the end of the day the three of us had assisted in equipping a significant chunk of our forces. Thanks to that I was quite hungry and ate quite a lot. I was going to head to bed satisfied with the work I'd done, but then I saw Odwiff and Gial chatting about something at the bar, but this time neither of them were drunk.
I wandered over to see what the conversation was about. Odwiff spotted me first. "Ah lass. Come over, this probably concerns ya too." He waved me over.
I pulled up a stool and sat with them. "What're we talking about?" I inquired.
"It's about Wrok. Since Gial has travelled a lot I thought I'd ask him if he'd seen a weapon like the one Wrok carries." Odwiff replied taking a sip of beer.
"And?" I asked.
"Well y'see. I do in fact know of the Orcs weapon. It's known as a Katana. Which also 'splains why the fella is Ekris bodyguard." Gial commented. I replied with a puzzled look to signal Gial to continue. "Ya see, the only Orcs that use Katanas are a sort of knight order known as 'The Brotherhood of Earth'." He took a breath. "Now 'spite the name, it's not exclusive to those from Earth, nor is it exclusive to Orcs. However, they focus on using the Katana as a weapon, so the only Orcs that would use such a weapon are followers of the Brotherhood."
I frowned and swapped glances with Odwiff. I'd never heard of this Brotherhood before, nor of the Katana. "So was it a reincarnated human from Earth that made the Brotherhood? And what does this have to do with him being Ekri's bodyguard?" I asked.
Gial smiled. "Glad ye asked. Yes, a human from earth founded the Brotherhood many years ago. I believe he called himself a Samurai. Anyway, the Brotherhood follows the code of the Samurai, but also for a reason I don't know about they combined it with the code of the Mountain Clans."
The mountain clans? Like Verros? So why would that mean he follows Ekri? Wait... "You don't mean?"
Gial chuckled. "That's right Missy, Wrok is most likely honorbound to server Ekri." He took a gulp of beer.
Really? Honourbound? What's the obsession with being honourbound? "I'm guessing that helps us in some way?" I asked.
Gial nodded. "Indeed it does. Y'saw him with Ekri. He didn't approve of her actions and is seemingly a decent fella. Therefore, we kill Ekri, we might not have to kill Wrok." He winked.
I nodded my head. "If the one he's honorbound to is gone, he's no longer honourbound to fight their cause." I rubbed my chin thinking. "However, what if he feels obligated to kill the one who killed his master?" I asked looking up towards Gial.
Gial nodded solemnly. "Well we'll just have to hope that doesn't happen. 'Sides, we might be able to figure how to make him honourbound to one of us in the meantime."
"Geh." I let out an audible sound that meant no thanks. Verros isn't so bad as he understands that being called Master or anything like that isn't for me, however Wrok doesn't seem like that type. If he was honourbound to me I feel as though he would call me master. Which, well, would not be good for me.
Odwiff and Gial began laughing. "It doesn't necessarily have to be you lass." Odwiff said wiping a tear from his eye. I chuckled a little myself. Since I was already there I decided to join them in drinking.
After a few hours spent drinking and talking with the two I headed for bed. I do hope that killing Ekri will stop Wrok. Not just will it mean one less powerful enemy to deal with, it will also mean a good Orc gets to keep living. I've heard so many Elves talk about him is passing. They only have praise for him, giving food to the slaves, saving Elves from some of the other Generals abuse. That sort of thing.
That's getting a little ahead though, we still have a few dungeons to conquer in the mean time, and that's exactly what we'll be doing tomorrow.
~Day 123~
Just as we planned we set off for the Dungeons today. Now the camp was finished the others could join us again. We had quite a party, Verros, Alvir, Odwiff, Gial and I.
When we arrived however, Odwiff told me he was going with the others. Claimed he couldn't keep up with me at the moment as much as it pained him. It's a little sad, but it seems I'll be going it alone again. Well, I have Alvir as always of course. I just wont have anyone to talk to.
Alvir and I made our way to the fifth floor quickly to carry on from where we left of, Odwiff supplied us with the map he made so we mostly knew where we were going. It still took almost half the day to reach where we were before though, I don't know how this dungeon isn't intersecting with the other one.
After another few hours I did find another room, a large underground forest this time, not the most original or weird room for what this dungeons had to offer so far. It had a level temperature and quite calming. It seemed to be a safe room of sorts, there was even a cottage in it. Not just that, it was also somehow as bright as day. Which was quite bizarre, this dungeon Boss really confuses me.
There wasn't anyone inside the cottage though, it didn't have much inside either, there was some roughly cut firewood, a bed, a table and a fireplace. Simple, yet functional.
Outside of it through part of the forest was a small lake with a small outcropping most likely for fishing. Indeed there were also fish in the lake, none predators from what I could see. This entire area is practically a paradise, not at all what you would expect from this dungeon. I recall the Lonely Wolf had something similar in his dungeon, a small paradise. Perhaps all dungeon bosses have something similar? It would make sense considering that they're stuck inside their own dungeons.
After searching the peaceful forest a little more I eventually found a door in the dungeon wall. It was large, but not too large that a normal human couldn't open it with some effort. Inside was a staircase that headed down, clearly to the sixth floor. However what awaited me at the bottom of the staircase... Well it didn't make sense to me. It must have been some magic of the dungeon boss, but the room it led to seemed to be outside, not just outside but... Amongst the stars.
Blackness. The deep blackness of the night sky interwoven with bright stars and beautiful brightly coloured clouds. It was just like the night sky I knew back on the ship, but I'm actually amongst them. Looking down I could see that I was stood on a stone path that sat on a large rock, a rock that appeared to be floating in the middle of nothing. The door that I entered in also floated alone, against no wall.
The path ahead of me reached stepping stones, small rocks floating and reaching up like a stair case up to another large floating rock. From what I could make out it had several large arches surrounding it with strange glowing green and pink plants wrapped around them. A small amount of glass sat beneath my feet which also had a faint glow to it.
It was scenery unlike anything I'd seen before, scenery I don't believe is from this world. I looked down at Alvir to see him wagging his tail happily sniffing the glowing grass, at least he didn't seem bothered by it.
With some caution I headed up the steps. Even in my uncertainty I couldn't help but marvel at what surrounded me, the occasional shooting star, the vast array of colours. I could just lay here and watch it go by for hours.
When I reached the top however, my focus shifted. An arena, there was no other way to describe it surely? A large open arena surrounded by arches. Of course there was also the calming but unusual floor of the arena, the glowing grass and strange unknown plants making for a beautiful meadow. However, I couldn't help but notice the Monster laying down in the grass on the other side of the arena.
Greyish green slimy skin, a long stream of black hair heading from the head to the puffed out tail. And a stream lined body, which was somewhere between a Wolf and a Frog. This was definitely a higher evolved form of those giant Frogs I fought earlier. Although this one was smaller, and more streamlined.
After noticing my presence, it stood and faced me, it's eyes filled with intelligence, and anger. Just as I thought, this creature must be the dungeon boss, which means this is the bottom floor. Six floors must mean this dungeon was made at least less than two hundred years ago.
I stepped forward. "Hello, can you speak?" I asked. I kept my hands on my weapons and Alvir crouched in anticipation. The Wolf Frog did not say anything, instead it released a low growl. Then without warning vanished leaving a small cloud of dust.
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I heard a whoosh to my side, and turned to see the beast inches from my face, I attempted to block it with my arm, but the beast was too fast taking a chunk off my shoulder as it flew past me. When it landed, it spat my flesh out then growled again. Whether it's intelligent or not, it's clearly hostile.
I steeled myself and prepared for another assault. This beast is clearly fast, much faster than I. However, now I know that, I can be more prepared. The creature vanished again, but this time I saw it's movement. To the right, I raised my arm swinging wildly. A chunk of my flesh ripped of, but at least it was from my arm. It wasted no time and attempted another assault. Just as it vanished I activated Earthen Armour, I heard a howl as it's teeth cracked on the hard rock.
As it was caught off guard from the pain I swung Skullcrusher around and landed a solid blow in to it's side. The creature flew sideways slamming in to one of the arches. I couldn't risk it's speed again, even with my armour. So I ran towards the beast Skullcrusher at my side. as I reached the creature I lifted skullcrusher overhead.
"AH F*CK! NO MORE I F*CKING YIELD!". I stopped in my tracks with Skullcrusher still held above my head. After blinking a few times I looked down to see the creature beneath me cowering.
Then I realised the creature had a surprisingly feminine voice. "You're a girl?" I asked bewildered.
The creature turned around with a shocked expression. "OF COURSE I' A F*CKING GIRL. WHAT DO I LOOK LIKE?!" She yelled offended. Then she grabbed the side of her jaw with her frog like front arm. "Ouuch. I can't believe you broke my tooth."
I blinked a few times more lowering Skullcrusher. "B-Broke your tooth?!" I exclaimed gesturing at the chunks of meat she ripped of me.
She stopped rubbing her cheek then huffed. "That was self defence" She answered.
I rubbed my brow. "You attacked me first, how is that in anyway self defence?"
"I attacked you before you could attack me, therefore self defence." She stated.
I sighed. "I wasn't going to attack you."
She sat up and pointed towards Skullcrusher. "Why were you brandishing that then?" She asked.
I looked at Skullcrusher. Then put it back on my back. "Is that better?" She nodded slowly. "I just had it for defence, why do you think I asked you if you could talk?"
She scratched her chin the shrugged. "I dunno. Your just the first thing I've met in this world that hasn't tried to f*ckin' hunt me for dinner or sumin'."
I was about to say something, but stopped. In this world? Does she mean..? "What do you mean, in this world?" I asked.
She sat back resting against the pole of one of the arches. "I mean that I'm not from this world. Or I guess I am now? I've been alive here longer than I was before."
"Before? So you're reincarnated?" I asked. Have I really met another reincarnated monster?
The beast scratched her head, then nodded. "Yeah. It feels stupid saying it though." Her face turn slightly embarrassed.
She's embarrassed about it? "Where are you from, Earth?" I asked curious.
Her eyes widened. "Earth's real too?! God damn." She said astounded. She looked up and noticed my quizzical expression. "Uh, ah I'm from Ein. I don't know if you met any other reincarnated people from there, but uh we don't believe in God's anymore, and consequently reincarnation is just a f*cking myth. We've heard of Earth and some of the other worlds, but I thought it was just made up sh*t." She shrugged.
I rubbed my brow. Not believing in the Gods? How could they not? "Do you not get reincarnated beings in Ein?" I asked.
She paused then began shaking her head. She then changed to shrugging. "There were people that claimed so, they told of different worlds. But we though- I thought they were just crazy. Now that I think there was even this great hero that claimed to be from another world." She shrugged her shoulders.
I sat by her against the pillar, I looked around at the scenery. "So is this what Eins like?" She nodded. "It's beautiful." I commented. I pointed at the floating stairs. "How does that all work."
She looked over. "Oh yeah, I forgot how primitive this place is. Health shrines only exist in space, inside bubbles of air. They're made to calm and relax."
I gave her a confused look. "Space?" I asked?
She sighed then began explaining what she meant. Apparently Ein was their original world. They're much more advanced than us, they have ships that can launch off their world into space. Which is what the sky is. They expanded all over the place to other worlds and their wars are on a much larger scale.
When I asked how she died she told me she was actually a mercenary. Well, she was a pirate then became a mercenary when 'The Last War' came. They didn't know who the enemy was, or what it was. Creatures of every size and shape including humans, but warped and strange. Not powerful on their own, but there was too many of them. She was killed in the middle of the war, but they were losing badly.
She believes she's been on this world for just over one hundred years. When she woke up she was a Frog and in her new life she was disorientated and confused. Then she was hunted straight away by humans. It must have been before the Dark Elves came here. She eventually found herself here. I wonder if a lot of Dungeon Bosses have a similar story? Running in to a cave to hide?
I wanted to stay and listen a little longer, her world sounded fascinating, but it must have been getting late so I said my goodbyes and was about to head out before she stopped. "I'll show you the quickest way out." She said.
I nodded my head slowly, Dungeon Bosses do still have run of their own dungeons. She showed me a secret tunnel that headed straight for the entrance, it was a hidden door in the wall activated by a switch. Then as I left the dungeon she did too. I turned to face her blinking. "How did you leave the dungeon?!" I asked shocked.
She looked behind her and stood proudly. "I couldn't at first, but then I got this 'unique skill' or whatever it's called and now I can b*tch!" She spouted proudly.
"Skill, what's the skill?" I asked, I'd never heard of a skill that does something like this.
"It's called Pillars Aura, I have no idea what it does, but when I got it after evolving in to this I was suddenly able to leave." She shrugged.
I stood still. Pillars Aura? That can't be a coincidence for me to meet another person with the same unique skill. What does this skill mean? I thought it might have just made me tougher, but it can't be that... "Are you alright?" She asked frowning.
I snapped back to reality. "Yeah, it's just. I have the same skill..." I replied.
She knotted her brow. "Sh*t. I thought it was a unique skill?" She tried to fold her frog like front legs, but it didn't look quite right.
I nodded my head. "Exactly, unique skills are very, very rarely shared. I don't think it's chance that we met here." I replied.
She sat down next to the dungeon entrance. "So what does that mean?"
I shrugged my shoulders. "I have no idea, I just think we should stay in contact at the very least... You want to... Come with me?" I asked motioning towards the ship.
She considered it for a second then shook her head. "Na, I'm not too sure I want to be hunted by humans again. Besides, who know what'll happen to this dungeon if I leave." She commented looking behind her.
She does have a good point, I have no idea what would happen to a dungeon if the boss leaves, it's supposed to be impossible. Come to think of it, what happens if you kill a dungeon boss? Since I haven't killed the owner of either dungeon I've been to I have no idea. Maybe it's best I didn't...
"Before you go, can I ask your name?" She asked.
I smiled gently. "Ellena." I answered. "Yours?"
She scratched her head. "I don't have one in this world yet. I was called Venya Tonya Vetta Cala. You can just call me Venya." She smirked in response.
What a mouthful of a name. I wonder if everyone from Ein has a name like that? "Well, I may see you tomorrow Venya." I smiled.
She nodded and walked back in to her dungeon. "See ya then." She replied.
I made my way back to the ship to wait for the others. As I was waiting I realised I never asked why she did such messed up things to the creatures in her dungeon. She told me she didn't want to leave as she didn't know what would happen to the dungeon, it was like she cared about it... So does she hate the monsters inside or love them? So odd.
I also realised that thanks to spending the whole time with her I only gained one level whilst Alvir only gained two. So that's a little annoying, I think I may have to join the others in the other dungeon next time.
Speaking of the others, they came out a little after I did. I told them what had happened and about Venya. They were also a little dumbfounded by my meeting of another monster with the Pillars Aura skill. Odwiff was especially amazed by a Dungeon Boss able to leave their dungeon. It was something that he hadn't heard of before. Same with Gial.
As I fell to sleep that night, I found myself wanting to talk to her again. I need to find out more, anything that might indicate why she also has that skill. Is it related to both of us being reincarnated in to Monsters? Or something else?
I wonder if there are others with the skill, others... Like us?
~Day 124~
Before we left this morning Torvinn overheard us talking about Venya, after asking about her in more detail he told me to recruit her... He wants me to get her to help against the Orcs.
To me there are two problem with that, one she doesn't know and has no reason to help us, so I don't see why she would. Two, I'm not entirely sure if I want her to, if I go by how she treats those in her dungeon. It may be quite odd to worry about your enemies, but I can't help it, there's a thousand of them, they can't all be bad, they don't deserve to suffer.
Still, I should at least check to see why she does what she does. Maybe there's a good reason behind it, although I find that unlikely.
As usual when we arrived at the island the others went to the second dungeon and I went to Venya's, although this time I took the secret entrance to get straight to her. When Alvir and I arrived in her room she was taking a nap, but awoke quickly from the sounds of my feet. It's difficult to be stealthy when you're 7 ft tall.
She gave a deep yawn. "Mornin' girl." She greeted me.
I nodded my head lightly. "Good morning." I replied politely.
She sat on her side lazily. "What'cha doin here?" She asked.
I sat down next to her. "I forgot to ask you something yesterday." She nodded her head to tell me to continue. "Well, whilst I was making my way through your dungeon I saw that... Well, you seemed to be basically torturing some of the Monsters inside..." I looked at her with concern in my eyes.
She gave me a confused look. "So?" She asked cocking her neck.
I sat dumbfounded for a few seconds. "So?! You're hurting Monsters for no reason!"
She looked a bit offended now. "It's not for nothing. I wanted to see how the different creatures of this world work. Besides, It's not like they mind." She shrugged.
I couldn't understand, not that they mind? Did they see those giant Frogs she had in their opposite climates? "How could they not mind?"
Venya scoffed. "Well I mean, it's not like they're people. They don't think like us, animals just live on instinct they're mindless beasts." She stated in a matter of fact way.
I scratched my head. Is that how Monsters are viewed in Ein? Or is that what they're actually like? "That may be the case in Ein, but it's not here. You're a monster, are you mindless?"
Venya look around then look down at her legs. "Well, yeah but I'm a reincarnated human in a beasts body."
I folded my arms. "Alright fine. What about when I came here first and asked if you could talk? I didn't know you were reincarnated, Monsters can evolve to be able to talk. Does that sound mindless to you."
Venya sat still with her eyes wide saying nothing, her tail flickering slightly. Then she let out a sigh. "Sh*t." I nodded my head. "I think I f*cked up. I've never been that smart, so I didn't really think about it too hard." She shook her head. "I guess I should get to fixing this." She whispered as she stood up.
What a really unfortunate misunderstanding. I wonder if the Monsters on Ein are mindless then? If I was there would I realise, or would I treat them the same?
Venya was about to leave before I remembered the other reason I came. "Oh yeah, there's something else." Venya stopped and turned around.
"Mmm?" She replied.
"I was asked to ask for your help..." I told her.
Venya sat back down. "What with?" She asked.
I then proceeded to tell her about the current situation involving us, the Dark Elves and the Orcs. I made sure to explain why the Orcs were our enemies, and why the Dark Elves were slightly unfortunate allies.
She sat still and listened to the whole thing, she told me that some of 'those green a*seholes' also came in to her dungeon and made it quite far in. She didn't realise they were also monsters.
After explaining the situation, she told me she would consider it. She did fight in a war in her previous life, so she wasn't being cowardly, she just didn't want to get involved in someone elses' battle. I told her I would return sooner or later for an answer.
Finally before she left to fix her own mess she told me I had permission to use her fifth floor to level and train for the battle. I do sometimes wonder if I can get annoyed at her for torturing when I'm so freely killing so many monsters? Well, torture is a lot worse than just straight up killing. Especially torture without a purpose, if I kill there's a purpose for it.
Anyway since most of the day was spent with Venya I didn't have as much time as I would have liked to train. I still managed to gain a few levels though. I went from [Level 11] to [Level 13]. So another two levels which is pretty good for half a day, having full run of the fifth floor is useful. Shame I didn't find anymore bosses though. Alvir managed to go from [Level 46] to [Level 50] so he's already halfway there.
My hope is that the other dungeon will go further down, I'm waiting for the other's to at least reach the fifth level so I can join them. Going through the earlier levels wont help me very much.
When the others finished in their dungeon, we made our way back to the village. They all held minor injuries, but none serious. Well except Gial, who seemed to hold no wounds and hadn't broken a sweat. Still working as a group would also help them learn to work as a team which will definitely help in the battle.
I explained to them Venya's situation, and why everything about her dungeon was so unusual. Gial had heard of Ein, although he didn't know much about it, he just knew that one of the Empires reincarnated beings was from there.
When we arrived back at the village I gave Torvinn an update on Venya, he wanted to send a Dark Elven diplomat to convince her to join us, but I really, really don't think that'll help. For starters a Dark Elf diplomat is just difficult to imagine, second I'm not she would appreciate being harassed.
After a quick discussion with the other's about tomorrow's plan over dinner, I headed for bed. I took a quick look at the progress of the army before heading there. It wasn't going as quick as anybody hoped. The problem is Dark Elves aren't known for their smiting, so making good weapons and armour was taking a while. Due to that Odwiff volunteered to forgo his beloved Dungeon crawling to lead the smiths. Of course, not many Dark Elves were happy about the idea of a Dwarf leading them, but they did as they were told.
With one man down it would take just a little longer to reach the fifth floor in the other dungeon, so I was going to head back to Venya's fifth floor tomorrow. I also thought I'd ask Venya if she thought about joining us yet. Honestly I won't blame her if she says no, but it would really boost our forces.
So, I at least hope she says yes.
~Day 125~
Today we got on with what we all planned yesterday, Odwiff stayed behind; although he almost looked like he wanted to cry, and the rest of us headed for the dungeons.
As soon as we got there I went straight for Venya's room, but she wasn't actually there today, I could search through the rest of her dungeon to find her, but her dungeon is too large with too many mistakes to warrant the search. It would take all day if not more.
So instead I decided to ask her when I next see her and headed for the fifth floor. It was a whole day of just solid training and levelling, Alvir was managing to keep up quite well now, the monsters didn't give him too much trouble before, but now that he'd levelled up a bit more they gave him even less.
Unfortunately we didn't find any boss room again, we did find one new giant room though, the room looked like it was wriggling, but it was just thousands of the predatory slug creatures. Which was if nothing else disgusting, no offence to the beasts. Of course they attacked us as soon as they saw us. It was quite an intense battle, but they did no real damage, they weren't fast enough to keep up with Alvir and they couldn't pierce my Earthen Armour.
However, they did net us quite a few levels, in fact by the time we left the dungeon I had gone from [Level 13] to [Level 18], which may not seem like much, but as I level I'm getting less and less levels from these beasts. Alvir went from [Level 50] to [Level 58] which is also a nice amount.
That, however, was overshadowed by what happened we left the dungeon. The other's were already waiting outside, but when we started walking towards the ship there was a voice from behind.
"Lady Ellena." Lady? I turned around to see a woman floating just above the ground. She had long golden flowing hair and brigh golden eyes. Her skin was pale, smooth and soft. Here body, thin but with an almost too perfect hourglass figures. She wore a flowing white gown and held a gleaming golden staff in her hand. She was beyond beautiful, anyone would think an Angel, if not for the pointed ears on her head.
I heard an audible gasp from all those present, it seems I'm not the only one to notice her otherworldly beauty. Gial removed his hat and placed it on his chest mouth agape. "It couldn't be... A Light Elf?"
A Light Elf? It couldn't be, could it? The legendary never to be seen Elven clan. "Are you really a Light Elf?" I asked.
The Elf in front of us bowed her head lightly. "That is correct, Lady Ellena. I have come before you, the allies of the.. Dark Elves by order of the Light Elf council." She forced the last words out with what seems like disgust.
Gial frowned, but smiled anyway. "Now listen here Missy, that tone of voice ain't gonna make ya too loved." He began walking towards the Elf until she jumped back arching her brow.
"Don't come near me filth." She waved her hand. "I have no desire to be 'loved' by the likes of you." She let out a sigh then turned back to me with a smile. "I apologise that you must help this filth Lady Ellena, unfortunately we are in the same boat."
Gial scoffed then looked at me with a raised eyebrow as if to ask 'why are you getting special treatment?' I shrugged in response "Uhh. Why are you calling me Lady?"
The Light Elf looked a little confused. "Well of course it's because you-" A hand covered her mouth, the owner another Light Elf. This one wore short bright red hair and what looked like warriors attire.
"Hi hi hiii. Sorry about this one, she's a little arrogant." She said in a cheery voice her hand still on the struggling golden haired Elf.
Her hand was wrenched off. "Why did you do that?!" The golden haired Elf asked. The struggle had dishevelled her beautiful hair.
The red haired Elf placed her finger on the others lip. "Because it's not yet time. Lady Ellena isn't ready." She gave a giant smile, but there was something a little threatening about it. "So don't. say. anything. Okay~?" The golden haired Elf paused, then nodded meekly. "Good girl."
The red haired Elf then turned to us and took a slight bow. "Once again I apologise for my partners rudeness. It's her first assignment you see, and she's from a very arrogant noble family." The golden haired Elf looked like she wanted to protest but kept her mouth closed. "As for introductions, I am Calia and this is Amenia. Pleased to meet you." She once again bowed forcing Amenia's head down with hers. "Ah and you don't need to introduce yourselves, I've already checked the records." She waved her hand cheerfully.
I stepped forward. "Can I ask. Uh, what are you actually doing here?" I asked for our group, who were each looking a little bewildered in their own right.
Calia, who was also floating crossed he legs to look like she was sitting, but her body still floated in place. "We're mediators. Any large scale conflict involving the Elves is observed by us and records are written about it. If the situation calls for it we intervene." She glanced at Amenia. "Truth be told we were still under strict orders to observe only, but Amenia over here couldn't contain herself on her first assignment. Especially since you're involved Lady Ellena." She smiled her threatening smile towards the now cowering Amenia.
I was about to ask why they're calling me that again, but before I could Verros walked past me. "You intervene if the situation calls for it? Does the genocide of my people not count as calling for it?" He asked, his brow low and a calm rage in his voice.
Calia carried on smiling. "Ah yes, the survivor of the Mountain clans. I'm sorry boy, but we don't intervene unless the Elves are in danger." She apologised like it was nothing.
I thought Verros might lose it, but he kept his cool despite the clear anger in his eyes. "Then you could at least tell me why it happened." He gazed at her unflinching.
Her smile became even more menacing somehow. "I'm sorry, but that information is not mine to give."
Verros couldn't keep calm any longer. "MY PEOPLE ARE DEAD, WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO WATCH THAT HAPPEN?" He yelled at her.
Calia barely flinched. "I apologise boy, but tha-"
"TELL ME!" Verros reached for his spear interrupting the Elf. I reached for Skullcrusher and signalled Alvir to get ready. Verros deserves to know what happened to his people.
Suddenly, the air around us grew dark, heavy. I could see it their eyes it filled the others with fear. In front of us Calia's body seemed to be emitting a suffocating aura. "Boy, it would be best if you leave it." She smiled her terrifying smile.
I closed my eyes and placed my hand on his shoulder, he turned to look at me and I shook my head. Verros' eyes lost their anger, instead they changed to sadness, his body slumped as he rested his head against my chest. It's sometimes hard to forget, that even if he is a warrior, he's still only fourteen years old. I looked back at Calia. "We'll leave it for now, but he deserves to know." I stared down the clearly powerful Elf.
The dark aura surrounding her vanished and she nodded her head. "I don't deny that, Lady Ellena, but remember just because he deserves to know, doesn't mean he should." She replied. She then let her legs back down still hovering and clapped her hands tilting her head sideways. "Now that that unpleasantness is behind us, we really must dash. It was a pleasure Lady Ellena."
Before she could fly off I stopped her. "Wait, is that it? You're not going to tell us how to defeat the Orcs or anything like that?!" I asked.
Calia shook her head. "No, like I said we're only observing. If this rookie didn't get over excited you wouldn't even have known we're here." She was about to leave again, but clearly remembered something. "Which reminds me, we're not here, understand?" She glared at us, which got her point across quite clearly. Something quite bad would happen to us if were to tell the others of their existence. Which doesn't make sense to me. The Light Elves are known as mediators, surely there would be some Dark Elves that have guessed there's some here?
Calia flew off in to the sky dragging Amenia with her. I know nothing of Light Elf culture, but I get the feeling they don't really think much of the rest of us. Even as they were calling me 'Lady Ellena' they still threatened me along with the others.
As we made our way back and after Verros had calmed down, he asked me why they were calling me Lady. I was just as confused as him and Gial, I'd never met them before and I get the feeling they're not friends of Ellephwens.
Also what did they mean by 'I'm not ready'? Ready for what..? Ugh, I'm not going to worry about it, I have enough to worry about at the moment anyway.
Well that was the plan at least, but even as I tried to get to sleep that night, I had trouble, I couldn't stop thinking about those Elves. I also felt bad for Gial who had to hide what we saw from his people.
Just what exactly are Light Elves, I wonder?
[Name: Ellena]
[Age: 119 Days]
[Species: Arbor Ferrous, Dryad]
[Height: 7'-6"]
[Sex: Female]
[Title/s: Kin of Ellephwen, Wolfmother, Slayer.]
{Level: 18] +12
[Health: 32600/32793] + 4805
[Mana: 5211/5888] + 694
[Stamina: 24533/25611] + 3411
[Hunger: 19945/25611] + 3411
[Attack: 22997] + 2995
[Defence: 39545] + 5122
[Magic Attack: 6805] + 665
[Magic Defence: 13636] + 1350
[Skills:
[Pain Resistance lvl 10 (Max)] [Poison Resistance lvl 8] [Mind Resistance lvl 2]
[Venom Resistance lvl 8] [Night vision lvl 10 (max)] [Amplified Vision lvl 9]
[{Mushroom Helmet lvl 69}] Up! [tough stomach lvl 8] [Unarmed Combat Expert lvl 8]
[Polearm Expert lvl 2] Up! [Demifoot lvl 8] [Warriors Heart lvl 44] Up!
[Warriors Will lvl 33] Up! [Warriors Strength lvl 38] Up! [Greater Regeneration lvl 6]
[Guardian lvl 10 (Max)] [Dryads Charm lvl 12] Up! [Skinning lvl 5]
[Tanning lvl 4] [Leatherworking lvl 5] [Carving lvl 3]
[Earth Magic lvl 8] Up! [{Wolfmother lvl 11}] Up! [{Pillars Aura lvl 7}] Up!
[Ironbark Skin lvl 4] Up! ]