“According to what my memories tell me, these experiments began some time ago, during a particularly difficult inter-clan war. Once one Clan started it, the rest followed soon after.” Morrígan said. “Nobody ever told me exactly when, since even after being captured and tortured at length the perpetrators either wouldn't say or actually didn’t know which of them started it. Regardless, I first learned about it what feels like twenty years ago, though how that could be true is of course a mystery to me, as I also know I didn’t exist twenty days ago, let alone twenty years. Despite that my memories are crystal clear of not only those twenty years, but of centuries spent in the Blood Court as well as on the battlefield. Several lifetimes worth of memories that at first had been in a haze are now as clear to me as if they really happened. It is to the point where I think they actually might have.” She paused.

“We will have to talk about that someday. About whether you stole my soul for your Dungeon.”

That is not how Dungeons work…. I don’t think, at least. But I promise we can talk about it later. For now though I think we ought to focus on the sphere.

“Yeah, the sphere.” Morrígan growled, then took a deep breath to calm herself down a bit before continuing. “When I said it was the cause that might have been a bit of an exaggeration. That specific sphere isn’t actually the same object the perpetrators used, it just has the same aura. Though this one is lesser in strength, the stench it gives off is unmistakable. It is the stench that nearly drove the vampire species to extinction, and turned all of Nerian-Silex against us.”

How do you know this is true, and not simply a part of my Story? I sent.

“I feel it in my soul.” Morrígan said, then sighed dejectedly. “But I also know that might not be the best thing to use as a judge, considering my situation.”

I took several moments to think about what was best to say in response before I sent one.

I think that what you know is different and more evolved from what I created, but I can’t be sure that wasn’t the System stepping in and making things up. It has been notoriously vague about giving me answers, and even now I feel there is much I don’t know or understand.

“That’s not frustrating at all.” Morrígan grumbled.

Regardless of the reality of the memories though, I would still definitely like to hear them. Though again most of them might be better saved for some other time. Tell me those that are about the sphere, and how it is relevant to you and your Story. Feel free to start at the beginning.

“Alright, from the beginning then.” She took a deep breath. “I was one of twelve Purebloods within the Blood Clan when all of this began. Back then this was still my uncle Rovian’s castle, and I was a general in his army. The Clan wars were in full conflagration, and we were losing to the alliance of the Shadow and Beast Clans.” She shook her head. “It must have made my uncle desperate, because at some point while we were at our lowest the strangeness began right here. Keeping secrets. Staying within the castle for weeks at a time. And an overall eerie aura that even put other vampires off. The same kind of aura that is coming from the sphere right now. Only back then I didn’t know that. Back then I only felt it was wrong, but didn’t have the context of why. I didn’t know it was the sign of the Aberrant.”

What exactly were, are..?, The Aberrant? I sent.

“An enemy of the world. Of the System itself. A race of monstrosities without levels and beyond the System that still somehow can hold sway over some parts of it even we don’t have access to. I don’t know where they came from, but I do know they weren’t always here. Now though they have a three-layered occupation of this dimension, what we came to call the Three Hells, and are fighting a constant battle to enter into this world and destroy it. We vampires were a member of an alliance of the five races fighting a secret war against them for decades, and it was thanks to us we were able to push the Aberrants back.”

She paused and continued in a pained voice.

“But without an outside enemy to defeat, we turned our attention to each other. Years spent in near-constant battle had changed many of us, my uncle among them. It didn’t take long for infighting to begin. As I mentioned previously nobody knows who started it, but someone in my Clan started experimenting with the Aberrant first. Simple experiments in the beginning. Trying to figure out how to use their System-manipulation to get an edge over our enemies. But enemy experiments beget your own experiments, and soon the corruption took root in the hearts of all of the Clans. Many were changed forever, their personality partially or completely overtaken by some monstrous desire for consumption and destruction. Some even got tagged as ‘Aberrant’ by the system and were designated as part of the enemy.”

Morrígan sighed. “And though it shames me to say it, it was only then that I noticed what had been happening all around me. Even within my own family’s castle. My uncle wasn’t among the ones labeled Aberrant, but he was one of the changed.”

And so your uncle is the one you remember placing in the prison? I sent.

Morrígan nodded. “Him and some of his co-conspirators. They hadn’t undergone the full transformation, so I’d hoped to be able to find some way to save them eventually while keeping them from harming the rest of the world in the meantime.”

She shook her head. “I don’t know if I succeeded in the end. Or if any of what I just said actually happened, for that matter. That is where my memories end, with me tossing my family in prison. The next thing I knew I was being summoned by you into this Dungeon.”

I stayed silent for several moments as I tried to figure out how to respond. My link with my Guardians wasn’t a link to their thoughts or even fully their emotions, but there was some kind of connection that made me able to feel how saddened and vulnerable Morrígan was feeling. Completely different from how she’d been when I first summoned her, now that she knew who she was. Or who she thought she was, anyway.

I promise you we will figure out what really happened. It might take a long time, as I have only ever spoken to anyone from outside once. But since I did it one time, I can do it again. And someone out there should be able to confirm your Story.

“Or confirm that it never happened and that it is all in my head.” Morrígan said.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Or that. I agreed. But wouldn’t you rather know the truth?

After a few seconds Morrígan shook herself and I felt a feeling of determination bubble up through the link. “Yes, I would rather know the truth.” She said. “And thank you for helping.”

Of course. I sent. Now, what are we to do with the sphere then?

“Destroy it.” Morrígan said immediately. “It will do no good to have that thing anywhere in the world.”

I thought about that for a moment. Could I even destroy it? I could absorb it like I’d done the Challengers and the rocks around them, but I hadn’t even tried it before due to the feeling of wrongness the sphere gave off. And now that I knew more I was even less eager to do so. Unfortunately I didn’t have another way of destroying it other than through absorption, and just tossing it outside was definitely a terrible idea. I explained as much to Morrígan, who got a look on her face like she was talking to an idiot.

“I can just smash it to pieces.” She said. “Move it down here and I’ll do the rest.”

…Are you absolutely certain that destroying it is the best plan? We might need it in the future. I’m almost certain the man of light is the one responsible for it being here, and he wasn’t among the ones who died.

“...A man of light?” Morrígan asked. I quickly explained the Challengers who’d attacked my second Floor just before I’d summoned her, as well as how I’d sent away the man of light who’d been protecting them.

“...The woman definitely sounds like she had a basic application of Aberrant enhancement done to her.” Morrígan said once I was done. “But I haven’t ever seen someone with an Aberrant implant within their body not start to go insane.” Morrígan shivered as a particularly strong memory caused an emotional fluctuation through our connection.

“If this man of light has figured out a way to make any Aberrant enhancement stable and remove the side effects, that makes him definitely not someone we can look down on… Adding to that he’s at least Tier 8 considering the Skill he was using, possibly even Tier 9.” She looked forlornly up towards the ceiling, then shook her head.

“I suppose holding off on destroying the thing is the smarter choice.” She admitted grudgingly. “For two reasons. One is to avoid insulting someone so far above you in power. While due to the [Blacklist] he won’t be able to kill you, there are other ways that he can harm you, or hinder your growth.”

…Great. I thought.

And the second reason?

Morrígan smiled grimly. “Just as there are multiple ways of him hurting you, there are also ways for you to hurt him. While I don’t know exactly how the world works out there anymore, if I ever did, there is simply no way that these kinds of things are an accepted practice you just do out in the open.”

He’s doing it secretly, just like your uncle did. I realized.

Morrígan nodded. “Exactly. Which means that you can threaten to expose him if he starts acting aggressive.”

I pondered that concept for a moment. Morrígan’s words were all true, but there was something about them that didn’t feel right… Didn’t feel like me. Was I the blackmailing type? Not really. I hadn’t even thought about the concept before now, and now that I did it felt icky to my sensibilities. Not wrong in the same way the Aberrant felt wrong, but still like something that didn’t suit who Veos was supposed to be.

Then was I someone who would use the Aberrant to serve my own purposes and to gain an advantage?

No.

I was surprised at how vehement that response was. That ‘no’ came from the very Core of me. Or maybe from beyond my conscious self, originating in my instincts themselves. I would not accept the Aberrant, nor those who utilized their power. I’d die first.

…Alright then. That wasn’t concerning to realize at all. But it did help me come to a decision.

We will hold onto the sphere for now, but only as a precaution against being destroyed, and only until we can come up with another way to do so. Once we do, we will also try to hold the man of light accountable. Someone outside has to be capable of doing that, surely.

Morrígan nodded. “Sounds like an acceptable solution. But could you remove the thing from my Floor… the aura it gives off is vile. I can’t stand being near it.”

I’m afraid the fourth is the only Floor I can… I trailed off. That wasn’t true. I could just start the fifth and put the sphere in there. With what the Quest had said about locking my “later levels” I wasn’t sure exactly how that would work, but it did renew my [Swift Descent] Skill, so I should be able to do something.

I checked my Status.

Name:

Veos

Race

Dungeon Core

Floors

4

Level:

5 (4)

Experience:

LOCKED

Mana:

80/80

Mana Regeneration:

40 / Minute

Edicts:

[I Decide How The Story Ends]

Skills

Swift Descent, Spatial Connection, Dungeon Management

Perks

Spatial Expansion, Vampiric Blessing, Mana Mastery

Rewards Inventory

Mana Crystal x1, Empty Mana Crystal x4

That wasn’t what I’d been expecting, but it sort of made sense considering what the Quest said. I sighed. It seemed I was level 5 in nothing but name, as both my Mana and Mana Regeneration were the same as while I was level 4. I even showed as level 4 in my status within the parentheses, which would explain why I felt that my creatures would still be locked out of the higher level cap until the Quest was completed. Fair enough, though why the System worked this way instead of just not allowing me to level up at all made very little sense to me. Maybe it had no other way of giving out the management and connection Skills as well as the mastery Perk?

I dismissed the status, the specific reasons why this was how it worked didn’t matter at the moment. The important parts were while I was still functionally level 4, I could still use [Swift Descent] and begin work on the fifth Floor right away. I returned my attention to Morrígan, who was still staring up at the ceiling with a disgusted frown on her face.

I will move it to the fifth in a moment. I sent.

“Thank you.” She breathed out a sigh of relief.

I activated [Swift Descent] and felt a rush as the surroundings blurred past and through me as I Swiftly Descended through the stone, before stopping with an abrupt lurch. I took a moment to examine this newly claimed area. This time it was almost again almost a hundred meters back up to the fourth, the distance I descended remaining the same with my similar Mana count. Still, it would be more than enough for my purposes. It was time to get started carving out a prison.