The Ancients World

{I want to let everyone know that I have a p-a-t-r-e-o-n with two new exclusive stories on it. One is The Aeternus Universe, and I've also started up a new VRMMORPG called the Libertas Dive. If you wish to read that as it develops, head to my p-a-t-r-e-o-n. I won't be uploading The Libertas Dive on webnovel until I've reached 30 pages on it. So get it while it's young and cheap. I hope you guys will give it a chance. The link is https://www.p-a-t-r-e-o-n.com/easyread. Remove the dashes. NovelFull censors the word.}

We've spent the last 5 hours fighting through this dungeon, and we're currently at the part where you have to traverse multiple pathways. Science says that splitting up and trying multiple paths at once is the smart thing to do, but this dungeon is rigged with traps. We've encountered more than I'd like to in any dungeon. "This is the part that takes the most lives out of everyone who comes in here. The many attempts that I've done have taught me something." The group leader, Victor, begins to debrief us on what to expect, but I have a good idea already.

He turns around to all of us and takes a breath to finish explaining. "Not all of us will make it through. There are too many paths and too many traps. I've been in the dungeon with large groups and small ones. The number of paths and traps adapt to the number of players that are still alive once we get this far. The dungeon is going to try and weaken our forces by at least 50%, but I want to make sure it doesn't go below 20." There is one more boss before the actual Witch Queen, and it's after we get through the upcoming maze filled with traps.

Jasmine and I have been fairing better than everyone else in the group. It's really hard to hide the difference in power, but I'm doing my best. Their suspicions haven't been raised too high, but I can tell Victor is keeping an eye on us. I'm betting he's planning the same thing we are. Taking out everyone here will be easy, but I want to get to the boss room and battle the boss before I have to kill any of them. "We'll split up into groups of 5. There are 20 of us left, so let's push through this and take multiple paths. Remember, keep your eyes peeling for traps." It seems he's going with that method.

Jasmine and I find a group to travel with, and I like the idea that we can split up from Victor. I don't want him watching our every move after this point. Hopefully, he dies in the maze. He's a fantastic leader who's observant, and I don't want him ruining our plan by blowing our cover early or trying to take us out on the way there. "How long do you think this dungeon is going to take at this point..." I can hear the tiredness in Jasmine's voice, and I feel the echoes of exhaustion setting on me too. I'm looking forward to the next time I get to rest. 

I smile as I follow behind the leader of this new smaller group. The leader's name is Cliff. He's very quiet and pretty good. However, he lacks the power of a good class to utilize his talent. We follow down one of the paths and stay in the back of the group. Every 20 steps or so, we have to stop so Cliff can check for traps. "I think it's going to be a few more hours until we finish this... Let's try and enjoy this time to energize for the upcoming fight." The sheer length and difficulty of this dungeon have caused many problems for every player that's tried. 

While Hailey and Jasmine continue their journey deeper and deeper into the dungeon, Cera and Sally are winding down in the room they've secured for a few days in an inn. Luckily, the city that the border is attached to has a bank in it. Cera is now loaded with money, and he'll be able to pay for what they need until the next time they run out of money. The inn room is cozy and warm. It has a fireplace to heat the room. The elven kingdom is notoriously cold. Elves are unaffected by it, and so is Sally due to her class and status as a halfbreed. 

Sally and I sit in front of the fire on the ground. She's cuddled up next to me, and we're just looking into the fire. We could sit in chairs, but she said she wanted to be close to me. She's been quiet ever since we got into the room. Only saying things here and there. She isn't a chatterbox, but she does like to entertain the silence with some conversation. "You definitely have something on your mind... You can tell me if you want..." The air is clear between us. We had a long talk about all the things she was scared of regarding the truth I revealed to her. I'm glad we handled that when we did.

She hums lightly and wiggles next to me. "I was just in my head... Thinking about all the things we have to do here... Across the border... I never thought in my wildest dreams I'd be able to go after the elven royal family for what they've done..." She has some time to reflect and think about her life. I do that from time to time myself. "Mostly what I'm going to say when I see them... If I should say anything at all... Do I just kill them, or make them feel regret for all the things they've done..." I spend my time thinking about similar things.

Some wronged me still out there, one man I truly hate and will torture before I take his life. She's doing the same thing I do. "Did I ever tell you about the story for the fairy kingdom?" I ask her a question that isn't pertaining to our situation at all. She slowly shakes her head. "Long ago, the fairy kingdom what the main place for the wounded to go for care in the first great war. The mortal world was under siege by the 7 kings of the Underworld..." I can tell that the story is slowly drawing her attention in. 

I know all about this, I learned it once I freed the Holy Willow Treat and the fairies were brought back from my actions. "One of these 7 fell madly in love with the fairy princess, so much that he wanted to have her all to himself. No matter how much she was repulsed by him. Leviathan laid siege to the fairy kingdom but ultimately failed against the Mighty Fenrir. The Beast of Ragnorok decimated Levithans forces, and he lost that day. Before he returned in defeat, he put a curse on the Holy Willow Tree using some of his own life force." She's now fully invested in the story.

I take a breath and look into the fire deeply as if I'm there, watching. "This was a last desperate attempt to make sure no one got the fairy princess. By cursing the Holy Willow Tree, he cursed Fenrir. Fenrir is connected to the Holy Willow Tree. Once the Holy Willow Tree was put to sleep, so was Fenrir. All the fairies died without the magical energy supporting them from the Holy Willow Tree. Soon, the fairy kingdom was a forgotten legend." This is all old information to me. This is what I learned after I freed the Holy Willow Tree from its curse.

Sally is silent at my side, and I know her mind is away from those dark thoughts now. "When I heard from the church that you freed the fairies from their curse, I had no idea they even existed at one point... Why'd you tell me this story? Is there some sort of meaning behind it? It kind of came out of nowhere..." I've already succeeded in distracting her from those depressing things. Even if it's for the briefest of moments, it does help. I smile and wrap my arm around her and give her and hug. She leans into me and closes her eyes.

I open mine as my chin sits on her head. "I told you this story, so would stop thinking about what you're going to do... Leave that for when the moment comes... Thinking about it now will only drive you crazy, and I don't want that for you... It'll lead to problems you didn't think were possible..." As I say my reason, I feel her squeeze me harder between her arms. I hope that Hailey takes her time. Having this alone and relaxed time with Sally is something that I didn't know I needed. Whatever my sister's doing, it better be taking a long time.