Shit gets real

They all looked at me with either amusement or complete befuddlement. The Dwarf was the first one to speak, laughing loudly and heartily.

“I’m sorry laddy, but if you came along with us you’re liable to die pretty fuckin fast. You look like a newbie, and we uh…well we aren’t.” He said with a snicker.

“Perhaps find a party more in line with your skills, hm?” Says the elf with a roll of her eyes, which instantly set my teeth on edge, she was doubting me and that pissed me off…but I kept my composure.

The Amazon spoke next, “I appreciate and admire your spirit, but I don’t think we can take you on and protect you where we are going.”

Before either of the humans spoke I interjected, “I was just hoping I could tag along with you and learn, maybe I could clean up camp, and maintain armor and weapons? It doesn’t look like you have anyone to do the busy work while you’re busy being heroes! I’d be ok doing that for you.”

They all glanced at each other, seeming to actually deliberate now that I offered that.

“I would stay as far back from combat as possible, I have some magic to help me see farther so I could still watch and learn from safety!”

The female presenting human smiled and said “Come on guys he just wants to learn, what would we have done if Tomoko looked at us like you’re looking at him? My name is Lena, and my brother here is Lucas, he’s a mute. She,” Lena says as she points to the Elf, “is Terraya. The tall one there is Ademia, and the Dwarf is Galko, our leader.”

Galko sighs and looks me over “Fine, fine…sure. Just stay out of trouble and safe, and don’t get in our way laddy. What’s your name?”

I smiled wide, excited, and that wasn’t even fake. “My name is Caelum Ignis, thanks for bringing me along!”

Terraya raised an eyebrow, “Odd, I have never heard of anyone with a name in Iactus. Where are you from?”

Iactus must be the name of the spell-casting language. Time to use the perfect lie for where I’m from, I had really thought hard on this one.

“I don’t remember actually, just a few years ago I woke up on the road with nothing but some ragged clothes, and my name…is my name odd?” I said with a sad chuckle.

Everyone suddenly seemed a bit more sympathetic to me, maybe even a bit pitying. I hated that last part but I could use it, even Terraya seemed to speak a bit more gently with me.

“Iactus is a spellcasting language, so it’s odd. Do you know what your name means? It even sounds a bit like it’d be a spell.” She asked with a soft smile.

She actually seemed…nice when she wasn’t giving off elitist elf vibes. “I don’t know what it means, no.” I do, but I’ll give her that. Maybe it’ll make her trust me a bit.

“It means Sky Fire, loosely.” She says with a nod, smiling as I put on my best surprised, but happy about it, face.

Ademia nods seriously and says “Amnesia, a strong name, and you find yourself wandering into the company of a powerful group of adventurers. I think destiny may have plans for you Caelum.”

“Yeah…maybe it does, thank you Ademia. And thank you for telling me that Terraya, I won’t disappoint you!” I said with a determined look in my eyes and a clenched fist, I had seen enough anime to act through this pretty damned well.

The rest of my day was spent learning how to care for their various pieces of armor and weapons and finding out what their plan is. The plan to travel northward to the mountains. There is a pass through the mountains guarded by a massive dwarven fortress that still hasn’t fallen to the Hornet Infestation. From there, they plan on starting a crusade, hunting, and eradicating hives. They were planning on heading out tomorrow morning and going straight there, but seeing the Volcano light up the way it did they were in fact planning on checking it out. So we were to leave at first light and investigate. Great.

Once they gave me the plan, we separated. They went to their rooms and I went to what was apparently mine. I took a deep sigh and before going to sleep I focused on my connection to my Dungeon and found that it was fairly easy to sense it in its entirety, even seeing the one hundred Ferric Thralls on their various patrols through the Dungeon. I took a deep breath and tried to focus on my power to create emanations, I needed to know if I could make them remotely, and how many I could make.

I found that as I tried to create, I could feel my energy connecting to the space, remote creation was possible. I could make…wait why are my Pure Land and Dungeon bonuses appearing, I’m not in my Pure Land Region and definitely not my dungeon. I’ll have to check that out deeper another time but I can literally generate hundreds of emanations as long as they are no stronger than the Ferric Thralls I have in the Dungeon.

I smirk and instantly set them to be made by morning…and then suddenly found myself falling to the ground, passing out directly into an exhausted sleep, having just spent all my mana in one single burst.

I found myself with my eyes open, standing atop a black mountain surrounded by unending abyss. There was no warmth here. It was cold, freezing cold as if I was on the bottom of an ocean but felt no pressure.

“Where the fuck-” I was cut off by a voice vibrating through the cold expanses around me.

“You were given power by the dark. By the two Goddesses that drive it forward, and you have abandoned them. I am the essence of monsters, a lesser god that serves Melanoche and Carnachias, Levias. I should be able to eradicate traitorous monsters such as yourself but instead, you seem impervious to me. I have brought you here for one purpose so that you know what destruction awaits you and can make good sport for the true Champions of the Dark. I will alert the Goddesses, and all the powerful monsters of this world will hunt you down. The Hornet Empress, Orchid, The Demon King and her Courtiers, and Halicarnassus. You will-”

“What about the Ancient Dungeon Core? You missed her, is she not going to hunt me down?”

“...She is not a champion of the dark in that wa-”

“Ahh, well that’s interesting. I should have taken up that angel on all the oaths then. Is that it?”

“Bravado will not save you, fool. Sleep peacefully one last night, because after tonight, you will be hunted.”

I woke up to the shine of dawn streaming in through my window. I sat up and rubbed my eyes with a yawn and just nodded to myself slowly.

“Fuck.”