Combat Healer Ch. 05

December 10, 2021

NOTE: This is where things start to get interesting.

ALSO: This is practically a whole new story at this point, so be sure re-read the first 2 chapters if you read the older version: “My Girlfriend’s an Oni Demon”

I took the first 2 chapters and turned them into 4 chapters.

It's now a story that will have multiple love interests, as well as LitRPG elements (which was what I intended to begin with, as seen by him commenting on his 'analyzing' skills, but I hadn't fleshed out the world that much yet when I first started writing this).

<< Chapter 4 | Chapter 1

- CHAPTER 5: Date -

Many Months Ago

A young Oni woman, with rosy skin and white hair, was dressed in a black cloak as she stalked a dark alleyway in anticipation of confronting the man who had ruined her life. She didn’t have her scythe on her, but she was armed with a knife, fully prepared to get her revenge if he didn’t comply with her demands.

A few minutes later, and she saw a figure step out of a back doorway, beginning to head in her direction.

Without hesitation, she stepped out and lowered her hood.

“What the fuck did you do to me?” she snapped.

He scoffed at her, reaching for his belt, only to seem to realize he’d forgotten his weapon back inside.

“That’s what you get for denying me,” he sneered, stepping to the side slightly, as if anticipating an attack. “And, I should have you know, I’ve already reported to the guard that you might try to kill me. So unless you want to spend the rest of your life in prison, assuming they don’t hang you, then I suggest you turn around and walk away.”

Her rage boiled over. “Fucking bastard! Fix me!”

He laughed at that. “Poor thing. If only you’d just taken me up on my offer, then this wouldn’t have happened. Too bad I don’t give second chan--”

His voice cut off when she lunged forward and slammed her crimson fist into the middle of his face, cracking his nose in the process. The man dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes, before whimpering as he tried to recover.

“Fucking bitch!” he yelled in anger, spitting blood. “I’ll get you killed for this!”

“Fucking fix me! Before I kill you!”

“I can’t fix you!” he snapped. “I’m not a fucking healer! I can’t even use that spell again! I got it from an artifact, and it broke the moment I used it on you!”

The young woman stepped back in disbelief, feeling like she was going to faint.

Was she going to be cursed for the rest of her life? If he couldn’t undo it, then who could? Maybe a healer like he suggested? But could a healer really help?

“That’s bullshit,” she whispered, all her volume gone.

He spat more blood on the ground. “Fucking bitch, is it really even that fucking bad?! Sure, I bet you’re embarrassed as hell, but I’d still fuck--” His voice cut off when she pulled out her knife.

Her gold eyes were almost crazed. “Fix me, or else I’ll cut off your…”

She looked up when she heard commotion in the distance, only for the man before her to cry out.

“Help! Help me! She’s going to kill me!” he hollered, like the coward he was.

“Fucking bastard,” she hissed, swinging her foot back and kicking him in the gut as hard as she could.

He immediately began coughing up blood this time, and she knew she’d gone too far. Because he was right. He held a lot of power in this city, and all he’d have to say was she attacked him, and it might all be over.

Which meant, it was time to leave.

She had to escape, before her actions caught up with her, and needed to seek out someone, anyone, who could fix what he’d done to her. Because it wasn’t just embarrassing as hell. Even if men would still want to fuck her, it would destroy her if people found out. The rumors alone would ruin her life.

Which meant she couldn’t tell anyone.

Couldn’t trust anyone.

But could a normal healer really help her?

* * *

Considering that I’d seen Jackel fight plenty of times in the year and a half that I’d known him, I was very familiar with his skillset, having seen him conjure his vibrant blue weapons out of thin air probably a thousand times. Of course, he used a real sword too, and would often use his Essence Sword spell in combination with an actual blade, but what was really impressive about an Essence Slayer was the fact that he didn’t need a weapon to fight.

He could literally create his own with essence, fairly similar to the ethereal blade of Mel’s scythe, being capable of controlling the energy enough to make it hold the form of a sword, dagger, spear, and even shield. However, the biggest difference was that his ethereal blades had a limit of what they could slice through on their own, one that was tied to Jackel’s skill at forcing the essence to hold its form.

A limitation I doubted my new girlfriend’s magical artifact had.

Still, for someone like Mel, who had never witnessed such a thing firsthand before, given that Essence Slayers were so rare, it was very impressive, and she was truly amazed.

An amazement that thankfully had nothing to do with his skill ‘Lady’s Man,’ since it was obvious he was truly attempting to avoid ruining our date, taking his leave shortly after showing off his basic combat abilities.

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Jackel Luzumin

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ABILITIES

Skills: Nocturnal Vision, Chronosense,   Essence Extraction, Lady’s Man, Persuasion, Leadership, Bartering, Stealth,   Dual-Wielding Proficiency, Single-Handed Proficiency, Two-Handed Proficiency,   Battering Ram, Cripple, Onslaught, Immortal Form

Spells: Essence Sword, Essence Dagger,   Essence Spear, Essence Shield, Immortal Form

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The only thing Jackel didn’t show Mel was his Immortal Form, since there wasn’t much to actually see with that one. Sure, he glowed a little, but otherwise there wasn’t much to show off if he wasn’t going to use it.

But what was interesting about the Immortal Form, in general, was that it was considered both a Skill and a Spell. Usually skills, which could be passive qualities, or active abilities when they required Stamina, didn’t require essence, and were often inherent traits that a person was either born with, or naturally developed as they advanced in their Class and Focus.

But that was exactly how I learned that Jackel had an Immortal Form.

Because it was already listed as a Skill, but it was not yet one of his usable Spells, being one of the only skills I’d ever seen that required both stamina and essence to use. Honestly, when he first successfully used his Immortal Form, even I was shocked to find it listed under his spells in addition to where I’d already seen it, though I realized it kind of made sense, in hindsight.

Once he left the training room, we took a moment to ourselves to talk about our next plans, since we had several options available to us. Of course, part of me wished we could take advantage of being alone again, but I knew I shouldn’t push that too much since it was clear she had no intentions to ‘get off’ herself. Last thing I wanted was for her to feel used, and not in a good way.

Visiting the other guilds, most of which were on the eastern side of the city where we were, was still something that would be better to do in the afternoon, leaving us some time to possibly walk around the city a little and visit one of the markets.

Mel liked that idea, since this was her first time visiting the elven capital, but I realized I should probably make a pitstop first, since having a girlfriend kind of shifted my priorities for the near future.

I spoke up just as we began heading toward the metal door, sealing shut the otherwise completely open stone space, the sky bright blue above our heads. Mel was readjusting her black metal staff on her shoulder as she intertwined our fingers.

“I actually need to make a stop a little deeper in the city, so maybe we can head straight there, and then visit a market on the way back to stop at the other guilds.”

“Sure,” Mel agreed, stopping as I closed the metal door mostly shut behind us, leaving it cracked to signal to the next person that it was unoccupied. It was a little dark now, the light at the end of the hall being our guide as our eyes adjusted. “What do you need to do?” she added curiously.

“That book I was reading earlier,” I replied as we walked through the stone hallway. “I’m actually borrowing it on loan, so I figured I’d go ahead and return it, since I’m probably not going to read anymore today or tomorrow.”

“Oh, sure,” Mel repeated, seeming content to just hold my hand.

As was I.

We stepped out into the sunlight, which was still fairly low in the sky, to find that quite a few more people had gathered in the distance for training, whether that be target practice or sparring. However, none of them paid us any mind, focused on their chosen task. It was of course a bit noisier now too, and not just because of the people on the guild grounds.

In the distance the city had become more boisterous, with the distance sound of talking, occasional yelling, metal banging, mounts neighing, and an overall general roar of noise.

I glanced up when a bird flew overhead a bit low, aiming for the small grove of trees on the guild grounds.

Despite being human, I’d never been to the capital of the Ryfle Kingdom, but from what I’d heard, they didn’t really have any trees or other vegetation in the city itself. It was almost pure cut wood and stone, with no hint of the wilderness residing within its walls.

But the elves were different, and it was actually illegal to intentionally destroy one of the many trees scattered throughout the city. Not that I’d ever heard of anyone receiving any more than a hefty fine, but both the Oni and Minotaur respected that seemingly odd law.

Then again, unlike humans and elves, their people typically lived in smaller towns and villages, often in huts, similarly holding a high regard for nature. If anything, it was only humans who seemed to have no problem going without, with quite a few of their towns being wholly paved with rock and stone.

Unexpectedly, the same bird flew overhead again, except this time lower, chirping as it did so, prompting Mel to look up too, as we both stopped.

“Wow, did you see that?” she said in surprise. “I think that sparrow just tried to shit bomb you.”

I frowned as I watched it fly back over to the patch of trees, agreeing that its behavior was odd, although being sure now that it was actually a wren, rather than a sparrow – both of which looked similar, with a wren almost always being brown with a white line above the eye.

Definitely odd, but not abnormal.

“Why don’t we visit the grove?” I said carefully.

Mel looked at me in surprise. “Oh, umm, sure,” she agreed, the two of us beginning to head in that direction, our fingers still intertwined.

Unsurprisingly, the wren didn’t reappear.

However, once we began entering the trees, the other birds eerily silent, I heard another chirp deeper within.

Mel didn’t notice. “Wow, this is kind of nice. These trees are really healthy.”

I laughed at that. “Well, of course! The Guild Master is an elf, so no way would he let trees under his care be anything other than perfectly healthy. All the elves willingly help clear out the parasitic plants and trim down the unhealthy branches.”

“Wow,” she replied simply, sincerely impressed as we walked deeper.

Beginning to scan around now that we were almost to one of the stone walls, I heard another chirp toward our left, prompting me to gently lead Mel in that direction. However, she finally picked up that something was going on.

“Hey, are we going someplace in particular?” she wondered.

I simply shrugged.

“Seriously Allie, you’re making me a little nervous.”

I looked at her surprise. “Nervous? Why?”

“I mean, I just met you. How do I know you don’t have a group in here just waiting to jump me?”

I scoffed at that. “Seriously? If there’s a group of thugs in here, I’ll pull out my knife and fight to the death to defend you.”

Her gold eyes widened at that. “You’d really defend me like that?”

“Why does that surprise you?”

“Because I just met you,” she said seriously.

“Yeah, but you’re my girlfriend,” I countered. “And I think you’re super-hot, and I want you to myself,” I added.

She laughed at that. “Yeah, I guess I should have assumed that you’d be selfish with your women. What was I even thinking? You’d never lead me to a group of thugs. Not when you could just have me to yourself.”

“Exactly,” I agreed, knowing we had to be close.

The wren chirped again, more to my right this time.

Mel frowned when I began gently guiding her in that direction. “So then, what are we doing?” she asked seriously, knowing full well that it was like I had a destination.

That’s when I saw it.

A large Manx cat was lying on its side, its dark gray fur covered in blood, its side rising and falling with shallow breaths.

“Oh shit,” Mel exclaimed. “The poor thing.”

I let go of her hand and slowly bent down, unexpectedly prompting the Manx to raise its head and hiss at me, baring its long white teeth.

“It’s alright,” I said gently, activating my Greater Healing spell prematurely…because the creature would sense the essence. And sure enough, it relaxed some, its head resting on the ground again, it’s breathing beginning to pick up even as I slowly rested my fingertips on its fur.

Mel sounded shocked. “You’re healing it?” she said in disbelief.

“Yes,” I whispered simply, knowing exactly why she was surprised.

Most healers didn’t waste their precious essence on animals, unless they were being paid to do so, and I could certainly understand why. It was because most didn’t have a really high Essence Regeneration Rate. But what they didn’t know was that repeated essence expenditure would actually increase their rate. Of course, it was an extremely slow process, which was why most just thought it rose naturally as they grew stronger, but in reality using up one’s essence quickly, over and over again, could dramatically increase the rate of regeneration.

It was a similar concept to how Stamina regeneration worked, although a lack of Essence expenditure wouldn’t necessarily decrease the regeneration rate, unlike how it was with Stamina due to a lack of physical training.

And again, the primary reason why most didn’t make the connection was simply because the process was just so slow in comparison to how quickly someone could improve their Stamina regeneration through physical exertion.

Honestly though, everything was slow with Essence, compared to Stamina.

A very high Stamina Regeneration Rate for an Oni, who excelled in both overall Endurance and Stamina, might be 3 stamina per 1 minute, or 1 stamina per 20 seconds.

Alternatively, a very high Essence Regeneration Rate might be 1 essence every 5 or 6 minutes, with my own Essence Regeneration Rate being a whopping 1 essence every 3 minutes, or roughly 20 essence per hour compared to a ‘normal high’ of 10 essence per hour.

But that was just a huge reason why the Fighter Class was so important to pretty much every team. And a huge reason why Oni, in particular, were prominent in the top teams. Of course, Spells were absolutely vital to the success of clearing out Dungeons…

But having a team of only Mages just wasn’t feasible in most situations, since they could run out of steam too quickly, unless the enemy was impervious to normal physical attacks and required only magic attacks to defeat them.

Nevertheless, there definitely had been situations in the past when a team of Mages was required, but in the typical Dungeon encounter, the Fighter Class made up the core of any good team.

I knew all this, especially the stuff about Essence Regeneration Rates, because I’d been forced to use my healing over and over again when I was living in hell at the age of fifteen.

But that was why I continued to use my magic as much as possible, even on animals, despite the fact that my Heal and Greater Healing spells were maxed out at level 5 each.

The wren unexpectedly chirped again, right above our heads.

Mel looked up, her gold eyes wide. “Wait…” She paused when the Manx hissed at me again, abruptly leaping up and dashing away toward the stone wall. “Umm, Allie…” she tried again. “Did a bird just lead you to a wounded cat?”

I shrugged as I stood up, grabbing for her hand again. She accepted it, but when I started to walk, she didn’t budge.

“Seriously, Allie. Did a sparrow just lead you to a wounded Manx?”

I sighed. “Would you think I was crazy if I said yes? Although, it was actually a wren,” I added lightheartedly.

Her gold eyes widened, finally beginning to walk with me. “Umm, well I guess I can’t call you crazy, since I just saw it happen for myself. But why would that bird do such a thing? Doesn’t it know that cat might just turn around and eat it?”

I shrugged again. “They probably made a deal.”

Mel abruptly stopped in her tracks, tugging on me as she did so. “Are you being serious right now?”

I laughed at her reaction. “Mel, you’re asking me a question that I have no way of answering. I can’t speak to animals, and I have no idea why the bird did it. I just know it did. And I know things like that have happened before.”

“Wow,” she said simply, the two of us beginning to walk again.

She was silent then for a few minutes as we made our way through the trees, her brow furrowed like she was deep in thought, only for her to finally smile at me.

“You’re pretty special, aren’t you?” she commented.

I smirked at her. “In a good way?”

“Yeah, in a good way,” she replied warmly. “Who knew my boyfriend was both badass and so amazing that animals sought him out for help.”

“That might be a bit dramatic,” I admitted. “I’m not sure that they seek me out. Just maybe help each other out if they notice someone is injured nearby.”

“Have they ever led you to a person?” she wondered seriously.

I shrugged. “Technically yes, but that was a bit different.”

“How so?” she wondered.

“Well, first of all, the person wasn’t injured. And it was actually two people.” I paused as I thought about how odd that meeting had been. “I’m sure you know about the Beast Master focus, right?”

“Yeah, of course I’ve heard of it. Never met anyone who had it, but I know it exists.”

I nodded. “Well, the Elf Queen has a number of Beast Masters who work as her scouts. And in particular, there are a pair of sisters, Astaer and Celestine. They had a wild dog lead me out of the city to meet them.”

Mel’s expression turned flat. “Meet you? For what reason?”

I shrugged, recalling how sharply contrasted their piercing blue eyes were to their deeply tan skin and chestnut brown hair. Of course, they were both a little taller than me, but very thin and had a kind of wild aura about them. Which was almost enthralling.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find them both wildly attractive.

I sighed as I responded. “Literally, for no reason. They just wanted to meet me. Never said why. Didn’t even ask for my name, or share theirs. Simply said, ‘So you’re the one,’ and then walked away.”

She seemed surprised. “Wow, that is weird. But then, how do you know their names?” she wondered.

“Well, because I asked around, of course. I mean, it was a really strange thing, so I had no idea what to make of it. Best guess is that they found out I was healing animals, and just wanted to know who was doing it. But it wasn’t like they thanked me, or anything. The older one, Astaer, literally just said, ‘So you’re the one,’ and then they both walked away. Celestine kind of looked at me over her shoulder briefly, as they left, but that was it.”

“Huh, very odd,” she repeated.

“Yep,” I agreed. “But other than that, no animal has ever led me to a person.”

She nodded, not responding this time, the two of us falling silent as we walked casually, our fingers still deeply intertwined. We were finally heading out of the trees now, aiming for the side of the main guild building so I could grab my book like planned.

However, when we reached it a few minutes later, we surprisingly stumbled across Turg just leaving with a Red Oni buddy of his, named Grif, who was also the leader of the eight strongest team, with the two of them boisterously laughing just before noticing us. For half a second, I didn’t think much about seeing them together, assuming that they were going to spar, as they occasionally did.

However, they then both immediately stopped laughing and focused directly on Mel, causing me to suddenly feel anxious. Because, despite what Mel told me about preferring human men, the knowledge that an Oni preferred to mate with their own sub-race was combining with the fact that Mel was looking for a mate, and I couldn’t help but feel nervous.

Especially since it was completely possible that she’d played me, and only put up the charade to get on the team.

Which, now that the paperwork was filled out, technically I couldn’t just kick her off simply because I wanted to. While adding her might have been my decision, getting rid of her would have to be a group decision…

Fuck.

Suddenly, I was very aware of just how much space the two Oni men took up in the hall, making it impossible for someone to pass them when they stood side-by-side, their heads barely a foot away from the eight foot tall ceiling.

“Ah,” Turg said after a long second, still looking at Mel but speaking to me, ignoring our intertwined fingers. “I just spoke with Jackel. It seems everyone is of mind to remain one more night. That’ll give us time to get to know our new teammate better.” Turg glanced at Grif. “This is our new battlemage, Melantha.”

“Mel is fine,” my girlfriend said right away, almost like a reflex. “Pleased to work with you.”

The big red guy grinned, focusing briefly on the metal staff on her shoulder. “Well, damn. I guess I shouldn’t have slept in this morning.” He held out his hand. “I’m Grifryne’stissnash’rok Toghta’mutik, or Grif is fine,” he added with a grin. “If you get bored of Turg here, it would be a pleasure to have you among our ranks.”

Shit, was he actually attracted to her? Wasn’t her face too feminine for them?

Mel hesitated in shaking his hand, before letting go of mine long enough to allow him to engulf hers in his massive grasp, shaking it once and letting go.

I almost wasn’t surprised when Grif held on a bit too long when it was clear she was trying to retrieve her hand, but it wasn’t a strong enough grasp to prevent her from taking her hand back, her fingers quickly intertwining with mine again.

Turg spoke up again. “We have business to attend to, an ongoing dispute to settle, but I will be free afterward, if you want to fuck.”

Stupid dumbass!

I bit my cheek, part of me wondering if I should interject or just let Mel handle it, since at the end of the day, she was pretty much the only one who could shut them down. But that was assuming she really wanted to shut them down!

Dammit!

Fucking dammit!

Grif laughed, rolling his massive shoulders. “We could settle this dispute with her cunt if you prefer. It’s been a while since I fucked such a petite female.” He focused on her, completely ignoring me. “You aren’t a hybrid, are you? You look Oni, but your body is more like a human. Except those tits!” he added way too loud, laughing again.

“No,” Mel said simply, almost apathetically. “And I am not of mind to be bed. Allister and I are together.”

Turg’s amber eyes widened slightly, only for him to laugh. “Ah. Well, he can share.” He then grinned at me, but continued to speak to her. “I would share Shel, if she was of mind to bed him.”

Mel’s tone was a bit more firm. “I am not of mind to be shared. I grew up with humans and fuck like them. That is to say, I wait to fuck, until after I’ve dated for a time.”

They both frowned at that.

I decided to interject. “Turg, there’s plenty of pussy around that you haven’t fucked.”

He ignored me, seeming thoughtful as he crossed his bulging green arms and scratched the black stubble on his chin. “You grew up with humans,” he repeated. “Where about?”

“Southwest of here on the edge of Ryfle and Delanor. A little east of the Atacama Valley.”

“Wait, really?” I interjected in surprise.

Mel gave me her attention, our fingers still intertwined. “Yeah, why?”

“That’s about where I grew up. Near the Mohave Gorge.”

Her gold eyes widened. “Huh, didn’t know there was a town there, but the Gorge is barely half a day’s travel from I’m originally from. Although I first left home when I was eighteen, which means you would have only been fifteen. Doubtful our paths would have crossed before now.”

I frowned at that, but not because of her comment.

It was because the fifteenth year of my life had been literal hell, and her mention of that age reminded me of it. Not to mention, while I grew up near the Mohave Gorge, that wasn’t where I was living when I was fifteen. Or at least, not for most of my fifteenth year.

I cleared my throat, now fully ignoring the two large Oni men as I spoke to Mel. “Anyway, ready to grab my book and then walk around the city?”

“Very,” she agreed simply, actually beginning to walk forward again as if there wasn’t a massive blockade in front of us, tugging me along. She spoke to the men as she aimed right for the nonexistence space between them. “We must continue this talk later this evening, as I have a few errands I need to attend to, aside from my date with Allister.”

Turg and Grif literally waited until the last second before separating, allowing us passage, their muscles bulging as we slipped between them.

“We’ll talk later,” Turg agreed firmly. “I’ll buy you an ale or two.”

Mel laughed, not looking back. “I’ll accept one.”

“And one from me,” Grif chimed in.

“Maybe,” Mel replied as we rounded the corner and continued down the hallway. Surprisingly, the moment we were out of sight, she slowed down to a casual pace, the two of us walking side-by-side like we’d been doing prior to entering the building.

I sighed. “Well, that was sooner than I was expecting,” I commented, not wanting to admit that I’d sincerely been hoping it wasn’t going to be a problem, since she was so feminine looking.

“Why is that?” Mel wondered curiously, seeming completely at ease. “You’ve been around Oni for a while, right?”

“Yeah, but…” My voice trailed off, not wanting to offend her.

“But what?” she wondered, giving my hand a little squeeze.

I met her gold gaze briefly, sharply contrasted against her rosy skin, white hair, and small black horns, before responding. “Well, I think you’re absolutely gorgeous, but I know those guys tend to prefer more masculine women.”

She laughed. “I’m sure they also like tits,” she chuckled. “No doubt they’d be done with me after fucking once or twice, but I’ve never met a male of any race who would pass up on a good set of tits.”

I sighed at that. “Yeah, I guess that’s true. But then, does that mean you’re really not going to give in?” I asked seriously. “Even after you’ve had a few ale?”

Her response was firm, almost angry as she stared straight ahead. “No.”

I frowned at that, deciding not to say any more.

Being ready to get out of the guild hall now, not wanting another confrontation with an Oni man who was interested in bedding the newest pussy to join our guild, I was quick about filling my pocket with some gold and silver, and grabbing my knife, which I used for protection. After all, my Stun spell wasn’t very useful on its own, but it could give me enough time to end a fight before it even had time to begin, so long as I did have some kind of weapon on me.

I also put the borrowed tome in a leather bag I only used to carry books in the capital, leaving the barely used bag with the guild when I was out on a quest.

Unlike Mel’s black clothing, it was brown and designed to avoid rain getting inside, more so than a normal bag. The perfect item to keep books safe.

In the meantime, Mel dropped off her staff, but then patiently waited for me just outside the room, a gesture that I wasn’t sure how to interpret.

It was possible she was respectfully giving me some privacy as I gathered coin, but it was also possible she didn’t want us to get stuck in the room for a while, something a normal guy might very well ask of her.

But that was fine with me, since I still felt extremely satisfied from her jerking me off earlier, and really didn’t want to push her boundaries.

Once I was ready, we intertwined our fingers together, my leather bag slung over my shoulder and resting against my left hip, and then made our way back downstairs to head out to the front courtyard. Similar to the other more reputable guilds in the capital, especially Raiders and Tempest, our front entrance had a massive iron gate wide enough for a carriage, that only got closed at night but had a smaller metal doorway that remained open until the latest of hours, being just large enough for one person to come or go at a time.

Of course, right now, the gates were wide and unguarded, a couple of stone gargoyles towering over the thick stone walls on either side.

A street of cobble led up to the entrance, with most of the buildings on either side being the back of houses, none of which had an entrance onto this street, instead having their front entrances on a parallel alley wide enough for a couple of horses, but not carts.

Pretty much all the buildings in the capital were either made entirely of stone, or else the first floor was made of stone, while the upper levels were made of exposed wooden frames filled with clay daub or ivory brick. Most of the roofs were covered in slate tiles, though many instead had wooden shingles with a pitch layer underneath.

It was a fairly short walk to the closest main street, which was one of the main roads someone entering the city might take, especially if they intended on visiting the guilds on the east side of the city. Of course, I assumed that Mel hadn’t been much further than from the gate to the first guild, which meant everything we saw upon heading north would be new to her.

Being that it was mid-morning now, there were plenty of carts coming and going, some pulled by Adrennais, a muscular brown workhorse with a black mane and huge hooves that rivaled a Minotaur, while others were directly pulled by Minotaur.

In the latter case, it was possible the bull-man was hired help or else they were the actual owner of the goods in the wagon and opted to pull their own loads than waste money on an animal to do it.

Making a right on to the street, we stepped around some horse shit that had just been deposited by the passing cart and fell in line with those who were moving on foot.

Behind us, I could already hear a couple of Shit Collectors scooping it up with their shovel and bucket, surprised they weren’t fighting over it, since it was a fairly lucrative job for the less fortunate.

More specifically, Adrennais shit was used in the tanning process, especially for leather made from Scourge Beasts that actually had hides, and a Shit Collector could make a pretty good living from the completely thankless job.

Granted, I was certainly thankful that I didn’t have to worry about stepping in shit most of the time, simply because there was a use for that shit.

Technically, an animal’s brains could also be used for the same purpose, but the value of an Essence-Infused brain from a Scourge Beasts was far more valuable when used in medicine and cosmetics, so tanners unsurprisingly opted for piss and shit to turn animal skins into the sexy clothing that Mel wore, as well as the sturdy and light armor that many Scourge Suppressors wore.

Mel and I walked in silence for a few minutes, our ears filled with the sounds of clacking hooves, squeaking wheels, and people talking, before she spoke up.

“So what’s the general layout here?” she wondered. “In case I ever get lost.”

I nodded in acknowledgement. “Guilds are on the east side, as I’m sure you already realize. There are nine primary markets scattered throughout, and then the Lake Port is on the north side, while the Queen’s castle is to the northwest, basically the other side of the city from where we are now. There’s also a small beech between the castle and port, although it’s not open to the general public. Only Scourge Suppressors and nobles are allowed.”

“Huh, I wouldn’t mind checking it out sometime.” She paused. “We can go, right?”

I nodded. “Yeah, but the water is kind of cold this time of year. Won’t be warm until later in the summer. Not that you can really swim much anyway, since there are a lot of ships using the Shrill River to get to the sea to trade with Ryfle.”

She frowned. “I’m not big on swimming anyway. Would just be nice to visit. I’ve heard the lake is so huge that you can’t see the other side.”

“Yep, that’s true. And we can visit if you want,” I added warmly. “Want to try to go today?”

She gave me a smile, but shook her head. “Nah, that’s okay. I’ve got stuff to take care of.”

I nodded, knowing she was talking about finding that mystery person. But this was a good thing, because it meant she was basically making plans with me for the future, which made me really happy.

I glanced at her again, only to realize she was frowning now. I was about to say something, but she spoke up before I could.

“So, could you tell me about yourself?” she asked abruptly. “Like, I want to know everything. Tell me about your childhood. Tell me about your parents, and what it was like growing up. Did you have friends? Did anyone bully you? What were you like as a teenager? Did you have any girlfriends?”

I sighed. “Umm. Well, to start, I had great parents, but they died when I was twelve.”

She looked at me in shock. “Oh Allie, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

I shook my head, tightening my grip on her rosy hand. “No, it’s okay. I mean, we are dating, so I should probably share the basics at least.”

She nodded, her white hair blowing slightly in a short gust, seeming sincerely somber now.

I took a deep breath. “So basically, as I mentioned before, I grew up to the south of the Atacama Valley, pretty close to the Mohave Gorge. However, despite the fact that there are a lot of caravans passing nearby, due to all the trading with the kingdom across the western desert, our town didn’t get many visitors.” I sighed. “Up until the age of about fifteen, I’d really only been around humans.”

Of course, I was assuming she was familiar enough with the Atacama Pass and eastern Atacama Valley, which were literally the only safe route past the mountains, that I didn’t need to explain why there was so much traffic, especially since both kingdoms used it as a trade route.

Sure enough, she didn’t need me to elaborate.

“What happened when you were fifteen?” she prompted, her tone concerned. I suspected she silently wanted me to backtrack to twelve, and explain how my parents died, but that was something I’d rather skip for now. Didn’t want to ruin the mood.

However, I still frowned, wondering how she was going to react. “A massive Scourge Dungeon appeared in the Atacama Valley, flooding the area with Beasts and forcing many caravans to find refuge in the nearby towns, ours included.”

Her surprise and skepticism were obvious. “In the Atacama Valley?” she repeated. “I thought it’s been decades since the last time one has appeared that far southwest. If not a century since one specifically appeared there.”

I nodded, deciding to take the closest alleyway across the street, so we could begin heading deeper into the city to return the book. I waited until we were walking alone before continuing. “I know what people say, and I don’t know why the Queen is covering it up.”

Her gold eyes widened, with her reflexively looking over her shoulder to make sure there were no eavesdroppers. She then focused on me again. “You think she’s covering it up? But how could she even do that? Wouldn’t people talk?”

I grimaced at that. “Not if they’re all dead.”

Shit, the look on her face.

“It’s just a theory,” I quickly added, knowing I’d just made her super paranoid. “All I know is that I barely survived the experience, and afterward nothing was the same.”

“Wait, what? I’m not sure I understand. You weren’t involved, were you?”

I sighed, realizing I was getting ahead of myself. “Okay, so I mentioned that the Scourge forced a bunch of caravans to take refuge in the nearby towns, right? Well, that’s when I met elves for the first time. There was a merchant group traveling together, and I came across a girl my age who was really messed up. All bloody and such.” I sighed. “Being that I was already going around trying to heal people, I tried to help her, only to discover that it wasn’t her blood. She wasn’t hurt.”

Mel was all ears now. “Whose was it?” she asked seriously.

I waited a second as we stepped onto another fairly busy road, only to continue once we were walking in step with the overall flow of people, though no one was overly too close in front or behind us. “It was her mother’s blood. They’d actually been attacked by a horde of, umm, shit I don’t know what they’re called in the Oni language.”

“Allie,” she said gently, getting my attention. “I grew up with humans. I can speak my own language, but I’m just as familiar with the common tongue.”

I felt embarrassed. “Sorry, bad habit from working with Turg and Dagru. They pretty much refer to all the Scourge Beasts by their Oni name.”

She nodded. “So what were they?”

I took a deep breath. “A horde of Lost Souls.”

“Oh my God,” she said in sincere surprise, knowing exactly what I was talking about, even though I was sure she’d never seen one -- humanoid creatures that ran on all fours, had an extra pair of arms with knife-like claws, and faces that opened up straight down the middle, as if the whole head was a mouth. They were extremely quick and highly lethal.

“I thought those were a myth,” Mel added.

I shook my head. “And that’s why I wonder if the Queen is keeping it a secret.” I sighed. “But anyway, the girl’s mother had been slain by the first wave, literally defending her daughter with her own life, and then her dad stayed behind to allow them to escape. He’s the only reason why the rest of them were alive.”

“So,” Mel said quietly. “Her mom died for her, and then her dad did too.”

I grimaced. “Well, yes, but that’s not what she believed. Or rather, she wouldn’t accept that both her parents were gone. She snuck away when she thought no one was paying attention and tried to go find her father.”

“And I’m guessing you went after her?” Mel assumed.

I nodded, only to clear my throat. “I, umm…well I thought she was really pretty, and knew exactly how she felt, so I was always paying attention to her.”

Mel tried to lighten the mood, seeing that I was uncomfortable admitting that to her. “You like taller women, huh?” she said playfully.

I smiled. “Actually, she wasn’t taller. Even though she was fourteen, practically the same age as me, she was still a couple of inches shorter than me.”

“Oh,” Mel said in surprise, likely knowing that even female elves were often much taller by then. “But she would have been taller eventually, right?”

I shrugged. “Supposedly, her mom was short for an elf. Like, so short that no one believed she was an elf unless she showed off her ears.” I paused, realizing I should probably clarify how I knew that. “I found that out from one of the other elves traveling with them. The girl didn’t actually talk to me much.” I grimaced again. “She was kind of, you know, traumatized and such. Didn’t really speak to anyone. Only thing she asked me was to help her save her dad, but I couldn’t exactly do that.”

Mel nodded. “So you followed after her.”

I took a deep breath. “I did, and it was the worst three months of my life.” Of course, like night vision, many elves had Chronosense, which was an extremely accurate ability to detect the passage of time. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have known how long I’d been in hell, and might have overestimated the experience as several years.

“Three months?!” Mel said in shock.

I nodded. “Yeah, have you ever heard of a Dungeon Engulfing?”

Her brow furrowed. “I think I’ve heard the term, but don’t really know what it is,” she admitted.

I wasn’t surprised, since it was a very rare event, to the point that it was also believed to be a myth by many. And had I not experienced it for myself, then I might not have believed it.

Of course, it was normal for a Scourge Dungeon to appear and for monsters to begin flooding the nearby land, along with a thick layer of dark clouds. And, upon conquering a dungeon by reaching the final floor, it was also normal for doors to open that led directly outside, something that made zero sense logically.

Plenty of people had actually mapped out dungeons, and proven repeatedly that the final room opening to the entrance didn’t make any geographical sense.

Yet it was still normal, because it was what everyone experienced.

But, what was not normal was when people found themselves inside the dungeon without entering it. The part people thought was a myth, was when the dungeon itself swallowed people up.

Because if they knew it was true, they’d probably panic at just the mention of a dungeon nearby. Especially when it could happen even when someone was miles away from the actual entrance, like it did for me and my…companion…

However, I didn’t respond right away, since we were close to another turn, only continuing once we crossed into another alley.

“Basically, it’s when you enter a dungeon without meaning to. Without going through the entrance.”

“How is that possible?” she asked seriously.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But it happened to me. No sooner had I caught up to the girl, planning on trying to convince her to come back, only for us to both realized that we weren’t in our world anymore. Somehow, without even realizing it, we’d entered the dungeon. The sky was gone. And what we thought were black clouds above us were actually stone walls. It was already almost pitch-black outside to begin with, so the limited light wasn’t a surprise.”

“But you said the dungeon appeared in the Atacama Valley, right? Isn’t that like a day’s trip from the Mohave Gorge?”

“Yes, it is,” I agreed. “Which is why we were so shocked when we realized we were surrounded by stone walls. My town should have been barely a short run back in the other direction, but when we tried to go back, I almost fell into an endless pit.”

“Shit,” she hissed. “You didn’t have a light on you?”

“No, because I wasn’t planning on going far to begin with. But she saved my life, since elves can see in the dark, and all.”

Her gold eyes then abruptly widened, as if she was suddenly realizing what I’d said toward the beginning. “And you were lost in there for three months?”

I could only nod.

Because it was true, and horrible.

Three months.

For three months, every day of my life felt like an eternity in hell. 

FEEDBACK: What's your level of interest in the story at this point? (As of this chapter)

1) It's okay,

2) Really like it a lot,

3) Super Engaging (love it),

4) I am so obsessed with this story, and can't get enough.

Please be honest. A 1 or 2 is perfectly fine, if that's what you think. How does it compare to Innocent Devil's Harem? (I'll still write on that one, but just want a reference.)

Chapter 6 >>