NOVEL WEB Ch.22: Peeking Behind the Curtains
Sitting on my chair, I was busy looking up info on the twin dungeons, I was curious about what Jaque said. If there was some way to pick up techniques then was it an old one or a new one? If it’s old then that might mean dungeons might be more than some place to battle or to work at. As my computer finished its search a few topics popped up, one of them catching my eyes. A list of wild dungeons. So then there were dungeons that ran on their own, were the managed ones once free or made that way?
Clicking on the site, an article popped up, it stated that there was a total of twelve wild dungeons in the world. None of them had been captured or destroyed as each one was deadly and hyper aggressive to all who entered. Even the humanoid law that normal dungeons followed carried no power there as any Mors would become far more malicious at the sight of one, mutilating even their corpses. The Twin dungeons were known for sending out Mors that were horribly mixed abominations of anything that went into them. A picture appeared as I scrolled down, it showed something like a deer, it had the antlers and head shape but…. It’s mouth was filled with thorn like teeth like it ate a porcupine while several hands poured out of where its eyes should be, floating like smoke. It stood like a centaur as its hooved arms hung above the ground with a huge thorn pierced through them, looking like a claw. One leg holding it up was like a human hand if it was split between the middle and ring finger into a spider like shape.
The mere sight of it made me quickly scroll past it, that was way too… graphic for me, it was like seeing an 80’s movie monster brought to life. It made my stomach twist as my mind imagined a malformed twin trying to push its way up my throat, its read skin and bulging eyes. NOPE! I closed the page, not even seeing who last entered the dungeon.
I rushed to the restroom seeing my mirror companion with a face twisted in disgust, looking purple and ready to shoot rainbows out her mouth. Which I did exactly that as I visited the toilet for a short decorating session. All I’ll say is that I wasn’t pleasant.
After taking care of some sensitive issues I came back to find my phone had a few messages. Checking them I found Mark had texted me a few times.
‘Hey… I was wondering if we could have a Zant.’
‘Um… I think I did something stupid so could we meet up?’
‘I was thinking at the Corner Scoop, Sam’s been asking about you too. You know, flatten two wight grubs in one cast’
What’s a zant? And isn’t the saying kill two birds with one stone? Looking up the definition of zant I found it meant to express apologies at causing discourse and to seek to repair bonds. It came from some king bowing his head to a monster tribe. Okay? Thinking about it, I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to lose my best friend or face being hit on again. Even though Mark can be little stupid with women, the guy can be rather helpful when I get upset and it’s not hard to talk to him too. Thinking back on the times he helped me think rationally made me text him back. I told him I’d meet him but warned him to don’t go playing any pickup lines on me or else.
Making my way to the corner Scoop, people watched me from a distance, lowered their heads or made a quick retreat. I just shook my head at their fear, maybe once I figure out how to control my mana they’ll be more friendly? I looked at my wing as I walked, the action of opening a single wing made people gasp, probably not. Once I got there I saw a small group of arachne, some of them were doing a little dance and others hopped up and down in joy. “Marcia is the lord of eyesight!” one said making the group cheer in excitement.
The cheering stopped the moment I was spotted by one facing my direction as she flailed her arms before jumping away. The other arachne saw this and bolted, some climbed the buildings and jumped to nearby roofs while others shot like bullets down alleyways. I just whipped my tail in annoyance at their move to escape me like I was some movie slasher. I’d be more afraid of the giant spider girls with all those legs and large eyes.
Walking into the Corner Scoop, all the talking people got quiet, I guess they felt my mana as I walked in. some people clustered against the wall while Sam glanced at me from behind the counter. She looked stiff as I walked into the shop, her tentacles seemed to mess up some of the orders she was doing. I spotted Mark at a table with someone else. As I got closer Mark looked at me, shaking to hold eye contact, the other person saw this and slowly looked over trying not to tremble. Kathy saw me as I stood by their table, she gulped as her feathers puffed out. My heart sunk at this sight, my friends were uncomfortable because of me. I really wanted to walk away, two important people looked like they were going to die of fear.
“H-hey…I-I’m sorry about wedday…” Mark said as he looked up at me. His body was probably trying to run but his eyes held firm on his apology. I could tell he wanted to make it up to me though I had to be careful In case he tried to flirt. My mind cringed and shuddered at that.
“HEY! Uh… Oliver I know M-Mark did something stupid acting the way he did, so I’ll make sure he’s truly sorry.” Kathy said suddenly. Was she reacting to something… maybe? But what mattered most was that she was willing to see things through.
“As long as Mark doesn’t do something weird then it doesn’t matter.” I said giving Mark a hard stare. He slowly lowered within his seat but kept his eyes on mine, brave… but a wise choice.
Kathy nodded to that which made me feel more at ease, she’s always had my back in the past and she didn’t do anything wrong, she’s a friend of mine. As I thought this her feathers puffed up making her look like a fluffy ball of fluff. All I could see was her big eyes poking out of her feathers, she looked like cute fuzzy chick, and I couldn’t help but find her adorable! I had to smile at her! Maybe I could hug her?
She looked away as her face turned deep red. “S-stop it! My heart can’t take being the one attacked!” she said staring a nervous hole into the wall behind her. Attacked! My eyes flashed wide open, realizing my smile or my mana might of gone on the offensive. Strangely my mind thought teasing and playing with her would be fun, making my smile turn to cocky smirk. Kathy started to tremble but not in the same kind of fear of survival. No, it was the fear of becoming the hunted.
Looking at mark I could see his eyes were three times larger as he was turning a pretty shade of pink. For some reason this excited me even more, if this was how being admired felt like, then I wanted to be drunk on it. Without looking away from Mark I took a small breath with my mouth, making my lips look more pouty. “Kathy, you look pretty… stiff. Would you like to me to help loosen up your muscles a little?” I said slowly, making my naturally sultry voice all that more alluring.
“NOPE. I’M GOOD T-THANKS.” She said as her feathers had achieved full fluffy cloud status.
“Alright I thought I’d offer my services.” I said taking a step back. That felt really goo- wait what am I doing?! These are my friends! I can’t be playing around with them. The realization made me blush as I looked away, embarrassed. “I-I I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me, you were just so fluffy and I –“ I stammered out.
“F-felt like you had to?” Kathy said looking back at me or rather my feet. She was still red.
“Yes…” I said sheepishly.
“I guess you didn’t realize your instincts could take… control like that.” She said slowly looking at my face. Instincts? Then does that means my body can act on its own? All those times I felt a strong desire to do things was what, a dragon’s instincts!
“I see.” I said lost in thought. Damn it just when I was getting this whole mana business down, I get hit with a left hook. Closing my eyes I decided to focus on why I was here, I’ll have to figure it out when I the more important stuff is dealt with. “I’ll worry about it later, maybe something my counselor might help with. You wanted to talk Mark?” I said turning my eyes back to the less pink Mark.
“Right… you see I- wanted to apologize for how I acted. It wasn’t right. I guess my body just reacted on its own.” He said giving me serious look.
“Fine.” I said with a nod. This left Mark surprised as his eyes looked rather large and blank.
“What? I thought you’d be more pissed or demand something from me. Make me jump through some crazy hurdle!” he said aghast. It kinda bugged me he wouldn’t just take my acceptance at face value.
“And what. Not talk to you for x amount of days? Treat you like some bother? I’ve got better things to do than to ignore my friend. I just want to move on but that doesn’t mean you can act that way. Don’t you try asking me out again.” I said sternly at him, even my body warmed up with mana as I set my boundary. All Mark did was give me was a confused face.
“Huh?” was all Mark could say.
“You had the balls to ask Oliver out! With him being a mighty dragoness?! Wow and I thought I was aggressive.” Kathy said with a stunned face. Mark only gave her a bewildered face.
“I asked you out?” he asked looking at me. He looked like he was suddenly chosen to be the hero of the multiverse. That is to say not believing a word of it.
“Yes and I don’t even want to think about what else you said to me.” I said as my wings hugged me as I shuddered.
Realizing that this was why Oliver was acting out I decided to just believe him. “Oh, um… yeah! That’s what I did… I was er taken aback by your appearance. And acted without thinking.” I said. If Oliver was going to forgive me then I’d rather apologize for what he said happened. I mean I don’t really remember the specifics and he was there? Maybe he thinks by saying this he can walk past the whole seeing myself at full mast?
Oliver leaned in closer giving me a stern look, it really spooked me to be looked at like this. He had such a pretty face so it was surprising how murderous his face could get when angry. He might have a girl’s face but he still had that boiling temper. I knew he was being serous when he gave that kind of face. “I’m sorry for being weird around you.” I said lowering my head. After a few seconds I could feel his mana that was cold and swirling with what felt like jagged icicles, turned warmer. It felt like when I was at a barbeque on the night of comet’s Buds. It was so beautiful and my whole family showed up for the event. My eyes got a little burly after being reminded of that.
“As long as you’re aware of what you did then there’s no problem.” Oliver said with a calmer voice. Hearing that raised my spirits even more as I looked at him- her? Um that’s going to take some getting used to.
After talking for a little bit, Oliver went over to talk to Sam, she wouldn’t admit it but she was pretty worried about him. I did explain the situation to her and warned her that Oliver was a dragon now but…. From how she’s looking, she’s almost as stiff as full plate ice.
I was really curious of Oliver’s mana, it was so strange to go from deathly cold to warm like a morning blanket. So I pulled out my own pair of enchanted glasses, they were an old pair of sunglasses that I used as a medium so it wasn’t too weird or nerdy to look at like my father’s. putting them on I could all I could see was a bright orange and blue light that was bright enough to blind me. Taking off the glasses I blinked until my vision came back, it wasn’t perfect because of the little blurry blotches. Looking at his mana was really hard, that light was right in my face as if it was few inches away from my skin. Playing with a loose tread I wondered if he was casting magic but looking back at my memories, Oliver hardly ever used magic. Said it was too slow, he always said his fists were his magic. So even if he used magic he wouldn’t know how to do so….
Changing the setting with a small dial, I put them on this time not being blinded by the closer mana. This time I saw some of the mana floating around the whole room. Swirling around everything as if it was coming from everyone and every object here. It looked like someone put a blue color filter on the world but everything else was slightly blurry. Was Oliver’s mana still this bright to make things harder to see? I couldn’t even see Oliver. Changing the dial to its highest setting, I was frozen as my body trembled. My hands shook as I began to sweat uncontrollably, I could feel cold finger tips slowly run up the inside of my spine. I could feel every inch of its movements as I felt something pulling me into the floor. Almost stretching out my very soul. The finger tips stopped right below where my spine connected to my neck as it began to draw playful circles.
‘Not yet cutie’
“Hey Mark are you ok?” Asked Kathy. Taking off my glasses I looked at her with a confused face.
“I feel alright. Why do you ask?” I said. Was there something wrong? After Oliver’s mana became warm I feel pretty good.
“Don’t know… after you put your glasses on you seemed lost in something for a second and now you’re good?” she asked giving a very confused face. “Something just sorta felt off for a quick second… what did you see with them?” she asked pointing to my glasses.
“Um…nothing much? It was pretty normal mana for someone of a powerful race like Oliver. Not as wild as some hybrids that I’ve seen.” I said with a shrug. Oliver’s mana just looked pretty big and orange, it was kinda relaxing to see if I was honest. A bit like a sunset kissing the waving ocean at the end of a day.
“That’s good, the last thing I’d want Oliver to worry about is a hybrid’s wild dual mana. Then It’s just some dragon’s mana high levels then, I bet it looks stronger than a lord’s mana though.” She said with chuckle.
“Probably, for all I know a dragon’s stronger than two lords fused together.” I said thinking about an anime with that concept.
