The New Bond

Core N.76 Label: Iravica

If Iravica had limbs, she would be rubbing her hands together in excitement or jumping around. The first people who came to clear her dungeon were strong, too strong. It had been terrible and a bit scary watching them walk through it with ease, bypassing everything. These people, however, were perfect, the right level for the first floor if you discluded the one who hadn't done anything so far.

She had been overjoyed when she had listened to them, and they had said they were going to fight the boss. She would finally be able to see how good it was! The work she had put into that boss and the room had cost her thousands of mana. The other groups that had been coming in had all stopped at the entrance to the boss's room, appearing too nervous. It was probably the door that scared them away. She had put out as much detail as she could without giving too much away. Even the group of all males who had entered, boasting that it was going to be too easy, had backed off the boss room. That might have been because their mage had broken both of her legs. Either way, she was excited. She even might get to absorb a body if one of them died. That thought made her excitement rise even more.

Iravica watched the group with her Dungeon Sense while making sure everything in the boss room was perfect. She was slightly upset that it still had to be in theme with the first floor. She at first had been excited to do a burning floor with lava and fire and loads of destruction, but to her dismay, her helper, or rather her dungeon assistant that she had woken up with, had explained that the first floor of her dungeon would always more limited than the rest.

She would have scowled at the memory if she had facial features, but she was just an orb. Still, picturing it made her feel good. With her checks done, she kept her sense on them but resumed working on the third floor. It was going to be her best yet!

Aster

I must've fallen asleep while practicing meditation because I was woken up by Kat shaking my shoulder. I let out a yawn, sat up, and rubbed my eyes with the clean portion of my hands. I'd been able to get a decent amount of the soot and ash off after we had gotten the cores out, but I still had plenty of smears and marks that would have to be removed later. A look at Kat had her answering my unanswered question as I took a moment to look around.

“You were out for half an hour. No one saw a reason to wake you up, so we decided to wait.” Kat explained while looking over one of her daggers.

I smiled, thankful, as I stretched. The sleep had been nice, even as short as it was. I checked my bow, and after confirming its condition, I moved to the arrows I'd been able to retrieve. They were on my back in the loops or in my storage, even the broken ones. As for the other Items we'd gathered, I picked up quite a bit of obsidian that was also in my pack. The cores had been passed to Fernand to carry as his pack was better made. The thought of cores had me remembering the increase in levels, something I’d checked, but I couldn’t help bringing up the status screen again, giving it a quick glance while I fished checking my armor as we made to get ready.

[Name: Aster]

[Grade: 1]

[Level: 38][Titles: True Daughter of Kulni, Bonded]

[Mana: 466/466]

[Stamina: 840/840]

[Race Class: Daughter of Kulni- Level 39]

[Class Skills: Stalker’s Movement, Pack Bond, Pack Formation]

[Second Class: Bonded Ranger - Level 30]

[Class Skills: Bond Speech, Frosted Arrow, Ranger's Aim, Night Eye, Meditation - Rank One]

[Passive Class Skills: Stealth - Rank One, Balance - Rank One, Rune Etching - Rank One, Archery - Rank 7.]

[Attributes]

[Available Attribute Points - 12]

[Constitution - 61]

[Strength - 104]

[Endurance - 138]

[Dexterity - 200]

[Charisma - 92]

[Intelligence - 65]

[Wisdom - 105]

The seven total levels I jumped had given a nice amount of points to all of my attributes, and I couldn't help the grin that spread across my face. I was growing in everything quite fast: skills, attributes, mana, all of it. After the boss fight, I’d be even higher, and it would bring me closer to breaking a hundred on all of my attributes.

It made me giddy as I thought of the long path ahead, not just the dungeon and academy but all of the grades and levels that were yet to be seen. Some I knew would think of it and groan at the work they had still to do or be content where they were, but I was looking forward to it. It was almost like reading a book, and I was still in the first few chapters, yet to see anywhere near half what I would.

I shook my head, clearing away the ideas flowing through my mind, and I had a big fight that was coming up. It wasn't the time to daydream if it was still day outside. Bringing up the task, I looked at the time we had left.

[Task: Reach and defeat the first-floor dungeon boss on your first run without the help of a grade two or higher party member.] [Time Limit - 2 hours, 10 Minutes, 34 Seconds] [Reward based on accomplishments during the dungeon run.]

It was a bit shorter than we planned, but still plenty of time was left if the next room was the boss room.

“Is everyone ready? Mana and Stamina topped off?” Fernand asked, and we all nodded.

Since we had camped at the dial and riddle spot, mainly to have a wall to our back, all that needed to be done was spin the dial to move on.

As Wren moved it into place, I felt slightly anxious at the idea that a valomander was the wrong answer as well, but the click of the button and brighter blue glow made me sigh in relief.

There was a grinding noise as the dial retreated into the wall, with a big portion of the wall leaving a passageway open, which we formed up and moved into, with glowing balls of light leading the way our footsteps echoing down the hall.

This tunnel was level and straight, unlike the others that curved or rose. The almost perfect walls and floor were made of the same obsidian, but somehow, it was more refined and dense. The latter was proven when Kat tried to crack the obsidian, only leaving a superficial scratch.

“What do you think the boss could be?” I asked, wanting to break the uneasy silence. We'd discussed it before, but it was the only thing I could think of.

“No, a wyvern there is too high in grade, but whatever it is has to be draconic if the information we were given was accurate.” Fernand mused.

“There can be too many grade two creatures that would be an appropriate boss for a floor like this,” Wren noted, keeping his eyes focused on the path in front of us.

I nodded, tilting my head as I thought of any possible creature. I didn't know nearly enough about monsters and draconic beasts to give a good guess, even If I was bonded to Umbra, who was a dragon, which was the purest form of draconic creatures.

“Well, it could just be an animal like the spiders that have a draconic variant of their species,” Kat said, pondering. She was behind us, keeping an eye on our backs. The chance of getting attacked from behind was low, but none of us wanted to take that chance.

The conservation continued as we moved at a decent but not fast pace, helping to ease all of our anxiety, but we still kept vigilant.

My ears pricked as the sound of our footsteps changed. The echo had started to bounce back. It wasn't something I'd typically pick up, but the tunnel was as straight as an arrow, letting me keep my ear angled almost perfectly.

“I think we're getting close. The sounds are changing,” I said, straining my eyes to pick up anything.

The door that came into view gave me pause. It reminded me of the door of the palace in the city. It had swirling lines detailing a scene that felt like it came right out of a storybook, except this story must have ended poorly.

There was a figure in the middle of the door that was roughly human or elf-shaped, except its features were all wrong. Bat-like wings sprouted from its back, and instead of armor, rough, cracked, and mismatched scales covered its body. Its head was pointed and angular with crooked horns like that of a dragon poking out of the top of his head. It was facing upward. Its jaws parted in a yell or scream, its arms wide, the talon-like fingers sharp. All around him were faceless bodies in piles. Orange words written right above him labeled him. The Fallen Prince.

I didn't know if the image was meant to be frightening, but all I felt was curiosity towards the engraving on the door. There had to be a story behind the image or at least some idea of a tale. Was the prince meant to be a fallen dragon, wyvern, or something else entirely that had just been given the looks of a draconic creature?

My curiosity seemed not to be shared by the others as they were able to make out the door a moment later. Kat whistled, “How are you meant to fight something like that? Look at those claws. Is it going to be that size?”

The size of the price was past a dozen feet tall, and I felt my hair prickle as I imagined one of those hands reaching down towards me.

“We are royally fucked if it is,” Wren said, looking over the door. He looked like a dwarf compared to the figure. “If it's in grade two, though, which it should be, I don't see it being that big.”

Fernand was looking at the door, his face set in a frown as he rubbed his chin. “Look at the wings, see how torn they are, and the name of the fallen prince. Putting them together implies that it won't be able to fly. Also, he has no weapon in this depiction.”

He started to pace as he spoke. We all listened as he spoke, “If the Fallen Prince is what we're fighting, which I think it is, then it's going to be in grade two. Its draconic nature is obvious, but I also believe that it will have some type of breath attack similar to wyverns and dragons like the spiders did. If he is fighting with only his body, then the most dangerous parts will be his mouth and hands.” he stopped looking at the picture again. “We can't discount the chance of it having minions even if none are shown. The scales of the Prince also have a lot of openings shown in the picture.”

He nodded his head slowly before he grinned and then smiled. “I think I have an idea, but before we go into detail with the new information we have, are we all sure that we want to fight this?”

I nodded. The idea of fighting this boss actually had me excited, if a bit nervous. It would be one of the tallest and strongest monsters I'd fought in my entire life. The creature, though, had to have a strong core, and it was likely a core that matched Umbra. Kat and Wren both gave similar gestures to agree with me. Wren even had a hungry look in his eyes as he looked at the image of the Fallen Prince.

“Then let's rest here for a moment while I go over my idea and get any last-minute preparations done,” Fernand said.

We made a small circle, setting down our packs, and what followed was an idea that I would never expect from Fernand. It was so simple that there was almost no room for mistakes, but it also would require a fair amount of risk from all of us. Still, none of us had any other ideas that could match it. So we went with it.

The preparation for the plan was easy, with Fernand handing us two vials each. I had all of the bags of the group I'd put off to the side, away from the main fight, before I got into position. Everyone else would be engaging as soon as possible. We ate and drank as much as we could, almost emptying all of the water skins. If it was like Fernand thought it would be, then the room was going to be hot, and dehydration could be a problem if we weren't ready. Besides that, though, there was nothing else to do. I was in the process of taking another bite of bread when Wren spoke up.

“Aster.”

I looked up at him, my head tilting. He looked thoughtful, and he knew he had my attention. He took a deep breath and continued.

“I want to…Apologize. Part of being a proper noble is admitting when you're wrong. It's one of the many things my father taught me. With that said, when I first saw you, with your uh differences,” Wren gestured to my ears, “and how you acted, it's was easy to make a poor choice and to put a bad label on you, but with how you walked away in the party and how you've performed in this dungeon, I see I made a mistake. While you may be a commoner, you're a good fighter and have a clear head.”

I blinked as I processed his words. He was apologizing to me, now? I frowned, reviewing what he'd said, then narrowed my eyes. “I don't really care what you said about me. It's what you said about my mother.” I was prepared to go on a rant but paused as he raised his hands in a surrendering motion.

“I apologize for what I said about your mother. While she may not be a noblewoman, I'm sure she's a wonderful mother.”

I nodded slowly. I still wasn't happy about what he’d said and wouldn't forget what he’d said, but I could let it go. Kat, who had kept silent but had been listening to the whole thing, looked angry for some reason.

Once all of us were ready, we got ready at the door. I was in the back, prepared to move to the side and drop the bags and loose lots of arrows.

A notification popped up as Fernand placed a hand on the door.

[Boss Room Status: Ready. Confirm boss room entry?]

[0/5 Confirmed]

I gave the screen my confirmation and watched as the zero changed to a one, then two, all the way up to five. The words changed from the standard white text to green, and the window closed. The door groaned as it split in the middle, opening inwards. I shook my head to clear any other thoughts as a wave of heat billowed out.

It was time for my first boss fight.

Wren - 23 hours ago

Wren frowned as he looked up from the document to his father, baffled. “Why would they want her, though?”

Turmis Gerton raised his hand, and Wren couldn’t help but flinch involuntarily. His right ear was still ringing from the last slap his father had given him. “I didn't raise you to ask dumb questions. The gold there offering our house would set us above the rest of the nobles for decades. I don't care who this common bitch is. Just make friends with her so she trusts you. I'll prepare the rest.” he picked up a glass of wine one of the maids had brought in, then got out of the plush red chair and walked to the door, downing the drink. He didn't even bother to give Wren another look as he left. Once the door had closed and there had been enough time for the sound enchants to kick back, he picked up the other glass of wine and threw it on the ground, enjoying the sound of the glass shattering on the wood floor. He had a moment of sympathy for the maids who would have to clean it up.

He crumpled up the parchment with the words that he wanted to wish he hadn't read. His father was all of the things that he hated. He despised the man. But what could he do? He still had the scars from the first time his father had caught him playing with a commoner when he was eight. What had happened to the commoner's family had been far worse.

He sagged back into the chair as he repeated the words that had kept him going ever since the day his mother died.

I have to get stronger, I have to get stronger, I have to get stronger.