The Survivor Becomes a Dungeon

Vitmori POV

The spiderkin girl watched me warily, still very much afraid despite my reassurances. I don't blame her, I just steamrolled their defenses in what was essentially an ambush while using a diversion to divert her forces somewhere else. I hold the cards and near overwhelming power right now, at least compared to her and her damaged core.

I know for a fact that I used to be someone to be feared and respected in equal measure, that is an unfortunate notoriety that I earned for myself in my later years. But... To be feared again... By what appears to be a wounded youth just trying to protect their home? That... That's not the kind of image I want for myself, not again.

The spiders seem to mostly disperse, tending to their wounds and looking over the damage inflicted on their walls of webs. For now, they appear to be focusing on closing the roof as their main priority. A few of the bigger spiders linger in this core's chamber, watching me with their many eyes but not even attempting to attack me or try and drive me off. There are quite a few varieties from what I could see, but bugs, let alone spiders, are a major blindspot in my studies beyond knowing about a few of the particularly deadly local varieties. The spiders of this world appear wholly unique and don't remind me of any particular spiders that I know of, at least as far as I've seen.

After a few minutes of standing around and surveying the chamber, my eyes fell on the damaged core and I could sense a spike of anxiety coming from the spiderkin girl when I took a step towards it as she moved to stand between me and it. She's not overtly hostile but doesn't want me to get any closer to the core itself, fearing for its life.

I slowly took a step back, deciding to respect her boundaries for now. With the others on their way here, I probably should do my best to not agitate her until they arrive. Instead, I walked a large circle around her and the core and approached three of the larger pillars that made up the chamber as I sensed some kind of mana flowing from them. I could tell that they were a source of mana as the energy they gave off had a different sort of feeling altogether. As I study the trees, my eyes find their roots, some of them having been unearthed and trailed over toward the blue core's pedestal as they make up the wood that I saw underneath the webbing earlier.

The spiderkin girl eyed me nervously, moving once more to stand between me and the core once more, but not doing much else as she tried to mentally consider her situation.

Turning my attention back to the tree, I'm more surprised that the roots aren't absorbing the mana from the other core, but I'm no more an expert on magic trees than I am on dungeon cores. Looking up at the branches, I see that the webbing isn't wholly wrapped around them, only draped over the tops of these trees in particular. As I look the branches over, I spot little fruitlet buds that were in the middle stages of becoming full-blown fruit. The only thing is that I think I actually recognize these fruits in particular, but they couldn't be... Could it? My curiosity gets the better of me as I make my way up the massive tree trunk, my wooden fingers finding purchase in the thick bark when I manage to reach the lower branches and pluck a fruitlet before letting myself fall back towards the ground.

I rolled into the landing before dusting myself off, but at that, I had a feeling I could have eaten that fall with no issues; so I probably ought to experiment with that. Regardless, my attention returned to the fruitlet I just harvested and after taking an experimental sniff, I couldn't help but smile as I looked at it again. It was an honest-to-goodness apple! I don't recognize the particular species offhand, especially since it isn't fully grown, but I knew enough about crops to recognize an apple for being an apple. Convergent evolution perhaps? Or maybe some kind of tampering from an alternate Earth? But why would an apple tree be magic? Or is it more along the lines that the magic tree makes apples?

I don't know, but as I muse over my ponderings I could hear the flapping of wings as Jack flies in, followed by Rita carrying Reyvyre by her arms. Jack comes around to perch on my shoulder while Rita drops off Reyvyre before hovering off to the side and gently touching down. Before anything could be said, I feel another greater spike of fear come from the spiderkin girl as she was now practically on top of her core's pedestal, guarding it as closely as she could manage with all the new, powerful trespassers in the chamber.

As for Reyvyre, despite everything happening in the chamber, her eyes locked onto the apple fruitlet I had in my hand as she hurried over and grabbed my wrist, holding the fruitlet before her eyes with a mixture of excitement, confusion, and outright awe just spilling from her. "V-vitmori, w-where did you get that? Do you even know what you're holding?"

Before I could open my mouth to speak, Jack reached out and plucked it from between my fingers with a cheerful whistle, breaking the flesh with his beak before eating it whole, looking even more delighted after swallowing it. "A delicious treat from the Evertree, that's what." He enthused before flitting away as Reyvyre lunged for him.

"Y-you stupid bird! That was a Zanzam fruitlet! Incredibly rare! Incredibly extinct!" She nearly shrieked with despair as she chased after Jack, actually conjuring balls of icy wind and launching them at the Scout as he bobs and weaves, deftly dodging her flurries of wind while still in a decidedly good mood.

I glance up at the trees and look at the numerous fruitlets among the branches of the supposedly extinct fruits before sidling up beside Rita and speaking up. "So... Do you know anything about Zanzam fruits?"

Rita glances over at me and then at Reyvyre and Jack as they run around, she then shakes her head. "Must be an elf thing. I've never heard of them." She admitted rather casually before gesturing over at the spiderkin girl. "What's with her?"

I nod intently at her response before looking over at the spiderkin girl. "She's a vassal to that blue dungeon core beneath her. See there?" I explain while pointing, and the spiderkin girl moves to block the core from my pointing as if that could endanger it.

Rita nods intently before glancing up at me. "I know you call us your representatives and vassals... But for other dungeons, they're called scions. As in, the most powerful pinnacles of a dungeon's mana beasts and monsters."

I blink in surprise at that, glancing between her and the spiderkin girl before settling on Rita and quirking a brow. "Scions?" I parrot back to her, getting a feel for the word before simply shrugging a bit. "Meh, I don't really care for the feel of that word." I reply simply as another burst of icy wind sails over our heads, though I do wonder where I got the words or decided to start using those terms.

Rita piped up again as she tilted her head over at the spiderkin girl. "So what are you going to do with that monster over there? I can tell you don't have any intention of hurting her, but are you just going to leave them here with that busted core?"

I couldn't help but be a little confused at her wording as I glanced back at Rita and quirked a brow. "Monster? That girl is obviously a beastkin, she's a person." I say rather resolutely, though Rita still looked unsure as she watched me. I could tell she didn't want to argue with me too much, but I could sense she felt calling that girl a person was too much. Looking over to Reyvyre and Jack, I let out a loud whistle to get both of their attention, all while startling the spiderkin girl all over again.

Jack flitted over first, perching on my shoulder and looking rather merry, all while Reyvyre starts creeping over, looking ready to strangle the bird for his transgressions. "Yes Boss, something up?" He asked pleasantly.

I flash a smile before looking over to Reyvyre. "I need you two to settle something." I say simply before gesturing to the increasingly anxious spiderkin girl. "That's a person, right? A beastkin."

Jack looked over at the girl, tilting his head a moment before looking back at me and letting out a content whistle. "She's as much a person as you or me, Boss." At that, I'm almost satisfied, though after thinking on it for another moment I realized that between the three of us, we're a magic talking bird, a spider person, and a glorified mannequin.

Looking over at Reyvyre, I caught her gaze as she sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, deciding to settle down for the moment. She looked between me and the spiderkin girl and I could sense she was trying to measure her words. "Whether or not she's a person is not the question I think you're trying to ask. Is she a beastkin?" She asked for me, looking up into my eyes before looking back to the spiderkin girl. "She's not. In all of the known variations and species of beastkin, there are none that are known to be any sort of insect or arachnid. In fact, the only classifications for known beastkin are mammals, reptiles, avians, and amphibians."

She then looked back up at me, an uncertain expression on her face. "But the things I have seen here with you cause me to rethink that possibility, considering how you've turned known mana beasts into a new variety of beastkin, I must start reconsidering the very fundamentals of who or what could be a person." She then looked over at spiderkin girl and spoke up once again. "As she is right now, that girl is what is known as an Arachne, a high-end spider monster with the ability to control and manage swarms of mundane and monstrous spiders. Commonly found within dungeons, she is classified as a rather dangerous encounter that requires a party of Sapphires and Emeralds to properly take on with moderate risk."

Reyvyre then tilted her head a bit as she regarded the Arachne before her more analytically. "Despite her injuries, she looks like she could still give a good fight to even a party of Emeralds if it came down to it."

Try as I might to understand this world, quite a few of those ideas flew over my head despite the memories I have of others knowing about these sorts of things, though I'm not sure where to start asking for clarification. As I consider what to say, I am suddenly aware of some thoughts being aimed my way as the Arachne stared more intently at me. "She says her name is Orwis, the core named her as such." I mentioned before scratching the back of my head. Now is not the time for such deep talks about the world, so I decide to move on as I turn to address Reyvyre. "Do you know how to fix dungeon cores?"

Reyvyre blinked a few times and I could feel her considering a few things before shaking her head. "I have a few ideas, sure... But cores are usually destroyed for a reason." She mentioned as she glanced over at the cracked blue core and Orwis. "Dungeon cores are usually strictly monitored; passive, cooperative, competitive, and even belligerent are generally protected and watched over by city governments and affluent guilds. With that in mind, only the absolutely murderous and psychotic cores are destroyed for the safety of society as a whole." She then looked back up at me. "As I don't know the history of this particular core, or its origins. I can't rightly advise you to try and repair it without considering the risks."

I nod intently at her words, but I just can't help but shake the feeling that I should at least try and help. Before long, Oururu and Legosi both arrive, entering through the path of melted webs I carved for myself. They patiently remained silent for me out of consideration from what I could tell, and after another moment I came to a decision as I turned to address the Arachne. "Orwis, I have decided to try and repair your core. If and when we are able to and if we are able to keep things civil. I'll discuss things with them and we shall plan for the future."

Orwis, for her part, still seemed rather anxious and a little unsure. But not nearly as afraid as she was earlier. I have a feeling she liked the way I talked about her, though I couldn't be sure with all the other things on her mind. After another moment, she gingerly picked up the blue core from its pedestal before spinning a web as she secured the core in a bundle of silk and secured it against her lower back, where her humanoid torso ends and the rest of her spidery body begins.

I then looked over at the others as I scratched the back of my head in thought. "Legosi and Jack, position some of your wolves and birds to specifically patrol around here. The spiders are free to roam, however, they're currently forbidden from crossing the mountain and getting close to the Haven." With that, the two make their way off again to see to my orders.

Looking over to Oururu. "I'd like you to use that farsight of yours to explore this maze and the surrounding forest to see if there is anything that we need to know about here. You can do that here or back at the mountain." I order before offering a bit of a sheepish smile. "Sorry for making you come all the way out here for that."

Oururu flashed a charming smile before shaking his head. "It's no trouble Vitmori." He said simply as he looked around the chamber, deciding to settle in a coil before the trees and closing his eyes.

Making my way over to Reyvyre, she was looking over at where Jack flew off, still feeling rather upset about the fruitlet. I couldn't help but feel at least a little amused about her overall reaction to the supposedly magic apples as I pat her shoulder. "I'd like you and Rita to accompany me, I have a feeling a lot of magic is going to be involved in trying to fix this core and I would greatly appreciate your support."

Reyvyre sighed softly and bobbed her head. "Of course Vitmori, I'll be happy to help." She replied, offering a slightly strained smile.

I chuckled softly at her, unable to really contain myself at this point and earning an offended look from Reyvyre as she quirked a brow at me. I contain myself just a bit more and smirk kindly at her. "I'm sorry, you just look so miserable about the loss of that fruitlet, I'm just amazed you haven't tried asking me if there were any more."

Reyvyre's eyes widen at that comment as she opened and closed her mouth a few times, doing her best to collect her words before hesitantly speaking up. "A-are there more?"

I flash a smile and point up at the trees that I climbed to get the fruitlet in the first place. "Yeah, they're practically growing on the trees around here."

"Oh?" Reyvyre said at first before looking up to where I pointed. "Oh! Oh by the gods! Fully grown Zamzan trees? Here??" She was so clearly shocked yet nearly giddy with delight at the discovery. I could sense this was a major find for her, and something rather important if her thoughts are anything to go by.

Though before she could get carried away, I reached out and gently pat her shoulder and spoke up. "The trees aren't going anywhere Reyvyre. Help me with the core first, and you can come back here and do whatever you want."

Reyvyre made a few noises which sounded almost like a whine as she glanced between me and this historic discovery before sighing heavily and bobbing her head. "Of course Vitmori, as you say."

Rita snickered a bit as she walked up beside Reyvyre, flaring out her wings and holding out her hand. "Shall we take the quick way back?" She offered with a playful smile.

Reyvyre smiled a bit at that and took Rita's hand. "Sure, sounds like a plan." She enthused as Rita took flight, carrying Reyvyre off again.

Then it was just me and Orwis, the Arachne chittering to the large spiders who were in the chamber and explaining their circumstances. Once she was done with that, she slowly skittered over towards me, building her nerve though still admittedly anxious about the whole thing.

I do my best to offer a kind smile before starting to walk out the melted pathway. "Come along, let's get going."