After getting back to the caravan, we all ended up spending the night near the lake. That was the sa place where they were waiting for us and where the children had been first kidnapped. After we arrived, there was a touching reunion between the parents and the children. So parents believed they would never see their children again after they had been captured by the bandits.
While we were very happy that we were able to rescue everyone, I couldn't help but be annoyed at the reaction of so of the people belonging to the caravan. A good number of them didn't even try to thank us, much less apologize for saying that we were the reason their children were kidnapped. I tried ignoring them and considered that they were just ashad of their initial reactions, but the way they were staring didn't seem to help that theory.
Still, at least Caron seed to be very appreciative of our efforts and even asked us where we would be going next. We had not talked about this with him just yet, but this ti I was honest, although I didn't really know exactly where the Mist Valley was located. To my surprise, the caravan was aware of the location, although it was a place where they never got too close.
According to Caron, the area had a certain reputation. Anyone who got too close would eventually vanish, never to be seen again. While he was willing to give us a ride to a closer location, he made it clear that they would be following their usual restriction of not approaching the valley, especially since there were children in their midst. That was hardly a problem. It would be better for us if no human approached an area like that. The last thing any of us wanted to see was the Lurins grabbing these people and making horrible experints on them.
From the lake, we spent most of the day traveling toward the Mist Valley. Or at least, the location where the caravan was going to drop us off. It would be so ways to the south of the valley proper, but it was already much quicker than the ti we were going to take to get there by ourselves.
Now that I had a mont to actually think about it, the tifra ended up not being that much different. While traveling with the caravan was indeed faster, because of the stop at the lake and the small detour to save Astrid and the children, we ended up not really gaining any days during our journey. Not that I was complaining. It was much better not to have to walk the entire way.
As we reached our destination, we said our farewells to the caravan. With Rex's blessing, we gave Caron the directions to find the Rodenti village. Hopefully, that could lead to a trade route that would benefit everyone. Then again, that might just be a pipe dream. After all, we didn't share the System with anyone in that caravan. Funny enough, not even Michael asked if we should do so.
Once they dropped us off and were far enough away, I couldn't help but ask, "Is there any reason why no one talked about giving them the System?"
"I was thinking about that, but I didn't like how they treated us after we got back with Astrid," Michael explained.
Riley gave him a stare before shaking their head. "Honestly, I didn't even consider giving them the System. They are traders, and it's likely that the only people they're going to protect if they have it will be themselves. Not to ntion, they could start strong-arming people into giving up their better products just because they are stronger."
"Gave System to children," Astrid replied.
The rest of us gasped. "What?"
"How is that even possible? I thought you had to be at least eighteen to get the System." Riley frowned.
"Actually, you can get the System sooner. You just can't access it until you reach eighteen. I am more surprised you had enough ti to give the System to everyone," I turned to Astrid.
"Between lake and bandit camp, had enough. Also gave ssage."
"A ssage?" Michael raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. Telling children to be heroes. Fight for good. Protect weak."
"I an, that's a good ssage, but won't it take too long for them to see it?" I asked.
Astrid just shrugged. "Many more people with System until then."
I wanted to say sothing about that, but nothing ca to mind. In the end, Astrid was right. Odds were that by the ti those children, who were barely ten years old, grew to have the System, it would have spread like wildfire. Even if we were only considering the people that we had already given the System, it would be hard to imagine that in a few years, those numbers wouldn't increase exponentially.
Before we could continue that conversation, Rex pointed forward as a gap in the mountain to our side beca visible. It was sowhat strange since the valley itself didn't seem that big. The passage was maybe 50 or 60 ters [164.0 to 196.9 ft] wide. It was hard to imagine that there was anyone living in such a narrow space. But more strange than that was the fact that there was a mist constantly emanating from that passage. Despite the ever-present fog, any ti it tried to escape the valley, it would roll down and be pulled by a non-existent air current from below. In a way, it almost seed like the gorge itself was stopping the mist from escaping.
We approached the mouth of the valley but waited before entering. We tried to see if we could identify anything that was going on there. Unfortunately, not even Riley, who was the most adept at understanding strange phenona, was able to give us any answers. At the sa ti, it wasn't as if none of us would be able to get information. Proof of that was Rex, who, as he got closer to the valley, accidentally brushed his tail on the mist. This resulted in more information than any of us could even imagine. According to our Rodenti companion, this was a dungeon. To confirm that, we all touched the mist and received the sa notification.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You have entered the dungeon:
Seat Of The Lurins.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Does that an that they control this dungeon?" Michael asked with a frown.
"Maybe," Riley replied. "Or maybe the Lurins just stayed here for so long that a dungeon was ford around them."
"If that is the case, wouldn't the Rodenti village also be a dungeon?" I turned to the Silken Witch, who couldn't really give an answer one way or another.
We didn't have enough information about this, and the System was unusually quiet. It either also had no idea or we were not asking the right questions. In the end, we took out the feather, which was supposed to be the token given by the Lurin Queen, and decided to just take a step forward, hoping to see so sort of effect.
Unfortunately, there was nothing. We simply beca enveloped in the mist as we all walked into the valley. The fog was thick. We were all struggling to even see what was in front of us. Not wanting to end up lost in a place like this, I turned to the System. 'Sys, do a favor and mark down the path to the exit of this valley.'
[Acknowledged.]
I watched as an arrow appeared in my vision. It was sowhat translucent in a shade of bright green that could shift to always be clearly visible, no matter what was behind it. The arrow was pointing in the direction we ca from, but that only lasted a couple of seconds. Suddenly, the arrow started to spin, pointing in different directions, with the extra marker that indicated my destination starting to jump all around .
'Sys? What's going on?' I asked.
[System is unable to register the user's location in relation to where the user entered the valley. This is likely due to so sort of interference coming from the dungeon itself or individuals with skills capable of interfering with localization.]
I let out a sigh. "Oh, great."
Riley turned towards . "What's wrong?"
"We might have so problems getting out of here." I gave them a quick explanation of what the System just told .
"Maybe use token?" Rex suggested.
"I an, aren't we using it already?" Michael turned to the Rodenti.
Suddenly, I saw so particles leaving Rex's hand and covering the feather. I rembered looking at the token, and there was no indication that it could use Energy. Yet, to my surprise, the mont the particles left the Rodenti, they seed to gather around the feather in a specific formation. Although it was hard for to discern what that formation actually was, everybody kept looking at the feather. A sh of particles rose up a few centiters above the feather before dropping back into Rex's hand like a drop of water hitting a lake.
The ripples created by the particles spread beyond the feather itself. It moved through the fog, going past us and beyond, almost as if they were bouncing around the entire valley. As they did, we all watched as the mist surrounding us seed to disperse. Although "disperse" didn't seem to be the right word for it. It felt more like the fog simply stopped moving so much, revealing that we were not out in the open. Instead, we were in a very narrow tunnel made of mist, just about the sa size as the entrance to the valley, walking forward. But our surroundings were much, much wider. We could see trees growing by the cliffs, a stream passing along, and even what looked to be so houses in the distance.
However, that wasn't the thing that caught our attention. What was stealing the show were the dozens of eyes locked onto us. From the sides and even from above, there were at least fifty different Lurins. Each had its own face color and clearly was from a different species of moth. So had human-like features with eyes, a nose, and even a mouth, while others still felt much more bug-like, with proboscis-like mouths that curled up and gigantic eyes taking over most of their faces.
If that wasn't bad enough, we could tell by their expressions that they were almost salivating. It was as if they were about to have a delicious al that was just delivered to their very ho in the form of this group of people who suddenly appeared in their valley.
Thankfully, once one of them seed to notice the feather, it snapped its fingers and pointed at it. This made the whole group take a step back with a mix of frustration and curiosity on their faces. We waited, not wanting to move and cause so aggressive reaction from the Lurins around us. Having the System quickly check, I could tell that most of these creatures were Tier 1, with a good handful of them already at Tier 2. However, it seed that the higher concentration of particles here was deeper in the valley. This ant it would likely take us to so Tier 3 Lurins as we walked forward.
"You are not the one who received this token," one of the moth people stepped closer. They had a face that was almost human, if it wasn't for the completely black eyes. They seed to be wearing so sort of robe that had fur around the neck, although as they shifted, it beca clear that the fur was part of their body, not the clothing. The hands and feet were anything but human. They were insect-like claws. Together with a pair of antennae on the top of its head and the wings clearly visible on their back, it was impossible to confuse this creature as a human.
I took a step forward and nodded. "That is correct. Ash, the Chieftain of the Rodenti village, gave us the token as a way of thanks for helping him solve a problem."
"You an the Eater Nest?" the Lurin asked. Even after having the System check, I couldn't learn their nas. This ant that they either had a skill to obfuscate that information, or maybe the dungeon was doing all the heavy lifting.
I nodded again. "Yes, we helped him defeat the Nest."
After I said that, there was a murmur around the group of Lurins. It didn't last long, as the Lurin I was talking to, who I had just confird was at Tier 2, snapped their fingers, making the entire crowd go silent. "And how were you helpful enough to warrant a token from our Queen?"
By their tone, I could tell that if the answer wasn't satisfactory, they likely would kick us out, if not worse. So instead of withholding information as I wanted, I was honest about what we did.
"We were the ones who entered the Nest and defeated the Hatchery. There was another team that went to the top of the Nest and defeated so sort of brain-type of thing, but they received other rewards, as we were the only ones who were looking for the assistance of soone much more powerful than us."
It wasn't really a gamble to assu that the Lurin Queen would be at least Tier 3. In all honesty, I was even worried she was going to be beyond that, Tier 4 or maybe even Tier 5. While that was going through my mind, the Lurin who was interrogating us slowly gave us a once- over. They made sure to keep their eyes on each of us for several seconds before letting out an annoyed sigh.
"Very well. It would be rude of to reject the importance of the token, even if it wasn't Ash's to give away. Follow and stay inside the fog tunnel."
As they spoke, both Rex and Michael were about to touch the tunnel itself, but hearing the warning, they quickly withdrew their hands. We followed the Lurin along, being flanked by another group of them as more and more people started to join. So were clearly just curious about our presence, while others seed to be behaving as an escort, both to protect us and the rest of their people in the area. This ant that the Lurin Queen was able to see us coming from far away, and I really didn't know how to feel about that.
Reviews
All reviews (0)