Chapter 18: Cursing Elves

Huh… 

Hovering around the corpse in the center of the room, I was astonished to find a humanoid body, not because it was humanoid in nature, but because of the ears.

It was an elf of some kind, at least I thought so? I’d have to take it back to be sure.

The corpse had really pointy ears, long from what my squeakerlocation could tell, but without actual sight provided by my domain, I couldn’t know for sure. 

What was an elf doing so far away from Valesgrand? As far as I knew, the white-skinned tree huggers never bothered to leave their homeland of waterfalls, lakes, and rainbow-vomiting narwhals. They even refused to fight the Demonlord, claiming that it wasn’t their problem because life was so perfect for them with their crystal clear lakes, vibrant flowers, copious amounts of sugarweed that they grinded into cigarettes, OH! And their stupid peace for the world bullcrap and how I should try talking to the murderous psychopath known as Barbaroll.

IN FACT!!!  NOW THAT I’M THINKING ABOUT IT! THOSE UPPITY HIPPIES STILL OWE ME FOR SLAYING THE JABBERWOCKY!

But I digress… Let me stop before I sit here ranting in delirium for infinity about my hatred for elves.

Gah!

And did I mention they had the gall to boast to my face about being able to beat the demon lord anytime? And that a hero class like me wasn’t needed because they were all super duper gifted in magic, even- 

Ok. oKOkokookok. I’m stopping. I promise… 

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.

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Did you know-

[MINION DAVE, HAS HIT LEVEL CAP!]

Huh?

I let out a squeak, a tidal wave of anger hitting me as the corpse that was on the ground had disappeared with Dave munching despite Slimey trying to pry its mouth open to get the overgrown reptile to stop.

DAVE!

NO! BAD CROCODILE! BAAAAD! 

But of course Dave didn’t care and instead layed down much to my pestering squeaks and commands. 

GET UP!

Nothing, no response from Dave, the monster’s status updating. 

 

Dave: Hibernating Blighted Krocotaur LvL: 20(Metamorphosing) HP: 550/550 MP: 100/100 Skills: Bite LvL 5, Iron Tail LvL 5, Blend LvL 5, Swim LvL 4, Endure LvL 2,  Pain Resilience LvL 3, Minor Regeneration LvL 2. Strong Body LvL 1. Heavy Constitution LvL 1.

Hibernating? HIBERNATING?!! YOU LAZY REPTILE GET UP! GETTTTT UPPPPP OR I’LL FEED YOU TO SLIMEY! 

 

Of course Dave didn’t wake up. Out in enemy territory and I was now down one of my strongest fighters because he was hungry…

… Great.

Damn elves. Somehow even in death they still managed to annoy me! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!

Carrying Dave around on the back of Slimey, I had my minions take me around the room, exploring the location, poking and prodding. It was some kind of burial chamber, a circular opening in the ceiling that led somewhere I couldn’t reach. Below the opening seemed to be a round plate of some kind, one that cracked the tiles beneath it from the impact, leaving me to believe it had originally blocked the hole.

Of course my assumption was proven correct a few moments later as a few skeletons fell from the hole as my entourage neared, but they landed in Slimey, immediately being purified in the holy slime’s body. 

Beyond that, this antechamber was barren save for the collapse entrance on the other end filled by rumble and the copious amount of skeletal remains. 

Taking a moment, I compiled all the clues and events that had transpired involving the humanoids to reconstruct a theory on what had happened. 

From what I could deduce, the adventurers had been fleeing something, making their way to this chamber where they collapsed the entrance to cover their escape. Judging from the state of the priestess and her lack of food when I found her, it was a safe assumption that the adventurer’s supplies had been low, that they were in desperation mode. A tale as old as time. 

A tale I knew all too well as a former hero.

With her state, the sealed exit, there was a good chance the adventurers had devolved into infighting, the elf fighting the nun… no. Her injuries were infested, more akin to a monster attack than an arrow or dagger from an elf. If there was one thing that the elves were good for it was their unparalleled accuracy with pointy obejects. Especially throwing ones. 

So the warrior vs the elf. 

They got into a fight while the priestess ran. Then, judging from the round plate on the ground, the fighting had triggered a trap of some kind, releasing skeletons from above. 

The warrior capitalized on the confusion, killing the elf before making his way to pursue the nun, possibly in a bid to hunt her down for her supplies so that he…

Hmm. That didn’t seem right either. 

He had talked to Slimey, hesitated in striking me down as Slimey took on the form of his former companion.

No, he was her guardian. Possibly a paladin charged with keeping her safe as his charge. Which would explain his absurd strength and fury in combat!

Yes, the pieces of the puzzle were all coming together.  But now that left me with more questions than answers.

Who were they?

It was clear they weren’t just an adventurer team but rather a group on a mission. One of great importance if it involved one of those uppity hippy elves.

What was their mission?

Where had they come from?

Was the church they belonged to the same church I had woken up in when I came to this world?

More importantly, what were they running from that even that powerhouse of a paladin and elf couldn’t deal with?

I wouldn’t have my answers lazing around like Dave. 

 

Hmmm. With only one entrance, this place would actually make for a nice base set up. Of course I’d have to dismantle my old base, aaand get rid of the pylons. Actually, is there a way to move my domain? 

 

Would you like to cancel Domain?

 

I guess there is. 

Hm… should I? Then again I know the sewers. At least most of them, the monsters there weren’t much to deal with and I still had the project of cleaning out the sewers.

I’ll table it for now.  At least until I’m stronger and level up. There's no telling what threat actually lie beyond that sealed tunnel and If I went to the next stage of my dungeon questline, it may actually endanger me.

No, it was better to have a buffer, floors to separate me from the stronger monsters that lurked above.

Right? 

You agree with me, right? Sure you do friend. Thanks for coming to my Duck talk…. 

 

I really need someone to talk to.

 

Dragging Dave behind us, I gave the order to my menagerie of monsters to return home. Despite not being able to bring the corpse back to my domain, the journey itself hadn’t been fruitless. 

By my estimation, a total of at least forty various weapons had been obtained. Slimey was shown to be a natural enemy to all enemies on the second level and despite Dave’s appetite, he had hit a level cap and was undergoing a metamorphosis of some kind.

Hopefully he would evolve into something less lazy, but considering my luck, it was doubtful. 

The return trip home wasn’t too bad, thanks to the string of webs Spooderman and my taratuals set up, finding the way back through the winding tunnels was a piece of cake!  

Eventually I re-entered my domain, dismissing my companions while depositing Dave onto his bed and having Slimey deposit all the weapons it had picked up into the cleaning hole.

While the adventurer side of me told me to keep the rust on the weapons, the duck side of me demanded they be cleaned. Purge of their filth, there was no reason I should allow or tolerate uncleanliness in my domain. 

After all, a clean home is a happy home and if I was going to have guests then they should be greeted with only the best “Welcome to my domain” package I could muster.

 

*******

 

Elsewhere in the darkness of the sewers, several blind spiders lay at the edge of Hiro’s domain, the creatures surrounding a larger taruantal with glowing red eyes. The creature stood immobile on six legs, observing the horde of slimes and monsters surrounding a yellow source of mana. 

The creature rubbed its hairy front legs together, plucking at the web that trailed behind it that belonged to none of Hiro’s dominated spiders. The high-tensile web vibrated, sending a message that traveled along the string for several hundred feet out to something in the dark that brandished a hungry smile.