"Lily, lets get out of here first. Those two bandits may get here anytime. Though I locked the door, its possible that they have extra key. And I need to take rest. That cursed trait !!!"

"Yeah, you are quite a boneyphobic, my bestest friend, he he. Don't worry, with me being your beast companion, you don't have to fear any boney things. I also want to know how you have appeared here. But first thing first. You can't face those two bandits at your current stat. I'll teach you how to drive this mechanical vehicle. We will be much safer with it then on foot."

"This is called Infernal War Machine. It's fueled by soul coin, if the fuel runs out, you have to feed a soul coin to its furnace. The Speed Booster System and Weaponry System needs another type of fuel made of Demon blood." Then Lily explained the mechanism of the vehicle. She used her trunk to indicate different button, gears, cranks, tubes , wheels etc that needed to be operated properly to run this thing.

Fang grasped the basic idea quickly due to high WIS and INT . His base stats were abnormal - he had 9 extra ability points than regular level 1 awakened persons. Though the war machine had strong weaponry system, fuel is the problem. He remembered finding a soul coin previously, he took it out to check properly

"You have a soul coin, that's a relief. I was worried about fuel"

"It's very evil, it is literally trapping a soul . If it's the fuel of this machine, then we are actually burning souls to drive it"

"Fang, we are in hell."

"I'm not dead, am I ? You seems very alive too. Those two bandits - they looks alive too. What kind of hell is this ?"

"Yeah, we are alive. This place is Avernus, the first level of hell. It's a very scary and sad place, that makes you forget things, like how to do magic or who you are. Sometimes, even I have trouble keeping my spirits up here, and everyone knows that Hollyphants have the brightest spirits ! A war is going on for ages. The Blood War - between Demons and Devils. Many mortals come here - to join the war, to scavenge, to profit from war by weapon and war material dealing, slave market etc."

"So there's settlements, right ? We can go there and leave ." Fang asked excitedly.

"There's no settlement nearby. Road is dangerous. Also, if you go to a settlement, there's very high chance that  you won't get access to cross. Its a journey across two planes - very costly. And you will be enslaved or worse your soul will be used to make soul coin. As you don't have any identity, any organization or powerhouse behind you, you are just a Nameless weak creature now"

"I know a way out of Avernus , it's a portal not far from here. But it's very dangerous to get there too, even with this Infernal War Machine. Also have to defeat the guards to get access to the portal."

"So you are telling this will be less dangerous than seeking help in settlement?"

"Yeah, you are alone and lowest level . You should avoid people in hell, everyone is corrupted, you can trust nobody !"

"OK, we will use the portal you talked about"

He started the engine - it began to rumble with a loud, dark and hungry roar. The human-dwarf pair of bandits immediately noticed and began to run towards it. Fang pressed on the button that would accelerate the speed - the wheels began to turn quickly, spraying the area all around the vehicle with flying sands. The bandits got into this sand storm made by the Infernal War Machine - the sands made them almost blind. They stopped running towards the machine and ducked into the dune and cover their face with hands.

Fang sped away from the haunted cave. He was struggling to steer the vehicle though trying best with both hands on the steering wheel. Lily wrapped his trunk around the wheel and started helping him. With Lily's help, he was getting the hang of driving.

"Tell me how you escaped from that haunted cave" Lily spoke via soul connection. The engine was roaring, so she chose telepathy.

Fang told Lily the truth about how he got into that ridge from the haunted cave.

"Wow !" she exclaimed after hearing your experience. "It sounds like you've had a very bad luck. You entered the cave in really a wrong time - disturbing the intimate moment of a powerful fey creature and ..."

Lily's word trailed off for a moment and her pure white eyes began to shake off rapidly. She calmed down quickly and began to speak -

"You saw Mariel, the Archdevil, I guess. She rules this place. She must have sent you here thinking that you would never be able to escape."

Lily settled down to the set next to Fang, no longer floating. She stared out through the window of infernal machine. Fang didn't disturb her, he concentrated on the road lamenting about his luck. How did the simple delivery quest turn into this ! It was quite for long time, then Lily sighed and whispered -

"I think I knew Mariel long time ago. It's hard to remember what she was like back then. Now, she just scares me."

"Though staying here longtime is very dangerous because of the danger of corruption and forgetfulness, with me as your companion, it will be great place to grind level if we stay careful."

Fang listened carefully , "I'm in your care, Lily"

"He he, don't worry, you are in good hand", Lily poked his cheek with her trunk.

Fang curiously tried to check the stats of Lily again. To his surprise, Fang could see Lily's stats -

"As I can see her stats now, she must have been suppressed to be bonded as my beast companion", Fang thought inwardly .

"Lily , how much power you lost by being my beast companion ? I see lot of your skills are locked."

"Well , my challenge rating is suppressed from 5 to 1, so you can guess. The locked skills were locked as long as I can remember. I'll get strength with your level up, Fang. Don't worry about it. And about the locked skills, time will say"

"I got into this mess in my first quest. I haven't kill a single monster till now. In my first encounter - I almost died. I truly feel unworthy to be your companion". Fang sighed .

Lily fluttered her wings to float, she came closer to Fang and touched his right cheek with trunk, "Listen, you have to believe in yourself and stay strong. This place plays tricks with our mind. You are forgetting about being miles ahead of other Awakened in level 1."

"You fear boney things, right Fang ? Let's make you resistant to this trait. You have to demolish skeletons until you get entitled as Ban of Boneys, he he. You take rest, I'll drive."

Lily took the control of Steering wheel with her trunk. Fang moved to the next seat. Then he took he opened his bag of holding and took out a dry ration pack. He was quite hugry - didn't eat since he took the quest. He continued speaking telepathically, "Lily, where are we going now ?"

"To crush some bones."

"Fang , previously I wanted to readily flee from this place by contracting with you. I don't know why, but I can't pass the defensive array of the portal. When I saw you, a teen with uncorrupted soul, getting out of that cave, I intended to help you and escape being your beast companion."

"But I didn't thought that I would be suppressed so much. At our current condition, inevitable death is waiting there if we want to escape. You have to become strong, Fang, at least level 3. And you need weapons - Made with infernal iron. Steel weapons are garbage here. We have to either go to a settlement and buy ; or kill and loot"

Fang finished the ration , "OK, I'm gonna take a nap, wake me up when in destination". Then he closed his eyes and tried to sleep.