Trip Through The Slums

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To get to the Slums from the overworld you have to be some type of high-ranking official. The Slums are a place that our government tries to keep anyone from seeing. To ensure this, they guard the entrance with powerful royal guards.

As Vasati and I walked to the entrance of the descending tunnel the two royal Guards moved in front to stop us.

“Princess Vasati and Princess Eira, what business do you have going into this lowly place?” One of the guards asked us.

While it would be nice to just tell them about Phantom Gloom, we couldn’t. We are set to meet with the King tomorrow to discuss our training, but no one other than the few who were close to the King was allowed to know who was running Phantom Gloom.

“Umm, we have to check on a few things down there,” I said casually.

Princess Eira, we understand but we cannot…”

"Let them through, you two," a new voice interjected into the conversation.

A short, brown-skinned boy soared from above and landed next to the two royal guards.

"Lord Farru!" The two guards bowed and stepped to the side.

"Hi Farru, you look really cute today," I said with a smirk.

He looked away and averted his gaze. "Eira, I told you to stop calling me that," he said.

"Eira, it's not fair! You never call me cute, and we are engaged!" Vasati complained as she playfully punched me in the side.  

"That's different…" I said as my face started to feel warm.

“Apologies for interrupting, but it may not be safe for you two ladies to venture into the Slums without a reason,” Farru commented.

“We’ve both reached the power of the Gods so what does it matter.” I shrugged.

"Don't think that your power can save you from falling into a trap," Farru warned as he pulled out some black, hooded cloaks from his shadow.

"Here, use these," he said as he handed them to us.

“Make sure you keep yourselves hidden while you’re down there, a lot of demons living there hate Nobles and would do anything to kill one. Be prepared to kill while you’re down there.” Farru instructed.

All of what he was saying is true. Most demons that live in the slums aren’t exactly very fond of us Nobles even though King Azziros has been trying to figure out a situation to help them.

The problem is that anyone who lives down there long enough was supposedly afflicted with a sickness that cannot be cured.

“Understood,” I said to Farru as I saluted with my left arm.

Farru laughed as he said, "You've got the wrong arm, idiot."

“S-Shut up!” I stammered as my face burned with embarrassment.

"He got you good there, Eira," Vasati chuckled along with him.

With frustration boiling inside me, I blurted out, "Both of you are idiots." Without waiting for a response, I grabbed Vasati's hand and dragged her down the dark, narrow tunnel with me. My heart was racing, I could feel the cool dampness of the walls against my fingertips and hear the distant sound of dripping water echoing through the underground passage.

"Have a safe trip!" Farru exclaimed amidst his laughter.

As Vasati and I stepped into the tunnel, the bright sunlight outside started to dwindle, and a thick haze of smoke started to fill my nostrils, making it more difficult to breathe. The walls of the tunnel were damp and slimy, and the sound of our footsteps echoed eerily in the darkness.

Vasati and I used physical magic to make the air-flow through our bodies better.

“I honestly can’t stand that guy.” I vented to Vasati.

"Really? It seems like you two have a very close relationship," Vasati snickered.

"I can't believe you're involved in his antics too, Vasati," I said with a sigh.

“We should invite him to our wedding,” Vasati said with a grin.

“You met him one time and you're already obsessed.” I shrugged and started walking faster.

All of a sudden, a forceful pull yanked me off my feet, causing me to stumble backward and fall into Vasati's arms.

“Not as obsessed as I am about you.” She patted my head gently.

I felt a rush of embarrassment as she held onto me, but I couldn't bring myself to pull away just yet. Her touch was gentle and comforting, and her voice was soft as she whispered something in my ear. "I love you…" her words barely audible above the sound of our breathing. For a fleeting moment, I forgot about everything else as I stood there in that damp tunnel, lost in the warmth of her embrace.

After about a minute I finally wanted her to let go.

“Alright let go of me,” I mumbled.

"Sure thing, Princess," she said with a smirk before releasing me.

---

After about 20 minutes of walking in the dark, I saw a faint light appear in our walking direction.

“Vasati, I think that’s it!” I exclaimed and began to run in the direction of the light.

Vasati followed me and before I knew it, we were outside of the tunnel. What greeted us was a cloudy broken-down version of Flandre. The buildings were the same size and length, but each one of the buildings had shattered windows, missing doors, and makeshift ceilings made of wood.

I think this is what was called a mirrored world. I had only read about their existence in books, but they were supposedly warped versions of places that existed on our continent.

In the streets of the city, what looked like a fight between a demon and a beastkin was happening.

The demon looked to be a boy who was about 183cm in height and had fair skin and red eyes with slits. He was pummeling a beastkin who looked to be a Catboy on the ground. If no one stepped in and did anything the Catboy would die.

Noticing this I used some very weak wind magic to blow the demon off the beastkin. Vasati turned to me in surprise as we were supposed to be keeping a low profile, but I had decided that I just couldn’t look past it.

“Thank you, miss.” The Catboy rose to his feet and I swiftly casted some healing magic on him.

He had bruises all over his face and scrapes on his knees and elbows.

“What the hell are two fighting about?” I asked, slightly frustrated.

“It’s my fault… my father sold him some fake medicine that was supposed to heal his mother. He spent all the money he earned from killing monsters in the fields to purchase it.” He said pausing between sobs.

“I see…” I said to myself.

“Two kids fighting to the death in the middle of the street and no one is here to stop it? What the hell is this place?” My thoughts wandered on the matter until the demon kid got up and started approaching me slowly.

“Oi. Older sis, why are you interrupting us?” The demon boy was about 10 steps from me before Vasati tried to stand in front, but I waved her off.

“Kid, put some of that strength into benefiting the Demon race,” I said with a smile.

“Please save me the bullshit, they don’t care about us. We’re cursed.” The demon boy showed me a black mark on his neck that seemed to be spreading to their face and their body. It was what was known as Mana Drain Syndrome.

Every being in the world gives off Mana, the essence of all magic power. The planet also multiplies this Mana by absorbing the mana that all life forces give off and sending it back out.

However, in certain areas for some reason, the planet seems to do the opposite and drain the Mana of life forces in the area. Mana is needed for survival so beings that have their mana continuously drained will lose pigmentation in their face and begin to have black sores appear all over their bodies.

This knowledge was not completely understood until about 75 years ago, so it makes sense why Inhumans living in the slums don’t know about it.

So, this was the sickness that King Azziros was keeping hidden from all of us.

"Mana Drain Syndrome..." Vasati whispered into my ear.

“I know, I’ll handle it,” I responded to her and turned back to the demon.

“Kid follow me, and we will put your talents to use and heal your sickness,” I said as I extended my arm.

“I’m not following you. My mother taught me not to talk to strangers.” He responded and began backing away from me.

“Ahhhh, that makes sense. Glad that teaching is staying true in this world.” I thought to myself.

“Fine then.” I pulled my purse out of my shadow storage and handed him a pouch of gold with a white talisman.

“That will help you buy medicine for you and your family, and that Talisman will allow you to summon me if you ever change your mind,” I said with a smile.

“What’s in it for you?” He said as he snatched the pouch out of my hand quickly.

“Well, if you join my group and receive the proper training, I think you will be a very valuable addition eventually.” I warmly smiled at him.

“I’ll consider it and ask my mom first.” He said as he turned away from me and ran off in the opposite direction.

The Catboy shortly said his thanks and scampered off as well.

“He didn’t even say thank you,” Vasati said with a somewhat surprised look on her face.

"He didn't disclose his name either. Chances are, we won't cross paths with him again..." I shrugged nonchalantly and retrieved Haru's map once more.

“Now let's see how we're gonna get to this hideout.” I pondered as I gazed at the map.

“Just use your blood magic thing,” Vasati responded lazily.

“If I use it too much, I’ll need to drink blood and I didn’t bring any extra blood packets with me today.” I sulked.

“You can drink my blood then,” Vasati responded merrily.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why”

“Your blood is different…” I said as I turned away from her and continued to attempt to follow the map.

“Does it taste that bad?” Vasati said feeling dejected.

It was the complete opposite. When Vampires drink blood the taste is determined by the following factors, the relationship you both have, the amount of magic power they have, and their blood type.

I love Vasati, she has some of the highest recorded magic powers in the entire country and she has an O blood type which is the sweetest in this world. She is honestly the final boss for all of Vampires. I was worried that if started to suck her blood I would get so addicted to it I wouldn’t be able to stop.

“Vasati, It’s actually the opposite. I don’t wanna hurt you, so if I suck your blood I don’t know If I’ll be able to stop.” I expressed my worry sincerely.

“That’s how you feel, then why don’t we practice sometimes.” She suggested.

“Practice?” I replied questioningly.

“Yeah. If we practice from time to time that won’t be a problem, right?” She asked.

“I guess…” I responded in awe at her suggestion.

“Then it’s decided. I wouldn’t want my wife to be running off sucking blood from other people after all.” Vasati's tone flickered with a bit of jealousy.

Suddenly I felt a blue pillar of light appear around Vasati and me.

“Transportation Crystal?” I spoke.

“Looks like it,” Vasati responded.

After a few seconds of the endless bright blue light, we were surrounded by hundreds of figures in violet cloaks and fox-style masks.

As we stood in the middle of the crowd three figures walked through the crowd that I remembered very well.

All three of them took off their masks, revealing Haru, Claire, and Rina.

Haru had grown what looked like 183cm tall her long beautiful silver hair had remained the same, but her iris of white had changed to a more sinister-looking black. Her old Golden amour was replaced by a jet black with violet stripes.

“Welcome to Phantom Gloom, Princesses.”