Forgotten

Their landing caused less of a stir than Aperio had expected as the people nearby simply took their presence in stride, making the small detour to walk around the two Goddesses. Maybe if I still had the sword out they would've have noticed. It only took her a moment to figure out why the people were paying less attention than one would think to a winged Elf that broke the stone upon which she landed. Many of the passersby were talking to each other; low murmurs about the System message they had all received.

Aperio herself did not know how much it really mattered. Some people were talking about how it would topple some kingdoms who did not allow people to view their [Status], others just brushed it off as a gift from the Gods for their continued belief, and some were talking about a war amongst the Gods that was sure to come. Natio had already been cast down, after all.

All in all, the change seemed to have little impact on the people of the world. The festivities were still ongoing, though not as loud as when she had first entered the city. Maybe I got used to it? Now that she had reminded herself of the noise, it was starting to grate her ears again. Louder than it had been before. Why did I have to do this to myself?

After a slight shake of her head, Aperio gave a nod to her daughter who turned around and started to walk towards the entrance of the building. As they made their way through the crowd, Aperio could not help but notice that the people always stepped out of their path – her path. Whenever someone was in her way, they would move aside without seeming to realise it themselves. How does that work? Is it my aura? She shook her head again at the thought. No, that usually attracts the attention of everyone.

Asking Ferio through a very light magical touch only resulted in a mental shrug: she did not know why it happened, only that it did. There was also a tinge of amusement in the reply, as apparently her daughter found her confusion to be a source of entertainment. Weirdly enough, the knowledge elicited no feeling of disgust or wrong, and also failed to agitate the murderous part of her mind. Because she is my daughter? ...No.

She could only heave a mental sigh at her own reactions; or lack thereof. It would be too easy if I just knew why some things are disgusting and others need to be eradicated, wouldn't it?

Further thoughts were stopped as Ferio slowed down to walk beside her mother. "I would ask you to let me do the talking? I assume you do not want to stand out, and your voice would alert pretty much everyone here," she said, briefly pausing before continuing. "Unless of course you want to be swarmed by mortals who want to use your strength to delve deeper than they could alone."

For a brief moment she considered it, just to see what would happen. But the idea of using someone in such a way – using someone simply for her own amusement, even though it might benefit them as well – sat poorly with her, and in the end Aperio decided against it. She would rather explore the dungeon with her daughter alone, their reason for coming too personal to share with just anyone. The winged Goddess gave a sharp nod and a small mental acknowledgement. There was, however, another question that came to her mind. Won't they question why we want to explore a dungeon without supplies or even armour?

She relayed her thought to Ferio who simply waved her off. A moment later Aperio wanted to smack herself for forgetting about the existence of storage magic. Her Void might be special, but as far as storing things was concerned it should not be too different from what the mortals used. It even looks similar, at least to what Ira used. With her question answered, the pair continued to move through the sea of people that parted in front of them.

It wasn't long before they reached the door that lead inside the building. Flanking it were two guards who managed to look bored despite being fully covered in armour. One of them fixed their gaze onto the winged Goddess as she passed, only returning to watching the masses outside after they had been given a nudge by their colleague. Aperio herself was not certain if their actions were due to the presence of her wings, or due to the nudging guard having recognized her aura as the one blanketing the entire city with mana. Or perhaps people already know how I look and they recognised me as a Goddess? Whatever the reason for the prolonged stare was did not matter, as the guard made no move to follow them or otherwise impede their progress.

The interior of the building was not what Aperio had expected. She thought it would be like the one Ira had led her to in the village, with a notice board and a place to the side where people could accept the quests they picked. And, perhaps, a bar.

That, however, was not the case here. The floor was clean and made from what Aperio had to guess was some form of marble. Large, evenly spaced pillars made of glowing material both held the roof aloft and lit up the regions of the hall the massive ceiling windows could not reach. Overall, it reminded the winged Goddess more of the Emperor's palace than a guild branch.

Some features did stop the memories from charging to the forefront of her mind. There was a notice board, though calling it a notice wall would be more apt as the entire left side of the room they had entered was filled with various pieces of paper and parchment. Some of them she could not read, but most of them were written in a slightly different version of the Common she knew. It took a bit of effort to read the script, but in the end, it was an easy enough task.

The other side, the one they were currently walking towards, held a large row of counters that each had a person in a white and blue uniform sitting behind them and a long line of people waiting to be serviced in front. How long will we have to wait?

Her question was answered when Ferio simply ignored the lines and waved down another person in the blue-white uniform. Before the staff member could ask what she needed, Ferio produced a small red and gold coin with the marking of the [Guides] on it that she handed over. The person's eyes went wide for a second before he quickly nodded and said: "Please, follow me!"

Aperio could not help but raise an eyebrow at the exchange. Do we just get to go in? The man lead them into a small room behind the row of counters. There, they found a Dwarfen man in a slightly fancier version of the guild uniform, sitting behind a rather ornate-looking desk. The small sign reading 'Guild Master Diveon' that sat upon the table answered the question of who he was and what he did. Wordlessly, the staff member placed the coin Ferio had given him in front of the guild master after which he gave a bow and left the room, closing the door behind him.

"It is not everyday someone hands out a boon from the [Guides]," the Dwarf said, briefly inspecting the piece of metal before placing it in a drawer of his desk. "What can the guild do for you?"

"Core removal."

The man raised an eyebrow at her words. "Another try so soon? I won't complain; if you find a way to remove this cursed thing, I would be a happy man." His gaze shifted to Aperio, looking her up and down with an expression that caused Aperio to slightly tilt her head.

She felt a pull on the mana in her well, more pronounced than the tiny ones that had not stopped ever since she had unwittingly re-enabled the System. Following the tug would have been an easy task for her, but one she did not need in this case. She knew the Dwarf was responsible. Not knowing what he had tried, Aperio squinted at him and tried to replicate the feeling that the pull had brought.

In response to her attempt, a small window came into existence above the man's head.

Aperio tilted her head at the text. What did he see? She had a feeling that he saw nothing, but she did not know for sure. Something to ask Ferio about once we are alone.

"I assume you do not need the guild to provide guards or supplies?" he continued, focusing back on Ferio and showing no surprise at what he may or may not have seen.

Ferio lightly shook her head at his question. "The only thing we require is a token."

"Ah, yes, that won't be a problem," he said, eyeing the two Goddesses again. "I doubt we have anyone on staff that would be capable of stopping either of you anyway."

The statement did not make sense to Aperio. Why would they need to stop us? She wanted to ask her daughter but shelved the thought when the Dwarf pulled out two metal cards that he placed on his desk.

"Should any member of the guild try to deny entry to the next floor, show them these. And please, remember that they are simply doing their job."

The winged Goddess tilted her head ever so slightly at his words. Does he expect us to just kill them? Why does everyone always assume that?

"Of course," Ferio replied, taking the tokens from his desk. "We will be on our way, then."

The meeting hadn't made much sense to Aperio, even if she understood its general purpose, and the entire experience had left her more confused. They apparently needed the tokens to get inside the dungeon and proceed further down. But didn't Ferio say that most people don't make it past the sixtieth floor? Her confusion was apparently evident as she felt the familiar touch of her daughter's magic, telling her that it was simply something she did to skip the hours of waiting in line.

Aperio just shook her head and took the token offered by her daughter. The small metal card felt light and flimsy in her hand, ready to break should she accidentally grasp it a bit too hard. I suppose most things will feel like this, won't they? With a wave of her hand she deposited the token in her Void; should someone want to see it, she could just take it back out.

Outside the guild master’s office they were greeted by the man that had first led them there. He offered another bow, before he motioned them to follow. Some people turned to look at them but quickly turned back to their previous tasks. A visit to the guild master’s office was apparently not something that out of the ordinary. As they made their way towards a big staircase – one that led downwards, with a sign reading 'Dungeon Entrance' above it – Aperio also couldn't help but notice that they were not the only ones heading in that direction wearing casual clothing.

The stairs were long, almost unnaturally so, and straight. Their steps echoed despite Aperio’s lack of footwear. Much like the stairwells in the dungeon she had first emerged into, the stones here were made from something that gave her a more solid impression that most anything she had seen thus far. I think I can break them now, though. As soon as they reached the bottom, Aperio felt a change in the atmosphere surrounding them.

The feeling caused her to breathe in deeply, letting the air fill her lungs. It felt alive somehow, bringing something to her being that she had been missing before. A sense of calm, reminiscent of the Void while not quite being the same. It only took her a moment to figure out what she felt.

The air inside the dungeon was laced with mana – her mana.

It reacted to her presence, leaning towards her as though it were eager to rejoin its mistress, but in a manner reminiscent of a dog straining at the end of its leash something was holding it back. Almost like something was trying to keep it away from her. She wanted to grasp the thing that was fighting her but, much like the times she tried to pull her mana through a shard of a dungeon core, every time she thought she might have it the connection suddenly slipped out of her mental grasp.

With each breath she took, Aperio seemed to find more and more subtle reasons to agree with the part of herself that she tried to keep buried. The part that called for her to destroy whatever it was that dared to keep her from what was her own. The notion was only reinforced when something she could only describe as a feeling of hostility settled over them.

Ferio, too, seemed to notice the change, giving her mother a questioning look before she seemed to realise what was causing it. The mortal that was guiding them showed no reaction to the change, either not noticing it or thinking it to be a natural occurrence. He led them the last few steps towards an open archway, bowed once again and wished them good luck on their journey, then swiftly left.

Aperio, in her current state, could not help but glare at the hallway that lead further into the dungeon. On a certain level, one she did not one hundred percent understand, she knew that the way it was trying to claim her mana as its own was wrong. She also knew that, however it was accomplishing this feat, it was something that could not be allowed to continue.

With the thought of reclaiming what was rightfully hers, she summoned the fanatic's sword from her Void and took her first steps into the dungeon of Ebenlowe.

GamingWolf

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