Nile hated two things in his life.
First of all, ignorance. He became a historian because he wanted to study the past and its wonder. His father thought he was just joking around until he started to work as a history teacher, a job very few cared about. People had too much to think about, too many thing to pay attention to, so they decided to forfeit what they cared the lest about. The population started to forget the important of history, morality and philosophy. He deeply despite that. Those who forget the past will step on the same mistake over and over again. Like when people started to think farcist was a good idea and started another war with it.
Secondly, and the thing he hated the most: authority. Nile wasn't an anarchist, he just simply hated the system and how society changed in his time. In the 20th century, people fought for freedom and independence. All of that got dethroned as soon as 21st century passed by and the world turned into a poorly written cyberpunk fiction. The only thing it lacked was a Night City. Corpo ruled their city like lords of medieval times. The board cared little to none about their worker, whose life was worse than that of a Roman slave. His father might as well be the pinnacle example. Heck, his entire family was. The only reason he managed to stay 'sane' instead of becoming a CEO who viewed his subordinates as slaves because he managed to inherited some of his grandfather's dignity.
When he saw how Karak acted in front of him, he felt disgusted, which was weird since most of his feeling was null. He felt like he was back in his childhood days, when his father's subordinates tried to get on his good side so that their chances of promotion could be improved. He couldn't understand his family at all, how could they chat about their stupid stories while a dozen of men and woman bowed before them? His father didn't even give a single damn when he decided to cut his worker's payment under the minimum amount just to save some money.
To be honest, Karak acted almost the same as how Nile wrote his lore, which interested him greatly. But he swore that he never added any parts where the dragonborn would refer to him as 'master' or 'sire'. In name, he was the guild master, but in truth, he was more of a administrator who direct the flow of things so that it could work properly. But for some reason, in the eyes of the NPC, he was some kind of divine being.
Karak kneeled in front of him, head close to the ground.
"My Sire, please pardon my daughter's rudeness. I can't believe that she would do something like this."
Said daughter, Madary, was also on her knees, whole body shook like a small animal in a lion den.
"No need to apologize, it was my fault, I scared her. You can stand up now, both of you."
Reluctantly, Karak slowly stood up. Madary turned to her father, his eyes scolded her. But the girl soon stood up, eyes on the ground, didn't dare to look at Nile. He could see her eyes peeked him, which managed to make him feel uncomfortable.
"So, how long has it been? A year? A decade?" Nile tried to change his tone to a friendlier kind, he hoped that it could put them at ease, or at least break the ice between them. But the dragonborn kept his attitude the same.
"My Sire, it has been a century since your departure. As loyal servants of the Archive, we have done all we can to keep this place safe and waited for your return. Now that glorious day has come, please, My Sire, let this servant stood by your side once more."
As the last words escaped his mouth, Karak started to kneel on one knee, but Nile stopped him before his knee hit the ground.
"Don't kneel, my friend. Please… just don't."
Karak was beyond confused. Soon, the confusion turned into embarrassment as he was ashamed to not understand his master's will.
"Of course, My Sire. Pardon this poor servant for my misbehavior."
Then, he started to stand on all four, his head hit the ground.
"MY SIRE! PLEASE LET ME SERVE YOU ONCE MORE!"
If Nile still had his emotion, he would be fuming and started to kick Karak out of the room. But he managed to remain calm. Nile kneeled down and put his hand on Karak's shoulder, helped him stand up.
Even more confused, Karak's eyes meet the cold, eerie stare of Nile's 'eyes'.
"Don't. Do anything. Like that. Again."
Nile sat down, rested his head on his hand.
"Like I said, no worshipment, no praising. There is no servants and masters here, just me and you. Old friends."
He took a long sigh, or more correctly a long exhaust of steam. His vision darted from the young lady to the ancient dragonborn.
"Anyway, a century already? Time fly by, huh?"
Nile hoped that he actually had been gone for that long. He remembered that just a day earlier, he was with them. But he decided to play along.
"So she is your daughter? Madary, was it?"
Madary stood between the two beings, didn't sure what she should do. On one hand, it was the first time she saw her father acted like this. On the other hand, she still couldn't comprehend the fact that a Master, one of the gods she had heard of was there in front of her. When Nile said her name, she almost jumped.
"Yes, My Sire-"
"Karak, please, don't use honorific."
"My lord-"
Another sigh, Nile put both hands on his head. At least, he can think that Karak was using the Old English version, which actually reflected his job in the Archive a bit more accurately.
"Please continue."
Karak gulped, tried to think of appropriate words to say. He rarely spoke to his master, even in the most glorious days of the Loreseekers, so he could only learn Creed's manner of speaking since among the servants, he was the most 'regal' one. When he though about it, that could be a mistake since the mimic's Master was sir Revery404, not Lord Nile. Lord Nile and sir Revery were like two different polar of a magnet, wildly different from each other, yet, they got along. But clearly their preference was much more severally.
"My lord, this is Madary, my daughter."
"Does she have any siblings?"
"No, my lord."
"I see. Madary, may you introduce yourself?"
Stuttered, the young dragon shifter spoke.
"M-my lord. I am Madary, d-daughter of Karak Bahamut and Freya Bahamut, m-maid of the Dragon Den."
"Maid? When did the Dragon Den need a maid?"
While he was only curious, his passive aggressive tone didn't help him much in expressing what he wanted to said.
Madary heard his words, it was clear.
"Maid? When did the Dragon Den need a maid?"
Cold steel voice, hollow and filled with disappointment. Her mother had used it to talk to her when she messed up. His gaze pierced her soul, as if he wanted her to disappear out of his sight.
"M-My lord. I am the suc-successor of my mother. It is my d-duty to take care of your cha-chamber."
His gaze didn't leave her, instead, she could feel it intensified as if she did something unpleasing to him. Madary tried to hold her tears and faced him. Eyes meet eyes.
She hoped she didn't do that.
The orbs of light, bright yet very cold, observed her entire being, as if they wanted to rip her out and find all of her secrets. The dreadful aura returned, her body shudder under the pressure.
"I see…"
Madary hoped she could understand his emotion, but nothing could help her achieve that.
As Nile turned his gaze away, Madary let out her breathe, tried to calm herself.
Nile still couldn't finger out when did he put a maid into the Den. Oddly enough, he did remember having Freya in his chamber sometime in the past, but she was one of the NPC the girls created, not his. Freya was made as a joke by them. They knew that he hate maids, the memed ones, not the historical ones, how he could easily be annoyed by children and how much he loved dragons. So they put a loli dragon maid in his chamber from time to time just to spite him. Despite that, he didn't really care about what they did to her or just about any they did at all unless it was related to guild's business. Each section was given a fixed amount of resources to work with, they were allowed to create anything they wanted, he had no right to interfere into their personal things.
Still, he couldn't find out the reason why there was a maid in the Den. Could it be that during the party, one of them decided to put Freya into the Den as one last prank to him?
Regardless, he started to feel a weird excitement in him. After all, everything changed and he was only away for a day or so, at least to him. He just wish that they won't make any charade or celebration.
"Karak, can you tell me how is everything in the Vault nowadays?"
"Yes, of course, my s… My lord."
A few years after the departure of their Master, the denizens of the Vault found themselves alone without a clear reason. They moved on, but parts of them was left hollow.
This was the reason why many clung to the past, through their Master's belongings. They started to gathered together, created 'clubs'. The 'clubs' slowly grew, until they eventually became a religion. They claimed the guild meeting room as their holy ground, build churches and altars around the Vault, even reached the Pressure Chamber. To most of the denizens, they were good folks, and their beliefs was welcomed. The children of the Vault was taught about the greatness of their Master through them. The glories of the Loreseekers, their holy knowledge and power were all they preached about.
Freya was reluctant about them at first, mostly due to the leader of the church. Sister Ero was Lord Chokeon's personal companion. Unlike the rest of the NPC, she wasn't created in the Vault but through a special mean by Lord Chokeon's power. And the relationship between Lord Chokeon, Lord Nile and the Valkyries wasn't the best. She was one of the daughters of the Valkyries, and a servant of Lord Nile. To her, the existence of Sister Ero was something wicked, alien. But as time passed on, they got along. Freya even started to pray in their churches.
It was a normal day. She kneeled before the painting of Lord Nile. To her, he was like a father, while the Valkyries was her mothers. When they left, lady Miku gave her the duty of the caretaker of the Dragon Den. Then, she passed it on to her daughter. The young girl was naïve, but she proved to be a capable maid. Freya stepped back to take care of the outer regions of the Den.
She was happy with her life. A loving husband, an adorable daughter and a fulfilling duty. She pity those who came back to the dust. Her sisters, the Lizard King, even those from the Pressure Chamber.
As she was ready to leave, the sound of heavy footstep echoed across the church. The sound of broken ceramic and the smell of burned wood started to fill the air. Outside of the church, an army marched in and destroyed everything on their path.
The warforged, the hammers of the Forge. Living constructs made of metal and wood, blessed with the soul of Asgard and the fire of the Eldritch Forge. Each one of them were both an artisan and a warrior, strong enough to compete with dragons. Led the army was someone she didn't expected to see.
A.U, the guardian of the Vault. A hulking titan made of pure metal. Big enough to dwarf even the biggest iron golems, powerful enough to make an elemental ran away from him. The warforged titan body looked like a turtle shell, with a heavy carapace on his back. Both hands, each had three fingers, held a giant sledgehammer.
The unstoppable army crushed the church, with enough care to not harm anyone inside of it. But regardless, their action was greatly opposed.
Those with the church repelled against them. The situation slowly escalated, to the point Ero had to intervene. The angel landed on a warforged, pinned them to the ground.
"A.U, what is the meaning of this?"
The titan slowly turned his whole body to the angel as his head was hung in the middle part of his body. Red eyes hid behind the wielding mask stared at her.
"Ero… stop church… no one hurt…"
"And why should I do that? My church didn't do anything to you or to your Master."
And even if they did, to A.U it was just trivial things. The titan didn't care much about what happened outside of the Forge unless it was related to the Forge to some degree. The only time he left his workshop were when he made monthly checks on the infrastructure of the Vault. If they antagonized his Master, he would react, but not as extreme as this. Yet here they were, the Titan had unleashed the might of the Forge upon the church.
"Karak… order… A.U… do…"
Freya raised her eyebrows as her husband name was mentioned. Karak wasn't fond of the church since they got a lot of things wrong about Lord Nile, but he wouldn't do anything like this. He knew that the church was needed because there were those who couldn't get over their loses and the next generation needed to know their origin. So him ordering A.U to attack them was just as strange as the attack itself. And even if it was Karak who ordered A.U, the warforged would only do it if he found it necessary. Then there was also Creed. Other than Karak, Creed was the one with the highest authority in the Vault, his eyes and ears were everywhere, he would stop A.U immediately, unless he also aggreeded with them.
Regardless, the situation didn't seem to get any better soon. Freya quickly helped the weaker ones get out of the church before the clashing between the two forces resumed.
"Karak? If that lizard wants to mess with us then he should get here by himself!"
"Karak… busy… important… problems…"
Ero raised her staff up, the followers quickly gathered behind her.
"Blast those heathens away! Don't let them destroy this sacred ground!"
The warforged replied the warcry from the follower with a solemn silence. After that, two forces collided. A.U rushed forward, his hammer pushed all of his opponents away, but not strong enough to kill them. Out of all of the NPC, A.U was among the strongest physically despite his jobclass, which was focused heavily on creating items. A single swing of his hammer was enough to shatter a good portion of the church, and it was just the shock wave, not a direct hit. Ero's staff shone with radiant light.
"[Sunburst]!"
A bright flash filled the entire hall. Some of the warforged was blinded, made them easy targets for the followers, but the main threat didn't even flinched. A.U swung his hammer down, crushed a paladin's shield and knocked them unconscious.
One of his hand reached out, revealed an eldritch cannon underneath the armor. The cannon shot out a bolt of arcane energy, knocked a few more followers out of his way and destroyed another pillar of the church.
Angered, Ero became more aggressive with her spells. As a sorcerer, her magic could create lasting damage to the Vault if she wasn't careful.
"[Transmuted Spell]! [Chain Lightning]!"
A bolt of lightning came from the staff, arced toward the warforged titan. But instead of a surge of electricity, the place hit by the bolt was melted as if someone dropped acid on the metal. The bolt then leapt toward three more warforged, forced them to retreat. Even then, to the titan, it wasn't enough. His hammer aimed true toward the angel. Ero pulled out a scroll, readied to face the titan. As the hammer fell down, Ero opened the scroll, magic circles lit up and burned the leather scroll away. A shining guardian appeared and took the hit for her. Even to the celestial being was no match for the warforged as the astral being slowly cracked under the pressure of the hammer and shattered. But it was enough time for Ero to use one of her spell.
"[Heightened Spell]! [Time Stop]!"
A.U's hammer stuck mid air. His body slowed down until it stopped moving. Ero smirked. The warforged was also pushed back. They didn't want to harm anyone, which was their greatest mistake. The tide turned.
Or at least that was what supposed to happen. It was a shame that even after a century living with the denizens of the Vault, Ero haven't learned a thing about them. The warforged when pushed to the limit started to change their tactics and took the job more serious. A.U recovered from the effect of [Time Stop] way faster than Ero expected and continued his assault. The hulking warforged was designed to be the guardian of the Vault, not some lowly monster who could be stopped by a mere spell. Ero was knocked prone with a single haymaker punch for A.U.
Unlike other NPC, Ero wasn't part of the Vault, therefore, A.U had no reason to go easy on her. When the angel started to rise up, another hammer strike was already coming at her.
"[The Fine Game Of Nil]."
As words rang out, everything stopped. Fire immediately extinguished, bricks and rocks fell down softly to the floor. Hammers, swords and even magic stopped 'working'. Ero felt an odd sensation washed over her as everything in her life, her Master, her power, her church, everything, even the meaning of her life, returned to a single word. Nil.
Nothing mattered. Everything in the world was just parts of a greater machine called reality, of a game called life. A fine game, where everything returned to its origin at the end, return to nil.
A.U stopped. He returned to his inactive state, stood solemnly and observed the newcomer.
"My, my. Anyone wants to explain what happened here for me?"
Freya, even in her current 'nil' state, still recognize that voice. More importantly, that figure. The historical armor, the engraving, the aura of his. Her lord had returned.
Suddenly, she felt like the child she was almost a century ago.
Intrigued by what Karak told him, Nile decided to have a tour around the Vault, to see how thing was. The fact that the NPC which was just simple in the game had evolved to the point they started to make things on their own was already alluring, the existence of a whole new generation really made him stand up and look around. But a chaotic mess wasn't what he expected to see, especially near the guild's meeting room. He had to use one of his skill to stop them, which he glad that it did work as intended.
The crowd immediately cease and kneeled in front of him as soon as [The Fine Game Of Nil]'s effect was lifted. He could hear faint sobbing. With shaken voice, they said in harmony.
"LORD NILE, YOU HAVE RETURNED!"
Karak was more than enough for him. This crowd was too much, too overwhelming. Nile waved his hand, ordered them to stand up.
"Right, right. Now, may I ask what is the problem here?"
As he stepped forward, he realized that many of those who presented was… strange to him. Aside from some he recognized as the members of the Eldritch Forge and some of the maids, the rest was unrecognizable. Were they the next generation, or were they just got old?
Some of them caught his attention.
A.U, still the same hulking machine he was, but he could move into the Vault? Originally, A.U was tied to the Forge, which was like his 'boss lair'. But he was among them. Did the change from a game to a real thing lifted those restriction from him?
The other was a… nun? He thought she was a nun. Some of her features allowed him to recognize her as Ero, Chokeon's merc. He spent quite a fortune to make her and even stole some from the guild. Ero wasn't one of the NPC of the Vault, but he guessed that pervert must have put her in his room during the party. Seriously, his connection with World Searcher was valuable, but the sheer will and commitment he had to do what he wanted scared Nile sometimes.
The last one was a woman. A dragon shifter, matured and elegance. She looked similar to Madary, but with less scale on her. Could they be sister? Couldn't, Karak said that he only had one child. So she should be… No way, no damn way.
Nile approached the woman. She used her sleeve to wipe the tear off her face.
"May I ask… are you Freya?"
In his memory, Freya was just… a child. About 14 or 16, a short tomboy. She looked much more punkish. Most of the time they set her in the corner of the room and jumpscare him by make her use dance emotes or something like that. But to them, a long time had passed.
"Y-yes, my sire." She replied with a smile and a light bow. "Head maid Freya, at your service."
"Look at you, no longer a little girl, I see? I met your daughter, Madary. Who knows that the girl who hid in my chamber with a surprise would surprise me with this? You have my blessing."
When Freya heard her daughter's name, she turned to those behind him. Her daughter and her husband followed behind him.
"Now, I know that we have a lot to talk about, but first, may I know why you are here, fighting in front of the guild's meeting room? And what is this construct? One of your new decoration?"
If Karak could sweat like a rain, he would. Nile showed him clear and well that every act of worship, praising and even honor him without his allowance would anger him greatly. He exchanged eye contact with A.U, hoped that the warforged at least knew what he should and shouldn't do. But he worried more about Ero. That woman always bring trouble with her 'devotion'. If she wasn't Lord Chokeon's companion, he would use her as a broom to clean the Den.
"Lord Nile. May I have a word?"
Out of all of them, Ero was the only one who was indifferent about Lord Nile. This was like a thorn in Karak's eyes.
"No one stopping you from doing so, please, go on."
The word please came from him was enough to make them quiver, but to her, it was like a wind.
"We are here to celebrate a great event. Yet, those pieces of metal came in and broke down all of our decoration, ruined the festival. It would be for the best of our interest if they at least return to where they came from and let us live in peace."
Nile turned to the warforged. "Is that true?"
They looked at each other, one tried to say something, but decided to stay silent.
A.U had to intervene.
"Lord Nile… They… said the truth… We came… We attack… Celebration… noisy… decoration… disgrace… to the chamber…"
To be honest, Nile didn't mind some decoration. He was even more interested in what they made.
"Some harmless celebration wouldn't be a problem. But if you managed to attract those from the Forge, maybe some limit should be applied. You should clean this place up, then return to you works. Now, Freya, can you tell me about you? I guess that you have many things to say after all those years."
Nile left the area, the dragonborn family followed behind him.
As he left, the crowd cheered, praised their Master for his return.
The warforged realized that it might mean their duty had returned. They would miss the day at the tinkering with the tools, but their Master's order was above all. Before they left, A.U stared at Ero.
"You… don't speak… of church… Lord Nile… hate churches…"
"That, I don't need your concerns."
Hank sat in his office, his hand held a picture frame.
Inside the picture was two person. A woman in a stylized plague doctor outfit, quite revealing. The other was him, a flesh golem dressed in late 20th century doctor outfit. He had no eyes, a flaw he had but one given by the love of his life, so he had no reason to fix that. Instead of looking at it, his hand ran on the picture, he could 'feel' it. Her shape, her face. He remember the time they spend with each other. Sometime, they told him to let go. Unlike them, he couldn't, because his heart was in her hand all along.
The doctor sighed and hugged the picture. Could a golem feel love? Or was it just a loyalty programmed into his being? Regardless, she loved him. So even if his feeling for her wasn't originally his, he would make it his.
The sound from outside broke his day dream. Must be another child got lost in the hospital, or an emergency from some fighting. No matter, it was his duty to make sure they safe, not to care about why they ended up in this hospital. The only thing mattered at the moment was saving the patient, he didn't want to meet The Lady this soon in the year.
The door opened. Hank stepped out, observed the situation. The chaos wasn't from an emergency or some other stupid reason. It was from a man. People gave way for him, created two rows on the hall. All bowed before the man and his group. Hank took a moment to examine who was him. He wished that he dressed more formally.
With a smirk, Hank greeted one of his Master.
"Yo, Boss. Visiting this old hut? Ya want some tea?"
Nile offered a hand. Hank gave it a firm shook.
"Good to see you, doc."
Hank gave Nile a tour around the hospital. It was the bio team's lab before being repurposed and expanded into a facility.
Unlike the rest of the Vault, the hospital had a more decopunk vibe rather than medieval. This area was built by ~JustKD~ when the Vault was conquered to be used as her guild's operation area before the reform. Afterward, they used this place to experiments with potions and creatures. When they left, the NPC turned the place into a hospital.
"Doc, I though that your team are all healers? If that is true, then what purpose does this facility serve?"
Hank pointed at a room, labeled "obstetric".
"We found out we needed more than just healing, Boss. Pregnancy, surgery, and other kinds too. I can deal with most cases of injuries, but there is also problems about health rather than just injuries like nutrient intake, diseases, mental illness, some kiddo was choked once. So there was this one time when we have to take care of ten soon to be mother all at once, so I said f**k it and tried to rummage through Her library and tried to turn unused storage rooms and empty areas into patient rooms. And here we are."
"I see…"
From what Freya told him, Hank was also the godfather of quite a number of children in the Vault. He was also their teacher in biology and mathematic. Hard to think that a flesh golem could be that gentle to them.
Hank guided him into a lab behind the main area. Unlike the rest of the facility, this area was dark and had foul stench. As unpleasant as it was, the air was oddly refreshing and the smell left behind a sweet after taste.
Inside of the room was shelves after shelves of dried herbs, animal samples, potions of numerous kind and medical equipment.
Behind the shelves was another room.
This one was even darker than the last, with the only source of light being the luminescent mushrooms and a few glowing bottle.
A small figure, not bigger than a baby, stood on one of the table.
"Hey, Snake! Look who's here"
Hank rested on the door frame, pointed at Nile.
"A moment, please." The person called 'Snake' replied. They shook the bottle in their hand. Slowly, the blue potion turned into a bright red liquid. The person then reached to a panel on the wall.
Light filled the room, revealed a small fey, covered in a lab coat from their feet to above their chin. They wore a pair of thick experiment glasses.
"Boss's back." Hank smirked.
Nile couldn't see much behind all of the clothing on Snakeroot, but the fey was still, their glass like wings reflected the light. After a few seconds of silence, the fey bowed.
"Master Nile, what an honor to have you here at our humble laboratory."
"Ah, sorry for intruding. Are you working on something?"
"Just… a few experiments, sir. The kids said that the medicine was unpleasant so I tried to change its taste."
The potion they made was something similar to a greater healing potion, at least Nile though so.
"Tea, sir?" Snakeroot took a tea set out and brewed them on his table.
"This new brew was made for warforged, so I think you would like it too."
The fey brought to him a cup of green liquid with a sweet aroma.
With his passive [Appraise Item II], Nile recognized the 'tea' as a form of potion of mending. He took a sip through the visor of his helmet and felt the potion cleaned the dirt and small chipping from his armor.
"Thank you for the tea, Snakeroot. I appreciate it."
Hank oddly enough also drank it. Then he took out a cigar, put it in his mouth and lit it.
"Cig, Boss?" Hank offered him a cigar. Nile stared at Hank, until the flesh golem scratched his neck, giggled. "Sorry, boss. Force of habit."
Nile looked at the two of them. Hank was exactly what ~JustKD~ wanted in her partner, while Snakeroot reminded him of Z-Rẽn when the uptight boy was still his student. They both seemed to have a life of their own.
"So how have you two been doing?"
Behind the Med Bay was an cemetery. Originally, it was created for those who lost their important pets or something like that. Later, they used it to make a memorial for MyNameIsV. And when they left, the denizen of the Vault turned it into their cemetery.
Since quite a number of the Daughters were shifter, their years was numbered. The same applied to many more.
Freya brought flowers from the Evergarden with her. Madary helped her mother clean the gravestones. Hank guided Nile to the area. They stood under the rain, one of V's last wish was to be able to dance in the rain. It was the least they could do for her.
Nile hated this place. It brought back memories he didn't want to think of.
Hank put on his fedora and helped the maids clean the cemetery, despite the rain. He put his hand on a gravestone, a nameless one, with only a simple cross on it.
"Boss, I know that it would be hard for ya to relate to us, since living to you is more of a concept. But sometime, I hoped that I could save them, at least, some. Heck, this boy wasn't even born, yet... he is here."
Hank put his fedora on his chest and bowed at the nameless grave.
"Had to clean her mind afterward. Couldn't bear the news. Cleaned the name too, so that it wouldn't remind her of him. If only I knew that it was that hard, I would act faster."
Nile couldn't really understand all of what Hank said, but judging from the expression of those presented, he could get some ideas about what happened.
"Is that why you build the hospital?"
Hank slowly nodded. With a sigh, he put his fedora back on.
Freya stepped forward and gave Nile the flowers. He put one on each graves. Names he knew, names he hadn't heard of. Nameless graves. Old graves. New graves.
Each had a cause of death written on it, put not all was filled. Some was of old age. Others unknown.
Did he feel anything? Hardly. But he knew that he should at least have or show some sympathy. He clapped two hands together, prayed that the dead could be free.
"When my sister was on her bed, she wished that she could met her mother once more." Freya whispered.
Could he even meet his guildmate again? That, he couldn't be certain of.
Looked at the graves, he wondered if one day he would be the one who guide them to one.
The Vault was separated into seven different areas.
The Eldritch Forge, where the guild's craftsman resided at.
The Dragon Den, where they most of the documents and resources.
The Evergarden, the guild's own farm.
The Valkyries's Domain, created by the guild's female members.
The Med Bay, where the guild stored their potions, medical herbs and monster samples.
The General Area, where the guild's meeting room, internal library, armory and other miscellaneous utility chambers were located in.
The Eldritch Vault, the base's original area. The Loreseeker turned it into their treasury.
Out of all of the area, Nile visited four of them. The rest he decided that he would pay them a visit later. From what he heard, the Pressure Chamber outside of the Vault also had its own denizens and turned into a town. The Domain became a residential area.
He was surprised by how much the warforged managed to create, despite their cold and logical mind. He also had to calm them down when they thought that he wanted them to return the Forge to its original form. The changes of the Med Bay was unexpected since he thought that with magic, medical problem wouldn't require as much as it was in real life, but as Hank put it, he wasn't a living creature, therefore it was normal for him to forget how complicated life could be. Honestly, it was his own fault for being short sighted.
He returned to the Dragon Den, have a chat with the new (to him) dragonborn families, especially Karak's. He met his old steed, saw the dragons came to life, he wished that he still had the excitement he used to feel when he saw dragons.
Which also brought him to where he was. Nile stood in front of a giant cave within the Dragon Den. What inside of the cave? His current concern.
While Nile soon realized that the denizens of the Vault were friendly toward him, a bit too much to be honest, but friendly nonetheless. But the thing inside of the cave? Not much hope was given.
From within the cave, a pair of gem like eyes stared at him.
"We see that you have returned…" Metallic voices echoed from deep within the cave.
"And I see that you are still doing well." Nile replied. He was gambling with his life.
"Well? No so much. His present… weaken. Still here, but… not here? We confused for decades."
"And now?"
"Still. But you have answers, no? This land, not Asgard, not on the world tree. Where? You know? You don't?"
"For your question, maybe Messier can answer it. I can't."
"The monkey? Century passed. Hasn't left the Vault. Can't ask him. Now, why are you here? We curious."
Nile got straight to the problem. "I want to know who side will you be on."
"Sides? There are no sides. His commands, weak here. Your commands, branded by the Creators and Him, strong here. You are the master, from the moment we was brought back to life. He agreed, and so must we."
That settled it, he guessed?
"But what about you? Don't you… want freedom? I though he taught you about that?"
"He taught us of order. And order must be upheld. So we stay. What are your commands?"
Tsaindorcus Vaision, the proud Platinum Dragon Lord of the Central Region, for the third time of his life, felt powerless.
The first time was when he met his mentor, Lord Letum Los Malvar.
The second time was when he tried to stop his father.
The third? Against that thing.
When the creature started to demand him to speak to it, he was irritated. He breathed out a stream of lightning to the thing. It should be perished, instead, it stood still as if that wasn't even a scratch to it. Sensed something was wrong, he attacked the thing. It was his mistake.
The thing shouted out some kind of spell, which was impossible. Such ability was only used by Dragon Lords such as himself. Yet, that thing could. The next thing he knew, he was on the sky. And a moment later, the creature appeared out of nowhere and their battle began. What happened next was hazy to him.
When he woke up, he was inside some kind of structure, one he saw in the cave he guarded.
But that wasn't his greatest concern, the bigger problem was the existence of that thing. Could it be something from this place? Could it be one of his father's summon?
"You are up? Great, that cut out a lot of things."
The dragon turned to the source of the voice. It had returned.
… With a an object.
… And a giant moose?
"Sorry for going too hard on you. Are you hungry? I brought something with me."
It put the object down, sat on it then pushed the moose to him.
He looked at the moose, then to the creature.
They stared at each other.
"So… you aren't hungry?"
Tension rose. Finally, the Dragon Lord snarled.
"What are you?"
"Oh great, you still can talk. For a moment, I thought that you can't. The name's Nile, Nile Hilt."
"I didn't ask your name, foul creature! I want to know what you are!"
"Oh, as in what kind? Then I am a living armor, or you can just call me a warforged, what ever suit you."
'What is a warforged?' The dragon thought, confused. By the shape of the thing, it was akin to that of one of those monkey, the human. But its body was covered in metal like the dragons. And what frighten him even more was that he couldn't sense any life force coming from it. Could it be one of his mentor's minion?
An odd light radiated from the thing as it whispered, startled him.
"What did you just do?!" The dragon roared.
"Nothing much. Now that you asked me, may I ask you something, Tsaindorcus Vaision?"
As the thing spoke his name, the dragon knew that this thing wasn't just a simple creature like he thought it was.
'Tsaindorcus Vaision, prince of the dragon. The legendary Platinum Dragon Lord, son of the Emperor and disciple of Letum Los Malvar, Lord of Death. A rebellious child who defied his father? Swore to protect the mystical power from his father's claw?'
[Legend Lore] was one of Nile's favorite spells. He was more of a lore lover than a fighter, so when he heard that this spell existed, he tried to get it as soon as possible. To put it simply, the spell had little to no effect in fighting and created solely for those who wanted to dig into the lore of the game. What it did was that it reveal some of the 'lore' of a legendary figure, which included any players or monster from level 80 or above if they had 'legendary deed'. If a creature or an object was related to a legend or was a legend by itself, he could also read it. Normally, this spell might take hours to use. But the dragon was in front of him, so it only took him a few minutes.
But still, there were many thing he didn't know about when he learned of the dragon's 'lore', but it was enough to give him some advantage when he converse with it.
One of the thing he didn't expect was that he was that he had to deal with a rebellious teenager.
"So, tell me, what is your side of the story? Why are you here?"
Nile waited for a response. Only to see the dragon's eyes focused on him.
He hoped that he still have [The Fine Game Of Nil], but he couldn't use it until the next morning came.
"If you don't want to say anything, fine. But don't break anything here, okay?"
Nile left. The dragon's gaze stayed on him until the shape of the warforged gone from a flash of light as he teleported back to his chamber.
The dragon smelled the moose and took a bite. Then another. He devoured the pile of meat.
When he had his strength back, the only who asking question would be him.
Deep within the chasm of the Vault, a gate made of metal and magic blocked the pathway between the outside world and the Eldritch Vault.
Within the chamber, laid a library. The celling was a glass dome, lit with hundred of small orbs of light, created a star map above. Below, shelves of books and scrolls created a maze around the center of the chamber. In the center, was a round table. The table was covered by pieces of parchments, papers and bottles of ink. Sat on the table was a monkey.
The monkey dressed in a taoist outfit, with a veil covered its face. The silk made up the clothes was decorated with constellations and star maps. The monkey hummed a mystical tune while its hand constantly wrote lines after lines of magic circles and words on paper.
"So, the Vigil One had returned to his hoard. And those abandoned could see their gods again. Can the Formless One reply?"
A book fell from the shelf. Soon, teeth, tentacles and spike came out of it. Its shape changed, warped, until it resembled a man in white cloak and metal mask.
The figure cracked their neck. "Must thee speak in that way?"
"Stranded we are. Stranded he is. We are stuck in this foreign world as the world tree died. But as the old died a new one grow. And as the new one rises, so will our master."
"In other word, thee want me to pay, my debt?"
"Precisely, as I have foresighted it to be."
"Betting with thou never was a good experience."
Author's Note:
Finally, a new chapter! F**k college!
