Hey everybody, back with another chapter. Just wanted to remind people that, as I am changing perspective, that the XX in the chapter represent scene changes and the three dots represent a passage of time.
Hope you all enjoy! -EG

Chapter 8 The Girl in the Dungeon

Riveria groaned as she moved from a lying to a sitting position. She had a long and restless night, maybe scraping three hours total. She wanted nothing more than to get back under the comfortable blankets that were strewn across her bed.

With a great deal of effort she managed to stand, leaving and taking a shower. After which she felt a sliver more awake, "Right, gotta get back into that dungeon."

After stretching out her body a fair bit and strapping her armor on, she made her way downstairs unsurprised to find Goddess Dia already in the kitchen preparing some breakfast, 'Does she ever really sleep?' Riveria couldn't help but wonder. It was after all only 5:45.

"Morning," Riveria voiced out as she watched her petite goddess shift around through the kitchen.

Dia's long black hair twirled around her and she turned to face Riveria, "Morning! Going into the dungeon today I see." A hint of severity entered her exposed eye. "Here eat up, but just remember to be careful out there. You never know what dangers are around every corner."

"I will." A soft smile grew on Riveria's lips. Despite the obvious nature of the request Riveria still found it heartwarming to hear.

With the basic breakfast finished, Riveria stood and cleaned her plate and returned it to storage, "Well I suppose it's time I want to get in there before it gets too late." Dia nodded in understanding and shifted to enjoy the small tea cup she had produced during breakfast.

Before Riveria could get to the oaken door that led outside a voice called out. "Riveria!" The voice was almost a shout as it bounced off the walls.

"Ryu?" Riveria echoed back, surprised by the volume. She had never heard Ryu speak so loudly.

An exhausted Ryu almost stumbled out of the hallway, carrying a pair of items.

"I… wanted to… make sure you got these before going into the dungeon." Ryu seemed to have to catch her breath for the first few words.

She held out in a hand, that was minutely shaking, the sheath for the sword I had picked out yesterday. "A friend of mine had once said 'Never leave your blade unsheathed for too long. Otherwise, you'll grow dull.' Although she didn't mean a blade it fits I think." Ryu chuckled slightly.

Riveria slipped the blade into its sheath. It was a perfect fit, "Thank you. I appreciate it." With a soft genuine smile, "you didn't need to."

Ryu rubbed the back of her head, "Well, take this as well. Keep it as a hidden weapon you can always have on you. Looking at your armor I would say it could hide here pretty well, or here but not as easily." She tapped Riveria's side where the armor seemed a little thicker, then again on the inside of her left forearm.

After pointing out the two locations she held out a small sheathed blade, no more than five inches in length. "A friend gave this to me… long ago, take good care of it and it'll take care of you."

Riveria reached out for it and Ryu seemed to have a hard time but managed after a second. It was a beautiful piece, the leather was a red wine coloration, accented with white. A single flower petal was embossed on each side of the small sheath. By the time Riveria had finished glancing it over, Ryu was already mostly gone. Only a glimpse of the elf looking back before she had rounded the corner out of site.

"I…" Riveria couldn't say anything, her voice seemed to be stuck in her throat.

"Why don't you go ahead and head to the dungeon. I'll look after her." Goddess Dia spoke "Maybe you'll see Bell while in the dungeon." A small grin appeared on her Dia's face. She passed Riveria heading down the hall.

Riveria stood there for a minute of silence, nodded and turned toward the exit and towards the dungeon.

XX

Goddess Dia knocked on the door that she knew Ryu would be behind. She could hear the poor elf breathing heavily. I broke the goddess's heart to hear.

"Ryu, do you mind if I come in?" Dia spoke after not hearing a response.

"Su…sure." The broken crack of her noble voice echoed through the doorway. Ryu was sitting on her bed drenched in sweat holding her chest with her left hand.

Dia entered and closed the door behind her, "Ryu I saw the gifts… are you sure about…" Dia was cut off by a wave from Ryu.

"I know what you're going to say. Yes, I'm certain about giving her last gift away. I wouldn't be able to use it for much longer anyways. She would want it used." Ryu started coughing in the aftermath.

Dia ran up and started to rub the elf's back trying to soothe the pain if only a little. "You know… if it was only… the nightmares and sleepless nights… I could manage… but the constant pain… and drain on my stamina…" Ryu managed in a whispering weeze.

"Do you want me to call Amid here to see if she can help anymore?" Dia offered, with a twinge of desperation in her voice.

"No, she has already done what she can." Ryu took a few deep breaths, groaned slightly and gave an obviously false smile. "Thank you but nothing can be done right now. Either myself or the one who put the curse in effect… will have to die for the problem to fix itself."

Ryu clenched her fist, "At least so long as its affecting me, it cannot affect another."

Dia sighed, "You know that you don't have to hide the effects from Riveria and Bell right. Besides, they already know about the curse's existence."

Ryu sighed back in response, "You told her, that's fair but they cannot know just how weak it has made me. Right now I am a little weaker then Bell at the moment, despite being higher leveled and close to another level up. A fresh level 3 is just as strong as a high level 4…" Ryu started coughing again, this time there was a spec of blood on her hand in the aftermath.

"I must act strong to give… them courage… for the little I have left."

XX

Riveria groaned slightly as she stretched out her back, that had to have been the fifth killer ant killed. She was actively avoiding using her magic for a short period of time. Trying to get used to the weight and balance of the new sword.

She examined the edge and sighed in relief, no chipping from the hardened carapace. "That's fantastic."

Examining her surroundings and finding nothing immediately aggressive, she slumped to take a few deep breaths and took a long swig from the water pouch she had on her. Just another hour or two and I should be good for today.

Riveria wanted to use the gift from Ryu but held herself back 'A blade shown off can never be a surprise.' She whispered to herself mentally.

With a sigh she stood and continued through the dungeon, echoes of battle would repeat over the course of an hour. "The stairs down." I noticed 'Floor 8, I should be able to handle it. I'll need to rely on magic more just to be sure.' With that decided Riveria nodded and proceeded down the stairs.

The most immediate thing Riveria noticed was the change in wall color going from a green to brown in a slow transition. The final step had a layer of moss that seemed undamaged. With a deep breath Riveria took the first step onto the eighth floor. There was the slightest damp feeling in the air. A wood or earthy scent was due to the brown walls having a thin layer of moss covering the walls.

The scent sent a wave of nostalgia, the smell always seemed so pungent when Riveria was a child playing in the forest. A quick shake of the head cleared the rogue thought, her blade drawn, she listened and proceeded. It took a handful of tense minutes before the monster appeared.

A familiar figure, a green mass, a goblin? Riveria couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed, she had taken down so many before so seeing one on a lower floor was… unsatisfying. She began to approach quietly but confidently, but paused as the goblin was about half a foot taller, more defined musculature and held a simple stone dagger in its hand. 'I see.' she thought, watching it.

As soon as the goblin turned away towards another tunnel she pounced with her saber singing through the air. It impacted with the goblin shearing of an arm which quickly turned to ash as it hit the ground. The goblin screamed, whipping its remaining arm still holding the knife.

Riveria managed to twist out of the way with a small impact upon her armor. A deep cut sliced into the leather but not the flesh protected underneath.

The saber retaliated, flashing upwards piercing the goblins neck lopping off the head.

A deep breath of relief slipped out from Riveria's lips. It was quickly cut off as the sound of three sets of impacts worked their way towards the sounds.

Riveria cursed quietly and began to cast her spell, with the chant funneling her mind into a workable state. She held the last sentence for a few seconds until more goblins rounded a corner.

The corridor flashed with white frost, leaving them frost burned and dead on the ground. With a grimace she began to carve the stones out one at a time. Leaving behind the four crystals and no drop items.

Riveria continued deeper exploring the caverns and racking up a nearly full pouch as she approached the stairs downward again, "It should be similar to this one with just more numbers. The floor after this will be as far as I can go comfortably."

With that decided she continued down, a slight mist clinged to the floor as the final stair approached. "Strange, is there supposed to be mist on floor nine? I thought that started on floor ten." She focused her mind, ears twitching listening for any sounds.

There was a small sound of several monsters in a small area. "Sounds like Goblins, shouldn't be too much of a problem."

Moving towards the sound but at a cautious pace she began to hear the sound of shouting. 'More adventures?' Riveria though, pushing aside her caution. She was right, a group of four adventures were surrounded by ten goblins.

'This isn't good, but it's considered bad manners to interrupt another party.' For a brief second of indecision, she watched one of the smaller adventures 'a prum?' Get a cut across their chest, a few rivulets of blood seeped from the clothing.

She began her chant without thinking. "I call upon the frosted winter of the north. The unforgiving winds of the tundra snow." The sound of Riveria's casting attracted everyone's attention, it was enough of a distraction that three of the unfamiliar party cut down a goblin each.

Five split off to rush towards the intruder, something felt off to Riveria but she ignored it brandishing her saber in preparation.

"Freeze my opposition so I might live another Winter." Riveria ducked under a crude slash from the first goblin, parried the second and retaliated with a slash towards the third. But there were too many, the rapid moments made her mind feel like splitting due to the effort of Concurrent casting. Two daggers nicked her armor leaving small cuts in the sturdy leather.

"For my name is Alf." She tried to whisper the last portion, but failed as the blast of winter ice erupted outward freezing the five near her and one of the ones still assaulting the party leaving only one which the party managed to take care of after a second.

"Are you alright? Sorry I didn't know if I should interfere." Riveria's voice echoed through the now silent hall.

A human in moderate armor approached and bowed, "No please don't apologize, truth be told we are not supposed to be this deep yet."

"Well then please take the crystals and head back up. Just be careful alright." Riveria spoke to the supposed leader. Taking a quick look at the various members.

Two humans, the prum and an Elf. 'Great, please don't make a scene.' Riveria silently prayed as the elf was staring wide eyed.

With luck that could be only considered divine, the elf was stuck in stunned silence ling enough that Riveria managed to make her escape. "Perhaps I should consider hiding my hair. Makes it kinda obvious." She sighed unconsciously moving to the tenth floor.

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It had all happened so quickly, Riveria had taken out a handful of imps easily dispatching as they swooped downwards. Even the needle rabbits with slightly more difficulty, definitely not to their cute appearance that reminded her of home, orcs proved a harder challenge but manageable 1 or 2 at a time thanks to their slow clumsy nature.

Riveria didn't know what she did to deserve a full monster party to swarm her. Turning her head she saw ten orcs, five needle rabbits, a handful of imps and bad bats. She had already tried to Concurrent cast her spell but halfway through she almost stumbled over a loose rock on the floor causing her to lose focus and trigger a backlash which didn't help her predicament.

'Think! You're fairly smart, I can probably keep this up for about another hour.' She swiped at a bat that grew impatient and rushed her. 'The best option would be to try to use their numbers against them. But the needle rabbits will take advantage of that to strike.'

She swooped down picking up a rock and throwing as hard as she could towards a needle rabbit, it might not be her best score but her strength stat wasn't that bad.

It catapulted out of her hand at a speed that surprised her, it missed a direct hit but did bounce off the ground hitting one of the front legs. A nasty crack reverberated through the cavern as it collapsed being trampled a split second later.

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Riveria was panting heavily, the needle rabbits were all crippled enough to not be a threat, or got crushed under the orc feets. The imps had been easier to take care of, a single strong swing if her saber was enough to finish them. Bad bats had been annoying with their loud screeching, but fortunately there had only been three of those total. Similar to the rabbits Riveria would toss a rock to threaten them or stun them enough to reach with a blade.

It had been 45 minutes, she was exhausted from all the running but she couldn't relax. Almost all the orcs still threatened her. She did her best to avoid their great clubs, dodging out after landing a cut in a single arm.

'Alright, well at least the dungeon seems to be kinder to me after the party. But can I manage to finish my spell before they get to me? I can probably take half of what's left with one spell. Do I really have a choice?'

With her mind decided she gained a large burst of speed to build some distance, the words forming on her lips before she even turned to face them, "I call upon the frosted winter of the north."

The orcs closed a third of the distance between them, they were surprisingly fast. "The unforgiving wind of the tundra snow. Freeze my opposition." The gap between them closed to a quarter of what she had opened. "So I might survive another winter." They were only ten feet away now. "For my name is." The closest orc swung its great club at Riveria, she managed a quick dodge that seemed to tear her mind apart from the sudden effort, "Alf!" She forced out as several orcs froze and cracked, but not all. Three remained of the ten. One rushed as she was in a bad position to defend herself, swinging its club and a resound crack echoed as she was hit in the side getting shot twenty feet away.

Her vision bruised and blackened as breathes came one again. 'Right, I doubt anything is broken, maybe cracked but not broken.'

Riveria pushed off the ground, or tried to move her left arm but wasn't responding to her orders. With a quick glance she could tell it was dislocated, the pain came at that point, quick, sharp and unrelenting.

The three orcs approached confidently, knowing the fairy was weakened. A roar showered the tenth floor, wind picked up at an unreasonable rate as a streak of green and gold flew by removing the heads of the three orcs before continuing on its destructive path.

Riveria only noticed the scar on the beautiful face looking back at her, before they vanished deeper underground.

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"Riv…!" A voice seemed to echo deep into the void she found herself. It was a familiar one, one tinged with worry.

Memories flashed, the great trees of her home.

"Riveria, Wake Up!" The voice was insistent and worried enough that it finally got her mind working and shifting away from the void.

Her eyes opened briefly, as a shock of white blinded her for a second. She blinked a few tears away as her eyes focused on the individual. "Bell…" she managed but started coughing, bringing new sharp pain to her senses.

"Yes, what happened to you?" Bell was insistent, glancing her over looking for injury.

Riveria noticed, "Probably cracked ribs… and a dislocated shoulder." She tried to sit up, but only managed with Bell's help. "Can you help me with my shoulder first? I can explain everything quickly after." Her mind was already starting to push away, but it was the grating feeling of her shoulder that hurt the most.

He grabbed the sheath with his own weapon, "Yes, but you need to bite down on something to prevent biting your tongue." A simple dagger sheath was placed at her lips.

With a nod she bit down, Bell moved behind her, grabbed the left arm and twisted it. She bit down as her nerves burned from the pain. Bell pulled and pushed it back into place. It only lasted a few seconds, but the pain nearly caused her to pass out, but the relief of the majority of the pain was euphoric. She groaned, as the sheath slipped into her mouth.

"Thank… you." She managed, feeling with her other arm towards the pouch at her hip. A single vial wasn't broken. She sighed withdrawing it from the mess of shattered glass and downed it. The pain began to fade immediately, as the tendons began to repair.

She flexed her left arm and found it functional.

"We can get you more potions later, but do you think you can tell me what happened?" Bell insisted on helping the high elf stand.

"Yeah, sorry." With a groan from the fatigue she felt she started. "I was going down the floors like normal. I arrived at this floor and took out several of the monsters here. Then about twenty monsters showed up out of nowhere."

She took a deep breath feeling her injured ribs creaking, "I managed to deal with the majority of them, but an orc got to me after I cast my spell. Then a whirl of green wind finished off the three I hadn't managed. I think it was Aiz."

Bell nodded, "I saw her about 20 minutes ago when I went up to the floor. Well, we should thank her next time we see her, but we should get you out of here."

Riveria quickly padded her body over, making sure nothing was lost. "Right, let's pick up a couple of crystals on the way to the stairs."

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It took a couple of hours, by the time Riveria had reached the top of the stairs to the bottom floor of the tower the majority of the pain had faded into a dull ache. Nothing that would stop her from freely moving around.

It was dark, the stars glistened in the sky with an infectious energy. Riveria could help but smile seeing them. The pure motes gave off a sense of hope.

The pair had been walking, after turning in the few extra crystals they picked up on the way as well as the ones Riveria already had,

Then it happened, an explosion not more than three blocks away echoed through the city. Glass shattered, street lights were snuffed out. The ground vibrated underneath the pair's feet.

Whatever happened it was a massive explosion, without any hesitation, Riveria and Bell began to run towards the devastated area. An image Riveria would never forget, bodies lying everywhere around 30. The side of a business was simply gone with the rubble strewn around across the street.

An elf stood in the middle of the destruction, short shoulder length hair and a wicked smile on her beautiful face.

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