"Hey! Why are you just sitting there? Come on, let's get to building that house Andrew wants, night's coming soon anyway!" A female voice, calming yet about as loud enough to disturb the wildlife had rattled him, her platinum armor shining bright enough that some might just gain some hope by simply seeing it, even as the sun set behind her. He stood up, only to appear somewhere else.
"Hey Philip, what is your world like? You keep talking about it like it's some heaven. Also, really... Gods came down, and are natural beings? How did that happen?" A younger female voice rang out, snarky yet as inquisitive as usual, her brown stereotypical wizard hat had adorned her head, her short silver hair shining as she looked at him with practically glowing cyan eyes, leaning into him with a smug grin that meant that he should explain more about his world, he sighed and instead decided to joke about her ridiculous outfit. Who wears the lime green jungle pants with a diamond robe, for fashion no less? He closed his eyes, huffing as he opened his mouth to speak.
Then he opened his eyes and again, he was elsewhere.
"Yo Phil, I need you to help me make some bullets... I ran out again. I also need some Wulfrum scrap though I'll cover that front." A male's voice sounded out, calm and calculating as he mulled over the workbench, the man turned to look at him, smirking through the mask connected to his wide brimmed hat as he expected some help, just like usual. Wearing a feathered hat that was about as dusty as the rest of his clothing yet it somehow had those weird gold accents adorning his clothing, made from the countless Stormlions he had evidently faced in the underground desert.
He stepped onto the... fourth, maybe third floor was it? Walking throughout the dungeon's halls, looking like a lost adventurer wandering through its dark depths, which he himself never thought he could enter ever since he was rejected by practically every God he talked to.
'Gods... wonder why I ever thought this place would be exciting...' His mind wanders just like usual, spurred on by the boring and empty, yet tense atmosphere the dungeon held as he reminisced about his time before being sent to Terraria, then again, his mind felt numb whenever he thought too much about it.
"Wonder where the mons... well, that explains the smell." He cut himself off as he muttered to himself, looking at the corpse of one adventurer, beaten and battered most likely by Kobolds as they fought to their last breath, he crouched down and inspected the body. Old Blood having dried underneath, difficult to differentiate from the dungeons floor as he saw the bite marks that adorned the adventurer's side.
'If they died here... where are the monsters? And where are their party members?' He thought, his eyes wandering to the chipped guild given sword, he was half tempted to just take it and continue on, only to hesitate as he heard a shuffling sound behind him. He turned his head towards the noise the moment he heard it. Gripping at nothing on his side, usually adorned with a pistol or whip whenever the situation called for it.
His eyes focused on where he last heard it, only to see nothing, he turned his eyes elsewhere in an effort to find the source, his hand moving to the sword the adventurer had, no longer hesitating, intending on killing whatever it was. Then, shuffling, then even more as the shuffling became louder and out came a singular Kobold, its wolf like form was not unlike the werewolf that appeared during the full moons of Terraria yet not exactly the same. Then a crackle sounded in the distance, a Kobold, scratching at the dungeon's wall, seemingly birthed by the dungeon just now.
"Well... I spoke too soon." He muttered under his breath as he got into a side stance, waiting for one Kobold to jump at him as he delivered a shallow cut below the Kobolds hip to it's shoulder as he dodged the claws by maneuvering behind it, raising the sword up to head level as he slammed the pommel against the Kobold's head, he sighed as he realized the other Kobold would reach him if he went for the kill.
He dashed back, moving into a more lax stance as he slashed horizontally at the incoming Kobold with one hand, the Kobold recoiled from the slash, it's stomach open as he rushed to punch the Kobold with the other hand, sending it flying to the other side with a boom he hadn't expected. His eyes widened as he looked at his clenched fist.
'Well... I don't know what caused that... maybe the life crystals?' He thought, hastily turning to look at the previous Kobold which he had momentarily dazed, fully ready to face it running towards him with rage, only to find that it had died, it's skull having been caved in and still bleeding.
'What now? Right, the stones...' He crouched down, inspecting it, only to shake his head as he just decided to open their stomach up, shifting his hand around inside to find the thing, hopefully the blood disappears as well as the body. The attendant did say the body disappears the moment you seperate the stones from it, or was it when you've done enough damage? He set aside the sword as he decided to search with both hands.
'Is it... there!' He triumphantly, grasped it and pulled it out, the blood spewing onto his shirt, his face suddenly dropped as he was disappointed in himself for causing such a mess, witnessing the Kobold disappear in a flash as it faded into dust. Only for his instincts to flare up as he stood up, turning to face three more Kobolds.
"Well... can't say that there wouldn't be more somewhere around here." He kicked up the sword and grabbed it, moving into a stance, holding it closer to his side to end one Kobold with one thrust, and as one Kobold rushed alongside the others, he himself rushed to stab it, using his left hand to push the blade deeper into its heart.
Releasing the sword as he dodged a swipe from one, and elbowed the others jaw before it could bite him. He grabbed it's head and smashed it on the floor, he dashed back and wound up a punch, hitting the other Kobold in the gut as it tried to cut his neck with it's claws, he shifted his body to dodge it to make absolutely sure he wouldn't get hit, all while he grabbed the other arm of the Kobold. Then, the Kobold flew to the other side of the area, just like the one earlier. Yet the arm remained in his hand.
"Huh... I really am some mix of Human and Monster at this point... maybe it really was those life crystals." He thought out loud, remembering the sharp pain he always he felt whenever he ate the... heart shaped crystals as well as the fruits that he made out of exotic and very dangerous materials, intent on getting stronger, why he made a fruit with Yharon's Auric Soul was something he was never quite sure on. "Either way... I should grab the stones before they start appearing again, who knows when they'll appear again." He dropped the Kobold arm to the ground.
He walked over and grabbed the sword back with the sound of flesh squishing, sighing as he put it next to the adventurer, now knowing of the power that he surely never deserved, smiling softly as he laid the adventurer flat on the ground. "Rest easy." He spoke, more to himself, he huffed and wondered what Victoria would think.
'Nevermind, she'd probably beat herself up over it for nothing, maybe start beating me up for not giving them more respect. She always was the emotional one wasn't she?. ' He thought, standing up as he nodded his head at the adventurer, offering his respects. Walking away as he looked at his hands.
"What... was that!?" She thought as she clenched one hand towards the area where her heart would most likely be, laying near a ruined building as she looked at the night sky, her head filled with voices she couldn't, no, more like she shouldn't try to recognize them. Her bangs covering her eyes as she cradled her head with the other, the red hair looking more akin to fresh blood than it was her natural hair, which used to be chestnut brown.
The feeling she had felt earlier... it was like being burned, stabbed, sliced and gutted open, choked and even ripped apart by... those terrible golden hands all at the same time, yet it seemed muted almost as if the pain was dulled for her, her body had lurched as she had vomited even through the feeling that she couldn't breathe, tears streaming down her face as she first felt it soon after being awoken after her supposed death at the hands of those men... which was the last thing she could recall correctly without feeling off.
"What... was it... who was it?" She choked out as she hugged herself, curling up as she lay against the wall of the said ruined building, not far from a church, which had left her even more confused and lost when she saw one. As far as she remembered, she liked going to churches, maybe even being...
"Ack!" She hissed in pain as she rubbed her head with both hands, her hair becoming more and more dishevelled by how much she had done it by this point, the pain akin to being stabbed directly in the brain, which was a sting, yet it still haunted her mind all the same. Then she felt something sting, the feeling of touching a burning pan.
She gazed down to her hands and noticed the multitude of burn wounds that hadn't been there earlier, she moved one finger to touch it, only to feel a painful sting. The burn wounds suddenly feeling like she was being burned right now, yet it was almost muted in a way, almost as if it wasn't actually there, she blinked. They were gone as soon as she opened her eyes, which widened as she rushed to touch the areas that had been 'burned' she no longer felt the sting, no longer felt the burning sensation just moments before.
She teared up, wondering what she had done to deserve this.
'Get up, there's no point in crying, can't believe this... pathetic being is the one trapping our souls.' A voice rang out inside her head, gruff and disgusted for no apparent reason. "Look, I need you to-" It attempted to speak once more, only to be silenced as her pain subsided, she gasped for air, her breathing finally becoming calmer, yet it still held a desperation she hasn't had since she had begged a Goddess to let her join their Familia. Wondering what just happened.
A day later...
He roamed around the fifth floor after being on the sixth floor, wondering if his cellphone could even tell what time it was, it seemed that the monsters here were stronger, the monster being large ants or shadows that was still affected by material weapons he half expected that the frogs he fought earlier were gonna appear in bigger numbers on this floor. '9AM' He thought, looking at the phone, pocketing it as he pulled out the journal from his jacket, logging the few monsters he found with a comment.
'War shadow.' He scribbled a drawing and hummed, remembering what some adventurers had called it back when he was roaming the sixth floor, looking around a few times to see if there was anything to following him, walking forward as he focused back on the bestiary. 'First seen in the 5th floor of the 'Dungeon'. A newbie killer for most young adventurers, with a dark humanoid body and a singular red eye, war shadow... a name that implies there's something more to them.'
Sure, he thought, it could mean nothing and it was just a name but his mind was just too imaginative for that. He closed the journal, which had turned to a bestiary as he put it back in his jacket. He wonders when a monster with a ranged attack would appear, Terraria had far too many after all. Then again, he counted those tortoises that threw themselves at him as a 'ranged' attack.
Then, a loud shrill scream rang out, he tensed up and wondered what an adventurer exploring the fifth floor of the dungeon would scream so... loudly for, he started to run to where the noise was, and there it was again that feeling that he was about to be too late, using his celestial tracers for this was fine right? He shook his head, it was probably just some ants. As he reared a corner, he saw a Minotaur a monster that definitely shouldn't have been here, was nearing a boy with white hair, a dead end. Just as he was about to help, a hand chock full of stones he intended to throw at the monsters eyes, a flash, and then appeared a girl with long golden-blonde hair as she cut the Minotaur's shoulder.
He opted to stay there, watching the scene in front of him, he lowered his hands as he watched the girl skillfully defeat the Minotaur, if only the boy wasn't right behind the monster as it spewed blood onto him. 'That can't be good for his health.'
As he watched the girl defeat the monster, it screamed as it vanished into dust as it dropped a magic stone, the girl turned to boy and simply asked, without a shred of emotion.
"Hey... are you all right?" She sheathed her sword as she looked at him as she tilted her head, the boy front being covered in red had looked back, his mouth open as he seemed to start looking at her with awe.
He himself, just decided to leave the room, just happy that the boy was fine, only to hear a shrill scream once more as he watched the boy run past him and the girl who saved him. 'What the... must still be in shock, can't blame him, though judging by the path he's taking, he's running off to leave the dungeon.' He thought, following him with a walk that as faster than most people as he had enough to probably make bank.
As he exited the dungeon, smiling as he looked at the sun, which he had grown to somewhat appreciate thanks to it being the only thing that stopped zombies from being raised back in Terraria, he still really needed to know how those came to be.
He walked past the multitude of adventurers walking up to enter the dungeon for the day, countless parties counting heads to make sure they were all there as he walked to the exchange center, which had basically no one in it right now.
'Hmm... hopefully they accept these...' He thought, walking up as he handed the attendant a good amount of stones, not too much as to be suspicious yet not too little to leave him with no money to find somewhere to stay. He hummed, happy the attendant didn't pester him with questions as he looked around, remembering the boy had ran off to towards where the Guild building would be, he took out his map and looked at the detailed paper. Marking the Dungeon to be directly in the center as he draw a simple diagram on the magical paper. His pen starting to run out of ink after so long.
'Gotta buy more ink huh...' He closed the map, setting it aside in his pouch, a simple novelty that he used to store his items back before Lilliana had taught him about that 'inventory' magic she so haughtily boasted about creating. Granted, he still used it to store potions, but mostly ingredients, his inventory was already far too stocked to throw away anything less important after all.
As he broke out of his thoughts, the attendant finally gave him a large pouch, he took it, wondering how much he got out of is little incursion in the dungeon. 'Probably like three thousand Valis... gotta give the other stones tomorrow.' He nodded, only for the attendant to speak.
"Congratulations, your total comes out to ten thousand Valis, make sure to rest with that impressive haul." The attendant spoke, his voice calm and joyful as he smiled, nodding as he moved on to process the next adventurer in line.
'Ten thousand... How much does a room cost in a tavern again?' He walked off, thanking the attendant, deciding to search for a place to eat in the meanwhile, cooking food was far off the list when he didn't have a place to stay, his stomach grumbled as he grimaced. He wonders if the people here even know how to make a Golden Delight. He drooled, only to wipe it as he searched for popular spots for adventurers, only to remember that he should go the Guild first to buy a weapon.
He changed his direction as he walked to the Guild building, wondering if that pink haired girl is going to chew him out for sneaking in to the dungeon, 'Well... she doesn't know... right?'