"I can't go in there, you have to go K, sorry," Tim said bowing his head.
This made sense, the others wouldn't be able to fight off whatever came out of it.
'Be careful child this is going to be the Blood Queen that you will face. She is a Quirk that has always been deep inside of you, but the System is slowly bringing her forward, but it is too soon for you to take that power. If you try, she will take you. The Mimic will only be a fraction as strong as you are, but it will still have long claws like knives and be able to turn into blood mist.' -Drania.
Not trying to talk me out of was all I really needed to tell me that this was my job, but I knew that. I could do this, I had a good reserve of blood and my shield was still in good shape. I went to walk forward, but Lesha stopped me.
"Are you sure? You're a tank? You're not really meant to…"
Lesha was cut off by Tim's laughter. She turned to scowl at him, but he closed his only eye and put both hands up, open-palmed.
"Sorry, but I would be more worried for whatever comes out of there. I will be watching carefully to see how you deal with this, Guild Leader. I have faith that you will make me look like an amateur in a one-on-one fight."
I wasn't sure if that made me feel better, but I did appreciate it. I smiled at Lesha and kissed her, then Mei came and gave me a hug. Great, it was like I was going off to war, and they would never see me again, but that was partially my fault for my bland face.
"Don't worry girls, I got this," I said walking into the room.
The doorway that I had just walked through completely smoothed over and I couldn't hear any more sounds. The room was quiet, it was only me and the mirror. I walked up, shrinking my shield, the sound loud in the absence of any other.
I stepped in front of the mirror and looked deep into it. At first, I only saw myself, and I was surprised that I didn't look that bad in the dress! Then, the image shifted and it was me again, but in a black dress this time, form-fitting and a ghostly train flowing behind me.
Then my skin turned black, and my teeth grew sharp, all of them. Finally, my black hair turned blood red and it undulated to look like flowing blood. The image stepped forward and then out of the mirror, causing it to shatter as the Blood Queen stepped free.
This thing was hiding inside of me somewhere? I was part of this or it was part of me? Suddenly, it attacked without warning, but I had already strengthened and targeted the same spot the goddess was weak in, interesting.
I smashed up with a one-handed right shield stick and then I drove a left blood-powered hook to the targeted area. The creature smashed into the wall, but came for me again, but extended the shield, and then turning it to the side and batting the creature away. I shrunk the shield and leapt at the creature that was trying to get up.
As I brought the shield down, I activated the shield extending it with a crack just at the right moment to help shear the monster's head off. I pulled all the blood into me immediately and gasped.
It was freezing cold again! I had used almost all my blood in that short fight and I was lucky this thing even gave me blood. It was enough, for now, but I would need more, and I would have to be more mindful of how I used it.
"Woah! Now that is a scary tank! You barely even moved that entire fight! No extra effort! Truly impressive! See, Corbit, that's what a legend in the making looks like!" Tim said slapping the open-mouthed Corbit on the back.
If they only knew how much effort and blood went into each of those strikes, still there was a black crystal left from that thing, so there was some gain, I would just have to conserve in the next room. So far things were going good, but anything could happen, and I was letting Tim and Gobby take care of the traps when Lesha came over to see me.
"How are you feeling? You looked pretty white before you got that blood?"
"The fight was tough, I didn't want to hold back, but I used too much blood. I just need to be careful. I will just play a tank in the next room, I played hero once today, that's enough, hehe!"
"You were pretty impressive, but that thing you faced, it was you, right?" Lesha asked.
"Yeah, Drania says it's called The Blood Queen, and it's a part of me. I have to be careful and not let it out until I can control it or she will consume me."
"That doesn't sound very helpful? But if you were in trouble I could see why it would be good to have. Well, let me have some of the action this time, she has been itching to try her new spell out. Oh, and make sure you watch, she really wanted you to see it...and don't forget to praise her!"
"Yes, mother, I will tell our little girl how special she is!"
"Hey! Someone has to remind you to be nice sometimes!" Lesha jokes.
"That hurts my feeling!" I joked back, doing an impression of Gobby.
Both of us started to giggle, and Mei came over to see what was up, but that was when Tim and Gobby called to us.
"Halls clear, but I don't think we should go any farther. There is a Boss Room up ahead!" Tim shouted down to me.
The words Boss Room sent a chill down my spine.
Boss Room already? This was only the third room, last time it had been in the sixth room that the group of lizard men and the huge leader type had appeared with them. I was starting to get chills thinking about what happened, and then the feeling intensified when I looked at Lesha and Mei.
I took a deep breath in and walked forward down the hall, going to see wasn't going to get the party killed. Maybe Tim was overestimating the monster's power, but as the rest of us got closer to him and Gobby, I could see why he didn't want to go on.
Four two-headed dogs that could spit fire and acid surround and massive three-headed Cerberus. That was a Diamond-ranked monster that had Fire, Gas, and Ice breath, and a ridiculous amount of health. Suicide is what that would be, there was no way possible that we could defeat this.
"We have to turn back and try to re-enter the dungeon to see if we can get more stuff," I said, waving everyone back.
"Yeah, That's going to be the best bet. Wow, one of those things! That's crazy, and we are so close to a core! We just got to get these others whipped into shape! Let's go before it starts getting too dark!" Tim cheered, jiggling in his black outfit.
For a man with only one eye showing, and covered in black, he was awfully cheerful. You could never judge a book by its cover, but I still barely knew him, so I wasn't about to pass judgment yet.
We all headed back out the way we came in and exited the dungeon since it wasn't that far of a walk. Once outside we waited, I don't think anyone really knew how dungeons worked or how they changed every time we entered them, but we decided that five mins should be enough. Our group took hands and walked into the dungeon again, passing through the barrier, but we were met by a familiar sight.
We were in the same room as the one we had just left. I sent Gobby to do a thorough search for traps, but there was nothing. I turned back to Tim, just he shrugged his shoulders.
"To tell you the truth, I never wait to come back into the dungeons. I just turn back and re-enter and it's a new dungeon, but I have never seen the same place ever, maybe it just looks the same."
He had a point, but I was pretty sure this was the same place we had just come from. Our group slowly made our way down the hall with the same white stone. Once we got to the first room, I knew something was wrong.
"Nope, never seen anything like this before. We should try going out and I will try going in myself. Something must be wrong with the dungeon," Tim said while looking around the empty first room.
I was starting to get worried; what if the dungeon was stuck here for everyone?! I hurried back out with everyone and Tim turned back around and went in, but then came right back out. He was shaking his head and talking to himself, then he looked up at me.
"I think we had better go back and talk to Healia about this. She is the only one that knows anything about this. I have never even heard of something like this ever happening, so we need to talk to the only person with a clue to what might be going on."
"Do you think we broke it?" I asked, trying to sound calm.
"I don't know, all I do know is that we are stuck until we can beat something that our part stands no chance against, even with your blood super stuff. Even if you could do it for me and the boy, it still wouldn't be close to defeating four Hell Beasts, the Cerberus is just a certified impossible stamp. It should go back by tomorrow, don't worry yourself. Plus, you got that gold crystal, never seen one of those, come on."
Tim was right, but I hated to rely on him for support when I was supposed to be the leader, but I was lost in the dark to what was going on. Lesha and Mei both came and grabbed my hands and pulled me along, back to town. Corbit walked ahead with Tim and they talked quietly, while I was left thinking about what happened.
"This wasn't your fault, K" Lesha tried to console me as we walked.
"I know, I am just worried about what will happen for everyone else."
"We will all figure it out, I am sure it's no big deal and Healia will be able to fix everything no problem. The dungeon probably just needs a kick or something," Mei said, giving a mock kick as we walked.
They were right and we were getting back into the city now, and it was starting to move into the twilight just as the sun was disappearing over the ridge. We walked past my old house, and it felt weird to be continuing on by. A new part of my life had started and I was not doing very good, but there was no point in beating myself up about something I was just learning, I would just have to move forward and work with Healia from now on.
I walked past the bakery and then The Forge where Gastbo looked at me with a plain face. I was surprised by that, everyone else smiled and greeted us as we passed with nods and waves. It was a bit to get used to, but I smiled at the people and the girls waved back with her free hands.
Finally, we reached the Guild and opened the door to find Gram and Healia sitting at the single table. Healia had a blank look on her face, and Gram was unreadable as a ball of fur ever was. I walked in with the group and started to explain what happened but Healia put up a hand to stop me.
"I can't help you."
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