"This is the Item that you got from the Dungeon Core? I thought it gave items of great power and such?" I asked, a bit puzzled.
I hadn't expected this lamp to be the magical item Kal had been talking about. It did look nice, but nothing about it said magical item of great power.
Milo let out a laugh, and then picked up the lantern.
"Believe me, after all the time I spent inside of the dungeon to get to the final prize, and this is what the glowing red crystal gives me! At first, I didn't even know how to use it. Then one night I was coming back from the dungeon after getting the item. I was using it for a light and I passed a shady-looking man, and when the light from the lantern hit him, something happened to his shadow. It was red and orange, not black, and something told me that this person was anticipating to be aggressive," Milo explained.
"So the lantern can tell feelings? I guess that's useful, but as you said, hardly powerful. I am pretty sure some people specialize in reading other emotions, so this is very lackluster," I said, but I knew there had to be more to the story.
"It gave me more than just the mental emotions, I could sense his pains and aches. I knew that he had been recently stabbed in the shoulder and that the wound was still fresh, so I jabbed two fingers into it, making the man drop his knife, and then I knew that he would try to grab it so I caught his face with a knee and then I slit his throat. The last thing I knew was that he killed three women, brutally."
This was a lot to take in; this lantern could let you know a person's everything just from shining a light on them. This was far more powerful than I could have imagined, but there was a catch. No matter how much skill you have, in a battle with something like a god it would be useless without an equal or greater power.
Knowing that the god was about to wipe you clean from the face of the land would not help you if you couldn't stop it. Now I understood what he meant about the item, but I was unsure if I wanted to give Milo that kind of power over me.
"Why do you want to use that on me, and why would I let you? I am sure you are exceptional, and above your class, but if you were to use that on me or any of my girls, we would leave you a dried husk to be used as fire kindling," I said flatly and without threat.
I wasn't trying to pick a fight, but I didn't like what the thing could do. I already had someone in my head that I couldn't control, but as far as I knew, Drania couldn't affect me in this world. Milo, on the other hand, could cause me serious harm or the girls.
"Hmm, I can see your point, but I need to have some kind of assurance to know that you are faithful to my cause. The next information I tell you could not only put myself at risk but all the people in this Guild, so you can understand why I might need some kind of guarantee," Milo explained.
"K can since a contract just like any other vampire using her blood. That should be worth more than even your fancy candle holders," Candi said speaking up.
"You are a vampire? I thought that you were just something like one?"
This time it was Milo's turn to play the confused one.
"Yes, there is a vampire inside of me, so I guess that would make the contract valid, whatever that means," I said, looking over to Candi for confirmation.
"You will be able to tell once you sign it, look," Candi said as she got up and came over to me. "Look in my eye, do you see the one light in my iris? Each time you sign a contract, you get a small light in your eye. I just have the one contract, but some have glittering eyes."
"What would make you want to sign a contract?" I asked, still looking into Candi's eyes, they were red like mine.
"It gets lonely at the top, and sometimes we want to be around people, it just the urges sometimes are hard to control, no matter how long you have been cursed. The only way to be eager to live around people is to sign a contract saying that you won't hurt them unless they hurt you. The problem is that the curse requires you to sign to each family house that is of different bloodlines, so, if a vampire wanted to live in a large city, they must do mountains of paperwork first," Candi explained and then went back to sit with Lesha and Trinity.
I looked over and found Mie cuddled into Gloria as she stroked her hair while looking into the fire. I could see why they wouldn't want to be alone. After spending so many years with no one by my side, it was hard to even think about life without her now.
"I will sign the document if that will be okay, but I refuse to have the lantern used by me or any of my party, including Corbit and Tim. All the members of my arty are sworn to me, so if you have my word, then you have theirs as well."
"I can live with that, I will call up for some coffee and snacks, we still have a bit more to talk about," Milo said and then got up and left the room.
"He seems honest, and I think we should listen to what he has to say. This sounds like he wants the same things as us," Lesha said while coming over to sit on my lap.
"I hope so, but everyone always has some sort of deviation. All we can do is hope that it's not too dramatic," I said while wrapping my arms around Lesha and pulling her into my chest.
Milo came back with a contract that said I and my party would not talk about what was said inside of this room outside it. It was simple enough, but then Milo asked if Candi would need to sign contracts.
'You can control her if she gets out of control, but now that you have bit her both her and Trinity will be less wild.' -Drania.
"She will be fine, the one that's cuddled into her is a werewolf, so I think she will be fine, neither of them is very good at being monsters," I explained to Milo after Lesha got off my lap.
"Sure, mind if I ask something? You don't have to answer, your business is your own, but, are you all couples? I don't mean to pry, but I have never really heard of such a thing, and I found it hard to believe that there was a group of women like you."
I took a pin that Lesha handed me from I am not sure where, and I poked my finger with it. A small drop of blood formed and I pressed my finger to the page.
There was a brief flash in my left eye, but then it was gone. I felt no different, but then why would I. I should only feel something if I break the contract if I would even be allowed.
"Yes, we are all couples. This is Lesha, my partner. Over beside her are Candi and Trinity, the vampire and werewolf. The last two over there are Mei, who uses growth magic, and Gloria who loves her big sword," I explained, pointing to each of the girls.
"Interesting, I am glad that you have such a tight-knit group, you will need that as you slowly work your way up in the ranks. Now, let's talk about the real reason we are all sitting in this room."
I nodded for Milo to go on, and he continued.
"As you know from Kal, I wasn't always this person. I once had a person that I cared deeply for, and I still miss her every day. Nothing will bring her or my child back, but what I can do is prevent this from happening again. I want you to help me kill Dyster," Milo said, leaning forward into his chair.
I already knew this, and that was fine, but if I was going to help I had my own job while I was here. Not only did I need to train and get stronger so I could level up the guild, but I also need to start forming alliances. If that didn't work, then taking over the ones that couldn't be a part of what I was trying to do would be the next option.
"If I help you, then I will need something in return, more like a series of favors, but I won't ask you anything outside of what your Guild can do. For now, just giving us a place to stay and helping us will be more than enough, but I plan on bringing all the guilds, including yours, under my banner," I said without a shred of doubt in my voice.
I was fully confident that with time I would be able to slowly take our world back from these gods. It may not have been perfect before, but if I can get everyone working in the same direction, maybe things could be different than they were.
"That is a pretty bold claim, but my sources say that you might not be dreaming too big. I can agree to your terms if you're fine with mine. I look forward to seeing what the future is going to be like with you around," Milo said with a chuckle.
"First thing that we need to deal with, this Granvel, and his Guild," I said, looking directly at Milo.
He has sandy blonde hair and gray eyes that looked far older than the body they were in. For a moment, I thought I saw something in the back of them, but then Milo turned away.
"Don't worry about them yet. They are mad, but you also sent them a pretty clear warning not to mess around with you. We have eyes on them, and we will know if they start trying to move people around. First, you need to go up to the Waystone on the fourth floor. The girls have had a tour, so you should be eager to find your way. After, Hershal and Braum will be taking you out to grab a couple Gem Hearts if you can get them," Milo explained as he stood up.
We all shook his hand and then headed out of the room. So far everything has been in order, and things were in motion now.
The girls and I headed from the room and back through the now empty commons room.
"Jester seems like a nice person, so this should be good. I am really excited to see these Gem Hearts we have been talking about!" Lesha said with excitement as we started back up the stairs to where the room we were staying was.
"Yes, it will be nice to be out on the open sea in a boat," Gloria said with a smile as we passed the room and headed up another flight of twisting stairs.
"A boat? Like that little thing, we saw on the shore? I have ridden in those before and they aren't very safe! And what do you mean, open sea? Just how far will we be going out?" I asked with some trepidation.
I wasn't really overly thrilled about this idea. The only water I had ever been in was up to my neck when I stood in the deepest parts. We only had ponds and small streams, most of the water was pumped out of the ground.
"It will be fine, they use big boats, and the place we will be going to is only about ten meters deep so we can just swim down," Gloria said like it was something that everyone should just be able to do.
"Oh, um, hmm, well okay, that is a bit deeper than my neck, so I might be in trouble. We didn't have a lot of deep water, so, ya, I don't know how to swim," I said in a very small voice.
I had learned to swing a sword, fight with boys, ride horses...but I didn't know how to swim. For some reason, the way the girl looked at me with pity made me feel like I had made a mistake somewhere along the way.
I sighed, but Lesha squeezed my hand and kissed my cheek.
"You will learn, and we will teach you. You can be the only one that can help out, right?" Lesha asked with a smile that made me feel a little bit lighter.
Maybe swimming wouldn't be that bad, I mean I was an adult. How hard could it actually be? We continued on up the spiral staircase past the third floor until we reached a single room, with a big white stone with blue marking. It was just like the stone that Kal and Dyster had, but this one was a meter long.
Time to see what kind of trouble Healia had been getting into while I was gone.
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GOT IT