Before she left for the dungeon, Ellena waited for Ellephwen to wake up. She knew she was safe, she knew she was healing, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have that worry beating the back of her mind.
It neared lunchtime when the Dryad did finally awaken. She frowned at Samora after finding out that she had been sleeping in the same bed as Ellena, but the ex-Human assured her that Samora hadn’t been weird. Well, no more weird than usual.
Shortly after, Ellena left on her walk back to the dungeon, with a packed lunch from Samora in tow, something she hadn’t had as much recently due to Ellephwen and her powers being out of commission. Samora couldn’t put the food in that strange subspace like her kin could.
On this particular journey, Ellena had one goal in mind. Finally, she would take on one of the three floor bosses of the first floor. Of course to most it would see that the Rat Lord was the most obvious choice, given that the Horned Rats were the weakest of the three main species on this floor, but that Rat Lord set off danger alarms for her still. She wanted to get a little stronger before she targeted him, then finally the Mollit boss, whatever its evolution or Variant was.
That left the Grey Wolves boss, which she had still not seen, but she had a good idea of where it might have been. There was a small tunnel off from their feeding ground, it held a particularly nasty surprise. A lot of Elder Grey Wolves. Ellena had avoided it up til now due to, well, fear.
She felt strong enough, she felt ready, but she also didn’t want to wipe out the pups and younger Wolves on the way there, her goal was not genocide, she had left the nests and nurseries alone where she could.
So, to get through the Wolves hunting grounds; which definitely double as a small slice of heaven for them, she turned off [Guardian] and snuck around the edge, making sure to take her time and avoid them.
There were a few close calls, a pup diving right in front of her for one, but she dived behind a tree and hoped the Wolves untrained nose wouldn’t spot her. Luckily for her, she seemed far too busy playing with her siblings to pay attention to some random Mushroom plodding about.
With all that, Ellena reached her target without hassle, and came across another hurdle that seemed far steeper than even she thought. She already knew that this tunnel would be filled with Elder Wolves, they had both their boss and the pups to guard after all, but there were even more than she expected. A dozen. Maybe even more. Not that she had time to count them, as unlike the untrained young, these elders had definitely noticed her, and the first group already came running.
Ellena calmed her senses, and darted forwards activating her new go to shield ability, which she could now activate twice with her current mana. The first Wolf met the shield, and was thrown back into the pile behind him, sprinkling blood from a freshly broken nose.
The second had her attention momentarily turned thanks to the attack, letting Ellena catch her unawares with a headbutt into the wall, crushing her brain instantly. There was no time to celebrate of course, many more came after, and the next few minutes were a blur.
She dodged and weaved where she could, used her shield to block and beat, watching it wear away from each claw and tooth. Her head was strong enough to act akin to leather armour at least on her head, so even that soaked a few surface level bites.
Even then, the damage she had taken was not insignificant, their numbers were too high for her to avoid entirely. Not that she entirely minded, the thrill set her heart beating, her skills and the adrenaline made the pain barely noticeable. Even as the blood spread and her shield depleted she carried on through the tunnel, beating back Elder after Elder, until eventually, she stood alone, with the last Grey Wolf falling before her.
She panted, her body stinging, but satisfied, victor of what was potentially the most dangerous fight of her life, even if it didn’t feel like it. Of course she leveled quite a bit off of it, but she also lost plenty of life.
“Overall level has increased from [Level 69] to [Level 76]!”
“Unique skill [{Mushroom Helmet lvl 19}] has increased to [{Mushroom Helmet lvl 20}]!”
“Skill [Lesser Regeneration lvl 7] has increased to [Lesser Regeneration lvl 8]!”
“Skill [Unarmed Combat Journeyman lvl 6] has increased to [Unarmed Combat Journeyman lvl 7]!”
“Skill [Warriors Heart lvl 9] has increased to [Warriors Heart lvl 10]!”
“Skill [Warriors Will lvl 6] has increased to [Warriors Will lvl 7]!”
Plenty of skill leveled as well as stats, however her health was not looking… Well healthy.
[Health: 044/112]
She was not close to death, she felt fine, tired and covered in bite and scratch marks, but fine. It would not be sensible to fight the Grey Wolves Boss today, this tunnel had been cleared and would not get fully repopulated in a day, so she decided it would be best to return at a safer moment. That being said, it wouldn’t hurt to at least get a look off this mysterious third boss, right?
So that's exactly what she did, tiptoeing to the entrance of the room on the far end of the now blood soaked corridor. The little Mushman peaked her head around it to see a room about a third of the size of the hunting ground. The floor lay littered with bones and old corpses just as the other two boss rooms and a large pedestal like rock sat in the back of it. A crack in the wall leaked out the river water from the hunting room through a small gentle stream that lay the width of this room.
The only thing missing was the boss she sought. This room definitely had a pack leader vibe, but there was none to be seen. So either they didn’t have one anymore, or they were out somewhere.
Ellena got her answer shortly after, when she heard low growling behind her. Slowly, she turned to face a Grey Wolf that stood not much taller than the others, but more muscular, thicker. She also had a more menacing jaw, it looked wide enough to near bite her in half. The beast also had only one eye, the other gouged out by long ago scars.
Indeed, this was the kind of pack leader she had been looking for, but she had hoped this Matriarch was not going to corner her. At this point, Ellena had become a little worried for her safety.
As if on que the Matriarch lunged, opening her gaping maw as she did so. Ellena hurriedly activated her second use of Mushroom Shield whilst jumping to the side, but she was a little too slow, a chunk of her side was ripped by one of the beast's teeth. She managed to bash it with the shield as she fell back, knocking the same tooth from its socket.
Even so she could not take another hit like that in her current condition her health had been knocked down another 20. Ellena made the only logical conclusion and ran for the door, with the Grey Wolf Matriarch hot on her tail.
“Skill [Swiftfoot lvl 8] has increased to [Swiftfoot lvl 9]!”
A conveniently timed boost to her speed sent Ellena shooting out of the room and down the corridor, she used her shield to scoop up the Elder bodies to toss behind her, attempting to distract or slow down the boss.
She turned off Guardian and dived for the trees in the hunting room, looking for a dark corner to hide. With quick thinking, Ellena used the shield as a shovel this time, burying herself partially in the dirt by a tree, then she waited.
The growl of the Matriarch attracted a few other Wolves, but even after a few minutes, they did not find her. They probably thought searching for a Mushman wouldn’t be worth the risk.
Ellena breathed a sigh of relief, but even then, she decided to stay still, she needed to heal up at least a little before she attempted to leave the dungeon. So for the time being, the little Mushman got comfortable.
“Skill [Pain Resistance lvl 8] has increased to [Pain Resistance lvl 9]!”
“Skill [Lesser Regeneration lvl 8] has increased to [Lesser Regeneration lvl 9]!”
Strangely enough, Ellena felt quite thankful for the Matriarch's ambush, considering it gave her a few quite important level ups. Unlike most skills, every level of Lesser Regeneration had a noticeable improvement. It was still slow enough that it would take hours before she was back to full strength, so the hidden warrior got a little more comfortable in her hole and took a nap. She still had plenty of time until her curfew after all.
***
Just as she predicted, Ellena was back to full strength two and a half hours later, or what felt like that much, it wasn’t as though she had a pocket watch with her, but since becoming a Monster she had an instinctual feeling of the general time and the general time was home time. Besides, she was hungry.
Besides that, she was quite excited as it was the first lesson from Ellephwen in quite a while and when she did finally get back, the Dryad looked a lot healthier, with a lot more colour in her cheeks.
The two did look at her with a little concern in their eyes though. “Ellena, is that another scar across your body? It looks quite deep.”
This was the part she wasn’t looking forward to, still she told them anyway, making sure to point out how sensibly she had acted after.
Even so, Ellephwen shook her head. “Yes, child. Running away was the smart choice. It is just a shame it wasn’t the first choice you made after fighting those Elder Wolves, hmm?”
“Ellie!,” Samora cried, grasping the ex-Humans tiny body. “You can’t go back there! It’s way too dangerous!”
“Samora, it’s not as though I disagree with you, but training in that dungeon is Ellena’s choice and one she chose far before recent events.”
The Elf pouted and turned away. “So what? I’m just supposed to watch this cutie get hurt?” She asked, pinching Ellena’s cheek, and hurting her.
Ellena frowned and looked up at her kin. The stronger I get, the less things will hurt me right? Blocking me’s only gonna get me more hurt. She grinned.
Ellephwens deadpan expression told the Mushman that she did not, in fact, agree with her. “That’s ridiculous Ellena, strength invites challenge,” she paused. “Oh. Speaking of, today's lesson. Have you heard of the Hevenpar Empire?”
***
The Dryad proceeded to begin the day's lesson, though only after demanding Samora let go of Ellena and carry on cooking their dinner. It was a country that Ellena had noticed on the map that Ellephwen had shown her all those weeks back, she never asked about it since it had been around before even in her past life. Probably one of the longest running Human nations in the world. Its history is not something Ellena knew though, as it simply wasn’t important to her in her past life. Though it may not have ended up being important in this one either.
According to the Dryad, the Empire was founded in 650cy, by Talenthaw Hevenpar, the child of the leader of some minor guild back then. He had a once in a generation ability to command and quickly took over the guild from his father.
One day his guild was hired by one of the kingdoms that once sat in what was now the Empire's territory, to fight as a meat shield on the frontlines of their war with a neighbouring kingdom.
Whilst under direct command of the King, Talenthaw quickly realised the country he had pledged himself to was filled with corrupt nobles, even more so than your average kingdom. He was a righteous man, and couldn’t stand fighting for such a king or their kingdom, unfortunately, this was well into the war and he could not leave at this point, otherwise they would have been hunted down by both sides. So, the guild leader bided his time and built allies with the more honourable nobles and military leaders. Even making friends with a few nobles in the enemy kingdom.
Eventually, the war was won, and now Talenthaw had a decent backing behind him. So, a new war was declared against the corrupt king. Since most of the soldiers had spent far more time with Talethaw than with their king, many defected in an instant, though many more were more loyal to a paycheque. He did not resent them, but he couldn’t show them mercy either.
The second war came to a swift close, with Talenthaw Hevenpar victorious, the surviving and now loyal nobles crowned him Empire of the two kingdoms, uniting them together under this new King.
Unfortunately, their recent history was far less noble, even if the Empire was still ruled by the Hevenpar family, they were not immune to corruption or greed. Currently the Hevenpar Empire was known for aggressive expansion, uniting many nearby nations against them.
Though it was an entertaining story to listen to, it was also somewhat melancholy. So many books end at the point of the heroes winning and ushering a new age in, the noble hero now a king or queen and a kingdom of peace. Yet, how long until that bloodline sours? How long until it becomes just as bad as it was before, so another hero must rise up and rebel? Power just seemed to be an endless cycle of corruption to her.
At this point, Samora had finished dinner, which snapped Ellena out of her spiral. Ellephwen shot her an understanding smile and the three of them ate. If she had a chance, she wanted to visit the Empire. Though, if she had a chance there were many places she wished to visit at least once. It all depended on how patient King Levias wanted to be.
Started to skip really unimportant details, I think this is about where some of the days ended up having nothing going on.