The Chronicles of Dwynveia – A Slimeling LitRPG

Aki

Aki von Caiver, those words rang over and over again in my head as we ate the likely excellent meal.

I couldn't focus on the food or the conversations as thoughts were racing in my head.

I had a last name.

A noble name.

I was freaking out.

That was too much.

Waaay too much.

Finally, I couldn't take it, began to hyperventilate and then let out a terrified meep.

‘I think you broke my wife, Wilhum,’ Lilyth sighed.

‘She just needs some time to process this, I think,’ Malika said. ‘Poor thing.’

‘Yeah,’ my brother agreed. ‘I think it is best if we retire for the day. I’ll send the dessert to your room for you to enjoy. How about we have another one of these before you leave once Aki feels better?’

I nodded absentmindedly and the next thing I knew, I was lying in our bed, my wives comforting me.

Aki von Caiver.

We left for Dan-Hem a week later. The second dinner with Wilhum, held a night before our departure, was far more… rememberable for me, and it was nice to be able to actually have an open conversation with my brother.

Bergia, having left for Dan-Hem a few weeks before, would probably also be happy that she didn't need to keep the secret anymore.

The caves under the Murdergrove would be our second-to-last outing of the year. We still had to go to Rennie's village, and oddly enough that one felt more terrifying of the two, as we couldn't even go shopping without it turning into, as guess-who put it: “absolute clusterfuck of truly biblical proportions.’

I had no idea what biybleekal meant, but it must have been bad.

Still, the trip to Murdergrove likely also wouldn't be without its issues. The first was there from the start: Persephone. She has been waiting for us in Zel-Vyme, having spent the past week living at the local inn, keeping a low profile. She actually did change her flashy clothes to a shirt, trousers and a hooded fur-lined cloak.

The last was a good choice as Autumn was in full swing and we all had to settle for warmer clothes - with Lilyth temporarily abandoning her suit instead of her normal clothes and a one of her navy blue greatcoats, Sav switching her leather jacket for a fur-lined one, Caei choosing a coat-version of it, while the rest of us settling for cloaks similar to Persephone's.

‘H-hello…’ the sorceress waved to us nervously.

Caei immediately ran over to her and punched her on the chin, sending surprised Persephone down on her ass.

‘This is for sending me to Akh’ret's Mercy, bitch,’ she spat.

She then leaned down and helped Persephone get up and, to my surprise, hugged her.

‘And this is for bringing Lilyth back to us.’

‘Still a better welcome than I expected,’ Persephone sighed while massaging her chin.

While we ate dinner, we established some ground rules regarding our cooperation, which Lilyth and Savri compared to a ceasefire agreement.

Article 1 - Parties agree to the immediate cessation of all hostilities;

Article 2 - Unless withholding information would result in bodily harm to either of the parties to this agreement, no intelligence sharing will be required at this time;

Article 3 - The Tenebral Order (henceforth known as “Party A”) will not disclose the location of Persephone (“Party B”) to Malika Adzhenair (“Individual A”);

Article 4 - So long as both parties are travelling together, Party B will continue to provide emergency teleportation services to Party A;

Article 5 - Party B will refrain from calling Individual A “a bitch”, “that pink-haired cunt” or any other derogatory term or variation thereof;

Article 6 - Party B will provide Party A with magical assistance during their exploration of the cave system beneath Murdergrove “The Mission”;

Article 7 - Party B will not use any spells with Rot classification;

Article 8 - Upon successful conclusion of the Mission, Party A will facilitate contact between Party B and a third party to this agreement known as “The Old Gods of Dwynveia”;

Article 9 - Party B will refrain from making any comments about Lilyth’s of Terra (Individual B) “majestic fluffy tail”, or repeating any actions that occurred during the second meeting between Party B and Individual B on Varlia ("The Incident");

Article 10 - Other members of Party A will not inquire about the exact details of the Incident at this time;

Article 11 - With the exception of articles 5 and 9, this agreement will be reviewed upon successful conclusion of the Mission.

I was extremely curious as to what exactly happened during the “Incident”, but it was very good to see that Lilyth, but neither she nor Part… Persephone wanted to talk about it. My foxy cuddlebug looked both ashamed and resentful about it. One thing about which I had to agree with Persephone, though, was that my jelly’s tail was indeed majestic. And fluffy. And soft.

So soft. So warm.

Lilyth was sitting next to me, so I reached for her tail and softly petted it. By the subtle twitching of her ear, I could tell she enjoyed it.

Tee hee!

Caei’s fingers suddenly touched mine and interlaced with them. She was sitting on the other side of Lilyth and must have caught what I was doing. Or maybe she also wanted to experience the softness.

Anyway, where was I? Oh, right. The treaty. I was disappointed about the bit regarding not sharing information for now, but it was for everyone's protection. We weren't sure how durable our alliance would be, so we didn't want to put each other at risk. One thing that Persephone was comfortable revealing to us was the reason why her mother and aunts were called the “Daughters”. Apparently, they were the children of a powerful archmage and a Terran woman, and after their father was killed, they swore revenge against his killers that “somewhat escalated”.

‘That’s an understatement of a millennium, I imagine,’ Lilyth laughed.

‘I can neither confirm nor deny that,’ Persephone smiled at her.

As for teleportation, it was a very mana-intensive process for the sorceress, so we didn't want to turn her into our taxi service. We already had Phosi for that, and she was more than happy to assist us with the transport. As she put it:

‘If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have been able to enjoy the all-you-can-eat slaver buffet, so helping you with the logistics is the least I can do.’

‘What the fuck is this thing made from?’ Lilyth shouted after our latest attempt to open that fucking door failed. ‘Seriously… What the fuck?’

We came across that infuriating metal object at the end of our first day of spelunking. We entered the caves the day after meeting up with Persephone. Thanks to Phosi Express, we were able to get to Dan-Hem in hours rather than three days, and after spending a night in the village, we set off shortly after breakfast. Nothing changed in the caves from the time we were there last so we just got to it right away.

Persephone initially was very nervous about going inside, but got over it pretty quickly once she realised we had no intention of locking her back in that obelisk.

She didn't give us much detail about what had happened to her while there, but the bits I have managed to gather were enough to give me nightmares.

I can’t even imagine what she must have gone through. I can’t believe I am thinking this, but Persephone had suffered enough.

‘Which is why we are willing to offer her a second chance, my dear,’ I heard Irmen say. ‘Even though she has made some… missteps.’

I wouldn't call murder a misstep.

‘For that, she will have to atone.’

The tunnels seemed to have been going down forever. We were all getting exhausted so we decided to use the next larger chamber to set up a camp for the night. That was when we came across the almost shining rectangular featureless metal slab built into the cave wall.

‘... Da fuck?’ Lilyth muttered.

‘Looks like a door,’ Caei pointed out helpfully.

‘Yeah, seems like it,’ Sav said after examining the door a bit closer.

Then she pointed towards the outer edges of the slab.

‘You can barely see it, but this is mounted inside a frame,’ she continued. ‘The gap seems to be less than a tenth of a millimetre.’

Damn, I thought, happy Rennie explained more complex measurements during my learning sessions.

‘Y-ramite?’ Lilyth wondered out loud.

‘Maaaybe?’ Sav rubbed her chin. ‘Doesn’t look like anything of theirs though.’

‘Should we try opening it?’ Persephone asked.

The door refused to cooperate and we tried everything to get through it. Acid, Rot, Ren putting all of her mana into her bow, Fire, Water, Blood, divine weapons… NOTHING WORKED. By the gods… we didn't even leave a scratch. The frame was equally resilient.

‘Maybe we should try one of the grenades?’ Deirdee suggested.

‘NO!’ Lilyth and Savri shouted at her in unison.

‘Don’t get me wrong,’ my foxy plushie said,’ I’d be more than happy to blow the living shit out of that door. However, what would actually happen is: we would die in the explosion or the resultant cave-in and that fucking door would be fine.’

I was afraid she was right, as one of our more desperate ideas was to have Phosi and Persephone strike at the slab at the same time and it didn't even cause discolouration.

‘Let’s just go to sleep…’ I sighed.

Savri

‘A Divine for your thoughts?’ I heard Persephone ask.

It was my watch and I was keeping myself occupied by pondering, as Lilyth put it, the “Mysterious Door of Mystery”.

A very apt name this time around.

‘I just don’t get this thing,’ I sighed. ‘I’ve seen some mighty durable materials in the past, but there was one universal rule: No matter how hard something is, hit it with enough strength and it will break. Not this thing.’

‘It is probably magically-infused steel,’ Persephone said softly. ‘Possibly reinforced too.’

‘I’ve seen magic steel before,’ I furrowed my brows. ‘It wasn’t nearly this tough.’

‘Not this kind, though. If I were to theorise, this door is actually layered. At least two slabs of high-quality magic still with a ward sheet between them.’

A ward sheet?

‘A ward-inscribed sheet of magic steel,’ she explained. ‘If done right, it can greatly enhance the durability of an object. Wouldn't surprise me if there were extra layers to further reinforce it.’

Interesting. And worrying.

‘Was it actually safe to try to open this door, then?’ I asked. ‘This strikes me as a perfect way to prevent something from getting out.’

‘That would be the most expensive cell in history then. Even back in my time, when the Mages Guild wasn’t a bunch of amateurs playing pretend magic, steel was very expensive to make. This much of it would probably bankrupt several kingdoms.’

‘That’s surprising. I didn't know there was a Mages Guild on Andermon.’

‘“The Society for the Study, Preservation and Regulation of Magic Arts”. I have seen them while getting the lay of the land. The weakest Apprentice in my time would have wiped the floor with a lot of them. I mean, the [Fist of Wind] spell Lilyth has would make them cream their pants.’

‘It is a powerful spell.’

‘A single target high-damage spell. Requires getting close. Perfect for battlemages like Lilyth, but ultimately still just an Apprentice-level spell.’

I shuddered. I had no idea whether this was just bluster from Persephone, her assertions of superiority were less than believable after Varlia, but given it took fucking Zekuthran to defeat this Isana and the sorceress herself could fucking teleport…

‘And how do you rank then?’

‘You were supposed to let me be all cool, dark and mysterious, Sav,’ Persephone feigned offense and then gave me an impish smile. ‘I’m a Journeywoman. Lower end of the rank.’

By the gods. Is the divide this big?

‘I can see your expression,’ she chuckled. ‘I had good teachers and don’t forget who my mother is.’

I gulped and quickly changed the subject back to a “lets me sleep at night” one.

‘So you think this door is meant to keep people out?’

‘Most definitely. Could be a vault full of powerful magic items. You know, some “break glass in case of emergency” stuff. Too dangerous to keep out in the open, but too useful to get rid of.’

Great. We found someone’s nuke cache.

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