The Chronicles of Dwynveia – A Slimeling LitRPG

Savri - Day 4 - 117 Days Remain

The mystery of the place only deepened once Deirdee noticed that the hatch wheel lock was designed for dual-side operation, but the internal valve was broken off and missing. Not in those exact words, but you get the gist.

The question is: Was it intentionally removed or was it never installed properly?

The faded, crumbling documents that Aki found didn't help one bit.

‘Fuck, those are in poor condition,’ Lilyth grumbled as she and Ren examined them.

‘I think this one mentions something about a hydroponic plant,’ Birdie muttered, squinting her eyes.

‘My translator trait borked out,’ the furball shook her head. ‘Most of the legible things are just some bullshit squiggles, which I assume are your local alphabet.’

FUCK.

‘I keep forgetting about that,’ I sighed.

‘Let me help, then,’ ‘Phone said and carefully took the paper from Lilyth. ‘Damn… This really is in poor shape. Yeah. I can't make heads or tails of this one either.’

That proved to be the case with almost all the papers. Thanks to the combined efforts of our entire group all we could piece together was that this facility was, probably, once run by the Royal Magical Agriculture Institute and dedicated to studying and cultivating plants under extreme conditions.

We began to comb the floor over for more information and Phosi hit the jackpot when she found a journal under one of the beds.

She slowly paged through it until she found the final entries.

‘Those are from the First Moon of Ereshkigal in 1127,’ she rasped. ‘Which would be after the fall of Akh’ret's Mercy, yes? Because that took place during the Second Moon of Nyx, if memory serves.’

Well, we both definitely get to see those moons.

Lilyth counted something on her fingers and then nodded.

‘Surprised you remember that,’ she said.

‘For you, morsel, the Fall of the Empire is a curiosity. For me, those are answers to the “what happened to everyone I ever knew” question.’

‘A fair point has been made.’

‘Good, little snack. Now give me a moment to read this.’

Phosi - Day 4 - 117 Days Remain

What I didn't tell the morsels was that the bunker looked awfully familiar. I’ve been there before. But when? Sure I was missing memories after my death… but the stuff before seemed pretty complete.

The heartbreak… the suicide…

Could those memories be false?

Did Phosi Vaan Lohren even exist?

If not, who was I?

Nyx?

No answer.

Up to me to discover, then. Or even decide to pursue that line of inquiry.

It felt like a massive can of worms to open.

Should I accept who I am right now?

Happy that my hands couldn't shake, I began to read the journal. It used to belong to a low-level security guard named Deriin Rhail.

That name… I knew it once. But how? Maybe the journal would provide some answers. I had no time to go over it in detail, so I decided to focus on the more relevant parts first.

Excerpts from the journal of PFC Deriin Rhain (1108-1127)

28/10/1127

More refugees arrived from the North, this time from some village that was razed by artillery fire. I am surprised the higher-ups chose to take them in. For one they could be our enemies and the food situation is bad as it is. Hopefully, we will get more supplies soon. If not, I am afraid some of the men might opt for refugee steaks.

30/10/1127

There was an incident in the hydroponics plant on the third level. Apparently, someone broke in and stole some of the vegetables growing there. People are blaming the refugees for the incident. The higher-ups seem to share that viewpoint and have threatened to expel the whole lot of them should another supply theft occur.

What makes it worse: the watches will be doubled now and with the increased scrutiny there goes my plan to paw something during a night shift.

2/11/1127

The food rations were cut again. Rumour has it that it is because we have lost contact with command, and no new supplies are ever coming.

Things are going bad fast. I even overheard open talk of rebellion.

3/11/1127

The island came under artillery fire today. Or maybe it was a bombing run. One of the bombs exploded so close to the bunker that the whole place shook so hard that I thought it would collapse on our heads.

5/11/1127

There was a shootout in the mess hall. Jahl shot one of the cooks for refusing to give him extra beans. The old man summarily executed him on the spot and said that the same fate awaited anybody stepping out of line. 

More food for us.

6/11/1127

A lottery was held today among the refugees. The “winners” got an exciting trip to see the great “outside”.

We had to shoot two of them before the rest left “peacefully”. We could hear them for hours on the other side of the entrance begging us to let them back in or at least give them some supplies.

The rest of the refugees were confined in an empty storage room and would be given provisions once a day.

We really are alone out here, aren't we?

8/11/1137

Another incident at the hydroponics plant. Oddly enough, nothing was stolen this time around. Why break in then?

9/11/1127

I am so hungry that my eyes and ears began to play tricks on me. I can swear that while passing one of the large planters during my patrol I heard rusting sounds coming from it. When I turned towards it, I thought I saw something slithering on one of the leaves of the large bush growing there, though when I came over to investigate there was nothing there.

10/11/1127

I was not the only one to think they were crazy, it seems. Others have begun seeing and hearing things down in the labs. The old man initially wanted to play this off, but too many of us reported the same. I never saw the Colonel this uneasy before.

We are now to stay in pairs at all times. As much as I hate to admit it, having someone to watch my back will be very comforting during my watch tonight.

Phosi - Day 4 - 117 Days Remain

‘That was the final entry,’ I said after I finished reading the relevant passages.

‘Well… maybe nothing notable happened during that watch, they were relieved the next day and those are the corpses of some other people,’ Ren said, feigning hopefulness. ‘You know… ones who haven't died to plant monsters in the hydroponics.’

‘The problem isn't the plant monsters,’ Savri shook her head. ‘It is the causal link between “plant monsters” and “locking doors from the inside followed by a mass suicide”. Or as Lilyth would put it “fuckery”.’

‘I mean, we have two fire mages with us,’ our “Queen” answered. ‘So I can easily see a causal link forming between plant monsters trying their vine at fuckery and this place growing some piles of ash.’

‘Let’s not be overconfident, kids,’ Sav said in a commanding tone. ‘We don't know what's down here. There is also Cadet Candyass to consider, so stay frosty.’

‘Cadet Candyass?’ Aki raised her eyebrow.

‘Stay frosty?’ I followed up with the more important question. ‘How? It’s the middle of the summer.’

Savri covered her face with her hand, while the furball burst out laughing.

After our fearless combat leader managed to climb out of the hole she had dug herself into, we decided to give the floor a once-over just to be sure we didn't miss anything important. Most of us, anyway. Her Furry Majesty began scouting the level below us with her spells and I volunteered to be her minder as I needed a moment to think. Alas, no matter how much I tried, I couldn't wrap my mind around the possibility of some or all of my pre-death memories being false.

There is one person who could provide me with some answers. Well… there was one. Yachiro got himself killed. Though would he be the right choice? Another “dead” lead was cousin Hakon. Maybe though…

I tapped Lilyth on the shoulder which caused her to jump.

Something we will need to work on.

‘Trouble?’ she asked once her attention returned to her immediate surroundings.

‘No. There is a request I have though. One I fear I might not be strong enough to ask for should I delay.’

Real concern appeared in Lilyth's eyes, something I hated to see. Food shouldn't see me as weak.

‘What’s wrong?’

Despising myself for every word uttered, I explained the discrepancies in my memories.

‘I can see why that would freak you out,’ Lilyth said.

‘I DO NOT “FREAK OUT”, MORSEL,’ I snarled at her.

‘Of course,’ Lilyth stared back at me impassively, making me remember that I just tried to intimidate someone who had faced things that were terrifying even by my standards.‘ I apologise for my “careless” wording. Anyway. If you want help pursuing that, you have it. Well… once we are no longer racing against time that is. One condition though: If you remember something important about this or other places we visit, swallow your pride and speak up.’

‘That is reasonable,’ I conceded. ‘Very well.’

We shook on it.

‘Where do you want to start?’ Lilyth then asked. ‘Asking because if we happen to pass nearby that place we might have time for a quick detour.’

‘I would say that's unlikely, but I still remember the “shopping trip” we went on.’

‘The Tenebral Order: Impossible is Nothing.’

What? What kind of sentence structure is that?’

Deciding that it was probably some Terran saying, I ignored Lilyth's shockingly poor grammar and said:

‘I want to go home. To Ghentville.’

Lilyth - Day 4 - 117 Days Remain

I was so happy Phosi didn't notice I nearly pissed myself when she took offence to my wording.

I did not go through all that bullshit only to die at the hands of a friend.

Still… Her issue brought up an interesting question. What caused Sconryolls to form? Or rather, what caused Vengeful Spirits to form? There must have been more to it. For one, Ere, despite owning my soul, had warned me not to become one.

Normally, I would have dismissed that, but my ending up in hell, twice, proves that her control over me wasn't absolute.

Now… the warning came when I was declaring yet another hate-driven blood oath of vengeance against our enemies. Meanwhile, what caused Sconryolls to pop up was despair rather than hatred.

Those were both strong emotions, yet they struck me as about as rare as water in an ocean whenever death was involved. So what made the deaths of people like Phosi special? What put me at risk of becoming like her?

It felt to me that we likely wouldn't discover the “why” behind Phosi’s spotty memory without understanding the “what”.

‘You aren't the only one to pursue this line of inquiry,’ I heard Ere say gravely. ‘It never ends well. In fact, there is nothing but despair awaiting you at the end of this road.’

Are you telling me not to do it?

‘Just be careful. Here is my final warning: eventually, if you manage to pick up the correct trail, you will get to what will feel like a point of no return, and for the sake of everyone that loves you… TURN BACK.’

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