Chapter 155 Dungeon Graveyard Pt. 1
I couldn't help but wonder what the menu was going to be but quickly shook my head as I walked behind the lady. The group stayed quiet until we were back in the room and were seated around the center.
"So.... What do we think? Are we in trouble or was that trap meant for something else, if it was a trap in the first place at all?" I asked the girls when they looked at me.
"We all felt the presence of mana quickly scan each of those people, whatever it was didn't touch any of us but was solely focused on those people. I know it's a long shot but what if Necro is suspicious of one of them? I mean I saw genuine emotion up there today and unless he is an amazing actor on top of being one of the worlds strongest magic casters? I would say that he is trying to root out something before it happens."
Mara being the amazing woman that she is actually made a bit of sense, and I agreed with her that up on that stage there was actual real feelings between Hannah and Necro. Anybody could feel it and it made me cement the idea that I needed to try and get along with him. If I can repair the damage between me and Hannah than I can certainly be the bigger man and forgive Necro for some of the things he did to me, I mean he saved those other people from the Shadow Eaters right? Ofcourse he had motives to do so but still.... That has to mean he has some kind of beating heart in that chest of his.... Right?
"I still don't trust him but I do think that maybe tonight I try and make amends with him. I mean he is my son-in-law now afterall. But incase things get a bit hairy we need to come up with a plan to bust our way out of here, atleast till we get to a big enough area that I can turn into my dragon form and fly us out of here."
The others agreed but looking around the common room and even taking a look at each of the adjoining rooms showed just a single window slit that let in enough light to tell if it was daylight or not. I put my hand up to the walls and tried to see if I could do like a manual detection kind of thing, think more of a mana version of echolocation that was emitted from my palm instead of my body as a whole. I was hoping that this wouldn't get blocked by whatever was stopping my abilities but unfortunately I quickly found out that it was blocked aswell as the mana fizzled out as soon as it left my body.
We brainstormed for a few hours and came up with the idea that if things got really bad then we would just have to berserk our way through everything in the hopes of getting outside. We didn't have thiefs or assassins that could blend into the darkness, and even if we did, Necro has control over the shadows.... I'm sure he was looking at us and observing as we speak.
By the time we had come up with the dumbest plan probably in history the door opens and the same lady from earlier enters. "Dinner will be served shortly, if you will please follow me. I will bring you to the dining hall."
I sniffed the air quickly when I got close to her and surprisingly I couldn't smell any rot or bad odor that is associated with the undead or zombies. "Excuse me I'm just wondering but are you one of Necro's undead?"
As if the lady was made of ice she froze instantly before turning to me. "I am not a minion if that is what you're asking. I am a vampire mistress that served under Lord Necro since his arrival into this world many years ago. I was one of the first to welcome him into this world as a baby and I taught him as he grew older. I now am proud to serve him in any capacity he deems fit for me...."
I saw a slight glint of sadness come over her eyes but it was quickly wiped away by her professionalism. "If that is all of your questions than let's continue on our way."
"Hold on, Just a few more moments of your time if you don't mind... So Necro was born here? Then how do you know he isn't from this world originally? Is that a normal occurence here or something?"
"Only to the loyal followers of Necro, yes we know. But in this world? I would think it would be a wide spread tale told by the masses if that were true, wouldn't that make sense, otherworlder?"
I stared at her stoically since I had already guessed she knew. "Vexsus is fine, so he grew up here than? Where is his birth parents? His family? How old is Necro?" I Tech Nina'd a few other questions but those answeres were the ones that got a response.
"His family is dead, has been for a few years now. He had 4 brothers that lost their fight to the plague and so did his parents a month later. Downside of being the lord over a land of undead I'm afraid.... But once Necro rose to lead he pushed new insights and technology that did away with some of the bad parts of this wasteland, and the walled cities you saw on your way in was a side effect of his genius.... "
"That will be more than enough Rosy, I'm sure Vexsus and his wives are feeling hungry by now right?" Out of the shadows came the figure of Necro in a t-shirt with the the words 'I paused my game to be here' and a pair of shorts that looked perfect to laze around in.
I started laughing because of his outfit and he just waved his hand as if to tell me to hurry up and get it over with. "Yes, the evil lord Necro likes to feel comfortable when he isn't working, so sue me. Now hurry up cuz me and Hannah are starving, I told the chefs to whip up a huge meal and I even sent out a few hunting parties to grab some wildlife from the neighboring territories.... Some of them didn't come back because they encountered Shadow Eaters but the ones that did brought enough food for even you to get full."
"Ha, we will see about that, But you and me have to have a father-son chat when this is all over. I know you had a busy day but I think this is important enough to drive up a little extra energy right?" I asked with a serious gaze and he just nodded before opening up a door that revealed a elegant dining table with places for everyone of us to sit. It wasn't like those long gaudy tables but a circular one where the people were in a more direct setting with eachother. In one of the chairs sat Hannah and as she saw Necro she smiled but it dimmed a little as I walked in shortly behind him. I wasn't paying attention as I scanned the room and ended up banging my head off the top of the doorframe.
"Son of bitch that hurt! What is this place made out of anyways?" Hannah chuckled at me but when I smiled back at her she quickly resumed her slightly irritated gaze and turned away towards Necro as he sat down.
"Please sit, we are all family now and as much as I hate to admit it... I feel like an apology is in order." Necro said as we all sat down. The food wasn't brought immediately but from the smells lingering in the air I was starting to drool a little. I soon felt a small slap across my arm as Kitsoma whacked me.
"Wipe your mouth you savage." She growled lowly. I chuckled before wiping my mouth. I reached up and held her hand then looked over and was surprised when I saw Necro just staring at me.
"Oh, don't mind me. I can wait till you guys are done."
"Father.... Please." Hannah asked with a irritated tone but the way she said father hurt me a little inside because it sounded like she was forcing herself to say it.
"I get it, I get it. I'm sorry please continue."
"Like I was saying... I'm sorry Vexsus, for all the things I put you and your group through up until this point. My sole aim was to find and train people that had the best potential. And since you came from another world... I figured you would have a huge advantage where others did not."
"I still can't get over the fact that you are not really apart of this world..." Lula said as she looked at me.
"The hell do you mean by that? I've been apart of this world since I was born, I just have memories of another place that's all. Girls didn't you properly fill her in? Lula.... I was born and raised, well technically hatched, here. My soul may be from another world but my flesh and blood and love is here in this world. What I feel is here and not anywhere else ok?" I reached over and grabbed her hand and squeezed a little hoping she would feel my sincerity. I was a bit shocked that she knew but I just chalked it up to the girls telling her during the night. Not like Necro was going to keep it to himself afterall....
"Fuck me, if I'm going to keep being interuppted then I will just send you to a nearby city for the night and then you can fuck off in the morning.... If you don't mind I have something serious to talk about. I have half a mind to shut your traps with magic just for me to finish a damn sentence!" Necro said angrily as he banged on the table with his hands.
"Honey, This is just the way Vexsus is. Please bare with it a little longer." Hannah said as she grabbed his hand in both of hers and rubbed his arm hoping to calm him down.
"Yea, like she said I can't help it sometimes, I get distracted to easily."
"Fine, but no more interuptions or we are done here. The main issue is that even though I saved those people from the Shadow Eaters, I found evidence that one or more of the leaders are in collusion with eachother in the hopes of taking me out somehow. I don't know how since I am immune to most poisons. But I am still human afterall so maybe they will get lucky. Plus with Hannah being here is like another target to get to me through and I do not want that. Those skull pendants I gave them was just a lie saying it would protect them from the undead in my lands. But in reality it is a special piece of my own craftmanship and magic that allows me to spy on them. I only gave it to them today so it will take a little to fully activate the magicks but once it does, then I will find out who is targeting me."
"I need you guys to go around the cities and help defend the walls from the wild undead... Yes, before you ask, there is wild undead that I do not control... They spawn from a nearby portal that leads to a dungeon filled with the graveyard of the damned. Something blocks me from taking control over them and so I have to send out my own to keep their numbers to a mildly controllable level. I will pay you anything I can if you can beat that dungeon and secure it."
We stared at eachother for a few seconds before I spoke up. "I think the group needs an upgrade in equipment before we set out. We didn't exactly come prepared for a dungeon raid as you can see. But I do like the sound of exploring another dungeon, have you done any info digging? Poisonous air since it's a graveyard perhaps? What about numbers of spawns and species that I will find? Potential drops? What about bosses and even possibly secret bosses?"
"I will have Hannah give you all the info before you leave in the morning. For now let's just enjoy the food I can smell that it's done and I am extremely hungry, especially after enjoying my wedding day with my lovely bride Haha." He chuckled before looking over at Hannah with bedroom eyes. She looked back at him with a red face but instead of turning away she got that same look.
About that time in walked a few butlers that I could tell were humans, They were pushing large tray tables filled with steaming cuts of meat of all sizes and vegetables and fruit pies that looked more like peach cobbler and pecan pies. What I wanted the most was this huge boar that was glistening golden brown and just the juices were still dripping off of the body and marinating a large tray of potato and carrot like vegetebles that surrounded it. My gods it smelled so damn good.
"Lord and Lady Necro, I present the finest preperations that my team could make, I hope you enjoy." Said the head chef that folowed behind the butlers before returning to the kitchen. Usually something like this would be met with an introduction to the dishes but I had no time for that... My stomach was growling and if I listend close enough I could hear Lula's making almost just as much racket as mine.
"Well? Dig in Vexsus, I had that Boar brought in just for you man. Consider a gift of apology from son in law to his Father in law."
I looked at Necro with excitement in my eyes before I saw as two maids brought Hannah and him a seperate tray of dishes. These were normie amounts of food and they only smiled at me as I shrugged before digging in and holy hell did this pig taste delicious. Every bite was dripping with sinful flavor and the spices? Woooo, they could burn even a volcano. But it all was mellowed out by a slight sweetness like honey that was glazed over the whole thing. I was lost in my own world at the moment.
"Ok, now that Vexsus is lost in his food... What aren't you telling him? This dungeon shouldn't be a problem for a man that is considered one of the strongest humans in the world. So what is it about this dungeon that you need his help for?" Kitsoma said as she turned from smiling at my goofiness to being serious as she looked at Hannah and Necro.
"Ugh, found out so soon huh? Well can't say he doesn't have good taste.... Fine, the truth is is that there is a creature living inside the dungeon that feasts on the corpses and thanks to it being a dungeon, it sustains itself with the mana of the outside world, and using that mana it respawns said corpses for the creature to continue eating and gaining power as a side effect. None of my strongest minions were able to take it down and so since Vexsus has power hidden away inside him.... I still see a bright ball of potential waiting to be unleashed from him. That's why I offered anything if you guys could do this for me."
Kitsoma and Mara looked at eachother and then to the two gluttons beside them that were lost in devouring the masses of food that was thrown in front of them.
"Fine, but what happens if we conquer it? Will you try and take it away from us? I don't think you will have a good time doing that." Mara said as she smiled while rubbing my back. She looked at me with love and affection that transcended what she saw in front of her. Hell she even had to wipe away at a piece of ham that smacked her in the face on the cheek. She grabbed it, looked at it, then ate it.
"Mmmm, good job on the ham Necro. Vexsus loves it."
"Ugh, the next few days are going to be hell you know that right?" Kitsoma said as she sighed and waved her hand in the air.