Chapter 315: The Reason
"My reason for not evolving to Tier V... well, it’s quite simple: I can’t do that. Not here, at least," Aurora muttered, looking out of the window.
"Why?" Dhruv asked, obviously wanting to know the reason.
"First of all, this dungeon is only Tier IV, which is not strong enough to support two Tier V monsters within it. If I were to evolve, I’m sure it would collapse in on itself, killing everyone inside it."
Aurora sighed as she remembered the information she had gotten after acquiring the [Dungeon Keeper] exclusive ability. Like other skills, it also provided necessary information to keep the dungeon functioning.
"What is the second reason?" Dhruv asked with mild curiosity.
"Remember how I told you that at Tier VI there is a qualitative change in mana? That doesn’t happen abruptly; its seed is already sown at Tier V. Because of that, Tier V evolution takes a very long time—almost five times as long as the fourth," Aurora sighed.
"Because of this, even if I were to evolve, the thunder would sense my vulnerability and would surely attack the town, bringing it to ruins," she muttered, her voice getting thinner and thinner.
Dhruv wasn’t oblivious to the change in her tone. He understood that no matter how much she tried to appear strong, she was still hurt by the death of her subjects.
Aurora was pained to see her city, which she built with sweat and blood, turned into ruins.
Dhruv took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts. "Aurora, I... I need to talk to you about something."
Aurora turned to him, her expression instantly changing. With a smile, she looked at Dhruv. "What is it, Master?"
Looking at her warm smile, Dhruv hesitated a bit. Forcing a smile of his own, Dhruv muttered, "I-I I’m sorry... really sorry. Sorry for everything. For turning your city into ruins... killing your citizens and turning your life into this..."
"... I had my reasons, but still, what I did was too much. What I did wasn’t right... not right at all." Dhruv muttered, keeping eye contact with her.
The smile on her face wore off as Aurora looked at him, her gaze steady.
"Master, I understand how you feel, but you have to know that there was no other choice. Like you said, it was war... a war in which there was nothing you could do."
"B-But I still could have found another way," Dhruv insisted, his voice filled with regret. "I could have spared your city, your people. Instead, I let my anger and desperation take over."
Dhruv muttered, understanding there was another way. He could’ve killed her and, after making her a guardian, he could’ve escorted the citizens out of the city. But he didn’t do that.
There was no reason for him to go in, killing the masses.
Listening to his words, Aurora sighed, her eyes softening a bit. "You were fighting for survival, Master. For your people. It’s natural to make mistakes in those situations."
"Nobody is perfect... everybody makes mistakes. And I don’t hold anything against you," Aurora replied, looking at him.
Dhruv shook his head, not accepting just mere words. "You lost everything because of me. How can you forgive that?"
Sensing the guilt in his voice, Aurora stepped closer, placing a hand on his arm. She opened her mouth,
"Forgiveness is neither about forgetting nor even excusing what happened. It’s about understanding and moving forward. And I think you regret what you did, right, Master?"
Hearing the words, Dhruv took a step backward. "I want to say I regret what I did... but that would be wrong. I don’t regret what I did... I just regret how I did it."
Dhruv knew himself very well. He knew that if he were to go back in time, he would do the same thing. He would repeat what had happened. Still, with all this, he couldn’t help but feel guilty about his actions.
Nodding her head, Aurora looked at him and said gently, "We can’t change the past Master, so there is no point in regretting it. You just have to learn from it and know where you can evolve. What you can do to make it better."
As he conversed with her, Dhruv nodded his head, feeling his heart heavy but starting to lighten. Looking at her, he whispered,
"Like you said, I will try to make it better. I will try to evolve, Aurora. If fate allows, I will certainly bring you to your people."
Saying these words, Dhruv became silent as he vowed, promising himself to let her meet with her people at least once.
Hearing his words, Aurora smiled faintly, a glimmer of hope appearing in her eyes. Looking into his eyes, she said with a genuine smile, "Thank you, Master."
Hearing the words, a smile appeared on his face as well. Dhruv tried to say anything, but no words escaped his mouth.
***
[You have absorbed a Tier II core.]
[You have absorbed...]
[You have absorbed...]
[...]
[...]
[You have absorbed a Tier II core.]
Knowing that it wouldn’t give him enough energy, Azarex wasn’t absorbing Tier I cores; he was focusing on Tier II and Tier III cores. As time passed, the rate at which he was absorbing the cores slowed down.
’What? No one told me this would be painful...’ Azarex thought as he realized that he was also prone to feeling pain. The more cores he absorbed, the greater the pain he felt.
’Looks like I can’t absorb more than this...’ Azarex sighed as he looked at his chest. He hadn’t been paying attention to it, but now that he looked, he could see his core protruding from his chest. It looked like it could burst out at any moment.
"Master, I think this is it..." Not wanting to risk himself for some more gain, Azarex looked at his master and muttered, pointing toward his core.
"Wow! That doesn’t look great. This can’t be good for his health, right, Aurora?" Dhruv asked, looking at Azarex’s core.
"There is nothing to worry about, Master. Evolution will patch everything up," Aurora sighed, a smile appearing on her face.
Looking at Azarex with a devious smile she muttered, "Just another Tier IV epic core and you will be good to go..."
