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(Maria POV)
"This will be the darkest age that will ever come to this world…"
"My children… you must gather your forces…"
"You must… protect your lands, and your people…"
"The gods… they're not your benefactors…"
"An Era of Calamity is approaching…"
"There is little hope left… Yet there's a dot, a small light I can see amidst this darkness…"
"Interestingly enough, it is a light made of the same darkness that will torment my strength and this world…"
"What an ironic twist of Fate."
"Find this otherworldly soul, and help her…"
"My strength… is fading away…"
Emeraldine finished talking, as she sighed.
Just now, we came back from our dungeon journey and we were enjoying some nice dinner.
I had just now given Emeraldine, Partner, and Lucifer their respective boost items that Hel handled to me, the [Crystalized Vampiric Bat Tyrant's Blood (A Grade)], [Fafnir's Blood Elixir (A Grade)], and [Spirit Queen's Essence Phial (A Grade)].
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[Crystalized Vampiric Bat Tyrant's Blood (A Grade)]
The crystalized blood of a powerful Vampiric Bat Tyrant, a powerful Blood-type Monster that dwells the underworld. Their blood is said to be incredibly precious and filled with Blood Attribute Essence. Usually said to be capable of increasing the power of the Physique of someone, however, it is extremely poisonous. If consumed by a Vampire, they will attain incredible power.
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[Fafnir's Blood Elixir (A Grade)]
An Elixir crafted using the small drop of blood of the Evil Dragon of Greed, Fafnir, who dwells within Svartalfheim mixed with many other herbs and ingredients harvested in the Underworld. It possess an incredible Draconic Strength that might grant Draconic Bloodlines to those that drink it or kill them in the process if they're weak enough. If drank by an Ancient Dragon, their power might skyrocket.
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[Spirit Queen's Essence Phial (A Grade)]
A beautiful Phial made out of divine power holding the liquified concentration of the Spirit Queen's Essence, containing the power of spirits and elements within the world. The Spirit Queen is a beautiful maiden that dwells within the Spiritual Realm, a Realm between the Mortals and Gods. She governs over all Spirits, and it is said she's the pillar of this world's elements. Said to enchant the magic power of those with elven bloodline, however, it might also cause mana overload and kill them in the process if they are weak. Special ones might inherit a greater power than just an enchantment to magic power.
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These three items were given to my beloved ones. I know, it sounded scary to me as well when it said that it could kill them! But when I began to doubt, I received another message from Hel saying it was okay, as they were specifically made for them… I cannot trust her too much, but this time I tried to trust her! And yeah, it more than worked, all three of them were boosted through the roof!
Although none evolved or anything of the like, they had attained new skills and their stats skyrocketed. Lucifer gained new abilities related with Fafnir, with his dragon form becoming stronger as well as his dragon breath. Meanwhile, Partner became even more vampiric, and now had the power to shapeshift! Lastly, Emeraldine became even more brighter than ever, she was a walking lamp. And above all, her eyes turned rainbow for a bit, and she began saying all sorts of weird words!
We were rather shocked while having dinner… once she finished talking, she quickly wrote down everything in a notebook and then read it back to us. Root also said he heard the same voice talking inside his head for some reason… Ah, by the way, he's now around Level 30 out of 60.
"So that's it, huh?" I wondered. "I… don't get it."
"Me neither… But I think it was the voice of the World Tree." Emeraldine said.
"T-The World Tree?!" Aquamarine asked.
"Wait, is this true?" Ruby wondered.
The two were with us, of course. Alongside Helga and the other dwarves too. There was no way I wasn't going to invite them to have dinner at this fancy woman's house.
"Yeah, I also heard the same thing gyugyuh!" Root said, while sitting over the table. He was enjoying himself some pie and cake. Of course, he was within his Spirit Embodiment form, small and round. His real body size is too big to even fit in the house.
"Root seems connected as well, as he has consumed Yggdrasil's Sap." I said to the two. "He's a special lil' guy."
"I see…" Ruby muttered. "I… This means the Era of Calamity is coming closer. We have to get ready, Aquamarine."
"Indeed… I didn't expect this to come so sooner though. We'll have to prepare even more. Producing more golems, our greatest asset, should be prioritized as well." The old lady said.
"So this world is finally reaching such an Age…" Lucifer sighed. "Things are only going to get worse from this point…"
"Come on don't be a party pooper, brother." Sighed Brunhild.
"A-Ah, right, sorry…" Lucifer sighed.
"Don't be sorry, I guess you're right." I said. "We need to prepare for the inevitable now… Of course, once we're done with the dungeon we have to conquer after this one."
I ended deciding to not take over the swamp dungeon because it was very nice to us. I left it be for now, as it was harmless and seemed to know about the dwarves and I think it was rather content to have a symbiotic relationship between the dungeon's resources and the magic power the dwarves brought.
"Yeah, and then there's the whole problem with the Frost Queen… This is not easy to deal with." Sighed Ruby. "I'll be working hard to help you guys as much as I can. By using the resources of your dungeon, we can also convince more of my siblings to invest into defenses and the creation of more golems."
"That would be ideal." Said Aquamarine.
"Well, now, everyone, let's enjoy dinner for now. We've had a long day. Let's rest afterwards."
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