The New Bond

“There were four moons that orbited our realm. They were called Athul, Stalio, Thrall, and Evouti. While many don't know that there was a fourth, Evouti, since it disappeared centuries ago, the books and high grades don't lie. The reason for the moon disappearing is a much harder thing to answer, but around that time, many grand and disastrous events were happening. The disruption it brought to the realm was by no means little. As it stands now, the belief is that it was used in a mass ritual, but the question that brings up is how and for what?”- Rath the Shaper

Aster

Looking over the now empty tent free of everything I'd filled it with, I shrugged and walked out. While it'd been my home for months, I didn't really see it as more than a place to sleep. It was tempting actually to take the tent, but that would raise a lot of questions, and it wasn't mine to take anyway.

Turning my attention to the setting sun, I watched it for a moment. Rennald had said that flying at night to the dungeon was a must so we didn't cause panic in the town that was close to the dungeon. It made sense, but it didn't help my already destroyed sleep schedule at all.

Still watching the sunset and enjoying a cold breeze on my back, I stretched, leaning right then left, stretching each muscle as far as I could multiple times over, then moved to my legs and shook them. Riding on dragon back, while amazing and something I'd never get tired of, did have the drawback of being hard on the body. The constant motion with the wing beats and lack of room to move much with the harness resulted in sore joints. I was sure over time, it would get easier, but with only a set of months to practice, that time was a ways off.

Looking down, I traced my fingers over the riding suit and leather. The hole in the suit had mended almost entirely, the nearly foot-wide hole now no bigger than my palm. Under the hole and hidden under a bandage, I knew my skin no longer had a charred look courtesy of a painful but needed wash and my decent constitution. Now, it was fresh pink flesh where the skin had healed and several blood clots where it had yet to heal. I was mostly through my self-assigned stretches and bends when I picked up the sound of footsteps behind me and turned to look at the camp. Kat was walking up or jogging up and looked upset if her frown and creased eyebrows were anything to go off of. I was surprised to see her but continued to stretch as I waited for her to get closer. I hadn't planned to say bye to her, but that was mostly because of the distance that had grown, and even after getting back from the dungeon, I hadn't seen her.

“Oh, thank the gods, Aster. I was worried you would be waiting out in the field or with your dragon already.” Kat breathed out.

I stood up from my bend and tilted my head, surprised. “Hi Kat, did you need something before I left?”

She surprised me by letting out a harsh laugh as she put a hand on her hip, a spark of anger showing in her eyes. “Left? So that's why he was so instant that fucking...” she threw both of her hands up.

To say I was confused was an understatement, but I didn't speak as she fumed, letting out a line of words that would have impressed Umbra with their vigor and viciousness. After a moment, she stopped, looked at me, and snorted. “Of Course, you haven't a clue. We'll see as you were going off to a dungeon. I'm happy everything went well, by the way. Graves saw it as fitting to send me with John off to gain a few levels and to raise my soft foot skills. After the second day and two hole levels, John let slip Graves wanted us to stay out of the camp for a week or so. He couldn't really force me to stay out, and I knew something was up. What do I learn When I get back? That you're going to another fucking dungeon. Hells, Aster. The first one was dangerous enough, but Ren said it would be fine that you were a perfect counter to it, and you look fine, but another one, alone? Why?”

I spent a few moments processing her words and didn't know how to feel about them. On one hand, It explained why I hadn't seen her, and it made me feel a bit stupid for not asking about her. On the other, I was confused. A counter to the dungeon? I might have been somewhat suited for the second floor, but the first boss made my arrows look like a joke.

“Uh, Kat.” I rubbed one of my ears as I paused, trying to think of a way to explain how the first dungeon hadn't been a counter, then shrugged and changed my mind. “I'm going into another dungeon because it's what Ren agreed on for going into the first dungeon. I'm not going alone; Umbra’s going into the dungeon with me this time. She was actually very verbal with her displeasure about me going into a dungeon alone.”

“A dungeon that can fit Umbra? Are you joking? I'm going to fucking kill Ren, Aster. The only dungeons that can fit a dragon or griffin are raid dungeons.” She looked back at the camp, and I was glad her murderous expression wasn't aimed at me, but when she did and saw my confused look, she sighed and shook her head. “Of course, You wouldn't know what a raid dungeon is, and Ren knew you wouldn't. I can't believe him. I leave for a few months, and he decides That he can take my matters into his own hands. He's no better than Millrila. Aster, a raid dungeon is a dungeon that is usually attempted by twelve or more people and are at a minimum grade three. The dungeon doesn't let you leave until You've completely cleared Them or you've Died. They are harder than normal dungeons by a lot, And they don't follow normal dungeon rules. You can't go into one.” Kat curled her fingers into a fist, then sighed. “At least I caught you before you went in. I can't believe Ren would do that.”

I was silent for a moment, conflicted. Kat, it seemed, hadn't really changed all that much, and it made me slightly happy to see her so upset on my behalf. Hearing that the dungeon we were going into Was different, harder than a normal dungeon, wasn't as big Of a surprise as Kat might have thought, but it did merit checking with Umbra and seeing what she wanted to do. A tug on the bond was all it took to get her attention, and after explaining what Kat had said, Umbra chuckled. “The bird rider wants the dungeon to kill us, but even if it is harder, the limit on the monster grade should still be three, right?”

I looked over to Kat. “The monsters will still only be a max of grade three, right?”

“Except for the final boss of the last floor, but the floors can have all of the grades allowed in the dungeon. They are not limited by the floor grade in a raid dungeon. Wait, Aster, are you still thinking of going in?” Kat's expression was one of bewilderment that removed any traces of anger. “That's a death sentence. Even with Umbra, you're both still in grade two, and there's only two of you.”

I didn't respond immediately, turning my attention inward to speak with Umbra.

“A dungeon that is made for twelve people, if not more, with multiple grades of monsters on each level. What do you think?”

“The same thing you are, even as dangerous as It's made out to sound. Going through the dungeon will be good for both skills and levels, but do not take her words lightly. This will be a challenge, a difficult one, and dangerous, but I don't think it changes anything.”

I thought about it and felt my tail twitch, a common giveaway I hadn't figured out how to stop. It said to anyone who knew that I was thinking about something. The dungeon was dangerous, but we already knew that the change was the scope of that danger. Not being able to leave the dungeon on each floor could prove to be a problem, but the bigger concern was the scale. I had only just heard of a raid dungeon. Considering that twelve people could enter, it was bound to be more of a challenge than any previous dungeon. If I had the option, I'd wait to heal and learn about the dungeon, but there was no way Rennald would let us do that. If what Kat was saying was right about Rennald wanting to kill Umbra and me with a dungeon, getting away from them by going into that dungeon was probably safer in a roundabout way.

Turning my attention to Kat, who was still waiting for an answer, I shrugged before speaking, “It might be more dangerous, but that doesn't change much. I want to gain levels and skills before the realm event. Even with breaking into grade three not really being an option in the few months we have, it'll be good to get as close as possible. If the dungeon is as dangerous as you say, I'm sure we'll get a few good levels there.”

Kat shook her head vehemently. “No, just no, Aster, you might be tough, and you definitely have a background suited for fighting, but you don't understand that going into a raid dungeon isn't something someone does lightly. Parties in grades three and four plan months and train before attempting one, and usually, they bring a few more grade fours as a backup. There's only two of you, and even if Umbra is a dragon, it's insanely reckless to think you could run one at grade fucking two!” Her words had started off passionate and light, but she almost shouted the last sentence. Kat took a breath, and before I could speak, she spoke again, “Aster, while you may have run a grade two dungeon on your own, you haven't even been to a grade three dungeon floor. Let me talk to Ren and set him straight.”

“Kat, I, there's a..” I paused, fumbling over my words put off by her instance, and took a moment to look at her tense expression and realized that even if she'd been distant, she still saw me as a friend, and she was worried.

Standing up as tall as I could and still coming up short compared to her, I looked up and met her eyes. “You're probably right; it's probably dangerous beyond what I understand, and Umbra’s already given me strong words about making rash decisions. Even with that, I think this is the right path for me.” I watched Kat open her mouth and spoke over her before she could say anything. “I need to level my skills up. I went through grade one way too fast and hardly evolved or advanced any of my skills. I have a set of new skills I haven't had a chance to test out. I need a place where I can practice without a lack of monsters and no prying eyes. I understand that the dungeon might be more than I or Umbra can handle, but we will be careful.”

I looked over at where I knew Umbra was and smiled. She hadn't said anything during my words, and I could tell she would be fine with any choice I made, but part of my decision was for us as well. We needed to work on expanding the bond, and with the time dilation, it would be the perfect place, but Kat didn't need to hear that.

Kat had a stubborn look on her face but threw her hands up with a huff of breath before pointing at me. “You're being reckless, but if you want to go, there's no way Ren wouldn't be happy to help, apparently. He is so full in his hate for dragons that it is more than knowing what's good for him, and when I have a chance, I'm going to give him an earful about this shit.”

I winced and looked away. The reckless part of her statement was valid. I couldn't argue that, but there was a lot she didn't know about what we wanted to do.

Umbra and I both needed a way to grow and after leaving the forest, there hadn't been time to work and grow together. Even the flights and practice at the camp couldn't compare to an actual fight with Umbra by my side. It was possible to find monsters or creatures without going into a dungeon, but that option had its own problems. I mentally focused on the void token I had stored in my spatial storage, and pulling it out, I identified it.

[Bound Void Event Token - Unique - The token required for entry to the Void Merge Realm Event. Event Begins in 4 Months, 2 Days, 22 Hours, and 32 Minutes of current realm time. Item is bound and will return to the owner if separated.]

I flipped the token and watched it spin. Four months until the realm event happened, that meant it'd almost been half a year since I'd gotten it. It was weird thinking that months had been spent at the camp working on learning to fight and hunt low-level monsters. Somehow, it felt almost like a waste.

Yes, learning hand-to-hand combat and a new style of fighting would help, but there were so many more things I could be doing. It hadn't occurred to me since I'd planned to leave the academy anyway. I'd been living day to day and just enjoying the time I spent with Umbra in the same spot. Now, looking at the timer tick down, it was somehow different. I had the option to leave the camp in a way no one would follow and explore a place with Umbra that we'd never been to before. It would be dangerous; we could get hurt, trapped, or die, but we could also grow and explore, find, and learn things that we didn't know. It was a choice, my choice, as well as Umbra’s. Only we could make it. Turning to Kat, I put the token away with a grin and mimicked the hand-on-the-hip stance she had.

“Kat, I don't want to leave on bad terms, and I know you don't want me to go inside a raid dungeon, but there's a lot I want to work on, and the dungeon, even as dangerous as you say it is, is the best spot. Umbra needs to gain skills and level as much as I do. I want to stay friends even if we've not talked a lot recently. After the dungeon, why don't we do something fun like that building in Arilon with all the puzzles?” I didn't mention that if we did meet after the dungeon, it would probably be in the realm event.

A look of what had to be guilt passed through Kat's eyes, and her shoulders slumped, but she nodded and, after a second, collected herself and nodded. “We can do that, but hells Aster, if you die in that dungeon, I'm not telling your mother.”

Her words weren't a bit of a shock, and it was my turn to feel a bit of guilt. I could feel the same emotion from Umbra, who was listening in. It'd been way too long since I'd sent Kulni a letter, and quickly, I pulled out a piece of parchment from my storage and earned a snort from Kat. Finding a flat rock to write on was easy, and even with the low light from the creeping night, I was able to write. Thinking of the right words to explain what and how I was doing wasn't easy, but I wouldn't lie to her. In a handful of minutes, I finished the letter and added a note from Umbra at the bottom. Folding the letter, I creased it and pulled an envelope out. Usually, a wax seal would be applied, but I didn't have one, and anyone reading it would have to read old elvish to understand it. Even if they did, it didn't say anything secretive.

Standing and turning to Kat, who was still next to me, I held it out. “Can you, um make sure this gets sent to my mother like the last one was?”

Kat chuckled, taking the letter. “I'll make sure Graves gets it sent tonight. He owes me for trying to trick me. Being safe, Aster, I don't have many people my age I can call a friend, but you are one of them.” She hesitated, but I didn't and leaned forward, giving her a hug. I knew humans were weird with touching, but one of the perks of living with wolves was no sense of personal space.