The Forgotten Legacy

Shaun didn’t hesitate to obey the direction he was given, he made himself as comfortable as he could, not an easy thing to do when you are surrounded by water, but he managed. He knew what he was going to learn was important and he didn’t want to be distracted by anything while he listened, processed and asked questions of his own.

“As you must have realised by now, not all dungeons in the tutorial are the same, some, like the one you have found yourself in, have been seeded with creatures from the multiverse that will have the ability to communicate with those that enter, if we so choose. There is a purpose to this, although not the one you may think. Those of us that have been copied into the dungeons are scouting talent, so to speak. We are from different factions with the goal to see if there is anyone we may wish to take in or simply share information with, to help them along the way.”

It all leads back to factions then. The blank faction emblems, having these copies in some of the dungeons. Will this all impact on what occurs in stage 3? He didn’t know but he figured if an objective, even if optional, was to have a blank faction emblem that could be inscribed to a certain faction, why wouldn’t it come into play in the next stage of the tutorial.

“Why though? What is the benefit to the factions? We have only been in the tutorial for less than two months, why scout talent now?”

“Because the most talented of your universe will be sought after by many factions, we are always looking for new members, not to bolster our numbers, but to cultivate those that show the most promise into powerhouses for our clans.” Right, they don’t just want anybody, they want the most powerful. “I will share some information on the factions of the multiverse, it will make more sense. There are 12 major factions, each faction is made up of smaller, lesser factions or clans and so on down to the lowest members. But each person in the multiverse, each planet and sometimes universe, is a member of one of the high twelve. So when one of the clans under the main major powers, or major factions, brings in and nurtures a member that boosts the overall ability of a clan or lesser faction, they move up in the ranking of the major power. Does that make more sense?”

It did. The powerful rule, the weak are left behind. The copies sent into dungeons would be from the lesser factions, trying to find those that show an ability to grow strong to boost them up and have more power so that the entire faction would rise closer to the top of the major faction.

“It does, it's all about power. The more power you have, the more respect you have, and with it, the stronger the faction you belong to is. Is that why you are speaking to me? You want me to join your faction?”

“I am simply sharing information with you at this time, however if you asked to join our faction, I would not oppose such a conversation. I can give you some information as to the major faction that we are part of, but not the others, if you would like?”

Not seeing a reason not to learn more he simply nodded his head, asking her to continue.

“So be it. The major power we belong to is called the Collective of Beastial Creatures, or the Collective for short. We are a faction that is made up of the more, how should you say, unique creatures in the multiverse, for the most part. Creatures that have unique preferences to their environments and have the ability to usually shift to a more humanoid look as we grow in power. As you can see, us Mer are creatures of water, it is our preferred environment although we can shift into a more human looking shape once we reach a certain level of power, although I am unable to tell you more on power levels.”

A faction made up of creatures sounded cool, not sure how well he would fit in with it, but he did wonder how many different creatures were out there and how many seemed to be linked with earth myths.

“I have heard of the Merfolk before, in our myths. How is that?”

The queen couldn’t stop her laughter at his question. “You will find that your myths are based on truth more than they are not.”

“So things like elves and dwarfs and gods? They are real?” He asked and the queen simply nodded her head, “What about dragons?” His question made everyone tense up, like the topic of dragons was a step too far.

“Be careful what you ask human, there are some beings in the multiverse that you do not wish to tangle with.” It was a cold statement, said in warning, and if he had to guess, a tinge of fear.

“I am sorry, for bringing up a topic that I shouldn’t have.” He didn’t know why, but figured an apology was better than not. It made him very curious though.

“We shall move on to the last of what we should cover. Affinities. As you may know, having an affinity is an important thing, and choosing the right one, if you even have a choice, is an important decision. Not everyone will always find theirs but if you wish to have any respect in the multiverse you must have at least one. To have two though? Only the elite will ever accomplish such a thing. And a lesser faction that has a member with two affinity is always seen as being close to one of the major powers. Having two affinity compared to one isn’t just doubling one's power, it is more akin to having three times that of a single bond. It comes with better class choices, better skills, and overall more powerful abilities. Many will spend centuries trying to cultivate a second affinity with very few succeeding. It is why it is so odd that you appear in this dungeon, only months into your tutorial, with two bonded affinity. Do you understand why you will be sought out by every faction you may come across?”

He had to think it all through for a moment, if it became well known that he had two affinity he would end up being scouted continuously, and if he was to guess some would be kinder than others. If anyone was to find out he had more, like say five bonded affinity, would he go from being sought out and prized to hunted? Probably. Except if he joined a major faction. But that in itself may cause instability throughout the multiverse.

“What about people that have more than two affinities? Is it possible?”

The queen looked at him, considering his question for a long while before she decided to answer. “There are some who have more than two bonds, they are rare, even among the major powers, those that do hold more than two are the pinnacle of power. The leaders of each major faction have more than two, as do their immediate subordinates. But it is a delicate balance of power between each of the major factions, they all wish to have more than the other, yet it takes thousands upon thousands of years to even get close to a third affinity, if you even have the connections to do so. That is all I will say on the matter.”

“Thank you for answering my question, Queen Vilerelle. If I may ask….”

“I am afraid our time for questions must come to an end. I have already shared more than I should have. You have many choices in front of you, Shaun, ones that you should not have to deal with at such a young age, but I am afraid you must. Your time in the dungeon must end now. But I wish you good luck, and hope that we may one day see each other in the greater multiverse.”

“But I don’t want to kill you!” He didn’t think he would even be able to bring himself to do it anymore. They had done nothing to him, if anything they had helped him a lot through their conversation. He wouldn’t kill them in cold blood after that.

“Do not worry, we are but copies, we are not real even if we may seem to be. Do not fret for our lives.”

Before he could even reply the queen made a signal to the mermen and on que they each started taking their own lives. He tried to rush in and stop them but he couldn’t get to them quick enough to stop them. When the only ones left alive were Shaun and the queen, she simply smiled at him before the trident in her hand glowed brighter until he had to look away. When the light stopped there was nothing left of the queen, only the trident laying across her throne. Why would they do this?

* Ocean’s Storm Dungeon Completed. Dungeon will automatically eject successful participants in 5 minutes.*

He didn’t receive any notifications for killing any of the Merfolk, which he was very glad for. He didn’t kill them and wouldn’t have done so if they had asked. The self-sacrifice was bad enough, he could still see the twelve bodies of the Merman in the water, floating around, dead. He didn’t know if he should loot them or not, to be honest he didn’t even know if he could, but in the end he decided to as he couldn’t keep looking at the bodies around him. He received their scales but nothing else, he would not have been able to fold back from vomiting if he had received any tail meat. He did swim up and grab the trident though. That he had no issues with taking.

*[Advanced] Ocean’s Royal Trident: The trident from the ruler of an ocean, embedded with an attuned water sapphire, capable of storing mana and being used for attacks through the trident.*

Holding the trident it felt powerful in his hands, it was about the length of his body and was light in his hand. He had never used a weapon like this before, the fact that it had a powerful gem in it made him want to use it, but he had never gotten the ability to store his mana in a material, although he didn’t know if he would need it considering it already said that it could store mana. It would be something he played around with in the future.

Soon enough the five minutes were up and he was sent outside of the dungeon, back to where he had entered. He quickly checked his surroundings and found a few people out around the lake he was in, but not in the water. He waited where he was until the last of the notifications came from finishing the dungeon.

*Calculating dungeon reward grade*

Party fully cleared the dungeon of monsters. Adjusting reward grade.

No members of the party died during the completion of the dungeon. Adjusting reward grade.

Dungeon completed by less than the 5 participants recommended. Adjusting reward grade.

Dungeon completed in a unique way. Adjusting reward grade.

Dungeon completed Solo. Adjusting reward grade.

Dungeon reward grade: A

*Distributing reward at A level*

*Blank Faction Emblem*

*Waters Bliss Orb rewarded*

*Water Bliss Orb: An orb that is made of the most pure element of Water, greatly increases control and ability to manipulate this element if equipped. If the user has an affinity for water, mana cost is greatly reduced when using their affinity. If the user does not have an affinity to water, when equipped may channel mana through the orb and aspect their mana for short periods.*

The orb was as expected, and he also got another emblem which now made his total four. The one thing he found interesting was that although he didn’t complete the dungeon in three days it did say that he completed it in a unique way, when he thought about it, having the full last group of monsters, or in this case creatures, kill themselves was pretty unique.

He still had the trident in his hand and the sword in its sheath, deciding to see how he could use the trident he decided to keep it this way. He swam back underneath the waterfall and out to the other side of the lake, he would be in full view of where the people currently were but he didn’t really feel like delaying his exit and moving on.

There were only two groups around, both with teams of five, and none seemed to be overly strong to his senses so he didn’t see the need to hide away or avoid them. When he broke the surface of the water near the edge of the lake he immediately looked over the people present. With a quick identify he found that a number of them were in their 20’s for their race level, a good achievement and indicated that they would most probably have an upgraded class.

He didn’t say anything as he lifted himself onto land again, it was nice being back on solid ground, he looked forward to getting dry and having something to eat. He hadn’t had the opportunity over the past few days to actually cook anything, and although he felt the hunger, it didn’t seem to impede on his ability to function as much as it should have.

“There is a dungeon in there right?” One of the people that had been around the lake had walked over to him, they didn’t have their weapon drawn and seemed more curious than anything.

“Yeah, water type, it isn’t a good time.”

“Anything you would be willing to share with us?”

Looking over everyone, they had all moved in and were waiting for him to answer. He didn’t think they would survive in the dungeon, let alone complete it in the time they had left in stage 2, but he figured they could make their own choices. He told them everything he knew about the dungeon, every annoying aspect of it, right down to being stuck in the water the entire time. The more he spoke, the more they all started to lose hope.

“Dammit! We need one more dungeon before we have completed the objectives! We are screwed if we can’t do this one!”

Shaun thought it over for a minute, they all seemed pretty capable of themselves, they hadn’t tried to kill him either which was a bonus. So he decided to help out a bit.

“You see over there?” He pointed the way to the canyon. “There is an air dungeon in that direction, if you run, and I mean really push yourselves, you should make it there in less than two days. That will leave you with only two days tops to finish the dungeon, it will be tough, but I would say it’s a better bet than doing this one.”

“Have you done it already? The air dungeon I mean.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t so bad, unless you hate heights.”

With that they all walked away from him, they walked back over and he told them a bit about the air dungeon and after they decided to risk going over to it than dying in the water dungeon. With that done he now had less than four days, closer to three, to run for the earth dungeon and try and get it done.