Wanderer's Game

It takes less than a second of rubbing my two remaining neurons together to realise just how fucking broken these Dungeons are when I look at the rewards properly.

2000 EXP. 6 levels. For 12 minutes of work against Jack, with an incredibly unoptimised strategy. I mean, if I worked the numbers down, shaved off a few minutes in the fight, I could possibly be getting 6 levels every 7-8 minutes.

There's, what, 1440 minutes in a day. Theoretically, going at around 8 minutes per clear, I could be getting 180 Levels per day! That's 540 Stat Points, 180 Skill Tokens!

The thought alone makes my hands go numb. I don't hesitate to open the Dungeon Menu once more and...

On Cooldown - 6:23:57

What is that.

[A waiting period until you can clear your next Dungeon.]

I thought I could retry a Dungeon indefinitely. That most certainly does not look like indefinitely to me, Anya.

[I was not lying. A Dungeon can be attempted an infinite number of times. However, you can only Clear a Dungeon once a week.]

[This is to incentivise the User to engage with the world and not devolve into unlimited Dungeon farming. They should be a bonus, a way to avoid stagnation, not a primary source of power.]

...I don't know who to be more annoyed at. Anya, for once again not telling the truth like I asked, or myself for actually believing her this time. At this point, probably both.

[I was not intentionally lying to you, User. You merely did not ask the right questions.]

I'm not arguing semantics with a fucking AI. Before she can spew more drivel I dismiss her text box and get my thoughts on track.

Alright, so I can't farm Dungeons indefinitely, a little bit shit but I suppose it was obvious in retrospect I wouldn't get off that easy. The rewards are still good, and as Anya said they ensure I won't just stagnate if I'm not killing or brown-nosing people for days on end.

I'm still a bit intrigued by the item Jack dropped, or more accurately the Fragment.

Holy Grail Fragment (SSR): There are many who would kill hundreds of people for just this broken shard. Use it with caution.

An utterly vague, entirely unhelpful description. How joyous. I can't exactly use it just yet because I've no idea what it does, and I'm making the assumption that it only 'works' properly when I've gathered the rest of the pieces.

I could be wrong, and I'd love to be proven wrong, but I can't get much out of the bloody System about it. At least with the Talon Of Horus it warned me about Chaos, this doesn't even tell me what 'using' it entails.

Who knows, maybe I could use it to get a foot in with the Catholics and the Angels. I doubt it, considering it isn't this world's original Grail, but it wouldn't hurt to try.

It doesn't help much for making friends when your race is notorious for committing heinous crimes against people for shits and giggles. Hell, I'd wager there's six different factions who would simply kill me on sight just for being a nosy Devil.

Unfortunately, I can't do much about that, but I'd like to think I've got enough charm to avoid a spear through the chest. Though, given that everyone I've met so far has tried to kill me, I'm losing faith in said charm.

My own misplaced confidence aside, the Dungeon heartbreak isn't all that bad when thinking logically. I'm about to be sent to an active warzone when I reunite with Serafall, it's not like I'll be starved for opportunities to gain EXP, especially considering just many Devils are still fighting the war.

Chances are I'll also meet the rest of the motley crew of Anti-Satan leaders soon as well, including what I'm sure will be an incredibly awkward meeting with Sirzechs, and I am absolutely not looking forward to that one.

I'm pretty sure he could sneeze in my vague direction and I'd be rendered meat paste. Considering the current circumstances regarding Grayfia, I'd wager he has more than a few reasons to butcher me as well. How lucky, then, that Sirzechs is an incredibly forgiving man.

Now then, putting thoughts of my death at the hands of disintegration aside, I believe I have some very important business involving my little dragon Alduin.

The second the Egg manifests in my hands from the Inventory, I feel immense warmth being emitted from it, alongside the vicious shaking from side to side as Alduin struggles to get out. Carefully, I place it on a desk close by.

For a moment I think to intervene and expedite the process with a few knocks to the shell, but soon enough I see the small cracks beginning to form along the sides, tiny claws tearing it away seconds later.

When the shell is destroyed and Alduin revealed to the world, I'm left feeling mixed. Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly happy to have a bloody Dragon of my own, it's just...

Three heads. Two tails? I can understand the four legs, the most powerful dragons in this world are quadripedal so I'm not complaining, and a golden coat is perfectly fine for a dragon but the rest worries me. Have I encountered the one genetic defect amongst a literal supreme race?

[Alduin's incubation coincided with your EXP gain, growing alongside you for the duration of it.]

[This however led to complications after you killed Euclid. Not only did you gain such an extreme amount of EXP in one instance, but you went far above the levels required to hatch Alduin as well.]

[As a result, he encountered some... mutations from the excess EXP. If he had hatched him organically, this would not have been the case.]

Well, knowing that, I suppose its nothing to worry about. In fact I'd say it just makes the little guy look even more badass. If I had to make a guess, the golden scales comes from my own blond hair and yellow motif. No matter. I need to introduce myself.

Slowly, I move a hand over towards the broken shell and extend my gloved palm out towards the young dragon, who just about fits on my hand. I pull him close to my eyes and see each of the three heads cry out before rubbing against my face, their tiny leathery wings shaking with delight.

Their? His? Are each of the heads separate entities or is it one mind controlling all three? To test the theory, I rub one of the heads with my finger and watch in total awe as the other two look on in unashamed jealousy.

Three beings in one body. The thought alone is nothing short of insane.

"Skreee!"

He sounds much more like a bird than I'd anticipated. I don't think I can even describe it in words. High pitch, thunderous screeching is the best way I can put it, and the sound is only make louder when the other two heads join in.

Wanting some quiet though, I slowly move Alduin from my hand and perch him atop my shoulder, trying fruitlessly to achieve balance before he thankfully wraps his tails around my bicep for stability and hangs off my back, going quiet at the close contact.

Am I a father now? Is that how this works? Ohoho, man I cannot wait to show you off to everyone, Alduin! You and I are gonna do great things together, I know it.

Alduin

Greater Dragon

Level 24

Seconds later my joy washes away into terror as Grayfia bashes down the door, knives in hand and eyes glowing violently.

"Master! Are you alright? I heard... screaming..." Her voice falls off towards the end as her eyes linger on Alduin.

"Go back to sleep, Grayfia, you're hearing things."

"Is- is that a dragon, my Lord?" ...Fuck.

"No. You're seeing things." Her eyes narrow.

"I am fairly certain there's a dragon hanging from your shoulder, Master."

Well, clearly she's not going to abandon this. I never was the best at manipulating people. Anyways, luckily I've already rehearsed a background for Alduin, and his mutations have only made it more believable.

"I stole the egg from Euclid's lab and it hatched not so long ago. I think he was running some tests on it using that Mana infusion machine, and that's why it looks so different."

To my surprise, she buys the explanation almost immediately, moving slowly towards the small dragon and dismissing her weapons.

"Does it have a name?" She damn near whispers, seemingly entranced by it.

"Alduin. For all three heads... still not sure how that works, point is his name is Alduin."

"His?" She moves around behind me. "Are you sure it's a boy, Master? There doesn't seem to be anything indicating it being a male, nor a female for that matter."

"Like I said, mutations from the Mana infusion. Very nasty stuff."

"I see. Do you mind if I..." She trails off, gesturing vaguely to Alduin.

What's the worst that could happen?

"He doesn't bite. At least I don't think so." Gently, I raise my hand to Alduin and let him climb onto it before moving over to Grayfia, who mimics my gesture.

As soon as he's in her hand, she melts. I'm not even sure what happens, whether she's always wanted a pet dragon or if it's awoken some motherly Instinct, but she's almost giddy when Alduin's heads rub against her fingers after she tries to pet him.

The horns on each skull make it slightly difficult, but they don't stop Grayfia from rubbing just about every part of Alduin's heads and making odd cooing noises.

I try to clear my throat to get her attention, but clearly she's off in la-la-land now, having too much fun playing chicken with the gaping maw of a dragon and her own fingers, playfully putting them in the vicinity of his mouth and laughing as his jaws snap at them.

It's an admittedly enchanting sight. She looks utterly radiant, so happy and cheerful that I almost forget she was crying in my arms barely a few hours ago. The scene has me severely questioning my stance on being a father, to say the least.

Eventually though, she seems to realise how long she's spent playing with Alduin and mutters an apology, her face red with embarrassment as she scoots over and hands him back to me.

As she tries though, I lift a palm in her direction.

"If you want... you can keep him for the night." She looks utterly shocked I'd even allow something like that.

"Really? Would you trust me with him?"

"It's not a matter of trust, Grayfia. I saw you laugh for the first time since I met you tonight. Clearly, Alduin's helping you to feel better about everything that happened today, and anything that helps you heal is more than enough for me."

The point is a bit moot considering we've known eachother for only 3 days as of now, but to my surprise the words leave her slightly emotional, her hand trembling.

"You... do you really care for me that much?"

"I do. When I heard you talk about your situation in that washroom, I decided then and there that I would do everything in my power to get you out. We escaped, so since then I've settled on a new goal."

Feeling uncharacteristically bold, I move forward a step and place a hand on her cheek, Alduin having somehow understood my intentions and moved back to my shoulder.

"I swear that I will do everything in my power to make you happy. To make you whole. Because you deserve to be more than what your suffering has made you. You deserve the life that was stolen away from you."

She's crying again, but the existence of a small, shaky smile on her face tells me I'm at least doing something right. This is... incredibly embarassing, to be admitting these things aloud. I preferred when it was just internal monologue.

"What I'm trying to say is, yes, I do care about you that much. Whatever you need, I'll do my best to give you."

I didn't realise it were possible, but she seems to get even more emotional, an odd mix between embarassed, flattered and relieved. She soon moves forward another step and shoves her face into my chest, her hands clinging to my lapels.

For a second I'm worried she's going to cry even harder, but her next words leave me stunned into silence once again.

"What if the thing I needed was you?" She mumbles softly into my chest, her hold tightening.

Her words send lightning coursing through my veins. She takes a pause.

"Would you... would you give that to me?"

Another pause. Her breaths grow heavier with every moment. Her head lifts from my chest and I see her glowing eyes once more.

"I don't want to sleep alone again, Master. Will you stay with me?"

...I think I can wait a bit longer to make that call to Sera.