21 『21』

Mothra proceeded to lead me to the end of the cave, we were now in front of a black wall.

It was literally a black wall, nothing else, just a black wall.

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Place your hand on it."

I did as I was told, though being ordered around by a little girl felt quite weird.

The black wall was cold, it also gave an eerie feeling off of it. I looked over to Mothra who was drawing weird things on the wall, when she was done, she flicked the wall.

Then it suddenly went up and disappeared into mid air. What was now in front of us was a pitch black room, even with my night vision, it was still black.

Mothra entered the room first, "Follow me."

I followed right behind here since I had no way around, I was only able to keep up with Mothra due to her footsteps.

We walked for about a minute until her footsteps stopped.

"Master, I brought her here." said Mothra.

Immediately, light filled the room and a blade was suddenly aimed towards my neck.

I pulled out katana just in time and deflected it.

The lady who aimed at my neck had blonde hair with the black strands at the end of her hair, bangs hovered over her eyes, and she had grey eyes. Her slim figure allowed her to move the way she did, she was good with the katana too.

Her movements were incredibly minimized and filled with accuracy.

"Not bad reflexes, I would hate it if the first person to make it here died this easily." said the lady.

"Master, I told you not to do that." said Mothra.

"Didn't I tell you to call me Auntie? Why are you calling me master?" asked the lady.

The lady that had a cold and fierce expression suddenly turned into a doting aunt, this world was truly interesting.

"Ah, sorry. I had to test out your abilities if you were weak. You were able to counter my attack which means you're quite strong and you also passed the trial." said the lady.

I really didn't know what to say...

"You're probably confused on what to say. Master, why don't you explain it to her." said Mothra.

"You're right my cute niece~ This underground cave is actually a huge dungeon, every room is a trial. Although you don't gain anything from clearing those rooms, you were able to get closer to the final trial. Thus the final trial was my niece, Hana."

"Don't call me that!"

"Anyways, my niece is a moth, correct. She's the strongest after me in this dungeon, if you were able to pass her, then you have the right to claim the ability I leave as a reward." said the lady.

"I see." I muttered.

This was somewhat similar to the games Rimuru told me about, dungeons had rooms and you were to clear them to get to the next room. There was also the final boss you had to defeat which I'm guessing was Mothra or Hana.

"Uhm...Miss..."

"Call me Lumi, no need for miss."

"Lumi, I understand but what ability am I supposed to get?" I asked.

"Alright, let me explain it to you. My real form is a form of a spirit, to be specific, it was something like a space-time spirit. Who I reside in will gain my abilities, there is another space or time spirit but that is different from me. I reside in this human form to seek for someone to inherit my power." said Lumi.

"Then what is your power?" I questioned.

"I cannot tell you yet, even if I reside inside you. You'll have to figure it out by yourself." said Lumi.

Well that didn't really help.

"Don't worry, before I reside in you, I'll tell you the name of my ability to guide you a bit." said Lumi.

"Wait!" exclaimed Hana.

Both of us turned our attention to her.

"If you leave master, who will stay with me here? Why can't you stay?" asked Hana.

"You must remember Hana, I am a spirit. It's been a few thousand years since I've found someone to inherit my ability and now someone has finally arrived. If I don't do this, I'll soon disappear and die, I won't be alive in a few years." said Lumi.

"B-but-"

"Why don't you go with.."

"Shinju."

"Why don't you go to the upper world with Shinju? I know you've always wanted to explore it." said Lumi.

Upper world? I guess that's what they call the land.

"Without auntie, why should I go?" asked Hana.

Lumi smiled, "I won't even be able to stay with you any longer anyways, it'd be the best for you." Lumi looked me in the eye and gave me a nod.

I got the signal, I walked out of the room and leaned against the wall of the large cave.

While they had their talk, I stared at the ceiling.

Somehow, this was quite pleasant.

I wouldn't mind staying in a place like this forever.

As I was lost in my thoughts, I heard my name and that snapped me out of my trance.

I entered back into the room and saw Hana with puffy red eyes, I guess she was crying.

I looked back at Lumi who gave me a smile and I decided not to question it.

"Are you ready?" asked Lumi.

"Yes." I replied.

Lumi's form changed into a purple spirit and started floating towards me. As she started entering me, she whispered the name of her ability in my ears.

"Amenotejikara."

Then I felt a slight change in my body once she fully entered me.

I now had a spirit inside me, this was going to be quite a change.

Hana was looking down at the floor and I felt quite bad.

I gave her my hand and she only looked at me with confusion.

"Take it, you're going to see the world with me right?" I asked.

She contemplated for a moment before taking my hand.

From killing monsters to taking a monster that changed into a little girl to see the world with me. I couldn't even have any ill intentions, she was just too cute.

Soon enough, a bright light enveloped my vision as I was suddenly standing on grass next to a large tree with Hana holding onto my right hand.

"Do you mind if I call you Hana?" I asked.

"Sure." Hana replied.

"Great, now let's go find an inn. I need to check the date still." I said.

I started walking down the grassy hill as the wind blew against my face, I now had a new companion.

Though I felt like a mother right now...