9 Veef's Name
Dungeon Pixies are special kind of existence.
Very special indeed.
They, unlike regular pixies, aren't birthed by two parents, ...but slowly and gradually formed by exposed underground mana veins. These mana veins temporarily lose all of their stored power and go dormant for many years. Inaccessible.
Being born directly from crystalized mana gives them an extremely high starting-intelligence, and helps them to learn much faster and easier than other types of pixies or fairies.
But on the downside... All of their benefits came with the cost of an extremely short lifespan.
Most of these pixies have a lifespan of 2-3 months. The mana they form from makes up their whole being, and once its depleted, they are erased from the world. When a dungeon pixie spends their mana, they have no way of getting it back. Thus, their magic focuses on manipulating mana, rather than using it.
In saying so, dungeon pixies also had to be careful not to waste any excess energy if they wanted to live long. Expressing or experiencing deep feelings or affections for someone or something, speeds up the depletion of their inner mana.
The situation only worsens from there.
"Dungeon" pixies, as the name implies, are born to be bound to dungeons. Being bound by a dungeon has the beneficial effect of adding a few months to a dungeon pixie's lifespan. Nearly doubling it! But the problem arises in the dungeon's ingrained knowledge of the pixie's situation.
Dungeon Fairies; small fairies of great beauty that can also be bound to dungeons, although much less intelligent than dungeon pixies, are chosen infinitely more often than their pixie counterparts because of their infinite lifespan.
An immediate means to a hefty gains in knowledge -with extremely low life expectancy, versus the choice of a durable, beautiful companion that learns along the way. Over 99% of dungeons chose the latter.
This fact lead to an over-abundance of dungeon pixies with no bound dungeons, aimlessly wandering the lands, that is, if they could even manage to leave their birth cave system in their lifetime. Most mana veins are deep underground after all.
The ones that do, either try and survive until the day that they get summoned, or search for ways to elongate their lives. Their survival is not dependent on food, shelter, or water, but protecting themselves from human enslavement and monsters that consume them to gain experience. Due to this, some dungeon pixies remain underground their entire lives!
Those who search for life-elongation fail miserably, often leaving behind knowledge stones; which impart everything they have learned, along with a wisp of willpower, so that another pixie might pick it up and absorb it. Knowledge stones are extremely difficult to make and reduce the pixie's lifespan by months upon completion. A last resort.
This deprivation continued on for hundreds of years.
Until the day one lucky dungeon pixie discovered something by extraordinary chance: by pressing a knowledge stone to an untouched, raw mana vein, the vein would absorb it and change! And the next dungeon pixie born from it would have the lifespan of a fairy! Furthermore, the knowledge was not only passed onto the new pixie, but every newborn pixie from that point on!
To a dungeon pixie. It was the only form of leaving a living legacy. That fact alone made made almost every pixie from then onwards craze after it. Other than that...the mere existence of the technique now ingrained in their minds gave them a purpose in life!
No longer did they have to wander, searching for nonexistent longevity! Or wait for a summons that never came!
There was no further information on what happened to the immortal pixie born from the mana vein, or even the original, but for the next hundred years - unbound dungeon pixies began searching for mana veins, attempting to replicate the event in a frenzy.
Mana veins were difficult to find however, and the majority of dungeon pixies who searched, died slow deaths after their inner energy depleted. Short lifespans were now more of a curse than ever before.
The 1% of dungeon pixies that were actually chosen by a dungeon, sometimes mistakenly, also tried to get their hands on a mana vein. This was frowned upon by all dungeons, as they thought it was galling that a mere pixie who would only live a few months would even try and waste a mana vein, which were also known to be a major source of mana for newborn dungeons.
Dungeon pixies like these, often tried manipulating their dungeons to attain one, at the cost of quickly acquainting their dungeon with knowledge. They would spend their remaining time either constructing their knowledge stone or mischievously vying for a chance at a mana vein from their dungeon.
Often times, after discovery, these pixies were killed or chased out by their own dungeon! Because they were summoned monsters they had no ability or vital connection to the dungeon. The magics they knew were useless against a dungeon because they were meant for their assistance and not their harm... even their soul-bond contract had no use if the dungeon voided it.
This is the reason why its taboo for a dungeon pixie to mention mana veins to their retainer dungeons.
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Veef was born into the life of a dungeon pixie the way nearly all of them were. Mere seconds after her creation she felt the craze to obtain a mana vein to herself.
Unluckily, her birth cave was quite extensive and deep, thus it took her the better parts of a month before she successfully made her way out.
The first thing she saw upon leaving the mouth of her cave, situated on the edge of a small lake, were the distant lights of a human settlement.
They were not casual torches lighting the night air - but festive ones; paper lanterns - in their light greens, blues, oranges and yellows. There was a celebration of sorts being held. Sounds rolled across the shallow waters, indicating it was a lively one.
Before beginning her life's quest to dig up an active mana vein, Veef decided to see exactly what was being celebrated, so she flew over.
The sounds swarmed her ears...
The lights blinded her...
The smells clouded her senses...
And the aura...the aura of the place...It excited her!
She sat on top of one of the human tents and watched them eat, drink, and celebrate for hours on end. Then she noticed something peculiar happen. A human with a hairy face, a male, stood up from the wood chair he was in and walked over to a nice looking female. He held out his hand and said something to her....Veef couldn't hear him over the loud music. But she saw the woman smile and take his arm, walking out with him to the center of a large cluster of other humans.
Was he going to publicly court her?
Veef's mind searched the databank of information she was born with for an answer.
No.
And it wasn't her searching that gave her the answer. It was when the pair of humans she saw earlier started moving strangely. Their limbs kicked up and down, left and right, fluidly. The woman was graceful, and the man's steps were rhythmic. Veef felt the strong urge to get up and move around too.
"W-what was this?!"
The dungeon pixie racked her head until she found the answer.
Dancing?
She saw other humans pair up, move into the center of the crowd, and start doing what the first man and woman were doing. They spun each other around, stepped into each other with a smile, and lifted each other into the air. Veef's heart burned with excitement and passion that was literally killing her. Nevertheless, she felt the overwhelming urge to dance like the humans were. Even if she had no partner to do it with.
The music coming from stringed instruments and the claps of onlookers increased in intensity. The audience started to separate and cheer the dancers on.
Veef sat there and watched unsteadily, but when more than half of the humans below had started to dance, she couldn't take it any longer, she sprang up, closed her eyes, and let her body do the rest. The movements came almost naturally as soon as she let loose. Veef instantly became lost in a trance.
Every movement was euphoric. Every wave of the arm caused her to beam, and every cheer from the crowd caused her excessive happiness.
It was too late when she realized it.
[-1]
A tick went off, signaling that she had lost a days worth of inner mana. All in a few short minutes.
Her pupils shrunk, and she scrambled over the tent the was on, immediately taking flight, leaving behind the celebrating humans - in fear for her life. Flying out as fast as she could into a nearby forest, panting and shaking. Her heartbeat was racing and the fear of losing any more time worried her.
[-1]
Her tiny body shook. Even fear was her enemy today. Any excessive emotion was deadly.
Veef calmed herself slowly, steeling her mind before she could lose another day of her life, and swiftly took off into the distance.
_________________________________
A month later.
...
Veef could be spotted going from cave entrance to cave entrance, checking their mana output. If one had a high output, there was a higher chance of a dungeon or mana vein within. There were also monster dens where monsters that wandered the outside world spawned, nasty, vile places.
Veef was doing this with a skill: <Mana Meter>; it helped detect mana levels within a physical range, yet she still wasn't having the slightest of luck.
Especially since she had wandered into a monster den recently, and only made it out because the monsters within were Rank F, but also sleeping.
She had been tirelessly searching for a few weeks and was approaching one and a half months of age.
It was around this time that she ran into another dungeon pixie.
The pixie looked much like Veef did, with the exception of slightly more aged features, and longer hair of a deeper, more eye-catching purple. They were also carrying a strange leaf looking tube on their back.
They were traveling on intersecting paths towards a cave entrance when the two saw each other. And surprisingly, Veef noticed they didn't appear competitive at all when there were obvious signs of high mana leakage. Instead they froze for a little while, then placed a curious and excited smile on their face. The other dungeon pixie wasn't smiling at the cave entrance, but at Veef!
It turned out that the other pixie, Feeth, was nearing the end of her life at almost 3 months old, and had just been wandering these mountains where she was born from a nearby, now dormant mana vein.
She looked Veef up and down, with a gentle smile, that Veef couldn't understand, and asked her how she was doing today, and what her name was.
Veef cautiously told Feeth that she was doing just fine. But as for a name...
At the time, she didn't have one....
Veef didn't know this...but it was common for a pixie to name themselves after birth. It was so the pixie they created from a mana vein would know who made them.
Feeth's eyes brightened and became shocked. The older pixie shook a little, and asked if she would allow Feeth to name her. The younger frowned at the actions, confused. But she agreed, not seeing a reason why not. She didn't think a name mattered.
Feeth however, stiffened, looking up into the younger's eyes. Her eyes were shaking.
"Veef... Veef! Oh~Veef! That's it! Your name is Veef!"
Feeth started to stutter.
"Veef! Oh~" She heard emotion leak into the voice, then completely shatter and pour out in droves.
"Veeef...." Tears were now pouring out of Feeth's eyes. "Oh~ I-I did it! I-I finally did it!"
"..." The younger pixie looked on, eyebrows raised, unable to interpret the pixie's almost delusional actions.
"I-I I didn't even need a mana vein see?!.." Feeth began to sob, lifting her hands to caress Veef's face.
"I-I-I didn't need one...I-I got her anyway see? And she looks just like me!"
Feeth hugged the newly named pixie to her chest, while crying.
"I did it! Y-You see?!"
"I did it!"
The dying pixie, cried her heart out while holding onto Veef, who grew concerned for Feeth's remaining lifespan. She soon however, became relieved when Feeth's cries stopped, and the old dungeon pixie looked up at Veef - red eyed and smiling.
"Oh~ Veef, I've got just the thing for you! Just the thing!" She pulled out the small leaf-based tube behind her back, an rolled something out from it.
..
An incomplete orb.
Veef immediately recognized it as a knowledge stone. So she was completely suprised when Feeth took it into her hands and offered it to Veef.
"Wha-Why?!",
Veef stared at Feeth incredulously. Offering someone else your knowledge stone, was offering them your soul and everything you knew, your most precious secrets, your everything. Veef was shocked how easily Feeth handed it over.
"Because I don't need it anymore."
She smiled at Veef, a smile that shook her world. Never had she seen such sincerity someone's eyes.
"..."
"Oh~oh my Veef just take it!" Feeth beamed upon calling out Veef's new name, a radiant smile.
Veef silently, and carefully removed the incomplete sphere from Feeth's grasp. Whereupon she looked up to see Feeth's eyes water once more.
A flicker of purple light drifted across Veef's vision.
then another.
And another.
Until Feeth was like a blazing sun of blindingly bright violet. Yet she didn't seem the least bit in pain. A kind smile overtook that face, as well as Veef's memories.
Feeth mouthed her last words, before disappearing entirely.
"Oh~ my Veef! I did it!"
" I left one!"
"I left a legacy!"
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Looking back on those memories a month later, Veef finally realized how important leaving a legacy was for a dungeon pixie.
Nearing two and a half months old, Veef was nearing the end of her life. After absorbing Feeth's knowledge stone, and peeking into the memories contained within, she finally understood why the old pixie was so happy to name Veef.
Every single memory, was a memory of being alone. In and out of caves, every day. Searching and searching. No rest.
And when the last week of life was upon her, it was too late for regrets, although she burned through some extreme emotions of unfairness and injustice. She even felt a deep hatred towards the world for not recognizing her ambitions.
But all of these emotions faded into acceptance.
Until she met Veef...
When Feeth named the new pixie, it felt like her world started spinning the right way. Like she wasn't incapable of realizing her aspiration. For the first time in her short life... Feeth felt like she had accomplished something!
The feelings of intense joy brought her to tears, but since she was already on death's bed, she decided not to care if it lowered her inner mana.
The emotions drained her.
And she died just like that. Dissolved into nothing, but happy and proud of herself.
Veef didn't want that... She didn't want to live like Feeth did....
She didn't want to die like that.....
She hadn't even formed a knowledge stone yet...
Sitting on the stone cold floors of a cave, wearing raggedy clothes she managed to fashion somehow or other through the days, Veef crunched herself into a ball and sat there in silence. It was cold. Not for a second did she notice the soft white beams of light beginning to dance around her.
A summoning.
