111-120

111 Yollorn

The group had been exploring the dungeon for over 30 minutes, going through the endless hallways trying to find the boss room. They had ended up in the same hall multiple times as if they were continuously going in circles. The entrance to the crypt had also been passed by many times and the more the group walked the more confused they got.

Currently they were in the middle of the hall where Elysia had fought the skeleton knight, trying to think of ways to get to the boss in the labyrinth they found themselves in.

"AHHH, this is so frustrating." Clara was having it the worst as she was getting impatient and wanted to fight something already.

"You can say that again." Shaman rubbed her forehead, trying to think of a way but it seemed like it was a loop no matter how they tried to explore the hallways.

"Should we just try blowing up the place?" Elysia figured it would be easier to destroy the place and force their way to the boss.

"Honestly that sounds like the best idea we got." Shaman was not against this idea as any damage in the dungeons would revert once they left and even if not, they were leaving the city anyway.

"Well if that's the case I'll go first." Clara's pent up frustration was finally exploding and she found the idea of destroying the place a fun way to vent her anger. Clara slammed the ground as hard as she could with her foot causing the hall to shake from it.

However the rumbling didn't stop and kept going longer than expected.

"Uhhh, Clara, what did you do?" The shaking hadn't stopped and Shaman was a little concerned for what was about to happen.

.....

The shakes grew more violent and the floor started to break apart.

"I didn't mean for this kind of destruction." Clara didn't expect the whole place to start falling apart, which was not a part of her demolition plan.

"Shit we need to move." Shaman realised that the floor started to cave in.

But before the group could react, the floor shattered like glass below them and they began to fall.

The group saw a massive open space below them with an imposing throne at its end. The edges of the room were adorned with old rusted weapons and armour highlighting the outline of the room.

Due to them falling from such a great height they had a brief moment where they could examine the room before hitting the ground.

On the throne was what caught everyone's attention as a huge set of black armour sat on top of the throne. The same purple mist could be seen extending out of the armour and going into the walls.

The group were approaching the ground quickly and needed to stop themselves from crashing into it.

Clara was next to Wolfy so she was able to grab a hold of him and use her whip blades to reduce their speed by using it like a grapple hook, making their landing easy. Shaman was rather impressed with Clara's way of using her weapon and did not expect it.

However Shaman forgot she was falling for a moment but she quickly got back to not dying by gravity.

Shaman grabbed Elysia and held her around the waist. Elysia was a little embarrassed and was half expecting a princess carry.

Shaman shot her wind towards the ground, pushing away from it. This slowed their speed significantly, giving them more time to react. Shaman then used some of the falling rubble to conjure ice and create a slide under their feet. Shaman slid on the ice slide she was creating, with Elysia now in a princess carry. This allowed Shaman and Elysia to safely get to the ground.

Once they were close to the ground Shaman dropped off of the ice slide and landed in the middle of the room. Clara, using the holes in the wall to hook her whip blades, climbed down the wall with ease. Clara jumped off the wall landing next to Shaman and Elysia with Wolfy in hand. Clara put down Wolfy and stood next to Shaman waiting on what to do next. Wolfy however was a little dizzy as he felt like he went on a rollercoaster ride and needed a moment to let the dizziness calm down.

"Jeez you jumped far." Shaman was a little shocked by how far Clara was able to jump as the room was the size of a football field making the walls rather far from the middle.

"Well my whip blades have a lot of different uses hehe~." Clara felt proud of her whip blade proficiency as she has spent countless days practicing.

'This just makes me want to get lighting as well, I know earth has its uses and is an underrated element but like everything else sounds so much cooler.' Shaman complained mentally as there were so many elements she wanted to learn but had to pick and choose which to learn.

[Shaman, I hope you know you can't learn every element as you need a fundamental understanding on how it works.] Rea had just talked for the first time in a while which surprised Shaman a little.

'I guessed that much but I still want to learn space magic or even time if I can.' Shaman began to get ambitious with what she could learn which caused Rea to laugh.

[Pfffhahaha good luck with that, your lucky you're from another world otherwise it would be impossible, unless you were innately attuned with the time element, which is like 1 in a trillion]

'STILL POSSIBLE.' Shaman still held hope for overpowered magic as already having 4 elements wasn't enough.

[Anyway, Elysia looks like she is going to die of embarrassment and the dungeon boss is going to wake up soon, so stay alert, Rea out!]

Shaman looked at Elysia whose face was completely red of embarrassment.

'AHHHHH I can't believe I am being carried by Shaman like a princess, I could die happy.' Elysia was very giddy and happy as one of her many fantasies was coming true.

This didn't last long as Shaman dropped Elysia on the ground causing her to snap out of her embarrassment. Clara couldn't help but chuckle at Elysia as the drastic change in her expressions was amusing.

"OI! What was that for!" Elysia did not appreciate this treatment and when she saw Shaman's smug face, she knew she was being toyed with.

"Grrr." Elysia growled at Shaman as she knew if she said anything else, Shaman was going to turn her words against her.

"Aww how cute but sadly as much as I would like to play I think the dungeon boss is now waking up." Shaman's face went from playful to serious as she looked up at the husk of armour.

Everyone began to look at the armour to see what Shaman was talking about and indeed the boss seemed to be awakening. Elysia got up from the ground and quickly pulled out her bow, everyone else had also followed her lead and took out their weapons readying for battle.

The purple mist that was coming out of the armour started to rush back inside it, and from all across the room more mist started leaking out, heading straight towards the armour. As if collecting all the souls in one place the armour started filling up with purple mist, becoming one massive entity.

Shaman was very concerned on how to fight the boss as it was at least over 10 metres tall. With this massive armour coming to life, the group knew it was going to be a very destructive and hard battle.

A detail Shaman also noticed was that the mist began to turn into a flesh, creating a body for the armour. This prompted Shaman to use her inspect skill to see what kind of monster they are dealing with.

[Yollorn]

[Dungeon boss – the crypt under the cathedral]

[Tier 5 – leader]

[A monster that can change its form from mist to flesh, is able to break away parts of its body to mist and control puppets out of armour or skeletons.]

Everything had just clicked in Shaman's head, that all the monsters that were controlled by this purple mist were just an extension of the boss itself creating its own monsters for the dungeon.

The mist had finished turning into flesh and it began to move. First Yollorn reached behind the throne pulling out a gigantic sword about half its size and slammed it in front of him. A gust of wind was caused by this, making everyone cover their eyes from the dust that was being blown up.

The boss slouched over letting out a cold raspy breath and its eyes glowed a dark red, while glaring at the group as if analysing them.

It slowly got up from its throne, now completely dwarfing the group. This did not leave the group much hope as they wondered how the hell are they meant to fight something this big.

112 Unused skill

Yollorn stood in front of its throne with a deathly glare, which slowly gave the group a sinking feeling of death. Cold sweat ran down their faces as the aura of the boss had started to slightly strangle them. The pressure was building and the group questioned if they could really beat something of this calibre.

"Deep breaths everyone, there are four of us and only one of them, we just need to work together and abuse our numbers." Shaman was the first to speak up as she figured out a way to counter the feeling.

Shaman guessed that the boss was using its aura to try gaining some form of control over them as the trend throughout the dungeon has been puppets of some kind.

As long as she was aware the aura was affecting her mind, her [Blessing of the fox] would protect her from it. As she focused on that knowledge, the feeling of death washed away and the hands she felt around her neck let go.

"This feeling is just the boss trying to control us, don't worry." Shaman put her hand on Elysia, Clara and then Wolfy, activating her blessing, freeing them from the control that the boss was trying to impose.

Everyone had a look of relief as the same gripping feeling they felt had left, allowing them to breathe and concentrate.

'Now lets hope I don't have to keep touching them, and hopefully it doesn't accidently awaken Clara's memories while fighting.' Shaman's main concern was Clara as it was still unclear what exactly would happen if a bunch of repressed memories suddenly came to her in an instant.

'Better safe than sorry.' Shaman was willing to take the risk due to the fact Clara had to be aware that she is being controlled, so without mentioning Himeko it is unlikely that Himeko's influence will be affected.

The boss noticed that it was unable to take control of the group and felt something was blocking its connection. This aggravated the boss causing it to lean back with an ear piercing scream. The size of the room did not help causing it to echo even louder.

.....

"What the hell is with these enemies always goddamn screaming." Elysia was getting sick of the screaming, what with her sensitive fox ears amplifying the scream, making it even more unbearable. Shaman and Wolfy suffered the same while Clara being a human was able to bear with the screaming a lot better.

The boss finished its scream, leaned forward and went back to glaring at the group. After a short staring contest the boss finally began to move. The boss ran towards them with its sword dragging behind it, The blade encased in a thin layer of black fire. Wherever he passed, a thin trail of fire remained, though barely noticeable as many portions of the room were not well lit.

With each step it took, the room slightly shook, and even though the boss was quite far from the group, due to its size it closed the distance quickly.

The group were still recovering from the scream as it had disoriented them, confusing their senses and slowing their reactions.

The boss now had entered striking distance, so it pivoted its foot and used its own weight to swing the sword over head and slash towards the group.

Clara was the first to recover fully and saw the blade beginning its arc towards them.

Clara with her quick thinking infused her feet with lightning to jump into the air with explosive speed. Clara was now in the air with lightning raging around her while the gems embroided in her dress began glowing violently.

The boss had ignored her actions as it could tell that Clara's threat was only that of a mere tier 4, so it classified her as a small insect.

Clara while in the air got her two whip blades out and combined them together. The blades were fully retracted, forming two swords, which when put together made a normal long sword. The handles themselves did not have any way to merge into one weapon, but once attached, a magic circle activated on the handles combining the two whip blades.

The blades merged and the entire blade was suddenly engulfed in lighting creating a massive lighting blade.

The boss's sword was at the point of no return as it headed straight for Clara and her blade. The boss had seemingly increased the intensity of the black flames making them more violent. Clara was concerned about what the black flames actually did but she was too focused on redirecting the blade away from everyone.

Everyone else had recovered and they all looked up to see Clara in the air with the massive lighting blade, as well as the boss's fast approaching blade.

Clara was only able to stay in the air because of her lightning constantly striking the ground at fast speeds from her feet allowing herself to stay in the air but it took a considerable amount of mana to do so. The boss's blade was close and Clara finally swung her lighting sword clashing with the black flames.

An explosive reaction occurred as fire spewed everywhere and lighting struck out towards the wall. While Clara was blocking the blade, Shaman had begun to sprint towards the boss to get behind it, Elysia retreated to the side and put more distance between her and the boss as she was going to use her bow for this fight. Wolfy had gone into the shadows as the room was relatively dark making moving around the room very easy and allowing him to launch attacks with ease.

The black fire also seemed to have no special effect other than being hard to put out but everyone still avoided touching it making sure to not get caught by the fire from the attack as they moved. Clara fortunately was protected by her lightning so she was left untouched by the fire.

Clara was struggling to hold back the blade, up until she saw that everyone had safely moved out of range. Clara got rid of the lightning that was keeping her afloat and tried pushing off the boss's blade. The amount of force Clara was holding back all came crashing down on her as she was pushed off of the blade, making her crash into the wall at a high speed.

Clara coughed out blood and was almost knocked out by how hard she hit the wall. But due to Clara's disappearance the Boss had stumbled forward because of the amount of strength he had put in the strike.

Clara struggled to stay conscious , but was in no shape to fight. Her whip blades had also turned back to normal showing that the longsword form is only temporary. Blood fell down Clara's face till finally she passed out.

Shaman however was focused on taking advantage of this new opening as the boss stumbled and although she was worried for Clara she could not let her emotions get the best of her.

Shaman used her ice to make a staircase behind the boss so she could do a lunge attack. Once Shaman was at the right height she created a slide in order to gain speed and once she was close enough she jumped off the ice platform.

Switching her Kotetsu's affinity to fire, Shaman finally decided to use a skill that she has not been able to use so far.

"Blade of Flamescion!" In typical fashion Shaman called out the name of the skill as she felt like it was the right thing to do in the moment.

Shaman's blade burst alight with red and blue flames, and her hair took on a red tint. Fire surrounded her, leaving behind fiery streaks as she dived towards the boss.

Shaman held her Kotetsu high and swung towards the boss hoping to do significant damage. The boss knew she was coming, and so it tried to turn and block with his sword, but his movements were being disrupted by Wolfy, who was sending a constant barrage of large shadow swords at him.

Wolfy used what was left of the roof to his advantage, abusing gravity to add more force to the massive blades he was creating. Wolfy had no way to hold onto the blades so he let them fall shortly after their creation, dropping with the blades, then jumping back into the shadows. This however took a lot of effort and Wolfy could feel his mana getting sucked up quickly.

However despite Wolfy's distraction it was not enough to let Shaman get a clean hit.

Shaman slashed down heavily, but the boss was able to push itself out to the side. Still, due to his size Shaman was able to just hit the edge of the boss's body. Flames bursted out, burning through armour and flesh, leaving a sizeable hole in its side. Purple mist could be seen oozing out of the wound but due to the fire's lingering effects it was unable to regenerate itself.

Shaman managed to still do significant damage but she would not be able to keep throwing the same skill over and over again since her mana capacity did not agree with her.

'Seems like I need to save it for when I know for sure I can finish it off. Too bad I can't see its health because it's a higher tier than me.' Shaman landed on the ground in frustration but she had gained information on the boss's weakness which made this fight more reasonable.

However before she could think of the next course of action, an immense pressure could be felt from the side, and it wasn't coming from the boss.

*

Elysia had quickly gone over to where Clara landed to get her out of the wall. Elysia's heart sank a little when she saw the condition Clara was in and was worried for Shaman who was currently attacking the boss.

Elysia pulled Clara out of the wall and laid her on the floor. She looked for any major injuries, but since she did not have the heal skill like Shaman, she was unable to be of any help for now.

'Shit, okay I need to make sure she won't die on me while we fight.' Elysia began to look through her inventory to see if there were any items that may be able to help Clara.

After finding bits of cloth in their unorganized inventory she was able to clean up the blood and bandage Clara's wounds, making sure she does not bleed to death. But while Elysia was in the middle of cleaning the blood something began to grow on Clara's head.

A pair of horns started growing out of her head and the purple highlights in her hair started turning into a pinkish red colour.

Elysia started to freak out as she had no idea what's going on and had never seen a race with horns such as these before. During Elysia's panic Clara opened her eyes wide and just like her highlights her eyes turned into a pinkish red colour.

Clara locked eyes with Elysia and said nothing but smiled which threw Elysia off guard. Clara then suddenly got up and began rushing towards the boss. Suddenly Elysia felt immense pressure coming from Clara and was left confused on what the hell is happening.

'Shit I need to go, I think Shaman may have accidentally awakened something because of her blessing.' Elysia's first thought was to blame the blessing Shaman had used. Recalling that ominous smile, she couldn't help but worry about what was to come.

113 Demon?

Shaman prepared for the worst as the sudden pressure got closer to her. The dust clouds that were caused by Shaman's attack were finally settling, allowing her to see what was causing the pressure.

Clara was sprinting towards Shaman and at first Shaman did not believe that Clara was the reason behind such a powerful aura until she saw the pair of pinkish red horns.

'Wait Clara is a demon?' Shaman recalled the part of Clara's status where a part of the race section was blocked out.

'Hang on, demons are supposed to only be in the demon lands as they are an isolated nation.' Clara's potential race kept raising more and more questions. To Shaman's knowledge, the demon lands are meant to be closed off and as such demon sightings are very rare.

Clara was getting closer and yet did not show any signs of hostility Shaman was relieved, but still did not let her guard down. However before Shaman could even utter a word, Clara's lightning surged out, sporting a new red colour instead of the usual purple, and in a flash she disappeared, only to reappear with another burst of red lightning right next to Shaman.

"SHIT, did you have to do that?" Shaman's soul almost got scared out of her, almost falling on her back.

"Oho~ ShaSha, did I scare you a bit? My bad, I only wanted to look cool." Clara teased Shaman, causing her to blush a little and cover her face. Clara smirked at Shaman as she found Shaman's reaction very cute and wanted to tease her some more.

'AHHH! What's with these nicknames lately?' Shaman was once again thrown for a loop as she had acquired a new nickname out of nowhere.

"ENOUGH! I have a lot of questions but there is a boss in front of us." Shaman shook her head and switched her attention to the boss.

.....

The boss had been standing there silently recovering from Shaman's attack. In the small amount of time that Shaman was distracted, the boss had already regrown a large chunk of its missing armour.

"Shit looks like we need to kill it with one big attack or hope that it will eventually run out of energy" Shaman did not like how fast it was able to regenerate and was unsure if a drawn out battle would be a good idea.

"It might have a core like the Terikin. If not then we can try combining our attacks together to take it out." Clara's deduction about the core was likely true, as the boss is the accumulation of all the mist, so a core may have formed.

"ShaSha, if you can distract the boss with Wolfy, I will try to look for its core in the meantime. If I can't find it, I'll call you to back me up, and we'll go for a joint attack instead" Clara briefly explained her plan, and Shaman hastily relayed it to Wolfy through Rea.

Clara continued to quickly relay her idea for their combined attack, and by the time she was done, the boss too finished his recovery, its eyes glowing with renewed hatred

"Alright let's go." Clara dashed off using her lightning to for speed and approached the boss

Shaman followed Clara, creating a thin ice layer under herself so she could start ice skating. Although not as fast as Clara, Shaman did not fall behind and kept close. The boss wasn't idle either as he charged towards the two.

Clara and Shaman quickly reached the boss, and immediately began executing their plan.

Clara disappeared once again with her lightning, leaving Shaman and Wolfy to grab the boss's attention.

Just like before Wolfy was on the roof taking advantage of the darkness and utilising the space he had. Unlike last time Wolfy opted to rain down smaller shadow blades instead of a few massive ones.

Wolfy shot out the blades and to his surprise it was more effective than he expected. Although the blades were only able to penetrate certain parts of the boss's body, it was enough to successfully distract the boss. The constant barrage on its joints and weakest links agitated the boss, who switched its attention in search of the source of its annoyance. However since Wolfy was in the shadows the boss was unable to pinpoint his exact location, which only served to aggravate the boss even more.

The boss let out frustrated screeches as it looked around for where the blades had come from but to no avail. Clara had taken this opportunity and appeared above the boss, aiming a powerful lightning strike at where a normal person's heart would be. A hole was blasted right through its chest instantly, but to Clara's disappointment, there was no core.

The boss fell to its knees but thanks to the attack lacking the fire element, the gaping hole in its chest was able to recover significantly faster. Shaman was rather shocked as in merely a few seconds it was already recovered.

Shaman though did not sit still and made her way behind the boss, preparing for an attack. She has already come up with a new fire skill she could use and was going to take this opportunity to try it.

Clara saw that Shaman was up to something and so she decided to up her mental pressure, focusing it onto the boss to keep its attention. The boss felt a sudden increase in pressure, as if gravity itself doubled down on him, preventing him from rising back to his feet.

Wolfy had also seen Shaman's intentions so he decided to try to mimic one of Shaman's skills, [chains of earth] with his shadows. Wolfy had made his way under the boss so he could launch out the shadow chains.

A pool of shadow was created underneath the boss allowing Wolfy to create the chains.

[Shadow chains] bursted out of the ground, entangling the boss further securing its position. The boss tried to move but was completely helpless, for the time being.

Shaman positinted herself close to one of the boss's legs and activated [fire coat]. Using [fire coat] as a base, Shaman made the flames more violent and just like her [wind slash] sent out a [fire slash]. Shaman swung horizontally and the slash flew towards the boss's leg.

The boss however wasn't chained down for long as some of its body turned to mist and picked up its sword. The mist was able to move the sword at high speeds and removed all the [shadow chains] with ease allowing it to get up from the ground. Wolfy, seeing that his chains were gone, went back to the roof and kept a safe distance away.

The boss was nearly back to his feet, when suddenly Shaman's [fire slash] impacted one of its legs, completely cutting through it. The boss fell to the floor as it now only had one leg to support itself.

Clara taking another opportunity to strike the boss rained down a bunch of Lightning strikes in various different spots. Unexpectedly the boss had turned its full body back into a mist state and avoided all of Clara's attacks.

"Tch" Clara got annoyed as her lightning is not as effective to the mist unlike the fire element.

As the boss moved in its mist state, a rain of fire arrows came flying in from the distance. Knowing the danger the boss reacted quickly and managed to dodge the arrows with ease.

"HEYYYY, NEED SOME HELP?" Elysia had finally caught up and attempted to hit the boss but in its misty form the boss was surprisingly agile.

Shaman tasked Rea with filling Elysia in on the plan. Why she didn't do it beforehand? Well that's because Shaman forgot that Elysia was also fighting.

Elysia understood and she continued to keep her distance to provide long range support. Although she wanted to fight with her spear, she suspected it would be ineffective.

Everyone became rather suspicious as the boss had slowly started to cover the area with its mist. Shaman ended up stranded in the middle of the mist and tried using her fire to clear it, the boss would move around it, making any attempts to hit the mist futile.

Clara, who had been out of sight, safely waited outside the mist and quietly observed to see what would happen. Elysia and Wolfy were both too far away from the mist to be affected by it.

Shaman began to worry a little as she was unsure what capabilities the boss had. Shaman was looking frantically around making sure she wasn't missing anything but the boss simply carried on in silence, only making her more paranoid.

'Come on, do something already!' Shaman was desperate for information and without it, making any decision became much harder for her.

The wait did not last long as the mist started to swirl around Shaman, forming a circle around her. Before she could even react, a black dome made out of the metal surrounded Shaman, only to then quickly shrink in size.

Clara had instantly reacted using her lightning to hit the dome that was shrinking on Shaman. Elysia tried firing arrows but the mist would use its own body to block and fizzle each arrow Elysia sent. Wolfy tried throwing a shadow blade at the dome but it bounced off, not even leaving a single scratch.

Everyone's attacks were futile and Shaman disappeared from the boss room.

114 Round 2?

Shaman found herself back in the same pure black room with a small crystal light but this time instead of being in her mind she was physically there. Shaman was able to open her system and all her elements were perfectly fine, further proving that this is her physical body.

'I need to make sure to not waste my mana here.' Shaman took a quick peek at her status.

[HP: 4300/4300]

[MP: 6480/8000]

Shaman winced a little as she had almost used 2000 mana points and most of it was consumed by the Flamescion skill.

'Let's just hope it requires minimal effort to get out of here.' Shaman was more worried about her friends on the outside than she was for herself.

Shaman wasn't left in her thoughts for long as mist started to converge in front of her creating a skeleton knight.

"Great it's you again, hopefully this time I am not interrupted." Shaman's hatred for the knight resurfaced, as all she wanted to do was reduce its very being to dust.

"It's a shame that I was unable to take over your body, you would have been a great vessel." A cold raspy voice came from the skeleton knight, putting Shaman on high alert.

.....

"Well, you underestimated me and my partner!" Shaman assumed that it was the boss speaking to her which was an unexpected turn of events.

'Himeko was right, the dungeons are starting to become stranger, almost like a separate society has developed here.' Although the dungeon was still rather normal it was showing small signs of sentient life putting into question, what are the dungeons?

"Tch, you won't be so lucky this time!" The Boss got agitated and its form began to change.

Instead of a few metres tall knight, it had shrunk to the size of a human. The armour gained small spikes along the shoulders and arms. The helmet took the shape of a skull and purple eyes glowed behind its slits. A golden crest of sorts had appeared on the chest piece. It was the same symbol that was displayed all around the cathedral up above, a skeleton raising its sword in the air. Each piece was completely black making it indistinguishable from the black space around them. The only way Shaman could tell it apart was by the slight purple tint on the armour and the golden crest on its chest piece, barely making it visible in the weak light.

After the boss transformed it punched the ground creating a small hole. Slowly the boss pulled out a blade that reminded Shaman of the demon scythe they had obtained from the skeleton knight as a drop.

The sword had black chains wrapped around the hilt which was adorned with a purple gem. The pommel of the blade was gold and embedded on it was the same symbol that the boss had on its chest

The blade itself was completely black with a purple aura flowing floating around it.

'Shit why doesn't my sword look that cool.' Shaman was a fan of the boss's sword, wanting it for herself since purple was her favourite colour and pairing it with black made it look very appealing.

However, Shaman couldn't gawk at it for too long as the boss dashed towards her. The speed of the boss was comparable to that of instructor Stein which was what Shaman was used to, allowing her to react in time.

Both their swords clashed with one another with the purple aura spilling out in Shaman's direction. Shaman quickly changed Kotetsu's affinity to fire and activated [fire coat]. Shaman made Kotetsu burst out in flames stopping the purple aura that behaved similarly to the mist.

'Seems like it's weakness is still fire.' Shaman was glad to see that it was still vulnerable to fire.

'But this purple aura, it's like the mist but more refined.' Shaman's main concern was the aura as she had no idea what kind of effects it could have if she got in contact with it.

"You're lucky you are multi-elemental." The boss spoke with annoyance, making it sound as if without Shaman's ability to learn multiple elements, she would have been dead already.

"Sounds like a 'you' problem!" Shaman pushed back the boss's sword while also sending out a [fire slash], making the boss jump back in order to dodge it.

Shaman kept the initiative and followed up her [fire slash] with a dash towards the boss. Once in front of the boss Shaman performed a faint side attack, baiting the boss to block. Shaman then pulled back her blade to go for a piercing attack on the boss's head. Shaman had quickly changed the affinity to ice and used it to extend her blade.

A blade of ice extended off Kotetsu, heading straight for the boss's helmet. Thanks to the extension Shaman was able to hit the boss, but since it was ice, it shattered upon impact. However it still stunned the boss allowing Shaman's blade to continue and pierce the helmet.

Shaman hoped that she had killed the boss but seeing as no notifications were appearing she assumed her attack was not effective. Her guess was right as purple aura oozed out of the helmet and tried to reach for Shaman, making her pull back Kotetsu.

'Damn I should have used my fire.' Shaman realised it was a perfect opportunity to use her fire but was too focused on her swordsmanship.

The boss raised his sword and swung down onto Shaman as she pulled away her sword. Shaman just barely managed to redirect the blade but still got cut across the arm. Shaman jumped back quickly grabbing her bleeding arm, wincing a bit from the pain.

She used [heal] as she normally does for wounds but for some reason the wound was not healing. Shaman looked down and could see that there was a purple marking around the wound with a little bit of the purple aura floating around it.

'Shit, it's anti-magic?' Shaman began to panic a little as now any risky ideas became life threatening.

"Seems like you noticed, Better not get hit by my sword otherwise there might be more consequences!" The boss quickly charged at Shaman, not allowing her the time to cover the wound.

Shaman barely managed to block the sword with one hand but without her other arm she was being pushed back. While she was being pushed back she opened a [spatial rift] behind her escaping the boss.

Shaman tried covering her wound in ice but due to being anti-magic any element that came in contact got destroyed.

'Looks like the old fashioned way it is.' Shaman tore the bottom of the shirt that she was wearing and wrapped it around the wound.

Shaman moved from her original position and came out of the rift safely. The boss turned and locked his eyes on her, instantly charging at her.

Shaman conjured up 20 ice spears and shot them towards the boss at once. Unfortunately most of them were deflected, but some still managed to hit. It did not look like the boss took any real damage, but at least its movements were slowed down making it easier for Shaman to react.

The boss thrusted his sword towards Shaman's chest but was much slower due to the ice spears still embedded in his body, allowing Shaman to parry the strike.

Shaman changed Kotetsu's affinity to fire and created a whirlwind of fire catching the boss in it. Shaman had also used [fire coat] again and went to strike the boss's chest. It sliced like a knife through butter, going through the armour with ease.

Shaman increased the intensity of the flames, filling the armour with fire on the inside while also slowly melting the metal. Shaman looked into the helmet and saw that it had red eyes instead of purple and realised something.

'Shit it's not the real one' Shaman quickly turned just in time to barely block a hit to her back. This time it was the knight with purple eyes.

"Tch." The boss clicked its tongue, jumping back to stay away from the fire that was whirling around Shaman. .

"Not going as well as you thought, dear?" Shaman, wanting to be a bitch wanted to annoy the boss further.

"Oh shut up, darn vixen, you can hardly face me!" Shaman's attempts at getting the boss agitated seemed to be working and so she wanted to push its buttons even more.

"Oh? Then why do you have to rely on such cheap tricks? You scared?" Shaman then wagged her 4 tails at the boss, taunting it further.

'This is a lot of fun, I wonder if I should be like this to Elysia.' Shaman got distracted for a moment and was brought back by the sudden change in atmosphere.

The boss had released its full aura and it began to violently swirl around it. Cold sweat ran down Shaman's face as this was an unexpected turn of events making her regret recklessly infuriating her opponent.

115 Shaman from the sky

The boss did not speak a single word while releasing its full aura. The room felt cold and Shaman felt shivers down her spine, creating a sense of fear within her.

'I really chose the wrong time to be a bitch.' Shaman was regretting what she had done and was now suffering the consequences.

'Looks like it's all or nothing.' Shaman wanted to conserve her mana but it was looking like she could die if she didn't go full power.

'I may pass out after this so I should use [lovers call] if it's too dangerous.' Shaman was hesitant to use this skill so soon as it had a week cooldown and did not want to use it just in case something worse happens.

"You Shall die here now." The purple aura around the boss intensified, swirling around him menacingly. Even the boss's eyes radiated in his aura like powerful flames.

Shaman did not hold of herself back, instantly activating the [blade of flamescion]. Although she mostly used it as a sort of ultimate move, she could also use it like her [fire coat] and keep it active.

Flames raged violently around Kotetsu, illuminating the entire room. The fire then extended all around Shaman, creating a fiery zone of protection. She followed that up with wind, incorporating it to excite and spin the fire, hoping the power of the flames will serve to shield her from the boss.

Shaman wanted to use her ice and water but was unsure if she could handle using more than 2 elements at the moment. Another factor to consider was that fire countered her other elements making it hard to use simultaneously.

The boss became cautious as fire was its major weakness making it hard for him to approach Shaman.

.....

Shaman took the first move and entered her [spatial rift], She then appeared right above the boss attacking with Kotetsu in the air.

Both their weapons clashed but Shaman's flames won against the boss's aura, forcing it back and weakening the boss. Shaman had also let all 4 of her tails out, increasing her power slightly more. Shaman was suspended in the air by her wind and kept raising the intensity of her fire.

The boss, knowing it could be in danger, changed its eyes from purple to red, revealing to Shaman that the boss switched bodies.

"Tch, looks like we have to go on a little hunt." Shaman was able to easily kill the fake since it was significantly weaker. The fake boss melted under the flames and Shaman landed back on her feet.

Shaman looked around and could see a swarm of fake boss's had encircled her. Shaman tried looking for any obvious purple eyed ones but as expected it was not so easy to spot.

Shaman tried looking for any easy way out of this but seeing as there were hundreds of fake bosses around her, it was no use in trying to take them out one by one.

'Let's see if I can just wipe them all out in one go, I am 100 percent going to faint, so I will use [lovers call] before I lose consciousness.' Shaman was sure of using the call, as her next attack might not finish the boss off.

Shaman took a deep breath and began to prepare an attack she saw from a video game wishing to replicate it.

Using even more of her mana to empower [blade of flamesion], the fire surrounding the blade grew fiercer, turning Kotetsu into a greatsword made of fire. The amount of energy within the blade was ready to explode at any given moment.

Shaman could feel her mana veins burning from pouring almost all her mana into the blade. Her consciousness was slipping as her mana approached 0. The fake bosses didn't dare to move as a whirlwind of fire was protecting Shaman from any attacks. A few were adventurous enough to try, but any attempts in getting close would simply turn them to ash.

The actual boss began to get agitated and tried to send attacks using its purple aura but his attempts were futile as it would all just get evaporated by the flames.

Shaman had finished pouring her mana into Kotetsu and began her attack. Shaman spun in a circle using all of her strength to swing the fire greatsword she wielded. She then swung into the air, sending her fire all over the room.

"Lovers call." Shaman called out the name of the skill and slowly her body vanished into a pink dust leaving the boss's separate chamber.

The fire blade hit the ceiling of the pitch black room and released a massive explosion. Fire bursted out engulfing the entire room in flames, making everything it touches turn to dust.

After a few minutes the flames in the room finally died down showing that there was no longer any boss in the room. However what came out of the ground was the real boss that had half its body burnt away.

"That vixen, you are not getting away that easily." The boss let out a pained groan and slowly repaired its body. Due to the damages it took longer to repair showing it was significantly weakened.

**

Elysia was currently turning the room upside looking for Shaman as she had been taken away from right under their noses.

Elysia had kept checking her bracelet making sure Shaman was okay as it was the one thing stopping her from going crazy.

"AHHHHH!!" Elysia screamed into the sky to let out her frustrations till she spotted pink dust converging above her. Elysia was confused as it was making the shape of a person.

Suddenly Shaman appeared from the dust and began to fall towards Elysia.

Elysia had no idea what was going on and by the time she could register it was Shaman, it was too late to catch her.

Shaman crashed into Elysia, cushioning her fall.

Elysia shook her head and looked at the person who had fallen on her and upon inspection realised it was Shaman.

"SHAMAN!" Elysia screamed out her name grabbing the attention of Clara and Wolfy.

Shaman laid passed out on top of Elysia with slight burn marks all over her body, although she did not injure her mana veins like before she was still wounded.

Clara and Wolfy ran over and saw that Elysia had Shaman in her arms, a wave of relief came over Clara and Wolfy seeing Shaman alive and breathing.

"Where the hell was she?" Clara was confused about where Shaman was and wanted some answers.

"I have no idea how but Shaman fell from the sky out of nowhere." Elysia tried her best to think of how Shaman could just reappear, then it came to her.

"Lovers call" Elysia whispered to herself as it was a skill she had completely forgotten about.

"How does someone just fall from the sky? Anyway we should try to get out of here, we need to leave as soon as we can, just the mere thought of staying in Ebonscale any longer makes me want to hurl." Clara, who still had the demon horns, had said a line that Elysia did not think she would say.

"Well, let's hope mother wakes up soon." Wolfy went up to Shaman's face and licked it.

'That confirms that Himeko had done something to Clara.' Elysia now knew that there is something much more sinister than slightly influencing people's minds going on, and added to the list of reasons why they shouldn't stay.

"Yes, let's get going." Elysia carried Shaman in her arms and they all began to move to the end of the hall which looked like it had an entrance.

"You are not going anywhere!" The boss's voice rang out in the hall just as he appeared below the group trying to desperately hit anyone.

Everyone dodged with ease and could see the boss was severely weakened.

Clara, realising that the boss was weak, sent a powerful lighting strike at the boss. The boss was unable to react and screamed out in pain.

Black smoke came off the boss's unmoving body, as what little purple aura remained swirled around it.

Elysia, not willing to wait, used her fire remotely to create a bow next to her and shot a fire arrow. This finished off the boss as it crumbled to dust and the last of the aura was extinguished.

A system notification appeared promptly after the death of the boss.

[Quest: Conquer of the dungeon]

[Completed]

[Shaman contribution: 80%]

[Elysia & External help; 20%]

[Rewards]

500 attribute points

4x skill select

8x tier 4 boxes (A/N this is just a combination of armour, weapons and accessory boxes)

6x skill level ups

[Rewards are placed into the users inventories]

This put Elysia's mind at ease as she saw that she gained a couple bonus levels ready to be added once she evolved.

"Clara, Wolfy, it's over." Elysia announced that it was finally over and everybody relaxed.

116 Last stand

The fight was finally over, although not very climatic they were not going to take the chance of letting the boss do as it pleased.

Elysia put Shaman on her back and regrouped with Clara so they could decide on what they should do.

"Alright, are we all ready to go?" Clara was eager to leave the dungeon as soon as possible. Clara's objectives seem to have greatly shifted ever since the transformation.

"I think we should wait till Shaman wakes up, I know you want to leave right away but this place might be the safest place for now." Elysia figured since the boss had been killed that no monster would come after them, allowing them to get some rest before heading out.

Clara thought about it for a moment as Elysia had brought up a reasonable point.

However an ear piercing screech that sounded like the boss echoed throughout the room. Although not as loud and more bearable, everyone was on high alert looking for what caused the screech.

"You think I am dead? How naive of you to think I would let you kill me so easily!" The boss's voice rang out but it was a little more higher pitched than normal.

Everyone looked around for the boss but were unable to see any trace of the purple aura, let alone a body.

Shaman, who was peacefully passed out, was rudely awakened by the screeching. She slowly opened her eyes to see the same concrete floor as the room where the boss fight started.

.....

While looking at the floor she noticed a tiny version of the boss and became very confused, muttering out a few words.

"Why is there a tiny boss on the floor, am I still dreaming?" Shaman's words caused everyone else to look at the ground where Shaman was looking. Shaman then fell asleep again as she was still quite drained.

What they witnessed was something they did not expect to see, a tiny version of the boss that was no higher than their ankles jumping up and down putting on a scary voice.

"Pfft" Elysia could not help but laugh as it was hilarious to see the boss in such a state and found him a little adorable.

"Can we keep him?" Elysia thought it would be a good idea to keep it as a tiny pet, for its "ferocious" nature.

"Mother number two I don't think that would be a good idea." Wolfy could see the mini boss being an issue as it could regain its power and fighting it again was not on his list of things to do.

"Ehhh? Mother two? Where did that come from?" Elysia was thrown off by what Wolfy just called her and didn't know if she should feel touched or offended.

"Hmph, since you are the partner of my mother, I figured it was about time that I also started calling you mother as well." Wolfy turned his head out of embarrassment as he had already planned to start calling Elysia mother earlier but did not have the courage to speak up.

Elysia saw this embarrassment and a smug look appeared on her face. Taking advantage of Wolfy's embarrassment Elysia went up to Wolfy and squatted in front of him.

"Awww, how cute, you know I don't mind, but you can always just call me and Shaman, mama Elysia and mama Shaman." Elysia patted Wolfy and although he did not say it, his tail betrayed him once again, wagging showing his excitement.

"F-fine, m-mama Elysia." Wolfy agreed and felt even more embarrassed from the sudden intimate moment.

"Hehe~ good." Elysia felt really happy and continued to pat Wolfy while also trying not to drop Shaman.

While Elysia teased Wolfy, Clara had squatted down next to the boss that had already been forgotten and began to poke it.

"Ow! You witch, this is my last stand!" The boss protested from Clara's pokes but his reaction was too amusing, so Clara kept on poking it.

Clara eventually added small electric shocks to her pokes which caused the tiny boss to go through even more pain. It had tried to run away but Clara would send mini lighting strikes in his way at every turn.

"Fufu~ you have nowhere to run." Clara was entertained by the little boss, almost wanting to keep it for herself.

"GAHHHH, stop it, why the hell does someone like you killing us, when you have the blood of the Demon Qu-" The boss retorted back but before it could finish what it said Clara sent down a much stronger lightning strike killing off the tiny boss. This caused Elysia and Wolfy to look over to see what happened.

Clara's eyes became cold as if remembering something that she has been trying to repress.

Wolfy and Elysia moved closer to Clara to see if she was okay, since Clara did not move a single inch after killing the tiny boss.

"Uhh Clara?" Elysia did not want to get too close as the fear of Clara emotionally exploding was still very high and she did not want to get caught up in it.

"Oh sorry, the little boss just got on my nerves, that's all." Clara shook her head and smiled at Elysia to reassure her things were okay.

Elysia let out a sigh of relief as it seemed like everything's fine for now.

"Anyway let's find a spot to rest for a bit, I think we are all in need of some relaxation." Elysia could already feel her body getting sore and just wanted to sit down.

"Well here should be fine, right?" Wolfy figured it would be better to stay as there were most likely still some Terikin being pests on the outside.

"Hmm, I guess staying down here would be easier, plus we shouldn't have any more little terrors annoying us anymore." Elysia looked over to the end of the massive hall they were in and figured they could stay by a possible exit before they headed out.

"Well let's head over and get a little bit of rest." Clara looked like something was weighing on her mind but Elysia did not dare to ask.

They all made their way over to the end of the hall to set up camp and regain their energy. Elysia pulled out a pillow and blanket from her inventory and laid Shaman down.

'Urg hopefully we get to the fox realm quickly, I already got used to sleeping in a comfortable bed' Elysia was thinking about the trip ahead and was not excited for the nights out in the wild.

Clara had sat up against the wall and seemingly got lost in thought. Elysia wanted to go up and talk to her but ever since she transformed Elysia has been a little scared to approach her.

To keep her mind off things, Elysia brought out the small portable kitchen she bought and prepared some food. Wolfy decided to take refuge right next to Shaman and snuggle next to her for a short nap.

'What should I do, do I tell them, they seem to be the reason why I reclaimed my memories.'

'Argghh but Shaman is royalty from what I heard from H-hime- red haired bitch and Elysia is from an old family that wants to murder all beastmen.' Clara was internally spiraling as she was conflicted on what to tell the group.

'I could just leave but they have been so kind even now after transforming, although Elysia has been a little distant. Still, I have not been the most approachable either.' Clara knew that she had been acting differently and that Elysia picked up on it so she understood why Elysia had been distant.

'I don't need to tell them everything yet, I don't want to lose them.'

'I need to talk with Shaman, at least then I can determine what I want to do.' Clara made up her mind and was going to wait for Shaman to wake up so she can decide whether to stay, or leave before getting too attached.

**

After falling back to sleep Shaman found herself once again experiencing a dream of the past, observing it through young princess Shaman's eyes. This time 'Shaman' was in her mid teens and was currently lazing around in her bedroom.

Before the dream had started though, Rea had spoken to her.

[Hey, Shaman this dream is going to be a little different so be prepared]

'Huh why are you telling me this?' Shaman was confused by Rea's words as it was unusual for Rea to warn her.

[I'm not meant to be talking about this with you but because you haven't been looking at your memories, I have been forced to make you look at them.]

'Ehhh? That's not fair, let me talk to whatever higher up you report too, I have a girlfriend to see that is probably worried sick right now.' Shaman protested but also took this opportunity to try to bait an answer.

[You're not gonna get me that easily but know that time here flows differently than the outside and this dream is rather short so do not worry.] Rea reassured Shaman, giving Shaman some peace of mind.

'Tch, good but this better be worth it.' Shaman knew it was pointless to complain and only wanted to get this dream over with.

[Well good luck Shaman, see you in a bit] Rea seemingly vanished and the dream began to play.

117 Freja

[A/N: everything will be told through the Princess Shaman's POV so the Shaman who is watching won't be talking during this chapter.]

Princess Shaman had a king-sized bedroom, which was decorated to her liking from head to toe with all the things she liked.

The walls were a dark purple and were decorated with many many framed paintings depicting what looked like different family members as well childhood memories. Shelves had also occupied the walls, holding the many trophies from fighting tournaments she had won. However they were never in her name and every time she participated, her mother Cecilia would dye Shaman's hair a different colour.

In the corner of the room was a desk with a mirror. All along it were scattered books, writing utensils and pieces of paper. There were also drawers under the desk for easy access and storage. Next to the desk was a massive bookshelf that went across the entire wall, filled with books about swords, fantasy novels and random books Shaman thought were interesting.

The bed had Black framing and dark purple sheets just like the walls and on it currently resided Shaman, rolling around bored out of her mind.

'Hmmm Mother said to stay out of sight since she has an important guest over but it's meant to be me and Stein's training day.'

"Grrrr I am so close to mastering the new move set but I'm not allowed to practice in my room!!" Shaman was annoyed as her training day had been interrupted by her mother hosting a meeting.

"Hehe~ I'm sure she won't mind if I sneak out, she didn't say I have to stay in my room." Shaman felt like taking a peek of the meeting as she was dying to know who it was. She knew her mother had always made sure no one sees her, especially the fire lady. Shaman never got a proper look at her face before, only getting glimpses of the leftover flames right as she left.

"Let's see if I can get a glimpse, surely I won't get spotted this time, my illusion magic has improved quite a lot lately hehe~." Shaman jumped up from her bed in excitement and headed out of her room.

.....

Shaman was met with the same long tall hallway going to the right and left with a small courtyard in front of her. The hallways were rather bare as Shaman's family never was keen on decorating the palace.

Maids have requested to decorate the place since it's so boring to look at but nothing has been done about it. Thankfully, Shaman decided to put up her own art creations which she made during her spare time. The new cute paintings hung in the hallway, which earned her the adoration of the maids.

Shaman took a right towards the usual meeting room where Cecilia hangs out with the guests. Before Shaman reached the room she conjured up a light blue dust and shrouded herself with it. The dust gave a form of invisibility as no one could actually see the blue dust aside from the person who cast the skill.

'Let's see how easy mother can spot me.' Shaman was testing her limits to see how far she could go without getting caught.

Shaman reached the end of the hallway and arrived at a small door leading to one of the many rooms used by the maids to hangout. Inside were a kitchen and a comfortable sitting space for the maids, but this time instead of maids, Cecilia had occupied it.

The reason she was there? Well that's because it was closer to her room than the palace's main kitchen. Cecilia was inherently lazy when it came to doing small things and would rather not have the meeting place in the main kitchen.

'Why the hell does my training need to be cancelled for just one person, does Stein have something to do with this meeting?' Shaman knew by the fact her mother was using a small room that it was someone close but it did not explain why she couldn't train.

Shaman approached the door and could hear her mother laughing as well as another female whose voice sounded different from the fire lady's voice.

'Oh? It is someone different' Shaman was intrigued by the new person as she has never heard her before.

'Now let's hope they don't notice the door.' Shaman slowly pushed open the door and thankfully it made no sound. Shaman peeked into the room and saw that her mother and the mystery woman were not facing the door which made getting in easier. The mystery woman and Cecilia were both sitting on the couch with the woman facing away and Cecilia infront of her.

Shaman slowly entered without making a sound and silently made her way over to get a better look at who her mother was talking to.

"So Cecilia, how would you feel if I cleaned up some of the rats in this place?" The woman proposed an idea that confused Shaman as it did not look like the woman was a maid. This was further supported by the fact the woman had a cold aura making her very unapproachable.

"Fufu~ you can but don't be too rough." Cecilia had a grin on her face which went unnoticed by Shaman as she was too focused on trying to get a look at the woman.

Shaman was just about to walk around the couch when her waist was suddenly grabbed by a red string substance.

Shaman screamed out of fear and was pulled up into the air by whatever grabbed her. After being pulled along losing her invisibility, Shaman found herself right in front of the woman she had been so curious to see.

The woman had beautiful long blonde hair and a pair of grey eyes that seemed to stare right through Shaman's soul. Just like Shaman and Cecila, she had a pair of ears, but her tail resembled that of a wolf rather than a fox, making her not from the family. Although the woman did wear what looked like the attire of an emperor which intimidated Shaman as she was unsure who the woman could be. Despite Shaman being intimidated by her she could not help being a little bewitched by her beauty.

Shaman was still suspended in the air by the red substance that looked like hardened blood which grossed Shaman out a little.

"Oyaa~ look at this fine catch, she looks delicious." The woman grabbed a hold of Shaman's chin and licked her lips.

Shaman's face paled and looked over to her mother for help but all she got was a smile in response.

"Pfffhahaha, you're a rather cute fox, maybe I should keep you." The woman bursted out laughing but her statement caused Cecilia to frown.

"Frejaaaa, she is my daughter, get your dirty hands off her." Cecilia crossed her hands and suddenly the hardened blood vanished, releasing Shaman.

Freja did not give up though as she went to grab a hold of Shaman but before she could get closer Shaman was pulled away by a gale of vibrant blue dust and landed next to her mother, leaving Freja to grab air instead.

"Tch, ruining my hunt." Freja gave Cecilia a cold stare as she ruined her fun.

"My daughter is not suited for your games, she is too young." Cecilia then hugged Shaman as if trying to protect her. Shaman on the other hand was too scared to say a word as she went through a roller coaster of emotions.

Shaman had also not stopped staring at Freja which she noticed, winking at her. Cecilia squinted at her telling Freja through her eyes to stop playing.

"Sigh, I guess I just have to wait for another time." Freja sat back down, crossing her legs and staring directly at Shaman.

"Aha, all jokes aside, Shaman, this is Freja, a very close friend of mine and basically the second ruler of the fox realm." Cecilia gave a short intro which left Shaman shocked.

"Wait what? She is just like you, mother?" Shaman still had many questions and Freja, hearing this could not help smirk.

"You could say that but just know she is one of the closest people to the family, so I don't mind you seeing her unlike the other guests. However this one is a little too playful so maybe I should still keep you away from her." Cecilia glared at Freja trying to fend her off from attacking her daughter.

"Oho~ is that a challenge I hear?" Freja leaned in staring intently waiting for a response.

"Oh shut up you she-wolf." Cecilia retorted and after a short moment burst out in laughter. Even Shaman who was initially afraid started getting more comfortable around Freja despite her very intimidating introduction.

"On a serious note though, Shaman, if you ever need help and neither me or your father are around, Freja here will also be willing to help but just be careful not to play into her traps." Cecilia held Shaman tighter.

"Pffhaha, I will take very gooood care of her don't worry." Freja smiled slightly and the dream finally ended.

118 New tier

Shaman who had just observed the dream finds herself in the floating mindspace she usually is in when looking through princess Shaman's memories.

[Soooo, how was it?]

"Is that who I am going to meet if I head into the Freya forest? Also who the hell names a forest after themselves, they must be narcissistic or something?" Shaman had many questions about Freja and it seemed like Rea purposely showed her this specific memory to prepare her for what's to come.

[fufu~ it was the one memory that you really needed to see. There are others, but they are about you studying your innate element which you should only look into after you evolve.]

"Oh yeah i was wondering why I couldn't use that dust element but it looks like it was behind a memory wall." Shaman always wondered if her race had any innate skills and was a little disappointed when she didn't seem to have any.

[Yes most things will come back to you at a later date. You just need to continue on your journey] Rea's presence then suddenly vanishes causing Shaman to be brought back to reality.

Shaman quickly shot up from where she was laying down as being suddenly pulled from inside her mind was unnerving.

Wolfy and Elysia both turned to Shaman as they weren't expecting her to wake up so soon and so suddenly.

'Urggg that was not a nice feeling, anyway it looks like my attack worked seeing that no fighting is going on.' Shaman looked around, noticing that the room had no boss and everyone was sitting around except Elysia who was busy cooking.

.....

"AHHH, Sham you're awake, I would hug you right now but the kitchen needs attending." Elysia wanted to run up to Shaman but right now her hands were tied to the kitchen. Shaman giggled and waved at Elysia. She was glad Elysia had her priorities straight since she could smell the food which made her feel hungry.

"Hello Mama." Wolfy kept his distance as he was rather embarrassed to call Shaman mama as he felt it wasn't formal enough. Shaman was a little shocked to hear the change but nonetheless found it cute and liked it either way.

"Hello there my cute son." Shaman could tell Wolfy was embarrassed and could not help but make it worse for Wolfy. Wolfy hearing the words my cute son caused him to turn around and put his paws on his ears. Shaman laughed alongside Elysia who was also within earshot of the conversation.

Shaman looked over to Clara to see that she was lost in thought and by her face seemed like she was troubled by something. Shaman debated whether she should go talk to Clara or not as she understood Clara was going through a lot of changes and may need time to process everything.

'Dammit ShaSha is awake, I thought I would have more time to think about it.' Clara was panicking a little as now she felt obligated to come up with an answer to whether or not she should stay.

'AHHHHHHH, this is killing me, my heart is telling me to go with them but my mind is worried it could be too dangerous.'

'I really want to stay, they were nothing but nice and even now they respect my space, they are the kind of people I want to be around.' Clara was now trying to persuade herself into staying as she had a strong desire to remain with them.

'Considering both Shaman and Elysia's families likely hate each other, if those two can still get along then surely I can open up to them as well. I don't have to do it now, maybe a little later once I get to know them a bit better.' Clara was starting to slowly convince herself but was going to need a lot more time to confirm her thoughts and feelings.

'Maybe I should start off with a random topic, we are resting so it doesn't hurt to make some small talk, that way at least I can see how they will treat me.' Clara had a few ideas in mind to start a conversation so she could at least begin to know them properly.

'Hopefully I get more time to think, I am not ready for this at all.' Clara's internal panic continued. Luckily for her, Shaman could tell she needed time and didn't approach her.

'I will wait till after some food to talk to Clara, for now let's check on my status and see if I can evolve.'

Shaman Shiroi

[Race: 4 tailed Fox Girl]

[Level: 100+ 10]

[Attributes]

Unspent points: 560 [A/N: 400 points from quest]

Vitality: 400 +30

Agility: 500 +45

Intelligence: 560 +60

Strength: 550 +50

Dexterity: 500 +38

Defense: 450 +50

'YESSS, level 100, I can finally evolve to tier 5.' Shaman was excited to see that she reached 100 after a long month of killing terikins and even surpassed it after killing the boss.

'Maybe after I evolve I will talk to Clara, at least by then she will have had more time to think things out.' Shaman figured it wouldn't hurt to let Clara have some more time.

Elysia who was in her small portable kitchen had finally finished making food and brought out bowls for everyone. Elysia dropped Clara's bowl next to her as she was still stuck in thought and seemingly did not notice Elysia drop by.

Elysia gave Wolfy a small bowl of meat and he immediately got to work, devouring the whole thing in a few seconds. Elysia was a little shocked by the speed but was also not surprised as Wolfy was always a glutton when it came to meat.

Elysia then went over to Shaman and sat down next to her while also handing over Shaman's bowl.

Elysia had prepared what looked like ramen and Shaman's eyes lit up with excitement as it was one of her favorites. Elysia felt proud seeing the excitement on Shaman's face, knowing she made the right choice when choosing the meal.

Shaman ate rather quickly like Wolfy since she had not eaten since leaving for the dungeon.

"Gahhhh, that was so good, Elysia, you need to cook this more often." Shaman was feeling blissful and satisfied now regretting that she ate it so quickly.

"Pffhaha, sure." Elysia found Shaman's reaction cute and on the inside Elysia was fangirling.

'AHHHH, Sham is sooo CUUTTEE!'

"Well anyway I am going to evolve using the 100 million Terikin cores I swear we have and once I'm done you can evolve." Shaman was keen on evolving, seeing as the dungeon was practically empty. The only monsters left were outside, making it rather safe to stay down below.

"Oh okay that's fine but are you sure you want to do it now?" Elysia was thinking about Clara seeing them as their process of getting to the next tier is unconventional and would be rather weird.

[I will grant her a system like you, but at the moment she needs time to think about what she wants to do] Shaman told Elysia through Rea not to ruin the surprise for Clara who could be listening although unlikely seeing as she hasn't touched her food yet, instead gazing off into space.

"Ohhhh, good idea, aight I will wait for you to finish then before I also evolve." Elysia understood and was all for the idea.

"Well don't cause any problems while I'm sleeping." Shaman said this half jokingly but was also a little worried Elysia might do something stupid.

"No need to worry, I will just hang out with Wolfy, maybe sleep as the fatigue is starting to catch up to me a little." Elysia felt like sleeping but also knew she had to somewhat keep an eye on Clara, just in case.

"Sweet, love you Elysia." Shaman then pressed yes to evolve and began her evolution to tier 5.

"Love you too." Elysia let out a sigh as she wanted to cuddle with Shaman but was unable to.

Elysia had finished her food and put the bowls away in the inventory for now to clean later. She then grabbed her tails and carefully inspected their red tips.

'The one thing I was afraid of happening and now it has become a reality.' Elysia patted her own tail while thinking about the journal that her mother left her with.

'Let's hope the Freya forest is a place we can actually settle down in for a while without being bothered by my relatives.' 3 of Elysia's tails disappeared and she looked over at Clara who had stood up and started walking over to Elysia.

Elysia instantly became cautious but looking at Clara's face Elysia could tell she was a little nervous which caused Elysia to drop her guard down a little.

"So, how did you and Shaman get together?" Clara asked a random question which threw Elysia off as it was completely unexpected.

119 Cracks forming

Elysia stared blankly at Clara for a moment, processing what she just said. Clara was a little shy and fidgeted slightly waiting to hear her response. After Clara's change, it felt as if she was an entirely different person, seemingly resetting their relationship back to step one.

Clara also saw that Shaman turned into an egg and noticed Elysia was not freaking out so she thought nothing of it.

'A little odd but seeing as they are beastmen, it might be something normal.' Clara was rather ignorant of the ways of the world so she thought it wasn't impossible for something like this to happen.

"U-uhh well Shaman sort of saved my life after being captured, she has been the one to take care of me in the human cities. I used to live all alone in the slums, which was very difficult in a human-based society. Even when I'd try getting a job, I would just end up being taken advantage of. But now I found a place to belong and I wouldn't trade it for the world." Elysia got a little carried away with her explanation since she was talking about Shaman and ended up getting lost in her own little world.

"So how long was it before you got together after she saved you?" Clara felt like their relationship could have been based on mistaking comfort for love and needed to confirm a few bits of information before making any assumptions.

'I only wanted to make some small talk, but it seems like I have walked into a tangled mess.' Clara only wanted to break the ice as she was only curious about their relationship and hoped that getting closer to them could help her decide if she should stay.

"Well I would say a few days after she saved me and I had to save Shaman since her mana veins were fried from using an advanced spell she could not handle, I also think it was at that moment Shaman fell in love." Elysia answered without thinking much of it, and her answer short-circuited Clara's brain.

'Okay this is not love, this is just a hell of a lot of misguided feelings.' Clara was convinced that their relationship was not love but rather just two lone people that found comfort in each other due to their circumstances.

"Ehhh? Are you sure you can call that love, I mean you hardly know the person, are sure you're not mistaking your feelings?" Clara wanted to at least bring up the subject to see how Elysia would react.

.....

Elysia's face became cold from Clara's statement causing the temperature to suddenly plummet.

"What are you trying to imply?" Elysia's eyes glowed slightly red, as she took quite the offence to what Clara said.

"I don't want to barge in on your relationship but I just want to make sure that your feelings for each other are not based on a misunderstanding." Clara was not intimidated at all by Elysia's cold response. It only confirmed her suspicions about their relationship further.

"I am bound by loyalty and love, so you have no right to intrude on our relationship." Elysia continued her cold glare, even releasing her 3 other tails.

"We will just have to see if you can hold on to these feelings once you have reached your goals." Clara could only see them drifting apart once they have reached the end of whatever common goal they have, as they finally realize what they had was not true love.

Clara's statement had pushed Elysia over the edge, instigating her to attack.

"You bitch, this is MY Shaman we are talking about." Elysia had snapped out of nowhere showing a new side of her which was not entirely unexpected. Clara had already seen signs of Elysia's craziness throughout the dungeon as whenever she got close to Shaman, Elysia would always stare at her with clear killing intent.

Elysia pulled out her spear and lunged towards Clara trying to pierce her heart. Clara was able to swiftly pull out her whip blades barely managing to block the blow.

'How the fuck did this obsession get this bad, I can see the crazy in her eyes.' Clara saw the look on Elysia's face and it had contorted to something that did not look sane.

'I knew she was protective and a bit possessive but this is just borderline crazy.' Clara wanted to hold back as she did not want to hurt Elysia but it seemed like she was determined to kill Clara.

"If I kill you right now, I won't have to worry about her being taken away from me hehe~." Elysia quickly pulled back her spear and stabbed it into the ground. Using it to lift herself up she kicked Clara in the face, pushing her back.

'I need to knock her out as soon as I can.' Clara was not keen on using her lightning but it seemed like she would have to rely on it in order to win.

Elysia followed up by pulling out her spear from the ground and throwing it at Clara, keeping a ball of fire attached to the end of it. Clara was able to easily dodge the spear, however, the fireball attached to it bursted out in flames. Clara quickly pushed off her feet with her lightning, barely getting hit by the fire.

When Clara regained her footing she was suddenly shot in the shoulder by a fire arrow.

"GAAAHHH!!" Clara screamed out in pain as her shoulder was being burnt on the inside. In order to dispel the pain, she tried using her mana to take control of the fire. Thankfully she was successful as lightning fell under the bracket of fire allowing her to manipulate and extinguish it.

"Tch looks like your mana was able to overpower mine." Elysia was familiar with the concept of controlling other people's mana. The only way for it to work is if the other person is weaker than you or the amount of mana used was too small.

Because the shoulder wound was caused by fire, no blood came out of it but it rendered her arm useless as moving it caused Clara great pain.

'Looks like I have to take advantage of the benefits of being a demon.' Clara then stomped the ground and her body began to transform slightly. Her horns grew longer and became a vibrant red just like Elysia's red-tipped tails. Her skin turned even paler, and a new pair of fangs grew on her upper jaw.

Elysia tried firing more arrows but those would be instantly struck down by lightning whenever they got near Clara. Meanwhile, Elysia made her way to her spear and stored it back in her inventory.

Clara had finished her small transformation and the wound on her shoulder was fully healed making her arm usable again.

Elysia became worried as Clara's new capabilities were uncharted territory for her and anything could happen. What she did not realize was that Clara had already vanished leaving a small crack of lightning where she was standing and appeared behind her in a flash of lightning.

"Sorry, but I can't stay like this for too long." Clara then chopped down with her hand to the back of Elysia's neck. Elysia tried to react but Clara's speed was unmatched resulting in Elysia taking the full brunt of the blow.

Using a bit of lightning Clara was able to knock Elysia out with ease leaving her to slump over to the ground.

However, after knocking out Elysia, instead of savouring her victory, Clara simply fell to her knees, trying to regain her breath as her body transformed back to normal.

'Shit that was only a few seconds and I have already expended all my energy.' Clara layed on the floor to recuperate her energy before finally getting up.

After recovering enough to get up, Clara looked over at the knocked out Elysia that laid limp on the floor.

'Let's hope she doesn't remember much, otherwise, this is going to cause me even more headaches.' Clara hoped that since Elysia was in a crazed state, her memory of what happened would be repressed.

'Now what to do with their relationship, I only wanted to find out more about them to see if I wanted to stay but it seems like under the surface they are in need of serious help.' Clara held her forehead as she was still conflicted on whether to leave them to deal with their problems on their own or stay and help them sort it out.

'It seems like Elysia is the only one with this obsession issue and that Shaman is only attached to her. But why would Shaman get attached to Elysia, does it have to do with the fact that Shaman could have been alienated from the world because she is royalty. Ahhh no use thinking about it when I should just ask the person in question.' Clara wanted to get to the bottom of how they got together as it was not natural so asking Shaman who seemed more honest would help her fill in the blanks.

'If I take into account what Elysia said, it leads me to believe that they could have mistaken the feeling of dependency or gratitude for love.' Clara pondered on the concept of love as she hasn't had much experience, but she did hear a lot of stories and tips from people she worked with. This also made her come to the conclusion that what Shaman and Elysia have was indeed not love.

'Maybe I could try to get with Shaman.' Clara shook her head instantly as it was an absurd idea.

'If I do that, Elysia might end up breaking or leaving altogether, unless she can come to understand that what she has isn't really love. However, if they do break up, maybe I would still have a chance.' Clara fell deep in thought for a moment before finally coming to a decision.

'Fuck it, I'm staying, I can't leave Shaman with this crazy son of a bitch Elysia.' Clara was too deep into their business to ignore it and she wanted to repay Shaman's understanding by helping them.

'I have no other place to go back to now anyway and if it comes down to it, I can just get up and leave.' Clara decided to tag along with the group for now, in hopes of fixing Shaman's relationship, but if anything were to go wrong, she would leave in an instant.

120 Master

Clara picked up Elysia and laid her down next to Shaman. Elysia's complexion looked calm as if she had merely fallen asleep.

Wolfy, who had been watching the whole time, came out of the shadows next to Clara. Surprisingly, he was not hostile but a little distressed.

"Clara, what was wrong with Mother? I've never seen her go this crazy before." Wolfy sounded concerned and was constantly looking back and forth between Elysia and Clara.

"Don't worry Wolfy, she should be awake after a good night's sleep, so no need to panic. Sorry for making a scene, I didn't mean to make her snap." Clara smiled and patted Wolfy.

Since Wolfy was not familiar with the topic that Clara and Elysia talked about, he did not quite understand why Elysia acted so rashly. Usually, his understanding and knowledge of things were drawn through his connection with Shaman, but this is one subject he never really sank his teeth into.

"Okay, well hopefully Mother doesn't wake up angry, I do really like you Clara." Wolfy lowered his head with a sad glint in his eyes.

"Awww, Wolfy, that's very sweet, don't worry I'm not going anywhere." Clara found Wolfy adorable and continued to pat Wolfy but with more enthusiasm. Wolfy's mood rose a little and he felt reassured that things were going to be okay.

'What a cute wolf, Kinda wish he was my own familiar.' Clara was won over by Wolfy's cuteness and was even tempted to steal him for herself. She had also noticed that Wolfy became a lot less formal and seemed like a concerned child whenever his parents were in trouble, which added to the cuteness.

"Okay well seeing as we are waiting I'm just going to nap like I usually do." Wolfy felt much better after talking to Clara and was going to sleep off his stress.

.....

"I think I will too, seeing that I need to wait for Shaman to wake up." Clara had a lot of time to waste, so the idea of sleeping was very appealing to her.

"Okayyyy." Wolfy then walked off to find a comfortable spot to rest.

'Let's hope I can have some one-on-one time with Shaman as I need to talk to her about who I am and what happened with Elysia.' Clara found a spot near the wall to get some shut-eye while she waited for Shaman to awaken.

Seated at last, the built-up exhaustion washed over her and in only a few moments she was already fast asleep.

***

Deep underground below the capital was a dungeon that held a single person inside. Himeko was suspended in the air by chains with light bars going through the middle of her body, blocking any mana from travelling through her body. A collar was wrapped tightly around her neck, the bruises and torn skin underneath it showing it hasn't been taken off in a while.

Himeko's admiral clothes were all torn and clear marks of torture could be seen all over her body. Her eyes were lifeless and a deadpan expression was on her face, showing that she has been deprived of any basic needs.

Himeko quietly mumbled words to herself that were barely audible to anyone nearby.

"I-i… A-a-am…. S-sorry….. C-c-clara… I tried to… not… tell him." Himeko repeated these words over and over again to herself. Himeko had been broken and left near-dead, but she still held a slither of humanity in her.

After some more time passed, the pope had walked into the dungeon with his usual fully white clothes and approached Himeko. Once close enough he released the chains that were suspending Himeko with only a snap of his fingers, letting her fall to the floor. The light beams on her body receded into her completely wrapping her mana core, rendering all mana usage impossible unless removed.

"To think the great Himeko would be in such a pitiful state in front of me, that prideful beast that always roared within you has finally been tamed." The pope giggled as the once untameable Himeko lay lifeless on the floor.

"Now let's see how obedient the phoenix has become." Pulling out a leash from an inventory, he attached it to her collar and began to pull on her. This seemingly caused Himeko to switch from being a lifeless husk to an animal.

Himeko quickly got on all fours and started to act like a pet. There was a slight hint of reluctance like something was trying to fight back but was unable to take back control.

"Good, seems like the torturers did their job in turning you into a good little pet. Now that I have the information about that cursed object and Demon heir, I can use you in whichever way I want." At the mention of being used Himeko looked up at the pope.

"Yes master, I'll do whatever you tell me." Tears had started to flow down her face despite her words, Himeko was still inside trying to fight back.

"Tch they haven't done as good of a job as I thought, your will still isn't completely gone, your stubborn attitude must be the only reason why you haven't fully submitted." The pope looked annoyed as he could tell the job hadn't been fully completed.

Himeko tilted her head in confusion looking at the pope for answers.

"Oh you don't worry, you are doing perfectly my little phoenix." The pope gently patted Himeko causing her to nuzzle into his hand.

The pope leaned back and let out a sigh before pulling out a pill and tossing it to Himeko. Himeko took the pill and swallowed it as fast as she could.

'That should keep her alive for another few days.' The pill the pope gave her was a food pill that would slowly dissolve and provide enough nutrients and energy for a few days.

"No matter, it is only a matter of time before she will no longer have a will of her own." The pope sighed again and walked out of the room while pulling Himeko along.

"You are coming with me, I need to show off my new toy to my friends." A sinister smile grew on the pope's face as he walked out of the dungeon with his new pet.

***

Clara had slowly opened her eyes from what felt like a short sleep. There was no day and night cycle, so it was impossible to tell the time of day and there was no indication on how much time had passed.

Clara looked over to Shaman's egg and could see that slight cracks were starting to form which she assumed was her finally waking up.

'I am only just realising now she really is inside an egg.' Clara had ignored it before and thought it was just a beastmen related thing but the more she thought about it the more it did not sound right.

'I shouldn't overthink it, I'm sure Shaman will explain once she is done doing whatever it is she's doing.' Clara did not want to dwell on it for too long as it would only cause a headache rather than give her any answer.

Clara waited for Shaman to hatch out of her egg while also observing Elysia who was fast asleep next to Shaman.

'Let's see if your feelings really hold up.' Clara seemed more determined to put their relationship to the test because, after that short battle, Clara's opinion of Elysia had soured.

*

After waiting for another 30 minutes or so Shaman's egg finally began to crack.

Clara quickly got up and went over to Shaman as she was rather curious if Shaman would have any changes in appearance.

The egg slowly started to fall apart to reveal the same looking Shaman, and yet something about her seemed different.

Shaman slowly woke up and got up from her shell, stretching out her body. When she stood up Clara finally realised what it was that felt odd. Previously, Shaman was about 6'1″ and was taller than Clara who was 5'7″.

However, This time Clara was the taller one, now having to slightly look down at Shaman rather than slightly looking up.

Shaman who just woke up was confused as to why she felt shorter and took a moment to process what was happening.

"No, don't tell me." Shaman looked horrified as she looked all over her body and kept glancing up at Clara to make sure she was not dreaming. Shaman was now 5'4 making her much shorter than Elysia and Clara.

Her worst nightmare has become a reality, she was now short and had lost all the height she had gained. Shaman fell to her knees with tears filling her eyes almost on the verge of crying.

"NOOOOOOO!!!!" Shaman leaned back, throwing her hands in the air, screaming and crying. Clara knelt at her side and tried to comfort Shaman.

"M-my height is gone." Shaman's pride in her height was already damaged and now that she has shrunk to an even shorter size her pride had been trampled and tossed aside.

"Shaman, it's okay, I have no idea why this happened but I'm sure if you do it again it might return." Clara tried to come up with anything that would Calm Shaman down which was surprisingly effective. Shaman had suddenly stopped screaming and the tears had stopped flowing down her face.

"Yes! You're right Clara, I Just need to evolve again and I'm sure I will gain my height back." Shaman's mood suddenly improved, and she hugged Clara to express her gratitude.

Clara didn't know what to say but she blushed a little at the sudden show of affection.

"Ahem." Shaman quickly let go of Clara as she realised what she was doing and it suddenly came to her that Clara probably had something to say to her.

"Besides the traumatic event that just happened, I believe you have something to talk about." Clara was a bit thrown about by the sudden mood swings but she was glad Shaman was able to get back on track.

"Yes, there is something that I should tell you now that I have gotten my memories back and now know who I truly am, so I hope for you to listen."