Chapter 7 - The Dungeon of Hands Part 1

A week has passed since I set my sights on the 12 Dungeon, the Dungeon of Hands.

Now, the information we have currently is someone who seems to be connected to be and the accident five years ago has appeared and believes themself to be a relative of mine. She also thinks I killed my parents.

After a fight which result in a one sided beat down, a mysterious man appeared, with a tattoo of an Ouroboros, although secretive, the new information we have on it is that the symbol belongs to a new group calling themselves the "Ouroboros Cult" and are said to be researching ways to resurrect the monster in question, believeing it to be a deity of sorts.

They are currently being considered an evil group of heretics for that reason.

Since we know they are holed up in the 12th Dungeon, there's no way we can leave them be, but even so, I don't know if the training I've done up to now will be enough to succeed.

(I still can't believe you were able to progress in such a short amount of time compared to before, were you even serious before?) Dina asked exasperated.

"Well, I was plenty serious, but I didn't really have much reason to push myself beyond thinking 'Someday' so I guess the more immediate goal is what helped." I answered.

(Even if that's so, it's hard to believe you could make so much progress. I mean, even for those with talent or hardwork, doing something like reading half of that A section or splitting ten lined up trees in a row would be near impossible to achieve in just a month. I assumed it would take a lot longer.) She replied.

"Is that so?" I asked.

(Yeah, it's quite shocking really.) Dina answered.

Lilith's remained silent so far, but I'm pretty sure she's just sleeping while leaving her chibi avatar active, though I have no idea if that's a bad thing or not.

We continued talking and chatting while I followed Dina's directions towards the Dungeon.

I wasn't in a hurry really so I decided to take my time and conserve my energy.

After traveling for a week, I had finally stumbled upon the 12th Dungeon, deep inside a secluded forest, and at the entrance to that place, was that mysterious man in a suit from before, standing at the door as if waiting for something, or perhaps, someone.

Getting a better look at him now, I could tell he wasn't ordinary.

He looked somewhat young, and handsome, however his gray hair made him seem ageless.

The worst part was, as I got closer to him, I noticed it.

The lack of any guard or intent at all, it was as if I could pass through the entrance and he'd react with nothing.

I couldn't help but feel off about it, and decided to confront him while keeping my guard raised.

"Aren't you going to attack me?" I asked him.

He looked at me as if he saw through me and replied.

"Nope. I'm not working for them right now after all." The man showed me his hand, and the mark was gone.

"What?" I said confused.

"Heh. Actually, I was just hired to work for them part time, though they told me to guard the door, I wasn't really planning on doing anything to ya anyway. Unless of course, you really wanna play?" The man answered as he unleashed an immensesly terrifying energy that completely made me lose all the energy in my body.

(You should stop messing with him.) Dina was the first and only one to speak up.

"Oh? That's a cute little angel you got there~" The man said.

Despite being in total fear and shock, the thing that got me more, was that this man could see Dina in her chibi form, even though no one but me should be able to.

(Hmph. I know who you are. And I don't know why you're snooping around a place like this, but I'll still warn you to not take things so far next time, got it?) Dina warned.

"Oh, is that so? As expected of the Angel of Wisdom." The man replied in a mocking tone.

(Even for someone like you who loves to wander the world to avoid his responsibilities, aren't you going too far already? Do you want me to tell your family what you've been up to lately? Surely even you wouldn't get away with working with evil heretics, right?) Dina threatened, unfazed by the man's tone.

"Hmph, there's no need to threaten me. Alright, I'll stop messing around now. I was just about to leave once you people showed up anyways." The man replied before releasing the immense pressure off me.

Then he walked away as a crow began to rest on his shoulders and his figure morphed into an ambiguous person.

"Who-" I began to ask.

(Don't worry about him for now, you'll likely run into him more often in the future. As for now, it's about time we get going, right?) Dina quickly cut me off before I could finish.

I looked at the entrance, closed my eyes, took a deep breath in and out, and finally entered the Dungeon of Hands...