The Survivor Becomes a Dungeon

Puh'ma POV

Puh'ma's eyes gradually blinked open, her body felt unbearably heavy and stiff yet she also felt rather warm and strangely comfortable despite the morning chill in the air with the sun barely cresting the horizon to warm up the day.

Taking slow, deep breaths, the memories of this morning started rushing back to her as she suddenly realized there was a wall of fur in her face which shifted at her stirring. With a sudden rush of panic, she did her best to roll away and hop to her feet; only to lose her balance and tumble into some tall grass as she flopped onto her stomach and face. "Oww..." She murmured while trying to push herself up on surprisingly shaky limbs.

"Are you okay?" A gentle masculine voice sounded out from behind her, the movement of something big shifting around pricking her ears. "You shouldn't move around too much... You were in awfully bad shape when we found you."

At that, Puh'ma hesitated as she had to consider the words of whoever it was that just spoke. The last thing she remembered was blacking out after running as far and as fast as she could to try and find help. She was aiming to go to Sunspot Keep, but her injuries kept her from even getting close to her goal. Well... Who was she kidding, she wouldn't have made it anywhere in time to be of any real help. But then she realized that if she hadn't gotten anywhere, then her home was still in danger!

Finally mustering the wherewithal to collect herself, she pushed herself to her feet and almost immediately stumbled again when she caught herself on something rather large and fluffy. Blinking a few more times as she willed her eyes to focus, she quickly realized she was leaning up against some kind of massive wolf. For a brief moment, she started to panic before quickly remembering that its handler was close by since she had been talking to someone only a moment ago. "T-thanks... And yeah I'm okay, but I can't waste any more time here, my home is in danger and we need reinforcements as soon as possible." She explained as she looked up from the earthy brown and gray dappled coat of the wolf, looking for the man who had apparently been tending to her wounds.

However, when she saw nobody else she only grew more confused, that is until she heard the voice again and could feel the gentle rumble of speech coming from the wolf itself. "You don't need to worry about that; my boss Vitm... Err... Vito is currently handling it for you already." The wolf explained in a still gentle voice as he looked back at her while offering a smile, the audible swish of his tail reaching her ears as well.

"Ah... Um... Uhh..." She wasn't sure what to say in response, not expecting to be holding a conversation with a wolf of all things.

The wolf tilted his head curiously at her, now looking rather concerned at her as his brows furrowed. "Are you sure you're alright? If you are hungry, I smelled some fruits nearby which should be safe for you to eat, or perhaps I could fetch you some prey?" He offered rather politely while still letting her use him to keep her balance.

"I... Am rather hungry." She admitted, gently pushing off the wolf as she looked around, noticing a large patch of what she smelled was her own dried blood in the grass nearby. A few feet away she also noticed the telltale signs of acid burns in the grass and dirt, though she noticed some odd pieces of wood, but couldn't make out the details. With that in mind, she reached for her hip and realized that she was missing her acid flask. Having taken the moment to assess her surroundings and gather her thoughts, she looked back to the wolf who was still patiently watching her while remaining close to her for some reason. "You said your boss was handling things? Is he another wolf? How can he help?"

The wolf perked up a little at that, seemingly rather cheerful as his tail slowly swayed behind him as he turned his body around and sat in the grass, now properly facing her since she appeared to be more stable on her feet now. It was only then that she noticed that the wolf had a rather impressive sword strapped to the side of his body. "Well, my boss is a very capable err... Person." He said, apparently needing a moment to describe him. "He commands very powerful magic and is a great warrior."

It was just then that Puh'ma noticed the green ring around the wolf's ear, and knowing what she knew of magic from hanging around Larkis and his family mage, she could guess this wolf was likely a familiar of some kind; though she had personally never heard of a talking familiar before. "I-I see... Well, I'm not sure what just one man can do against an army, but at least it's something." She then looked over to the wolf again and flicked her ear thoughtfully. "How fast are you? If I may burden you, I need help getting to Sunspot Keep, we seriously need reinforcements or else I won't have a home to go back to."

The wolf's ears drooped at that as he simply shook his head. "While I am rather fast, I'm still worn out from rushing over here with Boss Vito in the first place once we saw the smoke on the horizon." He then sat up a little straighter as he regarded her again. "But if you're willing to at least wait, then my Boss' caravan will arrive soon enough and we can ride with them. Regardless, Sunspot Keep is too far away for you to try and make it in your condition, especially after all the injuries you sustained."

Puh'ma's tail lashed with impatience as she gazed over at the wolf before her. "If you won't help me, then you're useless to me." She snarled with frustration as she turned to leave, nearly stumbling once again but catching herself on a nearby tree as she pushed off and kept walking.

As she walked, she heard the wolf start to follow after her as it plodded along at her side, keeping to her pace and occasionally glancing over at her with looks of concern. "You really should take it slow... Boss Vito said you were close to death when we found you, you're likely thirsty and exhausted and you already said you were hungry."

It was at that when Puh'ma's stomach growled audibly, but she just growled in response as she punched her stomach and kept on marching forward. "Just shut your mouth, each second I waste here is another second that my home is at risk. If I just sit here and do nothing because of my injuries, then I would've been better off fighting to the death at my mother's side."

The wolf seemed to let out a soft whine before just shaking his head at her words, after an almost silent seven minutes trickled past, the wolf piped up again. "You can at least ride me if you insist on trying to go to the keep. My orders were to make sure you get to the caravan, and then you can at least talk with the others and see if they'll help you."

Puh'ma at least hesitated at that offer, considering her still unsteady legs as she just sighed a bit while slowly nodding her head. "F-fine... I suppose that's better than just walking the whole time." She reluctantly admitted before turning to look at the wolf.

The wolf immediately perked up, his tail slowly swaying as he lay on the ground while watching her. "Go ahead and get on, and don't worry about grabbing onto my fur to keep your balance if you need to." He offered cheerfully enough.

Puh'ma looked the wolf over, admittedly now a little uneasy about riding what appeared to be a fully intelligent being now that she'd had a moment to cool off after her initial burst of frustration. "Are you sure? Alright then..." She said, taking a moment to carefully climb onto the wolf's back and carefully grabbing two fistfuls of his fur.

Once she had settled in, the wolf carefully stood and gave her another few moments to adjust before setting out at a steady sprint. He made his way through the thick brush and tall grass until he crossed back onto the dirt road and kept on running as his large paws thrummed with every bounding step.

As the wind rushed to beat against her face, Puh'ma found herself leaning into the wolf and adjusting into a more proper rider's posture; her ears drawing back to keep them from flicking in the wind when she called up to the wolf. "I thought you said you were still tired?"

"I am!" The wolf calls out between breaths as he keeps to this pace. "I can go much faster than this when I try." He mused almost proudly, casting a glance back at her before looking back ahead of them.

Puh'ma couldn't help but feel more annoyed by the wolf than anything, if it was this fast even while tired, then why all the fuss about not wanting to run? Then again... It's not like this is her wolf, to begin with, this was someone's familiar and they're already doing her a service by merely humoring her with a ride in the end. "Say... What's your name? I'm Puh'ma." She asked, figuring the polite thing to do now was to at least introduce herself.

The wolf glanced back at her before looking ahead once more. "I am Legosi, the Defender!" He enthused with clear pride.

"Well, despite everything... I suppose it's nice to meet you, Legosi." She said, managing to at least wrangle a smile on her face. Suddenly the sky behind them was illuminated noticeably despite the plumes of smoke that had blocked the sun on the horizon. Legosi slowed to a stop as he turned his body to look at the scene playing out behind them; there in the middle of the black smoke was a great pillar of fire that caused the smoke to disperse, if only for a little bit. "By the gods, what was that?!"

Though before she could say anything else, she heard an audible swishing coming from behind her, with a glance she spotted Legosi's tail wagging with visible excitement. He looked back up at her, a smile on his wolfish face. "That was the Boss. I think it's safe to say your home is in good hands."

She couldn't help but agree, looking back down at Legosi before looking back to where she saw the pillar of flame which had since faded as the smoke began gathering all over again. Just what had she run across while out in these woods?

"So... Do you still want to head for Sunspot Keep?" Legosi asked, looking clearly pleased for whatever reason.

Her tail flicked and swished behind her in thought before simply shaking her head. "No... Let's get to that caravan you were talking about."

With that, Legosi nodded intently as he turned again and began to sprint down the road once more, though at an admittedly more relaxed pace than earlier.

Vitmori POV

Talking with Trelio proved to be an interesting experience, the man was a glory hound, that's for sure; he vaguely reminded me of Dread and the Sinners during their first week of existence when they wanted to prove themselves against what remained of Lichtdren's monsters. The only difference is that Trelio had the wisdom, intelligence, and power to back up that sort of mindset.

Studying the flow of his mana despite the table's worth of distance between us, I could tell the man had a considerably powerful manaheart beating in his chest. If I had to compare it, he was a notable degree stronger than Reonim; if Reonim was a barrel with a spigot, then the man across from me was like an oil drum. Perhaps not that much bigger, but much denser and more complex with the added years of experience on how to use what he has.

As for Aspen who sat at the table with us, taking a place at Trelio's left-hand side, he was fairly powerful himself. He had two mana rings formed around his heart, though one ring was noticeably denser than the other, so he hadn't reached the stage that Cecil had told me about which would actively slow the aging of a mage, but that meant little in the face of overall skill and experience that he had with magic compared to me.

If it ever came to a straight-up fight against these two men alone, things would quickly become like that sparring match I had with Reonim and this avatar of mine would likely be destroyed, all things considered. In the end, I'm just lucky to have faced off against so many regular soldiers while my zombies got the drop on the mages during that battle earlier, not to mention that the mage I targeted just happened to specialize in fire magic or didn't decide to suddenly use acid against me somehow.

I may be strong... But I need to get even stronger and learn more about how others use magic if I want to be able to hold my own if I ever get forced into a straight-up fight.

Trelio was still in the middle of talking with Aspen, discussing the information I had given him about the raiders who besieged his village. I gave the directions to the exact mountain where they made their base as well as physical markers to be able to locate the cave which was at the base of said mountain. Using the combined mental image of so many soldiers, I was even able to draw up a map of the cave complex they had been using, complete with locations of their multiple barracks, storehouses worth of goods, armory, and common rooms.

There were still around a hundred and forty raiders remaining, with two more healers and three more combat mages along with the war mage who was supposedly leading the whole operation. Of the remaining soldiers, there were a confirmed twenty-five who had manahearts, though they were a part of some special task force that was in charge of protecting the princeling who was among them.

That was the other big detail, this whole force of soldiers were loyalists who were assigned to the youngest prince and his mother who was now the last survivor of the royal family who ruled over the land of Drazmere. His nation, three elder brothers, and his father had fallen to Ferodias' empire during his rush for unification, which I suppose is the cost of war. There's still quite a bit of nuance and history that I likely haven't processed yet, but that is not my concern at this point. All I know now is that these guys are kidnapping people, looting caravans, and raiding villages for their own gain, which is something I don't abide by. Though as for why they’re kidnapping people… That I still haven’t been able to figure out just yet.

With all that in mind, the soldiers that died today, at the very least those I found and that are now in my storage space, numbered around one-hundred and sixty-two. Of that number, my forces had taken down ninety-one of them at the cost of thirty-one zombies, leaving me with nine combat zombies and my two plague doctors from my original group. All in all... I have one hundred and thirty-two new zombies which I'm currently reanimating throughout this meeting. So far, it has been a rather considerable draw on my current mana reserves simply due to the sheer number of them, but it is worth the expense.

Focusing back on the conversation, Trelio looked over at me, leaning back in his seat rather thoughtfully while drumming his fingers against the table. “Mage Vito, you have done me and mine a great service this day. Between you and your undead, we were able to survive this conflict with minimal losses. I must ask you to forgive me, but I’ll need time to put together a suitable payment for the information you brought before me; especially since you won’t accept more than a thank you for breaking the siege.”

I just offer a kind chuckle at that, reaching up and gently doting on Basmori who had been sound asleep on my shoulders. “Believe me, I’ve more than benefitted enough from the fight itself, I couldn’t possibly demand a reward on top of that; though I will accept payment for the info.”

Trelio flashed a charming grin at that before sitting up a little more in his seat. “In any case, I’d like to invite you to at least stay the night in my home. Perhaps you can join my family for dinner?” He asked, clear anticipation in his voice as he held my gaze.

I get the feeling that he really wants to talk to me and may consider it a personal offense if I turned him down at this point, not that he would ever let it show. “Well… I don’t see why not.” I offer at first before smiling a little more. “Though I do ask that you allow my caravan to join us… Only if it is not too much of a problem. That would be at least another nine people, and two more of my familiars.”

Trelio took that comment as a personal challenge as he chuckled with clear delight. “It is no trouble at all! In fact, I think if the clean up goes well today, we should make a feast of it to celebrate our victory this day.” He boasted, looking to Aspen as if to get his opinion on that; the mage dutifully nodded his head despite the clear exhaustion already in his eyes at the thought of the work that was ahead of them already.

“Sounds good to me, now then if you’ll excuse me, I suppose I ought to make myself useful as well.” I enthused, pushing up from the table as I stood.

Despite the cheerful expression on Trelio’s face, I could tell he was disappointed that the conversation was already over as he gave a simple nod of his head as he stood to follow me. “Of course, Mage Vito, the sooner we get everything done, the better.”