117 A test of Trust

My boys, we're back.

My exams have ended, I have passed everything, no final exams for this guy.

However, I did have a pretty terrible night.

Today was super cold, and I slept without the fan on like always, and with a hot blanket, yet I still caught a minor cold.

Not only that, I dreamt that I was at University again, doing an exam I didn't even know existed... Obviously not understanding shit.

I feel beaten both mentally and physically.

For now, enjoy the chapter, now, I'll rest.

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PS: I should be posting my other novel chapter later today as I have yet to edit it.

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(If you forgot what was happening, Silver met with the Xenos and they dragged him to their village, where they are now)

...

"What an interesting place." Silver mumbled to himself as he looked around

A hidden village, it's like a massive room, perhaps the size of a small stadium, I can't quite figure out how big it is.

It's like a safe room... Perhaps it is one, but the Xenos have something else to say about these.

They say the Dungeon created this for them, and although I'm willing to accept this answer, it isn't the only conclusion I can arrive at, the Dungeon has many secrets after all...

Hidden rooms with secret treasures, hidden monsters protecting secret areas, places with special effects like the thermal pools on the Middle floors or the secret safe room on the Lower and Deep floors...

The arena, Monster Rex, the Juggernaut, its hate for Gods, Black monsters... I could go on and on.

I myself once found a safe room on the Upper floors, although it was quickly destroyed by the Dungeon soon after, meaning, it was a consumable safe room, meant to exist for a limited amount of time.

The Dungeon is constantly changing in ways one cannot quite point out.

It isn't impossible to punch the walls of the Dungeon and suddenly find an entirely new unexplored section… Or the gaping maw of a monster ready to devour you whole.

So I can't just accept that the Dungeon made this place for them, although I'm not entirely against it either.

Because it would mean that the Dungeon feels some sort of empathy or connection with these creatures... Or perhaps it has some sort of bizarre plan in mind... If it even has the capability to do so.

After all, a large hidden spacious room where no monsters spawn, where there are several caves that can be used as rooms?

It seems oddly fit for the Xenos.

...

'Lyd and the others eventually led silver to a large bonfire surrounded by stairs.'

"We're back everyone!" Lyd said out loud

/Roar!/

'The sounds of roars echoed as dozens of monsters walked out from the shadows and into the light of the massive central bonfire.'

'Most of them wore some kind of garment or item to differentiate them from the rest, like a giant spider that had a classy hat, and an Ogre with a long red cape.'

/ROAR!/

'They screamed loudly, welcoming the safe return of their friends and also, at the arrival of a mysterious guest.'

'Silver, unfortunately, did not understand a thing of what they were saying, their roars, barks, and meows were completely alien to him.'

'Lyd made a gesture for the to stop talking, saying:'

"We've returned, and dealt with the danger... But this time is actually rather special since as you can see we…"

/ROAR!/

A massive roar suddenly echoed, making the cavern tremble and interrupting Lyd.

"You really did it now Lyd!" Exclaimed someone with a deep voice from the sky

/BAM!/

'Suddenly, out of nowhere, a creature fell from the sky right in front of Silver, gazing down at him menacingly.'

/GROWL!/

'He breathed right in front of him, showing his sharp teeth, each the size of his finger, trying to intimidate him.'

'Gray stone-like skin, with equally gray eyes, extremely sharp teeth, and long claws, a pair of wings on its back…'

'It was a Gargoyle! A pretty strong one at that.'

"What do you all think you are doing?! I thought that it was okay for you all to leave since you were together, but you came back with a Human?!" He exclaimed rudely as he looked at Lyd and Ray

"After everything that happened recently, you're now showing them how to get to our home?! What about our fallen comrades?! Did you already forget what happened?!" the Gargoyle exclaimed in grief and anger

It's wings fluttered behind him, causing a strong wind pressure across the entire room.

"It's not like that Gros! It was a coincidence! He needed to come and… He is different!" Ray said with certainty

'She understood her compatriot's anger, but she also tried to explain herself, although, in a very awkward way.'

'She herself couldn't believe her words, it seemed too alien for her, but she had to remain firm, as that was her choice, her dream.'

/Grrr!/

'Gros growled in anger, while Silver felt somewhat touched, he had already understood that these underground dwellers were a bit naive in regards to relationships, or perhaps, he was too corrupted by how things went on the surface that he forgot that people could just be this trusting...'

'Seeing them put such faith in him made him feel strange, perhaps because such people were extremely hard to find up there....'

'People who don't expect much from you, simply trusting… Even Hestia thinks too much from time to time even though she believes in him.'

'Of course, it's not like them were robots that instant;y believed in him either, but it was more of a messiah situation, where he came at the right time, in front of the people who needed him the most.'

'For these Xenos, someone who they can talk with and trust is something they've been desiring for a long time... Perhaps their entire lives.'

'At the start, Silver was merely curious about their existence, and he wouldn't have minded helping them.'

'All for the sake of observing them closely so he could learn more about the Dungeon and specifically, to see for himself what made them different.'

'He wanted to understand the process of how a Xenos came to be, and how their soul formed.'

'An understanding of that may be the final key to unlocking a completely new strand of abilities, diving deep into the realm of the Soul.'

'So he decided to fully commit to building a relationship with the Xenos.'

'Now, although he still wants to learn and observe them, he found these furry friends more than simply interesting. They were indeed, very much alive.'

(Not the case in real life 💀)

"WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU SPITTING TO ME LYD?!" Gros exclaimed in anger

"I told you that he…"

"Different? There is no such thing! They are all the same! Bastards that see us as nothing but monsters. Merchandise to be sold, slaves to be ordered, prey to be killed!"

'The Gargoyle looked straight at Silver, the latter feeling the intense hatred and pressure being emanated from the monster… It was stronger… Much stronger than the Green Dragon.'

/Growll…/

'Gros growled once more and said:'

"You have no place here!"

"In other times, I would've told you to simply leave, but…"

'His wings suddenly opened fully!'

"I can't risk it now!"

/FWOOSH!/

'Gros suddenly vanished from Silver's sight, and next time Silver felt the air brush against his hair and an intense pain from his stomach…'

'He was flying in the air! With Gros grabbing him by the waist!'

"!"

'Silver took no time and immediately reappeared on the ground, but he did not make any excessive movements, nor did he take his Halberd out of his back, and instead, he remained on his spot and said:'

"Lock me if you wish, beat me if you must, I won't say a thing, nor will I react…"

In the first place, fighting him isn't wise, so I'll have to use the persuasion approach.

'But Gros interrupted him, ignoring his speech:'

"So let me take a bite out of you!" Gros said in a deep tone

"..."

'Silver remained silent before he said:'

"It's not that I don't understand your situation, but for me, this is just as big of a surprise."

"You can easily ask what happened previously."

"It wasn't me who approached you all, you all approached me first."

/Step.../

'Lyd walked in front of Silver, opening his arms wide:'

"I'm sorry for this, but as I promised, no more harm will come your way!" Lyd said with a determined gaze

"No, it's fine..." Silver said

I want them to trust me, but I don't want to overdo it.

Right now, I trust the Xenos because I know external things about them.

But I can't rely on these things all the time.

So I want to trust 'them'. These Xenos... These people that are right in front of me.

But can I do it?

/Clang!/

'Silver dropped his Halberd on the ground.'

"I won't react."

'But Gros simply smiled, showing his teeth.'

"Good, stay still, I'll end this quickly."

/Fwoosh!/

'Gros dashed forward, but this time, he seemed slower but still very fast for Silver.'

'With each flap of its wings, he got closer to him, opening his claws and maw, ready to chew on his shoulder.'

'But silver did not move.'

"G... Gros! STOP THIS!" Exclaimed Lyd suddenly

/SPLURGE!/

'Eventually, Gros dashed across Silver, cutting a large chunk of flesh from his shoulder.'

"Adventurer-San!" Exclaimed Lyd worriedly

"GROS! You went too far with this test!" Ray said loudly

'Her voice was so strong that it sent Gros flying away, it was a sonic attack, the kind Sirens were known best for.'

/Roar!/

'The Xenos voiced their protests while Gros remained silent, staring at the piece of bloodied flesh on his hand with a deep gaze.'

'He turned his head to look at Silver, only to see the latter looking at him with the same calm gaze as before as blood fell onto the ground.'

"... Why didn't you evade?"

'Silver smiled slightly, although his mouth twitched from time to time, he was trying his best to act tough, but the pain was a bit much...'

"Heh, someone promised me... That I wouldn't get hurt here, so I... Trusted him… Nothing more."

"Can I have a refund?" He said ironically

'Lyd seemed touched and regretful at the same time, he tried to say something but Gros interrupted him.'

"I won't apologize, not to a Human."

"Gros!" Ray said loudly

"But I will accept your presence, for now…"

'His wings opened, ready to leave…'

"Wait." Silver said suddenly

'Gros seemed serene, he had realized his mistake as he said:'

"If you want to punish me you can do it I will accept it as…"

'But Gros was interrupted by Silver:'

"Give me back that thing in your hand, I'm bleeding and I need my shoulder back." He said with a straight face

'Lyd's expression suddenly brightened.'

"Oh yeah! Adventurer-San can heal it!... You can do it right?" Lyd asked in a worried tone

"If I do it quickly enough, then yes I can…"

It hurts but I need to keep a straight face... A straight face... A...

Even though I numbed the area so the pain would lessen it still...

Hurts!

'Gros suddenly reappeared in front of Silver, gazing at his eyes.'

'He lowered his hand and handed him the bloodied piece of meat… It was part of Silver's right shoulder.'

'Silver felt strange, annoyed, angry, but he had to maintain his emotions right now, this wasn't the place to throw a tantrum.'

'Without saying much, Silver carefully placed it back and chugged another emergency elixir, repeating the same process from before.'

'It was a lot of money wasted, but it was worth it.'

'After he was done, his shoulder looked brand new, apart from all the blood of course… And his poor shirt that was now completely tattered.'

"Are you feeling alright Adventurer-san?" Ray asked as she flew around him with a worried expression

"I've had worse, but it did hurt a lot."

Was this enough for him to trust me?

If I can make these extreme Xenos trust me, then I can make all of them trust me.

'Once he was done, he raised his hand to Gros for a handshake.'

"I didn't tell you all my name so I'll do it now." He said as he looked at Lyd, Ray, and some others, before finally turning to face Gros

"Nice to meet you all, my name is Mellios Silver. How about you?"

'Gros looked at his hand, it was tiny in comparison to his.'

"Humph, don't get carried away Human."

"You may have passed this little test, but I'll have my eyes on you."

'Instead of shaking his hand, Gros turned around and started to walk away.'

"Gros!" Lyd exclaimed, but the Gargoyle ignored him

"Ahhh! I'm truly sorry Silver-Chi! Gros is such a hothead, he's always been like that, time has had its mark on him... I can call you that, right?" Lyd asked as he shook his hand in the place of Gros

'Although his sharp claws were uncomfortably close to his arm's veins, Silver still smiled and said:'

"Everyone just calls me Silver, so feel free."

"So it's settled!" He said with a smile

/Roar!/

'The Xenos were ecstatic to have made contact with a Human, and as soon as Silver and Lyd exchanged a handshake, they rushed around him so they could better observe him.'

"Wa-Wait…" Silver exclaimed as he was pushed around by the many Xenos

Pfft! I think fur just got into my mouth...

'He felt as if he was a city boy who had suddenly gone to a farm and was now being attacked by the animals…'

'All sorts of Dungeon beasts he had grown used to killing on sight were now gathering around him, looking at him, trying to shake hands with him, some even licked him...'

'Sniffing him and rubbing themselves against him, if he opened his mouth for a moment, a mouthful of fur would get inside his throat...'

'There were easily over 100 Xenos in the room, this would take a while…'

…

/Around half an hour later…/

'The situation had calmed down and now Silver was sitting next to a bonfire, listening to the Xenos stories and their dreams, together with their recent sorrows and problems.'

'The Xenos were beings that had been around the Dungeon for a very very long time, but they only recently made contact with the surface world.'

'They were 'discovered' by the 'Hodded man', AKA, Fells around 13 or so years ago, but some of them claim to have made contact with Humans and other species much earlier, albeit they had never initiated any sort of long term relationship like what they have now.'

'Any sort of rumors caused by these interactions had long since been censored by the Guild, their existence is now a complete mystery, although even if it wasn't, few people would even believe it.'

'Xenos are birthed from the endless cycle of death and rebirth of the Dungeon.'

'Each monster in the Dungeon is actually an individual creature, and when they die, they return to… Whatever gave birth to them in the first place.'

'Sometime passes, and they are respawned by the Dungeon, starting a new life, a new Cycle.'

'Their Soul keeps experiencing more and more, and their individuality keeps growing further and further...'

'An unknown number of reincarnations later, or perhaps a trigger is all that is needed, such as becoming an Irregular monster and growing some level of intelligence.'

'But one day, they simply 'wake' up, not as monsters, but something else... The Xenos.'

'Their soul changes, going from a monster to a creature.'

'They described that's as if waking up from a dream, you aren't aware until you are truly up from bed…'

'Most retain their memories from these many encounters, and that's what allows them to communicate in the common language and understand some basics about adventurers and themselves.'

'Like normal monsters, they can eat Magic stones to grow stronger, but there is a limit for that as they can normally just grow slightly more than their monster counterpart, but there are exceptions such as Let, a very strong Level 3 Goblin with the potential to grow further.'

'Because of this, all of them can be considered to be at the very least strengthened species, and some are even Irregular versions with unique abilities.'

'But the 3 strongest are still Lyd, Ray, and Gros, the 3 are Level 5 monsters with intelligence and almost 20 years of experience surviving in the Dungeon.'

'There is also Gryuu, the oldest, a Green Dragon so old that his strength has started to decay due to old age, something extremely unusual and probably never thought possible for Dungeon creatures before.'

'After all, it would be rare for a Dungeon monster to live even for a few years, the deeper they are the longer they tend to live, and who knows what sort of old creatures there are deep in the Dungeon, where no one has stepped foot on?...'

'Although Silver thought that this may be the natural thing to happen since as you diver deeper and the floors start to become massive, entire ecosystems start to form within the Dungeon.'

'That is why the frequency of enhanced species and Irregular monsters increases as you go further down since the likeability of monsters clashing increases.'

'Gryuu was once the strongest Xenos of his time and a leader, but now he is retired, watching over the gates of this particular Hidden village.'

'And it's unlikely any adventurer will ever come here anyway, but if they do, it's even more unlikely they will pass that ancestral Dragon with Level 5 strength… If not higher.'

'The Xenos dream of the surface, but Silver thought this could actually be an unnatural feeling.'

'The goal of the Dungeon is to release monsters on the surface, but it can't anymore due to the seal and the prayers coming from Ouranos, so could this feeling have something to do with that?'

'An order to rise to the surface, but now that they are self-aware and not trapped by Ourano's power, it has transformed into a desire?'

'Not only that, you may imagine that the Xenos have killed their fair share of adventurers thanks to their gear, but that is not entirely correct as most of it was actually supplied by the Guild…'

/Step step…/

'And speaking of the Devil…'

"Mellios Silver…" Fels said slowly

'Silver raised his head, looking at the cloaked figure with interested eyes.'

"We've finally met."

…

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