Chapter 432 (1/2)
Aratta’s story ended very soon after that. In a much more muted tone, she explained how the methods were spread out, and the Dintan were able to grow in strength and beat back both the monsters and the great hunger.
Under Zith’s leadership, a great central village was made, and 6 satellite villages around it, like spokes of a wheel. Population controls were put in place, and immediately after birth, children would be taken away from parents and fostered in another village, so too much sentiment wouldn’t develop. Every 2 years, the youth would rotate around the outside of the wheel.
In the final rotation, they would be taken to the central area. And on their 15th birthday, they would be judged; the powerful would be assigned to the village. As for the weak...
For almost 400 years this had continued, until the current day. When Randidly pressed for why things had changed now, why the village was heading back towards the central region, and why she didn’t accompany them… Aratta could only shake her head. She refused to answer…. Or she didn’t know. Either way, Randidly was left frustrated.
The group fell silent and remained that way until the rest of the group returned, with food and the lay of the land. When she returned, Annie signaled to Randidly with her eyes, and the two of them walked off, leaving the others to watch Aratta.
“So are we taking her with us?” Annie asked, gesturing back towards the blind woman. “I don’t trust her. She enjoys playing the damsel too much.”
Randidly gave Annie a look. She laughed, flapping her hand at him. They both knew that Annie herself had played the damsel for weeks, luring and wooing Dozer. It was only after he was well and truly loyal to her that she had started being more open about her own physical capabilities, which were not minor.
After her laughter subsided, Annie’s face got much more serious. “The rest can tell you more about the Eyrie to the North if we choose to go after that quest. I went and followed the villagers South. What you put into the group chat is true, it’s not just this village, it looks like all 6 of the satellite villages are returning to the center. About the same number from each, so it looks like the population control thing checks out. Not a single teenager or child.”
They both were silent at that, Randidly thinking of those bodies, Annie probably considering the fate of her own newly born baby, had she been born into this Raid Dungeon. Probably also, she felt the pang of absence of being away so long from this creature she had grown within herself. Randidly didn’t know much about parents, and his own were lousy, but anecdotally he had heard about healthy affection, and Annie and Dozer seemed like the protective type.
“...Anyways,” Annie coughed, then continued. “The central village… is basically a giant hole in the ground. I couldn’t get too close, because the guards there know their shit, but they have a much grander amount of carvings around the hole. Maybe to keep out their Judgements?”
“Maybe,” Randidly said, rubbing his chin. Where was the Creature’s hand in this…? It pushed for the strength of monsters, forcing the people to turn to the Path of the Heretic. And then it just… sat back? It allowed the world to run its course…?
Randidly doubted it.
“So?” Annie asked. “What do we do now?”
****
Alana eyed Aratta. After hearing the second-hand version of her story of this Raid Dungeon, Alana was filled with distaste. She did not condone the actions of these past warriors, because life forced hard decisions on the weak. But inwardly, Alana resolved herself to focus on growing stronger, so that she would never be forced to make such decisions.
Strangely, Aratta had decided to go with them after the group had decided to ignore the problem of the villages for now, and seek out the Eyrie. Not only were they able to receive experience there, but there remained the problem of finding the Key of Death. Although there was the possibility that they would be forced to go to the central village and search for the key, it was better to test the easier nuts to crack first.
When Alana wasn’t scanning the horizon for monsters, she was either glancing at the Ghosthound or consumed in her own thoughts. Immediately after the Ghosthound had intervened, preventing her Class from exploding… or whatever was occurring within her, Alana had been profoundly weak. But once she woke up, her Vitality and Endurance did its usual job of increasing the speed of her recovery, and very soon, she was able to walk without assistance, and then move easily.
And then, of course, she wanted to fight.
She was delighted with the changes she discovered. On the one hand, the amount of experience she needed to Level hadn’t increased but simply stayed at the absurd amount required to move from 49 to 50. On the other hand, the performance of her two new Skills was… above expectations.
Crimson Ire surrounded Alana with a crackling, crimson energy, that provided smaller boosts to strength and speed. But what it did do was massively boost her reactions, and also gave all of her attacks a splash effect. So after she rushed forward and stabbed with her spear, the energy was stuck to her on an elastic band and followed her to attack and explode nearby in the area she struck.