"Going out? So soon?" Arani asked.
"I am."
"You said that it would take one to three weeks for-" "Either." Nia corrected.
"That it would take either one or three weeks…" Arani corrected herself. Her tone hadn't changed, which slightly surprised Draconia. "For Raven and the Candidate to get there."
"I like being early."
"Isn't this too early though?"
"It's been a day since the Dungeon was Cleared. It'll take me five to get there if I take my time."
"If you take your time, huh? So you'll be there at the least, one day early, and at the most, two weeks and a day early."
"That's right." Nia nodded.
As had become a habit for the two, they met in Draconia's quarters.
"Huh… Where's the meeting point anyway? A tavern or something?"
"It's in the woods."
"The woods? You mean a forest??"
Nia nodded.
"What…? So you'll be waiting in a forest for weeks? Seems awfully inconvenient that you let Raven bring him to you."
"He wanted to. And the Master agreed to it." Nia repeated the words she had already told her some time earlier.
"Right… Right. Well, I won't keep you any longer. You seem so eager to wait in the woods after all." Arani chuckled.
"Yes." Nia said before she started walking towards the door.
"Yes? That's it? No parting words?"
"Take care?"
Arani couldn't help but sigh.
"I thought we had grown closer during this time." She let her shoulders drop. "We've spent more time together during this whole Candidate thing than we did before, during your whoooole time as a General, you know?"
"I know."
"Alala… Well, hope you have fun in the woods. Mmm…" Arani looked around the room. "Want me to decorate the room for you while you're gone? It's kind of… Stale, you know? I can really make things pop in here. Like that Vial hidden by the Vase. Probably a gift from Raven, right? I have the same one, only… With only two. Souvenir from the Vampire City. Ever went there with him? I did once."
"I haven't, no."
"Mm. Did he tell you about it?"
"No."
"I can see why, haha. Anyways, won't tell either. What happens in the Vampire City stays in the Vampire City."
"Okay." Nia nodded.
"So? Want me to redecorate for you?"
"Don't touch anything." Nia scratched her head. "Please don't touch anything."
"Oho. We really have grown closer. Alright, I won't." Arani took a step outside the room, and Nia walked out. "Tell Raven I said hi when you see him. Oh, and that I can't wait for the next Vampire City excursion!"
"Will do." Nia nodded.
'She's going to mess up the whole place, I can tell…' She thought as she walked away. 'Though I doubt you'll see him anytime soon.' Arani wanted to say the words out loud, but chose not to.
How could she, when the two had just grown so much closer? Nia walked for a bit.
The door to a certain General's quarters.
Since it had been left wide open, she didn't knock. As usual, the General was training.
His palms were against the ground, and his feet hung in the air while his forehead was an inch off the ground.
While keeping the rest of his body straight, he pushed until his bent arms were fully extended.
Around each of his ankles, thick bracelets, or rather, smoothed-out dark rocks with purple inscriptions, acted as weights.
"Cyd."
"Nia."
He brought his feet to the ground immediately and stood up.
Cyd grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat that had accumulated over his chest, shoulders, and neck.
"Sorry to welcome you like this."
"It's fine. I was just passing by."
"Going to your Candidate?"
"I am." She answered.
Cyd took a short pause.
"You came in case I had any question, since I asked for advance earlier, huh?"
"In a way, yes."
"That's very thoughtful of you. Thanks for stopping by."
Seconds later, Nia left.
Compared to the other Generals, she considered Cyd to be one of the more considerate and amicable.
…
"Al."
The tall and slender man extended an arm towards her.
"I'm guessing you're going to find your Candidate." The mouth on his palm said.
"That's right."
He scratched his head.
"The Evolving Monster, huh… The instant I heard that Title, I had so many ideas for the Dungeons and the Monsters inside it."
« I know. »
"Mm… That Final Floor I had thought about would have been incredible. Thought of it right away too. Just full of Corrupted Monsters and Beasts sewed together, giving him a taste of a variety of Monsters in one."
"Yes. I did follow your advice for the Final Guardian."
"Yeah. Guess you did. Can't help but wonder why our Candidates weren't switched though."
"You mean why the Master assigned this Candidate to me?"
"Mostly why he assigned mine to me. He's thorough and all, but…"
"The Leveling Addict, right? Why do you think I would have suited him better?"
"He's also the Number Enthusiast. I can't think of a better Guide for someone with such a Title than you."
"Mm. Plus your knowledge about Monster Species and Evolution Trees… I can see your point."
"Yeah. Anyways, congrats. Mine still has a bit of the way left, but they'll hopefully all get here at some point."
Nia excused herself and left a couple of seconds later.
She was rather fond of Al too.
'By now, they should have exited the blizzard. Either inside the first Dungeon I told Raven about, or on their way.' Nia thought once she stood outside the castle.
It was a beautiful day, and the sunlight falling on her skin felt great.
She thought back to her conversation with Arani.
"Maybe I should stop by Lust and get him something. Alchemy Ingredients usually don't have uses outside of Alchemy, but he could benefit from them…" Nia whispered to herself.
She nodded.
Even when taking the detour into account, Nia would still arrive early.
Therefore, it was decided.
Next stop for the 7th General, Lust.
***
Meanwhile, Mark hadn't left the blizzard yet.
Not only that but he, currently, couldn't move a finger.
"You get it, don't you?" She asked.
"I used to be scared, but you're just in my head-"
"I've told you already, Mark. I'm not in your head. I am your head."
"Whatever you say. Now fuck off."
"You think you can order me around? You say you're not scared, but your heart is racing."
"You're part of a dream. No more, no less."
"Oh, is that so?" She crawled away and towards the slumbering Krista. "If I were to pierce her neck, what do you think would happen?"
"You can't."
"True, I can't like this…" She brought a hand to her chin and looked around for a biz. "Oh. How about if I take a Dagger from the other one?"
"Stop it." Mark said as she was about to crawl towards Elisa.
"Scared for this one more than your pet? Or are you scared that I would actually be able to move the Dagger?" She crawled back towards him. "Which one is it, Mark?" She crawled closer. Her hands lay on the ground around his waist, her face inches away from his. "Which one is it?" She pressed.
"You're just-"
"Just? Just what, Mark? Just your unconscious?"
He remained silent.
"Tell me, Mark." The look in her eyes changed. "Do you remember… Say… Fighting the Calamity Of Minos?"
"What does that have to-" An index finger lay on Mark's lips.
"Do you remember?"
"I do."
"Tell me about it."
"I'm not going to entertain this-"
"Tell me about it, Mark."
He sighed.
"I was a Weretiger at the time. Missing an arm and-"
"I'm not asking about you. Tell me about it. About the fight."
"It could use Dark Magic somehow. Mm… I had Kira fight it up close while-"
"See, you didn't know."
"Huh?"
"You took some time to remember it, Mark. And I'm sure you'll find it extremely difficult to tell me about it in detail."
"So? I remember enough so that-"
"You don't get it, do you?" With her index finger, the woman tapped her head. "I remember it, Mark. I remember it in detail. Every single action taken by every individual in that cave. Get it? I remember it all."
"Yeah, right."
"Doubt my words? Let me tell you about it then."
And she did.
With great detail, she described the whole encounter.
Vividly too, as she even included what Mark had felt and thought at the time.
"I remember everything. I don't forget anything, Mark. You forget too often, don't you?"
"No, I-"
She gently placed her hands around his cheeks.
"It's okay, I remember and you don't. Even now, my words allowed you to remember, right?"
Mark shut his mouth. "You can't refute that, can you?" The next second, part of the red fog materialized, and something wrapped itself around his right arm.
He turned towards it.
HISSS-
Mark immediately moved back.
Or at least, tried to, at the sight of the wide open mouth of the long snake tightly wrapped around his arm.
