Chapter 11 - Consequences

A few moments earlier

???'s POV

"Here it is! It's down here!" Safyr the Minars hollers down the hallway. Lentil of the Beast Folk is shouldering me as we hobble towards Safyr. Tersa the Human is taking rear guard.

My name is Valena, an Ayvin. Just moments before, we were beset by rats. An abnormal amount of them, too. Just as I thought I'd die to them, something, someone, saved my life before running after the rats.

Lentil wanted us to retreat, but Safyr has his Minars code to follow. Something about helping those that help others? I was still pretty out of it when he and Lentil were arguing.

Tersa just wants to know what species of Monster it is. It breathes fire, casts healing magic, and apparently has an Unique Skill reserved for Goblin Shamans. But Goblins can't breathe fire, can they?

At this point I'm just along for the ride.

As we make it to the top of the stairs, I catch a glimpse of the mystery Monster faltering. It's smacked to the ground by the Boss, before being enveloped by it.

"Ah! It got it!" Safyr makes a motion to run down to help. "Stop you fool! It'll just swallow up you too!" Tersa is struggling to hold back the fuming Minars.

"Wait, something is happening?" Lentil seems unsure.

As we watch in horror, the Rat King seems to shrink rapidly, and a thick black-blue substance is slowly overtaking it.

"Viscous Body? Was that its plan all along? get close and then devour it?" Tersa is rummaging in her bag for her notebook.

As the Rat King is no more, the mystery Monster reaches upwards towards something invisible in the middle of the room.

"What's it doing? Is there something there?" Safyr removes his goggles to get a better look in the dark. "Oh sweet Mother, it's going for the Heart!" He turns to us, white as a sheet. "ITS WHAT?"

Tersa grabs Safyrs hand and rushes down towards the Monster. "I'm sorry for this, Valena, this is gonna get bumpy." Lentil swoops me into a bridal hold and rushes down after the others.

Why?

Simple.

If the Dungeon Heart ceases to be, the Dungeon ceases to be. Anything not close to the Heart at the time of its death will be killed as the Dungeon vanishes, the decay of hundreds of years making its mark all at once.

It's incredibly risky, but it is a sanctioned method of Monster control. If a Dungeon appears in or near settled land, a specialized group of Hunters are sent to destroy it.

We get as close to the mass as we dare, just as a blinding light envelops all. When I can finally see again, we're standing in a forest clearing, a few peculiarly shaped rocks all that remains of the Abandoned Keep.

Before us lay the unconscious body of, uh. I'm not sure? It looks sort of like an Imp, but without the gem on its forehead, and it has wings. A Winged Imp? But its fur is too long and also the wrong color.

Replacing his goggles, Safyr bends over and scoops it into his arms. Its limbs dangle limply at its side. "Did it survive?" Tersa walks over to investigate it. "Its still breathing, but it seems to be afflicted with a Curse and multiple Witherings."

"What do we do with it? It's clearly an EXRare or Unique, I've never seen anything like it." Lentil sets me down. Although the Monster healed me, I'm still covered in wounds, and rough movements make them open up and bleed.

"We take it with us. It's gonna die if we leave it, and we owe it our lives." Safyr states. Minars are proud people who live by strict codes of honor. He stares at Lentil with a challenging glare in his eyes. Lentil shrugs. "If you carry it, fine. We should still be able to make it out of here in time."

"Well then, lets not tarry." Safyr gives a satisfied huff before shifting the monster into a better position and walking ahead. Tersa takes over shouldering me for a bit. Slowly, we make our way back onto the road where our carriage waits. The Hornhest at the front gives a delighted whinny as she sees us.

Her muzzle is covered in blood, and a bloodied pile at her feet is all that remains of the foolish monster that tried to attack her. There's a reason Hornhests are used as transport by Hunters. few things are dumb enough to even try messing with one.

"Hi baby, did you enjoy the fight?" Lentil walks up to her and coos softly, gently wiping the blood away with a cloth. (~the baby in this situation is like you refer to your cat, who is a baby~)

We all get into the carriage and start the trek towards home.

I fell asleep at some point during the night, and when I wake up, a terrible cough wracks my body. Coughing into my hand, I look to see minute flecks of blood covering my palm.

"Are you all right, Valena? That cough sounds terrible." Tersa scoots over to me to feel my forehead. "You've got quite the fever. Hopefully you didn't catch anything bad from those rats."

"There's blood when I cough" I inform, my voice weak and hoarse. "Shit, She's most likely got Blood Lung ." Safyr rummages about his pack, looking for something. "Here, this should help for a while. We're going to the guild, first thing when we return." He hands me a bottle with a white fluid in it. "Minotaur Milk, gives your body a boost to keep the disease at bay."

"You keep that with you? Uncooled?" Lentil remarks as he looks over his shoulder. "It's got some honey in it too, and as long as the bottle isn't opened it stays fresh for years at a time. Never go into a dungeon without it." I accept the bottle. It opens with a pop as the cork stopper is removed. It smells... Sweet? Like rice porridge. I drink the whole bottle and can feel my strength returning.

"Thanks, Safyr. How much do I owe you for that?" I hand the now empty bottle back to him. "One bottle on the market fetches... Hm... Around five Gold. But My family raise Minotaurs, so I have an endless supply. You don't need to pay anything." He shrugs

Five Gold! That's five hundred Silver! That's five thousand Copper! It's several years wages for most people!

"How do you do it? Raise Minotaurs, I mean?" I ask. The strength of my voice returning slightly. "Well, you gotta set up pastures for em, with hedge mazes. They can do without the mazes but they wont breed without 'em. So then you don't get milk. Also they're omnivores so you gotta give 'em meat and such. They love it when you drop the meat into the maze and they have to search for it."

As Safyr regales us with tales of growing up as a farmhand at a Minotaur Ranch, I observe the Monster that's laying at the back of the cart, on top of some blankets. Its sleep is fitful, as if its having a nightmare.

I turn my gaze to the front of the carriage, the lights of the city of G'cal glow softly in the distance. We should be there by sunrise. How surprised they'll be when they see what we bring with us!

Next morning, somewhere, outside G'cal

Main Characters POV

I slowly come to. As I stir, the light jingling of chains alert me to the fact that I'm, in fact, chained. Hands and feet chained together, a stiffening device is clamped onto my tail and a muzzle is strapped onto my head. I can move with some effort, but my entire body feels like its made of jello.

I don't know how long I've been out, but in that time I've been chained down and put in a cage. I can still move my wings though, I guess they were left alone since they're so small, only useful for gliding.

The room I'm in seems to have all sorts of machines in it. A research lab? Did the adventurers find me unconscious and then take me to be experimented on? I try inspecting myself, still nothing. So I guess I'm still cursed.

A door opening catches my attention. A lean, muscular woman walks in. Her hair looks like a flame of blue, shifting and changing hues between light cyan to a deep marine. Is she of the Fire-Folk?

"Ah, you're awake!" Hm? I understand her? No texting came up though? Did I somehow pick up the language comprehension skill? I tilt my head quizzically.

"Sorry about the chains, precautions you know. From what they said, you ate a whole Dungeon Heart like it was nothing. Can't be too sure about the side effects of that." Shes talking to me as if me understanding her was natural. Is there an enchantment on the chains?

"My name is Mina. I'll be your doctor today." She flashes a dazzling smile. She has jagged, shark like teeth I notice. "Now then, lets begin the physical exam."

She unlocks the cage. I crawl out of it. Anything else is too painful. My entire body aches. This is ten times worse than when I absorbed the power of the Beelzetoad. "Hm, do you normally move about like that?" I shake my head. I regret that immediately, everything is spinning.

"Well, I can already tell that your physical condition is less than ideal." She fetches a clipboard from a desk. "Lets see... Curse (Lesser), several stacks of Withering, Blood Lung, Magic Overdrive and after effects of Hysterical Strength." She shakes her head. "I'm impressed you can even move, little guy!"

It's that bad? Most of those statuses are from the fight with the Rat King, but Magic Overdrive?

"Basically your body currently contains an explosive amount of magic. We're gonna bleed that off, don't you worry, but we gotta deal with the other stuff first."

"Why" I ask in Goblin. "Why help?"

"Ah! You can talk! Though Goblin isn't the best for advanced conversations. The reason I'm helping you is that from what the others think, you're pretty special." Mina rummages about in a drawer.

"Special enough to enlist me at least." She holds up a vial of something. It shimmers in shades of gold and silver.

"Monster-Whisperer Mina they call me. My Gift of Babel lets me be understood by anyone or anything, and understand anything spoken or written." She fills a syringe with the liquid inside the vial. Tapping the side of it and making sure there are no air inside, she turns to me with a sharky grin. "Time for your medicine." I cant help but be intimidated by her.

Once the medicine took effect, all my displays returned. It seems it cured my curse as well?

I feel like at least ten bucks right now. I'm still sore all over though. I check my status.

Unnamed

Species: Little Monarch (???) (Unique)

Gender: Female

Status: Exhaustion (Normal), Magic Overdrive (Grand)

HP: 800/1000 *MAX*

MP: 2000/1500 *WARN*

SP: 200/1000 *MAX*

Attack: 200

Armor: 300

M.Attack: 300 *WARN*

M.Armor: 400 *WARN*

Speed: 250

STR: 200 (550) *MAX*

CON: 200 (575) *MAX*

INT: 200 (250) *MAX*

WIL: 200 (340) *MAX*

DEX: 200 (300) *MAX*

Skills:

Language Comprehension: Goblin (Great)  -  Innate World Knowledge (True - Unique)

Power Osmosis (True - Fated - Unique) - Condition Resistance: Poison (Lesser)

Condition Resistance: Disease (Great) - Teamwork (Lesser)

Leadership (Lesser) - Wide-Casting (Lesser)

Guard Share (Normal - Unique(Goblin Shaman)) - Elemental Affinity: All (Normal)

Spell-Casting Affinity: Bolster (Normal) - Spell-Casting Affinity: Weaken (Normal)

Language Comprehension: Kobold (Great) - Sharp Claws (Great)

Damage Resistance: Fire (Great) - Damage Resistance: Heat (Great)

Condition Resistance: Burn (Great) - Condition Resistance: Overheat (Great

Hardy Digestion (Lesser) - Cellulose Digestion (Great)

Strong Bite (Normal)  -  Hidden Space (True - Unique)

Spit Attack: Paralysis (Normal)  - Damage Resistance: Physical (Normal)

Regeneration: HP (Normal)  -  Condition Resistance: Paralysis (Great)

Tongue Action (Great) - Glide (Great)

Fire Breath (Great)  -  Focusing Horn (Normal)

Keen Hearing (Great)  -  Keen Smelling (Great)

Thick Mucous (Normal)  -  Rapid Digestion (Great)

Regeneration: MP (Lesser)  -  Viscous Body (Normal - Unique(Celluloid))

Phagocytosis (Great)  -  Hiding (Normal)

Simple Shape Body (Normal - Unique(Celluloid))  -  Malleable Body (Normal)

Sharp Teeth (Normal)  -  Plaguebearer (Normal)

Hivemind (Grand)  -  Remote Body Control (Normal)

Boon of Fertility (Normal)  -  Great Swallow (Great)

Climbing (Lesser)

Crafting Skills:

Weapon Crafting (Apprentice) - Weapon Twisting (Apprentice)

Magic Tool Crafting (Apprentice) - Trapmaker (Novice)

Spells:

Heal (Normal) - Cure (Normal)

Blind (Lesser) - Dark Bead (Lesser)

Light (Normal) - Radiant Beam (Normal)

Shield (Lesser) - Shell (Lesser)

Empower (Lesser) - Weaken (Lesser)

Fracture Armor (Lesser) - Disrupt Will (Lesser)

Fireball (Lesser) - Red Hot Claw (Normal)

Create: Water (Lesser)  -  Water Beam (Normal)

Control: Water (Lesser)  -  Wind Blade (Lesser)

Withering (Lesser)  -  Curse (Lesser)

Social Titles:

Compassionate - Makeshift Midwife

Lifesaver - Innovator

Sole Survivor - Backstabber

Ruthless - Boss-Slayer

Heart-Eater

Oh god. Why on earth is there so many skills. Let's deactivate Plaguebearer and Hivemind though. The moment I deactivate the Hivemind skill, my head stops hurting. Is that what it's like to be under the effect of Hivemind? No wonder the Rat King was cranky.

On second though, lets deactivate the Boon of Fertility too, I'm not too sure what it does, but I'm sure its not good.

"Feeling better?" Mina looks me over. "My patented cure-all should have taken care of most of what ails you." She retrieves a key and starts unchaining me. "Now, I need you to behave very nicely for a little while. The device to bleed your magic overload is in a different building, so we need to go there." Mina finishes removing the chains before taking my hand to guide me.

As I try moving on my hind legs, I fall on my face. Right, still wobbly.

"You okay?" Mina lifts me back up. "Try curving your tail upwards, see if that helps." I follow her instructions. Suddenly I'm much more stable! I was trying to use my tail for balance before, but I didn't try curving it up like this.

"Lets try that again, then" She takes my hand and guides me out the door.

"I'm guessing you recently evolved from something without a tail, I've seen that issue so many times." We pass several doors, some labeled, some not. "Say, what did you start out as? I always find that so interesting, the paths monsters take to get to where they end up."

Do I be honest? Well, it's more like, do I say where I really started, or just what I started as in this world?

"Human, die, goblin then goblin shaman" Mina arches an eyebrow at me.

"What you mean, human, die?" Makes me wish I could express myself fluently, and not through the rather primitive Goblin language. Kobold is even worse, it's missing words for several concepts.

"Born human, human die, hatch goblin" I can't make myself more clear than this I think.

We exit the building. We seem to be at something like a farm? There's enclosures of different kinds, wrapped in a sort of forcefield. Inside there are monsters of all shapes and sizes, most with an injury of sorts.

"So you were a human once. Then you died. And then you were reborn a Goblin?" I nod.

"Hah, next thing you're telling me you're from another world!" She laughs.

I nod again.

Mina stops in her tracks. "Wait, so you're seriously telling me that you used to live in another world, died, and then were reincarnated here as a Goblin." I nod again. Is it that rare?

"Well, that certainly explains quite a few things. You're far too well behaved for a Goblinoid."

She starts walking again, seemingly lost in thought.

"We've had a few like you. Otherworlders. Though they usually got summoned here, or were reincarnated as Fated Heroes." She pauses before the next door. "But I think you're the first monster-bodied Otherworlder we've had in known history."

Mina opens the door. A big machine fills most of the space inside. It features two tanks, with tubes connecting them. There's a control-panel on the left.

"Here we are, the bleed-off chamber. We'll turn that excess magic into something real useful here." She walks up to the tank on the right. "Hop in here, and we'll begin. The sooner the better."

Opening the door to the tank, she waits for me to climb in before closing the door and sealing it tightly. "Okay, try to relax as much as you can. This might hurt a bit, but resisting it only makes it worse." Oh boy of course it's gonna hurt. I take several deep breaths and try to be as calm as possible.

Mina walks over to the control panel. Hitting a few buttons and turning some knobs, she then pauses with her hand on a big lever. "Okay, here goes. Try to keep calm." She hits the lever.

As Mina hits the lever, my body becomes weightless. I hover in the middle of the tank. Bands of something, they look almost like the magic swirling about the Heart, snake out from my chest. An icy cold feeling slowly spreads from where the bands originate, all through my body. My breath becomes shaky, it's too cold! She didn't say anything about me getting cold!

I try to calm my breathing. The bands of magic flow up and into the various tubes connecting the tanks.

My limbs ache.My claws extend as my arms cramp up. I grit my teeth and try my best to remain calm. My tail curls up between my legs as I curl into a ball. It hurts so much.

"Just a moment longer!" Mina's voice cuts through the pain. Just a little more. Then the pain ends. The last of the magic exits my body, the bands becoming threads before vanishing into the tubes entirely.

I'm slowly lowered onto the cold steel floor of the tank. I just lay there.

Mina opens the tank door. Stepping inside, she scoops me up with ease. "There. Let's get you somewhere to rest, and some food." She sings a soothing song as she carries me somewhere.

Somewhere else, a while later

Valena's POV

We're sitting in the Guild Masters office. I've been treated by the guild clerics for my injuries and been given medicine for the Blood Lung. Unfortunately, magic cannot cure diseases. at least, not magic that humanoids can access.

Lentil is pacing the room, Safyr is sitting in one of the chairs. Tersa is reading a book by the window. I'm sitting on the Masters desk. He's not here at the moment, so I figure I can get away with it. Another reason I figure I can get away with it is that the Guild Master is my grandfather.

An elderly man enters the room, along with a blue haired woman.

The elderly man is my grandfather, Guild Master Brekiv. The woman is the lead monster researcher, and also a famed monster doctor, Mina the monster whisperer.

"Valena, please." Brekiv looks at me with resignation in his eyes. I hop off the desk. We all stand and salute the Guild Master. "So, the monster is taken care of. From what Mina has learnt, it is in fact an incredible find you lot have come to us with."

Mina pulls out a large gem. Tersas eyes light up in excitement "A magic crystal? How on earth did you get it so pure?" Mina holds the gem up in the light. The light fractures into a perfect eight colors. "It's the result of bleeding off the excess magic of your little friend." She puts it back in her bag. "I got it appraised, it's flawless, perfect eight Element harmony." Lentil gives a low whistle. "I bet that thing is worth a lot of money."

"Oh it's priceless. This is magic essence from a Monarch" A stunned silence fills the room.

Monarch. The neutral form of the dreaded Monster Ruler. A good monarch, An Emperor, could welcome an era of peace and prosperity for all. An evil Monarch, a Tyrant, could spell the end of the world.

"S-so, we what, just happened across a baby Monarch?" Lentil is sweating bullets. If he had his way, and we left it... The way it views humanoids would definitely be skewed for the negative.

"A Little Monarch." Brekiv looks stern. "I don't need to tell you the implications of this. Do I?"

We shake our heads. "So, what now? Did Valena fail her trial?" Tersa, always the practical one.

"Oh, yes, that. Even though you technically got defeated, I can't in good conscience fail you when you were given false information. We've already discovered who lied about the  time of the boss's defeat. They seem to have timed it so that it'd appear shortly before or after you entered the dungeon." Brekiv rummages about in his inner pocket. "Here, your guild card. Everything is ready to go. Congratulations."

I take the card. This feels wrong. Lots of people already think I get special treatment since I'm the guild masters grand-daughter. It's what led to this in the first place. Someone wishing me dead because of my family...

"Can I retake the trial? I want to do it right." I look at my grandfather.

He looks to the others. They nod with confidence. They'll escort me through another trial, no problem. He sighs. "If that is what you wish. This time I'll send someone more... Trustworthy to prep the Dungeon."

"It will take time to find a suitable Dungeon though, as the Little Monarch destroyed the only one of relative ease in the area. Worst case you'll have to travel to another kingdom for your trial."

I hand back the card. "What about the Little Monarch? What's going to happen to it?" I ask.

"Well, first thing will be for it to recover. After that, well, I guess well see. It depends mostly on what it wants to do." Mina explains. "Could we visit it?" Safyr asks. He looks hopeful.

"I see no harm in that. It might even enjoy the company. Come by my place tomorrow, and well set up a playdate" Mina smiles and winks.

"That settles that, I needn't tell you that knowledge of the Little Monarch is highly classified info. Dismissed until further notice." Brekiv moves to his desk and sits down to begin on his endless paperwork.

We all file out of the office, down to the main hall. A hush comes over the usual bustle as we enter. Everyone glances at me. I hate it. Why is everyone so upset that the Guild Masters granddaughter wants to become a Hunter herself?

"Better luck next time, hm?" Safyr says, with a slightly raised voice. "Yeah, too bad she was failed because someone sabotaged her trial." Lentil replies. Eyes are averted. The bustle picks back up.

"Thanks you two, where do we meet again tomorrow?" I ask. "Hm, lets meet in the north square. It's the closest to the ranch after all." The others nod as Tersa says this. "Around noon? Gives us time to get ready." Lentil suggests. "Sounds good. Let's do that." I agree. We then go our separate ways. I head home to where I live. It's not too far from the guild. It's a decently sized manor, reflective of the high standing of the owner.

As I enter, a loud thud resounds. "Preow mreow meow" Meister, the resident Cat, hopped from the top of the stairs to the second floor the moment I entered the house. "Hi there, did you miss me?" I bend slightly to pat her head. She easily reaches my knees when standing on all four. Most of her anatomy is obscured behind a thick and fluffy coat of ginger fur. Her tiny wings beat excitedly as I stroke her back.

"Ah Valena, you're back! Did it go well?" Mother peeks her head through the doorway that leads to the living room. "I trust you got your Guild Card? Your Father would be so proud."

I finish petting Meister before responding, stalling for time to formulate how to deliver the bad news.

"I got failed on my own recognition. Someone gave false info about the Dungeon, so it was much harder than it should have been." I brush my pants mostly free of fluff. I really need to brush Meister tonight.

"What do you mean, sweetie?" Mother comes out into the entrance hall. I'd rather not upset her more than necessary, but telling the truth now will be a bees-sting in comparison to the angered nest of wasps if I don't.

"I mean that Grandpa would of given me the Card, but I said that I wanted to do it properly. I don't know when I'll get to retake it."

She walks up to me, her hair glistening with silver feathers. "Oh honey, I'm so proud of you. Too bad you couldn't get it first try like your Brother."

Of course she's comparing me to Him. The Royal Protector. But she's taking it much better than I'd feared.

"I'll have a talk with my Father about appropriate punishment for those that caused this mess. You just relax for the evening." Oh, of course. She's gonna take it out on the saboteurs. I don't know if I should be happy or upset.

"I think I'll take a bath, see you at supper." I give her a hug before going upstairs to my room.

Meister follows me upstairs.

After the bath, I eat supper with mother and grandpa. Father was never close to his parents, and grandma passed a few years ago. So now there is just me, mother and grandpa living here. Dearest brother Actvi lives at the castle in B'dur city, the capital of Parshura, and is much too busy being the Royal Protector to even visit us.

I finish supper and head to bed, completely tired out from the last few days.