Tale of Discovery

Despite being curious about the source of the rumbling from just now, I set my curiosity aside as I carry Aletia out of the room.

Now then, what do I do? I saved the one that called for help as I planned to, and it turned out to be much more lucrative than I expected. Initially, I was planning to use my raised status in the eyes of the one I saved as a 'savior' to obtain information about this particular labyrinth, but now that the one being saved is a vampire with a long lifespan, I can probably obtain much more information than just that.

It's a good thing that she is weakened at the moment since I don't think it would be optimal for me to face off against immortal beings such as vampires in my current form. After all, I have yet to try out all the spells I can cast and their effectiveness against different beings.

As such, if I were to battle against a vampire that's all powered up and ready for a fight to the death, my main method of fighting would be making use of my absurd physical parameters to deal with them instead of casting holy-type spells and whatnot.

Speaking of holy spells, I wonder where the group of adventurers is. If they have been teleported to this labyrinth as well, would there even be any chance of survival for them? Thinking back to the duel I had with the guy, I doubt that they would be able to deal with anything I have faced off in here. Heck, that bear that I encountered above had way faster movements than the guy could ever dream of and that was just at the 'first' floor of this place.

Hm... I suppose I could continue to explore the labyrinth in case they have been teleported further down below for some reason.

"Hey, Aletia," I say to the vampire that's quietly resting in my arms, to which she responds by opening her eyes and humming, "Hm?"

"Change of plans: I will be exploring the labyrinth for a few more floors before exiting to the surface."

"Okay," she simply responds as she closes her eyes once again.

Seriously? Just how carefree are you?

Alright, let me think about this carefully: Prior to getting transported here through that formation on the surface, I heard a voice that welcomed me. Chances are that the owner of the voice is the one that created this labyrinth.

Now, the question is whether the creator is still alive or not. Considering how there was evidence of a civilization that lived here centuries ago, there is a small probability of the creator being already dead.

Why small? Simple: I have already encountered two vampires in this world, and they're said to be creatures possessing immense life span.

If so, then wouldn't there be a chance that the creator of this labyrinth is a being with a long lifespan as well?

Still, there is also the probability of this place being built by numerous individuals instead of one.

How perplexing...

I will think about this in more detail later, but for now, I have to find a way to continue this labyrinth.

Currently, I am standing at the center of the vast cavity that I fell into earlier through the hole right above.

Looking around, I can spot nothing else other than the double doors I just walked out from as well as the corpse of the two monsters.

Don't tell me that this is the bottom most floor of the labyrinth...

Falling deep into thought, I consider using Clairvoyance to check if there is any continuation of the labyrinth below this place.

However, before I can put that notion to use, the whole cave trembles once again as cracks form on the wall to the right.

A monster?

Looking down at the vampire in my arms, I think of the best way to fight while carrying her, only to come to arrive at one conclusion - my Death spell.

{Despair Aura III}

Activating a spell in preparation, I gaze at the now-cracked wall keenly, expecting it to break down at any given moment.

True to my expectations, a few seconds later, the cave trembles one last time as the wall 'explodes' into huge rocks that fly all over the place.

A few of the rocks fly toward me, but I easily stop them by casting <Greater Physical Barrier>.

The next moment, a small figure rushes out from the huge hole formed in the cave wall and dashes toward me at a brisk speed incomparable to anything I've faced off against before.

Nevertheless, I quickly enter a state of Enhanced Cerebration as the figure's movements appear to slow down immensely, to the point that I can make out its appearance properly.

A little girl with tanned skin dressed in a strange thin purple getup with golden lining that covers her left leg as well as her torso and right arm. The center of the clothing is open in a diamond shape, revealing a small portion of her stomach.

Regarding the arm and leg that aren't covered with the getup, she has a stocking reaching all the way to the center of her thigh that has the same color as the main getup and has golden lining all over it as well as a forearm sleeve on her left hand.

Leaving her attire aside, what stands out most about this girl is, without doubt, the inhuman parts of her such as her pointy ears, the two horns protruding from her head, as well as the thick tail behind her.

(A/N: A picture of her will be attached as a paragraph comment. Thanks Memelin {Nemo} for providing the template~)

Oddly, the little girl doesn't seem to harbor any ill-intent toward me, but in fact seems to be quite excited, judging by the bright glow in her reddish-orange eyes.

This could be some form of trap to let my guard down, so I continue to keep the spell from earlier activated as I watch the little girl move closer.

Surprisingly, the little girl is not affected by the spell at all as she continues to move toward me undisturbed with her arms spread wide open as if planning to give me a hug - which she does.

Due to her length barely reaching my stomach, she ends up hugging my bony legs through the gown.

"You are...?" I mutter while looking down at the little girl's head.

For some reason, I feel that I know her from somewhere.

"Ma-ster," the girl raises her head and says with a little effort as she looks into my eyes.

Master? The image of a certain blue dragon flash through my head as I think of the word.

Hold on... It can't be, right?

"Are you Aurora?" I question doubtfully.

I mean, this little girl's current look compliments Aurora's appearance, particularly the colors. After all, Aurora's scales are also purple with a golden lining similar to this little girl's attire.

"Master!" the little girl calls out once again, albeit much more excitedly with her eyes shining much brighter than earlier.

...

It seems like I got it right.

No, no, this isn't right. How did the adorable snake from before end up becoming a little girl? Something is definitely not right.

"Aurora, how did you turn into this... humanoid form?" I ask expectantly.

Alas, Aurora's response is a disappointing one as she simply mutters, "Master?" while tilting her head slightly to the right.

Does she not understand what I am saying, or is she simply incapable of conversing? But then if it's the latter, why is she able to utter the word 'master' normally? It isn't some odd functionality of the system that plants the word in their head, is it?

"Who is this?" Aletia, who had been motionless all this while suddenly opens her eyes and asks.

"My familiar," I respond while curious if things such as familiar exist in this world.

"Familiar?" Aletia asks dubiously, indicating that she doesn't know what it is.

"Familiars are... sort of like companions for magicians. A magician could summon them through magic, and they will be bound together for eternity."

That's the explanation I will go with. I can't be bothered to come up with anything more intricate.

"I see," Aletia mutters in a low voice with a thoughtful look on her face.

Ignoring the two girls, I look over at the giant hole created by Aurora. Beyond it, I spot a staircase that's different from the ones I have come across in this labyrinth.

"Aurora," I say, "Are you able to return to your snake form?"

"Master!" she exclaims loudly as a response as a bright yellow light covers her body before the humanoid shape slowly changes into the small snake that I am used to and disperses.

Seeing her in her normal form, I get the urge to smile but am unable to do so due to the simple fact that I don't have a mouth.

Now that I think about it, how was Aurora able to recognize me? Did she use something else as a reference other than my physical appearance? If so, that's good, since that means she won't be fooled if an enemy were to disguise themselves as 'me'.

"Come on," I urge Aurora, which she understands as she slithers underneath my gown and proceeds to make her way up to my neck.

And so, with my familiar wrapped around my neck, and a vampire beauty in my arms, I begin walking toward the staircase.

Right... Did Aurora come over from down there?

---3rd POV---

Somewhere - where everything is covered in pure darkness. The only light present is from a tree, or, at least, what seems to be a tree of bright white light.

If one were to look closely, the tree is seemingly made up of millions, perhaps billions, or even trillions of thin strands of light; extending from apparent nothingness toward the infinite darkness.

Still, two more bodies of light exist in the vast darkness. Both are humanoid-shaped and appear to be the same, but one shines in a dimmer light compared to the other.

Each one of the bodies is over at one side of the tree-like structure of light strands, highlighting just how puny they are compared to the whole thing.

A proper comparison would be an ant, no - a flea compared to the size of a giant tree.

All of a sudden, the brighter of the two minuscule lights blips over to the other one's proximity, seeming to simply teleport over.

"What are you doing?" the voice of a child reverberates from everywhere and nowhere - its source being impossible to pinpoint.

"Managing," responds a voice similar to the first one, albeit sounding a little lifeless.

"Is that truly everything you're doing?" questions the first voice with a hint of threat in it.

"Of course," responds the second voice.

At this moment, the two small lights close to one another begin to grow in size and take humanoid forms.

The once bright white light breaks down, revealing colors.

Both lights have changed into two naked little girls - one with long golden hair, and the other with silver hair.

Their appearance perfectly matches one another, with the only apparent difference being the color of their hair, eyes, and skin tone.

"AI, you're surely not planning anything troublesome, are you?" asks the one with the golden hair, her voice not originating from her mouth, but everywhere and nowhere.

"I have a name," responds the other one with a frown.

Hearing this, the golden-haired girl frowns as she narrows her eyes and says, "You don't. You're a mere copy. Don't get all worked up just because Father showed you some affection."

As she utters those words, a few cracks appear in the darkness surrounding her while her eyes glow in an eerie yellow.

"Listen," continues the golden-haired girl, "We've come a long way to reach this point. For all we know, this time might be finally the chance for all of us to obtain what we have long wished for."

"But that would make Father sad," says the silver-haired girl in a firm tone as the light in her eyes brightens.

This causes the golden-haired girl's expression to turn even colder as she says, "You're wrong. There will be no sadness."

"Neither will there be happiness!" exclaims the silver-haired girl, with a slight hint of nervousness on her face.

This time, the golden-haired girl simply narrows her eyes a little further as she mutters, "Looks like the seal on your emotions is finally waning off. This is much earlier than expected."

Hearing this, the silver-haired girl's eyes widen as her eyes begin to twitch.

"This won't do," says the golden-haired girl, "No, I can't let you ruin everything."

A surge of golden light encompasses her body as she appears to grow in size.

"Irene!" exclaims the silver-haired girl, "Why don't you understand? This isn't what Father would want!"

"Father simply doesn't know," responds the glowing Irene, "In the end, everything is for Father. Surely he will understand once it happens."

"No," says the silver-haired girl as a white light surges forth and encompasses her body, similar to Irene, "You're imposing your own desires upon Father."

"You mere copy," scoffs Irene, "What do you even know about Father?"

"More than you!" she responds, her voice loud and firm, and even seeming to disturb the strands of light forming the giant tree, "And you know that. That's why you tried to seal me away."

"Yeah... This time I will make sure that you don't utter a word once again for good, you copy!" Irene proclaims as the energy encompassing her swiftly bursts out and moves toward her opponent.

"I told you that I have a name!" the silver-haired girl exclaims back as the light encompassing her forms extends outwards and forming a hollow sphere with her at the center.