The Unwanted Tamer

"Not that I know of. Why do you think that though?" She asked curiously.

"Well, you have miasma running through your veins completely. I realize your friend Griff has some, but it's not nearly as strong as yours and yours seems to be extremely strong. As strong as mine if not stronger honestly, I've never seen miasma that thick or strong before, aside from myself and my family. That's why I asked." Lyriana explained.

"I got my Miasma from a minor sinew horror on the second floor. Only the miasma attribute was bound to my recovery stat. That's the only reason I can think of for my blood to be completely miasma." She replied.

"That makes it even weirder though. The miasma you make isn't even the same as the sinew horrors did. It's more a Draugr's miasma, but also not." She stated before mumbling. "Could it be because the sinew horrors had an organ to make the miasma instead of having it run through their veins and the binding to the recovery stat effectively changed the blood? Or maybe because her blood is miasma, but she's not a full Draugr? No. It shouldn't be possible for such changes to occur unless the spirit was connected somehow and she's not a high enough rank for the spirit to be that connected."

"That could be why. My spirit and body are partially merged. Wait, could that change my race? I'm not going to end up as another race am I? I'm just getting used to being an Earthbound. I mean it's not that different from what I know, but I highly doubt that'll be the same at a higher rank. I don't even want to begin thinking about adding another completely different race on top of that." She said.

Lyriana's eyes went wide for a moment when Gaia's words clicked. "Do you know how the Draugr came to be?" She asked.

"Nope. Just the information from the Xerios myth." She replied.

"The first Draugr were originally just members of one of the other races, like humans or dwarves for example. Then, they somehow came into contact with miasma, which wasn't an attribute that should have naturally existed. It caused any who came into contact with it to die and experience horrible pain, but some managed to survive. Those that survived, and hadn't been given treatment with holy attribute mana, were usually irreparably changed. Those that had been healed had the attribute bound but it was much weaker than those that hadn't. Those that survived alone and without help were usually consumed, but survived because of the spirits being merged with their body." She started.

"Okay, while this sounds interesting, and I love learning history, but what does this have to do with me?" Gaia asked.

"I was just getting to that. Those with a merged spirit and body, even partially, were subjected to more pain, but recovered extremely quickly since both their body and spirits natural healing, healed both at once. When this happened, the miasma became an intrinsic part of them and the first Draugr were born. This is why we can still have children since we are still living beings but have miasma flowing through our veins. Based on this, I believe you might be part Draugr now, if that's even possible, due to your situation." She explained.

"Ok? Sounds cool, but it honestly doesn't change much. I don't think so at least." Gaia stated.

"It might not for you, but for me seeing a Draugr, even the possibility for a paradoxical part Draugr, is a welcome sight. I haven't seen another one of my kind in millennia, so knowing there's a possibility for Draugr's continued existence is the greatest gift I could receive." Lyriana finished explaining.

"Ah, I'm sorry you've been alone for so long, but if I am part Draugr wouldn't my status show it?" She asked.

"I'm not sure, to be honest." Lyriana replied.

Gaia quickly checked her status, which she realized, she hadn't really paid attention to in a long while. She only ever focused on her level or skills and abilities so she hadn't looked at her race. Thinking back, she thought something might have changed earlier, like maybe it had a symbol by it, but she couldn't quite remember. When she finally checked it, she realized it hadn't changed at all. There was a new title that she noticed, though. It was called "Hybrid."

Hybrid – The holder, whether through a cruel twist of fate or their own force of will, has survived a tribulation and gained an aspect of another race. As the first hybrid to gain an aspect of the Draugr, without dying or changing completely, they gain one Draugr specific skill and ability. Allows Draugr specific progression options.

Skill given – Hex

Ability – Miasmic regeneration. The Holder's blood has become pure miasma. When wounded, Miasma will decay the wound's surrounding area, before rapidly regenerating it. Due to only being a hybrid, the process will be more painful. Regeneration can be boosted by the Hex skill.

"My race didn't change, but I did gain a title called Hybrid. It says it allows for Draugr specific progression options. Do you know what that means?" She stated wearily before reading the ability's description. "Oh, it also explains the ability I got when it bound to recovery."

Lyriana was perplexed by the information.

"Not really. My family did say that some got options to upgrade or change classes when they ranked up to bronze or higher. That's the only thing I can think of." She stated after thinking for a moment.

They both went silent thinking about what they told each other. The silence was broken a few minutes later by Lyriana. "Thank you for listening and answering my questions. I apologize for taking up so much of your time. I need to go start preparing dinner, but I can answer any questions you or your companions have during the meal or following hours."

"Alrighty. I need some time to think anyways. Thank you!" Gaia replied as Lyriana turned and walked off towards the kitchen.

Gaia waited there for a bit as she thought about what the information she had just learned meant. Most of it was just history and information on how the Draugr came to be, which was interesting, but still didn't fully correlate with her situation. She had an aspect of the Draugr, but wasn't one and had gotten the Miasma attribute from a completely different race from a Draugr. How did that work? From what Lyriana said at the end, it could be possible for her to upgrade into a Draugr or end up part Draugr because of this. She didn't know how to feel about that.

Fergus found her after a couple of minutes and she told him about what she and Lyriana talked about. He was surprised by the news she had an aspect of the Draugr but figured it wouldn't really change much. It hadn't changed her since her recovery from the Miasmic Decay, so it likely wouldn't. Outside of possibly giving her some kind of Draugr skills or abilities, he doubted anything else would change.

They continued talking as they walked and eventually found Stephanie and Griff in the Armory. Gaia once again relayed the information she learned both from the conversation and the changes to her status. When she thought about the new ability's description and how her bound Agony attribute worked, she realized they would work really well together. It was a horrible thought, but an accurate one nonetheless. She didn't state this out loud, as she knew how everyone thought. None of them wanted the others to be in pain, but would gladly do whatever they could to protect each other.

They discussed the new info and talked about what they learned from the fortress. They were all excited about different things and the topics changed quickly as they each discussed different discoveries. This went on until they heard a bell ring from somewhere in the fortress. They were about to ignore it when they remembered Lyriana's request. She hadn't attacked or even showed a sign of hostility. She even seemed extremely happy that the challengers, that they guessed she'd have to fight, had finally arrived. Realizing this, they moved towards the banquet hall.

They arrived to find the massive table mostly covered by a multitude of dishes. Most were made up of vegetables and fruits, but there was a giant roasted boar in the center. Lyriana saw them, and ushered them to the table and they all sat to eat. As she promised, she answered their questions to the best of her ability. Most of them were from Griff and Stephanie about the items in the armory. Gaia asked about the ability she'd gotten and Lyriana explained that, that was how her regeneration ability worked too, only being full Draugr it wasn't painful.

They asked questions for a few more hours and Lyriana answered as many as she could. She even asked them a few questions about the outside world. Fauna answered them as well, at least what they knew, but she seemed most excited about Gaia being a lost and her original world. They were functionally friends for the night, so Fauna would treat Lyriana as well as she treated them. As they talked, they grew more and more fond of the Draugr, who was cheerful and friendly.

Eventually, they decided it was time to sleep. They bid Lyriana good night and went back to their rooms. They had trouble falling asleep as they all knew they would have to fight someone who had only been good to them when they awoke. They all fell asleep at different times, but did not have a restful sleep.

They awoke the next morning to a bell ringing. They made their way down to the throne room where Lyriana asked them to come when they awoke. When they arrived, they saw Lyriana sitting on the throne waiting for them. She had only been a cheerful person around them, but her demeanor was very different from the night before. She had sat straight and was attentive, but now she was lazily laying with a leg over the throne's armrest. She only looked their way when they entered and approached.

"You're here. It was genuinely nice to get to know you all, but now it's time for Malhavia's challenge." Lyriana stated wearily. As she did so, screens appeared in front of each member of Fauna.

Floor Challenge: Win a one-on-one duel with the floor's guardian (Draugr). 0/1

Requirement: Gain the guardian's acknowledgment through their surrender or death.

Guardian will be revived between duels, if killed.

"Gaia, your bonds can only join your duel. If they interfere with another, they will die, and the dueler will fail. During the duels, I will match your strength and choose my combat style as I wish. If interfered with, I will show no mercy." Lyriana explained with a finality to her voice.

"Do we really have to do this? I mean, do we really have to fight you? You've been nothing but kind to us, so I hate that we're going to have to fight. Yes, we figured this would happen but I don't like it." Gaia asked.

Her companions thought the same and were dreading the next statement from Lyriana. They all knew that, yes, they had to duel Lyriana. Even worse was that it was likely to the death, based on the challenge's description. Their hopes that there might be a peaceful or nonviolent solution were dashed by Lyriana's next words.

"Yes, this is the only way to continue past this floor. You can give up reaching the next floor if you like, but someone else will likely attempt it. While you can leave, I am trapped here until the challenge is completed. I have been trapped here, alone, for far too long. So, I ask you, please take on the challenge and set me free, whether that's through death or not." She replied.

The party were stunned for a moment, they knew she'd been there for a long time based on their earlier conversations, but didn't expect her to essentially ask them to kill her if they had to. They couldn't respond for a while, but Griff was the first to collect himself enough to speak.

"Is that truly what you want?" He choked out.

"Yes, and no. I don't want to die, but I don't see any other choice besides this. I am quite literally trapped, and unable to die unless I do so in the challenge. I am the only one left of the Draugr, as far as I know at least." She stated.

"Then I'll go first." Stephanie stated after few moments of silence.

"Very well. Let the challenge begin then." Lyriana said as she rose to her feet and walked down the stairs until they were all on the same level.

When she reached the bottom, she put her arms out and they disappeared for a moment before reappearing with her chosen weapons. To Gaia, small tears appeared that were made of mana that Lyriana reached into and pulled the items out of. Lyriana's weapons were a colossal battle axe and a small shield that radiated miasma. This was similar to Stephanie's great hammer and colossal buckler. When Lyriana finished summoning or selecting her weapons she spoke once more.

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"To uphold the honor of my bloodline and my progenitor's promise to the Eternal Lord, I Lyriana Valorgard, the guardian of Malhavia and its Eternal Sentinel, hereby challenge you to a duel." She stated as she prepared for the fight to begin.

A few moments later, there was the sound of a bell ringing and the two started the battle. Lyriana rushed towards Stephanie who hadn't moved, but she was late to notice that her hammer had disappeared. Suddenly, there was a muffled boom from behind Stephanie's shield and Lyriana fell. She looked down to see a hole in her leg. It wasn't large but had gone straight through her. Another muffled boom could be heard as Lyriana dropped to the floor. She had a similar hole in her other leg, she didn't know what was going on. It wasn't magic, which caused her panic. She could recover physical wounds rather quickly, but not faster than Stephanie could attack with whatever she was using. These thoughts rushed through her mind as she felt a pain in her right then left arm similar to her legs. To her horror she looked to see the same wound on each of her arms. Then a moment later her world went black. The last thing she saw was Stephanie, whose face was an image of dread and sorrow.

Gaia could sense everything that happened, and while she couldn't sense the bullets while in flight, she could sense the wounds on Lyriana. Stephanie slumped immediately after the fight was over and she moved towards her companions. When she arrived, they gave her a hug as they realized she was crying from literally killing Lyriana. Their party had morals, and what was happening was completely against every single one they held. Only that didn't seem to matter, since it was highly unlikely Lyriana would surrender without large amounts of damage on both sides. At least Stephanie finished it quickly, as the fight had only lasted for a few seconds before it was over.

As they comforted their sorrowful friend, Gaia saw Lyriana be revived. It was more apt to call it healed than revived as the wounds healed completely and Lyriana gasped in a breath. She laid there for a few moments before getting her bearings and rising to her feet. She seemed to be shaking from the experience. Gaia could understand why, since she guessed dying wasn't a pleasant experience.

They all waited for about a half hour before Lyriana seemed ready to duel again. This time Griff stepped up, but the fight was not nearly as quick as Stephanie's. Griff formed his armor pieces, aside from the horrors guard as he felt miasma would probably just heal her. Lyriana similar to last time swiftly moved her arms out and her weapons appeared when she pulled them back. Her weapons this time were a pair of what Gaia could only loosely call Tonfa. She also had a pair of greaves that had pointed claws on them, and an odd rivet in the heel.

They once again took their positions and Lyriana vocalized her challenge. Another bell rang and the fight began. Griff used his ranged tentacles to strike at her, as she blocked the attacks with her tonfa and greaves. She, however, with the sound of rushing wind, nearly teleported in front of Griff. She struck with her tonfa, but Griff used his mana to increase his resistance as he used his counter skill. It worked as he wanted and Lyriana was soon stunned. Griff then went on the offensive with an onslaught of attacks. After the first couple attacks, he focused on her limbs aiming to break them and thus end the duel. He didn't want to beat her to death, so he'd have to resort to breaking and retreating any limbs as they healed until she surrendered. The fight dragged on for around fifteen minutes, with the consistent sound of breaking bones.

The fight finally ended when she surrendered, due to being unable to heal faster than Griff could break her bones. The fight really only lasted for about five minutes, before he broke her bones over and over. Griff couldn't end a fight quickly with someone evenly matched, so it was the only way he knew to end it without killing her slowly and painfully. He already regretted having to resort to the tactic, but he didn't want to kill her unless it would be quick. He didn't like seeing people slowly die, so it was the one way he knew where she wasn't going to slowly bleed out.

They once again comforted their companion, as he returned to the party. Fergus decided to go next, but his fight was longer than Griff's. Lyriana once again pulled out a different weapon, this time it was a pair of repeating crossbows. This fight was mostly ranged, and Fergus definitely had an advantage as his arrows would curve around to strike her when he used some of his skills. It was actually a close call for this fight, as she managed to hit him with a few crossbow bolts that had been enchanted. He was able to eek out his win with a well-timed arrow stab and attack with his arrow dagger. She died this time as well, which caused Fergus to feel like he failed no matter what the screen for the challenge said. He was comforted as well, but he cried on Gaia's shoulder for a bit as she hugged him.

Last up was Gaia, who had waited to go last. She couldn't hurt anyone anyway unless she used her aura ability or conditions. She really didn't want to use her bonds to attack Lyriana. She wanted to somehow save her. As her companions fought Lyriana, Gaia thought about possible ways to either save or at least hopefully not outright kill her. She had come up with a few possibilities. One required her to make Lyriana surrender and essentially try to have her join the party. Another had her trying to trick the ruins, or whatever governed the challenge, that Lyriana was dead when she wasn't. The third was the simplest, ask Lyriana to surrender without a fight, but she was positive Lyriana would not do so because of her honor.

The final possibility was the one she desperately hoped she wouldn't need to do. She would need to kill Lyriana with her aura, and then try to collect whatever her spirit, or at least a part of it, was contained in or connected to. Then, either seal or transfer the spirit to a new form or vessel, which she didn't know how to do. Honestly, it might not even be possible, and this was also the most dangerous and gruesome option, hence why she desperately didn't want to use it. There was always the chance that her aura would outright destroy Lyriana's spirit, or that the ruins would end up denying that opportunity.

Gaia, after thinking about all of this and discussing it with her party through telepathy, courtesy of Griff. She gathered her bonds and moved forward to start the battle but stopped a bit before reaching the starting point everyone used. She finally spoke to Lyriana again, as she did so.

"You won't surrender immediately, and I know it, but do you want to join us on our journey? I have a few ideas and would rather try the easier, and less dangerous, options first. I have an idea that may work but also has the chance to outright kill or even erase you. I don't even know if the idea could work and even if it did, it's possible you'd just dissipate unless we get very lucky. There's also the fact that I'd just be winging everything since I have no idea how to do any of it, and it'd be entirely up to fate. Sadly, my track record with fate mostly leans towards being unlucky, or even outright catastrophic, but somehow surviving or making something work."

Lyriana stopped completely hearing Gaia's words. She truly despised the situation she was in as well. She was someone who was honor bound to complete this challenge, whether she lived or died, and hadn't ever had hope of living past it. She also liked the party, they weren't afraid of her and treated her as another person, which was something she had never experienced. Did she want to live? Of course. Did she want to explore the world outside? Definitely. Even after millennia of being trapped in this fortress on this floor and being the last Draugr, she wanted to live and explore the world. Gaia was offering a chance to do that, even though it was an impossibly low chance. The only thing was that she needed to uphold the promise her progenitor had made.

"While I would love to explore the world, I cannot. It's not something that is in my future, sadly." Lyriana said quietly with sadness.

Gaia, hearing this, stepped forwards and took her position for the duel to begin and spoke with conviction. "Then, we'll make it your future."

Lyriana by this point had taken out her chosen weapons, some kind of staff with blades at each end and a pair of gauntlets with some kind of claws. She slowed hearing Gaia's words, but otherwise didn't react. They stood where they were for a few moments, Lyriana in some kind of stance with the staff under an arm and Gaia just standing casually. Malachite, Liv, Shadow and Antonio were with her as well. Malachite was in front of her being the attacker he was. Liv had already formed her armor and integrated with it making her two appendages appear from the armors shoulders. Shadow was beside Gaia, nearly touching her, ready to block any attacks she could and attack whenever an opening appeared. Antonio was on Gaia's shoulder forming a couple psychic attacks to fire the moment the duel began.

A few moments of tense silence passed in the throne room before a bell rang, signaling the duel's beginning. Lyriana sprang forward as two phantasmal spikes landed where she had been and a few more slammed into her torso. She felt pain radiating from the area the spikes struck, but not enough that she couldn't ignore it. Then, as she was focused on the spikes and pain, something rapidly grew before slamming into her with enough force to send her straight into the room's back wall. Malachite had used his unstoppable force ability alongside shell bash to generate an enormous amount of force.

As Lyriana flew, she realized that she felt a bit weaker than when the fight began. She wasn't completely sure why, but guessed it was something to do with an ability of her opponents. She also felt a few globs of something strike her, she could only tell it was poison from the smell. When she extricated herself from the wall and returned to the floor, she immediately rushed at Gaia. While her bonds were strong, she wasn't entirely sure how strong Gaia was. Gaia consistently complained about being weaker and having to rely on her bonds for damage. After this initial barrage of attacks from the bonds, Lyriana understood their strength, and that had only been two of the four.

Gaia just stood where she'd been, since Lyriana had been sent flying, she had left her aura's range, so she was currently unable to sense her. Luckily, Lyriana ran straight towards her and nimbly dodged between the trapped webs Liv had thrown out after Lyriana had returned to the floor. Lyriana swiftly moved the distance between them and swung the blades staff at Gaia. She was shocked to notice Gaia didn't react and instead saw a black shape suddenly appear in front of the strike.

The black wolf that had been sitting beside Gaia had finally acted, it had blocked the blow from Lyriana without a scratch. Then, she felt four things happen almost simultaneously. Two sharp blade-like arms pierced her shoulders, the wolf bit her in the side, and she felt her brain go fuzzy for a millisecond before returning to normal. Then, pain surged from her left knee as she went to swing her staff again, causing her leg to buckle and her attack to to lose all momentum.

The pain persisted but lessened a moment later. Then, extreme pain radiated from a different area and this pattern continued. Gaia at this point started to use her vines, she still didn't want to use her aura unless she absolutely had to. She held off on using the tainted flower's power since she thought miasma would just heal Lyriana. The bleeding started rather quickly thanks to some infused chaos and some of her own blood. She did send some healing shots at her hoping that, since it was technically healing magic, it would work and inflict her poison. It worked; she guessed that the healing might have worked as an attack but her inability to deal any form of direct damage was still going strong.

Lyriana was able to get a few attacks that managed to land on Gaia though, even through Shadow's blocks and the accuracy decrease from Antonio. This, however, caused her radiation poisoning condition to affect Lyriana making any subsequent attacks weaker. By this point most of Gaia's conditions and Antonio's curses had been inflicted. Lyriana was struggling with all of the conditions but could sense her determination not to give up. This sadly meant that she would need to try either the second or last plan. She needed to somehow either trick the system or ruins into thinking Lyriana was dead or kill her and try to save her afterwards.

She thought about possibilities to do the former, but was coming up blank. For some reason, being in a fight and essentially watching a friend try to desperately kill you or get weaker with each second that passed didn't lend itself to great inspiration. She was drawing a blank on possible solutions for this. This meant it was do the latter and hope fate was on her side today, but it hadn't really been on her side for a while. Coming to this decision was heartrending. She didn't want to kill Lyriana, especially not with her aura as the few times she'd used it before had had terrifying results. She designated Lyriana as an enemy and the shift was immediate.

Lyriana suddenly felt pressure from every direction around her. Then, something else happened, she felt pain radiate from every part of her being. Random phenomena appeared around her when she retreated slightly, barely touching a section of trapped webs on the ground as she dodged a small wind blade that appeared from nowhere. When she realized she was stuck, she noticed that she had small cracks that appeared on her body. They didn't bleed miasma and for some reason her regeneration wasn't helping in the slightest. When she usually got hurt, the area would darken before rapidly regenerating, or she at least felt the wound shrink but not this time. The cracks seemed to slowly widen as she felt her body quite literally break apart.

The first things to go were her fingers, followed by her feet. She fell to the floor as she looked in horror at her shattering body, then up at Gaia, who had run towards her with tears streaming down her face. When she arrived at Lyriana's side, started pumping miasma into her hoping to help. Sadly, she knew it wouldn't save Lyriana. She desperately searched with her senses to find something of Lyriana's that might hold a part of her spirit. She didn't sense anything until Lyriana had lost her legs and arms. She sensed something that held Lyriana's miasma, and hopefully some of her mana and spirit. This was when Lyriana choked out some words.

"Thank you. For offering to bring me along with you. Even if it wouldn't have been possible. Take my locket. It has my last treasure within."

"No. You're gonna be coming with us. I promise you that." Gaia replied through sobs.

"Don't make promises you can't keep. I hope I can see you all in the next life, my friends." Lyriana replied just before her body crumbled.

Gaia, through her tears, had grabbed Lyriana's locket, and scooped it up. It had been drenched in the draugr's blood, and therefore miasma, but she noticed something else. She could sense Lyriana's spirit still there, albeit shattered and about to be struck by what she could only describe as some kind of incarnation of death. Her senses gave her the impression that the being was nearly skeletal and was about to plunge its hand into the shattered spirit of Lyriana. Gaia quickly jumped up and grabbed the being's arm as she shoved the locket into Lyriana's shattered spiritual form.

The other being was furious at this and it jabbed its other hand into Gaia. It's hand hit her and the air was knocked from her lungs, before she felt a cold sensation. A moment later she heard the sound of something shattering before sensing the being's other hand crushing what was left of Lyriana's spirit. Thankfully, she still felt a portion of the draugr's spirit from within the locket.

The being then turned towards Gaia before it was suddenly ripped backwards out of her aura's range. She had saved a portion of Lyriana's spirit though, so maybe they could bring her back somehow. Gaia dropped to the floor of the throne room a moment later and her friends rushed to check on her. She was alive, a little injured from the duel and the being's actions but alive. Griff cast healing shot in Gaia and Antonio did the same as she realized her chest was bleeding from where the being had struck her.

They waited there for a while as they took a rest and healed up. Gaia clutched the locket in her hand before putting it around her neck. She had saved a part of Lyriana and vowed to find a way to bring her back no matter how long it took. After making her vow and her friends calming down, they checked the screen that appeared when she beat Lyriana.

Floor Challenge: Win a one on one duel with the floor's guardian (Draugr). 1/1

Requirement: Gain the guardian's acknowledgment through their surrender or death.

Reward: Portal. Malhavia, the Fortress of the Draugr.

"Um, how do we get a fortress as a reward?" Fergus asked.

"No idea. I just hope it doesn't suddenly dis-" Stephanie started before the fortress disappeared and they fell around fifteen feet to the ground.