The Unwanted Tamer

The party landed on the floor's ground in different states. Griff had landed and rolled, so he was on his feet almost immediately. Gaia was floating down with Malachite's telekinesis, alongside her bonds. Fergus had just landed on his feet without any issues. Stephanie, however, had been the only one to not catch herself and had fallen straight downwards, landing on her back with a slight groan. Griff quickly helped her up with a slight smile.

"Oh, ha ha. No one wanted to help the dwarf down, huh?" She stated before also breaking into a chuckle.

"I mean you were the one to say something. It just kinda seemed like you asked for it." Fergus replied after they had stopped laughing.

They were giddy, not just because of the situation, but because they'd cleared the eighth floor. There was only one more floor in the ruins before they were done. They'd been on the commission for around half a year at this point. Gaia had been on the commission for a quarter of the time she'd been in this world. It was a momentous occasion. They were all excited that the commission would be over in at most a couple more weeks, depending on the ninth floor's size and challenge or trial, of course.

They had to resist the urge to immediately run to the next floor. They knew that they needed to go report to the Guild Master first, though. It was the least they could do, and immediately running into what was likely more danger was not a good idea, at least without any preparation. They nearly sprinted up to the seventh floor and up the central staircase to the surface, making a beeline for the Guild Master's house.

They arrived at the camp among another small monster attack. They helped and it was dealt with quickly as most of the monsters had been ones the defenders had dealt with before. They then went straight to the Guild Master's house where they had to wait. She'd apparently gone out to help the defenders as an iron rank monster had appeared but was checking on all of the walls before returning.

It was frustrating having to wait, but they understood why. It didn't make them any less fidgety though, as they wanted to just go straight back to the ruins and clear the last floor as soon as possible. Some of them eventually started pacing as they couldn't stay still, and Gaia had gone outside to play with her bonds while they waited. Stephanie had even opened her portable forge in the room's center to do something productive. They had to wait for a total of two hours, which had felt like an eternity to the party. Gaia entered, following the Guild Master in and pulled Stephanie out of her forge when the Guild Master sat down.

"Sorry about the wait, I wanted to ensure the walls were safe and the defenders had been healed. How did the eighth floor's challenge go? Did you guys succeed?" She asked.

"Yes, we did. Sadly, we couldn't save Lyriana though. It seems like the challenge would have ended with her death no matter what we did." Griff replied.

"Lyriana was the guardian, correct?" The Guild Master, Delilah asked.

"Yes." Griff replied again.

"I'm sorry to hear it. From how Edrahni described her, she sounded like a good person." She stated before there silence for a little while.

"All that's left is the ninth floor, the Sanctum. I'll go ahead and send Edrahni to scout it. Do you guys want to go immediately?" She asked.

"If you don't mind. Now that the end is close, we want to try and end it as soon as possible." Fergus replied.

Delilah sent for Edrahni who arrived a couple minutes later. She relayed his task, and he ran off while the party grabbed some rations just in case the floor mission would take a period of time. They got a couple of weeks' worth of rations just in case. After this they started towards the ruins with the Guild Master beside them. She also wanted to see the last floor and help finish it if she could. They weren't rushing but instead walking towards the ruins. It wasn't until they were down to the fourth floor that a scout was rushing up to them.

"Guild Master! Edrahni asked me to fetch you. It seems that something on the ninth floor requires your attention." The scout stated as he snapped to attention.

"We're on our way there now. Let's pick up the pace!" She replied.

The group started rushing towards the ninth floor as fast as they could. They reached the eighth floor around five minutes later and booked it towards the ninth floor's entrance tunnel thanks to the scout's directions. They reached it and sprinted down its length. It was similar to the other tunnels in that it was smooth stone, but it didn't change until its very end. There, it changed to braced stone and wood. There was a large wooden gate there that the Guild Master swiftly opened. Inside they found Edrahni standing just past the door's range.

Gaia couldn't sense anything until she passed through the gate. Then, the Sanctum was in her senses in all its glory. The mana concentration here was dense, magnitudes more than the earlier floors. She could sense everything here, every page of a book that was opened on a table to the sheets on a bed. The floor was small, actually tiny would be a better description. It was more a moderately large room than a floor.

The entire floor was within her aura's range after she walked into it a bit. The room had a large bed at the far end with four posts in each corner that reached up to hold a sheet above, with curtains along the sides. To each side of the room were tables with books, scrolls, and papers strewn across their surfaces. The odd thing was that there didn't seem to be anything in the center aside from a hole in the ceiling that seemed to allow light in, if the warm sensation on her skin was any indication.

Taking up the entire central area was a massive circle of mana. It was floating in the air, according to her senses, and seemed to be connected to the ground. The mana circle seemed to be trying to activate and was about to successfully start. When Gaia focused on it, she realized there were sections with denser mana, and they felt like they were all different. As she counted them, she realized something else. All of the different sections had mana that felt similar somehow, she couldn't place why.

Then when she really thought about it, she recounted just to be sure. There were eight sections, and the furthest section from her felt like Lyriana's mana. When she focused on the sections, she realized they all matched or felt surprisingly close to the mana of each floor's guardian. Right as she went to say something to her friends and companions, she heard a familiar voice.

"I can't have you spoiling my surprise, now, can I? I do have to thank you, though. I didn't expect you to arrive here so soon." The Amalgamation said as the magic circle started.

Gaia was horrified to see the circle start spinning after he spoke. The room quickly grew loud from the mana and air rapidly revolving around the center, making communication nearly impossible. As it spun faster and faster, the mana slowly moved towards the center. There it slowly congealed into a ball before morphing extremely slowly into the shape of a humanoid being. The entire process took about fifteen minutes, in which everyone in the room was forced to brace themselves against the gusts of mana and air. When the being in the center of the circle finished forming, the room went immediately silent as the circle stopped and dissipated instantly. Gaia, now that she could think and hear again focused her senses on the being standing in the center of the room. To her horror she sensed the face and realized it was familiar. It was the face of the Amalgamation, without the horrifying shapeshifting body.

"Ah, it's good to be back. I thank you all for making it happen." The Amalgamation stated as he looked at each person in the room before stopping on Gaia.

"Oh? Even better. Thank you for bringing a part of my spirit back to me young lady. I am Adam, the Eternal Lord and based on this resurrection, I failed to ascend." He stated as the ring that the Amalgamation had forced on Gaia released her and jumped straight to his hand. There it burrowed under his skin and she felt his power skyrocket. He had been low bronze rank when he appeared but instantly jumped up to iron or possibly higher when the thing touched him.

"Now, I can tell you are not my allies. I shall take my leave and let you all live for assisting in my return." He stated one last time before putting his hands together and ripping the mana apart in front of him.

A portal appeared where he did so, and he stepped through it. It immediately closed after he passed through it, though. Fauna had been stunned and terrified when he appeared, so they hadn't been able to act. Even Delilah and Edrahni were rooted to their spot until he disappeared. Now that he was gone though, they all fell to the ground from the relief. His aura was strong enough to crush them had he desired to do so.

"What, just happened?" Delilah asked a few minutes later, after everyone had recovered a bit.

"I think we resurrected the Eternal Lord, and gave him a power boost." Griff replied hesitantly.

"Um, I think it's worse than that." Gaia stated.

"What do you mean?" Delilah asked.

"Well, Griff. You remember when I told you about the Amalgamation right?" She asked.

"Yeah, why?" He replied.

"The Eternal Lord's face was the same as the Amalgamation's. I think they're the same being, and I somehow brought part of his spirit, from the version that failed to ascend." She replied worriedly.

"This could be really, really bad then. Who knows what he'll decide to do." Griff stated.

"I'm missing something. Who or what is this Amalgamation?" Delilah asked.

They gave her a shorter version of what happened and what the Amalgamation was. It wasn't good though. This caused the Guild Master to worry even more, they had just released this being into the world. One that even in myth was considered evil, and is strong enough to rip portals open with his hands. That shouldn't be possible in any way, some people had the ability to create teleport portals sure, but none could just rip one open enter and it disappear.

He could have gone anywhere and they had no idea where it could be. They needed to inform the League as soon as possible that an extremely powerful, dangerous and unknown being had been resurrected. There was no way they'd be able to deal with him, let alone survive an attempt to do so themselves. The League was the only option, they were the only organization that could communicate worldwide and had the strongest beings in the world within their ranks. They would be the only ones that could attempt to deal with the situation.

As the Guild Master thought everything over Fauna was searching the room and grabbing everything they could. Griff went for the books and scrolls. Stephanie found a few tools that she couldn't identify and took those. Fergus grabbed anything that he thought could be useful and Gaia moved towards the bed. More specifically the bedside table beside it. She grabbed everything on it and anything she found inside, including a small stone and an odd book. It seemed too small to be a true book, so maybe a journal. When Gaia grabbed these, they noticed the Guild Master had decided on a course of action.

With this, the group started moving back to the eighth floor, only to feel the ruins shake as if in an earthquake. Then they heard cracking as the ceiling started to break and fall. They started running up to the eighth floor only to find it start crumbling as well. They raced to the central pillar and entered it just before the tunnel collapsed. They raced up the staircase and towards the edge of the ruins area. They reached it about five minutes later and looked back expecting something to happen but nothing did.

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They waited for a few minutes before moving. After taking a few steps, Gaia sensed the mana density disperse behind them. When they turned, they saw that the ruins had caved inwards like an extremely deep hole in the center of a crater. Then they saw the forest rapidly grow over it, and after about ten minutes, it appeared as if the forest had been like that all along. It was an odd sensation for Gaia. She had been able to sense everything around her just ten minutes before but now she was once again back to only sensing her companions.

She was used to switching between the two states, but realized she'd be able to sense everything for a long while. It was almost like she was going blind all over again. Yes, she'd been outside of the ruins for days, but knew she'd be going back in at some point. The camp was also close enough that the mana concentration was higher within it, so she could still sense most things. They just seemed a little transparent, as opposed to her not sensing anything. Now she wasn't able to sense anything, and would have to readjust to the lack of stimulus. She'd have to be careful while walking again as she'd gotten used to not needing to memorize the camp, since she could sense most everything.

They returned to the camp, and the Guild Master called everyone to the central square at dinner time. Gaia was walking towards the inn only to trip over a dip in the road and face plant. She was frustrated, had she really been so reliant on the increased senses, that she had forgotten how to get around without them? Apparently, yes, as she proceeded to move forward only in the wrong direction and walked straight into a stall.

At this point, she gave up and hopped on Malachite's shell before they rushed towards the inn. Gaia already had tears welling up in her eyes and didn't want to cry in the middle of the camp. Malachite went straight to her room and set her down by her bed, where she proceeded to cry. She'd been so happy to sense everything in the ruins and even the reduced effect in the camp that she hadn't thought anything about it. She could essentially see again, albeit in a very different way and had been able to do so for months. Now it was all gone, like she'd been blinded, again. She was having trouble walking, she didn't know where things were and stumbled into them. She felt scared and useless all over, like she had the first time it'd happened.

Speaking of, the first time, she'd had so many other things to worry about. Like, how she would survive in this world? What could a blind girl do? Where could she stay? Could she even get a job now? These were just a few of the problems she'd had to worry about before she could even attempt to process what happened. Hell, even when she first arrived ,she couldn't even worry about the fact that she had become a girl. She'd been thrust into a new world with no idea what was going on or how she could survive. It was the last thing on her mind.

Now, though, she'd gotten used to this world, at least a little bit. She could answer most if not all of those questions, but once again she'd lost something she desperately wanted back, and had to live without. She knew she could get used to it like she had before, but it had become such a "normal thing" that she'd almost forgotten it wasn't normal for her. It was something that was extremely rare. She just cried for a while, which wasn't necessarily a good thing, as her tears still caused her pain.

Her friends let her be for a little bit before they all checked on her and then stayed with her after that. They wanted to give her some space, since it had seemed that's what she wanted, but they also worried about her. When they entered, they saw her sitting on the floor, back to her bed, with her bonds cuddled up with her. They didn't force her to talk or anything they just stayed in the room nearby to let her know they were there if she wanted or needed them. They'd guessed what was wrong from the moment she'd first stumbled and run into something. It wasn't something that would usually happen, and Griff was able to get an idea of the mana concentration thanks to his years of experience with mana.

They stayed like this for a few hours, Gaia had stopped crying a while ago but still didn't seem back to normal. They didn't expect her to be for a while longer, so they just planned to stay close by. They eventually heard the clanging signifying it was dinner time and all got up to go eat. Gaia got up and just hopped on Malachite's shell to go get food, and for the meeting the Guild Master had called.

She was doing slightly better, at least enough to get food and listen to the Guild Master. She knew her friends would be there to help her just in case, though, which made her feel a bit more confident. They left and got their dinner at the mess hall before going over to the central square, where a large crowd was gathering. Once there, they were called towards the front of the crowd before the Guild Master stated talking.

"Now, I know not everyone can be here for this announcement, but the defenders on duty have already been told this." She started and murmurs passed throughout the gathered crowd. She waited for the crowd to quiet before speaking again. "As of today, the ruins have been conquered! We have cleared the ruins, and so, within the next few days we'll begin heading back to Boundary. The exploration couldn't have been successful without everyone's assistance. A special thanks to Fauna, who were integral in the ruins completion. Tonight, we celebrate and come tomorrow we begin preparations to depart."

The crowd cheered loudly, they could all return home after months of work. The Guild Master motioned Fauna to stay back while everyone dispersed and went to celebrate.

"I wanted to ask you guys something. I didn't check for any artifact on the ninth floor before we left. Did you guys happen to find anything?" She asked when they were the last ones there.

"As far as I know it was mainly just the books and scrolls. I think Stephanie found a few unknown tools. For Fergus, I think you just grabbed anything you thought was important right?" Griff asked.

"Yep. I can go get the stuff I found now if you want. What about you Gaia, did you find anything?" He asked.

She nodded and took out the small book, possibly a journal, and the small stone she found. She hadn't analyzed them yet, so she didn't know what they were. The Guild Master, Delilah, took the items and opened the book to skim it. As she did, she realized it was in an old language, which she could barely read. She gasped a few minutes later as she translated it and then looked at Gaia, but she didn't know this.

"You might want to know what this journal says. I'll leave it with you since it's not what we were looking for, and based on its contents, it would probably help you. It has some information on the tamer class, from what I skimmed at least. The latter part was gruesome though. I think the Eternal Lord wrote it himself, since it's in an old language. I could barely translate it enough to read." Delilah stated.

Gaia was shocked at this. The Amalgamation had stated he gave her the tamer class, but if he had a journal on it, then did that mean he had been one? If so, what could she learn about her class or about him through the information? She was excited to read what it had, but she wasn't completely sure how much to trust any information from him.

As she thought about the implications of the journal, Delilah studied the small stone. She couldn't glean anything about it so she asked Gaia to analyze it, which she did and allowed Delilah to see the resulting screen. As she did this, her companions went to fetch the things they collected.

Binding Stone – A stone with the power to bind spirits. Commonly needed when forging bonding items. After use, the stone crumbles to dust.

"Oh, a good item. It's also not what we're looking for, but if you would like to sell it, let us know." Delilah stated as she gave Gaia back the stone.

Her companions returned a few minutes later. She analyzed a few more items at Delilah's request until the artifact they'd been searching for was found. It had been one of the tools Stephanie had picked up.

Eternal's Quill – Sentient Artifact. Bonding growth item. A needle used for anything and everything by a powerful being that failed to ascend. It has been steeped in their power and gained its own through the myth of its original wielder. It can change shape depending on its welder's will. Most of its current power has been sealed or lost due to it being inert, not having a bonded wielder, and being lost for millennia. Indestructible, unless damaged by another artifact. Does not require physical contact to use. Form 1 can be used by anyone, all other forms require a bonded wielder.

Form 1: A quill that can be used for writing or inscribing mana into any material. Requires mana infused ink. Can be used to create Magical Contracts.

Form 2: A needle that can change its size at will. Can be the size of a sewing needle or a stake. Creates unbreakable magical thread using the wielder's mana.

Delilah was speechless at the screen that appeared with the item's description. She quickly pulled out an ornate box from her space bag and placed the artifact within before closing the lid and locking it. "Thank you for finding this. It can greatly help ensure the city and country's safety. I'll ensure it reached the League safely."

"Glad we found one. I was starting to worry there wasn't one, honestly." Griff replied.

"I was too, but now that it has been secured we can all relax and enjoy the celebration." Delilah stated, before continuing a moment later. "Enjoy the night, we'll start preparing to leave in the morning."

Fauna bade the pair farewell before heading towards the inn. They arrived to find Legion and Flora relaxing and drinking together. They called the party over and they partied late into the night. Gaia was the only one sober by the end, with everyone else passed out drunk. She enjoyed it all, and had started to get used to the lack of information from her aura. It took a bit, but sitting in the same spot for a while helped her memorize where things were in her immediate vicinity. She had been so focused that she almost didn't notice a group of people, who were obviously drunk, as they approached.

"Well, well, well. We see the little monster." A man said before he stopped for a while as he thought, before deciding on a word. "Fangirl, again. You don't have your friends to protect you this time, though." He finished, drunkenly drawling every word.

Gaia heard them try to draw their weapons, before nearly laughing as Liv said something to her.

"I wrapped their weapons with webs, and their legs too. Should I do the rest of their bodies?" Liv asked.

Gaia watched them through her aura, they were definitely weaker than her. She and her companions had been in the ruins nearly every week, if not multiple days a week. The party in front of her seemed to have stagnated and stayed the same, if not weakened, since she'd first met them. She didn't know if that was because she'd gotten stronger or because she was used to fighting things much stronger than her and her friends.

Realizing the party had fallen to the floor she just had Liv go ahead and bind their arms too. She'd deal with them in the morning, as they didn't seem to be able to get out of Liv's webs. After this, she made her way to her room, with few mishaps as most people were asleep in the main room, and fell asleep with her bonds around her.

The next morning started with someone banging on her door, which startled her awake and her bonds immediately went into high alert. She cautiously went to the door and asked who it was.

"It's Delilah, the Guild Master. I need to talk to you." She stated.

Gaia slightly relaxed hearing who it was and opened the door. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"Well, there are six people bound up by webs in the tavern's main room. They have been screaming about a monster binding them up without any warning." Delilah stated.

"Ok, so I'm guessing you're talking about the party that caused a problem with me on our first day of watch, right? The same group that, while drunk last night, called me a monster fangirl and tried to draw their weapons on me while my friends were passed out?" Gaia asked before explaining everything they said and did.

"I'm guessing, yes." Delilah said with a sigh.

"Let me be brutally honest. Had I wanted to hurt them, they'd be dead, with no indication of what happened to them. I didn't touch them, Liv bound them up when they tried to draw their weapons on me. Also, had my friends not been asleep, they likely wouldn't have been unharmed. You've seen what we can do." Gaia replied.

"First off, how can you remember so much after the celebration? Most people got so drunk they passed out." She asked.

"Well, I can't drink. I'm not old enough yet." Gaia answered truthfully.

"Wait, what? You know what, that doesn't matter. I didn't know that. I figured it wasn't you who started it, anyway. I had to ask though. Two of them would only tell the truth after being separated from the rest. With their accounts and yours, there are no problems. I'll deal with it." Delilah stated after a few moments.

"No problem, I trust you. All I ask is that they be nowhere near me on the trip back to Boundary, please." She stated.

"Alright." Delilah stated as she left to deal with the idiotic squad.

Gaia stayed in her room for a while longer before going out to the main room of the inn. She didn't want to get dragged into the situation following Delilah's exit. She arrived to find her friends awake and annoyed. Likely due to the six people's very loud and very obnoxious complaints. She proceeded to ensure everyone was alright before making them get up to go get breakfast.

They begrudgingly arose and followed her to eat. After eating and truly waking up, everyone dispersed to assist in the breaking down of the camp. This lasted for the entire day and seemed like it would take at least another couple of days before everyone was ready. Those few days flew by with everyone busy assisting in any way they could, including defending the camp from more monster attacks. Stephanie mainly focused on repairing armor, weapons, and the wagons that would be used on the way back. Griff was assisting on the walls most of the time, but would help whenever he saw someone who needed it. Fergus was running around helping wherever he could. Gaia was on the wall with Griff and her bonds aside from Malachite. He was helping by making a platform from his armor for people to load heavy items on and taking them where they needed to be loaded in a wagon.

Soon enough, everyone was prepared for the return to Boundary. All that was left was the seven day to week-long journey back. The caravan was much bigger than the one Fauna had arrived on, so they expected it to take a bit longer than the trip to the camp. With the entire camp prepared, they opened the northern gate and the caravan began its slow journey back to Boundary.