Nether Feast - Chapter 13

Serena and Bren had their own vault. It was large from what they’d told me, but compared to the number of monster corpses I had prepared for them it would hold only a small percentage of them. We stood in the room that was larger than my parent’s home when I’d still been living with them. Only the shelves on one side of the room were full while the others were bare minus a few specialty items.

Seeing Serena standing there ringing her hands, it was the first time I’d seen her uncomfortable. Bren seemed to be enjoying the moment at his wife’s expense.

“Ailen, your sister isn’t one to take handouts,” my brother-in-law said. “She would hardly take money from your parents when she was still at the academy. You should bring her gifts often. Spoil her rotten.”

When she didn’t have a witty response, I gave her a serious look.

“It’s okay, big brother. I just don’t like surprises. If you don’t mind, let’s get this over with.”

“Okay,” I said.

I walked over to the mostly empty side of the room and began to fill the shelves. Once I started, I didn’t stop. I began with the treasure from the more traditional dungeon. I hadn’t looted the place clean, but most of the stuff I’d found would be better used in my family’s possession than sitting in some stuffy hall, so I’d taken it.

Bren began calling things out that he recognized right away. “This is a once in a lifetime find,” he said of a dagger I’d pulled from the mid-level floors.

I proceeded to pull a stack of similar daggers from my inventory, only finding twenty of them readily accessible from the pile in my inventory.

He started to snicker at the absurdity of it when he recognized another object, then another. He grew awfully quiet as I continued to load the shelves.

By the time I was done with one row, Serena called out to me, “Ailen.”

“Yeah?”

She didn’t answer so I glanced back and saw her studying me.

I smiled. Turning to continue what I was doing. I felt an arm loop under my own and another over my shoulder.

She’d embraced me from behind and shook her head against my back. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” She said in hushed tones. “Any idea how much this stuff is worth?”

“This is nothing, Serena.”

“Don’t you think for a minute I don’t know what you had to pay for all this. A century of life, immeasurable suffering, fear, loneliness, losing the love of your life, the possibility of children, your parents…”

“Seeing my little sister grow up,” I added.

Her embrace tightened.

I felt her kiss me on the cheek.

“A sister you never knew you had… This price is too much to bear,” she said. “I know how easily people break. How is it possible that you survived? How are you standing before us now with anything but a broken mind?”

Unbeknownst to even myself, I had an answer ready for her. “Breaking is easy. And, with enough time, healing often happens whether we want it to or not. Sometimes staying broken is preferable. To be broken means that you were once whole. There is a beauty to it. Even scars are there to remind you, but when you become as I am, not even scars remain.”

“You feel nothing?”

“I feel. I remember with perfect clarity. Pain just isn’t the same. My scars have faded entirely.”

“There’s not even one?”

Arusha’s face appeared in my mind. There was a dull longing, and tempered regret. Perhaps one remained, but I’d lived with it for so long that I hadn’t noticed until I’d had my surprise run in with her at her home. “Maybe a few. The kind old people laugh at and remember with fondness.”

We stayed like that for a few minutes more. Bren busied himself by going through what I’d already put on display. When he began focusing on one item in particular, Serena eventually pulled away. I continued.

It wasn’t my intention to interrupt them, but after a few minutes I’d run out of space. “This is about half the stuff from the second dungeon. Where should I put the rest? There are also many times more from the first dungeon, but it is all organic matter. I can hold on to most of it for now, however, I know there’s some monster corpses you were looking forward to preparing. I think I was able to find everything you asked for.”

“Everything?” Bren asked, shaking his head. “Serena is right. This is far too much. Will you not keep anything for yourself?”

“There are a few things I’m keeping. Like this for example,” he pulled out the shirt made from the spider queen silk.

“This…” He reached out instinctively to touch it. “Brother-in-law, tell me plainly. Where did you get this?”

I told them of my dealings with the spider queen.

“She’s at your service?” Serena said. “Did you clear both dungeons?”

“No. Just thinned their numbers. The only boss monster I killed was the Mantis Overlord and a few orcs, goblins, trolls… What’s wrong?”

Serena had gone pale. “Let’s go to the training array so that you can removed everything, and we can take inventory.”

Once they had left the house and were inside the formation, they activated the array, but changed its function to give us some privacy. It was a large open area. If I piled the corpses, it should be enough.

I no longer held back and started dumping bodies first. They took up two thirds of the overall space and were stacked two stories high. Then I used the rest of the area to put down the more traditional treasures. They didn’t interrupt me.

When I was done, I turned and said, “That’s about it. Here’s a few specialty things I sat aside because you asked.”

I took out the lowest level mantis and sat it at Bren’s feet. His grin grew and grew as if there were no end to it.

“There is also this.” I removed the Mantis Overlord’s scythe. “There wasn’t much common treasure, but the spider queen said that even eighth realm monster claws couldn’t compare.”

Bren stepped forward and cuffed me on the shoulder. “It can be used to craft one of the strongest blades that exists in this modern era. The Overlord Mantis Blade. Each of the mantis corpses you brought back can be used to make normal Mantis Blades. To swordsmen, they’re considered priceless. And look here,” he continued walking through the piles of treasure toward the mountains of corpses. “The locus legs are nearly as durable, if not more so. They’re used for the shafts of spears, staves, morning stars, maces, warhammers, etc.. They can also make top quality blades, but they’re hard to work. The mantis blade is already shaped and sharpened naturally, so its advantage is clear.

“There’s also the wasp and bee stingers that are used for daggers and short swords. Almost any of these monster’s exoskeletons can be used to make armor of the highest level, and that’s just the beginning. There are countless uses for the other parts in alchemy and medicine.” He spun. “Brother-in-law, in this one outing, you have gathered more high-end resources than Serena and I have gathered in our entire lives. Just one of these high realm corpses is a treasure that nations would fight over.”

My expression darkened. “Will it make you a target?”

He began to laugh. “That you don’t have to worry about. We’ve gained many fortunes and lost others. Handling such things won’t be a problem. Just know that giving us so much is a little overwhelming, even for me. As for your sister…”

I glanced back and saw her staring at her feet.

She noticed a moment later and put on a practiced grin. “Bren, would you be a dear and put all of this away. Let’s go back to the house and I’ll start preparing a meal. I’ve found myself getting hungry earlier these days.”

She turned around and left.

I found Bren giving me an unsurprised look. “Go after her. I’ll clean up here. And Ailen. Thank you. People have been coming to us for help for half a century. We’re not good at receiving it. Please, don’t take offense. When Serena heard you were alive, she expected the worst. She has no idea how to respond now that she’s finding you don’t need her help and are intending to provide for her instead. She feels lost. She likely wishes you needed her more. She’s never felt like a little sister, you know. Even Arusha was quickly surpassed by her. Their friendship has never wavered, but Arusha was quick to fall into a supporting role. She prefers it that way, I think.”

I walked over to him and placed my hand on his shoulder. “It is selfish of me to do this to the two of you. I know it, but I must insist. This is my reward. To provide for those that care for me—whom I care for.”

“Then go spend some time with your little sister.”

And so I was off. As soon as I entered the kitchen, Serena insisted so I sat down and watched her.