Epic of Caterpillar

RUMBLE!

The enormous Behemoth Bone Dragon fell into pieces, forming a mountain of bones as its core was shattered. Much like golems, Bone Dragons worked the same, their cores were broken and therefore, their functions quickly ceased.

Stillness took over the mines, the remaining Lesser Bone Dragons were taken down by my Ego Weapons, and we had time to finally sigh in relief. I found myself sitting over the pile of bones, as I looked everyone else resting in the cold floor of the Blood Crystal mines.

"Item Box."

FLASH!

The pile of bones and everything within quickly disappeared and entered my Item Box, as pixel-made icons of them appeared, I got thousands of bones I guess, no, millions. Damn, what can I even use bones for? Maybe I\'ll make bone soup later for a change in the menu.

Ariant and Eriant walked towards Brunhild, checking her over. They seemed rather worried about her the most as they saw her as a lost girl that got into too much trouble, more than she could process.

"Brunhild, are you alright?" the gentle Ariant asked. Unlike her brother, she had a more gentle demeanor and was often more connected with anybody she spoke to.

"Ah, yeah, I am okay, thanks for worrying about me, Ariant…" Sighed Brunhild. "That\'s your name, right?"

"Yeah, I am a Desert Elf by the way." Ariant giggled. "You really got yourself into trouble… You shouldn\'t simply run away when problems are in front of you."

"Yeah, listen to my sister." Eriant said while nodding. "You\'ve gotta be more self-conscious of what you do."

"I am sorry…" Brunhild sighed, feeling a bit bad of what she had done. She realized the danger of what she had done and seemed to be repenting.

"Yeah, we were right in the middle of a conversation and you made a fuss about it and ran away. I was planning on instructing you with magic after that but you ran off, geez. How did you even plan to make your father recognize you if you just ran away?" I asked, as Brunhild lowered her head even more, sitting in the floor like a little girl being reprimanded, even though she was bigger than all of us except Luminous.

"I\'m sorry…" She sighed. "I did something bad… I always come here when I feel depressed or not understood. I like to practice magic in these mines where nobody watches me. I can occasionally hunt monsters or gather mushrooms too… I like to think I sometimes help at earning my keep like this…"

"So that\'s how you still had a few level ups and also had high level skills, huh?" I wondered.

"Partially, I also train my magic every day and night…" Said Brunhild. "My father doesn\'t realize I am so tired every morning because of that. But I couldn\'t really tell him or he\'ll get mad with me."

"Hmm…" Luminous groaned. "Your father is a wise man that had gone through a lot, but he\'s also filled with problems, let\'s try to understand him a bit more as well. After all you\'re his daughter, the last thing he has left. It is obvious he\'s very worried about your wellbeing. We spoke with him before, he said he only wanted the best for you, and that he simply wanted to protect you."

"Yeah, I remember your father said that he was afraid you would… that you would end like your mother due to the overuse of Magic." Said Fiere, trying to choose her words to not sound too impactful for Brunhild.

"I see…" Sighed Brunhild. "Papa has always been a worrywart. I remember mama always said that to him… But I guess after what happened to her, I can understand why he thinks like that. I am also like mother, having magic and all…"

"Well, I would say you\'re a hundred times more talented than your mother herself." I said. "Your Magic Power and other stats are amazingly high and your magic talent is also incredible. Brunhild, we are in a quest to find our friend and defeat this damn Genie, all while also ultimately going to the Demon King\'s castle. Would you not mind accompanying us at least until we defeat this Genie? He\'s the culprit behind the monsters growing black-colored and fueled with Miasma."

"Genie? What is he?" Wondered Brunhild. "And… I\'ll have to think about it a bit, and ask father too…"

"Yeah, I guess that\'s understandable." I said.

"The Genie is a Devil of Ancient Times." Said Ariant. "Brunhild, do you know about the Ancient Gods, right? They seem to have created him before Demons and other races as some sort of failed prototype…"

"For some reason, they ended sealing him, and since then, he had been slowly braking the seal. The dead of the ancient gods brought upon this world with tons of miasma that infected our world. There was a saying that this enormous desert was once a beautiful land filled with greenery but it became arid as the miasma consumed all life and dried everything." Said Eriant.

"I presume the Genie freed himself when the gods died, most likely. Or well, partially." Said Fiere.

"However, from what we have investigated, it seems that he gained powers he shouldn\'t had before. This Miasma Controlling power he has now is something new he has. Maybe a reason why his seal was broken was because his sealing place was located right below some ancient god corpse, which unsealed him with its toxic miasma, and at the same time, imbued miasma into his body and soul until he became capable of manipulating it…" I explained. "The primary reason why he wants to steal Blood Crystals is because he needs to feed himself with them. After all, they\'re filled with miasmic substances which fills these crystals with magic power."

"S-So that\'s why he\'s attacking our village with monsters?!" Asked Brunhild. "Bastard… Damned evildoer!" Brunhild said childishly.

"I presume that he might be working with the Demon King one way or the other, he\'s been screwing with us for too long, and I even presume that Elfina might had been captured by him… We need to find him and kill him… We\'ll probably meet more of the Demon King\'s army if we get to him, I bet… That bastard must be controlling everything from behind as well…"

Although a "Demon King" sounded so cliché back then, now I realize it is a rather sizable problem to have such an overpowered tyrant pulling the strings around the world…

"Well, for now, let\'s go back to the village, we need to report that everything should be safe now." I said with a smile. "PURIFICATION!"

FLAAAASH!

I purified everything a last time before departing, without leaving a single bit of miasma behind, which was very dangerous to normal people.

And as we went back to the village, we were greeted by Halberd and the entire population, as the enormous giants all kneeled before us, treating us as saviors and gods… once more.

I guess we kind of deserve this praise but… then again, it is quite excessive.

However, aside from that, I\'ve earned an enormous quantity of EXP, this army of walking bones was surely worth the pain in the ass!