Reincarnated as a Vampire Who Acquires Skills Through Blood-Chapter 39 - Dungeons

Dungeons; they are incredibly mysterious places that seem to appear magically all over the face of the world; they can take the form of almost any type of structure— but the most common ones people find are tall towers and confusing labyrinths.

Nobody really knows why they show up or what their actual purpose is supposed to be, but the different churches strongly believe that all of this is the dark work of the evil god; [Azrathul], who is also widely known as The Veiled Abyss.

It is said that they were a deity that did not originally come from this world, a being more of an outside invader or a parasite if you were to put a label on it.

Anyway... The dungeons themselves are filled to the brim with all kinds of riches; you can find gold, expensive jewelries— basically any valuable item you could ever name.

They also contain very powerful artifacts that have unique powers; these items are similar to magic, yet they are quite different from the standard magic that can perform various miracles.

Because of all these potential rewards, a lot of mercenaries, seasoned adventurers, legendary heroes, and even regular civilians— they all choose to risk their very lives by entering these dungeons; many of them are hoping to completely turn their whole lives around after catching one lucky break inside a chamber.

Oh, that’s right— they are choosing to RISK their LIVES every single time they enter one.

After all, alongside all the treasures hidden deep inside the dungeons... there are also countless monsters waiting that will try to kill any human they see on sight.

Usually, the better the rewards you can find in a specific dungeon, the stronger and more dangerous the monsters lurking within will be.

And that is not even the whole story, as there is also what people call a [Special Monster]— or if I were to describe it more simply, a boss monster.

Once that specific boss is finally killed, the dungeon will lose all of the magic that keeps it running. The monsters will finally stop spawning out of nowhere, all of the dangerous traps will be permanently deactivated... And the whole place will just become a normal, empty structure that happens to store a lot of leftover treasures.

That is exactly what dungeons are supposed to be.

Or at least... that is what the majority of people in this world believe them to be.

*****

"Hmm, so that is what they are, huh."

I said that while nodding my head in understanding after hearing Elianna’s explanation about dungeons. By the way, Onyx is tucked in my arms, busily chewing on a piece of jerky.

"So, when you talk about closing that dungeon in the City of Zore— you mean you’re planning to hunt down and kill the special monster inside it, right?"

I asked that question, turning my head to the side. Elianna was right there, sitting comfortably right beside me on a rock as she kept glancing down at Onyx.

"That is exactly right, as there are always chances of the monsters inside the dungeons eventually finding a way out, so leaving them alone or failing to close them for a long period of time can bring a lot of trouble to the surrounding area; and since it is widely said that dungeons are a product of that evil god— we, the representatives of the churches, are obligated to close them whenever possible."

Elianna explained all of that to me with a very straight, serious face. Then she slowly extended her hand toward me... and started gently petting Onyx’s soft mane.

"I really appreciate you telling me all of this, as I am honestly quite clueless when it comes to how dungeons work."

I thanked her for the information while giving a slight bow of my head.

"It was really nothing at all."

Elianna simply replied back without even bothering to look at me, as her focus was entirely on petting Onyx. It was becoming very obvious to me that she only explained the nature of dungeons because she wanted an excuse to spend a little more time with the puppy.

"Anyway, I should probably get going now— it is officially time for me to begin my nightly prayer."

Just then, Elianna stated that and stood up from her spot. I looked up at her and waved a quick goodbye, and she gave me a small wave in return before excusing herself—

Elianna left my side and went back toward her carriage.

I was left sitting there all alone with Onyx.

Or at least, that is what I had thought...

"Hah, I honestly cannot believe just how friendly the Saintess is being toward you."

Kael suddenly appeared out of nowhere behind me and said that.

"Ugh, you really need to stop appearing so suddenly, I already told you before that it freaks me out."

I told him that with a bit of a huff. He just laughed at me.

Anyway, as for the Saintess being friendly toward me...? I don’t really think that’s the case at all, she just clearly wants to be around Onyx, and she is likely keeping a very close eye on me as well. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Moving on, after all of that was said and done—

Kael and I, along with the rest of the squad; we all started preparing our dinner for the evening. We had caught some wild animals earlier and roasted them over the campfire as we all sat around in a circle.

And under the bright light of the moon— we all had our fill of food... Onyx got plenty to eat as well, since Kael and the other knights kept trying to feed him scraps; he is going to get fat very fast if this keeps going.

After I was done eating... I immediately went off and started my nightly training. Onyx stayed right near me as I worked, cleaning himself and just watching my movements, until he finally got sleepy and fell fast asleep on the grass. I carefully picked him up and placed him inside my tent, and while he woke up for a second, he just went right back to sleeping anyway.

I continued with my training for a long time after that.

... ... ...

*****

The rest of the night passed by very peacefully, and the same was true for the next day, and even the day after that.

We didn’t encounter a single bandit on the road— I mean, no one would really be in their right mind to attack us after seeing the holy engraving on the golden carriage we were accompanying.

During our frequent breaks, I continued to get direct teaching from Kael about the finer points of swordsmanship, and I also made sure to spar with the other knights.

I always made sure to leave Onyx with Elianna inside her carriage whenever we were on the move.

We did encounter a few monsters here and there, but they weren’t really any sort of problem for a group as strong as ours.

We stopped by a few small villages and even some larger cities to resupply ourselves for the long travel ahead.

Elianna would occasionally join us during our meals, and while it was always a bit awkward whenever she did— after a while, we all just got used to her being there.

I continued to have some small talk with her every single night whenever she gave Onyx back to me after we finished setting up our camp, and she also taught me many more things about the world; the information I was getting from her was several times better than anything I had ever read in books.

I still trained very diligently alone every night, and I still secretly drank some blood when no one was looking, though I haven’t managed to acquire any new skills lately.

The days went on just like this as time passed, and before I really knew it... NINE whole days had already gone by since I first started traveling with Elianna and the others.

And right now— we stood directly at the main gate of [The City of Zore].