07 – Expedition

The week went by in a strange way, with some normal days and some days that felt strange.

Velmira settled in the quiet corners of Waal's boarding house, where the landlady didn't ask any questions.

She bought things she didn't need, but Aldric might have needed them from the market.

The city walls where she could go after dark to hunt in the nearby forests.

Each night she fed, and each night it became easier. It's more mechanical and less scary.

She wasn't sure if that was adaptation or corruption anymore.

Aldric spent the week getting approval for the expedition, gathering equipment, and making very detailed preparations.

He worked with the focused intensity of someone racing against time. Occasionally, Velmira would catch him coughing into his handkerchief. He was trying to hide the blood that her vampiric senses detected instantly.

Two years. Maybe three.

I felt like every moment was important because of the deadline.

On the morning of their departure, they met at Waal's eastern gate as the sun came up.

Aldric carried a pack nearly as big as he was. It was full of documents, things for camping, and tools for his research.

He looked excited, even though it was early. He was practically vibrating with energy and excitement about his studies.

"Ready?" he asked, adjusting his glasses.

Velmira carried her own much lighter pack, mostly for show, since her Yggdrasil inventory carried everything she actually needed. The Moonveil Cloak covered her shoulders, starting to block the morning sun.

"Ready," she said.

They walked.

***

On the first day, they traveled from the farmland into a more wild area. The road was well-maintained for the first few miles, but then it got worse and became a packed earth trail. Finally, it became a game path through a very dense forest.

Aldric talked as they walked, pointing out places and sharing information about the history of the area. Before the Demon King was defeated eighty years ago, this area was a battlefield where human kingdoms and demon forces fought each other.

The old scars remained: burned villages slowly being reclaimed by forest, fragments of fortifications overtaken by moss, and the occasional memorial stone marking where someone had fallen.

"My grandfather fought in these territories," Aldric said, stopping to look at a memorial.

"He didn't talk about it much. He said it was a very difficult job. It's not like the heroic stories people tell now."

"War never is," Velmira said. In her human life, she had never experienced combat. In Yggdrasil, it had been a game; you could come back at checkpoints and try again, with no negative effects. But here is different. Death was final.

These memorials represented people who had died permanently.

Unless you were undead. Unless you were immortal. Then death was something that happened to everyone else.

"The Hero Party came through here," Aldric continued, moving on from the memorial. "During the final push toward the Demon King's territory. Some villages still celebrate the anniversary of Himmel's visit. Some people say they have met him in person."

He smiled.

"Probably half of them are lying, but it makes for good stories."

"You admire him," Velmira said. "The Hero Himmel."

"Everyone does. He saved the entire continent. He brought together kingdoms that were at war and made them work together. He defeated an existential threat."

Aldric adjusted the straps of his backpack.

"But I think I admire Frieren more."

That surprised her. "Why?"

"Himmel had ten years to make a difference. He was a bright person who died young, at least by most people's standards. He left behind a legendary legacy.

Aldric's face showed he was thinking hard.

"But Frieren has eternity. Instead of completely cutting off her ties to mortals, which would make the most logical choice, she chose to take apprentices. Mortal apprentices. People she'll outlive by centuries."

"Maybe she's a fool," Velmira said quietly.

"Maybe. Or maybe she understands something about meaning that we don't. That the pain of loss is worth the joy of connection."

He looked at her.

"By the way, you talk about immortals like you've thought about this a lot. Is it part of your research?"

"Something like that."

They walked in silence for a while after that, and Velmira found herself thinking about Frieren again. About the choice to take apprentices even though it was clear how it would end. It's not clear if that makes her brave or if she's into pain.

It's about whether Velmira was making the same choice with Aldric.

That evening, they set up camp in a clearing next to a stream. The sound of running water became a peaceful backdrop to their fire.

Aldric prepared a simple meal of salted meat, hard bread, and cheese, while Velmira pretended to help but mostly just moved things around.

When he offered her some, she accepted and ate a little. Her body rejected it right away, but she'd gotten better at hiding the discomfort.

Swallow. Don't choke. Imagine that it's good for your skin.

"You don't eat much," Aldric said, not sounding accusatory but rather curious.

"My condition," Velmira said, the lie coming naturally to her.

"I said it affects my appetite."

"Right." He didn't push her, but she could see him taking the information in. Aldric was observant and methodical. Eventually, he had enough inconsistencies to start asking harder questions.

We can worry about that later.

After they ate (or in Velmira's case, pretended to eat), Aldric took out his journal and started looking at his notes about the ruins. She watched him work, seeing the careful documentation, the precise sketches, and the theorizing.

"Can I ask you something personal?" Aldric said suddenly, looking up from his notes.

"You can ask. I might not answer."

"Why are you doing this? I'm talking about the research. You're clearly well-educated and probably wealthy based on the quality of your belongings. You could be comfortable somewhere. Why trek through wilderness with a dying scholar to examine old ruins?"

The question was more personal than he realized. Why was she doing this? What was she hoping to find out about other players who had been transported? Understanding about her situation? Or was she just desperate for a connection, even if it was temporary, even with someone who would be gone in two years?

"I'm looking for something," Velmira said at last. "Evidence of others like me. People who were forced to leave their homes. Who ended up somewhere they didn't belong and had to figure out how to survive."

"Refugees?" Aldric asked. "From the demon wars?"

"Something like that. I think the ruins we're visiting have records. Messages left by people who have passed away."

"That's why you were so interested in my research on unusual architecture." He understood. "You think these ruins are connected to displaced populations. To people like you."

"I hope so."

Aldric nodded slowly, accepting this partial truth.

"I hope we find what you're looking for. Everyone deserves to know they're not alone."

The kindness in his voice made Velmira feel sad. He didn't know what she really was, what she was hiding from him, or how many lies she had already told. But he was showing real kindness based on the little truth she had shared.

She didn't deserve it.

But she was going to take it anyway, because she was selfish and lonely and mortal kindness was the only warmth available to something as cold as her.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

Later, after Aldric had fallen asleep in his bedroll, Velmira slipped away into the forest to hunt. She found a fox quickly — her senses guided her to prey with cruel efficiency now — and killed it with mechanical precision. The blood made her feel a little better, and she was able to control herself for another day.

When she returned to camp, Aldric was breathing deeply and evenly, like a person asleep. But she noticed that his bedroll had shifted slightly and that his pack had been moved.

He had been awake when she left. And probably watched her go into the darkness.

He was observant. Of course he had noticed.

But he didn't say anything about it the next morning, and she didn't bring it up. This was another unspoken truth between them.

On the second day, they traveled deeper into the hills. The forest is becoming denser and denser. There were signs of the old war here: rusted weapons half-buried in the ground, the remains of a watchtower barely visible through the plants, and a mass grave marked only by the unusual shape of the tree growth around it.

"We're getting close to what used to be no man's land," Aldric explained.

"This territory changed hands many times during the war. Nobody wanted to rebuild here because of too many bad memories."

"But it's perfect for hiding ruins so that nobody would notice," Velmira said.

"Exactly. That's why I think there are more sites out there we haven't found yet. The Association focuses on populated areas and places that are important for military strategy. They ignore the wilderness."

Around midday, Aldric started coughing. It started out mild but quickly got worse, making him double over. Velmira stopped him, feeling the shakes and hearing the sound of blood.

When it passed, he dismissed her concern.

"I'm fine. I just need to rest for a minute."

But he wasn't fine. She could hear him breathing hard, and smell the sickness in his lungs. His body was weak, but he kept going because they didn't have much time and the work was important.

"We can slow down," Velmira said. "Take more breaks."

"No. I want to reach the site today. We're close, maybe two more hours." He stood up straight, using his strength to make his posture better.

"I'm not an invalid yet. I can handle a two-hour hike."

Pride and stubbornness. These are very human traits.

They continued, moving more slowly now. Velmira found herself automatically walking faster or slower to match his pace, staying close enough to catch him if he stumbled. She had never known she had protective instincts.

When had she started caring this much? When had Aldric become more than a source of information?

Dangerous questions. She pushed them to the side.

***

The ruins appeared through the trees in the late afternoon, and even though Velmira had seen them before, they felt wrong to her.

Yggdrasil architecture. The precision of shapes that nature never produced. Materials that weren't used in the medieval world. The half-collapsed structure stuck out from the hillside like a strange technological growth, with angles that were too perfect and surfaces that were too smooth.

Aldric stopped walking and stared, amazed.

"Wow," he said. "It's beautiful."

He started working right away, getting his tools ready and starting to draw and measure.

Velmira let him work, watching him catalog details with scholarly precision. This was what drove him: the pure joy of discovery, of understanding something he didn't know before.

She envied that. Envied the simplicity of pursuing knowledge for its own sake, without the weight of secrets and lies and existential questions about humanity.

"The mathematical precision is incredible," Aldric said, running his hand along a wall.

"These angles are exact. The lines are perfectly straight and parallel. No human stonemason could achieve this level of consistency across an entire structure."

"Not human," Velmira agreed quietly.

"Is it a magical construction technique that we've lost? Or..." He looked at her closely. "You know something. What is this place really?"

She had prepared for this question.

"This is architecture from a civilization that used magic differently than we do now. They are more a part of their environment and their way of life. They built according to principles we no longer understand."

It's a mix of truth and lies.

"The civilization you're from," Aldric said, understanding what was happening.

"This is your people's work."

"Not exactly. But it's similar enough that I recognize the main ideas."

He accepted this, turning back to document more details. Velmira took the chance to check out the building, spotting the same entrance she remembered.

The stone stairs went down into darkness, kept safe by a magic spell that had lasted for hundreds of years.

"There's an entrance," she said. "Underground chambers. That's where we'll find what you're looking for."

Aldric's eyes lit up.

"Can we explore now? We have about two hours of good light left."

"We should make camp first. The interior is spacious, which makes it nice to start the day fresh and have a full day ahead."

He didn't want to, but he agreed. They set up camp at the bottom of the ruins, Aldric still drawing pictures by the light of the fire after the sun had set. Velmira watched him work, memorizing the concentration on his face and the careful movements of his hands.

Two years. Maybe three.

Every moment felt like it was borrowed.

The morning was cold and bright. They entered the ruins as soon as it was light enough, with Aldric carrying a hooded lantern and Velmira not needing one because of her vampiric vision, which allowed her to see in the dark.

The inside was exactly as she remembered: rooms that had been kept the same, impossible shapes, and the quiet sound of magic that was still there. Aldric was shocked by each new discovery and wrote down everything with great excitement.

"This is incredible," he kept saying. "Absolutely incredible. The mana signature is very stable, and the magic keeps going on its own."

Velmira led him deeper, toward the room where K.M. had left their messages. She thought about whether to tell him or "discover" it together. In the end, she chose the second option: another lie, but one that kept her secrets safe.

"Look at this," she said, pointing to the walls as they entered the message chamber.

Aldric lifted his lantern, which revealed the carved words.

English. It's clearly English.

Day 1: Where am I? This isn't the game.

"What language is this?" Aldric moved closer and traced the letters with his fingers. "I've never seen a script like this."

"It's the written language of my homeland," Velmira said, which was technically true. "A displaced person left these messages."

Month 3: The NPCs are real people. Real. God, what have I done?

Aldric read slowly, trying to understand the strange writing. "Can you translate?"

Velmira read the messages aloud, making small changes to the words. She removed references to "game" and "logging out" and used words that Aldric would understand. But the core remained: someone had been transported here, alone, desperate, searching for others.

Year 5: Still looking for others. If anyone finds this, go to Strahl. Continental Magic Association. They have records of unusual occurrences. —K.M.

"K.M.," Aldric said gently. "A name. A real person. They also mention the Continental Magic Association, so this was written after Serie founded it. Within the last fifty years."

"Probably," Velmira agreed, but she thought the messages were from before. K.M. had mentioned the Association because it existed when they wrote, but how long ago had they actually been here?

"Are there more chambers?" Aldric asked. "More messages?"

"I'm not sure. We should explore it carefully. The structure might not be stable."

They moved deeper into the ruins and found more rooms. And in one of them — a chamber Velmira hadn't fully explored before — they found something new.

A hidden corner was revealed only when Aldric's lantern light hit the wall at a certain angle. Inside, there was another message and an object.

Year 7: Demons can sense us. Our mana is wrong to them — it attracts them like blood in water. If you're reading this, be careful. They hunt us. I've killed three so far. But they keep coming. —K.M.

The object was a ring with the familiar pattern of game assets, clearly from Yggdrasil. Velmira recognized it immediately: a [Sentinel Ring], low-tier danger detection item.

"What is that?" Aldric reached for it.

"Don't—" Velmira started to say, but he had already touched it.

The ring glowed with light, reacting to the presence of beings touched by Yggdrasil. The whole dungeon reacted; the lights flickered on along the walls, magical circuits glowed, and the hum of magic grew from background noise to active presence.

"What's happening?" Aldric stepped back, worried.

Then the golem activated.

It had been sitting in the corner of the room, covered in dust and completely still, so much so that they had thought it was just part of the decoration or some kind of trash. Now it rose—a structure made of stone and metal, shaped like a human, and full of the same Yggdrasil energy as the ring.

It's a security measure. It had been inactive for decades, but it was reactivated when it detected intruders.

"Run!" Velmira shouted, but the golem was already moving.

It wasn't fast, but it was huge. Its stone fist swung toward Aldric with crushing force.

Velmira jumped forward, pushing Aldric out of the way. The golem's fist hit the wall where he had been standing, and the whole room shook. Cracks spread through the ceiling.

"The exit!" Velmira grabbed Aldric's arm and pulled him toward the hallway.

They ran, but the golem followed, its footsteps thundering. Behind them, the chamber began to collapse. The golem's impact had already weakened the structure, which was centuries old.

Aldric faltered. Velmira caught him and pulled him forward. She knew she was using more strength than a normal person should have, but she was too focused on survival to care about being exposed.

The hallway shook. Small pieces of rock fell from the ceiling.

"Keep moving!" she shouted.

But the ceiling collapsed in front of them, blocking their way. They were trapped. There was a collapsing chamber behind them, an blocked corridor in front of them, and the golem was still coming.

Aldric turned to face the construct, pulling a knife from his belt — a pathetically inadequate weapon. "I'll give you time to clear the rubble."

"No." Velmira pushed him toward the wall. "Stay down. Cover your head."

"But—"

A big piece of the ceiling fell down right at them. Velmira saw it happening, saw where it was going, and saw that Aldric was right in its path.

She moved without thinking.

Her hand shot up, catching the falling stone—easily five hundred pounds—and deflecting it aside. The impact should have shattered her arm. Instead, she barely felt it.

Aldric stared at her, looking shocked.

Then the golem reached them, and another piece of ceiling fell.

This one hit Aldric directly. He fell to the ground, blood spreading from a cut on his forehead, and he was completely still.

"Aldric!" Velmira dropped to her knees and checked his pulse. Still alive. Unconscious but alive.

The golem raised its fist for another strike, this one aimed at Aldric's prone form.

Something inside Velmira changed.

She had been waiting for days. Weeks. She pretended to be weaker than she was, hid her true nature, and pretended to be human. But Aldric was unconscious and vulnerable and about to die, and she was done pretending.

Velmira stood up as tall as she could, her bright red eyes shining in the dark, with her fangs showing.

[Shadow Blade]

She said, and darkness coalesced into form. The sword appeared instantly—a sword made of solid darkness, full of deadly energy.

The golem swung at her. She dodged with inhuman speed, moving faster than physics should allow, and her blade carved through the construct's arm. Stone and metal parted like cloth.

The golem didn't scream because it had no voice, but it showed that it was hurt and needed to adjust its settings. It was designed to protect itself from threats and adapt to new situations.

It had no idea what it was facing.

Velmira moved like death itself. [Shadow Blade] moved quickly, and each strike was exact and very damaging. She targeted the joints and weak points, and the magical core that she could sense pulsing within the construct's chest.

The golem tried to adapt, changing tactics, but she was level 80. This was probably level 50 at best. The power difference was too big to overcome.

[Blood Spike].

She used her own energy to create a spell. This spell created red projectiles that went into the golem's body. The structure was built in a staggered pattern. And then…

[Crimson Chains].

Bright red magic appeared in the ground, wrapping around the golem's legs and holding it still.

It struggled, but vampiric magic was designed to drain and restrain. The chains held together.

Velmira went up to the immobilized construct, and her shadow blade was still humming with power. The golem's core was exposed, and it was pulsing with failing energy.

She used her sword to cut it.

The structure shook and stopped moving. The light in its core went out. The magic that made it move disappeared, leaving only stone and metal.

Everyone was quiet, and the only sounds were the settling of dust and debris.

Velmira stopped her sword and quickly went back to Aldric. He was still unconscious and bleeding, but his pulse was steady. The cut on his head looked worse than it was, but that's normal for a cut on the head.

She took out some medical supplies — bandages, a healing potion she'd bought in Waal — and started to treat him. Her hands were steady, even though she was bleeding and the smell of the blood made her hungry.

Don't bite him. Don't even think about it.

She pushed the thought aside and focused on bandaging. Aldric needed her to be human right now, not a monster. He needed her to save him, not eat him.

The healing potion was basic and low-grade, but it worked. She poured it over the wound. It would prevent infection and speed recovery. It's not a miracle, but it's better than nothing.

As she worked, Velmira's mind raced. Aldric had seen her catch falling stones with one hand. She had displayed strength that no human could match. But he'd been knocked out right away. He might not remember clearly. He might think he imagined it in the chaos.

She could hide this. She could pretend to be someone or something else to hide her true power.

The demon warning flashed through her mind: They hunt us. Our mana is wrong to them.

But there was no time to worry about that now. She needed to get Aldric out of the ruins, take care of his injuries, and figure out how to explain what had happened when he woke up.

Velmira lifted him carefully — he was nothing to her vampiric strength — and carried him toward the exit. The ruins had mostly stopped collapsing and had settled into a new, stable position. The golem's remains were where she'd killed it.

She stopped at the message chamber and looked at K.M.'s warnings one more time.

They hunt us.

If that was true, if demons really did hunt players who had been transported—

The thought stopped mid-formation.

She felt it before she heard it: something was wrong with the mana flow, and something dangerous and ancient was approaching. Her vampire senses warned her.

Demon.

Outside the ruins. Between her and their camp. And it's getting closer.

Velmira looked down at Aldric. He was still unconscious, lying in her arms. She couldn't fight while carrying him. She couldn't run fast because she was carrying so much weight. But she couldn't leave him here by himself.

The demon was getting closer. Smart and focused. Hunting.

K.M. had been right. Velmira realized why their messages ended in the seventh year.

The demons had found them.

Now they had found her.

End of Chapter 7