The Ancient Colony of Sephora

"This is magnificent," Dan stared at the tunnel walls as he searched for the silver gems.

"I thought this was supposed to be a simulation. Why does everything look real?" Dan looked around uncertainly until he stumbled upon his frozen body outside the tunnel.

"Damn! That's me! Am I really seeing my own body? How is this even possible?" Dan thought.

This was called "Soul Simulation," a practice common among the ancient colonies. The colonies used Soul Simulation to train their young ones brutally while preserving their bodies. Damages could be done to the soul, but the soul had excellent regenerative abilities, making it ideal for such training.

The Ancient Colony of Sephora had several brightly colored petals on the floor, hinting at a thriving colony.

"How did this colony end up in a tunnel?" Dan asked himself as he navigated through the tunnel, yet received no answer.

AaaaaAAAAAIIIIIEEEEEEEE!

Dan felt as though the whole tunnel was crumbling on his head. He fell face down, his knee piercing the ground tightly.

"What's that sound?" Dan spat out blood. "They didn't tell us the tunnels had monsters too."

As Dan cursed the school for not warning them, a masculine figure emerged from the shadows, smiling as he watched Dan suffer.

"You know, I've always thought you were the special type," the figure laughed, walking slowly towards Dan. "Right now, I think you're as pathetic as the rest of the students in these passages." He took a step closer and raised Dan's head, who was clearly in serious pain. "Before I send your soul back to your body, I should introduce myself." He tightened his grip on Dan's jawline, causing him more pain. "I'm Winifred," he finally said, his voice dripping with malice, "a banshee, and the Prince of Pushi Land. You may have heard of our mastery over the dead…"

Dan's eyes bulged and reddened as blood began to seep from them. "Please end this torture," he cried out.

"Hahahahahaha," Winifred laughed and gave Dan a heavy slap, sending him meters away. "I see you haven't gotten any gemstones yet," he scoffed. "You'd better stay off my path. If we cross paths again, hand over all the gemstones you've gathered, or the torture will be ten times worse. I'm leaving you now because I need you to get all 13 gemstones." Winifred turned and disappeared into the shadows.

Dan struggled to get up and continue his journey. After some time, he became completely unconscious.

AwooooooOOOoooOOoooo!

"My son, I miss you…"

In his unconscious state, he kept hearing the words "My son, I miss you…" and the howling of wolves. He felt as if his soul was about to be eaten by wolves. He tried to wake up, but no way!

"You're one of us!"

"Stop hiding your identity."

"Let us help you."

"Kedan."

The voice intensified in his head, his mind rupturing as he struggled to contain it.

Immediately, he woke up and found himself lying in the woods.

"How did I get here?" he pondered. As he was pondering, he felt a very powerful energy emanating from behind the trees at the center of the woods. It was as if it was calling out to him. He began walking closer to the trees. As he approached, the calling intensified, and the energy's scent became irresistible.

Regardez cet humain qui s'approche et s'il blesse la reine des gremlins. Et s'il est un espion du monde extérieur, protégeons la reine!! Tout le monde protège la reine!!!

Small, impish creatures with bat-like ears began rushing out of the dark abyss of the tree with their weapons as Dan approached. They were called the Gremlins and were formerly the guardians of the Ancient Colony of Sephora. Now, their ultimate goal was to protect their queen, Sephora, who was currently ill and lying inside the Sophora tree.

"Humain, laisse-nous!" the Gremlins echoed, pointing their double-headed sharp spears at Dan.

"Whoa, some crazy shit is really going on down here in this tunnel." Dan lifted his hands up as he saw the angry Gremlins approaching fiercely, shouting "Humain, laisse-nous!" repeatedly. "Since when do Gremlins use swords?" He wanted to back off, but the energy emanating from the Sophora tree was simply enticing, and he swore to see what was behind those trees.

"Okay, beautiful Gremlins, I'm not your enemy, I'm a friend," Dan said, bending down to look at the angry Gremlins. "I just need to see what is emanating such powerful energy from behind the tree."

Ce ne sont pas tes affaires, quitte cet endroit maintenant!

"Fuck! Gremlins, do you guys speak English?" Dan cursed as the Gremlins continued speaking an unknown language.

Oh, il ne nous entend pas? Sandé allume le traducteur vocal vers cette langue humaine.

Bastien, the leader of the Gremlins, commanded Sandé to turn on the voice translator and tune it to the human language.

Whirr ~~

"Human, please leave us," the Gremlins said in their language, but it came out as English, since that was what the human understood.

"Humph, finally you speak English," Dan sighed. "Please, I need to get access to the energy coming from behind that tree."

"Leave us, human!!" they all shouted.

"Silence!!!" Bastien raised his hands, silencing the other Gremlins as he stepped closer to the human. "We will grant you access to that energy if you help our queen Sephora. I know this is one of those Monster Slayer exercises where you guys come to steal the gemstones produced in our tunnels every year. There are about five gemstones behind the tree alongside many other treasures that will be useful to you. Please, human, I know you have a good heart. Help our queen!" Bastien knelt down and burst into tears, begging Dan to help their queen.

"It's alright, stand up!" Dan helped the Gremlin to his feet. When he looked at the other Gremlins, he saw them all bowing in respect to him.

"Help our queen Sephora."

"Take me to the Queen," Dan said, looking at Bastien.

Immediately, Bastien turned his back and started toward the Queen's tent, with Dan following behind.

Bastien brought out a green rectangular rock with similar patterns as the ones at the tunnel's entrance and placed it on the tree. Immediately, a door opened in the tree, and he went in. Dan hesitated for a while but eventually joined Bastien, who was already deep inside the tree.

"Whoa, this looks like a whole new world," Dan said, shocked to see how big and beautiful the inside of the tree was. As they walked closer, he began seeing other creatures in the colony. He saw a number of elves and some fairies. He was awestruck!

"Here, come in," Bastien motioned for Dan to enter the Queen's resting chamber.

"There's the Queen. She's dying because she lost her white light. She needs a master with a powerful energy core to fuse with her and become our king!" Bastien got straight to the point, hoping Dan would agree to fuse with Queen Sephora.

"Fusion with an elf?" Dan's heart raced. The very idea was foreign, almost terrifying. What if this is all a trick? he thought. What if they're just trying to strip me of my energy core and leave me for dead? Yet, despite his fear, something about Bastien's desperation felt genuine. Dan frowned, glaring at Bastien.

"No, master, you have a very unique energy core, and it will certainly help save our queen, thereby preserving this colony. If the queen dies, the colony will crumble. We would never harm you, master, because if you die after fusing with our queen, she too will die. Please help us, master. The queen has very little time left."

Dan looked into the Gremlin's eyes and could tell he was telling the truth. Despite his fear, he didn't want the colony to crumble, so he decided to fuse with Queen Sephora.

"How do I fuse with her?" he asked.

"Take this enchanted sword; it has her blood in it. Pierce it through your heart," Bastien said, sounding a bit mischievous.

"My heart?" Dan's voice faltered. The weight of the enchanted sword felt heavier than before. His hand trembled as he took it. Could he really trust them? A thousand thoughts raced through his mind, but one stood out: Was this the only way?"