Alfia opened her eyes and found herself standing before a vast, lush forest. Flowers of every color bloomed around her, and towering trees reached toward the heavens. The scent of moisture assaulted her nose, making her frown.
It was… silent. Something she liked very much.
She looked around, seeing no end in sight. She walked for what felt like hours, aimlessly. Strangely, she didn't feel hunger, or thirst, or any basic need.
Eventually, in the distance, she spotted a shapeless mass of mud, wandering through the forest with the animals. From time to time, the mud-creature would stop and stare in a specific direction.
Time passed. Alfia kept a close eye on the mud-thing, curious about such a strange entity. Then, she heard footsteps approaching.
Turning toward the sound, she saw a woman whose beauty transcended gender. Her long hair shimmered with a faint green glow, and she appeared no older than sixteen.
Alfia was speechless. Not even gods of beauty like Freya could compare—this woman made them look plain in comparison. That was the level of her beauty.
Strangely, she reminded her of the spirit that had appeared in the Dungeon. They were very similar, yet the one before her now was clearly female. Her gestures, her hands, her presence—it was all unmistakably that of a woman.
While lost in thought, unsure how long had passed, she watched as the mud-entity and the woman began to have sex.
Alfia's eyes widened in shock, for the first time in her life truly stunned by what she was seeing. Who wouldn't be? A mindless lump of mud… mating with such a divine woman?
—"What the fuck…"—was all she managed to whisper before everything went dark.
---
Deep inside a cave lit only by firefly-like insects, Alfia regained consciousness.
Her eyes opened slowly, and her brain kicked into overdrive, assessing where she was and what condition her body was in.
It didn't take long to realize the obvious. The broken bones, the burns… they were gone.
Confused, she tried to stand but failed miserably. Her body didn't respond as it used to—it was slow, shaky.
While analyzing her condition, she heard approaching footsteps. Soon, the being from the Dungeon appeared before her. His face held a serene, calm expression as he looked at her.
—"You're awake, Master. That's a relief,"—he said, sitting nearby.
—"How long was I asleep?"—she asked, eyes scanning the cave for potential exits.
—"Two weeks. I've been feeding you with my mana,"—he replied with a smile.—"And healing your wounds, at least the external ones."
Alfia said nothing. No words of thanks. Not that Enkidu expected them.
—"Why did you save me? I was meant to die in the Dungeon,"—she whispered, staring into his eyes.
—"Because you wanted to live. Your desire to live called me. I already told you, Master,"—Enkidu answered.—"It doesn't matter how many times you tell me—or yourself—that you should've died. Your soul screamed the opposite."
—"That's why I came."
Alfia didn't respond. She stared into his eyes and saw no pity, no disdain, no disgust, no hatred. There was nothing in those green eyes—only the gentleness and stillness of nature itself.
And that angered her.
She had done terrible things. She hated herself. Seeing Enkidu look at her that way infuriated her. She wasn't worthy. She didn't feel worthy.
—"Why do you look at me like that, spirit…? Don't you pity me?"—she muttered in a low voice, her face darkening.
—"Why did you save me, damn it?! I should have died, like Zald, like Mardull—I was supposed to die with them! And when I finally had the chance to see them again, you took it away!!"—she screamed, her red eyes blazing with fury.
The cave trembled with her anger. Though she couldn't move, her voice remained powerful—enough to make any adventurer wet themselves in fear.
But Enkidu wasn't an adventurer. Nor something humans could understand.
He didn't flinch at her tone, nor was he angered by her outburst. He just listened, quietly watching her.
She cursed him. She shouted. But his expression never changed.
—"You're a damn… I… I should… I have to die,"—she muttered, drained, as tears streamed down her worn face.
—"You've spent what little energy you had yelling, Master. Please, rest and recover,"—he said as she slowly drifted off to sleep.
—"Humans… such strange, fascinating creatures."
---
Days passed. Weeks.
The cave became her sanctuary. Enkidu hunted small beasts, fetched water, gathered roots. He kept a respectful distance, yet never strayed far. He never invaded her space, but was always nearby.
Alfia, on the other hand, was crumbling inside.
Sometimes she whispered Zald's name in her sleep. Sometimes she cursed Orario. Sometimes she cried in silence. But always… always she woke up… and Enkidu was still there.
One night, as the fire crackled weakly, she looked at him from her makeshift bed of leaves and hide.
—"Why do you stay?"
—"Because you called me."
—"That's not enough."
—"It is for me."
—"You're wasting your time."
—"I don't have a concept of waste. Only existence."
She turned away, frustrated.
—"You don't understand anything! We killed, we destroyed, we wanted to break the city… I wanted to break everything… and I failed! I don't deserve this!"
Enkidu slowly sat across from her, legs crossed.
—"Do you think life is something you deserve? Isn't it something to be taken… fought for… or begged for?"
His words echoed deep inside her.
—"You wanted to live. Maybe not with your mouth. But your soul screamed it. I don't care what you did, Master. What interests me… is what you'll do next."
Alfia didn't reply. The fire crackled into silence.
---
In time, her body healed—slowly, painfully, with new limits. Her stamina was no longer the same. Something had broken inside, deeper than bone. But she could walk again.
One afternoon, as she looked at her reflection in a puddle, she said:
—"…Maybe I'll never forgive myself."
—"Maybe you don't need to,"—Enkidu replied, ever near, like the forest itself.—"Maybe you just need to accept it… and learn from it."
She smiled. A faint, bitter smile. A flicker of humanity.
—"And what will you do when I'm better?"
—"Stay with you."
—"Why?"
—"It's my duty to follow you. You summoned me. We're connected,"—Enkidu explained, pointing to his hand, where a crimson red tattoo glowed faintly.
Alfia's eyes widened at the sight, unsure how it had appeared. Enkidu noticed her confusion and calmly explained, his words slowly sinking in.
—"I'll stay by your side until you no longer need me. Only then will I leave… as if I'd never been here at all,"—he said with a gentle smile, before going off to play with the animals drawn to him.
---
In the months that followed, Alfia began walking more. Exploring. Training what little her body allowed. Her levels hadn't dropped—that didn't happen—but her body couldn't keep up. She was like a wounded beast that still remembered how to hunt… but had no claws.
Enkidu stayed at her side. Sometimes they fought together. Sometimes they talked. Sometimes they just shared the silence.
And without realizing it, Alfia began to trust him.
---
—"You have a sad kind of beauty," he said one night, while they shared dried fruit. "Like the last tree in a burned forest."
Alfia scoffed.
—"That was… poetic."
—"Am I not?"
—"Not exactly. You're more like… a mirror."
—"Maybe I am," Enkidu whispered, staring at her with his always gentle eyes.
She looked at him for a long moment without saying anything, but somehow she felt sadness in his words.
That night, Alfia dreamed again. She hadn't dreamed since the last time she remembered seeing the mass of mud and the woman.
But this time she dreamed something different. It was… Enkidu.
—
Enkidu was walking outside the forest, while on its outskirts the woman from Alfia's previous dream watched him.
Seeing Enkidu and the woman, Alfia couldn't understand… how was it possible there were two people so alike? Enkidu and she were a single image; the only difference was Enkidu's simple tunic that made his gender indistinguishable.
Then the scene changed. In front of Enkidu stood a man with golden hair that shone brightly, blood-red eyes, clad in resplendent golden armor, looking at him arrogantly.
Alfia saw Enkidu crouch as undulating golden portals appeared on the ground, growing constantly in number, while the golden man did the same with disdain.
What followed left Alfia stunned, for the second time in her life. The clash of thousands upon thousands of swords every second. The surrounding destruction, the overwhelming noise.
Alfia wasn't bothered. The adventurer feared noise and anything she considered noise, for she loved silence and was nicknamed "The Silence" in honor of that. For the first time in her life, such noise did not bother her.
The scene unfolding before her was beyond imagination, something no one would believe if she told them—but there it was.
—"It's as if the World was born and destroyed seven times," she heard the woman who looked too much like Enkidu whisper.