Matthew and Ffyr sat down on the coffee shop tables while the adventurers revolted against the dungeon keeping staff demanding reimbursement for the fee they paid to go inside. The gate to the Labyrinth closed sending all the parties inside it to the outside. No one knew what happened, no one, but Matthew.

Matthew just sat there with a hand holding his head as he looked upon the chaos the adventurers were making. Ffyr sat on the table swinging her legs from the edge a looking at the floor. They spent a week inside the Labyrinth fighting and now were both too tired to do get worried about anything.

Matthew's stat screen shined alerting him of a level up, but he was disinterested about it for the moment. He was just waiting Claudio to arrive rehearsing what he would say to his boss about what happened in the dungeon.

However, it didn't matter how much he dreaded having that conversation with the man or how much he feared the consequences of his actions. Matthew had no regrets. He did what he did for Faynn and specially for Faralynn. He was, at the end of it all, happy.

The elven funeral rite was a lengthy one. After death was confirmed, the body was prepared and embalmed. The organs were removed neatly and turned into compost for a seed of a tree species that represented the family of the deceased. The seed was then planted on a special place of the family's choosing.

The body was then preserved with magic and placed on an altar at the house of the family where relatives and friends could come to pay their respects. Because elves had very long lives, the amount of people expected to come was enormous. Therefore the body was kept inside the house for a month to give time and opportunity for everyone to come and pay their respects.

After the month, or the Mourning according to elven costume, the body was taken to the growing tree that was fed its internal organs and buried by it having the tree serve as the gravestone for the dead elf.

As Faynn didn't have a house of her own, Faralynn and her mother decided to bury her as a Laufgraan. They picked the family tree for her, a species that only existed in Nuilynn called Nymu. That tree had exceptionally bright green leaves that were the symbol of the family. They planted it in the backyard of their mansion.

Faynn's body was put on a white altar decorated with hundreds of black baccara roses which were Faynn's favorites. Faynn herself was dressed with a long black elven dress adorned with golden threads. Her hair was tied in a braid that rested upon her right shoulder.

It was 11 am and Faralynn was with Erin sitting by the side of Faynn's body. All the teachers that knew Faynn already came throughout the week to pay their respects to her. Faynn didn't have many friends beside those she worked with in the school.

Her past life, before she came to Earth and turned into Farzan's secretary, was a life of secrecy and hiding. She used to be a spy. She didn't have time for friendships and if she ever had a friend, they either died at some point or were just a ruse for gathering information.

This meant there was no one to come anymore. Faralynn's father was too busy dealing with his brother in Nuilynn to come back. Other than him, there was no one else yet to come. Perhaps Matthew, Faralynn thought to herself, if he wasn't trapped inside the dungeon, he'd sure come.

Faralynn's tears came back after thinking about Matthew. She was sure he was alright. But why haven't him come out yet? He had Ffyr to guide him out. Why was he taking that long? It had been 5 days already.

Was he too hurt? Was he dead?

Thinking about that made her cry again.

Erin patted the elf's back rubbing it to console her. She had no words to give. She was almost certain that Matthew was dead by now. It was a tragedy. One that happened to adventurers often, but it still hurt when it happened so close to home.

"Don't cry." A female voice said. "It's alright now."

Faralynn froze and stopped crying after hearing those words. She looked at Erin with wide eyes as if asking if she was the one who said them. But Faralynn knew that voice too well. She knew it couldn't be Erin.

Her eyes and Erin's slowly turned to the altar where Faynn was resting. They couldn't believe their eyes when they saw Faynn sitting up removing the flowers that were stuck on her hair and dress.

"You remembered how much I love these." She said smelling one of them.

"Faynn?" Faralynn called her getting up from the couch she was sitting on.

"Yes, my lady?" Faynn answered with smile in a playful voice.

"Are you really here?" Faralynn asked getting closer slowly.

"I am." Faynn smiled gently at Faralynn bringing her legs to the side of the altar. "You can feel my pulse if you want."

Faralynn then sprinted and hugged Faynn tightly pressing her head against her belly and crying loudly.

Faynn patted Faralynn's head and looked at Erin who was also crying, but softly, watching the scene.

"How long was I dead? Who raised me?" Faynn asked.

"5 days." Erin answered. "I don't know who brought you back." She added.

"5 days? What you mean you don't know?" Faynn was confused. "How am I back?"

"It doesn't matter for now." Faralynn said hugging Faynn even tighter. "I'm just glad you're alive."

Faralynn wasn't answering her phone when Matthew called her. While he was waiting for Claudio, he called his family and Vanessa to tell them he was out of the dungeon and alive. Their reactions were just as expected. His mother was relieved and cried upon learning he was well. Vanessa was initially relieved, but then she scolded him for staying in the dungeon for that long.

"I'll explain it all later." Matthew said to Vanessa as he saw Claudio marching in the complex. "I have to deal with Claudio now. Come to my house at night." He added before turning off the call.

"You're out." Claudio said ill tempered when approaching Matthew and sitting across from him. "I'm glad you're alive, kid. I really am. But what the hell did you do to our dungeon?" He asked clenching his teeth.

Matthew sighed and pressed his lips together.

"It wasn't me." He said.

"Meaning you know whose fault it was. Tell me, kid. What happened in there?" Claudio said moving his glasses and gasping when seeing Matthew's level. "And how the hell did you grow so much in 5 days?"

Matthew told him from the beginning what happened. From the time he defeated the Bashmu to how he decided to conquer the dungeon to resurrect Faynn and how Titania took control of the dungeon.

"So you gave my dungeon to the Queen of the Fae to bring back that elf?" Claudio asked with anger in his voice.

"You don't need to worry. Mom will open the dungeon again after she gets all of our people out and reorganize it to her will." Ffyr said with a smile on her face. Seeing Claudio angry brought her joy.

"She will open the dungeon again?" Claudio asked hopeful.

"Yes. Mommy will even keep the item reward system. But this time the dungeon will not entrap Fae to produce the items." Matthew explained.

"Why do you call her… No matter, it's probably a Fae joke isn't it?" Claudio shook his head. "What matters is that she will bring the Labyrinth back."

"She will." Ffyr answered him. "But you better be prepared. Mom is sadistic. The dungeon will be harder than before. But she's also kind. So the items will be better than before too."

Claudio rubbed both his hands on his face.

"This solves my questions about the item creation in the dungeon. Also solves the question on what is at the end of the dungeon." He said to himself out loud. "Guess I have no more motive to keep you around, kid." He added looking at Matthew. "I should undo our deal for what you have done here. But the truth is this works for me. Having a Laufgraan die at my dungeon under my watch was a lot of trouble. Since she's no longer dead, I don't think they will retaliate the Tower for it." Claudio explained his reasoning.

"Thank you." Matthew said feeling a weight being lifted from his shoulders.

"I also took a liking to you. You're a good kid. And a very powerful kid now." Claudio smiled creepily at him. "Our arrangement is over then. You don't need to come again. And our thing against the Howling Spear is still on. But you owe me one, kid. And I will claim it sooner or later." He added getting up. "As usual. It's a pleasure doing business with you. Now I need to deal with those buffoons over there." He said walking away referring to the adventurers making a fuss over the closing of the gate.

With that over, Matthew walked away to the parking lot where Vanessa was waiting for him with her bike. She drove fast to pick him up after he hung up the phone. As soon as she saw him, she ran and hugged him tightly.

"I'm alright." Matthew said.

"You need to stop worrying me, kid." Vanessa said holding her tears.

"I don't think I can do that." Matthew laughed hugging her back.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.