Raised in Dungeon

Allen, that's the name that mother gave me.

I lived in something called dungeon, and one of those dungeon rooms was my house. I slept inside a tree-room. When I first opened my eyes in the morning, the first thing I did was glance at a lumber beside my bed.

That lumber is a chair that mother always sits on.

At that lumber, mother would spend the evening honing the blades of the swords that were mounted on the tree walls. The sound of the blade scraping was very loud, and occasionally she used a hammer to repair the sword. But even so, I've become used to it. The loud sound did not in the least bit annoy me in any way, instead, the sound is what makes me relaxed. It's better than having no sound.

However, when I awoke in the morning, nobody was in the room with me. So I decided to go out and look around all places.

I saw no one…

Mother was only here throughout the day and night, and she left when I was asleep.

The next morning, I did the same thing; when I got up, I immediately checked the lumber, mother was not sitting there anymore. I stepped outside and searched around…

I saw no one…

I always did that, and without me knowing it, it has become part of my morning routine. Searching for someone who is nowhere inside the house.

One day, there was mud passing through the river. I noticed something odd in how the mud moved, so I attempted to pick it up. It looks like the mud is alive. It was small and could move freely. The mud bounced off to one of my wounds, then drained a lot of my blood. Somehow I don't mind that the mud did that..

It named itself as Reig. I suddenly knew its name when that mud entered my shadow. I really wanted to tell mother, but whenever she came around, it ran away. I had the impression that it didn't want other people to know where it was, so I remained quiet about it since I didn't want Reig to leave me.

No one else was here, so Reig's presence really pleased me. Unfortunately, Reig can't talk, but I'm still happy with its presence because at least it can give a small response. It could move its shapeless hands, nod, and shake its head. I usually talk to Reig every time after and before training. And yet, I am still not satisfied. I wanted to talk with another human.

A couple of days after I met Reig. Mother home at noon. Even though she usually returned home in the afternoon. She grabbed something…

She brought humans!

…

When I woke up the next morning, I always did my routine. I stepped outside my room and searched around. And now, near the rivers. Someone else was there, a human who looked different from me.

The next day, the next day, and the next day, whenever I stepped out of my room, I saw someone else near the river. Even though we don't speak the same language, I feel relieved that someone replied to what I said. After more than 20 days, when I awoke, I no longer glanced over that lumber chair. I just straight forward came out to see my human friends. And now we can finally speak the same language.

…

AaAaaaaah!!! I said some embarrassing things to her! I just confessed that I wanted to be with her forever, but she could not hear it clearly. I fall asleep on her lap, and as I do, she tenderly strokes my head. Because I am not used to sleeping in quiet situations, I thought I could not fall asleep. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how relaxing it was. I had no idea that lying down on someone's lap could be this comfortable. I ended up falling asleep in that position.

…

And then today… When I woke up, I saw an unfamiliar ceiling. The light emanating from the crystal in the ceiling was hit my face. I recalled that I did not sleep in my tree room today.

I lifted my body and turned around…

I saw no one…

The chain is loose, and the human is nowhere to be seen…