by Ivan Kal
“He died,” Clara said with a sigh. “He failed in his task, and the tribe had to choose another ascended. My family lost influence because of what happened, and there was unrest in the tribe. No one wanted to have their child become an ascended if there was another lottery. So I volunteered in order to help my family.”
She shook her head. “I was completely the wrong choice in every way. The classes that I could be taught were Knight and Wizard, and I had no training relevant to either. I had been training to be a healer, a herb-woman. But I learned as much as I could from the books I had, and, well… The Aegis class was never supposed to be just a support class. It is a fighting, tanking class that can buff up others. But I am weak, and my knowledge is mostly geared toward healing, and so my classes were shaped in that direction.”
They settled into silence for while, sitting next to each other, their shoulders touching. Morgan was grateful to her, both for saving his life and then for listening and sharing her own story. He hadn’t really been thinking clearly before, but now, once he had the time to digest his life and what he wanted to do, he could feel a decision settle into his being. He wanted to be better, to grow stronger and pass Oxylus’s test. He wanted to truly live, to see sights that no other human being from his world had ever seen—and he wanted to be free of the past.
“Thank you, Clara, for sharing all that with me.” Morgan felt tired, so as he said that he leaned his head on her shoulder.
Immediately he tumbled to the floor as she moved away and stood up, looking down at him uncomfortably.
“Oh no, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea,” she said quickly. “I know that you humans have some weird mating rituals, but I am not really into humans.”
“Uh… Say what ,now?” Morgan asked confused.
“Nor am I really into men,” Clara told him.
“Well, that is good to know? But I didn’t really want to start anything with you. I mean you are hot as all hell and all that, but I am not really the cheating type, and I have Ves—who just a moment ago you told me I really love.”
“Just so we are clear, I like you, Morgan, but not in any romantic way!”
“Is this, like, really happening right now?” Morgan said from the floor. “We are trapped in a dungeon, I am hurting like all hell, and you are talking about that stuff? Really?”
Clara’s eyes widened and she looked around quickly, taking in the small room they were in. “Oh Great Lord, we are stuck here!”
Morgan laughed—he couldn’t help it. Nearly dying and all that heavy stuff made everything seem so ludicrous.
“Don’t laugh at me!” Clara said.
“You are really something, Clara. Come help me get up and let’s try and find a way out of this room.”
She frowned but walked over and helped him stand. He had an arm around her shoulders, steadying himself. “You are really a good person, Clara. Would you like to be my friend?” he asked slowly, looking her in the eyes. He was terrified inside at the bluntness of the question, but he wanted to change his life, to make meaningful connections, and to live his truth.
Clara blinked, then punched him in the stomach and let him fall to the ground. Morgan raised his head and looked at her, feeling betrayed. “What the hell? I am injured here!”
“You really are such an idiot. We are friends already,” Clara said.
“Really?” Morgan asked.
“Yes, really,” she bit out. “Now can you stop being such a wuss? It is unbecoming.”
Morgan struggled for a bit, but managed to get back to his feet. “Wait, did we just become best friends?”
“Oh I see that I should’ve let you die.” Clara shook her head as she walked toward the throne.
“No, wait, what’s your favorite dinosaur?” Morgan called as he limped over to her.
“I have no idea what that is,” Clara told him.
“Bro—no, wait, what is the ‘bro’ for a girl… Right!” Morgan put his hand up in the air. “C’mon, up top, broette.”
Clara just looked at him blankly.
“Okay, I know that you know what I want!” Morgan protested. “You were there when Lucius and I high-fived! We nearly died, told our life stories to each other, became best buddies. So, can you be cool? Like just this one time, there is no one here to see you. Can you just be cool?”
Clara rolled her eyes, but then she raised her arm and high-fived him.
“Fuck yeah! That’s it!” Morgan grinned. He felt somehow free—yes he was acting in the way he acted when he thought that he was hiding, but now he felt as if there was no mask, as if he could just be whoever he wanted to be. It felt liberating.
The two of them looked around the throne and noticed a large chest sitting behind it.
“Loot!” Morgan yelled out, moving to open the chest.
“Wait!” Clara reached out to stop him, but again she was too slow.
Morgan opened the chest seeing the items inside. Cheekily he turned to look at Clara. “See, nothing wrong happened this time!”
Clara closed her eyes and sighed in relief.
“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” came a voice from behind them.
Clara’s eyes opened and looked at him in exasperation. “You just had to open the chest, didn’t you?”
CHAPTER SEVEN
The two of them turned to look at the source of the voice together.
Morgan swallowed hard when he saw a woman floating there. She was tall, and she had a long hair that seemed like it was made out of fire. Her eyes glowed and had a depth to them that made Morgan feel small. Clara whimpered next to him, and dropped to her knees, but Morgan just stared.
“I got an alert informing me about the completion of a dungeon, and a need for repopulation,” the woman spoke. “Only, imagine my surprise when the dungeon that had just been completed had been supposed to be decommissioned a long time ago? So I decided to come here and see what the problem was in person, and who do I find here but you. You really know how to get yourself in impossible situations, don’t you, Morgan? I swear, you are exactly like your father.”
Morgan blinked. My father? What? His mind stopped working for a few seconds. “Uh, what? Do we know each other?”
The woman grimaced, and Morgan felt like she had spoken more than she intended to.
Clara garbed his trousers and pulled. “Kneel, you moron—that is the Guiding Force!” she whispered through her teeth.
Morgan frowned and looked back to the woman. “You know who I am?” he asked, not kneeling. I can wait a day or so before I start showing more respect to gods-that-are-not-gods.
“Right, I erased your memory, I forgot.” She waved her hand, and Morgan remembered.
He blinked as the memory of this woman and their first meeting was just there inside of his mind. A part of him was terrified at the casual ability she had to alter his memories, and another was furious that she’d done it in the first place—but he was smart enough not to call her out on it.
“You saved us in the Mountain’s Heart dungeon…” Morgan said.
“I did,” the Guiding Force said.
“You mentioned my father. You know who he is—was?” Morgan asked quickly as he realized that this conversation might be cut short the same as their last one.
The woman put her hand over her eyes. “I shouldn’t have said that, but you really have the same ability to make me act out of turn that your father has.”
Has? Morgan noted the word. “You don’t mean about my stepfather, do you?”
The Guiding Force just shook her head. “No, I mean your birth father.”
“Right, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool... He is still alive?” Morgan asked.
The Guiding Force just looked at him blankly. “You are smart enough to figure that out, Morgan.”
And Morgan realized that he was, that he knew who his father is. Wow, well that is like a world-shattering revelation… Well, fuck me sideways.
“Are you going to erase our minds again?
” Morgan asked. He had no illusion about his ability to defy the will of this being. Even though he was filled with questions, he knew that he would not get answers from her.
“There are rules. You ascended are not supposed to know about the inner workings of this world,” the woman said.
“Can’t you make an exception? We won’t tell anyone.” Morgan glanced at Clara, who was looking at him with wide eyes. When she realized that he expected her to speak, she looked to the Guiding Force and nodded her head furiously.
The woman sighed. “You really can’t help yourself, Morgan, can’t you? I suppose… She is of the Wanderers, and they are privy to many things.” She narrowed her eyes at Morgan and then turned to look at Clara. “Things that she has already shared with you, against her people’s laws.”
Clara looked down to the ground and her whole body froze in fear.
“You can look into our minds, right?” Morgan butted in. “Then you know already if we will tell anyone.”
“Of course I know,” the Guiding Force replied impatiently. “This is not about that. It is about rules. But then again, I guess your father and I are not really fans of rules… Fine, you may keep your memories. But I should let you know that this does not mean preferential treatment—you are on your own. You will thrive or die based on your own strength. You already cashed in when you died back on Earth.”
Morgan swallowed hard, but he nodded. He had so many questions, but he knew that he would need to wait for the answers. Still, there was no harm in asking. “Uh, so any idea about how we can get out of here?”
The Guiding Force looked at him in exasperation. “What part of no help did you not understand? In any case, this is not like last time. This room does have a way out.”
With that, she turned around and disappeared.
Clara stood up slowly and looked at Morgan as if she was looking at a stranger.
“What?”
“The hell was that?” she nearly screamed at him.
“Uh…the Guiding Force, I guess?” Morgan said lamely.
“And you’ve met her before? And what was that about your father? She didn’t mean that he is—”
“Clara,” Morgan interrupted. “Calm down. First thing we need to do is get out of here.”
She looked at him for a long moment, and then nodded. They looked around the room and found a lever that opened up a door that revealed stairs leading up. They were just about to leave when Morgan stopped her.
“We should take all the loot we can before we leave. We might not be able to come back,” Morgan said as he remembered what the Guiding Force had said about this dungeon being decommissioned. Clara nodded and they gathered all the ascension crystals from the floor that dropped from the skeletons and then they went to the large chest.
Morgan took a glance inside and used Inspect—it at least worked more reliably on items. There were four items inside, the first being a small chest filled with golden coins, similar to what Morgan and the others had found in the other dungeon. Next was a box with four small stones inside. He looked at them and read what they were.
Fierce Thrust I — requires a piercing weapon
Crack Earth I — requires earth alignment
Force Strike I — requires domination alignment
Energy Blade I — requires Energy Manipulation III
“Ability stones,” Morgan told Clara. All were interesting, but the last one drew Morgan’s eye. He really needed some better melee capability, and he already possessed Energy Manipulation.
The third thing in the chest was a robe—he picked it up and used Inspect on it.
Robe of Recovery LVL 14 (requires 20 intelligence and discipline alignment) — recover 10% of your energy per minute.
Morgan whistled. It wasn’t a large bonus, but with his natural recovery it added up—only he wasn’t really the guy to wear robes. He looked at Clara and then offered it to her. She wasn’t yet the required level, but Morgan was certain that she would level up once they left this dungeon.
She took it and thanked him, and Morgan turned to look back at the last item. It looked like a single gauntlet, only it was very thin and made out of some kind of light metal. On the back of the hand it was inscribed with glyphs. Morgan used Inspect.
Arcanist’s Dream LVL 15 (requires 22 intellect, 22 wisdom) — fires energy bolts using the user’s energy.
Finally, something useful for me! Morgan cheered mentally. He hadn’t yet gotten any piece of loot that looked like it would suit him, so he was very happy to see this gauntlet.
They checked the room again, and then when they were certain that they had everything, they started climbing the stairs. It took them about five minutes to reach the end of the stairs, illuminated by Clara’s ball of light. They found a lever and pulled it, opening a passage that let them back in the hall where they fell down in the trap.
As soon as they stepped back into the room, Morgan’s eyes looked for Ves. He saw her standing next to the pedestal where they had fallen and she turned around as she heard the sound of the wall opening. Her eyes were red, but as soon as she saw him she ran over. Morgan met her halfway and they caught each other in an embrace.
“You are safe,” Ves whispered in his ear.
“Of course I am,” Morgan said, and he realized how much her embrace meant to him. Clara had been right—he did love her. Even though they did not yet know each other that well, she was something that he had been missing all of his life. And they didn’t need to know each other, he realized, as they understood each other. Morgan knew how strong and courageous she was.
He squeezed her tighter, not intending to ever let her go.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The four of them slowly walked back out of the dungeon. Morgan was leaning on Ves, as he still hurt quite a bit. Once they climbed out of the hole in the wall and into the mine, Morgan received new notifications.
DUNGEON GROUP EXP GAINED!
4x Skeleton Warrior killed = 120 exp
1x Skeleton Lord killed = 1500 exp (500x3; first kill in more than two decades)
G.F. bonus — completed Lord’s Hollow dungeon = 600 exp
Morgan Newton LVL 14 — EXP 3653/6000
Damn, still not enough for a level, huh? I guess I’m going to be hurting for a while longer, Morgan said to himself as he saw his first notification. Shaking his head, he moved on to the next—and as soon as he saw it, he grinned.
New ability learned — Touch of Decay I
Touch of Decay I — you can accelerate the decay of whatever you are touching. Time and energy required depends on the amount of life energy inside the target (speed and amount of decay depend on intellect and will)
At least he’d gotten something out of nearly dying. If he was understanding what the ability did, it would be most useful against the undead, as they had no life energy within them. For living things it would basically be a weakening attack, similar to his Arrow of Decay. Still, it was a great addition to his repertoire.
He looked at the others and saw both Clara and Ereden having that faraway look in their eyes that told him that they were in their soul space, so at least they had leveled up. Ves shook her head when he looked at her.
“Not yet enough for a level,” Ves said.
“I guess it does get harder to level up the higher you go,” Morgan said.
“And we haven’t really been fighting against opponents that were that much higher levels than us, compared to what we had before. We shot up levels quickly, but since then we’ve only been fighting large amounts of relatively same level or lower monsters.”
“You are right,” Morgan agreed with her. He knew that the exp gain for fighting lower level monsters dropped down greatly with each level in between them. That, coupled with the fact that the amount of exp they needed for the next level had increased so much, made it that much harder to ascend quickly.
Clara and Ereden blinked away as they returned to their bodies, and both smiled widely at him.
“
I’m level thirteen now!” Clara said, bringing a hand up in the air in front of Morgan.
“Oh my god!” Morgan said looking at her raised hand, shocked that she would act in that way in front of others. “Really?”
Clara nodded, the grin still on her face, and Morgan slapped his palm on hers.
“Yeah!” he exclaimed, then noticed Ves looking at them in confusion. He looked cheekily at her. “We bonded by nearly dying together.”
Vestella just shook her head, but he could see that she was smiling.
Morgan turned to look at Ereden and asked him if he leveled up too.
“I did. I am level ten now,” the man said.
“Congratulations, both of you.” Morgan said.
They walked over slowly through the mine, mostly because Morgan had trouble walking. He could feel himself healing and getting better—his ascended body was much sturdier, but it was still annoying. I’ve got to put more points in constitution…
They exited the mines and into the night. The mining camp was lit by torches, and Clara’s ball of light followed them as they entered the camp. The guards immediately notified the Mayor and their Guard Captain, and the four of them were escorted to the tent.
“You cleared it?” the Mayor asked.
“We did,” Morgan answered. “You can send some people to check if you want.”
The Mayor looked uncomfortable at that, but he turned to Captain Henna and nodded. She cast a guarded glance at Morgan and his people then left the tent.
Morgan walked over to chair and dropped in with a heavy sigh. “I’m just gonna rest for a bit while we wait.”
Morgan closed his eyes and rested, while Clara and Ves chatted about something to the side. Ereden stood close to Morgan on guard, and the Mayor was across from them being all uncomfortable. It was about an hour later when the Captain returned to the tent.
“The dungeon is clear. There is no sign of any skeletons remaining,” Captain Henna reported.
