He nodded. “I was always told an eidolon is a reflection of the soul of their summoner. Supposedly, if they progress to epic tier, some of them have developed their own souls, but that makes them more vulnerable as a part of them could actually be destroyed in this realm.”

  “So, I can’t experiment with his spiritual energy because it is a reflection of my soul.”

  I was frustrated. The training was getting old. I wanted to go back into the dungeon, but hadn’t forced the point because I was definitely making gains.

  Samvek said, “I can feel your impatience. I’ve been there. So let me explain the goal. I didn’t think you’d have the perseverance at first, but now you’re getting close I feel. When you forge your uncommon class core, you can choose up to five skills, six abilities, and five spells to fuse into it. It won’t improve the ones you choose to infuse, but it will alter the class core, making them more centered around those aspects of you. And giving you a more refined core.

  “The system won’t tell you this, but not all uncommon cores are of the same value. The same is true at every tier. So far you’ve been fumbling around and I’m here to help you get the most out of tiering up. But only skills over 100 and abilities or spells which are rare will work. The same as I have to have mine at legendary to advance to an epic class core. Trust me the results will be worth it.”

  “So you only offered me the class shard when I passed 100 because you thought that I would be too impatient?”

  He nodded. “Forerunners are not known for their patience.” Then he stood up. “Think on what you want to infuse into your class. You have more options than any non-forerunner. Either way, we’re going back into the dungeon tomorrow. If you want, I’ll help you form the new class core before we leave. But if you can be patient, I can help you make something spectacular.”

  I thought about what he said and then laid down to rest. Staring up at the ceiling above me, my mind wouldn’t stop racing along as I considered what I’d just learned. We’d be back into the dungeon tomorrow. I took a quick glance at the stat gains I’d achieved and then began thinking of strategies to maximize the growth I still needed.

  Stat Gains:

  Strength: +15

  Agility: +15

  Durability: +10

  Endurance: +10

  Vitality: +30

  Perception: +10

  Chapter 30- Into the Labyrinth

  Earth Countdown: 387 days, 7 hours, 30 minutes.

  Time on Darje Mission: 108 days, 14 hours, 16 minutes.

  When I woke from four hours of sleep, Samvek had some food cooked. It smelled like bacon, but when I ate it, the taste was a bit odd. Still good, just not quite the same.

  “This will probably be your last chance to eat hot food in the next few days,” he said.

  I arched my eyebrow. “Gonna tell me what to expect.”

  “Some and some you have to figure out on your own. The next part is a maze of sorts. There are tunnels which twist in on themselves, others which go nowhere and hidden amidst all that are the paths you need to take. You’ll be fighting pretty non-stop, but at least most of the time, the tunnels are easily wide enough to use your polearm.”

  “What type of monsters will I be facing?”

  “I’ll only say that there will be light based, undead creatures who will be very good at sneaking up on you.”

  That confused me. “Light based? Wouldn’t that make them bad at hiding?”

  He chuckled. “I expected that response. You keep forgetting that mana has many different aspects. That is why you’ll hear lots about fire mana, but very little about ice mana and nothing about cold mana. The same applies for dark or shadow mana. No such things exists.”

  I pondered his words for a moment before realizing what he meant. “Darkness is only the absence of light, so light mana is what actually controls darkness. I get it.”

  He didn’t say anything further, so I moved toward the far end of the lab where the exit was. I looked back, not knowing if I’d get a chance to return here. I thought about my spatial storage, which held what felt like half a ton of materials. Hopefully, they’d be of use back home, especially after many of the common items got a chance to upgrade to uncommon or perhaps even rare.

  Then I stepped into the labyrinth. I was forced to send a charge through my weapon’s crystal to provide light. For the first time in this dungeon, I was facing true Stygian darkness. I immediately tensed as I examined the hallway in front of me as the light along my weapon flickered. What I would have given for a flashlight at this point.

  The labyrinth's air hit me the moment I stepped in, a stark contrast from the lab's musty atmosphere. This air was cooler, tinged with a scent I couldn't quite place—metallic, like blood, but mixed with something else, something ancient. The walls were no longer the sterile stone of the lab but instead, seemed to be made of a darker material, almost absorbing the light rather than reflecting it. I felt a tingle inside me, indicating that the spiritual energy was different here. It went deeper—beyond the physical distinctions or even the feeling of mana.

  I advanced cautiously, my grip on my polearm tightening. The hallway stretched ahead, its path straight, but the darkness ahead suggested it wouldn't stay that way for long. Every step echoed, the sound bouncing off the walls in a way that made it difficult to tell if it was my echo, or something else moving in the shadows. Despite that, I felt strangely alive.

  Then, at the first intersection, they stepped out of the darkness. Three undead creatures, unlike any Darje I'd encountered. They were bipedal, with two arms and two legs, but there the similarities ended. Their bodies were emaciated, skin stretched tight over protruding bones. Black scales covered them from head to toe, glistening slightly in the dim light, giving them a sinister, armored appearance.

  Their movement was hard to follow as the poor light made them almost seem to appear and disappear in the shadows. Still, my polearm gave me the advantage of reach, and I cut a sharp attack that covered the entire tunnel and bit into their scaly flesh before forcing them back.

  Their eyes locked onto me, glowing with an unnatural light. No pupils, just orbs of luminous energy that seemed to pierce through me. They moved with a grace that belied their decrepit forms, stepping into the light with a confidence that spoke of their power. The combination of both staggered and graceful movement, suggested creatures capable of extreme bursts of speed, but who were inherently uncomfortable in their bodies.

  Identify went off then, telling me what I was facing.

  Devil-kin Takers (Uncommon level 44) – these monstrosities are twisted by mana not native to this plane. They grow from the remains of fallen undead who have been saturated with Hell Mana.

  That wasn’t what I’d been expecting, but I couldn’t afford to hesitate. I lunged forward, my polearm swinging in a wide arc aimed at the nearest creature. It dodged with a burst of speed and came under my weapon right at me. It was smaller than me, but not by much, maybe 5’11” but its crouched stance made it harder to say for sure.

  Its claws swiped towards me in a counterattack. As I parried, I noticed that each of the hands only had two long fingers and a thumb. The impact of the strike against my weapon told me that the creature was strong, but not as strong as I was.

  The fight was brutal. They were fast, darting in and out of the shadows, using the light—or the lack of it—to their advantage. I spun, thrust, and parried, my polearm a blur of motion as I fought to keep them at bay. Their claws were sharp, leaving marks on my armor and forcing me to rely on my agility and the reach of my weapon.

  One managed to close the distance, its claws aiming for a deadly embrace. I twisted, using its momentum to throw it against the wall. The impact cracked the stone and seemed to daze the monster. I didn't let up, pressing my advantage as I drove my polearm forward. I shifted the blade into a spear tip, which found a gap in its scales. It howled. As it did, a burst of light sprung from its mouth and I was briefly disoriented.

  It only lasted for a fraction of a second, but that was all it took. I felt burning pain as a pair of claws ripped into my side, cutting through my leather armor. I stumbled backward then and might have fallen but for Urg. He’d been blocking the best he could, but the tunnels didn’t allow the two of us to fight side by side, especially, while I was wielding a polearm.

  His fibrous body was being cut up badly by the takers, but he still brought his shields and thick thorns to bear. He cut off the arm of a second taker and bought us a moment.

  Mass Physical Boost

  Boon-Bane

  I’d been stupid not to cast my buffs before. Maybe it was curiosity about the enemy and Samvek’s description, or just the ease with which I’d been facing everything up till now, but I swore not to make that mistake again.

  The enhanced might flooded my system, and I followed it by casting Lingering Grace, first on Urg as he kept the monster's back and then on me. At the same time, I activated Mage Shield, which I could now use to help protect Urg after the upgrade.

  I couldn't afford to lose focus, not even for a second. The labyrinth echoed with the clash of our battle, each sound a testament to the struggle for survival. It sounded like cries from deeper in the maze repeated what was happening around me. That only pushed me to want to end this more quickly before there were more of these things.

  The air was charged with mana, thick with the stench of decay and the metallic tang of blood. My side burned where the claws had torn through, a constant reminder of the danger these Devil-kin Takers posed. Lingering Grace was working to knit my flesh back together but the monster’s claw had some unidentified property which was making it harder.

  Urg stood firm beside me, his thorn-covered body a barrier against the relentless assault. His shields, conjured with a thought, were buckler-sized bastions of protection. They spun around us, a dance of defense orchestrated by my will. I commanded Mage Missiles, force darts shot forth from my fingertips, targeting the takers with lethal precision.

  The battle raged on, a whirlwind of motion and magic. My polearm was an extension of my arm, slashing and stabbing with deadly accuracy. I shifted its form, from spear to blade and back again, ‘each tool fitting the perfect use,’ as Samvek would have said. The takers were relentless, but so was I. My Mage Shield expanded, enveloping Urg and me in a dome of force, deflecting claws and bursts of light that tried to blind us. Their blows ate away at my mana, but I had enough to spare and it regenerated far faster than our HP did.

  Urg seemed more resistant to whatever effect of theirs was delaying my healing, but the claws also tore him up far too easily. I realized it would be better if I could get him to take a different shape, but that wouldn’t be possible in the middle of battle. I’d have to dismiss him and then re-summon him, but that would have been the heights of folly now.

  A chopping blow finished the last of those three takers. I was sure they were dead, but there was no XP. And then I saw why as the darkness parted with more of the takers coming. While spinning my blade, it made the fight appear as though it was happening by strobe light. I was reminded of an old movie that walked the line between sci-fi and horror. I would have killed for the main character's ability to see in the darkness.

  The takers kept coming, emerging from the shadows like nightmares given form. Each one fell only for another to take its place, a seemingly endless horde driven by a hunger for the living. My arms grew heavy, my mana reserves dwindling under the constant demand, but still I pushed on.

  I shifted my stance, calling upon every technique Samvek had drilled into me. My movements became more calculated, each attack conserving energy while seeking to maximize damage. Urg adapted as well, his movements becoming more deliberate, his shields rising only when needed, conserving his strength.

  The labyrinth itself seemed to pulse with malice, its dark corridors a maze designed to disorient and trap. It felt like the strange mana I sensed was mixed with an extremely hostile spiritual force. Too much was hitting my senses for me to be able to distinguish what was what and I didn’t have the time to sort it properly. But I refused to succumb to despair. With every taker that fell, my resolve hardened. Steel forged in the heat of battle.

  Mage Missiles became a barrage, a relentless stream of force that cut through the darkness, finding their mark with unerring accuracy. My conjured shields spun around us, a protective dance that deflected attacks and created openings for counterstrikes. My repeated use of the abilities was pushing their growth. Yet as the fight went into its third hour, I knew that even my new body was going to reach its limit.

  At the edge of my senses, I could feel Samvek. I wanted him to jump in and save me, but at the same time I didn’t. If I couldn’t stand on my own now, how was I going to do it later? I felt like if he stepped in, I’d lose much of the benefits I was accumulating now.

  The takers' howls filled the air, a chorus of rage and pain that echoed off the walls. But underneath it all, there was a sound that drove me forward—the steady beat of my heart, a rhythm that spoke of life amidst death, of hope in the face of despair.

  As one taker fell, then another, I felt the tide of the battle shift. We were holding our own, pushing back against the darkness with every breath, every strike. But the cost was high, our energy sapped, our bodies pushed to the limit. We kept having to move as the corpses started to pile up and I didn’t have room to fight or feared that I’d trip.

  Then Urg fell, his conjured body unable to hold together after a frenzy of cuts shredded him faster than I could heal him. The remaining takers howled and some started to leap on his remains, but I growled. “Keep your filthy claws off of him.”

  Chapter 31- Fighting, Hiding, Changing

  Something snapped inside me. My team wasn’t here. Samvek wasn’t going to step in. Urg had just fallen. I was alone. I’d thought I was alone before in life. After dad died, it was hard. Giving up so much of what I wanted to do in order to do the right thing had been hard, but none of that compared to this.

  Seeing death staring me in the face and knowing there was nothing I could do to stop it burned away my teenage angst and young adult worries about rent or college. It wasn’t that those things weren’t real; it was just that this was so much more raw, more visceral. Like I was burning away the chafe, discovering the core of who I needed to be.

  That epiphany turned into a deluge, a breaking of sorts, and gave way to a flood of emotions—all bundled up in rage. I would not go quietly. These devilkin were likely going to drag me to whatever hellish place they came from, and that was when the song sprung up inside of me. Maybe I should have sung a song to mourn Urg’s death, but he could be re-summoned. I had no such luxury. So instead, I sang a song of defiance.

  “Living easy, living free. Season ticket on a one-way ride…”

  You have gained the berserker status condition.

  I sang as I fought. The spiritual power within me swelled and pushed back the darkness for just a moment. I thrust with my polearm, spearing one taker then twisting my body, lifting him off the ground and battering the one next to him. I dropped under some claws reaching for me and spun the butt of my weapon up for a quick thrust. That knocked another taker back, and I completed the spin, taking his head from his shoulders as I completed the spin.

  They were on me, but the song was my light against the despair. That gave me another idea. I closed my eyes and activated the Ring of Blinding. The takers all screeched as the darkness was obliterated by a super intense burst of light. I opened my eyes after a second and went to work. They were all disoriented, and it was all that I could do to hack them to pieces before they could gain their bearings.

  My shoulders slumped as my chest heaved while trying to catch my breath. I’d pushed myself to my limits and beyond. So much so that I’d lost track of time. I turned, looking down each of the forking tunnels with the light cast from my weapon. I didn’t see any more takers coming. More reliably, for now, I couldn’t feel any of their mana or spiritual energy. That didn't last long.

  The skittering sound of scaled bodies came down the tunnel. I reacted instantly, I only had seconds before more takers came and I knew that I couldn’t stand up to anymore. I wasn’t proud, but neither was I worried as I dove beneath the largest pile of corpses. There were dozens of them scattered throughout this tunnel and the adjacent ones. I didn’t pretend to know how many I’d killed so far, but I did know it was more than a hundred.

  Fear and Berserker status conditions ended.

  Once I was buried in place, with devilkin bodies all over me, I waited. My enhanced Will kicked in and I clamped down on my fear. I slowed my breathing to a crawl and then focused on circulating my life mana. I concentrated on pulling it all into me. Life mana was a representation of life force. That much I had gained as I meditated upon it. As such, like the name hinted, it projected a person’s life force outwards like a green billowing aura. Yet, it could also do the opposite, withdraw that force within and hide it—mimicking death. Or maybe it wasn’t really mimicking. Maybe it was like light and darkness. There was no such thing as darkness, only an absence of light. The same could be said of death. To any mage outside sensitive enough to detect me, I was confident that they would have believed me to be a dead body.

  At the same time, I had the presence of mind to activate Adorably Harmless. I didn’t know if these monsters could be affected or if they were like undead. Identify had told me they were born out of undead but it called them devilkin. The aura couldn’t hurt and if it put out a feeling that anything in this mound of butchered corpses was harmless, then that upped my survival chances.

  It was a strain to stay still, but I continued to lie in that charnel heap for hours while I heard the devilkin dragging off the bodies of some of their kin. Fortunately, they never came to the mound that I was on, it probably reeked of death and a lack of energy, at least that was what my fevered imagination told me.

  A great deal happened during those hours, though. The first should have been obvious to me, but I wasn’t thinking about it when I went to hide. Blood dripped down on me and I took the most thorough blood bath that I’d had up to this point. I had to keep my eyes closed, lock my jaw down, and cover my nostrils to keep from getting it on more than my skin. My armor and gear would have to be cleaned, but at least I was alive to clean it.

 

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