Chapter 371 - There's Always a Price (Patreon)

It didn’t take Zeke long to get over the shock of having the ground collapse beneath him, but even regaining his wits did little to help his situation. Years ago, he’d evolved his race for the very first time, which had enhanced his vision to the point where he didn’t need light to see. His senses had been further upgraded with each subsequent racial upgrade, and when he’d become a cambion, his night vision had reached the threshold where he could see as well in the dead of night as he could at noon on a sunny day.

But as he fell, he could see nothing. Just an endless black abyss that, in a way, reminded him of that place between worlds where he’d first met Oberon. That construct had been an endless white expanse, but it gave him the same impression as his current surroundings.

“Don’t be so dramatic. It’s just darkness,” Eveline said, speaking to him at the speed of thought. Like that, the pair could cram whole conversations into the space of a second.

“I’ve been in the dark before. This is different.”

“Some darkness is stronger than others,” she stated. “Search your feelings. You know it to be true.”

“Ugh. Don’t do that.”

“What?”

“Pop culture references for things you never really experienced. It’s weird and cringey.”

“Well, somebody got their underpants in a twist.”

“Oh, I’m sorry – did you miss the part where I’ve been falling through an endless black abyss? I have a right to be a little anxious.”

“Just use your senses. You’ll see that it’s not an abyss at all.”

Even though Zeke thought that the word “abyss” was coming up far too often, he took her suggestion to heart and focused on his perception of mana. It took a few moments – during which he continued his freefall – but soon enough, he caught a whiff of something strange. He pushed his senses further, and a few seconds later, he recognized what he felt.

“I feel it,” he said. “This is…it’s like…magic darkness.”

“It’s a combination of arcane and wind mana, with a bit of nature thrown in. Mostly arcane, though,” she stated. “Did you know that in some cultures, the names of the categories of mana are different? What you see as wind is air for them. Arcane is also known as conceptual. Etcetera.”

“That’s confusing.”

“People are like that,” she stated. “Your Framework is reactive, and different cultures see things very differently. Practically speaking, it doesn’t really matter, though. It all refers to the same things. I just thought it was an interesting little tidbit.”

“Is this really the time for interesting factoids?”

“I think it’s precisely the time. You needed to be distracted from your panic. I accomplished my goal. Oh – you should probably clench up.”

“What are –”

He never got the chance to finish his question because he came to a sudden stop when he finally hit the ground. The pure version of his colossal form wasn’t as large or dense as the earthen version, but it was still quite a lot bigger and heavier than his natural body. So, when he hit, the impact carved a huge crater into the ground, kicking up a sizable cloud of dust.

His head whipped against the ground, and for a brief second, blacked out. However, he still had [Cambion’s Awakening] running, so the stun didn’t last for more than a moment. The rest of his body was largely unhurt – even if he reached terminal velocity, it would take a lot more than a fall to truly injure him.

Still, it wasn’t pleasant, and it took him a few seconds to push himself upright.

“Ugh,” he groaned, looking around. Thankfully, the darkness wasn’t quite as pervasive as it had been during the fall. It was almost as if it had been diluted by something else.

“Or it’s flowing down that tunnel,” said Eveline, gesturing toward Zeke’s right. He turned to get a better look, but even though the darkness had faded, it was still thick enough to obscure most of his surroundings. What he saw was troubling, though.

He’d fallen into what looked like a cistern, with well-worn columns arranged in concentric circles throughout the chamber. Looking up, he could barely make out a gaping hole in the vaulted ceiling. Beyond that was impenetrable darkness.

“What the hell?” he muttered aloud.

“Dungeons are strange,” Eveline said. “They don’t follow the normal rules.”

“You don’t say…”

Zeke pushed himself to his feet, continuing to take stock of his surroundings. His first impression that it was a cistern seemed accurate, especially because the stone floor was covered in a thin layer of murky water. Zeke climbed out of the crater, then let [Triune Colossus] fall away. His body shrank, and the drain on his mana dissipated to nothing.

He tried to switch [Cambion’s Awakening] to the earthen version, but he was unsurprised to find that, even though he seemed to be underground, there was enough earth attuned mana to fuel the skill. So, he was forced to use the unattuned form of the skill. It wasn’t ideal, but it was still better than nothing. Soon, he felt his minor injuries begin to mend; it would take some time, but eventually, he would completely recover. In the meantime, he needed to find the others.

To that end, he started walking around, pointedly avoiding the tunnel through which the darkness mana seemed to drain. By Eternal Realm standards, the cistern wasn’t huge, which meant that it would have been seen as enormous back on Earth. As far as Zeke could tell, it was about a thousand feet long and a little more than half as wide. But it was entirely empty, which not only set Zeke’s nerves on edge, but also made him wonder where his companions had ended up.

And how.

“Magic, obviously,” Eveline said.

“That’s a copout explanation. You can’t just look at every inexplicable thing and say, ‘magic’ like it means something,” Zeke stated.

“Okay. It’s a dungeon. That means that it’s designed like a puzzle. So, the point of this part of the puzzle is that you need to solve it individually. The dungeon separated you,” she said. “I can’t even begin to guess how it was accomplished because my senses were obscured by the darkness mana. Or more accurately, yours were. I see what you see. I feel what you feel. I’m better at interpreting it, but I’m still limited by your senses.”

“That feels like it should be insulting.”

“I was nearing the peak of the realm before I was…captured,” she said. “Being limited to using your senses feels like walking around with a blindfold on.”

As Eveline explained her limitations – or his, really – to him, Zeke continued his inspection of the cistern. The pediments of the well-worn columns had once been intricately carved, but time and the elements had eroded them to the point where he couldn’t tell what they were meant to represent. The capitals atop the columns were slightly more detailed, but they were obscured by the darkness mana.

“Do you think this is based on a real place?” Zeke asked.

“Maybe. Some dungeons are clearly representations of existing places, but others seem to be wholly generated by the Framework,” Eveline answered.

Zeke nodded at her explanation. There was a sense of age to the cistern that made it feel more real than the manor grounds from which he had fallen. But maybe that was just part of the magic at play.

He continued his exploration, but even when he circled the cistern, he found nothing of note. By that point, Zeke’s minor injuries had almost completely healed, so he said, “I guess we can’t put it off anymore. Time to go down the tunnel.”

“Not like you to hesitate.”

“Yeah. This place gives me the creeps,” was his response. “It just feels…I don’t know. I can’t put it into words. I just don’t like it.”

It was a strange feeling, considering that Zeke had spent years trekking through monster-infested tunnels. He’d encountered a host of macabre and terrifying monsters – enough that he should have become inured to the foreboding now gripping his mind. But that just wasn’t the case, suggesting that some sort of magic was at play.

“Well, that’s just obvious,” said Eveline.

Soon, Zeke found himself standing before the entrance to the tunnel. It was a simple half-circle of weathered brick, but in his mind, it seemed like another portal to Hell. Or to something worse. Even though he knew the source of his fear was magical in nature, it didn’t do much to dilute his unease.

However, Zeke was well-used to overcoming his fears. So, after taking a couple of steadying breaths, he stepped forward and crossed the threshold into the tunnel. Immediately, he was assaulted by formless terror. He had no idea why he was so afraid. He just was. Distracted by his efforts to wrangle the horror enveloping his mind, Zeke never saw the creatures skittering across the tunnel’s ceiling.

Not until one of them crashed into him, taking a chunk out of his shoulder with a vicious bite.

That snapped Zeke out of his terrified state, and he reacted instantly, throwing the monster with every ounce of his strength. He wasn’t under the effects of [Triune Colossus], so his strength was unenhanced by the powerful skill. However, Zeke was more than strong enough even in his natural cambion form. The thing went flying through the air, stopping only when it hit the side of the tunnel with a vicious crunch.

Zeke wasted no time before activating his skill, using his own mana to fuel [Triune Colossus]. It was just in time, too, because before he’d even finished his transformation, a dozen more of the monsters swarmed over him.

Without his companions to worry about, Zeke let loose with [Weight of Two Worlds], infusing it with earth attuned mana. Instantly, the monsters slowed to a crawl, the ones on the ceiling of the tunnel falling to the ground due to the increased weight. The moment his transformation completed, Zeke summoned his hammer and stepped into a momentous swing that completely crushed the monster. It burst under his attack, showering him with viscous black goo.

That’s when he took a moment to inspect one of the struggling creatures.

Rotroach – Level 43

The moniker was accurate, because now that Zeke got a decent look at one of them, he could very much see that they looked like overgrown roaches. Each one was at least five feet long, with a low-slung body, multitudinous legs, and armored backs. But what really concerned Zeke was the first part of the name.

“That is concerning,” Eveline said as Zeke continued his assault. There were dozens of the things, and even though they’d been slowed by his use of [Weight of Two Worlds], they were not stopped. As such, they were still dangerous. “What’s more concerning is what’s happening to your body.”

Over the course of his time in the Radiant Isles, Zeke had developed a habit of ignoring most wounds he took in battle. At first, it had taken conscious effort, but over time, it had become an ingrained habit. Now, he didn’t even think about what he was doing. Since being reborn, he’d taken hundreds, if not thousands of wounds, and if he let himself acknowledge them, he would have been too distracted to win his battles.

But even though that strategy let him fight through wounds that should have at least slowed him down, it also came with significant downsides. Chiefly, that he sometimes ignored injuries that needed immediate treatment.

Like the effects of the goo that had splashed onto him when he’d killed the first rotroach. Already, his metallic skin had begun to deteriorate, with great, rusted chunks starting to flake off. He used [Cambion’s Awakening], but the unattuned version of the skill wasn’t nearly strong enough to do anything more than slow the effects of the rot.

Even as it ate away at him, Zeke summoned his golems. He didn’t do so because he needed help in the fight. Rather, he just needed access to earth mana. So, the moment they stepped through the door, he dragged earth-attuned mana from their cores, funneling the energy to [Cambion’s Awakening].

But even with the skill boosted by the thick earth mana from the golems, the skill still wasn’t capable of reversing the damage. He’d need something stronger.

“If you do this, you’re going to have to act quickly,” Eveline said.

Demonic mana was everywhere. Eveline had once tried to explain it to him, saying that the two realms were inextricably intertwined. As such, there was always going to be a bit of overlap. The result was that, in the demon realm, there was pure mana. And more importantly, in the Eternal Realm, demonic mana had a presence as well.

Often, it wasn’t more than one part per thousand, but even that was enough for Zeke to work with.

The problem was that the supply would only last so long. Hopefully, it would be enough, because Zeke had no idea how else to combat the rot. More importantly, killing the rest of the rotroaches bearing down on him would inevitably make his situation worse. He’d have to deal with that, and the only way he knew how was to use the power he really didn’t want to use.

But once Zeke had made the decision, he didn’t hesitate before switching his focus to the demonic mana all around him. It was thin. Very, very thin. Which meant he’d only have seconds to do what needed to be done.

It would have to be enough.

Zeke embraced his cambion nature, opening himself up to the demonic mana. It infused him, infecting his skills and transforming his body. His colossal form grew sleeker. More aggressive. And far more powerful. In addition, the corrupting energy raced through him, carried along by [Cambion’s Awakening] and dragging explosive healing in its wake. The rot stopped, then retreated, and finally, was banished altogether.

But Zeke didn’t care about that.

With so much corruption racing through him, unmitigated rage overwhelmed his every thought. And with a roar, he leaped forward, swinging his hammer with reckless aggression. The rotroaches fought back, and well, considering that they were still under the effects of [Weight of Two Worlds], but even when they managed to wound him, the injuries only lasted a moment before they healed.

Zeke was unstoppable.

Vicious fury infused his every movement as he exploded through the rotroaches. They fell before his demonic might, two and three at a time. But even when he’d slain them all, he wasn’t satisfied. He needed more. He wanted to rip the entire dungeon apart with his bare hands.

“Let it go!” Eveline screamed in the back of his mind.

He ignored her pitiful pleas, stalking forward with violence at the forefront of his mind.

He would have kept going, too. But there was only so much demonic mana in the air, and inevitably, it ran out before he reached the end of the tunnel. When it did, it felt like Zeke had hit an immovable wall.

The demonic mana petered out in the space of an instant. Zeke collapsed to his knees, his chest heaving with exertion as his entire body alighted with irresistible agony. Even as his body shrank to human proportions, tears raced down his cheeks.

“Use your pure mana,” ordered Eveline.

And Zeke was in too much pain to question her orders. He embraced [Cambion’s Awakening], fueling it with unattuned mana. Relief washed through his body and mind, soothing the pain. But it didn’t completely banish it. Instead, it just took the edge off, allowing him to think more clearly.

“Thanks,” he muttered aloud. His head felt like someone was driving spikes through his temples, and his body was on fire with the consequences of using demonic mana.

“You really need to get a handle on that,” she said. “I like a good rage monster as much as the next girl, but you can’t lose control every time you use your power.”

“I know.”

But knowing the issue didn’t help him solve the problem.

“Time. Practice. And an appropriate natural treasure. With that colossal body, you could probably become immune. Eventually.”

“I’m guessing that wouldn’t be a pleasant process,” he said.

“It definitely wouldn’t be. But progress is pain.”

Zeke sighed, saying, “It certainly seems that way.”

Then, he pushed himself to his feet. His body was mostly fine – at least on a physical level. The pain he felt was spiritual in nature. So, even though he was still in agony, he saw no reason to stop. After all, he hadn’t forgotten that his companions were still out there, and they likely needed his help.

So, he strode toward the end of the tunnel. When he reached it, he looked out over the expanse, saying, “This dungeon might take a lot longer than we anticipated.”