5 5. Fear

Evan watched as the warrior fashioned several torches out of firewood and linen bandages. He handed one to Astrid.

"Mel, mind helping me out?"

"Uh-huh, one sec," the archer replied.

Mel pulled an arrow from her quiver and held it in her hand. She closed her eyes for a fraction of a second as she stirred the mana near her heart to do her bidding. She felt a rush — better than any high she had ever experienced — as the mana poured from her body into the arrow. There was a slight yellow glow that surrounded Mel's arms as she used [Flame Arrow] to light one of her arrows on fire.

Evan stared curiously at the flaming arrow as he whispered to Fenrir in his mind. "Fenrir, are they using mana?"

"Indeed. What odd magic. They consume and store mana somewhat like a dungeon core instead of pulling it in from the environment like the Elves and the Demons do. Yet, I do not sense a core within them. Curious."

* * *

Astrid took a moment to light her torch with the arrow. She then lit the other two torches in Mel and Jason's hands before approaching the man in chains.

She could clearly see the ebb and flow of the chains now. They grew and shrunk as they bit into Evan's arms and legs. They were very much alive. To have lived like this for so long. What a cruel punishment.

She wiped the tears from her eyes.

The chains seemed to sense that they were in danger as Astrid got closer. They wriggled frantically — desperately — as the heat from the torch reached them. She positioned the torch so that the hottest part of the fire enveloped the chain. The obsidian metal seemed to tighten, then thin. There was a sizzling sound as the chain melted and goop hit the ground.

She could feel Evan staring at her as she worked. She caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eyes and the back of her neck broke out in a cold sweat despite the heat from the torch.

Several long minutes passed before the fire ate through the chain. The two halves fell to the ground with a clatter. The half that wasn't connected to Evan's arm writhed and jerked for several moments before turning to dust.

Astrid turned to look at Jason and Mel, who had been watching her the entire time. "Melt the rest. Then we'll work on the manacles around his arms and ankles."

The pair scurried forward and before long the chains binding Evan to the wall were severed.

The voice that came from nowhere and everywhere at once howled when the chains fell. The howl of a wolf. Another melody that contained anger, joy, sorrow, and hope in equal measure. It was beautiful.

The man stepped forward toward her and held out his arms. "The manacles next. Then we must hurry and get out of here. No doubt Baal will have felt the surge of mana here. He will come."

"Baal?" Jason asked, but Evan ignored him.

Astrid hesitated when she saw that the manacles were sinking into his flesh. She wondered what would hurt more. The burrowing parasite that was literally eating him alive, or the scorching heat that would boil his skin off.

She tried not to think about it as she placed the torch under one of the manacles connected to his wrists. Mel did the same to the manacle on his other arm.

The healer expected him to scream, shout, yell, curse … something. What she hadn't expected was the complete silence as the room filled up with the smell of burning flesh.

He's a monster.

* * *

Evan closed his eyes as the flames bit at the obsidian manacles that covered his wrists. The pain should have driven him mad, but if he was being honest with himself, he already was.

He grinned as he felt the drain from the golem weaken until he couldn't feel any drain at all. He opened his eyes and stared at his bare wrists in a mixture of relief and sorrow. The healer's hands glowed white with mana as she hovered them over the burns. He could feel the dull ache of pain receding until it was little more than a pinprick.

"We are free, my King. Free," Fenrir whispered. Intense happiness radiated from the core, drowning out Evan's other emotions. He was intoxicated by the feeling. They were finally free!

He took a tentative step forward, then another, and then one more for good measure. His legs were wobbly, uncertain.

With those three steps, he had traveled farther than he had in over five centuries. He took a moment to center himself, then began to walk towards the entrance.

"We must go. Baal will know something has happened soon if he doesn't already. We should not be here when he arrives."

He could tell that the group had many questions for him, but he began walking faster. "Baal will kill you if he catches us."

That seemed to motivate the humans and they chased after him.

* * *

It took them half an hour to find the entrance of the dungeon. The trio of humans walked through the portal, but Evan lingered a moment as he and Fenrir savored their freedom.

With a deep breath, he stepped through the portal. There was a brief moment where he felt like he was falling. Time seemed to slow to a crawl. Seconds turned to minutes turned to hours. There was nothing as he fell, only pitch-black darkness. A void. Then just as suddenly as the feeling came, it dissipated and Evan was standing in front of the group of three.

His eyes widened as he looked around. The entire area was covered in a sea of green. Trees three times his size and plants of varied colors surrounded him. The colors were so vivid that they hurt his eyes.

"Your world is beautiful," he gasped.

Evan was still hypnotized by the sheer number of greenery around him when Fenrir screamed in his mind.

"Fenrir?!" he shouted, oblivious to the fact that he was speaking out loud.

The humans looked at him in alarm, unsure what to do.

The dungeon core's screams grew louder, and Evan also began screaming as he tried to share the core's sudden burden.

Blue writing and symbols skittered across his vision. Then black.

He cupped his hands to his head, trying to block out the pain.

An instant later the torment dissipated. Like it had never been there. Evan opened his eyes, panting from exhaustion. He reached into the space in his mind that he shared with Fenrir.

His voice was filled with panic. "Fenrir, are you there? Are you okay?"

Seconds passed.

A minute.

"Yes, my King. I am sorry that you had to share even a fraction of that anguish with me," Fenrir answered him with a whimper.

Evan shook his head. "I am sorry I could not do more, my friend. What happened?"

"The humans have been given a great boon. Something or someone is protecting the Earth's core. Protecting it from The Labyrinth. They have shared that boon with us," the core replied.

"What do you mean?"

"I can show you."

There was a slight discomfort as Fenrir filled his mind with information, but it wasn't the blinding agony that Fenrir had undoubtedly gone through. A translucent screen filled his vision.

[Unknown] has granted you the power of [The System]

[Growth] Unlocked

[Evolutions] Unlocked

[Skills] Unlocked

[Classes] Unlocked

You are now [Level 1]

He read the screen once, then once more.

"What is this?" Evan asked.

"This is how we defeat The Labyrinth. Given enough time, not even the ten Architects will be able to stop us. Think of the word [Status]."

[Status].

[Name]: Evan (Soulbound to Dungeon Core - Fenrir)

[Class]: Dungeon Core Summoner

[Evolutions]: None

[Mana]: 1000 / 1,000,000

[Level]: 1 (0 / 10,000 experience)

"Now think of the word [Skills]."

[Skills].

[Black Blood] - Level 1: You have become bound to a dungeon core. Your blood has become infused with black mana. You recover from wounds 50% faster. You are immune to poisons.

[Extract Shadow Core] - Level 1: You have become bound to a dungeon core. You can extract the mana from a monster core and convert it into a shadow core. Extracted shadows will have 50% of the total stats of their real-life counterparts. If the skill fails, the monster core is destroyed. Shadow cores are stored within your dungeon core.

[Summon Shadow] - Level 1: You have become bound to a dungeon core. You can summon physical shadows from within the shadow cores stored in your bound dungeon core. Shadows can be summoned and dismissed whenever the caster chooses. You can summon one shadow for every 100 points of mana the caster has. Shadows regenerate when they are destroyed, but each regeneration requires another 100 points of mana. Shadows have access to a minimal version of The System which allows them to level up as they kill enemies.

Evan looked at Astrid, his blue eyes glowing brighter than they ever had. "Do you also have access to [The System]?"

The healer nodded.

* * *

Baal stared at the empty cavern that had served as the God-King's prison for the last five-hundred years. He stared at the dust that littered the floor. There was a small itch in the back of his mind — an emotion he hadn't felt in so long that he had even forgotten what it was.

Fear.

Pure, instinctual fear.

The God-King of Shadows. The Scourge of The Labyrinth. The Black Core Summoner.

He was free.

Baal turned and fled the cave as fast as he could.