The Soundless Destroyer

Outside of the dungeon, many people were gathering in anticipation of the returning trial takers. A few of them had already returned via the safety talismans that were provided by the clan. They had returned with grievous wounds which were heavily affected by the demonic chi in the dungeon. The direness of most of their situations left their respective families wrought with worry, but the clan officials seemed not to notice them. It wasn't a surprise to those who had come to watch students return from the trial though, as the clan frowned upon those with poor talent.

While most failed to awaken their cores, not every person took the trial. It cost the clan many resources to groom someone for a trial, not even including the cost of the various tools they would need while undergoing it. Just the rescue talisman alone could feed a medium sized family for over a year if they sold it at half of its worth. The drain a trial taker had on the clan left many thinking down on the failures, not bothering to pay attention to their life or death. Even if they worked for the rest of their lives, it would be hard to pay back the debt without power. Typically a clansmen would dive through the dungeon or guard the borders in order to pay back the debt they incurred as they were trained.

As the wounded students were tended to in a medical tent, the rest ignored their moans of pain and talked among themselves. It had been about half a day, which is about the time that the best of the students would begin to filter out of the dungeon. Depending on how soon they awakened their cores, and their luck, it would only take a few hours for someone to travel the first floor alone. It was not easy to awaken one's core though, as there needed to be a serious threat. Not only did there need to be a serious threat, it needed to be a threat based in chi or essence. Much like a person's immune system fights off foreign substances, a person's core will fight off hostile or foreign chi.

As mid-day rolled around a man wearing official looking robes appeared in front of the dungeon's entrance portal. No-one had seen him arrive at his position, but as he did so the portal at the mouth of the dungeon flickered for the briefest of moments. The man seemed to grab something from within his sleeve and looked at it before returning it. The man had only been standing there for a brief period before his form disappeared into nothingness once more. Most of the onlookers didn't know what to make of the event, but those who knew a bit more about the clan were surprised.

"Was that Alistar? What was he doing here?" A man asked his neighbor.

His neighbor shook his head, as he had been here since the trials had begun. "That was definitely the grand elder, but its weird that were only seeing him now."

The first man seemed even more confused as he spoke with the second. "How do you mean? Wasn't he here when the others gave their speech this morning?"

The second man seemed to anticipate this question though, as he had wanted to bring it up himself. "He wasn't. Some word is going around about why though. I heard that his grandson got scared of going into the dungeon since his parents died to demons, so he chickened out. Word is that his grandson ran away to hide from the shame, and he had been looking for him since last night."

The first man sneered at the second's words, "Good riddance, we don't need cowards in the clan. If I get a hold of him, I'll make sure to settle him nice and good. We spend too much of our resources on these students for them to run away at the last moment. Even those failures in the medical tent are better than him."

As the two continued to speak, more and more overheard and adopted the story. Each retelling left it further and further embellished until people told the story with scathing hatred and derision. All the while Alistar was sitting atop the small mountain that housed the dungeon, a small outcropping of stone allowed him to sit. Each conversation, each slight against his grandson made its way up the mountain to his ears, yet his breathing remained calm.

His hand reached back into his sleeve to retrieve the talisman he always kept on him. Seeing that it was still intact, he returned it and took a deep breath. If one were able to see the chi in the surroundings, they would notice that the entire sky was covered in a shining silver energy. With one of his fingers, he touched the stone beneath him and spoke a few words. Power flowed into the rock, which began to vibrate slightly. "If my grandson dies within your halls, dungeon, I will personally uproot this entire mountain and drain your core."

Alistar's voice echoed throughout the control room, the silver energy he had injected into the stone creating the sound. While the threat loomed over the mountain, the dungeon continued to function normally. The core in the control room flashed momentarily, and a wail sounded throughout all the floors of the dungeon. Each person who was within the dungeon was able to hear the horrendous noise, sending shivers down even the stone rank warriors who had been diving over the past few days.

The sound did not escape the dungeon, the trial observers completely unaware of the dangerous demon that lurked in the depths of the dungeon. Alistar heard it loud and clear, and after hearing it, he simply narrowed his brows and placed his full palm on the stone. The energy in the sky roared soundlessly as it funneled into the dungeon through his palm. A black and crimson light began to shine from the base of his neck as his birthmark lit up the surrounding mountaintop.

As the birthmark lit up, Alistar's appearance shifted and changed as the bones in his body cracked and snapped. They rearranged as dark horns pushed through the skin on his forehead, sharp claws spreading from his fingertips. They pierced the stone beneath his hand effortlessly, their sharpness making the material give way under the barest of pressure. While his body shifted, a demonic aspect began to tinge the sound chi that was flowing into the stone as it passed through his hand.

"In the name of Demon Lord Alistar, the Soundless Destroyer, I command thee. OBEY!" Alistar's presence ballooned as his power seemed to increase, breaking through the sapphire and ruby ranks in a moment. The mountain began to form cracks while dark black vines of power began to grow from beneath him and spread over the peak.

Deep within the dungeon, a soundless force pressed on every creature in the dungeon at the same time. Like a wave, the force met each floor as even the divers were forced to the ground within their rooms. Once the force reached the bottom most floor, a 20 meter tall demon found itself assaulted on all sides. It was a ruby ranked demon that was the boss of the last floor, its hulking red body full of spines shook violently as it swiped at its surroundings. Its attacks bore no fruit, and the force continued to attack the demon until it bled from its different orifices. After about 30 seconds of bearing this force, the demon's head exploded.

As the final boss of the dungeon died, the core in the control room flashed and absorbed the dead creature. At the same time, the force that was being exerted on everything in the dungeon suddenly disappeared. The silver power in the control room began to filter back into the ceiling, leaving behind only a few words as it vanished. "You may be an emerald dungeon, but you are no match for me. You have been warned."