Part 6

Startled by the sudden voice, Eray screamed and drew his sword, pointing it towards the direction of the sound, "Who are you, show yourself!" No response came, but he began to hear footsteps approaching from that direction.

As the sound approached, Eray wished to know who was coming. The light moved a few meters towards the source of the sound. There was no one there.

Eray cautiously began to step back, moving away from the direction of the sound. After stepping back a meter, he felt a hand touch his shoulder, and then,

"Hey."

Eray screamed again and swung his sword. The sword stopped. He could neither draw it back nor swing it towards the source of the sound. When the light returned to Eray's side, the source of the voice was revealed.

It was a middle-aged man with black hair, a few centimeters taller than Eray, dressed in black. He had stopped Eray's swinging sword with just his fingers, pinching it between two fingers.

Eray thought in fear: "He stopped my sword with just his fingers."

The man in black sighed: "Could you be a bit quieter? You're making too much noise. You'll wake them up if you keep this up."

Eray looked at the stranger in fear and astonishment, not replying.

The man in black continued: "With the way you are now, you'd end up as dinner."

"Be a bit calmer," the man in black said with a weary and indifferent expression. Then, releasing the sword he was holding:

"I won't harm you. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't harm you anyway."

Eray's fear had lessened, but he was still bewildered, "Who are you?"

The man in black sighed in a reluctant manner: "Gon."

Eray: "Gon?"

Gon: "Yes, you can call me Gon for short. Actually, calling me Master Gon or Lord would be more appropriate."

As Eray was trying to figure out who and what this man in black was, Gon, without saying much, said, "Follow me."

Eray couldn't quite trust this man in black he had just met. He asked hesitantly: "Master Gon, who are you, and where is this?"

Gon: "Ah, it's such a hassle. Am I to babysit at this hour?"

"Follow me, and I'll explain everything gradually."

Eray bowed his head. He thought for a few seconds and decided that the best thing to do was to listen. He began to follow Gon. Gon led the way, with Eray following slowly behind.

Despite the sphere illuminating Eray's surroundings, Gon was moving ahead, literally through the darkness. Eray could barely see Gon's back. Yet, despite the pitch darkness, Gon did not seem to struggle with walking.

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After a while, Gon stopped. On the ground lay a creature nearly ten times the size of Eray, dead, with horns and resembling a wolf.

Eray, startled: "What is this, Master Gon? Is this thing alive?"

Gon: "Don't worry, it's completely dead."

Eray observed the creature for a few seconds, then heard Gon's odd request.

"Eat."

Eray, in astonishment: "What? You want me to eat this?"

Gon, more determined and commanding: "Eat."

Eray: "I will not eat this filthy thing." Gon sighed. With his hands in his pockets, he approached Eray:

"If you eat, I'll answer one of your questions. Use that useless sword of yours and cut it open."

Eray thought to himself, "I'm dying of hunger. I've never been this hungry before. In fact, I've never been hungry before."

Then he decided to do as Gon had said. He was indeed hungry and needed to gather his strength. "Who knows in which hell I am," he thought. "Besides, he will answer the questions I ask."

Eray drew his sword and plunged it into the belly of the creature lying dead on the ground. Applying some force, he slit open the belly. Blood and organs spilled out from the creature's abdomen onto the ground. Eray, wondering what to do next, turned to Gon.

Gon directed, "The most nourishing part is the liver. Eat that," pointing towards the creature's liver.

Eray cut the liver into several pieces with his sword. Then, he looked at the piece of meat with hesitation. The creature had a truly foul smell.

Gon stated, "I hunted it recently, it's only a few days old. Eat, it will give you strength."

Eray, bewildered, asked, "You hunted it?"

Gon did not respond.

"How about, Master Gon, could you possibly start a fire? I would prefer to eat this meat cooked."

After hearing Eray's request, Gon pondered for a few seconds.

"Boy, then I propose a deal: if you can start a fire on your own, I'll answer two of your questions."

Eray, embarrassed, admitted, "Master Gon, I... I don't know how to perform magic. Until a few hours ago, I didn't have any magical power at all. So, I don't know how to start a fire."

"I know."

"How do you know?"

Gon did not reply.

"You either cook it with fire or eat it raw."

Eray looked at Gon hopelessly, "Master Gon, then could you teach me how to start a fire?"

"Just like you made that glowing sphere," was all he said.

Eray was a clever boy. He had realized that controlling the sphere was related to desire and intent.

"So, if I want fire, I must truly desire it."

Eray closed his eyes and wished for a few seconds for fire to form, but nothing happened. In a soft voice, he said, "This isn't going to work, I guess."

He thought about how he had directed the light sphere. By desiring it, he truly wanted it. Eray closed his eyes again, and this time,

"If I can create fire, I can eat cooked meat. Plus, this man will grant me extra questions. I could really find out where I am and ask for more details," he thought.

Then, he felt warmth in his hand. Though faint, a fire had formed in his hand. "I did it," he exclaimed.

"Well done, now cook that meat and eat it quickly."

Eray brought his hand close to the meat, cooking it. He even offered some of the meat to Gon, but Gon declined.

"I do not eat." Eray was a bit surprised but did not insist.

As Eray was finishing his last bites, he pondered over the two questions he would ask.

"What should my first question be? Should I ask who Gon really is? Or where we are? Or how I can use magic without ever having magical power? Or if he knew that creature?"

As he finished his last bites, he decided on the first question:

"Master Gon, where are we?"

Gon fixed his black eyes on Eray and said, "We're in a dungeon."

Eray repeated, "A dungeon?"

Gon remained silent. Yet, deciding that such a brief answer was unfair, he added a few more details.

"Yes, we're in a dungeon, somewhere on the Mainland."

With every word Gon said, Eray grew more astonished.

"The Mainland? But we were in Avalon last. How did I get from Avalon to here?"

Gon replied, "That's another question. If you want me to answer it, I won't answer another of your questions."

Eray was somewhat annoyed, though he didn't show it much. "What nonsense is this? He must be joking with me. What about my two questions?" he thought to himself.

He began to think about his second question. What intrigued him the most wasn't how he got there or who Gon was at the moment. It was how he could now use magic.

After some thought, Eray had made a connection with the creature and Gon. So, he wasn't currently very curious about who Gon was.

"Alright, Master Gon, before I ask my other question, I should thank you. The creature you hunted really filled me up."

Gon did not reply.

"My second question is how can I perform magic. I had no magical power before. Many advanced mages have examined me. How can I use it now, and is this related to that creature?"

Gon responded, somewhat threateningly, "Boy, do you want me to cut your tongue?"

Eray was terrified by the threat. "Master Gon, did I show disrespect?"

"How dare you disrespect our supreme lord by calling him a 'creature'?"

Eray, panicking, "I apologize, my lord. I only referred to him that way because I didn't know the name of our supreme lord."

The shadow, still angry, answered his question. "Our supreme lord expects much from you and resurrected you for the trial."

Eray bit his lips in fear, "Resurrected?"

"Yes, you should be glad. He's really taking a close interest in you. Instead of dying as a weak human, he bestowed magical powers on you for the trial."

With every answer, even every word from Gon, Eray's astonishment grew.

"Did I really die?"

Gon confirmed, "Yes."

Eray pondered, "I suspected I had died. What I felt there was indeed the coldness of death. But I couldn't believe it. But Master Gon, hadn't I failed the trial? I didn't even enter the trial; I had accepted death." "Our lord didn't make a clear statement about that. There's something peculiar about you. I've never seen anyone without magical power and mana before. But you needed magical powers for the trial, so you had to be resurrected."

Eray asked, "What does my resurrection have to do with my magical powers?"

"Every being is born with power. You were an exceptional case. You had no powers even before you were born. Thus, you needed to be reborn. That's how you acquired your powers."

There was much Eray didn't understand. However, he doubted he could get answers to his questions. The very rule of two questions seemed absurd to him.

"So, Master Gon, what can I do to get answers to my other questions?"

"Ahaha, good. You go straight to the point. You didn't try to circumvent our agreement by asking more questions. Well done. If you do as I say, you'll learn much about yourself and this world."

Eray, with a contemplative expression, "Alright, Master Gon, I'll do everything you say."