Ash scoffed. “Worse? How?”

“The dungeons are not benevolent creatures, Ash,” Finn said, eyes downcast. “You’re playing with fire.”

“Well…” Ash began, then frowned. He didn’t really have a retort. “Well it’s how I am now.”

“I guess it is,” Finn said, sighing. He sat down on Ash’s bed. “Let’s see what you can do.”

Ash smiled in response. Yes, let’s.

Over the next half hour, Ash cast Awaken on countless objects. He found that he could bestow life onto any of the creatures from his own crystals, and that it healed them thoroughly in the process, but when Finn took out something he had killed, he quickly learned of a drawback of the skill. He could only bring back those creatures he had killed himself, which had been hinted at in the description, but he couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed.

Regardless, it seemed like an incredibly powerful skill. Resurrecting larger, higher-level creatures required far more mana, and he could only cast it a few times before running out, but it seemed to last indefinitely, not even draining him to keep active. The creatures, of which he now had several, were truly alive.

“This is terrifying,” Finn said, watching the two Prard and seven enormous mosquitos prowl the room.

It did seem to be a bit of a problem to have all these monsters around, but he felt bad about just killing them.

Well, they were monsters, after all.

“Die,” Ash said to the mosquitos. They obeyed instantly, dropping to the floor and returning to their crystals. Finn immediately slid further back onto the bed, clearly appalled.

The Prard were sapient, if bloodthirsty, and both of them were casting their eyes nervously around the room, scared they would meet the same fate.

“Do you have names?” Ash asked the animals.

“We do not,” the first Prard said.

“You will be Mini,” Ash said, touching the first Prard, though it was actually the size of a mountain lion. “And you Midi,” he said, though they were practically the same size.

“Master,” Midi began, “What would you have us do? We live in packs.”

“Consider us a mini-pack,” Ash answered. Finn could only watch on in confusion as Ash exchanged further grunts with the animals, settling them into their new lives as his dogs.

They followed Ash down the hall as he departed, causing a small uproar in the academy. He was only looking for Brook, to show him his new dogs, but it seemed many of the mages didn’t appreciate dungeon creatures roaming the halls, even if they were only first-level.

“Stop right there,” Hendrick said—Hendrick was another first-level student who Ash had encountered in the halls a few times. Ash suspected he had entered the academy through a generous donation rather than merit, as he had no strong skills and was clearly a hindrance to his group. Of course, Ash was similar, but his situation was a bit more complicated.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing? Did you train dungeon creatures?”

“No,” Ash replied. “I didn’t train them, per se, but they shouldn’t cause any trouble.”

Hendrick glared at Ash and brandished his staff. Midi and Mini growled back at him. “You can’t have wild animals in the halls.” Students had gathered around them in a circle. It seemed Hendrick was looking for a fight.

The air was rife with tension. Hendrick pointed his staff at Mini and an icicle shot forward, pinning her hindleg to the ground. He clearly didn’t expect Ash to retaliate, as Hendrick’s house was an influential, affluent one—a commoner wouldn’t want to stir up trouble with them. But the instant the icicle had collided with his dog, Ash had began to cast Agony, staring straight into Hendrick’s eyes as the spell took its course. He didn’t move his hands or use an incantation, and Hendrick was understandably confused.

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“What are you doing? What is this!?” He screamed as boils erupted onto his skin, his very cells exploding beneath the surface of his skin. Hendrick shot another icicle off, this time aimed at Ash, and it slammed into his chest with a terrible squelching sound, pushing Ash off his feet and onto the ground. Midi exploded into action, instinctually responding to the attack on his pack-leader. His pouncing action had been incredible, jumping nearly two meters forward as Ash fell backwards, and making him wonder for a moment if either the dungeon was limiting the abilities of the beasts on the first floor, or if infusing it with his mana had somehow strengthened it.

Ash quickly stood up, regaining his bearings. The icicle had barely done any damage, only a surface-level wound. A creeping dread wormed its way into Ash’s stomach as he approached the arrogant student, turning to horror as he parted the crowd. Midi had pinned Hendrick to the ground across the hallway, but he was entirely still.

“Master, I think he’s dead. Can I eat him?” Midi asked from on top of Hendrick. He had hit his head on the way down, and it seemed extremely serious.

“No,” Ash responded, waving the dog away. A horrible idea sprang up in Ash’s mind, and he decided to give it a try. He downed two mana potions.

“I’m a healer,” Ash said, moving to Hendrick’s chest. “Don’t worry, he’ll be okay.” The crowd seemed unconvinced of both claims, but what was he if not the best—and the worst—healer around? He did require his patients to be dead, but still.

He leaned down, getting uncomfortably close to Hendrick. “Awaken, my fallen,” Ash said, and the spell began to consume impossible amounts of mana, burning him dry in an instant. Still, it pressed on, eating through the mana that was currently flowing into his system from the megadose of the potions. With his added regeneration, he barely managed to see the message from the system before he collapsed, the spell complete.

Human vassal acquired. Attributes improved (+2) above baseline.

A few moments later, the added regeneration from the potions allowed him to get up, someone tapping on his shoulder. It was Hendrick.

“What did you do to me? I feel great,” Hendrick said, a flash of gold and green slipping through his aura. It seemed Ash had passed on some of Manori’s constitution, perhaps improving Hendrick’s attributes across the board.

“Nothing, it’s just a temporary effect of the healing,” Ash lied, wondering if he could return the student back to normal. It occurred to him that this might be what was going on with his dogs, as well. It could be that the dungeon core took back the attributes it added to its creatures, and that was why the dogs were so much more effective under his power. Or perhaps its touch was less personal than his in the first place, or more controlled. Ash wasn’t sure, but he did know that he wanted to put Hendrick back.

This flash of insight about the dungeon’s inner workings seemed to be enough to gain another skill, however, and Ash was soon presented with the option.

Siphon: Acquired skill.

He tried to mentally activate it, hoping it didn’t require an incantation, and to his delight, it sparked a connection between him and Hendrick. A bit of light seemed to drain out of Hendrick’s eyes, and Ash felt a massive improvement.

Strength +2

Vitality +2

Agility +2

Intelligence +2

Wisdom +2

The gains almost seemed scarily large to Ash, and he quickly checked on the skill to make sure that he hadn’t taken more than he had given.

Siphon, skill

Take back the gift you have given, or drain the life of your new allies to empower yourself.

It seemed Hendrick was okay, if a little dazed, and Ash suspected he had taken around the same amount of stats that he had given, leaving Hendrick as his entirely-ordinary subject. A tiny, shrunken spec of gold and green still hung in Hendrick’s aura—almost too small to notice. Ash actually gained mana from the skill, which seemed almost too good to be true. He couldn't wait to hit the dungeons.

"Ash!" Brook said, running down the hall toward Hendrick's prone form. "What happened here!?"

"Nothing," Ash immediately responded. "It's resolved."

"Resolved?" Hendrick started, a flash of anger flooding his face. But he caught himself almost just as quickly, Ash glaring at him. "Actually yes, it's been resolved," Hendrick said, nodding sagely.

Ash was glad to see his influence had not been retired with the use of Siphon.

"Really?" Brook appeared befuddled. "Well, if that's the case, I suppose it truly has been resolved."

"Right. Brook, I was looking for you," Ash said. "We need to talk."