Orb

It would be difficult for a human to process everything that was going on. But Orb wasn’t a human. He was a dungeon core, and for him, in that moment, it felt like the world was moving in slow motion. It was the first time he’d ever received a System Notification.

The Sentience ability had been instinctual for him. He’d known what it was and how to use it the moment he blinked into existence. It was no different than breathing was for humans. For Orb, Sentience was breathing. Dungeon Cores lived and died by their ability to control other creatures. Sure, his power only seemed to create minions for Charlie, but they were a team. As long as Charlie grew stronger, Orb was safe, too.

But Charlie wasn’t just a bodyguard or a companion. Charlie was Orb’s friend. When his friend looked at him with such a level of acceptance regarding his own demise, it broke something in Orb.

Charlie was still a child. Even though he forgot it sometimes, Orb was responsible for the little booger. He hadn’t made Charlie eat him or anything. Baby’s just kind of eat whatever. But regardless, Orb was responsible for his partner in crime. And he was done watching the kid get hurt without offering any help of his own.

Luckily, the System agreed it was time for a power up.

Notice

Sentience has evolved. Greater Sentience is now available.

That was it. No explanation. No description. Just like before, it was a feeling. Innate. During the fight with Od, all those months ago, Orb had targeted something inside Charlie that turned out to be his interface. He’d sensed the interface inside of Charlie, though he hadn’t actually known what it was at the time. He’d just realized there was a valid target for sentience. Orb had a similar feeling now. Something he’d never sensed before.

The dungeon itself.

“Greater Sentience!”

The shards of the rock hand that Arroane had shattered were still falling through the air. Arroane was mere feet away from Charlie now, his dagger ready to cut the boy down.

Orb’s ability worked far faster than he’d expected it to. The shards of rock instantly reconnected and the hand reformed. The fingers stretched and then clenched into a fist. If the rest of the world was moving in slow motion, the hand was the exception. In this state, Orb saw everything. He watched the hand punch through the air to catch up to Arroane. He saw it open itself and slam down against Arroane’s body. It swatted him out of the air like a fly. Then it proceeded to smash him into the ground over and over. The sound was gross. The combination of a heavy thumping from the hand smashing into the ground, and a wet squelching noise as it turned the headless body into a pool of blood and viscera.

It was really gross.

The others were quiet.

Orb studied the hand.

Creature Analysis Available.

Stone Hand Golem.

“What?!” Orb shouted. “Did I make that? That’s incredible!”

He realized his perception of time had returned to normal. He also realized the others were talking to him.

Bleedy had landed safely on the ground with Charlie. Charlie leaned forward over Bleedy’s head. “What was that?” he asked.

Someone cleared their throat. Everyone turned to look at Arroane’s severed head. He stared at the pool of his remains. He tilted his head as if he couldn’t quite make sense of it all, and it fell on its side. Vetica’s knife still protruded through the center of his head. “Well,” he said. “I think it’s safe to call that fight a draw. How about we talk all this out? I’m sure you have questions.”

Charlie

Charlie blinked.

Merlin was the first to find his words. He nearly shouted from atop the stone hand that held him high in the air. “A draw? Your body is a pile of soup and the only thing remaining is your head! How is that a draw?”

Arroane laughed. “Well, it’s in your best interest—”

A tendril shot forward like a whip. It split Arroane’s head cleanly in two. He stopped moving. Two human sized black hexes formed in the dungeon. One where Arroane’s body had been smashed into a pulp and the other where his head was. Both his head and body turned into a black mush and sank into the hexes. The hex around his body disappeared. The one where his head was pulsed ominously. Each pulse made a noise.

Zum.

Zum.

Zu—

A hand shot out of the hex. It looked almost identical to how it looked when Charlie opened a portal to his dungeon. Except instead of the portal, there was the creepy-looking hex. Slowly but surely, the rest of Arroane’s body crawled out as well. He shook his head and lifted himself to his feet. “Like I was saying, it’s in your best interest to call this a draw. In my adventuring days, they called me ‘Zombie Arroane’. Care to guess why?” He smirked.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Merlin slowly looked at Charlie. He’d lost a little of his bravado now that Arroane presented a threat again. Charlie looked around. All of his allies were ready to fight. The tendrils were slowly rising again. King Scalea, Bonehead, and Vetica readied themselves as well. But it was obvious all of them were exhausted. If this continued, he wasn’t sure they could win. Even with whatever strange power Orb had clearly just received. Something he still wanted to ask his friend about.

“We still won’t let you take Orb!” Charlie said. “If you give up on that, we can call it a draw. Answer some questions for us, and then you can go,” he said. He did his best to seem tough, but that was easier said than done as a small baby wearing a cute blue onesie.

Arroane sat on the ground cross-legged and rested his arms on his legs. “That sounds rather transactional. I was hoping we might form more of an…alliance.”

Vetica scoffed. “You attacked us and demanded we give up a companion. How dare you turn around and ask to form an alliance with us?”

Arroane sighed. “What is your hex mastery?” he asked her.

Vetica recoiled at the question.

Charlie looked around in confusion. “What’s a hex mastery?” he asked.

“This is one of the concepts Zephyr informed me of during our time in Arcadeya. Hex Mastery is a representation of how much control a user has over their hex. When two casters have a similar hex, the winner will usually be the one with a higher hex mastery. I should note that not all casters are innately aware of this number. Sometimes casters require outside help to learn it. Scarlet hex users with the correct specialty are common appraisers of hex mastery,” Parent informed him.

Oh. This was new. Zephyr had been the interface partner of Themis back in Arcadeya. He’d spent a lot of time teaching Parent more about this world. Charlie really needed to sit down and learn more about everything Zephyr had taught Parent. But they’d been traveling basically nonstop since leaving Arcadeya. It’d been hard to find the time.

Arroane waved a hand. “It’s fine if you don’t know, or if you just don’t want to tell me. I’ll share mine instead. I have a unique hex, as you’ve probably deduced already, and my hex mastery is seven.”

Vetica flinched at that. Merlin took a step back and fell in the palm, holding him up. “Seven? You can’t be serious!” Merlin said. He paused. “Well, actually, I suppose you did travel with the hero of Aysela.”

Charlie looked around. “Is seven that high?”

“Ten is the max,” Vetica said, her eyes focused on Arroane.

“Vetica is correct. Additionally, a unique hex scales slightly different compared to other hexes. A unique hex with a mastery of seven outpaces a base hex with a mastery of ten. When we have more time, I’ll walk you through the different kinds of hexes as well. For now, we should focus on the matter at hand.”

Now Charlie was curious about Vetica’s hex mastery level. He’d have to ask later, though. “Why do you want to form an alliance with us? If you’re hoping we’ll join the cult, the answer is no! They’re the bad guys. I’d never help them.”

Arroane laughed. “To be honest, a few years ago, I might have said the same thing. Truth is, I’m only working with the cult because they hold the key to something dear to my heart. My hex is powerful. It is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, I hold the power to inflict absolute death and damnation over my opponents. On the other, I’m cursed with immortality. No matter what kind of damage my body sustains, it always recovers. Even if I die, I’m resurrected a moment later. I’d always wondered if my curse was genetic. Fortunately, it wasn’t. Unfortunately, my son has a different curse altogether.”

“So, he’s not an immortal like you?” Orb asked.

Arroane shook his head. “No. He’s become a monster. You see, my son, is the creature in the cage. My master left this world suddenly. He left the same day my son become cursed. He never said goodbye, so he didn’t know about Taro’s fate. So, I was suddenly left without help from the person I trusted most in the world. I wandered for a while, hoping to find someone who could cure him. But it was pointless. After all, my own journey had taught me curses weren’t easily cured. Otherwise, I would have rid myself of my affliction years ago. I was on the verge of thinking it impossible when I was approached by an agent of Cendra.”

Merlin leaned forward. The hand he was standing on suddenly started to fall. Just as it hit the ground, it turned to ash. Charlie felt the connection fade. His dungeon integrity was low. “So, they offered you a deal, then? If you served Cendra, they would help cure your son?” Merlin asked.

Arroane nodded. “That’s correct. Cendra may be evil, but he always fulfills his end of the bargain. Problem for him is…” Arroane looked up and grinned at Charlie. “I really fucking hate the cult. I took his offer in case no other way became apparent. But as soon as we resurrected him and he fixed my son, I was going to kill him. After all, I committed my life to fighting against evil. I would never betray my master's wishes. I owed a duty to my son, and the woman who gave birth to him before she passed. So, I did what I needed to do to fulfill it. I feigned allegiance to my sworn enemy, bided my time, and looked for other solutions. And now, I believe I’ve found it.”

Arroane turned and stared directly at Orb.

Orb floated backwards. “Hey…don’t look at me like that. You aren’t trying to put me into some witch’s brew, are you? I’ve been eaten enough times for one lifetime, hard pass on the dungeon core stew.”

“Not to mention you were trying to hurt my master, the noble little one, only a moment ago,” Koi Levi said. A deep growl emanated from further within the dungeon.

Vetica shook her head. “If his hex mastery really is seven, he was holding back. We couldn’t have possibly beaten him if he was going all out. Not with a unique hex.”

Arroane nodded. “I admit I lost my temper. At first, I planned to beat the dungeon into submission until I found all of you here. Then I decided to test you all and see what you were capable of. When the scalers surprised me, I unleashed more of my power than I meant to. It was fortunate you were able to save them. I worried the hope of an alliance would be lost if I took the lives of your friends. Still, we had to fight. I had to know if you were worthy allies. If I told you my secrets and then you were simply captured by the cult, my hard work would be for nothing. I’ve earned their trust. I’ve helped them form relationships with corrupt nobles and bolster their ranks. At the same time, I’ve been building my own forces as well. When I betray Cendra, the men and women I’ve stationed all over Aysela will move into action. We’ll purge the cult’s allies and rid this world of them. But my plan for success depends on you, little dungeon core.”

“I can’t swallow. But imagine I am because that sounds so ominous. What are you looking for from me, exactly?” Orb asked.

Arroane chuckled. “A power that only intelligent dungeon cores have. Sentience. I want you to try to use that ability on my son. My hope is that it will turn him human again.”

“And if it doesn’t?” Merlin asked.

Arroane shrugged. “Then I’ll have to continue helping Cendra until he fixes Taro. That’s my price. Help me fix my son, and I’ll do everything in my power to help you destroy the cult. Fail, and we all go our own way.”

Charlie looked at the ground and thought about what this meant. If they saved Arroane’s son, they would gain a powerful ally. They’d have someone on their side who had already defeated the cult once before. But if they failed, Arroane would keep helping them. That was the worst-case scenario. In fact, if they couldn’t save his son, Charlie was wondering if they’d even be able to let Arroane walk away freely. They might have to stop him. For real this time.

He looked up at his dungeon core companion. Everything was riding on Orb.