Chapter 2: So that’s what a dungeon is!

Intrigued I suppress my annoyance and click yes. A new blue screen appears in front of my eyes:

Name: Dungeon of the great mage Azorious Level: -2 Essence: 0 Creatures in your sphere of influence: 6 Size:30 m^3 Skill points:0

Ok, now I’m getting mad, explain everything to me, now! Suddenly a flux of information comes straight into my head, I see labyrinths spanning thousands of miles filled with treasures and monsters, towers with enough levels to reach the stars filled with deadly challenges and promises of power. What I see are countless possibilities, my possibilities, my potential growth, everything I could be.

I take a moment to shake off the visions of distant worlds from my mind. then I decide that the first thing to do is to understand what happened to me.

Apparently, something had gone wrong with my direct control spell; figures, I think in annoyance. I must have forgotten something and instead of robbing the mana well powers to empower myself, I ended up fusing with it. All the knowledge I’m receiving now, this images of worlds I’ve never seen, are the memories of the souls inside the mana well, countless people who like me tried to harvest its powers but failed to do so. Well, it could have gone way worse than it is going now, I consider thinking about the fragments of souls existing only as data banks.

I dismiss the status window, we have some investigations to do, first, I should take a look at my current body and understand what I look like. After 5 minutes of examining every inch of the room i finally come to terms with the fact I don’t have a body, or at least not in the human sense, which would be a physical structure with limbs and organs surrounded by the soul in the case of mages or with a soul seed in the case of normal people. Instead, I exist as a tattered soul stretching over this cave, if I concentrate enough I can change shape to the walls just like I would move my hands, it’s incredibly hard and slow; also, if I try to expand my size I feel like ripping apart. I really hope I'll find a way to fix my soul, otherwise, I won't be able to use magic anymore since mana would just flow out the rips.

I’ll admit I felt a hint of panic. What dungeon? What giant towers and labyrinths? I’M A FREAKING CAVE! I was sincerely feeling like giving up when I noticed the crystal coffin had remained where I left it; What would happen to her if I were to give up? Right at that moment, a brown rat dared jump on the crystal dome, its little dirty paws leaving prints on the clear crystal. I was already fuming with the rat for sullying her coffin like that and if I could, I would have blasted it to smithereens, unfortunately, I had no hands or mana available to me. Feeling untouchable the rat gave a toothy grin and went further, its claws scratching the surface trying to get inside. My mind going blank imagining what it could possibly want from my beloved's body... Made of fresh meat...

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! I felt a gigantic sea of rage for something as small as a rat, I wanted to grab it and squeeze it until even bones turned to dust, however, I had no hands!... I focused all my hate on him, even my soul moved on its own trying to squash him, alas failing. Unfortunately, the soul exists on another different plane and is thus unable to physically interfere with the real world, only exception made for mana. If staring too much killed, he would already be mush, that’s when the blue box came back.

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Due to your actions you have gained the skill: [soul overwhelm] (Beginner level). [Soul overwhelm] (Beginner level 0/100): acquire control of lower life forms. The skill effect is influenced by the disparity in levels between you and the target.

A vision flashed past my eyes, I could see a robed humanoid figure send his soul like an arrow inside a monstrous 4 headed beast. At first, nothing happened, but somehow I could feel that the soul of the man had done something to the beast's, like a disease it spread consuming its spirit. The monster soon started to welp I pain as the man’s soul slowly devoured his own from the inside, everything he was and had ever been slowly fading away like words in the sand, then it finally let out a death wail and kneeled down in front of the man, he patted the vacuous beast, its shallow eyes following its new master as he was used like a puppet.

The vision ended and was replaced with another scene of the same hooded man, or so I thought, his body was different yet, I could feel he was the same one. This time he was fighting schools of rainbow coloured fishes able to fly and manipulate wind. His soul shot out again in many tentacles chasing after the fishes, but this time upon catching his preys, it didn’t totally devour their soul, it just spread over their core, subjugating it. Soon the swarm divided into two sides of fishes fighting against each other, wind blades and miniature tornadoes wreaked havoc above the ground. Shortly after, the side of fishes loyal to the man won and flew happily around their new master.

“We are made of dreams and hopes, so why shed blood when you can destroy their very essence? Prove them whose will is superior, and have them obey you in life or become puppets after death.”

- Soul emperor Kar'valoth

The visions faded away the same way they came, suddenly and without any warning. I pondered a for a moment about what had happened, apparently, the mana well had absorbed a user of a kind of magic I had never even heard about;  I wished to harm the rat and the mana well reacted giving me a method and mentor? The sound of scratching caught my attention, and before the rat could leave another mark, my soul shot out in a needle shape, piercing its soul core. Its little pawns stopped as he looked frozen in the air. Now, now, what should I do with you? I thought with an imaginary smile widening on my face,

I could feel his little life in the palm of my hand, it was shaking in fear, all his desire to live clearly transmitting to me, and I knew all I had to do was flex my imaginary fingers and it would all vanish. Sigh. You are lucky, today you live, I sentenced giving him an imaginary thumb up. I send my soul moving around its core officially submitting to me.

Congratulations! You have acquired your first loyal subordinate! +2 experience to [Soul overwhelm].

Uh? Thanks, I guess… I look around the room for the other life forms mentioned in my status and find 4 other rats and 2 moles, I send my soul to attack but this time I chose to devour their little souls, I’m curious about what would happen.

+2 Essence

+2 Essence

+2 Essence

+2 Essence

+2 Essence

+2 Essence

+ 6 experience to [Soul overwhelm]

Congratulations! You have accumulated enough essence to level up your soul. Perform Level up?

[yes] [no]

I immediately pressed yes, nothing bad has come out of the blue windows yet, besides level up sounds sweet. My influence suddenly expands, the roof of the cavern gets slightly taller and all the walls enlarge. Beside the room upgrades I can see some of the tears on my soul closing up, it's not much but it's an hope.

Congratulations! You have reached level -1! Skill point awarded: 2. Skill shop unlocked]