Owyn knew he was making excuses. He should have seen the signs and he didn’t. Or maybe he ignored them, he didn’t know. Lucid was able to use magic. Owyn wanted to ask himself how it was possible, but he couldn’t find the grounds within himself to argue for why he couldn’t. Dungeon cores and magic cores were one in the same, so it really made no sense for dungeons to be unable to use magic when clearly, they could with human intervention.
Owyn’s scowl lessened as he considered that last thought. Dungeons weren’t able to use magic, that much Owyn was convinced was true. However, a human using a dungeon as a medium… well, they were able to use magic. So what did that mean for Lucid? Was he being controlled by some other human?
No, that didn’t make sense. Think Owyn! There must be other hints! Something he was missing, or failed to consider!
A memory came to mind.
Owyn bit his knuckle, staring up at the ceiling of the room he and Abby occupied. “It’s too… Human.”
“Hey! Light!” A voice startled him.
Owyn quickly refocused, pushing his will into the new core fragment in his helmet. The light guiding the new villagers re-lit, showing everyone the path forward.
“Fishies!” The little girl shouted happily. She was being carried by her father, much to the disappointment or resentment of the other four villagers they were guiding back.
“Yeah!” The thrall smiled with her. “Do you want to feed them?”
“Yeah!”
Damian opened up the pouch of cores he was carrying. Picking out a select few fragments, he handed them to the thrall, who peeled off into Lucid’s old core room with his daughter. Owyn halted their procession to give the little girl enough light to see. She giggled and squirmed out of her fathers grip, running quickly to the water's edge. The thrall crouched nearby, showing her with exaggerated care how to feed the small fish. She followed his lead, giggling even harder as the fish tickled her hands.
Owyn glanced at the other four villagers. Their glares at the thrall had softened somewhat. Was this a ploy by Lucid to make the villagers trust him more? Was it Lucid who came up with the plan, or a human? Ever since Lucid had been brought into this world, he seemed to have had a human under his control, be that Mr. Faux or the Baroness, or someone else.
Oh shit. Was there a human mastermind behind it all? What did they want? To take over the town? Who the fuck would want Setterton? Why would they make an enemy of the church when clearly the church was trying to help?
Owyn was back to assuming that Lucid was just a weird ass dungeon.
“You finished?” Owyn asked.
The little girl realized it was time to go and gasped. She quickly grabbed all the core fragments from her father and scattered them across the pond directly in front of her. “Bye bye!”
Owyn nodded, once again leading the pack out. Damian waited behind for a second, picking a few more smaller core bits from his pouch. He scattered the large handful into the waters before joining them at the back. Which only furthered the villagers fear of him.
Owyn sighed. This always happened with the newbies. He waved his hand, beckoning Damian forward. The large demon obeyed silently. Probably not of his own volition, but rather from a command made by Lucid. Either way, it achieved the desired effect, and the demon now led them through the corridors.
Only four more to go. Owyn told himself. I only have to do this four more times.
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The dungeons were unusually quiet. Lucid included actually, which was odd. Even the thralls were milling about the castle with little to do. Thankfully, the people of Setterton had taken to a festive mood, and were actively chatting around one of several campfires within the castle's walls. Mimic crabs scuttled between the humans, carrying baskets of foodstuffs around like butlers at a fancy party. One had taken a shine to the old leatherworker far back in one corner, and it seemed like he had taken a shine to the little crab in turn. Owyn watched from atop the wall as he talked to the crab all about how leather working worked, with the example of a ratkin hide slowly being prepared.
“Sight to see, isn’t it?” Mr. Vernant said with a smile, walking up to Owyn.
“Maybe.” Owyn acknowledged. Certainly, he hadn’t seen anything like it before, but it was still just a festival. Of sorts. Setterton had a few throughout the years, but this wasn’t time for one.
Humans were stupid. They had wood to burn, so they burned it, rather than saving it. What a waste.
“We’ve asked for arrows in the next batch.” Mr. Vernant told him, taking a seat on the edge of the wall. It was now taller than him, so his feet didn’t even come close to the ground below.
The wall was safe. Perhaps that was what people were celebrating. Either that, or the fact that they were given cake with this shipment of food for some reason.
“I thought the church wasn’t giving out weapons?” Owyn mentioned.
“They gave out dungeon cores and stuff, right? Ain’t they close enough to a weapon?”
Owyn shook his head. “Not when it’s Lucid. He’s hogging all the cores for himself. Minus the few he gave us for more lights, and at that, he made sure I turned them all into lights and not something else.”
Mr. Vernant shrugged with one large shoulder. Was he bigger? “He also fed one to each of Rab’s kids. Apparently the little buggers are supposed to evolve in the company of the humans so they can become… whatever Lucid wants them to become.”
The men both watched as the thrall with the little girl. She was chasing a fleeing mimic crab, and the thrall was chasing her, worried she was going to hurt the crab. Owyn wondered if the mother was still in the picture or not. Knowing Setterton, she probably was, just waiting up in one of the four remaining batches of humans.
Owyn also didn’t miss Mr. Vernant’s mention of ‘the humans’. “Do you count yourself as human?” He had to know.
“Me? No, probably not. Lucid’s mana has been doing some weird shit to me. Luna too. The others though-” He gestured to the other thralls. “They’re as human as can be. Save for their eyes, obviously.”
Owyn nodded, satisfied with the answer.
Mr. Vernant wasn’t finished though. “Lucid’s been cooking something up for a while, by the way. Wants you at the helm of some experiment of his. It’s got a whole bunch of parts that I don’t know about, so I’m not sure how it’s going to work, but he wants you to try and make out a new spell.”
Owyn raised an eyebrow. “Lucid thought of a new spell?”
Again, with that large, one shoulder shrug. “New to me at least. I don’t know if you could think of something similar. He says that you’re probably going to have to touch his core for him to try and explain it directly though.”
Owyn nodded, moving to get to his feet. “Alright-”
Mr. Vernant put a gentle hand on him. “It’s alright, Lucid’ll come to you.”
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Ms. Vernant walked out of the core room a second later, Lucid’s core in hand. She took on an oddly specific stand, preparing to throw Lucid.
Ey?
She whipped her arm, and Lucid’s core shot over the heads of the villagers. Owyn’s heart stopped momentarily as he watched the glass ball land almost perfectly in Mr. Vernant’s open palms. He smiled, waving a thanks to his wife.
Owyn practically collapsed back in his seat, heart beating a thousand times a second. “Wh- Why the fuck would you-”
Mr. Vernant grinned, lazily tossing Lucid’s core in the air. “What? You thought I’d miss?”
Owyn snatched the core from Mr. Vernant before he could do something stupid like that again. “These people are depending on Lucid! What would have happened to them if you dropped him!”
Aw, I didn’t know you cared!
Owyn glared at the core, eliciting a snicker.
Mr. Vernant slapped Owyn’s back. Rather painfully actually. “Welp! I’ll leave you two ladies to it! I’m going to see how Grant’s getting along. Lucid says he’ll be walking again soon, and I don’t want to miss his first steps!”
With that said, Mr. Vernant dropped to the floor, walking to the crowd of villagers with a smile.
Good lad, ‘im. Lucid said with a funny accent. Anywho, hi Oywn! Nice talking to you again!
Owyn could feel some of the villagers glancing his way. He tried to hide his blush with a grimace, and he spun in place. His feet landed on Mycroft on the other side of the wall. Taking a new seat on the friendly crab, Owyn responded to the dungeon.
“I don’t understand you.” Less of a response, more of a complaint.
Oof, you’ve really got conflicting feelings for me, don’tcha? I can feel it through our connection.
Owyn could feel Lucid wink. Again, yet another human trait, confusing him all the more.
“What do you want?”
Mycroft got to her feet, trundling away from the party.
I want you to have the ability to see in the dark. Lucid said. But not like everyone else. You need to do it in a very specific way, and I’m not sure how it’ll all work.
“In a very specific way.” Owyn raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “Do tell.”
I can’t. Lucid said. Well, actually, I’m sure I could, but it’d be so much faster to just show you.
“I’m not becoming enthralled to you.” Owyn said.
I know. Lucid felt like he was nodding. You don’t have to. But touching my core is the only way I know how to convey my intentions to you as accurately as possible. There’s just one problem though, and I need to pick your thoughts about it.
That was interesting. Well, this whole thing was interesting, but in particular, the way Lucid phrased it, it sounded like this wasn’t a problem of technical ability, like he had been growing to assume, but more akin to a moral dilemma.
“I’m listening…”
The feeling Owyn got through Lucid’s core grew darker somehow. Nothing changed externally of course, but it really felt like Lucid was becoming a whole different person. Dungeon. Whatever.
What I might propose to you needs to be kept secret.
Might? Owyn thought, but he kept it to himself.
The concepts I would show you will be for your eyes, and your eyes only.
A body emerged from the shadows close to Mycroft. Damian walked beside them. Owyn was suddenly quite aware that they were rather far away from the castle. Owyn could see Rab’s large legs like cell bars blotting out the light of the campfires, his white body a solid sky above them all.
Nobody else, besides my thralls, will be granted this information. The reason I’m offering it to you is because you’re my friend. And you’re a damn fine archer, as far as I’ve been told.
“What does this have to do with being good at archery?”
Silver the dragon appeared soon after, sitting at attention in a nest of moss. Mycroft made her way to the dragon.
If I tell you, I expect you to follow through with the concept's creation. From start to finish, you will become a part of the most dangerous experiment I’m ever going to attempt. If you see this concept, and you refuse to follow through with it…
Subsonar’s boney knuckles appeared around Owyn’s throat. Owyn recognized them from when he helped haul villagers down from up above. He hadn’t even heard the creature appear behind him!
Owyn swallowed, but remained calm. Lucid was just a dungeon after all. He probably thought of something the dungeon could use. If it had to do with archery… maybe a catapult of some kind? That would explain the dark vision, he’d need to aim pretty far away.
But this feeling from Lucid… he was serious. He really thought that whatever he had in mind was just that important.
If I do this, I’m going to reveal secrets I’d have rather kept to myself. If I show you this, you’ll even have to keep this secret from my thralls.
Keep his secret from his thralls? Lucid’s monsters stiffened, every so slightly. If Owyn’s adrenaline wasn’t building due to the hands around his throat, he probably wouldn’t have noticed.
“Master-”
Shut up.
An invisible weight fell down upon the group with the dark tone Lucid spoke with. His attention returned to Owyn.
You know the stakes. You know I keep my promises. I won’t even attempt to enthrall you, these secrets are just that powerful. If you refuse, I’ll kill you, grind your bones to dust, feed them to my monsters, and scatter the shit that results across a thousand cave systems. Do you understand?
Owyn considered the orb he held in his hands quietly. Carefully. With a burning sensation of curiosity raging in his very soul. He knew the risks, but… No. Owyn was smarter than this.
“What’s in it for me?”
Any amount of knowledge you wish. Open communication with me, without restraints.
Owyn was not impressed at first. But then-
The ability to slaughter hundreds with your own two hands. The ability to traverse the very skies above. And, if you so wish, perhaps even eventually the ability to go beyond this world.
And that was no empty promise. Owyn could feel through the connection he had with Lucid’s core. He wasn’t just serious. Everything he had said he truly, fully believed.
The ability to go beyond this world.
“What does that mean?”
Lucid grinned.
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The bright, blue skies above, with only whisps of clouds in the sky. A bright autumn day. Two large men flanked Owyn, who only came up to their chests at most. They stood in a barren field of impossibly perfect rows of shorn crops of wheat. A small creature, a gopher of sorts, scampered across the field a fair distance away.
A metal pipe. Held at the shoulder. One hand on a grip, and the other halfway down the length of a barrel. Owyn leaned his cheek against the wooden butt of the thing, eyes peering down a tube with glass on both ends. A scope.
A deep breath. The trigger was pulled.
The sound of a thunderclap, and an incredible force punched against his shoulder, shocking Owyn. He lowered the gun, opening his eyes to see the gopher in the distance. Dead. In an instant.
Owyn watched as the memory became distant. The little boy holding the gun smiled up at the men to either side of him, and they in turn smiled down on him.
----------------------------------------
Owyn blinked, and the memory was over. Not his memory. Lucid’s.
“You’re-”
Human. Lucid finished. The feeling of connection Owyn felt with Lucid’s core told him that that latest response was said to him and him alone. Just like the memory.
And I’d appreciate if you kept that secret.
Owyn nodded, numb. Lucid was human. But… what did that mean? Were all dungeons human? Were they killing humans!? Oh goddess above, Lucid killed Faux. Were they all helping a murderer?
I’m a dungeon. Lucid said firmly. I am NOT human. And I expect you to treat me accordingly. If things get complicated… I don’t like politics. Or bureaucracy. I’m a dungeon. I want to do dungeon things. And to me, that means I want to create my very own kingdom. I want power, do you understand?
Owyn nodded again, mind reeling. It was all he could do. His mind was just too busy elsewhere. Lucid was human? The ability to go beyond this world? What was that weapon? Owyn knew, just as Lucid had known, that it was a gun. But what was a gun? How did it work?
Subsonar’s hands faded away. This gun. This weapon, however it worked, promised to be just the start of something far bigger than Owyn could ever dream. He could feel it, just as certain as he could feel the dungeon core pulsating with knowledge from beyond this world. This feeling… it was ethereal.
Owyn held up Lucid’s core. He could feel himself smiling. Was it nervousness? Excitement? The pure thrill of discovering something new?
Whatever it was-
“I’m in.”
All the way.