Alaster didn’t sleep well that night. The conversation with Azemar was a short one that funneled down to the two agreeing to spar after each lesson. But it was the implications of the conversation that kept Alaster awake at night.

‘If your Lab is now a Dungeon, what does it matter if your security measure didn’t activate?’ Sedall asked.

‘Because most of the experiments on Level four were living thinking creatures. Like a Monster you’d see today, but very different. I was attempting to isolate what allowed some living creatures to cultivate Mana, while others couldn’t.’

‘And you failed, creating mutant Monsters immune to Mana?’ Alaster joked.

‘No. I succeeded, creating Mutant Monsters immune to Mana while still being able to use it. At least mostly immune. I’d say roughly eighty three percent resistant to nonphysical Magic. For example, against fire, they are resistant. But they aren’t resistant to a giant boulder being thrown at their head.’ Belgroth said in perfect seriousness, unaware or uncaring of the sarcasm.

‘What are they like? What do they look like?’

‘These Dungeons change things, so my experiments might not even exist anymore. But the creatures on Level Four where pale gray, seven to eight feet tall, with no nose, sharp ears, completely hairless, with razor sharp teeth.’

‘Well, that’s horrifying.’ Sedall groaned, ‘Why would you make something like that?’

‘To see if I could? Curiosity? Besides, I wasn’t stupid. They were completely sterile. Unable to breed. They don’t even have genitalia. Though, each one was at a level of strength that would be regarded as Master. Their magic was that powerful, but it was very crude, primal even.’

Alaster got a sudden headache behind his left eye, ‘Master? So, they could casually kill me and pretty much everyone else on the planet?’

‘Oh, come on, they weren’t that powerful! Besides, Humanity has its own Masters.’

‘What are they like personally? Are they little more than beasts acting on instinct, or are they thinking planning creatures?’ Sedall asked

‘They were actually quite intelligent. Easily able to solve basic problems and grow smarter. I suspect they were just as intelligent as Humans. They were very social creatures that seamlessly worked together to achieve what they wanted, which at the time of my Lab’s operation, was usually to sneak some treats from my assistants.

They were kind, but highly protective, both of each other, and their space.’

‘Oh, so if they somehow escaped from the Dungeon, they wouldn’t attempt to conquer the world?’

‘They absolutely would. You have to remember, despite their intelligence and power, they have the mentality of children. As a child, if you saw something you wanted, and no one was there to stop or reprimand you; you took it.’

Alaster rubbed his temples as he asked a question, he was not sure he wanted to know, ‘How many are there?’

‘We needed an adequate sample size, so there were exactly one hundred.’

‘One hundred Masters? Even the Demi Gods would struggle to handle them all at once.’ Sedall murmured.

‘I don’t get the terror you guys are feeling. I have studied the Weaves of Dungeons, the creatures within are bound to it, unable to leave, and if isolated from the Dungeon’s Weaves, they would die in just a few hours depending on their Mana. My experiments would only last at most eighteen hours.’

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‘Do they have a name?’ Alaster asked.

‘We only called them Fours, because they were on Level four. We wanted to keep it simple in the records.’

‘Wait wait wait, you said there were five levels to your Lab. What did you do on Level Five?’

‘Nothing practical, we just studied the theory of forcibly removing Mana from a target. Not a type of drain they could recover from, but permanently removing their ability to use any sort of Magic.

However, while we made extensive progress towards Drain Spells, we were still far from our goal.’

‘Could someone find your records and continue the work themselves?’

‘I suppose so? But they would require extensive knowledge about how Magic works on a primal level. How it influences the world and how the world influences it back. How Magic fluctuates around and through every living being. How it affects the world in every minor way. Basically, I doubt even your Gods could understand the research, let alone continue it.’ Belgroth explained, much like he was standing before an auditorium of students.

‘I really hope you’re right. Cause if the King of Lissura had that power, there wouldn’t be anything anyone else could do.’

‘Why are the two of you so panicked? It’s a Dungeon, far away, under the control of someone you aren’t planning on facing anyway.’

‘Yeah, but the problem is who controls it and why. The Lissurian Royal Family has it, and they use it as their personal training ground.

If it operates how most Dungeons do, then it grows stronger the deeper they go. If Level Four makes them face one hundred Masters, that means the King defeated the one hundred, and still managed to progress to Level Five.

You say there was no practical research on Level Five, but I would not be at all surprised if the Dungeons conjured some sort of Monster that made use of the research, maybe cutting off their opponents’ access to their Magic in a certain radius. I don’t know. What I do know is that the King was strong enough to defeat one hundred Masters.

I already didn’t want to face the King in any sort of conflict. But now, I know that even if I tried to fight him, I wouldn’t stand a chance.’

‘You already knew that. You just know more about the circumstances. Either way, does your plan change?’ Belgroth pointed out.

‘No.’

‘Then it doesn’t matter. Focus on your lessons, train hard, and when the time is right, go rescue your sister and be gone before the King knows.’

‘Not before releasing my body. As a Demi God, the world itself heavily limits what I can and can’t do involving Mortals, made even more restricted by the other Demi Gods. But in the short amount of time, they don’t know I am free, I will do my best to help you.’ Sedall offered.

‘See? You now have a Demi God offering you help! That King has no chance!’

Alaster knew that they were just trying to calm him down and reassure him. He knew that it would not be that simple, it never was. But there was one thing that was always simple. Something that he had done for years now.

Hunting Monsters.

Alaster stood up and swapped with one of his Shadows outside the city. While his Undead Army was off fighting a war with the Lich, Alaster appeared in the forest on the other side of Galmore. He was going to ease his tension through the blood of Monsters that had never done anything against him.

And he did not care.

* * * * *

Azemar observed his pupil as he drenched the woods in blood, leaving behind broken bodies and dismembered limbs. Many people thought of Summoners as those not wanting to dirty themselves.

Alaster broke that stigma. If someone watched him as he tore through the forest, they would assume he was some sort of berserker. He fought alone, wielding his large poleaxe with lethal efficiency. Every movement wrought death and terror upon those unfortunate enough to cross his path.

Monsters, Azemar would have bet his vast fortune on not having the capacity for fear, fled from his student, terror plain on their faces as they trampled over each other in an attempt to escape. Very few managed to do so.

He had watched Alaster use his Tendrils of Mana before, and he had thought it was a unique Ability, but not one of much power. Something had changed since the last time he saw it.

Azemar watched those same tendrils that had previously been easily blocked or deflected by shields now tear apart Monsters renowned for their durability. Monsters that even he struggled with dispatching, at least personally.

He had told Alaster that they needed to spar together to return him to a razor edge, ready to battle the elite warriors of Lissura if and when the need arose. But that was a lie. In truth, Azemar needed to judge Alaster’s mastery over Necrotic Mana.

He needed to know if Alaster was able to do it. The only reason he agreed to take the young man in and teach him. He had forced, paid, or coerced the best Mages in the world to prolong the time, to allow him to find some other way to save her.

Years had passed, he had scoured the lands, read every document related to it, fought horrors that would shake nations, but he had not found anything. He was not even sure Alaster could help. He was simply hoping he could.

Time was running out.