So, I need to get him... To live first?

“Can the Constructor fix up whatever is broken with his body? I mean, if it can construct one blood vessel and organ, why not repair one that is bad?” I ask the question that I was secretly hoping would be answered affirmatively ever since I thought I could bring the kid back.

[Negative.

Only Dungeons Level 3 and up have the option to regenerate the bodies of its denizens.

Your Level of 2 does not permit it.]

“Shit! Shit! Shit! Why does that not surprise me?!”

“What?” the old warrior asks me, upset at seeing me so upset. “What is it??”

“I need to level up!”

“What?”

“My level is too low,” I tell him as if he’d understand what that means and why his son is about to die, permanently.

He is looking at me, his face going from blank white to bloody red to blank white again.

“These machines won’t allow me to properly repair your son until I level up.”

“I do not understand.”

“I know you don’t. But let me try something different. Your son drank some potion that should have kept his inner body from freezing. Maybe that is going to help us. But from what I know, kidneys might last 24 hours, but heart… only a few hours. I am not sure this will work.”

I leave out the part about how his brain should be gone for good. But, what do I know? Besides, I hate to give people bad news.

Still, I don’t know what to do next. The only thing I know is I cannot give up. “The Constructor. I need a seven-inch syringe full of adrenaline. And a bunch of healing potions.”

[The Basic ..]

“Don’t tell me we don’t have it, SAMS. Don’t tell me we don’t even have money to buy the damn license. Just sell one of the warrior's cards. That should give you enough. Buy a license. Also, the strongest self-healing medicine we can buy. Just do it. And do it now! Okay, SAMS?”

[Sell of a Warrior Ticket: 1,000 coins.

The transaction fee of 15 percent applies.

Adrenalin Potion License acquired: 500 coins.

Healing Potion Single Use License Acquired: 200 coins.]

I do not pay any attention to what SAMS is messaging me. But as I hear the Constructor churning on and the cocoon net being cast out, for the very first time, I appreciate how fast and efficient SAMS is doing its job.

While I wait for the syringe and potion, I keep getting him warmer. I know there are all these cryonicists who put the dead bodies of their loved ones in deep freeze thinking that one day the scientists will permit them to live again. Maybe there is something to it, and these guys here have already figured it out. I do not know. But I have to try.

“SAMS, tell me when his body hits 37 degrees Celsius, please.”

[The body temperature of the subject is already at 37.3 degrees Celsius.]

I start to massage his heart, then pump it hard, and then I electroshock him, thinking of a current passing through me.

His body jolts up.

I feel his pulse. And nothing.

I blow air down his throat and pump his heart again and again. Then blow some more air. And so on I go.

When I’m ready to give up, the synergy finishes being made, and I take it from the Constructor, jump back on the kid, move his cape, and tare his shirt off, exposing his bare chest. And then I stuck him with the needle, straight into his heart, injecting it with all the adrenalin in it.

Then I shock him again.

His whole body jolts up again and then I think I see him let go of a breath. And… intakes one.

Before I can hope up for a miracle, for another breath, I get a notice,

[The Soul Inducer has detected a heartbeat. The soul transference has started. Allocating LIC Energy… 10 units needed.

The estimated time to finish the transference is 5 minutes]

“Damn,” I say as I sit down on the floor, suddenly able to breathe again, feeling... yeah, I don't want to think about the flooding and the car and the woman with her child right now.

“What? What is happening?” the old warrior asks me, not knowing if he should hope or not.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

I look at him. He’s not the murdering warrior of some fantasy land. Not anymore. He’s just a scared old man, fearing for the life of his son, probably the only joy he has left in his life.

“You saw it. He is breathing. At least, he took one breath.”

“Yes, so, so, he’ll be fine? You’ll bring him back?”

I shake my head. “I can’t promise anything. I really can’t. Other than to try and do my best. As you see, I have not sold his soul, like some other dirty, greedy dungeon might have done. I kept it here. I do not know why I have done so since I’m broke, but I have not sold it. Just did not seem right. Now,” I say, but I need to catch on breathing since all this pressure of saving the kid had left me feeling dizzy. “Now, we will try to transfer it back to his body. And then, we’ll see what happens.”

“Good, good,” he says, suddenly starting to feel optimistic.

“But you have to know…”

“What?”

“His body has been frozen for quite a while. His brain, his head, his memories...” I am not sure I want to tell him that, but since his eyes are glowing and he is smiling, I think I need to warn him or else, he’ll be one more person I’ll have to freeze. “How he is going to wake up, I have no idea. Or if he is going to wake up. No guarantees. Cannot give you any guarantees.”

“I see. I know that.”

“This is like the first time I’m doing this. Do not blame me. I did not ask him to come here and try to kill me, you know.”

“I know. I see you are trying.”

“Yes, I am doing my best. Now we have to be patient,” I say, seeing how the old man is ready to flip out.

“How long?”

“It said five minutes.”

As we speak, we can clearly observe his chest going up and down, the color returning to his face.

“Anyway, what is your name?” I ask him, just to talk and shorten the wait.

“I am Nemyr. From Ewon Falls. And this is my son Vania,” he says, grabbing his son’s hand, and holding it tight, his eyes suddenly feeling up with tears.

“Nice to meet you Nemyr. I… used to be called Felix.”

“Felix. It’s a strong, good name,” he says but looks at me doubtfully as if it does not suit me fine.

I smile, “Oh, no. This is Oollie. I take his body so I can converse and talk to you people. But, yeah, maybe one day I will get my body back.”

He hears me talk, but I can clearly see he does not hear me at all with his eyes fixated on his kid the whole time. “Please, bring him back. I told him not to come. But he would not listen. He... just would not listen.”

“Yeah. We're talking about the same kid. Look, I’m doing all I can. If I had more energy, if I could level up, I would have connected him to that machine there, and it would have restored your son. But I do not have what it takes to level up. And with the way things have been going, I have no idea when I will be able to do so.”

[Soul Transference has been completed.

You need to activate him now.]

“Okay, and how do I do that?”

[The tutorial is not available. And since you do not want me to list how much it costs, I will not burden you with that information.]

“Oh, thank you so much, SAMS. You found the best time to go righteous with me. Can’t believe you did not offer me one. At discounted, ‘only’ prices, I mean, of course.”

[I watch and learn.]

But there was no time to bicker around with SAMS. I need to know, but before I ask him to just get me the damn tutorial, I remember.

Do not know how. But, it’s a fragment of some distant memory.

Weird as hell.

I know I need to get into this kid. I know I cannot get control over him. He is human like I am, probably even more so if I remember my info right. But there must be something in his mind I can take control of.

Then, I have another idea pop inside my head.

This kid, at least part of him, is part of my dungeon now. I have his Existential Essence. His soul. Card it and then I can maybe find a way to control him.

As soon as the idea hits me, I know where to look. I go into his mind, do not try to take control, feeling him nervously moving around, his body starting to convulse, fighting me. But I do not invade. I just look, take one of the blank cards out of the deck, and when I see the little window with rays of light shining through, I jump through and run to… the pulsing beacon is not pulsing. What the hell do I do now?

It needs to be turned on, but how the hell do I do that? Can I shock it as I did the kid? I imagine the burst of energy coming out of me and jolting into that beacon. Suddenly, I can see just a speck of light there. I pour more energy into it, imagining again the current running from the Dungeon through me into it. The light brightens, but it’s still not pulsing.

Frustrating and unable to hold my breath anymore, I resign and pass the card over to the beacon. And it seems that is exactly what it needs as it pulses. And then stops. I bring the card back over the beacon again, letting it pulse some more, seeing the light growing, pulsing going stronger.

I hear the boy starting to mumble something incoherent, but I do not let the card go. I feel the new surge of energy going into the card, the 3D image of the kid, just the same thing as with the wolves.

So, these cards… are not just for playing around, not just the throw-it-in-a-hat card. Not just the stores of information I cannot even comprehend yet. They are also life starters. Maybe not life starters. More like soul keepers and activators. Damn, how much more complicated can this system get?

When I sense no more energy flowing in the card and think I’m finished, I jump out and get the hell out of Dodge.

His father sees that I’ve been busy, sees his kid not opening his eyes yet, and growls something at me.

“Hey, buddy, wakey, wakey…” He does not react. I have to be more forceful, not being my mother when I was growing up, on Sunday morning offering to make me breakfast but not wanting really to wake me up. “Hey!?!! Vania!! Wake up!?!” I say it sharply and slap hard the palms of my hands an inch above his face.

He takes a sharp breath, jolts up, and opens his eyes.

I exhale a long breath and am ready to smile and pat myself on the back.

Too fast.

His eyes… They look murky, not very clear at all. But then, Nemyr calls his name, and he turns toward his father’s voice and stares at him, looking frightened and confused.

That’s good. Frightened and confused is good. It means he is there, his brain working.

“Father…? What… Why, why are you crying?” he whispers out in a very low timid tone.

I look at tears running down the scared cheeks of the toughest man I saw alive. Nemyr puts his hands around his son, first in a delicate embrace, as if he is afraid he may hurt him, but then he sobs and I see him hugging him hard, the boy’s limp body not offering any resistance.

“Easy, tough guy, we don’t want to squeeze the life out of him now,” I tell him, but I know the boy will be fine.

It’s all good. The operation seems successful. Let’s not do this ever again. Ever again.

As they are hugging each other, I look at the boy’s card. It is glowing with just a spec of green light.

But before I can check his stats, suddenly, I feel alert. There is someone who has just crossed the veil of the Dungeon. I cannot see who, but I feel their intruding presence.

“Who came with you?” I ask as I turn to Nemyr. I feel I might have been set up, betrayed. My trust, again given over so easily. As if I’m a seven-year-old at a lemon juice stand accepting to serve some older kid with my hard-squeezed juice for later payment. ‘Don’t have it on me. But, I’ll bring it right back. Just have to run home to get it. Trust me.’ Trust my ass. Never saw that kid again.

Yeah, it seems I have not learned much since then.

“Who came with you??” I repeat the question, now getting upset. “And don’t lie to me! Who?”

“The dwarfs. They were supposed to stay behind while I got up and check on you.”

Didn’t learn anything, so it seems. Meaning them. Meaning me.

And, now, it’s my time to growl.