Humans weren’t to know what Elijah saw. They weren’t meant to understand it, to feel it, to surround the concept with their souls and absorb it like it was a part of themselves, and yet he was subjected to just that.

He saw the eye that looked at the world from above. He saw the receptors within that granted it sight. He saw the intricate processes that made the receptor sustain life, the signals continually sent into the threads beyond. He saw… more.

The depths were endless. Elijah couldn’t blink or look away, as more and more detail was shown to him in intricate detail. Everything in the world was able to be cut into pieces which could be cut even further into eternity. There was always a smaller piece, an explanation for everything, there was always something beyond what he’d already seen.

Infinities compressed into a finite object.

Impossible.

No.

Possible.

It was possible.

His view of the world twisted once more, the three dimensions Elijah had grown accustomed to not being close to enough to describe the truths he was subjected to again and again. The eye above didn’t exist here or there. It was everywhere, impossibly small and impossibly big at the same time. It was a myth, a legend, a falsehood, and yet it persisted into the realities beyond the scope of what humanity could ever handle.

Time became an illusion.

Had it ever been real?

Maybe.

Elijah blinked without eyes, without eyelids, as he looked at his Core from above. He could see himself, could see the caves, could see the fighting, could feel each breath of every monster as they scratched at their heads. They saw him and knew that he was inside their minds, but his physical shell was many floors away.

Was… was that a face?

Sharp features, eyes that shined in color never meant to be unseen, and looking down on him with mild surprise. It was not every day that a mortal soul would travel so far above through the old channels, after all.

No, this is not right.

Too far in. Go back.

What’s happening?

Human curiosity.

The mental grip he’d formed on instinct was torn away, he was torn into the depths again, and a sharp pain resonated through his soul as a fragment was removed. Elijah didn’t scream, he didn’t have a mouth to even whisper, yet the pain escaped his mind regardless.

Sorry.

The fragment was returned to him within an instance of time so short that no timer could’ve had the chance to start, yet that instant had felt like an eternity. How… How long had Elijah been in here?

Why could he see?

What could he see?

Who had he seen?

‘Don’t think about it,’ a voice suggested. It had to bounce around inside his shell for a long time before Elijah could collect himself enough to recognize it as the Dungeon. ‘You weren’t meant to see so far.’

‘I… What?’ Elijah said, lost for words as his mind struggled to contain the memories of the past… however long he’d been doing this. It had all been endless, every hint of something more coming in a stream too fast to fully process. ‘Did I see you?’

‘No,’ the Dungeon replied. ‘You saw the one who is meant to be unseen. We are not meant to look. Don’t think about them.’

Elijah wanted to say that not thinking about something wasn’t that easy to do on command, but that piercing pain that began to spread through his chest made sure he was distracted.

Wait.

A pain in his chest?

He was disconnected from his physical shell. Any sensation from his body was meant to have been unfelt, which it was.

‘Your Core is fracturing,’ the Dungeon explained, as another blow of pure agony flew through him. ‘A consequence of knowing too much. Your soul was unprepared.’

‘I thought you said I was ready?’ Elijah questioned, a fake hand on his fake chest as he did his best to focus on not letting the Mana inside flare up even further. The crystalline structure that made up his Core was being filled to the brim with energy, cycling through it all at speeds that he knew he couldn’t handle.

Were new paths being dug out?

‘You were ready for a glimpse,’ the Dungeon corrected. ‘I gave you that glimpse, but you were unsatisfied. You grabbed at more. Very stupid. Refrain.’

He’d annoyed the entity, as it returned to its normal manner of speech. Elijah could hear the words being sent towards him in a neverending stream, while the Dungeon focused on repairing every fracture his Core had sustained.

‘When I explain, you listen,’ it chided. ‘Don’t wander. Don’t inspect. Sit. Listen. Hear. Don’t talk. Don’t move. Be guided. Don’t guide.’

‘Yes, sorry, I understand,’ Elijah apologized. ‘Won’t do it again.’

‘Good,’ the Dungeon said. ‘Your soul will evaporate if you wander again. You will learn control before the next explanation.’

Elijah wanted to counter the Entity’s words and say that it had explained nothing at all, but… that wasn’t right. Though it was still itching in the back of his head, a wealth of lore was steadily being released into his thoughts. The truths of flesh, the secrets on how to command the blood, how to alter the muscle, how to alter the delicate chemical balance without letting it all topple.

Formulas that had no root in mortal mathematics, secrets he couldn’t speak or write down in only three dimensions, were fused with his old ideas of how to alter the biological world.

There was still much that hadn’t been connected, countless holes that he would have to supplement, but… the degree that he could influence the flesh had just grown by leaps and bounds.

Accelerating the natural healing process was a minor inconvenience. If Elijah understood this right, which he was very sure he was, he could mend wounds that the body couldn’t handle on its own.

A broken heart could be fixed, restored, and improved.

‘Understand your limits,’ the Dungeon advised, still reading his thoughts. ‘They are pushed. You are stronger. Limits are still here.’

‘I know,’ he assured the Entity. ‘But… Just this should be possible, right?’

‘No.’

It was an absolute fact. The Dungeon didn’t see any caveat that would allow what Elijah had considered a plausible goal with his new abilities.

Truthfully… It was disheartening.

‘If you wish to do this regardless, you need a push,’ it continued. Elijah felt a spark of energy unfold outside in the cave that his body occupied. ‘My final boon for now. Prove your worth before expecting anymore.’

‘What did you do?’

‘Figure it out,’ the Dungeon replied bluntly. ‘Perhaps after you solve your floating form.’

‘Excuse me?’

There was no reply to his question, as the Dungeon withdrew from his Core and left him to float around by his lonesome.

Strange.

With a moment to himself, however, Elijah was finally able to inspect the crystal sphere’s new appearance.

Like the last layer, this one was covered with a new batch of runes below the surface. One long spiral was used for all of them, the crystalline thread twisting and turning to complete the shapes flawlessly. It was akin to masterful penmanship, though each rune told an entire story instead of being restrained to a single word.

What those stories were, Elijah couldn’t say. He almost felt the meaning behind them when he studied the curses and depths, but it was always just at the tip of his tongue. Some back of his mind was shouting at him from not seeing what was obvious, but, try as he might, they were beyond him.

Drawing them on paper and showing Alin would perhaps reveal what was hidden.

An idea for later. Right now, the connection to his physical shell was starting to be strained, and the tired limbs were beginning to ignore their muted statues.

‘We’re floating,’ Dawn commented.

‘... Yes?’ Elijah replied. ‘That’s how it usually works inside here.’

‘No,’ she corrected. ‘Outside. We’re floating.’

With her words came a feed to her sight, which included failed attempts to fly around and Elijah’s body floating around just a few meters away from the duck.

They were easily ten meters above the ground.

…

Never before had Elijah forced himself back into controlling his body, his eyes opening, and his lungs gasping for air as he felt the blood go to his head.

“What the hell is going on?” he half-shouted, instinctively trying to grab at the air for purchase. “Is this your doing, Grace?”

“I’d love to be able to keep so much stuff in the air while making the wind unnoticeable, but, no, I'm not doing anything,” Grace replied, steadily floating by as she moved to rejoin her mentor and Aleksi some dozen meters away. “You have Sasha to thank for this.”

She pointed towards the ground below, where the woman in question was still sitting calmly in a lotus pose. Her body was unmoving, not influenced by the lack of gravity around her.

So this is what it was warning me about.

Elijah supposed this was one of the better ways this could’ve gone. The last time that Sasha had improved her Core, there had been significant changes in temperature around her, to a point where they had needed to retreat to not be touched by it. He’d assumed that her increased finesse over her abilities would’ve stopped such an outburst, but it seemed that her skills had merely shifted the scales of what to expect.

“Can I just say that I was the only one who did this as intended?” Jack commented, happily accepting a ride from Grace over to the group before firmly grabbing Aleksi’s shoulder. “Elijah talked in tongues or whatever and Sasha just turned off gravity. Me having a coughing fit after transmuting stone dust into platinum wasn’t that special.”

“I did say sorry for laughing,” Aleksi said in his defense, the giant’s grin staying firmly in place. “But don’t you worry. I won’t make a single comment next time I have to help get gold nuggets out of your throat.”

There were a lot of questions that Elijah felt were needed, but everything quieted down when the air started to shift.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

It was minor at first. Just a small push which made Elijah float toward the jagged roof of the cave.

Then something snapped and gravity came back in full force.

Shit!

An uncharacteristic yelp left both him and others as they suddenly plummeted towards the floor.

Elijah braced, hands over his head to protect his skull, and an immediate call was sent out to the plants below to soften the blow. While the roots did respond quickly, quicker than even he’d expected of them, it was unneeded.

As suddenly as the world began to drag him back to the ground it stopped, a mighty wind pushing against his body and keeping him in place.

“That is me,” Grace announced through clenched teeth, red-faced and sweating while she kept everybody in mid-air. That he could even hear her words was an achievement to her control, though it was still frightfully loud as she slowly put them back down the ground. “You’re doing it next time, Alin.”

“Why should I?” Alin countered with a smile, helping the tired Wind Mage up from the ground. “I would not struggle with it.”

“You… agh.”

Elijah ignored them as he got back on his feet and walked over to Sasha. The young woman had opened her eyes, blinking slowly as she looked down at her hands.

“How do you feel?” he asked.

“... Fine,” Sasha replied, getting back up on her feet without trouble. There was no shakiness, no hint of being uncomfortable. She was as centered as she’d been when they had first entered, except her Core shined a lot more now.

Or was that even the right way to describe the void that sat within her? Elijah didn’t know what to call it, except an unending darkness that seemed to stop even light from escaping its clutches.

“Anything new on your Status?” Jack asked, quick to arrive as well. “You had us all floating around for a while, so there must be something.”

“Absorption and Desorption are Tier 4 now,” Sasha said, after making the world reveal her Status.

Elijah had to admit that he was surprised by such an upgrade. With the significant show of power during the expansion of her Core, he had expected something extensive, but to skip Tier 3 entirely was… well, he hadn’t thought such a thing to be possible.

But, again, the Dungeon had told him that Sasha was expected to break the standard rules. Maybe this was just part of what that entailed.

“Oh, damn, I almost feel bad about my upgrade now,” Jack complained. “I just got an increase to the capacity and a little more fine-tuning.”

Going by the fact that the man had allegedly been able to transform stone dust into a solid sphere of platinum in under five seconds, Elijah felt he was underselling the increase just a smidge.

Nevertheless, he didn’t bother to join the bickering that ensued. After all, he had improvements of his own to inspect.

Name: Elijah Caede

Affinity: Biomancy

Mana: 1336

Spells:

[Accelerate Growth](Tier 1)

[Plant Bond](Tier 1)

[Animal Bond](Tier 2)

[Plant Storage](Tier 2)

[Flesh Bond](Tier 4)

[Breathe Life](Tier 5)

An increase to his Mana-Capacity was the first thing he noticed, which was nice. With it, he’d also gained some more fine control over his usage of the energy, which had been very noticeable when he’d ordered the plants nearby to prepare for his fall.

No new Spells, however, which briefly disappointed him until he glanced at the Tiers.

Five.

Breathe Life had gone from Tier 4 to Tier 5.

To the untrained, it seemed like a very minor upgrade, but the distance between each Tier grew exponentially. The first steps were perhaps nothing serious, but between Tier 4 and 5… Elijah hadn’t expected to make that leap in a long time.

So, of course, there was nothing more to do than try the improved Spell out.

Channeling of [Breathe Life] has been activated! Current cost: 51MP/sec

A higher cost, but it mattered little as Elijah only allowed himself to stand in that glory for a moment. His vision widened under that light of innovation. Small flaws in his old designs were mentally corrected, the ideas of what he could do were revealed, and… while before it had been a passing study of the flesh, the Spell now revealed much more detail on how to manipulate the building blocks of the living.

‘Hey, I found the boon!’

Dawn brought him out of his thoughts, as she waddled over to one of the nearby clusters of plants that had been undisturbed by the chaos.

Thick strands of tall grass stopped him from looking far within the group of plants, but the lack of response from magical senses made Elijah think nothing of importance was there.

How wrong he was.

When Dawn tore away the grass and revealed what was hidden, he was without words.

“An Idun Apple?” Alin said, sounding baffled. “Now that is not a prize we see often at this depth.”

“Is it rare as well?” Jack asked.

Elijah didn’t rush over to the small tree which held the one golden apple. He didn’t dare. What if he fell and somehow hurt the fruit in the process? He would never be able to forgive himself for such a mistake

“This would be the second time I’ve seen an Idun Tree grow this high up in Dungeon,” Alin replied. “The same could be said for the dozen others who delve this far down, but… I’d say that less than a hundred apples have ever been confirmed to have grown in these depths. ‘Rare’ doesn’t cut it as a descriptor, in this instance.”

Elijah agreed, as he sat on one knee and gently wrapped both hands around the golden apple.

‘Hello,’ he sent the fruit. It replied in kind, though no words were spoken. ‘Would you mind if I pluck you from your tree?’

The apple wanted to know what he wished to use it for.

‘To heal a person that is dear to me.’

It contemplated his intentions before accepting them, cleanly cutting itself free from its stem. In response, the short tree instantly withered, its purpose complete as no more fruits were destined to grow from its branches.

Elijah smiled briefly before his face twisted into shock as the golden apple separated its body into two identical halves. With the preciseness and the lack of disturbance to its properties, he knew that it was intentional, but… He hadn’t asked for this.

‘I did!’ Dawn announced, jumping up and down at her feet, her back feathers shaking fast enough that they had a real chance at making her fly. ‘Give!’

… Oh.

“This was the boon you were promised?” Elijah asked aloud, as he looked down at Dawn.

‘Yes!’

“What would you get from this?”

‘... Something?’

“Do you know what it is?”

‘Yes!’

“Please, tell me then.”

‘But it would ruin the surprise.’

…

Screw it.

If anybody asked, Dawn had given him a good reason why she needed to be given half of the Idun Apple. Something along the lines of her being able to grow it herself, if she was allowed such a treasure. Never would he confess that it was because the duck had perfected the skill of making puppy eyes.

“Enjoy it,” Elijah said, giving Dawn the right half of the Idun Apple. The beak widened and lengthened to take the entire fruit in at once, the size allowing her to contain the juices that came from instantly crunching down on the mythical apple.

Every single drop of the mash had been swallowed before he could get back on his feet and rise to his full height. Every trace of the apple’s existence was gone, and only Dawn remained.

Or, no, that wasn’t true.

As he bagged the remaining half of the Idun Apple, safely storing it inside his left chest pocket, he began to notice a glow leaving Dawn. It was subtle at first, easily blending in with her already golden feathers, but as it grew in brightness it was undeniable.

“Uhm… Elijah, is Dawn going to explode?” Grace nervously asked, standing next to him as they all observed the duck. “I think she’s growing?”

He didn’t share the sentiment at first, merely thinking it a trick of the blinding light, but switching over to his magical senses revealed the truth. The feathers of the duck were growing, combining with the others, and the length and height of Dawn’s form were increasing as well.

Elijah could barely stand to look in her direction, even with an arm in front of him to stop most of the light from reaching his eyes, yet he refused to turn away. Dawn wasn’t answering his questions, repeating that it was a surprise.

And then she stopped answering at all when the feathers disappeared entirely and were replaced by a smooth surface.

Then a cloth-like texture in other parts, which made Elijah finally start to understand why her increasing height was steadily starting to match his own. The width as well, as the wings became arms that lengthened and were adorned with golden cloth.

“Is that…” Jack began to ask, before growing quiet.

“Yes, I believe it is,” Elijah answered regardless, baffled by the sight before them.

Though it took another minute before Dawn fixed all the exaggerated features, leaving behind the form of a lazy imitation, it was impossible to deny the results.

Like looking into a colored mirror.

‘Surprise!’ Dawn shouted in excitement. Her mouth moved, but it was only in his mind that he heard the words. ‘What do you think?’

With a speed and finesse that Elijah wouldn’t be able to match, Dawn spun around to show off her form. Ignoring the skin was tinted too green, and that the blue robes had been replaced with ones that were a bright gold instead, their appearances were identical.

Elijah had no words.

“Did you ask her to do this?” Aleksi asked him in a low voice, leaning over his shoulder. The giant was grinning ear to ear. “A little self-indulgent, don’t you think?”

“I didn’t ask for this,” he hissed back, frowning at Dawn’s form and the confused look on her face. Her replica of his face. It was unnerving. “I didn’t know what she was going to do.”

‘... You don’t like it?’

Even if the words weren’t spoken aloud, the movements of her lips were easy for the others to read.

‘It’s surprising, more than anything else,’ Elijah confessed. ‘Very weird to see my own face and not be in control of it as well. But, honestly, I have to ask why—’

‘Oh, don’t worry!’ Dawn cut in before he could finish. ‘I’ll fix it!’

Much faster than before, the fake skin unwrapped and morphed into a different shape. When it was so close to real flesh, the process looked horrific enough that Elijah was once again at a loss for words.

Only when Dawn reformed herself, half a head taller and in the form of a woman did he regain the ability to form thoughts.

“Is that meant to be an older version of me?” Grace questioned, eyes narrowed as she studied the face. Elijah did the same, needing a moment to identify those features.

Mary.

“No, it’s one of my assistants,” Elijah corrected. The hole-filled workwear and spotted pants made more sense now.

‘Is this better?’’ Dawn asked through the bond, hands behind her back as she proudly stood in front of him.

‘It’s not as disconcerting, yes, but I have to ask why you are doing this,’ he replied, frown still firmly in place. ‘Why the sudden need to imitate people?’

Dawn slowly blinked, not understanding why he had needed to ask. Confusion rang clear through the bond. Elijah was already expected to know the answer.

‘Because people are useful?’

‘They can be, sure, but why did you feel the need to become one?’

‘Because I want to be useful.’

‘You’re already useful to me.’

‘But I can be better! I can… carry buckets?’

What?

The memory of the conversation with Mary during the afternoon came back to him, making Elijah groan. That was what had caused all of this?

“Incredible,” Alin muttered, moving forward and gently grabbing Dawn’s right hand. She didn’t resist, just looking on confused, as the Earth Mage glided a finger across the palm. “The upper surface of an Idun Apple, mixed in with what I think is a wide variety of different tree barks to imitate the texture of skin. I would’ve never imagined somebody doing something like this.”

“Because it would be a waste of a legendary fruit in most cases,” Elijah supplied, sighing as the frown was replaced with resignation. ‘Dawn, you’re more useful than what most people could ever dream of being. While being able to imitate a human could be useful, and we will going to be figuring out what this form allows you to do, your value won’t change whether or not you can do this. I treasure you no matter what.’

‘... Oh,’ Dawn replied, looking down at her humanoid figure. ‘...I skipped second dinner for this.’

‘Do you regret it?’

‘Not sure,’ Dawn replied, withdrawing her hand from Alin’s grip as she touched her face. Elijah wasn’t sure what to think about the images that could be seen through the bond. ‘Not having wings is weird, though.’

Always a duck at heart, he supposed.

‘A shame you’ve spent so much Mana building up the mass for this display,’ Elijah commented. The incredible supply in the Dungeon made it easier to recoup, but the costs of creating such a perfect mimic of a person were still considerable.

‘Not a problem!’ Dawn assured him, however. ‘The big eye gave me a boon, remember?’

‘Wasn’t the boon the apple?’

‘That was yours,’ she corrected. ‘Mine is this!’

Like a balloon being popped, Dawn’s mass vanished from sight, compressing itself until the shape of a duck could once again be spotted.

With the feathers and beak added back, there was no difference when compared to her previous shape. Not even her weight was different, which was the most confusing thing of all.

Then it clicked.

‘A dynamic version of Plant Storage?’ he guessed, Dawn’s feathers shaking in excitement in response. ‘Fascinating.’

Even with the mishaps, this little trip into the depths had been more than worth it.