‘’Where is Evelyn?!’’ Ethan shouted before glimpsing the distress of Beet and Paprika. He removed them from the effects of the [Mana Aura] promptly and asked again, still loud but milder this time. ‘’Show me where my other companion is.’’

A giant screen appeared on the wall in front of him. It showed a gloomy marshland with thick yellow grass reeds all around. On a small piece of dry land, a girl covered in mud was fighting against a pig-like creature with long tusks and horns like a goat.

She was doing a good job avoiding direct hits, but the fight was far from over. The skin of this mid tier-5 creature was likely even harder than the wyverns. It was taking all the hefty strikes of Evelyn like a breeze.

Ethan knew prolonged battles against Evelyn were futile because the skill [Blood Pressure] not only gave increasing damage with time but also reduced the awareness of the enemy. He was only afraid of one thing, which happened when he thought about it.

Another beast rose from the swamp and attacked from behind her, stabbing its horns to her back and throwing her into the air. Thankfully, she managed to respond quickly and immediately left the fight, escaping with [Wind Steps] and [Long Jump]s.

Ethan sighed in relief to see that she was still alive and at least able to escape. But for how long? Since she is fighting against mid tier-5s, this must be her seventh floor, and even finishing this one would be very challenging. What if she ends up with monsters that she can’t escape? What if she somehow went all the way to the tenth floor and had to fight with tier-6 ones?

The trials were difficult for him, but with [Void Wrap] and [Blink], he had some measures of life-saving abilities. For Evelyn, it depended on her luck. If the type of monster turned out to be a bad match for her, she just had to grit her teeth and fight to the death.

Ethan didn’t like this unfairness, and the fact that she worked really hard for the void skills while he kinda snatched them off, made him all the more guilty. ‘’Dungeon core, show yourself!’’ He looked around the room with a desperate and expectant gaze. ‘’I want to help my companion! Speak to me!’’

‘’What is this dungeon core?’’ a confused voice echoed in the stone room, and a transparent image of an old man made an appearance. With long white hair and a beard, clad in white robes, holding a wooden staff, he was standing there like your average comic-con participant.

Ethan even waited a little for the line ‘So, you have chosen… death.’ and continued when it didn’t come. ‘’Is it not you?’’

‘’I’m an artifact spirit. Are we called dungeon cores now?’’

‘’Uh, probably not? Are you saying this whole Wish Well is a single artifact?’’

‘’Indeed,’’ the artifact spirit nodded, looking smug. ‘’Magnificent, isn’t it?’’

‘’Yeah, sure. We’ll talk about that later.’’ He turned to look at the screen where Evelyn was still on the run. ‘’My friend is in a bad situation. I want to help her out.’’

‘’Well, she can leave any time she wishes.’’

Ethan’s brows furrowed. ‘’What do you mean?’’

‘’Between floors 5 and 10, as long as one wishes to end the trial, they will be able to leave and still get rewards after being evaluated for their performances,’’ the old man explained before gesturing toward Beet and Paprika with his staff. ‘’Just like them, they thought it was their limit on their seventh floor and wished to leave.’’ He turned back to Ethan and added, ‘’Not a casual desire though; she had to wish for it sincerely.’’

His frown got deepened and mixed with confusion. ‘’So, we could’ve left anytime… hold on. If we didn’t know that just wishing is a way out, why should we wish to quit?’’ He kept watching Evelyn with narrowed eyes as he tried to make sense of the information. ‘’If she thinks that the only way out is to clear all the floors, that would be her only wish, unless she was totally helpless and desperate. But even then, she might just suck those feelings and fight to the death as it's the most fucking reasonable action!’’ The more Ethan understood the implications, the more he found them ridiculous. ‘’Shouldn’t you tell us about this rule, I don’t know, at the fucking beginning?’’

‘’Well, I think there were hints at the place you entered,’’ the old man replied rather awkwardly and gestured toward Beet and Paprika once again. ‘’How did they–’’

‘’They act on instincts, man. Logic and reasons are the curses of sapient beings. And there were no hints whatsoever,’’ Ethan interrupted, annoyed. ‘’Enough of this shit. Go tell this rule to Evelyn so she can have a way out.’’

‘’Impossible. I can’t speak with the participants who didn’t finish their trials, let alone that I can’t even meddle with an active floor.’’

Ethan rubbed his forehead while thinking that perhaps he was exaggerating and that she might wish to leave in a deadly situation. Lifting his head, ‘’What’s the mortality rate for those who didn’t finish all 10 floors?’’ he asked and added flatly. ‘’Just the sapients.’’

‘’It’s, ugh, about 90% or so?’’ the old man replied, eyes shifting around the room like he knew where this was going. ‘’But, hey, fighting till death was also their wish. We didn’t do anything against their will. Not to mention about those hints, I mean, I’m sure…’’

90% death rate, all the while they had the most basic way of surviving, all they had to do was wish to exit. His fist tightened as he kept thinking about the alternatives to help his friend while staring at the old man who was still blabbering as Evelyn was running for her life. God, I wanna slap him.

The artifact spirit suddenly materialized in front of Ethan, looking at his own body in astonishment, ‘’Ethan, hold on a–’’

He paused with his itching hand in the air.

‘’Oh, you may continue. Actually, I’ve never been–’’

Slap!

‘’Hah…hahaha,’’ the artifact spirit laughed with a thrill while holding his chin. When his body started to become ephemeral once again, he turned back to Ethan in panic. ‘’Ethan, can you, umm, can you wish for my body to be materialized as long as you’re here? You see, this is my first time to have a corporal body, ever since I was born. I never thought it would be so interesting.’’

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Taken aback by the puppy-eyed artifact spirit, he found it both weird and funny. ‘’You can’t do it yourself?’’

‘’No. Technically, it’s impossible to do this with only mana, but inside this Wish Room, you can wish for anything that doesn’t harm or break the rules of Wish Well. Your will is the will of the Wish Room, and it would imitate it perfectly through mana. Just now, I didn’t actually have a body but felt everything like I had. It was a very novel experience,’’ the artifact spirit explained, excited about the foreign concept that only came to his mind after thousands of years. ‘’This room was built merely for amusement. You can’t bring anything outside that you’ve created, and even the foods you consume would be pure mana. So, just for fun, can you make me a body again?’’

Amused by the overjoyed old spirit, he suppressed his smile and crossed his arms. ‘’Sure. Can you help Evelyn?’’

‘’N-not on this floor, but we can leave a message on her eighth floor. So that she could leave if she wanted to. Would that be okay?’’

I guess that’s the best deal I’ll get. Those pig-like creatures don’t seem that dangerous to her. At least she can take her time and kill them one by one. Looking at the image of Evelyn meditating, he shook his head and hoped the best for his friend. He first wished for the artifact spirit to materialize as long as he was here, then he created a comfy couch next to the tree and started walking toward it. ‘’Make sure that message is clear and set by the entrance of her eighth floor. What’s your name, anyway?’’

‘’No worries, that’s easy.’’ The artifact spirit had already started to feel his beard like he was on molly. ‘’I don’t have a name, but you can call me Wish Well.’’

‘’Yeah, I’m not calling you that.’’ He sat by the couch and wished for some snacks and drinks before patting next to him. ‘’Come on, Saruman. We’ll be here for a time; better to enjoy ourselves.’’

Saruman casually threw his staff and sat next to Ethan, grabbing some chicken wings with much enthusiasm. Meanwhile, Beet and Paprika were just chilling on a tree branch and gazing between the giant screen and Ethan.

Ethan looked toward his little companions, and the corner of his mouth went upward. ‘’So, you smartasses managed to leave your floor when it became dangerous; coming to this place, you’ve summoned a tree to chill. A single tree which you share?’’ He chuckled, staring at the clueless red ball of fur and the cool murder machine. With a wave of his hand, he called for all kinds of nuts that he knew from Earth, piling them next to the tree. Another wave of his hand opened a small screen close to Beet, showing the burning images of a world. ‘’There, enjoy!’’

Saruman threw him a weird look, his lips shining with grease. ‘’Why would he–’’

‘’Some men just do, Saruman,’’ he replied, creating a bowl of popcorn and sipping from his beer. ‘’Some men just do.’’

The next hour was spent with the four having their small party while watching and cheering for Evelyn. She was taking a slow and careful approach which was probably for the best. Knowing that they would be waiting for her for a few more days, Ethan tried to understand his new eccentric friend better. ‘’They’ve created you in a higher realm and sent you here thousands of years ago. So, you don’t know anything about other realms. What about that staff? Can you use skills, or spells maybe?’’

‘’Yes, and no,’’ Saruman answered. ‘’I can use some skills, but it’s different from you, and since I have complete authority in the Wish Well, it’s rather pointless. As for the staff, although it’s a top-grade artifact, I’m just carrying it for my image. I was created in the image of one of the elders of the Wish Palace, and among the countless artifacts I got here, only this one shows my scholarly side without destroying my mysteriousness.’’

‘’Sounds like you had too much time to consider your appearance,’’ he pointed with a smile. ‘’What else have you got? Show me some– Oh, shit! I forgot about my rewards. Let’s see what I got among your countless artifacts.’’ Ethan blinked from the couch excitedly and reappeared in front of the small platform which held two boxes.

‘’I’m sure you love them,’’ Saruman stated from the couch, trying one of the Nigiri Sushis. ‘’After all, it was your wish to have them.’’

‘’Is that so?’’ He opened the box on the left and saw a rock tablet inside before smiling wide. ‘’A skill! This better be good, Saruman. I had some close calls in your damned trial.’’

‘’Yeah, it was very exciting to watch it.’’

‘DING! You have learned a skill called [Void Mute].’

Sending his mana to the tablet, Ethan learned the skill in no time. As he comprehended the skill, his expression turned sour, like a kid who opened his Christmas present and found out he already had the same thing. ‘’Seriously? I did wish for this but don’t you have something more useful? It doesn’t even have to be a void skill as long as it can help me in combat.’’

‘’What makes you think that the [Void Mute] isn’t useful in the combat?’’ Saruman asked in confusion. ‘’At the higher ranks, the skill could be turned into a terrifying one. It’s all up to you.’’

Frowning, Ethan used the skill, and an invisible void barrier appeared around the room. ‘’What’s the use of this in combat? Do you mean for sneak attacks or something?’’ His voice sounded like he was listening to it from a recording. Normally, when he spoke, the sound waves would travel everywhere, and he would hear every echo that comes from the reflection of the solid objects. This time, the void barrier absorbed the sound waves and sent them to the void. He was able to move the barrier everywhere in his domain while changing its shape. Its mana consumption was also minimal, requiring one mana in a minute, but other than blocking the voices, it didn’t do anything else. ‘’I can see it would surprise the enemy and could give me an opening, but I lack in many areas in the skill department. Don’t you have something better?’’

‘’Oh, surely there are many, but you’ve already finished your test. I can’t change the rewards like that. Plus, among the average skills, this one is one of the best. Also, you’re still not thinking about the higher ranks. Think. Right now, it absorbs the sounds. What if, at rank 2, it could absorb the light too? What about the higher ranks?’’

Ethan raised an eyebrow at that. He really didn’t think that much further. Skills could change that much? Was I being narrow-minded by only thinking about mana consumption and the range of them? If I could shut all of the senses of the enem– ‘’Hold on. What do you mean by best of average skills? Why not the best of the best? I completed your bullshit trial with flying colors, okay?’’

‘’Right, flying colors.’’ Saruman rolled his eyes. ‘’It’s a miracle that you’re still alive. The perfect score is for the ones who finish it with ease. Still, yours wasn’t that bad either. You earned a best of the best item and an average skill with a rare affinity.’’

‘’Come on. Aren’t you a tough grader? Who can even easily kill the beasts at two-tier above?’’ Ethan complained half-heartedly because his attention was already on the second box. He opened it with glee. ‘’Best of the best, huh?’’

Inside laid an elegantly designed dagger, maybe even a short sword. It was completely scarlet in color except for the two gemstones in its hilt. There was one blue and one yellow gem on it, which looked like a weird color combination, but it wasn’t an issue as the gems would be inside of his palm when he held the hilt.

‘’There were three perfect scores in total, and the last one was only a decade ago. Maybe he is still in the Elisium,’’ Saruman mused aloud from the couch, ignoring Ethan, who was drooling while playing with his new toy.

‘’I bet they were rich kids who came here armed to the teeth.’’ He tried a few moves with his dagger and was surprised by his control over it. It moved like an extension of his body, even though it was his first time holding it. ‘’I loved this one! Is there anything special about it? Should I be sending mana?’’

‘’What rich kids? Don’t look down on me. Do you think I would give the same trial as you to someone with superior artifacts?’’ Saruman looked offended and even dropped his sushi tray before giving a mysterious smile. ‘’As for your dagger, why don’t you smear a drop of blood on it? That’s one way to see what it does. After all, it’s a soul-bound item.’’