Chapter 86: Return to Ashes

Edward moved to touch the vortex of chaos, only to suddenly get a sense of danger enveloping his soul, and he stopped.

“Now what? How am I supposed to make one for myself…”

From what he could tell, it was indeed where Fenrir stored her chaos energy and it looked nothing like a core he had ever seen before, but he didn’t know how it was made.

As he kept analyzing the strong vortex, he suddenly got pulled out of Fenrir’s soul space and he woke up in the real world, surrounded by monster bits and pieces.

[What did you find?]

Edward quickly described what he saw, in hopes she had any idea what it was, but Fenrir said she also has seen nothing like that either.

Just as he was about to stand up and return to the floor he left Minx at, Fenrir’s words sounded again.

[Are you sure the disk was crown-shaped and not just a simple round disk?]

“Yes?”, replied Edward, wondering if she figured anything out.

[Come back in. You should see something.]

Edward sighed and knocked himself out again.

“What is it?” asked Edward once he woke up under the wolf.

Azure was the one who replied instead as she came up in front of Edward. Her fish body broke apart and a similar disc appeared in front of Edward, only that it was spinning the other way and it wasn’t shaped like a crown but perfectly round.

“That’s it, Azure. What is that?”

“My water source. All spirits are born with one and that is where we pull all our elemental mana from.”

Azure then summoned a water ball and Edward could see how blue energy kept escaping the source and forming into a ball. Once she canceled the spell, all that mana returned to the source.

“But we can’t absorb any expand the maximum mana inside and we’re stuck with the same amount ever since we came into being. That’s why I didn’t mention it earlier. I didn’t think other beings could have one. I apologize.”

“There’s no doubt. There are some minor differences, but it’s the same as what I saw inside Fenrir’s soul.”

Edward wanted to study it more, but he once again woke up inside the dungeon. Deciding to let it for another time, he started making his way back toward Minx while talking to Fenrir about it.

“I know you can’t study yours, but work with Azure and see what you can figure out about that source. I’ll join you while letting the wolf out to hunt. Too bad now I can barely fall asleep once every two weeks. If I can make one, I should be able to break free of Yggdrasil’s control.”

Fenrir agreed, and Edward returned to the 24th floor. Since there was not much he could do with Minx still injured, he started playing with a water ball, trying to think of a way how he could make a source of his own.

Once Minx recovered, the two once again went to challenge the 24th floor.

Time went on, with Edward starting another routine. He kept challenging the monsters while also working with Fenrir and Azure to decipher how that source worked. He didn’t know where his source research would lead him, but he still needed to grow stronger and couldn’t get stuck on it.

—————

Edward was sitting down panting for breath, with Minx by his side, munching on a monster core. It’s been half a year since he entered this dungeon and he finally killed enough monsters to reach level 20. It got progressively easier as Minx’s strength kept increasing and Edward got better at handling the monsters himself. He hasn’t dared to let the wolf hunt at all on the 24th, only releasing it on the previous floor.

His research into the source hit a dead end about one month back. They could understand the structure of the source, but couldn’t figure out how to create one. From what Edward could tell, he had to manipulate water mana, or energy to be exact, and gather it inside his soul to create a source. He tried using his mana but received a backlash instantly. From that, he understood he couldn’t use energy received from Yggdrasil, but since he didn’t know how he could control the water energy from the atmosphere, he put it on break for now.

For the last month, he focused on the study of intermediate magic with Azure’s help.

Absorbing the monsters laying dead on the ground using his status tablet, a small cluster of light enveloped his body and his level finally reached 2o.

<Name: Edward Black>
<Class: Beginner Water Mage(!)>
<Sub-class: Shadow Walker>
<Sub-class: Night Hunter>
<Sub-class: Swordsman>
<Sub-class: Shape-Shifter(Unique)>
<Mana: 1623/2631>
<Stamina: 2152/3613>
<Strength: 34>
<Dexterity: 39>
<Level: 20>
<Level Life Force: 1/450>
<Spells: Water Ball, Cost: 2 mana;
               Water Blade, Cost 5 mana;
               Water Bullet, Cost 2-5 mana;
               Water Barrier, Cost 1-10 mana;
               Water Whip, Cost 100 mana;
               Water Platform, Cost 100 mana;
               Water Vortex, Cost undefined;
               Water Film, Cost 5000 mana;
               Water Cannon, Cost 10000 mana/second;
               Elemental shifting, Locked>
<Skills: Wolf Shift: 11 stamina/minute;>

He has also learned two spells at the intermediate level. One would cover his body in a protective film. The film was extremely thin, but it was formed of extremely concentrated water mana and could take more hits than his barrier. The other, Water Cannon, was an attack spell that would launch a jet of water at an enemy.

He couldn’t use any of the spells because of the ridiculous mana cost, but Azure assured him that the cost would get lower once he was promoted to the intermediate mage class.

After Minx was done with the cores, the two headed back toward the safe zone. Seeing that the egg showed no signs of hatching anytime soon, he rubbed Minx’s head and asked: “Are you ready to return to the city, girl?”

“What about the dragon egg?”

“We’re going to leave it here in the safe zone. Since no one has come until now, I doubt anyone will. We’ll return after checking out how things are going in the city.”

Minx nodded, and they both started making their way back toward the entrance of the dungeon. Exiting the gate of the dungeon, Edward wore the trousers he has left there when he first entered, and they started running toward the City of Ashes. He didn’t ride on Minx’s back since he was quite fast on his own and his stamina was also enough. With their increase in level, they arrived at the city gates by midnight.

Looking at the familiar sight, Edward smiled and he couldn’t wait to check on Violet. Since no one came to look for him, he figured she must be fine.

He bent down and was about to apologize to Minx when she said: “Go, I will wait here.”

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“Thank you.” Replied Edward and started walking towards the gates. The guards gave Edward a strange look, but after summoning his status tablet, he was allowed entry with no problem.

Even if it was midnight, he couldn’t wait to see Violet, so he dashed through the mostly empty paths and headed for the inn. It surprised him to see that there was still candlelight coming from inside, since Violet usually locked the place at night, but went inside anyway.

Stepping through the door, he found a demi-human sleeping behind the counter. The same demi-human Violet always asked to watch over the inn when she would go out. He lifted his head from the counter and smiled when he saw it was Edward that just walked in.

Before Edward could ask, the demi-human said: “If you’re looking for the miss, she’s at the guild now.”

“The guild?” asked Edward, not understanding what Violet would do at any of the guilds.

“Yes. The magician guild. A while ago, a mage lady barged up in here and made the miss sleep there every night.”

Edward smiled wryly and thanked the man before grabbing a change of clothes from his room upstairs and walking back outside, heading for the magician guild.

“Stop. What are you doing here this late at night?” Said the two guards at the door, seeing a figure walking towards them in the night.

“I’m a mage, here to visit my master, Circe Winterhope.” Said Edward, showing them the status tablet before they got alarmed.

The two checked the tablet and opened the door, letting him step in without issue.

Walking to Circe’s tower, which was close to the gate, he headed straight for the top floor. When he reached Circe’s office, he stepped inside without knocking and found her reading through a book. At her high level, even sleeping once a month was enough.

Placing the book down, she looked at him and said: “I see you haven’t died.”

“Luckily. Where is Violet?”

“That’s the first thing you ask me? What about this master of yours?” seeing his expression turn awkward, she said: “Don’t worry. I even had a room made for her. She’s sleeping right now, so take a seat so I can check on your progress.”

Edward nodded and took a seat next to her before handing her the tablet without having to get asked for it. Circe took it and gave it a good look before saying: “Two advanced spells. At least you didn’t completely slack off. Having a high spirit to feed you information must really be easy.”

“I wouldn’t call my time in the dungeon as easy, but I guess… I also wanted to ask you about when I can promote to intermediate water mage.”

“Since spells are not an issue, you’re only left with the written test. I’ll have to speak to the guild leader and set up one for you. If there are no problems, you should be able to take it in about two days.”

“Can you tell me what would be on that test?”

“Water magic theory. I can ask you a few questions over the night to see where you stand. I’m still your master, after all.”

Edward nodded and replied: “Alright, but first, can you tell me if anything happened inside the city while I was gone?”

“I guess you’re asking about your party. The elf girl has gone back home and her cousin also left with her. The shieldmaiden is getting married in Oasis and has left the city. Only that cleric is still around. I don’t know if there’s anyone else you want to know about.”

“What about Eddena? And why is Violet sleeping here?”

“No trace of my sister. As for your girlfriend, since I didn’t feel like heading to that inn every day, I dragged her to live here.”

Seeing that it was pretty much what he expected, Edward asked: “Did she accept?”

“Not until I threatened to turn her entire inn into an ice cube. She came around pretty quickly after that. Also, telling her I was your master and a little about you also helped, I guess.”

Edward shook his head and was about to ask something when Circe said: “Oh, you wouldn’t happen to know the reason for which the spell created by the guild to seal the Fallwrath Mountain’s cave broke, causing lava to flow out of the Fallwrath Volcano, would you?”

“Did anything happen?”

“Other than me having to freeze all the lava and seal the mountain again? No.”

Edward sighed, relieved that there were no casualties, while quite sad since Flastrdra’s body was still in there.

“Sorry about that. So many things happened back then that it slipped my mind. How did you know I was the one who did it?”

“Faelyn came and told me to fix it since it was your doing. You better stop making me have to clean up after you.”

“Yes, master.” Replied Edward, figuring it must have been Ingvar or Kara who told the guild leader about his journey north.

The two kept chatting while Circe also asked Edward some questions about magic theory, which was nothing more than basic middle-school water-related chemistry. In the morning, he asked Circe to set up the exam for two days from now and went to see Violet before she would leave for her inn.

Opening the door to her room in the tower, Edward found her still sleeping. As the door opened, her ears fluttered slightly, and she slowly stood up.

Rubbing her eyes, she asked: “Miss Circe?”

“No. It’s me.”

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