I was sitting on a very comfortable chair before a desk of the highest quality wood. Surrounded by four thick walls of glass, to my left and right, there were similar see-through rooms just like mine. From the front, men and women wearing black and grey suits carried a stack of files here and there. Some were on their phones. Some faces were tired, a few were happy to greet their colleagues, and others just sat in their cubicles and went on with their daily routine. From the glass behind me, I could see the vast landscape of the city, filled with tall structures made of concrete and iron on one side and a huge expanse of a water body on the other. It was called an ocean.
The kids running on the wet sand, followed by waves washing over the beach, and their parents struggling to keep them in check was something that made me smile. I could just keep staring at that sight all day long. The two contrasting sights I got from the place I sat in comfort made me wonder about my own wishes. What is it that I want? But nothing came to mind, and after a while, I ended up waking up from my sleep.
Sometimes, I dream about things that I have never seen in my life. Things that I have never learned about and words that I have never heard or read from anywhere. It could be part of my drastic imagination, but the interactions between people in my dreams feel so real that I feel a lingering emotion even after I wake up. Maybe that's how dreams are supposed to be. Surreal. But unlike normal ones, these few stay with me for a while, as a part of my memories. If dreams truly were an extension of reality, then how do I differentiate between what is real and what isn’t? Thinking this through, I walked through the hallway and stopped before a room.
"Father, may I enter?" I stood before the tall door, where I could just reach the knob.
"Come in." Hearing his cold voice, I entered the room.
He sat before his desk, reviewing a bundle of documents, stamping a few, and keeping aside another few. With his short, dark hair, well-groomed beard, and deep-set blue eyes, he looked like a true noble. The collar shirt and the waistcoat only complemented his sharp features. After a few seconds of passing, his piercing gaze fell on me, scanning from top to bottom as if inspecting the condition of my five-year-old body. "Are you ready?" he asked.
"I am," I answered in the same tone as him.
Getting off the chair, he came and stood before me. His tall stature and an icy glare from his crystal blue eyes only made it more imposing. "Think about it again. It’s not going to be easy. It's more of a gamble at this point."
"I have thought about it." I was more than conscious of myself from the day I opened my eyes. One may call it a genius and the others a miracle, but my parents and the people around me called me a monster.
"Well then, your master should already be ready with his preparations. Let's go to the basement." I nodded as we exited the room.
The maids in the hallway started whispering behind our backs as we passed by them.
"Is it finally happening today?"
"My god, what is the Viscount thinking?"
"Shh…! They are coming this way."
They don’t say it out in the open, but everyone in the mansion keeps their distance from me. They also fear my father for being cruel. I don't know the whole story behind it, and I didn't bother to ask.
We reached the basement, which looked out of place in this extravagant mansion. A dark and cold place with a few chairs and a table. There sat a man on a high chair, completely covered in a cloak, reading a book I had read many times. He likes to hide his features as much as possible. Even as his student for three years, I didn't know how he looked.
"You know how important this is, right?" My father asked me one last time for confirmation.
"I know."
"Don’t mess it up."
"I won’t."
His concern towards me sounded more like a warning to me.
"Is everything ready?" Turning towards my master, he inquired.
Hearing him, Master Shaka went and removed the piece of cloth covering the table, revealing four crystal spheres of different colours. On closer inspection, one could see something moving in each of them. "The baby spirits are ready. The magic circle too. All that's left is to see whether it succeeds or not."
I could feel his excitement at conducting a new experiment. He doesn't care whether it succeeds or not, even if the guinea pig is his very own student. I don't feel sad about it though. I accepted it as his true nature a long time ago.
"You said we should keep the chances of success as low as possible, but in your opinion, how good are they?"
"It wasn’t done before, Viscount. So all I can say is to wait and see." He never gave any assurance.
"Hmm… We have already come a long way to turn back. I spent too many resources on this," And my father accepted that. He glanced at my side for a second before standing at the back. I never had a choice in this matter.
"Then we shall begin." Master Shaka placed the four coloured spheres at the four corners of a magic circle that was drawn on the floor. "This seventh-grade magic circle will help to unify the powers of the spirits. Young master, please sit at your usual place and follow my instructions." I sat in the middle of the circle. For the past two months, I’ve been practising what this man has been teaching me about forming a mana core.
"I am going to say this again. It is impossible to form a mana core for someone who is under the age of eight." I looked at my father one last time before closing my eyes. He looked indifferent. I know what I am doing is nothing but foolish. "But all I can say is that you are an exception I am betting my chances on." Yet I prepared myself mentally.
I took a deep breath. Master Shaka guided me with his voice. I tried to find groups of energy masses that were spread throughout my body. I slowly tried to spread my senses from the top of my head to the tips of my toes, and found masses of energy in my limbs, organs, and even the tiniest of blood vessels. A hot sensation gushed over me as I located each one of them.
To form a mana core, there are three steps. In the second step, I had to control that mana and gather it in a single location. I tried to move each energy mass as if showing the way for a raindrop to join the vast expanse of a sea. The time passed with uncertainty. Sweat beads formed all over my face. But the only thing on my mind was the thought of directing another energy mass to its location.
With better senses comes great control of innate mana. The fact was being proven in real time. My breathing became more intense. All the energy mass was now located at a place just above my abdomen—my sternum—causing violent chaos and it tried hard to mix and form a unity—a core.
"Well done, young master! Now let's proceed with Mana integration." Cheers of joy came from my master's mouth. The final step. "Calm your breathing; I will activate the mana circle." Right after he said that, a wave of multiple aptitude energies flowed into me from all directions. "That's the energy of elemental spirits. Accept it as your own." They would help me maintain the physical strength that I lack for my age. "Now use it to condense the core."
I guided all the energy to form a cage around the mass of my innate mana, condensing it as densely as possible. Master Shaka's voice chimed in from time to time. Initially, I wasn't supposed to use external energy to aid in the process, and combining that with my innate mana was a complete gamble.
Theoretically, that would be too much mana for a body—like mine—to handle, and the result would be quite devastating. A permanent disability or an exploding death are the least of my concerns. But from the book I read, it is not an impossible feat... theoretically. And at this point in time, almost on the verge of losing consciousness due to exhaustion, I felt more capable than ever.
When one has no expectations for life, luck shines the most. With that blind faith and a determination to accept reality, I felt strangely motivated. And the amalgamation of mass at my sternum became half its size, turning from a free-flowing, highly reactive mana to a dense crystal of stillness. My body started to go numb, but suddenly I felt a searing pain in my chest. Sensing that, my master said something, but I couldn't make out its meaning. My senses heightened for a second before closing off completely and returning back again, all in an instant.
As I opened my eyes, there was nothing. There was no pain or feeling, but that didn't remain the same. Another jolt of pain struck me all over my body. I gritted my teeth, trying to stay awake, but it became so intolerable. My insides were churning. I could feel every inch of my organs twitching, and every blood vessel inside was popping out of my skin. A flash of regret passed over me for the decision I made today.
"Gah!" I spurted out blood. I tried to hold it with my hand, but it came gushing out of my nostrils and my mouth like a flowing river. My eyes were fuzzy. I felt my master's eyes looking at me, and I saw a vague outline of my father with his arms crossed to his chest.
"Viscount, I don’t think it will work. We should stop now; otherwise, the young master will die." For the first time, I felt a hint of care in that voice, but there was no response from the other side. Two of the spheres holding the elemental spirits exploded at the same time. "Viscount! Make a decision!"
No, don’t stop.
"Sir, Viscount!"
A little more.
"Stop it." With the sound of my father, the power of spirits that burned inside me got cut off in the middle, and the two remaining spheres exploded. The sense of exhaustion hit me as I fell to my back.
"How are you, young master? Are you feeling okay? Tell me if you feel dizzy or in pain." I thought he was joking by asking me that question.
"No." Still, I mustered enough energy to answer him.
"What a waste of time. As usual, throw him into the dungeon for a week. And Shaka, come to meet me after you leave him there." My father turned his back and left the basement. Even in the pain, I saw his disappointed expression.
"Your father is so stiff, isn’t he? Too bad the process failed, young master."
I used the support of my master to get up on my feet and slowly walk past him along the path leading out of the basement.
"Oh, where are you going?" He followed me from behind.
"Punishment."
"I am starting to wonder if you are enjoying it."
"I don't."
"Truly?"
I didn’t say anything more but kept my pace as I limped out of this place. Inside me, with an ever-new surge of energy, was the newly formed core, and in it lurked the purest form of energy, along with the trapped spirits of Undine, the spirit of water. Gnome, the spirit of the earth. Ifrit, the spirit of fire, and Sylph, the spirit of the wind. The four elemental spirits of different affinities made my chest fill with reverberations.
"Like father, like son, eh? So stiff. I'm just kidding. Who would voluntarily want the punishment, right? Wait, I’ll take you there, little Ash." He supported me till we reached the cart waiting outside for us.
My master, Shaka. I never know what is running through his head. And why couldn't he sense my core, which even I could do? Still, I will hide the fact that the process succeeded until I get a better grasp of its nature myself.
It’s already been a month since I started working here. I learned many things, but according to Miss Ivy—the second-in-command of the housemaids—I have even more things to learn. She was a woman in her late forties who almost spent her entire life as a maid here.
"Did the master really say that?" I asked in surprise.
"He did."
"How could he do that to a child?" And a five-year-old at that.
"You are the only one who treats him like a child here, Maya. To everyone’s eyes, he is someone abnormal and doesn't belong in this house. A monster is what we call him."
Monster? Because of how his wounds never show up? Is that how they see him? "What exactly happened?"
"It’s a story you wouldn’t want to know." But Miss Ivy didn't delve into that. "And nothing good will come to you, even if you know."
Something that gets me in trouble? It made me want to know about it even more. "Don’t leave me out like that." I was adamant. Because young Master Ash didn't come out as that kind of person to me. Not if what I saw was true.
"Trust me. Just do your work, stay silent, and don’t be too nosy in the house matters. No one will be there to protect you if things go south. Not even me." In her maid dress of black and white, Miss Ivy felt like a motherly figure to me, carrying a kind of warmth in her voice. But the stern look she gave me now was completely different from her usual expression.
At this rate, I wouldn’t get anywhere with her. "You are scaring me, alright."
"It’s just the truth. You are young, Maya. Don’t waste your life on matters that don't concern you. It's better that way. At least in this family." She gave me a pat on the head, caressing my hair.
"I will try to keep that in mind, Miss Ivy. I won’t ask any more questions." But I won’t stop trying to find the truth, either.
The people in the mansion don’t feel the same way about young Master Ash as I do. There must be a reason for it. I need to know whether I am wrong or the people in the entire mansion are. That's the least I can do for him.
"That’s good. I’ll teach you everything you need to know. So don’t worry about it. Work hard, okay?" Her warm smile returned once again.
That will be part of the experience that I earn with time. For my brother, who always risks his life for me, I will do anything, even if I have to become a slave to this job.
"Thank you, Miss Ivy. Thank you for taking care of me."
"Silly girl. Come with me; I’ll show you your new room. From now on, you will live in the mansion, and if you need to leave, ask my permission beforehand."
"Miss Ivy, can I ask you one more thing?" I followed behind her.
"What is it?"
I remembered another person as I talked about the young master. "Isn’t head maid Bianca a little too young?" She almost seemed to be my age. But her demeanour says otherwise. I couldn’t see how she rose to that position at this age.
"Oh, her? I get why you had that doubt. She is a little too beautiful, isn’t she?"
"Isn’t she younger than you?"
"She is. Maybe if you have an older sister, she would be the same age as Miss Bianca. But you see, Maya, unlike you and me, she comes from a noble lineage. So show her respect if you want to keep your job, okay? She is very strict when it comes to house matters and etiquette. Never speak casually with her either." Her expression became serious once again.
"I understand." I could only nod.
"By any chance, you didn't stumble upon her, right?" I probably shouldn’t say what happened a month ago. It would be better for me.
"Nothing like that. I just saw her a few times around the mansion and couldn’t believe she was the head maid. I thought she was an apprentice like me."
"I couldn’t in the beginning either. Leave it at that."
"And what about the Viscountess?"
"You don’t need to think about her. She always stays in her room unless there is some social gathering. I have only seen her a few times in the last five years. Oh, we are here." We reached the place I was going to stay from now on. It was a beautiful mansion. I never dreamed I would get to enter such an extravagant place in my life. But here I was. At the house of the Viscount of Riverdale, Sir Nathan Winters.
"I will be around. Ask me if you need anything." I nodded as she left.
The room had a familiar atmosphere. A bed, a table, and the scent of flowers. Jasmines. I looked out the only glass window. The garden had a wide bunch of flowers, with white lilies and purple jasmines dominating the most. In the vast sky of orange and yellow hues, the bright sun began to cool down. This is the evening I’ve been seeing these days. With nothing blocking my sight, as far as my eyes fell.
On the road outside the mansion gate, a carriage left at full speed. This, too, has become a very common sight. "Did he get punished again? God, I hope he will be safe."
The sound of horses and the searing pain in my chest rang through my ears, urging me to close them. I tried to ignore it, but the warm sensation followed by it never left. "Young master, you can come out." Master Shaka called me out as we reached the destination.
I came out of the carriage only to be greeted by a familiar place. Covered by the hazy mist and tall trees, and multiple routes intertwined with each other. Misty Grove. A forest I’ve visited many times before.
"By the order of the Viscount—your father—you are to receive one week of punishment in the only ghost cave in this forest. Keeping that aside, woohoo! We are here again. Thanks to you, young master, I get to visit this eerie place time after time." He went on to take in all the beauty of nothingness. All I can say is that my master, Shaka, is what they call an eccentric—out of the mould—person.
"Is it right for me to say that you are enjoying your disciple getting punished?"
"Why would you say that, little Ash? This place has a glorious history, including the largest dungeon to ever exist on the continent. You heard me? The LARGEST dungeon!" Magic users not only focus on combat but also on research. My master was one of them. Although I am not sure of it myself sometimes, with all his nonsensical talking.
"All I can see is more mist and trees, though." I threw in a comment to hear his response.
"See with my eyes, my dear disciple. Look at those tall trees that cover the entire sky. Look at the fog that speaks of the mystery surrounding this age-old forest. Nothing is normal here. Nothing! The dungeon itself existed in the past, yet the mark left by it at its dying time still remains. Even after hundreds of years." He was getting excited just speaking about it, his voice echoing like a boom. "And a more interesting fact is, they say, that this entire forest is the upper part of an enormous mythical creature, and the mist is the result of thick mana emanating from within."
The more he talked, the more it went over my head. "I didn't think you were someone who believed in fairy tales, Master." He may look crazy, but he isn't a fool.
"That's the reason I'm grateful to you, little boy. Every time I come to this place with you, I get to investigate the surroundings, feel the very horror of a myth crawling through my skin, and, you know, the cave entrance to the ghost dungeon you have entered many times is the only remains of the previous great dungeon, the Dungeon of Insanity."
I don't remember how many times he said this. "But it's nothing but an empty cave now, isn’t it?"
"That's true."
"That’s where the rumours end, then."
"No, actually. Should I tell you another interesting story? It’s about why there isn’t a single monster in this forest. It is something I heard from a passing merchant recently."
"Ah, I think I should go inside now. You should visit my father after this too." If he starts to talk more now, he won't leave me alone. That would be more of a punishment than a dungeon getting alive again. The cave entrance was right before me. It was better to spend the week there than stay here with bleeding eardrums.
"Why are you so excited for some punishment? Well, whatever, I won’t stop you, but don’t forget to take this." He threw the food pouch tied to his waist and a lamp held in his hand. I went inside, carrying both. "Let’s meet in a week. Don't die."
The sound of the carriage leaving signalled the start of my week-long solitude. What am I to do now? This familiar place made me feel at ease. More than my house, it was the cave that had been like my home for the past three years. In the beginning, they used to send me here out of fear, but later it became a place of punishment. Isolating me from the world, to make me reflect on the things I couldn’t achieve.
A place of solitude and peace, the Ghost Dungeon. A dungeon whose core is either destroyed or removed. An eerie place suited for a boy like me. There was barely enough food to survive for a week. The weight of the pouch decreased with each punishment. Do they want me to die? Or do they want me to survive? I have pondered this question many times. For them, I am like cattle that have their uses.
The light illuminated by the lantern slowly dimmed. But the light inside me was still present. It was a small crystalline ball with four colours trying to mix in, clashing with each other from time to time. The newly formed mana core. And above it, there was another core of a larger size. The one I was born with.
I wasn’t sure before, but it was a mana core. I don’t know whether my father would be happy or not, but his expectations of me would surely grow if I told him that I have not one but two cores. The more he thinks highly of me, the stricter he becomes. Even my master wasn’t able to detect it. So it should be fine for now.
I heard monsters were born with mana cores. Am I one too? I wouldn’t know that here, and I can ask no one, either. The people around me already have a hard time seeing me as a human, and if they knew this, they would rather kill me than raise an anomaly like me. But was it really possible to have multiple cores? I never read that anywhere before.
Why did my master not say anything about my new core? I don't believe him to be that ignorant. Maybe he did it out of consideration for me? That would be amusing, even for me. I tried to move mana from my newly formed core around my body. It spread so effortlessly to every part of the body in an instant.
"So, this is how it feels to control mana, uh?" It felt natural, as if I were extending a part of my body. "This feeling... yeah." The same one I felt before. "How could I forget this?" I did use mana once before in my life. But I don't know how. Just having a mana core won’t make one able to use it though. My life kept getting interesting with each passing moment. When I extended my arm, a small amount of mana surged out of the newly formed core, forming a small ball of fire in my palm. It illuminated the dark cave.
Next, a gust of wind formed in my hand. I have seen my master do it multiple times, so I wanted to try it too. Dual casting. I extended another one of my arms while maintaining the wind spell in my other hand. Water spurted out of nowhere, trying to form a shape. I tried to make it into a sphere, but while I concentrated on that, the gust of wind in my other hand started to fade.
Magic is nothing but the essence of one’s imagination, controlling the mana in the atmosphere with the mana in the core. If one can imagine a spell and has the medium called mana, then one can cast that spell, but it is difficult to keep up my concentration on multiple things at a time.
I understand the concept and its drawbacks, but I want an answer to overcome those problems. If there are mages, like my master, who can achieve dual casting, then I have a chance, too. Maybe I can keep my concentration vague and just focus on overall power rather than shape and precision.
"Fuuu…" Mana surged into both of my hands. I tried to create four different spells this time. A fire and wind spell formed, circling my left palm. They were in synergy. The spell weakened as I shifted my concentration to my other hand. But they were still there. A rock and a water spell formed, circling my other palm.
I tried to alternate my mind from left to right to maintain the spells, but it was too hard. One of them burst out and vanished, and as I tried to cast the spell again, the other one vanished. Quadruple casting. A searing pain struck my head as I held it tightly. I felt my breath stop for a moment before I gasped hard, and the pain subsided moments later. I succeeded in casting four unique elements at the same time, but only for an instant. And that too, was taxing on my brain.
"There is no hurry. I will soon find an answer to this myself. The actual practice will help my mind adjust, and I have enough time to do—" The cave shook suddenly.
I covered my head in response, crouching my body as much as possible, and looked through the gaps of my hands to see what was happening. As the tremor subdued, I collected myself, got up on my feet, and looked towards the entrance. The dim light from the outside was no more. Was it night already? I didn’t have a sense of time. I walked slowly towards the entrance, holding my breath.
Something invisible and sturdy was blocking the cave entrance. I hit it with my fist. Nothing happened. I hit it again. Not a sound resonated. My heart started to beat faster, and it became difficult to breathe. My body didn't listen as I started to hit the barrier again and again, and it showed no response to budge. Although it was dark, the outside was visible. I could still see the large trees and eerie mist covering the forest. That calmed me down a little.
I’ve read about these. They won’t stand forever without a mana supply. The mage who casts it or an object like a mana crystal is normally used as a power source.
Who would do such a thing, though? More like, what would he gain? A barrier at the entrance of an empty cave in the middle of nowhere. What could their intentions be? I punched it again, but it was to no avail.
Should I try that? Using mana, I enveloped my fist with a dense amount of air. The air became more and more dense as I concentrated. A ripple spread throughout the barrier from the point where I exerted my force. No use. The cave shook once again, revealing a light at the other end of the cave.
I left the pouch of food and water at the entrance and entered the lighted hole. This was new. In the last three years, I never knew something like this existed at this place. There were three entrances before me.
Should I wait? If something unusual is happening outside, there is always a chance someone will come to check on me. But that is only if anyone notices. I found myself in a situation where I couldn’t stop moving forward.
A Ghost dungeon coming to life, a barrier stopping me from exiting, and three paths that are telling me to choose. Even with the multiple choices I had, there was only one answer in front of me.
I remembered the things my master said a while ago. He would be over the clouds if he knew of this situation. I could already imagine his crazed smirk.
A week would be enough. It should be. I’ll return here once I check them. With my body healing on its own, I shouldn't worry about a few dangers. And they couldn’t care less, even if I died. So why does it matter what I do here? And I am not exiting the cave either. This can be considered a part of my punishment, too. A dumb reason to justify my actions.
It doesn't matter if I am found as a corpse or if I live like one. It doesn't matter to them or to me. The light behind me disappeared as I went into the first entrance.
