Great.

Just great.

I had to be concerned about eternal life, as if I didn't have enough things to be worried about already.

Wonderful.

"What was it like before it turned out like this?" I asked Sensei.

What I really wanted to know was how a creature becomes corrupted. Sensei's explanation was pretty lacking in that detail.

«The shadow you see was never inherently violent.» He replied. «Before it became a creature of the Abyss, it was something of a forest guardian, a helper of Nymphs and Fae alike. Those rods it creates were originally meant to replenish the forest with new trees.»

"What?!"

I stared at the shadow creature in disbelief. I expected a monster with shadow or dark magic like myself, not the opposite.

«Are you surprised?» Sensei asked.

I furiously nodded.

I was curious to know how it went from a fairytale creature to a nightmare monster with a thing for sharp objects. What a scary transformation!

Since Sensei didn't seem to get to the point, I impatiently pressed on. "How does a creature get corrupted?"

«Why do you want to know?» Sensei asked, his voice holding a tinge of worry.

"Just curious."

I could almost feel the ironic stare, but I kept my mind as blank as possible, causing Sensei to sigh before explaining with a heavy voice.

«When the corruption from the Abyss takes hold, it starts by transforming an unassuming creature into a thing ruled by hunger, instability, and greed. They become bloodthirsty creatures on a rampage, driven to madness by their hunger and the need to sustain themselves by any means unnecessary.»

«All of the creature's former traits will be twisted to make it more effective at killing. They will attack anything that breathes, even each other at times if they can no longer sustain themselves.»

That sounded positively…wicked.

«The only intent of the Abyss is to destroy all Ether, so its creatures will get it at any cost in order to survive. Which is why, to cross over, that creature must possess a deep seated hatred, a grudge strong enough to rewrite all the truths within itself. It's not just the absence of Ether that changes it, it's the destruction of everything else that made it alive.»

«Which is why I don't advise you to go down that route. You can't expect to retain the same life you have. If you become one of them, you'll no longer be god's creation but a completely distinct creature entirely consumed by wrath. You might even forget who you are.»

Ah…Poor Sensei, my questions probably gave him a fright.

So, that was why he sounded so worried. He probably thought I wanted its power!

I really wasn't considering it though. If anything, his words turned me off from it.

In summary, these creatures of the Abyss were monsters born out of necessity and desperation, not purely by choice. Without enough power and magic, they likely felt abandoned by the gods and could only turn to another source of power.

It was no surprise that monsters were more likely to turn to the Abyss considering they took much longer to develop, and with how easy it was to mess up their evolution, living in a place where cruelty and mercilessness was the order of the day, did not seem like the best idea.

That a mistake so early in a monster's lifespan, could determine its choices or lack thereof in its later life…just seemed too cruel. Most didn't have the understanding or skills to comprehend evolution until much later, but by then it was too late already.

Brilliantly illuminated by [Mind's Eye], I could only stare at the shadow creature's coreless chest.

Rather than being devoid of magic, it was absolutely brimming with mana in a chaotic stream so dense its gaseous form seemed almost solid. The symbols forming concentric circles around its body never stopped moving as it drained rod after rod, until the winged creature it tormented could no longer scream.

I grimaced in revulsion.

It was free from most of its restraints apart from a few major rods pinning it down in place, yet the creature could only collapse, its chest heaving up and down as the mana drained from it began to refill as its injuries slowly healed.

"Don't worry, I'm not considering it." I told Sensei.

Far from being relieved for the creature, I knew this was only temporary. As soon as it recovered enough strength, the shadow creature would return and resume another round of torment.

Do the monsters always had the potential to become like that if they gave in to the Abyss?

The shadow turned out to be nothing at all like what I expected and for some reason I was disappointed.

With a steady stream of creatures to drain, even an ant could become this powerful, it was only a matter of time.

Now, I compared it to the winged serpent that prowled the dungeon's walkway.

If the shadow's mana presence was dense enough to look solid, the serpent's was as translucent as paper that it looked like a ghost. It too was devoid of a core, but unlike the shadow, the subsequent seeping away of its mana made it painfully lacking.

«It is yet to achieve a stable state.» Sensei explained.

«When mana from the creatures they hunt is consumed in excess, it condenses overtime to form a spectral body that can't be destroyed as easily. The strength of a creature from the abyss really depends on how many monsters they have consumed. Those with concentrated amounts of mana are almost impossible to kill, while those with less have to keep eating in order to prolong their existence.»

The difference between the two was so staggering. Plenty of time had to have elapsed between now and the serpent's last meal, and in addition to the depletion caused by the wounds I'd given it, I was sure I could kill it in a single blow now.

The problem was how to draw it away from the shadow creature.

"If what you say is the case, why do they group together here? Surely if they spread out and killed their way across the Labyrinth there would be plenty more creatures to sustain themselves."

«Indeed, it's quite rare to encounter so many.» Sensei replied. «They are normally solitary, but this is an unusual case. The Ether here is abundant, which in turn feeds them by attracting any monster that flies over the valley. There is plenty to go around, although as the strongest creature here, the shadow's needs take precedence.»

Hmm...

I thought back to the terrifying undercurrent of mana I felt in my heightened state, it surely had something to do with the dark mist filling the valley.

It really was the perfect trap.

Sylrin and I just happened to be silly enough to take a stroll through death valley, and I sighed, cursing Sensei for his strange quest.

The shadow had already left the cell with the weakened creature to appear in another, where it began tormenting its next captive.

I glanced away from its actions to stare at the creature it left behind.

It was no longer moving, the stillness from its breathing so final that I thought it was dead, until I focused in on its body with [Mind's Eye].

I soon realised the creature had a solid core, although the mana in its body was long depleted, leaving the cyan orb to float by itself in a void.

However, something strange seemed to be happening to its core.

First, it's cyan colour dimmed, then it seemed to shrink down to half its size, before flaring out to a big bright ball of blue and white light that was many times larger than its former size. It was incredibly vivid and I could not stop watching the blinding display of colours as they unravelled.

The only problem with this was that this strange new core did not stop expanding.

As the creature lay unmoving, the mass of light only got larger until its solid surface could no longer retain its shape. It collapsed with an audible bang that shook the dungeon's walls, shattering the rods impaling it, as well as the stones that made up the cell. An outpouring of gaseous Ether flooded out of its body and for a moment the dungeon was illuminated by a blinding blue light, before everything melted away.

And then there was nothing where its core once was.

The change within the creature was sudden. It jerked awake, eyes bulging in panic as it gasped for breath.

Then the madness set in.

As I watched, the creature slammed itself into the iron gates of its cell, over and over in an attempt to break out. It continued doing so even when its body began to contort and broken bones poked out of its skin.

I jerked up in astonishment, straining my eyes to see better.

After several attempts, it succeeded in breaking the bars to pull itself out. And once released, the creature didn't hesitate before flinging itself at the nearest cell to attack the creature inside.

However, before it could break through, the shadow emerged from the ground to force it away from the cell. In response, the ravenous creature launched into a series of attacks against it. But the longer this continued, the weaker it became, until it could barely continue.

Its body was simply too weak.

At this rate, its new life would be extinguished before it encountered anything significant to eat. Realising this, the creature screeched at the shadow before storming out of the dungeon, emerging out from a tunnel underground to join the rest of the creatures outside.

The shadow soon returned to the cell of the creature it tormented. While the winged serpent left the dungeon in the same way as the escaped monster.

I was surprised they let it go. Neither of them seemed surprised, it was like they were used to it.

And it made sense.

If it was capturing powerful creatures for their mana, chances were, it had already created several more creatures of the Abyss just like it, in the past.

But this made me wonder.

If the shadow was the strongest creature here, what would happen if I ate it?