What do you feel when you are buried alive? Silvy was experiencing it right now. She had opened her eyes and seen only earth.

The first instinct that grabbed her was panic: she tried to move her body, trying to free herself from this trap. It didn’t work: she was completely stuck. The following step came after the panic was suppressed and she stopped trying to free herself: she wasn’t feeling uncomfortable. Granted, a living, breathing organism would have a big problem in its hands- well, lungs, but that problem didn’t apply to Silvy. Another problem a normal person would have was the darkness: complete and utter, all around them; only tactile sensations would remain to the unfortunate victim, and maybe some sounds from the earth in their ears. Again, complete and utter darkness apparently wasn’t a problem either: she could see just fine. Well, “see”: the only thing she could actually see was earth squashed in her eyes. But she could still see it, without a single source of light: that was a huge advantage over everyone else. The pressure on her body was palpable but not uncomfortable: she had no idea what a normal human would feel, especially one without a high level.

All things considered, she could stay here for as long as she wanted. That was not her objective of the day though, so she recalled how she had arrived here.

The hunger, the fight, the hiding: every single memory was clear to Silvy, but she couldn’t believe it. How she had moved, what she had done: it was beyond her capabilities, both magical and physical. Probably only the effort of her core and herself working together made it possible: outstanding, but scary. The being that had killed the nest of worms was not her. She had not controlled her actions: what if she encounters a human in that state? She had to control the core, not being controlled by it.

Then she had eaten the cores, alright. Hiding in the ground excavated with her mana blade: that was how she had ended up here. And the level-ups…

[Death Dancer], and her passive skills had fused into one: that would increase her combat capabilities a lot. [Sorcerer] becoming [Mage]: was that simple open lesson really sufficient to become a [Mage]? Apparently, it was. A new Skill, [Mana Blade]: would that make her mana blades better? And the most interesting one… [Basic Bond: Undead Core]. Fascinating: so interesting that she postponed the digging to contact the core.

She felt the hunger again, the need to feast, coming from it, ever-present. But there was something else… Acceptance? It was a tiny part of it as if the core recognized Silvy. It was a minuscule fraction of it, but that meant yesterday’s experiments were successful. But at the same time, she couldn’t lose control just to make the core a bit more friendly towards her; another solution was needed.

Digging out of her hiding spot, she ended up in the dark tunnel covered in blood and corpses. To her left and her right, they were everywhere, each one cut or pierced; the worms on her left were already stripped of their core. The good news was that she did not lose control when seeing all these corpses. Why? Would the core respond now that they had a connection? She tried to question it: his response was not made in words but using sensations and intents.

But it answered, and the closest phrase she could form from its answer was:

Not worthy anymore.

Apparently, even the core could get bored of a single dish, or so it seemed. Shrugging, Silvy walked towards the sewers before stopping and remembering that each core was money. She retraced her steps and cast mana blade. Something strange happened: she could still create the blade through her mana as before, but she could “remember” a symbol that would make her blade better: a rune.

She was drawing the rune when she felt the core in her heart “waking” up: it helped Silvy drawing the rune, correcting the mistakes she was making. The core was guiding her moves, completing the rune perfectly. A mana blade appeared without consuming Silvy’s mana, just like a spell would do: she could feel it was stronger than before, more… real.

Silvy studied the blade, cutting the worms up in the meantime, retrieving the cores. It would have been a chore if the cores were in different positions, but the same type of monster had the cores in the same location, facilitating Silvy’s harvest. Three hundred sixteen cores floated in front of Silvy, supported by her mana: they were smaller than a coin, but three hundred of them were a lot, and she had no bag to store them.

She retraced her steps through the sewers, reaching the ladder: sun’s light was coming from above, making Silvy realize that her body was covered in blood: dry, encrusted, all over her hair, face, pants, and shirt; her shoes were completely red, hiding the original color.

Well, she was not going to wash in filthy water, so no point beating herself over it. Up the ladder, above ground: the sun was at the summit, illuminating the streets below. Clouds were drifting around while the ground was muddy: it had rained during the night. She opened the sewer’s gate, attracting the attention of the guardsman on duty. He jumped, and his hand went to the hilt, ready to fight.

“What the- are you alright? Is that… blood?”

The guardsman went through different stages: fight or flight response, confused and then disgusted. Silvy chuckled, amused by his reactions.

“Yes Mr. guardsman, it’s blood. But not mine. There was a nest of giant worms and I eliminated them, as you can discern from the pile of cores.”

“Wait, you can’t go around like that in the city: you will scare everyone! One moment.”

The guardsman reached for a whistle on his neck, a bit calmer now. Two short whistles came from it, calling for reinforcements.

Silvy knew of these whistles: they were given to every guardsman of the city, making long-distance communication possible. She knew the meaning of a few calls, but not all of them: in the past she had run from the sound, trying to escape the pursuers with her ill-gotten goods. But today she was standing next to the guardsman, waiting for reinforcements to show up: how life had changed. By now the appearance of a blood-covered child with a pile of floating cores behind her and a restless guard whistling had attracted a small crowd gathered to watch the source of the commotion. It didn’t take long for another guardsman to show up, loudly asking to get through.

“Make space! Guards coming through!”

A woman in plate armor managed to extricate from the crowd, followed by two armored men. Her features were sharp, and she had short blonde hair, with a visible scar on her right cheek. She was not a guardsman: she had three stars on her left pauldron, identifying her as a member of the army standing in the city.

“Stand down. What’s the situation?”

The woman was studying Silvy, interested. Silvy had no idea of her rank, but the mystery was quickly resolved by the guardsmen standing on attention to the side.

“Yes, Captain Gramibe. This child came out of the sewer claiming to have killed giant worms. Given her… condition, I request for reinforcements to escort the girl to a place where she could become more… presentable.”

“I understand: we will escort her. Remain on duty.”

The guardsman gave an awkward salute, replied perfectly by the captain. Said captain flanked Silvy, with the other two guards moving in front and behind her. The captain lightly held Silvy’s shoulder, making her uncomfortable: she didn’t know this woman, so why was she touching her?

The captain tilted her head to watch Silvy with a smile.

“Where do you wish to go, young lady? I am Captain Lafilia Gramibe; call me Lafilia, please.”

Silvy was now even more suspicious: a captain being buddy-buddy with her? Did she want her money? Silvy squeezed her eyes and moved away from the captain, escaping her touch.

“I need to go to the Adventurer’s Guild, Miss captain. Then to the Blacksmiths, and lastly to the bathhouse. And a clothing shop before the bathhouse. But I will give you no money: I can go there by myself.”

The smile on Lafilia deepened, making Silvy shiver. She ruffled Silvy’s hair, ignoring the crusted blood falling off of them, making Silvy even more alert. It could be that this captain was just friendly, but it was unlikely: people always had ulterior motives. What would a captain want from her? A recruit, of course. One capable of killing giant worms as a child: what would she become in a few years?

Silvy walked away without waiting for the soldiers towards the adventurer’s guild. She had no time to lose with political games: she had more important tasks, like learning magic or bathing. The soldiers were surprised by Silvy just walking away, but they quickly surrounded and escorted her to the guild. The captain was again to her side, but she wasn’t trying to be friendly anymore: Silvy was thankful for that.

They walked into the guild, attracting all eyes. The two guards flanked the door while Silvy, accompanied by the captain, reached the counter. She tried to join the queue, but the people in front parted in front of her, so she just went past. She still had hundreds of cores floating at her back: half of the crowd was looking at the cores, and the other half was looking at the child covered in blood. Some people moved their eyes to the captain, but she was quickly ignored: it was the most boring piece of the puzzle.

The receptionist was, impressively, the calmest: he looked at Silvy, took a quiet breath and opened his mouth before being brutally interrupted by Silvy slamming her hand on the truth tablet.

“Three hundred forty-eight giant worms spitting acid, one slime and three rats killed by myself in the sewers.”

“Three hundred-”

A small commotion broke behind her, quickly breaking into silence when the tablet confirmed her statement.

The receptionist opened his mouth only two times before being able to speak.

“In-in our sewers? I need to contact the guild master immediately.”

“I’m already here.”

An old female voice came from the stairs, attracting the attention of the room. Apart from Silvy: she was staring at the wall in front of her, thinking of how much time she would waste here when she could be learning magic!

“May I see your badge?”

While Silvy was complaining in her mind the guild master, a woman in her fifties with a defined body, black hair and piercing brown eyes, had reached her.

Silvy rummaged through her clothes, locating the badge. It was covered in blood as well, making an eyebrow of the guild master raise.

“Come with me.”

The guild master went back the stairs, followed by Silvy and the uninvited captain. The room they reached was a simple study. A library was at the back of a desk located at the center of the room. Three wooden chairs with no cushions were in front of the desk whereas the one at the back was padded and richer. A purple rug on the floor and a tapestry showing a fighting scene on the right wall completed the room, together with a door on the left wall.

The guild master sat and Silvy followed her example, but before the captain could sit the guild master stopped her.

“May I know why you are following our adventurer, captain? If she has broken any law, you will be able to interrogate her after she finishes her business with me.”

The tension in the room instantly shot up. Silvy wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to intervene, so she just didn’t and stayed put on the chair.

“The army has the right to know if the city is threatened. A nest of giant worms spitting acid sounds like a threat to me; I will stay here and listen so that I can report to my superiors.”

The two women were staring at each other: the captain was standing behind the chair and watching down on the guild master, who in turn was relaxing on her chair.

“The guild will file a report to the army and the city watch as soon as possible: there is no need for you to stay here and waste your valuable time.”

“Do not worry: knowledge about dangers to the city is not wasted time. Our squabble, on the other hand, is wasted time: please, tell us where you found the nest and the number of worms still inside.”

Silvy was forced into the conversation she had no intention to join. She looked from a woman to the other, trying to understand if she should speak; the guild master, fortunately, came to her rescue.

“Alright, it seems like the army wants to have classified information about you, child. Do not speak of your class, level or Skills: just tell us where the nest is and the situation and you’ll be free to go.”

The guild master had a smug smile on her face while the captain was gaping, clearly offended.

Silvy shrugged, describing the path taken to reach the nest.

“I killed what I could, but I don’t know how many escaped. They had dug a tunnel to reach the sewers, and I didn’t chase them too far.”

“I see. Thank you. I believe the soldiers and the watch will at least double the guards at the sewers' entrances. I wouldn’t want to keep you from reporting, captain. You know where the door is.”

The guild master had smiled at Silvy, but her expression changed quickly when she spoke to the captain.

The captain was unfortunately out of excuses, so she spoke directly to Silvy before going away.

“Dear, you are young and capable; if you want to join the army, just ask for me when you reach adulthood and I’ll organize everything. In the meantime, take care of yourself. Goodbye, guild master Zira.”

The captain marched out of the room, loudly closing the door.

The guild master relaxed again, reclining on her chair.

“She is finally gone. They always search for recruits, stealing them from the guild. That’s nothing you have to worry about. Your story is much more interesting. But first, you are no bronze rank: here.”

She took out an adventurer’s badge from the drawer and exchanged it with Silvy’s one: the new one had an ‘S’ instead of a ‘B’ on the wing.

“Just like that? No test?”

“Oh, there will be a test of course. But I am the guild master and I decide who gets what. There is a promotion test to silver rank in ten days: that will make your rank official. The test is in a group, so you won’t be alone; you will be supervised by gold ranks as well. Rejoice, because from gold onward no one will supervise the tests.”

The tone of Zira was kind, like a grandmother explaining to a niece. Silvy had noticed that being an orphan inside the city was an advantage in many ways: one of the biggest being the goodwill of the people, or at least the elderly ones. The same thing could not be said in the slums. The only thing you got from elders in there were either painful beatings or not a coin to steal. Silvy had every intention of being a “good” child and exploiting this goodwill as much as possible. So she put up a fearful expression, trying to squeeze out more information.

“A test? Will it be hard? What will it be?”

The guild master waved her hand, minimizing the matter.

“Hard? For you? Not a chance. Your task will be to reach the second floor of the closest dungeon. In one piece, of course. You will have no problem fighting the monsters: on the first floor they are weaker than those worms and there aren’t hundreds of them. No, your problem might be the traps. Not that they are mortal, but you can get pretty nasty wounds if you are not careful. But, as I said, you will not be alone: a few groups of bronze ranks will take the test together. Right now, two groups of four people each are taking the test: with you, nine people in total. Just stick with them, or with a single group if they split up, and let their vanguard handle the traps.”

Just as Silvy planned: the guild master was giving her all the information for free. Silvy quickly realized that the person in front of her was a trove of knowledge and wasn’t going to withhold much.

“A dungeon… What are dungeons exactly? I know there are monsters in them, but I don’t know what they are.”

“Ah! I see you start with easy questions. Don’t think I don’t know what you are trying to do young lady: I may be old but my brain still works. Let’s play a game: I answer one of your questions, and you answer one of mine. We will speak on the truth tablet so that our answers can be trusted. Deal?”

Oh well, so much for outsmarting her. But Silvy was still going to get information: a good deal. She nodded.

“I accept.”

“Mh. What are dungeons… they are the manifestation of the dungeon cores. Dungeon cores are made of condensed mana, as monster cores. The difference between the two is that the core of the dungeon did not condense in a living being but into the ground, usually in a vein of minerals or precious metals. When the core is formed, it creates a dungeon, shaping a certain portion of the ground around itself. As far as we know, the first thing dungeon cores do is to “dig” towards the air. From the resulting tunnel enter monsters, attracted by the huge amount of mana the core emits. Some cores are eaten by a powerful monster, but it’s very rare. Usually, the monsters try to reach the dungeon core but die by mana overload: too much mana in a pool not ready for it. Every monster that dies feeds, in turn, the dungeon core, which becomes smarter and stronger with each death, creating a labyrinth made of floors, traps, and monsters that died in the dungeon itself, all to attract more monsters and harvesting their cores. That’s pretty much everything we know about dungeons.”

“And why do people go into dungeons? There are just monsters inside!”

“One question each, did you forget? Now it’s my turn. So, Silvy. Born twelve years ago from a young woman named Anna in Kertian, who came to Chilog because you were a half-elf and not accepted by the community. She found a job as [Seamstress], died around four years back of illness. From then on, you were kicked from the city and lived in the slums as a petty thief. Is that correct?”

How did she know all that?! Wait, did she know who her father was? Silvy stood up, trembling.

“How do you know all that? Do you know about my father? Do you know who he is? I just know that he was an adventurer, but mother never told me his name! You know, right?!”

She had slammed her hands on the desk, almost screaming in the face of the guild master. She hadn’t felt that riled up in a long time, but the suppression worked its way through her emotions, calming her down. Zira, on the other hand, hadn’t moved a muscle, waiting for Silvy to calm down by herself.

“Sorry. I got worked up. It was your question, right? Yes, it is correct. Now it’s my turn. Do you know my father?”

“Wait, that wasn’t my-”

The guild master started talking but quickly realized that Silvy had capitalized on her error. She passed a hand on her face, mortified but with a smile on her face.

“I’m really getting old. Do I know your father? No. I do not know who he was, but I could search for him in the records. Elven adventurers are not exactly numerous, and a precise date should narrow the search. But why should I do it? The world is made of favors: you do a favor to me, I do one for you. Let me ask you the hard question then: I’ll consider your answer the favor if you answer truthfully and thoroughly. How did an unknown petty thief become as strong as a Silver rank adventurer, probably stronger, within a couple of weeks? In that time frame, you disappeared and reappeared out of nowhere, asking to be an adventurer. Enlighten me.”

Silvy could stop right now. She could stand up and walk out of the room, refusing to answer this question. She had the urge to do it for a few seconds, replace by cold calculations: she wanted to know who her father was.

“They did… something to me. I was kidnapped by a brothel in the slums; not any brothel, but The brothel. It’s in the northern part of the slums, and it’s the strongest faction in there. The last thing I remember is pain, then waking up in the forest. I realized I was more powerful than before in the journey back to the city, but if you want details of what they did you’ll have to ask the culprits.”

What was the best way to lie? Telling half-truths. Mix truth with lies, make vague statements and you get a nice story people can believe. Of course, with the truth tablet, she couldn’t lie, but she could still tell half-truths or omit some details; at least she hoped she could. She never said she had no information on her powers, and she didn’t know the details of what happened: she just had a faint idea. The white light coming from the tablet confirmed her statement.

“That is a strange tale. I thought you had found some artifacts. Still, this begs the question of what they did. I will conduct an investigation: I have many ways of gathering information. Very well, I am not satisfied with the lack of details, but I will search through the records for your father. So, it’s my turn again. If you don’t know what happened to you, I don’t have more questions to make. Got any more details about this… power you gained?”

Silvy had no intention of talking about her situation in detail; she still had a thousand and one questions, but the price was too high, so she stood up.

“I am afraid the situation is the same both ways; I have no more questions. Maybe we will continue our exchange in the future. Goodbye.”

The guild master changed from a welcoming tone to a dismissive one.

“You are a good liar, but not good enough to trick me. You are missing your money by the way: acid worms have a bounty of eight silver pieces each in the sewers, for a grand total of two thousand seven hundred and eighty-four silver, or a hundred thirty-nine gold and four silver coins. Do you have a bag to keep them?”

This woman. How could she see through her so easily? A Skill perhaps? But Silvy’s focus switched fast when she hard the figure; she had to use all of her willpower to answer without stuttering.

“Ehm, no… Can I borrow one?”

“Yes, you could, but it’s better if you ask for a bag of holding at the counter. A simple one with a cubic meter (3 feet) of capacity is thirty gold coins: a good price.”

Silvy nodded, trying to keep a straight face. It was more money than she had ever seen in her life! And it was probably a good idea to have somewhere to put all of her stuff. Not that she had much.

“Alright, the bodies of acid worms are valuable as well. But you don’t have them here; we can recover them, but it will cut a lot into the profit. How does… fifty gold coins for the lot sounds?”

“Perfect.”

She probably had answered too fast, but she was quivering in excitement.

“Here, all of your money. Just use the same trick you are using with the cores until you get a bag of holding. Go on then, I will call you when I have the information you seek. Close the door please.”

Silvy walked away, now with a pile of money added to the floating cores behind her. People in the guild stared at her, but no one approached, probably because the sight was surreal.

She went to the counter, easily buying a bag of holding and stashing away all of her floating possessions.

A single soldier had remained at the door, who followed her outside without a word. The Blacksmiths now: she headed that way.

People gave Silvy a wide berth when they saw the blood, making the journey comfortable because of the empty space around her but uncomfortable because of the attention she gathered.

The Blacksmiths referred to a whole neighborhood dedicated to them, with loud noises coming from it. There were no living quarters near the forges: the noises would drive people insane. Instead, between the forges and the housings of people, shops sold the created goods, creating a buffer that made the conditions livable.

Silvy chose the first shop she saw, not having a particular blacksmith in mind. Which was a mistake, because this one dealt in horseshoes, nails and the common goods, not in weapons. After having explained why she was covered in blood and mildly embarrassed, Silvy asked for a store who dealt in weapons and the like, being redirected by the clerk manning the store.

'Halbal’s armaments' was the name of the shop. A sign was next to the door, just like the shop she just got out; unfortunately, she hadn’t paid attention to it, but what was done was done.

The clerk had claimed that this was one of the best weaponry shops in town; it had a spacious interior, with many weapons on display and customers looking through the wares. The soldier escorting Silvy stopped at the door while she walked to the counter, watching the various swords, spears, scimitars, daggers, bows…

“Oh goodness, what happened to you?”

The clerk at the counter, distressed, watched Silvy with wide eyes. She ignored the question, bringing out the cores from the bag. The bag was easy to use, too easy: you placed the hand on or inside the bag, thought about the item and puff, you had it in your hand. Stealing from it would be so easy: people could just put a hand over it, think of gold coins and they would magically come out: she had kept a hand over her bag for the whole journey for this reason.

The clerk watched the floating cores with even wider eyes.

“How many… are you going to sell them? We can give you a good price, I assure you. May I take one to test its origin?”

Silvy nodded. The clerk took a single core and carried it to the back of the shop. He came back barely a minute later followed by an older man, finding Silvy waiting with a few customers around her, watching the pile of cores.

The old man talked to Silvy, replacing the clerk in the deal: he was probably the boss of the shop.

“I understand you wish to sell them, Miss? We can buy them all, at two hundred and forty-three gold coins. How does that sound?”

A person in the crowd quietly whistled and the other customers became hawks watching a rabbit. Silvy didn’t know that; she was busy processing the number she had heard. A single night in the sewers and she had more than four hundred gold coins, even after the bag of holding! Accepting the transaction with the calmest face she could muster, she studied the various weapons on display and spoke with only a slightly trembling voice.

“I am looking to buy as well: a magical sword, a wand, and armor. What can I get with three hundred gold?”

The eyes of the old man sparkled, and he started describing his various wares.

“Yes, I’m sure we can find something for you. Let’s start with the armor. It’ll be custom-made so that you may use it even when you grow up a bit. For a hundred gold we can’t do plate or chain, but we could use the hide of Giant Serpents… it’s quite resistant; not as much as iron and steel, but it’s a good compromise given the price. Of course, for that price, it won’t be magical; if you wish to place an order, it’ll be ready in… Five days. Here you can see a few wands: do you have a particular type of magic you specialize in? Or do you wish for a generalist wand? Of course, these are just basic wands; we can make a personalized one at any time.”

“Generalist is fine; I’m just starting out.”

“Just starting out? Then this one or this one is perfect.”

A rack with ten different wands was in the store; they were short, long, thick or slim, all with different colors, but all of them were made of smooth wood; Silvy couldn’t feel anything special coming from them. One of the wands pointed by the shopkeeper was walnut brown, short and thin; it was the most generic-looking wand Silvy had ever imagined. The other was longer, tortilla brown and with veins running through its entirety.

“The darker one is a wand adapt to every kind of magic; it is the most flexible wand you could create, capable of smoothly casting every kind of basic runes and some intermediate ones. The other wand is similar, capable of casting every kind of basic magic but not the intermediate ones; its advantage over the other one is the guiding process in creating a correct rune, facilitating the learning process.”

Silvy was probably going to buy the darker one; the heart core had already guided Silvy once, and she had a hunch that it would help her again. But Silvy had a question she had never asked: how were magical items and wands created?

“Uhm, I don’t know; it’s hard to decide. Can you tell me how they were made?”

“Of course; the darker one is created using dark onyx dust, while the lighter one uses obsidian dust. The darker one comes at twenty gold coins while the lighter one is a bit more pricey, at thirty gold.”

Having gold opened many doors: one of which was information. A salesman trying to close a deal was someone very interested in gaining the trust of the customer: satisfying a few simple requests to gain such trust was a simple matter.

“Isn’t that just wood? How are they made?”

The shopkeeper chuckled.

“No, no, it’s not just wood; it wouldn’t help with the casting. The process is very simple, at least in theory: precious gems or monster cores are ground to dust, which is then inserted into the wand during the processing of the wood.”

“Why do gems and monster cores help with magic casting?”

“Well, I’m no mage, but speaking with mage customers I learned a few things: gems are naturally attuned to mana and can help with its manipulation, but the monster cores are the real deal. They retain some sort of instinct and are a good focus for the magic type they were attuned to in their life. I don’t really get it, but that’s just what I know.”

Magical items were created using monster cores. Silvy was a monster. Would her core get processed if people discovered her? Would it have a high value, pushing people to actively hunting her? Silvy was reminded of the delicate situation she was in: hiding her identity was even more important now.

She looked around, noticing the shopkeeper waiting for her decision.

“I’ll take the darker one, please. May I see magical swords as well?”

“Well, magical items are not created without reason, you see, especially weapons. We can forge a magical sword fit for you. I can show you a few examples of magic weapons that are in the shop, but it’s unlikely you will find a good match: creating a weapon suitable for each person, especially a magical one is an art, and we take pride in being good artists.”

“I see. Show me what you have in stock: I have never seen a magical weapon.”

“Of course; this way.”

A wall with weapons of various kinds was in front of her, but the shopkeeper turned left, passing by it and reaching a rack with four weapons exposed. There was a long spear, two swords of similar length and a mace. The swords were in their scabbard and pointing downward, hanging from the guard, while the spear and the mace were locked in place and pointing upwards. The swords and the mace had a colorless gem embedded into the pommel, while the spear had no sign of it.

They were completely unremarkable in everything else: there was no mana emanating from them, there was no blinding light coming from them, and they had no strange form.

Silvy was disappointed; she was expecting something flashy. Not that it was bad not being flashy: thieves stole that stuff first. She took a step forward to reach for one of the swords. A scream reverberated through her head, coming from the core in her head: it was the most clear and distinct thought Silvy had ever received from it.

Unworthy!Slave!