Chapter 4

Zuphaiross inspected the creature. Surprise, fear, loyalty, compassion. It had felt stirrings within itself akin to those emotions, but now it felt the beginning of a new one. It re-read the creature's memories and understood. Confusion. Zuphaiross understood its fundamental purpose, but the sign it now saw added a whole new factor into things. It extended a trickle of its mana which wrought a wave of pain through its body and reached out with it to the creature.

Yena woke up abruptly like she'd had a whole bucket of iced water thrown over her. She stood up rapidly, the sudden movement causing her sore muscles to seize up and almost sending her sprawling to the ground. The goblins and fire were nowhere to be seen, but what stood before her now was a massive stone block. It looked like a giant anvil, built from the same stone it stood on giving the impression that it reached out from the ground. The cavern she found herself in was similar to the one at the entrance in terms of appearance, but significantly larger and apart from the altar it seemed devoid of anything else.

There was never any mention of this on the maps, Yena thought as she turned, all of her thoughts crashing to a stop when she saw what was behind her. The cavern was much larger than Yena had initially thought it to have been.

-(Identify has reached level 12)- Etterral-

Yena slowly blinked away the notification, breathing out a stream of cold air as she took in the massive creature, trying to come to terms with what her eyes were showing her. Chains bolted high in the stone walls reached out wrapping around four limbs. The colossal links taught and pulsating a molten red, seemed to be alive, ending in harpoon-like points which pierced each of the four arms, lifting the creature into the air. The obsidian black body was shaped like an orca, long and muscular which was ridden with scars and wounds, elongating into a tail that hung suspended above the ground. Its head drooped, supported by a long roped neck; two shining white horns decorated its head sprouting from the sides of its face, reaching out to the ceiling and towering majestically, like a deer's antlers.

Yena took a step back in awe. The four arms were stretched out in painful angles, lifting the being. It looked like an alien depiction of Jesus on the cross. This magnificent beast that easily stood well over 20 meters, looked majestic in its confinement- like an artist had brought tragic beauty to life. She ran her eyes over the creature once again, her earlier predicament forgotten in admiring the still figure.

'I'm sorry human, but I seem to have enslaved the wrong prey.' Yena spun around in confusion at the sound that reverberated around her; the voice a low hum, that induced the feeling of being submerged in a dark oily ocean.

“Who- what are you?” Yena spoke into the silence, her voice echoing back the words again and again until the noise faded into an absolute quiet. 'My name is Zuphaiross,' the voice spoke again, seemingly from all directions. 'I'm right in front of you, and as for what I am, you already know that.' Yena gulped, staring with a newfound horror at the giant before her. She had not entertained the notion of the creature being alive, the atmosphere was too still for that, and save for the chains, there seemed to be no movement at all: no breathing, no sound, no heat, even Yena felt a dullness over her, sucking away her energy.

Stones being crushed under a waterfall, the sound that a thousand bells would make if rung at once, that was the sound Yena heard when the voice reappeared. 'Dead, No I've been kept like this so as to not die.' Yena observed the Etterals head, its mouth devoid of any movement just like the rest of its body. How is it talking to me? 'Mana' the voice answered before she had completed her thought. 'I am using the little that I've gathered of my mana to talk with you. There is no sound, it is only a projection of my thoughts into your brain.' Yena covered her mouth instinctively feeling self-conscious. So um you said that you snared the wrong prey, what does that mean? She asked, thinking of the question. 'Your mana nature seemed similar to the one who imprisoned me. I'm terribly sorry about this.'

Yena shuddered at the thought of what could imprison the creature. It's okay though, you can just send me back to the land. Her head remained empty. The silence spoke volumes. She could feel the strength of the monster. Why was it yet to escape then? Why did it sound so apologetic? Yenna connected the dots, the answers to her questions suddenly dawning on her.

She frantically scanned the entire cavern once again searching for any tunnels in the rocky walls that she might have missed. Her search passed over the Etteral, no longer captivated by its beauty. The admiration for it was forgotten in her sudden panic. Her movements were staggered. Jagged. What would happen to Jinah and Jiwoo? What about herself?

Rationality returned to Yena, her panic subsiding momentarily. It's fine. I'm still in the dungeon, and when Jin’s team completes the dungeon I'm automatically teleported out. She thought, calming down. 'It's not going to work like that. the voice interjected.' The sudden presence of Zuphaiross startled Yena. “ What do you mean?” Yena whispered, her earlier panic back again- “why…” she gulped, why won't I be transported out once the dungeon closes? 'this place is a sub-dimension of its own, independent from anything beyond it. And secondly, based on your memories 63 years have passed since I have been trapped here in your world.' Zuphaiross paused. '53 million years have passed for me in this dimension. So if Jin was to complete the dungeon in only an hour, you would be trapped in here for more than 95 years.' The voice stopped. 'I'm terribly sorry for what I've dragged you into.'

Yenna didn’t react. She stared blankly at the monster, her jet black eyes unblinking. You've been trapped here for 53 million years? She laughed hysterically at the thought, before stopping abruptly. Does a person who has been told they're going to die normally start asking these useless questions? She touched her cheek and sniffed sharply, the sound reverberating all around her off the stone. Yena lowered her shaking hands and found them wet with tears. She felt her lower lip tremble, an emotion she hadn't felt in the past few years now suddenly overcame her.

Violent sobs racked through her body, shaking her. Just when everything had been slowly getting better, it's just my luck that I get abducted by this alien. How are Jinah and Jiwoo going to react when the expedition comes out of the dungeon without me. She cried thinking about her parents, then suddenly began to focus her frustration at the cause of her problems: if you were locked up for 53 million years, then how are you still alive then, huh? “HOW!” Yena buried her face in her hands overcome by anguish.

'We are a species that solely live off mana.' It answered her question automatically, which only made Yena angrier.' All we require to survive is to be producing enough mana that I can live off. This very prison is powered by the mana that I am constantly making... '

The rest of the sentence was lost to Yena. This dimension runs off Zuphaiross' mana? Then if I were to kill you, wouldn't I be able to escape then? Everything was still. Silence. Zuphaiross's presence was absent from her mind. So all I need to do then is kill you- 'No what you are saying is entirely possible. If I am to die, then the dungeon will subsequently collapse, but the only problem is that when the dimension collapses, with your strength, there is no chance of escape.'

Yena suddenly felt lighter at the prospect of freedom, “No,” she exclaimed excitedly, no, you didn't read me properly. If it's stats that are the problem, then my ability will cover that. And it would help you, in a way, escape also. No? “System!” Yena shouted, reading the description of her ability with widening eyes. Previously, it had seemed like a trash ability, that would get her nowhere, but when Yena read through it, she felt as if this ability was given to her for this very situation she now found herself in.

-Soul contract: can form a contract with a being that possesses mana after slaying it. Gain 1% of its attributes, and one of its skills. (percentage and skills gained will increase in proportion to your level)-