Chapter 97

It was obvious the pro divers knew the ins and outs of this dungeon with how quickly we cleared all the floors up to eight hundred. That was when we really needed to get hands-on, not so much so it was beatable, but more so to speed things up. The biggest difficulty hike, however, was the last boss on floor one thousand. Not only did it incorporate all the other bosses, both full bosses, and minibosses, but they worked together astonishingly well. But that was just part of it, the actual boss of floor one thousand was incredibly powerful on Its own, a Lich king that spewed hoards of high leveled undead at us while coordinating everything with the skill of a general of a thousand battles.

The fight was costly, no one died but everyone suffered life-threatening injuries frequently. My potion stores were whittled down to a handful of mid-tier healing potions a couple miscellaneous potions. The drop was a set of bonemold armor titled the bones of rak-sheer, It was stunningly beautiful and gave bonuses to leadership abilities and necromancy, in addition to being pretty great armor in its own right. Potentially worth tens of millions of Jaers.

But that’s not what we’re after. The whole goal of this dungeon dive was for the three of us to meet the lord in charge of the dungeon, and that we did.

I felt a powerful soul brush against mine for a moment before pulling away, but, in that small space of time, I know it managed to examine my soul from all possible angles. It knew me better than I could possibly know myself.

“Impressive, truly impressive. Yours is the first group to conquer this dungeon in almost seven hundred years. And I know what your thinking, no this dungeon is not a trifling thousand years old like most believe, it is far more ancient than that. I am far more ancient than that. Call me Fromir” Fromir

With a spark of light a troll appeared before us. Almost seven feet tall with dark blue skin and arms that hung to his knees. His posture spoke of confidence and his eyes spoke of intelligence.

Before anyone had the chance to respond Fromir spoke up again.

“I know what it is all of you want, and you shall have it. Pretty simple requests honestly. In a moment the hired hands will have what they want and will be on their way, then the rest of us may talk.” Fromir

Before anyone could so much as take a breath the troll waved his hand and worked some magic, very obviously soul magic, and the pro divers seemed different somehow. They bowed their heads and made towards the exit that had appeared at the death of the final boss. Fromir then turned to Alfred.

“You’re an odd one, a soul split in two, crippling it. And yet you persist, attaining a level of control far beyond what a creature of your strength should have on your soul. For the sake of conversation, tell me what it is you want.” Fromir

“I want the other half of my soul, Sir. I want to consume it, make it mine in a way it shouldn’t be, and I want to do it under my own power.” Alfred

“Marvelous, you desire power, but not just power, you desire enough power to accomplish a certain task. It will be difficult, grueling even, especially so for someone who’s growth is crippled such as you. You almost have the control necessary to accomplish such a feat, but you have nowhere near the power required.” Fromir

“It is as I had feared than” Alfred

I wanted to speak up, but I found that I couldn’t so much move my mouth. Fromir must be suppressing us in some way, and I’m powerless to resist it.

“And the fairy. You don’t want for much, do you? There is something, however, that I can give you that you want. What is it, pray tell.” Fromir

“I want to explore the world forever with Laura, without having to worry about dying. Not just land either, but the seas and the skies as well.” Aria

“Easy. Immortality, limitless flight, water breathing, and immunity to pressure variations. I could do it in my sleep, I have done it in my sleep.” Fromir

With another wave of the troll’s hand Aria and Laura changed, but not in any way that was immediately noticeable.

“Next would be the Elf then, Laura. You want much the same as what this young man thinks he wants, right? Tell me, what is it?” Fromir

What does he mean, what I think I want?

“I want to learn, to grow. I want to know everything there is to know about the soul.” Laura

“Power in its purest form. Power for the sake of power. I won’t teach you everything because then there would be nothing left to learn, plus it would take entirely too long to go over all the nuances, I’m talking in the centuries, but I will teach you.” Fromir

I came here seeking knowledge and power, is that not what I want?

“And the centerpiece of many a scheme, most beyond your ability to comprehend. Tell me, do you truly trust those you rely on, or rather, should you? Tell me, what is it you think you want?” Fromir

“I want power. Like what Laura said, I want to learn everything there is to know about the soul.” Jack

My answer was immediate, not requiring any thought on my part. It felt like me speaking, but at the same time, it felt alien.

“Only half right. You desire power, but in the way you describe it. You don’t want to learn the secrets of the soul, you want to rule as a king. You have to ask yourself, is that desire really your own, or is what someone else wants for you? You will get what you asked for.” Fromir

I have never been more confused.

End chapter 97