Chapter 8: Useless Power

Point Of View: Christopher Roosevelt The cloak looks expensive; I'll probably regret doing this, but it'll have to do. I took it from the corpse and tied it around my waist, making a sort of skirt.'My cloak! You are insulting centuries of arcane dignity by wearing it like this!' A voice hissed in my mind. I was completely stunned."Now you're speaking inside my head? Don't tell me you're some kind of parasite?" I replied sarcastically.'Tsk… useless bastard,' I heard the voice, sounding furious.I inspected the other bodies and found nothing of importance. They were poorly dressed compared to the body with the black cloak. I said aloud, "They weren't assistants or researchers. What really happened here?" No response. I went over to the tables where dozens of crystals were glowing with a bluish hue. 'Are these valuable?' I thought to myself.'They are magical crystals of the highest value, perhaps not for you, since you're a useless one without magic,' Magnus's voice, the orb, answered in my mind."Now you can read my thoughts? Is that an invasion of privacy? Why don't you go back to that orb?" I pointed to the sphere still on the pedestal.'Even if I wanted to, your body doesn't have mana to cast a transfer spell. What resides within you is only memories and essence of what was once my power.'"I get it, you're the useless one here! So, is there really a treasure, or did you trick me to parasitize my body?"Silence took over, followed by what seemed like long seconds.'On the wall opposite this room, one of the bricks is loose. Pull it out, there will be a space with a Dimensional Ring, but guess what?' While he was describing this, I was already moving."I can't access the ring, can I?" There was no answer, but I didn't need one. I moved toward the detailed wall and started punching lightly until I found a loose piece. When I found it, I pulled it, and there was the ring. My attention shifted to the crystals; they must be valuable. I went over to one of the corpses, took a long piece of cloth, laid it across a table, and arranged the crystals I managed to gather in the center, tying the ends together, turning it into a sort of pouch. I mentally noted the things I had: "37 mana crystals, a rustic spear, a black cloak, and probably expensive." "Now tell me how to get out of this damned dungeon," I yelled. "I haven't eaten in two days." After a few seconds of silence, then, in my mind:'Third torch to the right, turn it clockwise, it will open a tunnel to the outside of the forbidden forest.' I felt the mental eye roll inside my head.I followed the instructions, heard a mechanism through the walls, and the floor and ceiling trembled. Then the ground opened up with a small hatch and a staircase of no more than ten steps, leading to a cavernous tunnel. I had to crouch; the tunnel was about twenty centimeters shorter than my height, approximately one and a half meters. I kept walking, lost in my thoughts.'Magnus, are you there?' I mentally prodded, and there was no answer. I was being ignored. 'For a parasite, the least you could do is respond,' I provoked, mocking. Then:'Shut up, you magicless failure, you ruined my plans that took nearly a century to devise.'"Wow, a century, that's quite a long time..." There was no response. After what seemed like several minutes, I continued: "Look, I was randomly thrown into this world, it wasn't my intention to mess with you, but whatever you were doing in that dungeon didn't seem like good stuff."No response again. After a long time, what seemed like a mental sigh: 'You really don't understand anything…' Another pause. 'I made so many sacrifices, just for… it all to go right. This was my one last shot, and I lost everything…'I didn't know what to say. What was he planning? The bodies, the crystals, the orb, what was he talking about? Did he want to get out of the dungeon? No, that was the second thing he told me... the first was that he wanted me to touch the orb to receive knowledge. 'Looks like you're starting to connect the dots… that's right, your body should be mine now.' I stopped walking and spoke mentally:"But it went wrong, why did it go wrong?" There was no response. I stood still thinking and began moving again. "Magicless failure," I said aloud, unable to stop laughing. I felt the internal rage that wasn't mine."Look, I know your attempt to steal my body failed, but whatever, now you're inside my body. If I die, you die. Your knowledge could be useful to me. Besides, think of the positive side. You can interact with the world through me; it's better than being trapped inside a ball." I said in a soothing tone, and again, no response. After some time walking, my stomach growled. I'd never gone so long without eating. My nose was clogged, probably because of the humidity I'd been through. It must have affected my sinusitis. When I came out of the narrow tunnel, I realized I was on a beach that stretched for miles. The exit was hidden by rocks. 'Where to now, master of mages?' I thought in my mind, expecting no response.'There's a map inside the Dimensional Ring.' I felt an ironic tone, which annoyed me a bit.As I began to walk, a voice sounded in my mind:'Keep walking, just turn around from the direction you're heading. Let's go to Valdora, a port city in the kingdom of Calyndor. By the way, wear the cloak.'I stopped my movement and turned around."Finally decided to be useful?" I finished with a sneeze.'A weak body, no mana, no name. You are the epitome of what can be called bad luck.'I put on the cloak, couldn't disagree with the comment, and began walking.