FORE-IMAGE

Soul wells. The limited storage spaces preserved for magic use in the human body, and generally what dictates whether or not a person is capable of using magic--along with how much magic a person can use.

The best possible way to describe it would be to use the example of a glass full of water. Different cups have different capacities, holding anything beyond its max would leave the contents spilling out. The bigger the soul well, the more magic a person can store--and vice versa.

Why I bring this up now you ask? Apparently the dungeon reacted to an inconsistency whilst measuring our soul wells, the inconsistency was me.

'Infinite' the messenger said. My soul well was practically an endless container capable of storing any and all magic it could possibly wish to consume, a bottomless pit with bottomless capabilities. As such, both the machines at the guild and the dungeon couldn't place an estimation as to what its limit is.

It is the maximum and the minimum, meaning it's zero and 100 at the same time, she was even surprised the machines hadn't burst into flames trying to process it all. Don't get me mixed up, I was still magicless, just now with the capability of storing said magic.

With such a buff, it was only fair that the Architect's nerfed me. The nerf being the fact that I couldn't conjure up magic through chanting spells and could only use them once I had magic to consume. Making me the total opposite of everyone else.

Chanting spells were a means of filling up a person's soul well--a method of gathering up available magic to produce a greater outcome as compared to simply calling out the spell's name.

Confused? I was too. Even with the mind of a prodigy, it still danced around my head for some solid minutes before finally deciding to stick. But once all the explaining was done, I finally understood why hunting dungeons was first on the Architect's list.

Strap your seatbelts, its theory time.

Although chanting spells was a common way of generating enough magic to use the spell itself, it was also a way of creating negative magic; the type of magic that birthed dungeons and created the monstrosities within them.

Picture a cup of water, now imagine that cup of water being filled to the top. Its full, but there's still water in the jug that needs to be emptied, the jug being the chanting of the spell. What happens when you pour more water into an already-full cup? you guessed it, it overflows.

The same happens with magic, chanting fills the soul well, but if the soul well fills before the chanting is complete then the magic simply overflows and becomes the now known 'negative magic'. Too much negative births a bigger negative and a collection of those creates what we now call 'dungeons'.

You got all that? Good, I'm not running it back even if you superheated a buttplug and shoved it up my nether. All that info being dumped on me in one go had my brain struggling to keep up, never imagined I'd find something harder than mathematics in terms of understanding.

Well with all that being said, it still wasn't useful information for me. What good was an infinite soul well if I couldn't use it to get me out of this damned situation? Though, it was relieving finding out that the infinite soul well was part of the blessings I'd been given. Perhaps another ray of light had appeared to shine the dark path ahead of us? No, even the messenger didn't know what the rest were.

"You know," I started, scratching the back of my head as I struggled to keep up with Lance ahead of me, "...for someone said to have boundless knowledge, you can be super clueless sometimes."

"My apologies, master. But the Architects' themselves have left me in the dark too," She calmly responded, her golden text fading as I marched through them, "for now, I'd advice you be on alert, I sense a danger nearing the both of you."

Great, good news after good news. The first being that I have abilities I can't use due to not knowing them and the other being that the dungeon boss itself was making its way towards us. And it seems it wasn't just the messenger who sensed it, Lance himself stopped dead on his tracks with his blade readied.

"Load runner, look for a safe place to hide."  He barked out, tightening his grip as he stared at the dark hallway before us; a slight rumble emerging from the ground.

"If I do not manage to end its life then pray to the gods and hope the dungeon collapses before it finds you."

Brave words capable of filling anyone with confidence. I was basically screwed, those rays of hope were quickly turning off the more I thought about the situation we were in. That being said, I was offered a chance to hide--who the hell am I to reject. Leave the fighting to those capable and the hiding to those who aren't.

"Understood...best of luck Lance!" I let out, quickly making my way to the nearest possible cover I could find.

Once I'd deemed it fit enough to cover me from anything's sight, I hid behind a large fallen pillar a fair distance away from Lance.

I hadn't seen the creature itself, but the noises it made was enough to have anyone discouraged. The thunderous footsteps, the steaming exhalations, the occasional deep growls along with the sound of an object being dragged on the ground. Normally, I'd be curious enough to take a peek. But with my life on the line, I wasn't willing to risk it. The only way I'd see it is through three ways.

One, Lance miraculously kills it, allowing me to get out of my cover to take a glance or two.

Two, Lance gets killed and has this thing looking for me. How I'd see it is through my final moments as it hurls its weapon at my direction.

If luck kisses both my cheeks and I manage to have found the jackpot of all hiding spots, I'd probably see it searching around the area for me until the dungeon itself collapses and I'm left either dead or barely surviving.

You know what? Lets add a fourth way just for fun.

Four, I see it once it completely disregards Lance and decides to randomly make an attack towards my exact hiding point at a speed that even Lance himself hadn't accounted for.

Bets? anyone?

Within a moment, the once thundering steps took a deafening stop for what felt like an hour. None of us making a move--I for one, not even risking breathing out loud. The growls, the scraping of steel across the floor and even the steamy exhalations had died down, the halls became chillingly quiet for a short while.

"Load runner!" Lance barked out randomly, startling me incredibly.

In a moment, a shadow rose above my pillar, the chilling sounds of steamy exhalations seeping into my ears as I turned to check. My body instantly froze, my legs and arms instantly losing all sense of feel along with any energy they had. I could feel my breaths shorten and my hairs stand as I nearly broke my neck gazing upwards towards the beast. For a moment, I could even swear I heard my heart stop briefly. If it didn't, then it probably skipped a beat.

Half-man half-bull, it was a Taurus--most definitely not the same as those that massacred our party. Its size was nearly double--triple? Were I to stand beside it, I'd probably have the top of my head reaching the top of its waist. The multiple scars that covered it were its trophies, the encounters it overcame to be dubbed as the 'dungeon boss'. The bloodshot, raged gaze it gave me was something that would have given anyone else trauma--hell, I nearly soiled my pants looking at it.

In its hands was a battle axe, very steadily held above its body, ready to slam down with a force that my body was no where near capable of withstanding. This was it, my end. Its target was locked-on, a cornered powerless lamb ready for slaughter.

"Blink" Lance let out again, his eyes letting out an azure glow as his deepened voice echoed across the hallway.

In an instant, my body was sent bursting through the walls with Lance right beside me. The one who'd taken a bigger hit being Lance himself. It took him a solid minute to catch his breath again before forcing himself to stand. A devastating blast then echoed followed by a deafening roar. The beast had hit but missed its target, if it wasn't pissed before, then it sure was now.

And if it was pissed before...then perhaps prayers were beyond us now.

Before I could even rise to a stand, a heavy gust of wind blew towards me before a crushing feeling hit my entire abdominal area. When and how the Taurus' foot had landed the hit, I do not know. All I know was that it hurt, a lot worse than getting rammed by a truck.

I must have blacked out in-between the action because by the time I'd understood what was happening, my body was blasting through another wall before finally crashing down on what looked like the center of an amphitheater.

Not giving me any breaks, another gust of wind blew my direction. This time, my body moved on its own, leaping back several steps. The random reaction saved my life, had I not moved, my body would have probably been split in half.

Though, that was debatable.

Now having missed the final blow on its target twice, it did not seem even the least bit pleased. For whatever reason, I had its aggro, evading its attacks now almost made me its permanent target.

The odds were heavily stacked against me yet, for some reason, I felt like a load had been lifted off my back. The random dodge was what carried the weight off of me.

It was for a split second, faster than it took the gust of wind to blow past me but I was 1% sure of what I saw. So much so that I'd believed it hadn't missed; it had simply swung so fast that my body hadn't realized it was cut. But after a short while, that theory was proven wrong.

In the split second before its axe was sent on a horizontal journey, I'd seen a mirage. An image of it before it had completed its journey. Almost like an afterimage--a fore-image perhaps?

I wasn't sure, the only way to find out would be to test the theory. I was willing to bet that the Taurus wasn't up for it as it sent another chilling glare my way--a steamy cloud escaping its nostrils as it took on another charging stance.

Before it could move though, an azure streak of light sped above its heel; easily stopping the beast's incoming attack with blood spraying out incredibly for a brief moment.

"Load runner, for some reason, this beast seems rather attracted to you." Lance let out, bringing his motion to a sharp stop right next to me, "draw your blade and keep it distracted, perhaps I can end its life before it ends ours."

First of all, attracted is a heavy word. The only thing that all muscle and no brains beast was attracted to was seeing my guts splattered on the floor.

Second of all, telling me to 'keep it distracted' was a polite was of simply telling me to act as bait. I'd complain but every logical side of me agreed with his plan. Whatever reason this boss was hunting me down for was beyond me, but we could use this to our advantage. So long as I was alive, its attention would be stuck to me--allowing Lance the chance to end its life.

Before I could let out a single word, the split second mirage appeared again. An axe throw straight to my chest. Instinctively, my body moved on its own again, sliding to my left a second before the weapon itself flew past me. The cold steel of the axe nearly cut off my arm, had I been even a fraction of a second late, that would have been the case.

With that though, a spark of confidence rose within me. I couldn't take it down even if I wanted to, but I could see its attacks before they happened. The only thing between death and I was my reaction speed. My legs were still shaking in fear, but with a chance of surviving now clearly present, that fear could be tucked aside for a moment.

"Make it quick, I'll do my best." I let out, sucking in a deep breath as I drew my freshly bought blade.