I've got something that'll speed this up.

Elias stood frozen, his heart was trembling and his hands had started to shake. What did he do to this dungeon? What did this man mean? He hadn't done anything, in fact, if anyone was to blame… It was the System?!

"I don't know wha—" Elias began again,

The man raised his hand as if to indicate for him to stop and he felt his voice falter out, "Hold on young one, I've got something that'll speed this up… You know, you're going to pay for whatever you've done here."

Elias tried to hold in a scream as he gasped, only air coming out as the words played in his mind "Pay for whatever I've done? Shit… But I haven't done anything?! This guy doesn't care… oh for the love of the Twins… this isn't right…"

"Oh yes, you'll pay… none of that Iridite coin either, won't be no good for me. Only the good stuff…" The man said as his hand pushed forward and another void appeared.

Moments passed and Elias decided his best bet was to stay silent for now, even if he wanted to speak he doubted the man would let him get a word in edgeways.

The man rummaged around, mostly obscured from Elias's vision as the black void vortex had appeared directly between the two of them. A few moments passed and the void ceased to exist, the man in front revealed in his hands a small circular metal disc, a mix of silver and gold with a fist-sized gemstone in its centre that pierced out from both the top and bottom of the disc.

"…And don't you think that I'll let you cheap skate me either, oh no… just because I haven't visited Undras in a few millennia doesn't mean I won't check the going rate for materials!" the man continued.

Elias was as confused as he was scared, the man didn't seem to be angry, or upset or… well, he mainly seemed as though he liked the sound of his own voice. He wasn't really talking to Elias, just… talking in general, and what the hell did he mean by a few millennia?!

The man started poking and prodding the disc in his hands, each time he touched it a crimson rune glowed on its surface, he paused again and glanced down at Elias's feet, "Why do you have bird feet? Is that a thing now? Evolution does take a funny turn sometimes… but have I really been gone that long?"

Elias was too dumbfounded to respond and had to consciously force his jaw shut. What was wrong with this guy?!

"No matter, no matter. Here," he said as he passed the contraption over to him.

Elias reached out in bewilderment and grasped the metal disc, as soon as the man released his grip Elias almost fell forwards. The weight of the disc was staggering, his other hand came to his assistance as he regained his balance and drew the disc closer to him. He looked between the man and the disc a few times, the man was standing expectantly and Elias could only gape in confusion, "What do I do?" he said.

"Oh…" the man said, bringing his fingers to his chin and scratching as if in thought, "Well… I guess you've not used one of these before, it's simple, pour some mana into the gem and focus on what you did to my dungeon. It'll convert your mana to project your memories into view."

His eyes widened with wonder as he glanced down at the disk in his hands, he'd never heard of such a device, immediately Elias's curiosity got the better of him and he gripped the disc tightly as he channelled his mana through his spirit and into the object.

Barely a second passed before a flickering image began to form in the space around them, distorting the clearing and phasing out the dark cavern, replacing it were flashes of different scenes and images.

Elias was in awe, but his mind jumped from image to image, as did the space around them.

"No, no, no. You need to focus. Concentrate on one memory. Ok, let's start with something simple… what sticks out in your mind most?" The man said.

"What sticks out in my mind? Hmm…" he thought as he pondered on the mans words, before long the many scenes around them warped into one, the images sharpened and the memory became almost physical as Elias's mind moved to a memory he could not erase.

Elias felt the emotions wash over him once more, the despair, the pain, the numbness, all of the tumultuous feelings he felt as he watched his companions lifeless eyes stare into his pathetic form on the ground. All whilst the the winged Aberration held her aloft by the dripping cavity in her chest. Tessa's heart clutched in its purple-hued claws.

He felt tears fall down his face as the vision continued, it played on as he watched the devastating scene. He longed to hear Tessa's voice again, but just the thought of her forced only this memory to his mind. It was all he could muster of her. She was so much more than this memory, but it was all he had. He sobbed as both the Aberration and Tessa froze, The systems voice piercing the veil of emotions he'd felt.

A hand pressed down on Elias's shoulder and gripped him tightly. It held onto him as the memories played.

The images continued, the disc's power completely enthralled him in the rapturous convocation of memories. Memories of Haven's Point, Jacob's explanations of the System, Uthred and his puzzling requests that each seemed more than trivial in comparison to his time here, and of course, the Catacombs - the memories had played paradoxically from time. They had experienced the memories together, he and the mysterious man that stood before him, as if they were happening in the moment, yet, it also seemed as though only seconds had passed in reality. Elias had felt the reassuring hand dance with a range of emotions on his shoulders, reassuring in times of sadness, tense in his desperate struggles and almost amused with Elias's self-deprecation at times.

The scenes around them pushed onwards as they fell closer to the present moment, as Elias watched his journey from Haven's Point until now he realised something: He had grown, and not by a small amount, the boy who had left Haven's Point was not the man that thrust his sword into the throats of Urstoks, nor the deranged lunatic that leapt into pits of inevitable death.

It was both reassuring and alarming how much he had changed. Was it a sign of things to come?

The memories came into alignment with the present and the mana that was channelled from his body into the gemstone cut off, the lonely emptiness of the clearing returned, the reddish tint of both corruption and the flora surrounding his vision.

The hand on his shoulder slowly lifted and Elias turned to face the man before him. The mans eyes looked into his, his olive eyes and the expression on his middle-aged face had turned to empathy, and a small silence ensued. The tears that had flowed easily down Elias's face had dried and a salty wetness tarred his taste.

"I don't know what world you are from, Elias Grey, but you are strong. In such a short time you have endured more hardship that most who do not follow in the Paths of Power. I am Orus Brenai, Stage two, level two-hundred-eighty-six." Orus said. "I apologise for my earlier rudeness, it was wrong of me to assume one bereft of the Paths power could have fiddled with my dungeon, there is more going on here than just simple dungeon tampering." He paused briefly, taking a breath before continuing on "The beasts you encountered in your village, they are touched by the Cosmos, yet—contaminated. I do not know what plague has driven madness into the benevolence of the System, but It feels as though it had seeped into more than the creatures of your world, somehow it has connected into this place as well…"

Elias understood the words Orus spoke, but the context of which he spoke only heightened his confusion. Two-hundred-eighty-six? That was… well that didn't exist. Even the legendary adventurers in the children's books he had—which were undoubtedly emphasised for effect—had a maximum level of eighty or so.

What was Stage Two? Lots of questions and not a lot of answers.

Even more baffling was the fact that the unbelievably bizarre entity in front of him had just openly admitted to creating this gods-forsaken place. How was that possible?

"I asked earlier for your level… and I now understand that this, 'Partial-Awakening' has left your bereft of one. You have not yet stepped onto the Paths of Powers and have no access to a number of its capabilities." His serious expression and tone changed to that of curiosity and intrigue, a face that Elias recognised well.

"But you do have access to skills… and access to skills before joining the Path—even if you are a bit old to be stepping onto it. I wonder what it will mean for your powers. Tell me, Elias, do you plan to join the Path?" Orus said.

"The Path?" Elias responded, "Do you mean, like the Awakening? I was headed there with Uthred, It's not long until I'm able to undertake the ritual."

"Oh, yes. I saw that…So this 'Awakening', that's how you join the Path on your world? Strange… I know the System translates words differently for everyone, but to wait until your eighteenth birthday confuses me. Why would you starve yourself of your formative years without the touch of the System?" Orus replied.

"What do you mean? That's just how it works. Once you're eighteen, you can choose your Path during the Ritual, I mean, it depends on the year, but there's some really good Path's that can become available." Elias said, unable to contain the excitement building within him, his hands started to dance energetically as he spoke, "I heard that a couple of years ago someone got offered the Path of Elements, you know, like Arvos's supposed path…"

Elias continued to explain as he recalled Uthred's explanations of what would happen on his arrival at the Awakening, coupled with stories from travellers through Haven's Point, Elias could list at least twenty or so Paths that might come up for him.

As was well known in Eridoria, the Ritual of Awakening took place in all major hubs across the Empire. You would arrive a week or so before your eighteenth birthday and you would be given access to the Empyrean Archives, these Archives contained knowledge of previous Awakened and their paths. It was said that when you entered the Archives you would resonate with a number of the tomes. Under guidance of the Archivists you would select your tome and your path. The Ritual of Awakened senses the tome in your possession and your affinity to it and binds you to your chosen destiny and into the world of the Awakened.

As soon as he had finished explaining he watched as Orus turned his head slightly to the side and responded, "Well that all just sounds strange Elias, your Path is of your own making? I don't know why anyone would say otherwise. Attempting to mimic someone else's Path is bound to lead to stagnation in the early first stage?"

Elias scratched his head and felt himself blush in embarrassment, "I-I don't really know much about the System or how it actually works… I've just been told. But Uthred's seen it a bunch of times!" Elias didn't understand what Orus was referencing and thought that it would be foolish to pretend he did. He was obviously powerful and well-versed in the System's magics and Elias was desperate to cling onto any slithers of information he could garner from the man's words.

"I expected that you wouldn't after seeing your journey so far… You are an oddity. One that I would love to spend more time with, but—" Orus said as another jolting sound thrashed in the air around them, orange lightning billowed towards them, and just as before, a casual wave of Orus's hand eradicated the energies from existence, along with the crack in reality that had formed, "—something is trying to force itself upon me whilst I stay here and its… well, it's uncomfortable and I have at least seven other planets to visit today… I can't get myself all caught up in here."

"Other planets?" Elias gawped

"What do you mean by, other planets, Elias? Look up in the sky sometime why don't you… You are a strange one. I feel for you boy, it's a miracle you've survived in here as you have and that deserves recognition—" Orus paused in recognition as it felt as though he could read his mind, "—No, I can't take you from here… that quest you've been given is certainly quite excessive, but the System doesn't lie. If you don't complete this dungeon, you'll die. Nothing a Stage Two like me can do against that, but you need something and… well I really want to know what happens when you do enter the Path…" the man's face contorted into concentration and slight pain as his hand drew close to his chest, visible rays of blue and green lights shot out from his chest and began to form into a sphere in his hand. The light intensified, almost blinding Elias, before it settled into an orb of energy that swirled with entrancing colour, Orus pushed out with his hand, offering the condensed power to Elias, "I can give you this, it's a skill I made some generations ago, I never really found a way to incorporate it into my skillset, maybe you will?"

Elias reached out towards the orb, the currently silent voice within his chest pulsing with an insatiable hunger as an intense urging coursed through him; he needed it. The orb touched his fingers and as it did he felt its power interlocking with his spirit and soul and he thrust it towards his chest without hesitation. It connected and he felt a rapturous rush of pleasure and power coursing over his entire being.

"A true mad man, yes indeed! Destined for the Paths, Elias, destined I say!" Orus said as he watched him, a look of both amusement and slight shock in the man's face as he devoured the power into his core. "But I need you to be careful, this place isn't as I designed, whatever has a grasp on your world has infected this place too. The trial is not for the faint of heart. Don't die, and more importantly, send for me in Undras, the Keepers there know how to find me."

With that, Orus turned and conjured another crimson portal, Elias only half observed as the rush of foreign energies locked into him. He could feel his chest pulsing with power. The blue and green energies were surging throughout his entire body and his spirit quivered in satisfaction.

This 'skill' Orus had bestowed upon him was nothing like the small slithers of power Uthred had given to him; this was in a league of its own.

[New Skill Acquired…]