Out of the thirteen books they had left, only one mentioned the lock. It was more about the purpose and how they made it in the first place rather than how to unlock it. That left them with no ideas. Gene was even at a loss for an effective method. The lock was just too well made.

  Some of them stayed to scour through the books again in case they missed some hidden message or possible clues. The others went downstairs to investigate the lock further. Now they had an idea of its internal mechanisms and the reason behind its existence.

  The people who made it were a group of goblin mages known as The Magic Weavers. Their entire purpose was to learn about magic and the System. Apparently, the trial dungeon gave them answers they were looking for and so they sealed it off from others. It was a classic case of powerful people taking something that wasn’t theirs and monopolizing it. Knowledge should be free to everyone.

  Synexus understood their drive to learn anything and everything but disagreed with trying to lock away that knowledge from others. Although, if these Magic Weavers were around still, he’d want to thank them. If they hadn’t put this lock on the door, the dungeon would probably have been destroyed like the others. He also wanted to ask them about the creation of omniaether stone.

  He was, of course, one of the people to go down and investigate the lock again. It was time for another round of omniaether stone sensing anyways. Placing his fingers against the lock itself, a stream of information started to flow into him.

  Omniaether Stone: 31%

  Chaos Aether: 5%

  Synapse Aether: 1%

  Singularity Aether: 2%

  Fire Aether: 58%

  Growth Aether: 62%

  Water Aether: 81%

  Dark Aether: 18%

  Like normal he had to recoil away once the mental exhaustion became too much, but he noticed something more. Within the stream of information there was something else. A feeling really. Synexus wasn’t quite sure what it was, so he put his fingers back on the lock and focused.

  The information came again. He hadn’t had time to sort through the information completely and started to get a headache, but he pushed on. His mind homed in on the feeling. Whatever it was didn’t want to be found and somehow avoided his detection. He wasn’t going to give up, so he pushed harder. Silver blood started dripping from his nose. On the peripheral of his mind, he could hear Kumo talking to him. There was no time to respond, so he silenced his senses. His mind had a singular purpose, and it was to find what had caused that feeling.

  Something snapped and he felt real pain. His head felt like it was going to explode with all the information flooding in. His limits were pushed way beyond what was normally possible. Determination had that effect. Just before he passed out, he caught a glimpse of what he was after. It was a message.

  “What do you need to overcome?”

  ***

  Rainbow lights danced on the walls once again. His eyes opened slowly and there was a light throbbing on his head. He had overdone it yet again, but this time he felt oddly okay. Inherently, he knew a couple hours of rest would be enough to be 100% again. Once that was established, his thoughts fell on the message he had heard or, more accurately, felt.

  Kumo and Gene were in the room with him but let Synexus get his bearings before addressing him.

  “Really? Again?” Kumo had a disapproving tone.

  “Sorry, I found something, and I was not giving up until I knew what it was.”

  This piqued Gene’s interest. “You found something? How?”

  “When I was using my sensors to fill in my Matter Database for the omniaether stone, something sensed me back. It was looking for the answer to a question.”

  “What was the question?”

  “What do you need to overcome?”

  “Ah, that makes sense, and I think I understand what the key to the lock is. You see the Magic Weavers must have added magic to make it slightly sentient. The dungeon is a trial dungeon which is known for making people face the greatest threat to their progress. They knew people would be looking for a physical key, but there is no physical key. The dungeon senses your soul when you step in to figure out what your trial will be. Somehow these mages tapped into that, and the lock is able to search your soul as well. The key is to know yourself which most people don’t until they step into the dungeon. It’s brilliant. We must stand before the lock and answer the question accurately. It will know if we lie.”

  “Well, I’m glad me passing out could help.”

  “I don’t care if you doing this led to the answer. It was still stupid and reckless. You had us all worried yet again.” Kumo wasn’t even phased by the information. She was more worried about him.

  “Eh I feel fine, Kumo. A slight headache and that’s it. Besides, I gained a lot from opening the floodgates like that. I had to go deep, and I felt this intricate connection to the stone. That will save me a lot of time in the future with the material.”

  This was all true, of course. When he pushed his mind open to find the feeling, all that information from his senses kept flowing. His gains ticked up and up until he finally let go.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  Omniaether Stone: 50%

  Omniaether: 39%

  Nature Aether: 100%

  Plant Aether: 100%

  Razor Aether: 28%

  Memory Aether: 46%

  Mind Aether: 23%

  Freezing Aether: 78%

  Harmony Aether: 33%

  Creation Aether: 12%

  Life Aether: 47%

  Vast Aether: 17%

  Chaos Aether: 12%

  Synapse Aether: 3%

  Singularity Aether: 5%

  Fire Aether: 72%

  Growth Aether: 88%

  Water Aether: 100%

  Dark Aether: 27%

  Time Aether: 6%

  Desire Aether: 35%

  Fear Aether: 100%

  Nightmare Aether: 82%

  Intelligence Aether: 53%

  Agility Aether: 63%

  Perception Aether: 48%

  Strength Aether: 82%

  Endurance Aether: 41%

  Vitality Aether: 90%

  Experience Aether: 22%

  System Aether: 1%

  He really had overdone it. The gains felt nice though once he had time to sort through them. The existence of aether involving the stat names, experience, and the System itself had shocked him. This was something he would ask Gene about later.

  The fact was he wasn’t sure if all these gains had come from sensing the stone itself. After his skill upgrade yesterday, he had noticed some of his entries in his Matter Database would slowly tick up as he walked around. His theory is that now he can log all states of matter, he was picking up on the atmospheric mana. Aether was just mana that started to become physical after all. What if enough mana in the air could help him understand certain aethers better. It was slow, but any progress helped.

  This was neither here nor there. Right now, he needed to focus on what his answer to the question would be. What did he need to overcome?

  ***

  Back down in the lock room, Gene explained to all the class chosen what Synexus had found. Most of them found it interesting and they all started to discuss what next steps were.

  “It was brilliant that the makers of the lock would use self-reflection against any that would abuse the dungeon, even if that wasn’t their full intention.” Vorin admired the lock as he spoke.

  Drackenn stepped forward to look at it himself. “I agree. Most who would come simply in the search for power would lack what they needed to get in.”

  “We might lack that too.” Zuls was being honest. She wasn’t sure what she needed to overcome. It would be something that would take her a while to figure out.

  “The Elder Wave would always say that self-reflection is often simple but made complicated by the individual. From a young age, the Droplets are taught to always understand three things. These three things were what they wanted, what they dwelled on, and how these things could stand in the way of what they needed.”

  “That’s wise. I have never personally visited the Wave, but I would like too sometime.” Gene gave her an approving nod.

  Shell nodded back. “You’re always welcome. I’m not sure any of them have seen an owl before. Especially one as beautiful as you.”

  Prith stood and started walking towards the stairs. “I will have to go meditate on this. Facing oneself is a dangerous task.”

  “Wow, that guy is always too serious. Did he not just hear Shell? If you make it too complicated, then you’ll always overlook the obvious.” Minily broke her silence and kicked off the wall she was leaning against.

  “Does that mean you know what your answer is already?” Vorin turned away from the lock to look at her.

  “I do. I don’t want to share that, however.”

  “Oh, of course. I would never pry. Does that mean you’d like to go first?”

  She went to speak, but was cut off by a deep, booming voice. “Captain Minily, if you’d allow it, I would like to go first. It’s been a long time since I was excited for something.” Drackenn had a slight smile on his face as he spoke to his friend.

  “Please do, King Captain.”

  “We should talk about an order then. I’m fine with Drackenn going first, followed by Minily. Then that will give the rest of us time to find the answer the lock needs. I believe I have mine but would like to reflect before attempting.” Vorin looked at everyone’s faces, and it didn’t seem like there would be any objections. He turned and nodded to Drackenn.

  The Pirate King stepped towards the lock once more and placed his hand upon it. In his mind he focused and answered the lock with a feeling in his soul. He needed to overcome the death of his wife. The loss of his other half. That day had gouged his heart from his chest. Depression had lived in his mind every day since. His progress was slowed from the burning pain from that empty hole in himself.

  Everyone in the room watched as the lock hummed in approval. There was blinding light before the door creaked open. Drackenn stepped through and disappeared into the shadows. The door slammed shut and the lock reengaged.

  Minily looked at the door and said, “good luck”.

  ***

  Synexus was still in bed when he felt the shift in magic coming from downstairs. There was no doubt in his mind that someone had just opened the door. That meant his feeling was correct. The class chosen would be able to enter the dungeon and face themselves. He was excited about his turn and thinking about his answer when Gene flew in.

  “Drackenn went first. He has had a lot of time to reflect on himself.”

  “That makes sense. He’s earned it anyways. I bet it’s hard for him to progress at this point. Hopefully this dungeon can help him.”

  “It will. I wanted to talk to you about the order at which the class chosen enter. I believe that you should go last and when you do, I would like to go in with you.”

  “Is that allowed? You said it was one person at a time.”

  “It is, but like Zuls and her animal companions, you and I are bonded. I don’t count as a class chosen, so if you’ll have me along, I’d like to go. Be warned, however, these dungeons will be extremely personal.”

  “Of course you can come. You know more about my past than I do. There isn’t really anything I would hide from anyone. Besides, if we have any downtime in there then we can start magic training. How long will the dungeon take anyways?”

  “I do not have that answer. Time works differently in every dungeon. For all we know, Drackenn could have been in there a year from his perspective already or he’s only been in there seconds even though it’s been minutes out here. He could be in there years in real time or emerge within seconds from this conversation.”

  “Years?! I hope not. I think Vorin wants to leave as soon as the ship is completed. I guess that’s another reason for us to go last. I need to finish those seeds and get the wood drying.” Synexus paused for a moment before realizing what had just occurred to him. “My past.”

  “I don’t follow.”

  “My past is what I need to overcome.”