Lucas ran down the stairs, his bare feet slapping against the steps. He had been woken by a man’s voice and rushed forward, excited to see his father, who had been on shift the day before. Normally he would have kept sleeping - he loved sleeping until noon - but he had also heard his mother’s voice, and it had sounded suspiciously like crying.

  Which usually meant something fun.

  Many times that sound had frightened him before he grew used to it and realized that she laughed in exactly the same tone. Eventually, he had stopped reacting to it altogether. At least when his father was home. What bad thing could happen when his father was around?

  As he reached the ground floor, he ran into the living room, his face lit with anticipation.

  He was met with the smell of smoke.

  Then he saw their solemn faces.

  “...Lis,” Lucas heard his father’s voice. It sounded wrong - muffled and exhausted. “I’m sorry f… cough …f-for leaving nothing but heavy responsibilities for you. Lis, I love…”

  The voice cut off, replaced by static.

  “Mom? What was that?” Lucas asked, unease seeping into his voice, though his seven-year-old mind had not yet understood what was happening.

  “Lucas?!” Lis cried out softly and quickly tried to wipe the tears from her eyes, but Lucas saw them. “Come here…”

  Then he noticed the two men sitting across from her on the sofa. They wore the same fireman uniforms his father did, though theirs were dirty and burned. Their faces and hands were covered in ash, and exhaustion showed plainly in their expressions.

  “It’s his boy,” Lucas heard one of the men whisper to the other. Then he turned back to Lis. “Should we let him hear it?”

  “That’s what Rick wanted…” Lis couldn’t hold the tears back any longer. She pulled Lucas toward her and hugged him tightly.

  Lucas’s face was buried in his mother’s long, blond hair as the recording began to play.

  “Chief, I don’t think I can make it out… At least the mother and child survived… fuck! fuck! It collapsed…”

  “Fast-forward it! Have you lost your mind? What are you making the kid listen to?!” a rough voice barked, followed by a sharp hit on the table, and the recording stopped - only to resume moments later.

  “Luc, live a happy and healthy life. Take care of your mother and our family. Now you are the man of the house, and you must act like one.” His father’s voice was low, but still powerful. “...son, you’ll have to sculpt that dragon on your own now. I really wanted to do it together… but that doesn’t matter. Lucas, I love you more than anything. Don't ever forget that no matter where I am, I will always be proud of you…”

  <<<>>>

  “Lucas… Lucas, wake up,” Evelyn’s voice pulled him out of sleep.

  “What? Are we under attack?” Lucas shot upright, his hand reaching for the wooden staff still covered in swamp-colored grime.

  “No.” Evelyn sounded almost apologetic. “You were restless, and you are drenched in sweat.”

  Only then did Lucas recall the dream he had been having. It had been years since he had last seen his father. The man he had hated in his teenage years for choosing strangers over his mother and himself.

  “I dreamt of my father,” Lucas said honestly. Then he glanced at Evelyn, who looked energetic. “When did you wake up?”

  “I did not sleep at all. A mage’s mind endures far longer than most. And I rested far more than you after that apple, if you recall.” She uncorked a small vial filled with cyan liquid and handed it to him. “Your crystal made a warning sound.”

  Lucas accepted the mana potion without a word and poured it over the crystal, watching as the carved symbols along its surface shimmered.

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  “Who was your father?” Evelyn asked suddenly, surprising him.

  “My father,” Lucas said, a faint smile warming his features. “He was a local hero. A man who died saving a mother and her child when I was just a little boy.”

  Evelyn studied his face for a moment before looking away and standing up.

  “What about you, Evelyn? I don’t know anything about you.”

  “I…” she began, then paused. After a brief silence, she continued. “My family is gone. They were killed when I was a child. Broken households and ruined families are common in our world…”

  “It might not be exclusively this world’s privilege,” Lucas snorted, the smile twisting slightly.

  “What?”

  “It’s rare to find a place that is truly fair,” he replied.

  “It is,” Evelyn nodded. She sighed softly, then added, “While you slept, I inspected twenty-two chambers we might want to explore. I cleared one myself. It revolved around magical knowledge, so it posed little difficulty. I obtained that mana potion and these two essences.”

  She reached into her satchel and pulled out a small bottle containing two pieces of sky-blue gelatinous matter.

  “What are those?” Lucas asked, remembering the constitution essences he had obtained after killing the bears.

  “They increase mana. But first, you must awaken your mana organ.” Evelyn returned the bottle to her satchel.

  “Do I swallow them? Or dissolve them in water?” Lucas asked.

  “What? No. You would die.” Evelyn frowned. “A specific catalyst is needed to neutralize them first. An essence is the remnant life force of a dead creature. It must be stabilized before it can be consumed.”

  From her tone, Lucas could tell she had seen the consequences of misusing such essences. He considered asking, but something in her expression made him stop.

  “How do I awaken my mana organ?” As he spoke, the image of the slain dragon and Evelyn in his arms resurfaced in his mind - a dream that had left a lasting impression.

  “You would have to ask an archmage. The Order has one,” Evelyn replied. “Her name is Cellia.”

  Cellia?! Lucas’s mind went numb at the sound of the name. It was the same one he remembered clearly from his dream.

  Could it be that what he had seen in the Chamber of Knowledge had been more than a dream?

  No, it couldn’t. He decided that the dungeon must have stitched that dream together using both his and Evelyn’s memories. Or perhaps the name was nothing more than a coincidence.

  Lucas didn’t believe in fate, nor in the ability to predict the future. He had spent his entire life believing that whatever had happened to him was the result of his own choices and nothing else.

  He stood up and grabbed both the goblin spear and the wooden staff.

  “Which chamber should we enter next?” he asked as he unfolded the bear hide and reached for the cold, smelly roasted bear meat. “Want some?”

  “No, thank you.” Evelyn shook her head, trying to mask a wave of nausea. “Most chambers here are appropriate for your level. It seems the dungeon did not adjust itself to my original strength. In that regard, we are fortunate. But…”

  “What?” Lucas asked through a twisted expression as the burnt odor and taste of the meat hit him harder than before.

  “You received the quest as well, didn't you? The one requiring three cleared chambers to leave.” Evelyn paused until Lucas nodded. “I thought so. The first I completed was the Chamber of Knowledge. The second was the magical one. I wanted to confirm a theory. It appears your progress does not count toward mine and mine toward yours.”

  The silence Lucas kept told her everything she needed to know.

  “You have the Chamber of Knowledge, those bears, and now the goblins. But why are you still…”

  “The bears didn’t count for some reason,” Lucas interrupted. “I think simply killing the beasts isn’t enough. We need to fulfill specific conditions. The goblins counted because I killed the leader first.”

  “So we each require one more chamber. And we do not know what happens if one of us completes all three first. Whether they may assist… or be forced to leave.” Evelyn’s words made Lucas reconsider his thoughts.

  Didn’t she have the same quest as he did?

  Lucas willed it, and the quest window appeared before him.

  [

  Quest 1/3

  Objective: Clear as many chambers as you can (min. requirement: 3; currently: 2)

  Reward: Exit permission and a new skill generated based on your performance

  ]

  It said minimum requirement, which meant he could continue clearing chambers as long as he wished. The wording was clear enough that Lucas was certain Evelyn had received a different quest.

  But should he tell her the truth?

  He felt guilty for not being completely honest, yet he suspected that the reason he had a different quest was tied to his unique blue windows. If that was true, revealing it felt dangerous as he believed it was connected to his past on Earth.

  “How about we enter a simple chamber together, like one with goblins?” Lucas suggested.

  “That is the issue. I examined the simpler chambers. If it is a straightforward extermination, only one challenger may enter.” Evelyn shook her head. “But there is one we can both attempt. It is called a Trial of Trust.”

  The next chapter on Tuesday!

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