A Soldier's Life
chapter-153

Chapter 153: Schrodinger's Elf

Maveith’s question hung in the air. “Who?” It was not a simple question for me to answer.

I was going to have to reveal to him that it was not void magic that helped me kill the monsters. I probably should have prepared him better for this and taken the decisive step of trusting the goliath earlier. “You know how you thought I had powerful void magic? Well, I do not have any void magic. I can remove part of a creature by placing it in my dimensional space.”

Maveith’s face was an unreadable mask as the large iron pot bubbled in front of him, giving the air a fruity scent reminiscent of candy. “Maveith?” I tried to get the attention of the goliath, who was still processing my words.

Minutes passed before he began to stir the syrupy hot jam. “I do not know much about magic,” he finally said, “but your statement seems too fantastical.” Okay, I was never going to tell Maveith I was an Other Worlder. He seemed a bit broken, struggling to fathom the extent and power of my spell form.

I opened my dimensional space and rearranged it slightly to make the elven tablet reader appear next to him. It was seven feet away from me. Maveith jumped a little but eyed me slowly, putting the pieces together. A a prolonged silence followed as he stirred the pot. Every once in a while, he would look at me or the table. He finally said, “So if you can pull a part of a monster into your dimensional space, can you pull an entire monster—or person—into it?”

I nodded and confirmed, “Yes.”

I let Maveith think for a moment before he asked, “Could you put me in your dimensional space?”

“Probably. If you were sitting down,” I said, cracking a grin. I partly wanted him to think the space was smaller than it actually was, and it was also just a jab at his immense size.

“So, who is in there now?” Maveith finally asked, moving the cauldron off the thermal stone.

I winced slightly, having to tell this story. “Back in Macha, when the Bartiradians attacked, their griffon riders crashed into the city. I was sent with some of the company to make sure they were dead.”

“She has been in there the entire time!” Maveith exclaimed.

I winced. “Well, no. I put her in there when she was casting a fireball at me. I released her and the fireball at an enemy a few days later. I thought the explosion had killed her,” I explained.

Maveith shook his head, interrupting me. “That is not how magic works. You cannot steal another’s magic and store it.”

“Really?” I asked, confused. “That was how it happened.”

Maveith seemed uncertain. “I do not know. I just have never heard of anyone doing that. So, she is in there now, burned and suffering.”

“Time does not pass in my dimensional space,” I reminded him, and he nodded. “Actually, I left her in Macha, and she was healed by her people. Then fate brought her into my path again. She was with the summoner’s student when we caught up to them. Sebastian’s drake crushed her in his jaws and slammed her into a rock. I put her in my space to save her for later.” That sounded just as bad coming out of my mouth as Maveith’s face scrunched in disgust.

I tried to explain quickly. “I intended to use the collector on her. Konstantin and Sebastian were close, so I could not reveal the collector. I learned that if I store dead bodies, I can get the essence later.”

Maveith seemed somewhat placated, and I wondered just what he thought of me. He asked, “How do you know she is alive?”

“My aether bottomed out. She resisted being placed in the dimensional space. That means her aether core is still active. At least, that is my guess,” I told him truthfully.

Maveith nodded, and we started to eat. We dipped everything in the hot jam before it jelled. As we finished off the loose rations, Maveith asked another question, “How is the mostly dead elf going to help us? Do you have another healing potion?”

I dipped some jerky in the fruit sauce and savored it while chewing. “No, I do not. I was hoping to find another healing potion. But you can see why I am hesitant to bring her out. She is not going to be very happy with me.”

“I would not be very happy with you either,” Maveith said, chewing on some hard cheese. “Is she a good fighter?”

I thought back to our encounters. She was good with her blades and had magic—magic that could easily be turned against me. I suddenly recalled being fireballed in the back and reconsidered this idea. “Yes, she can fight and cast fireballs.”

Maveith seemed to consider. “Perhaps it is best if I try to reason with her when you release her from your imprisonment.” It appeared Maveith had already decided it was a good idea.

I sipped some wine from the bottle. “Maveith, that is a pretty harsh way to describe it.”

“You placed her there against her will and held her without a chance of freedom. That describes it aptly,” his deep voice carried strong disapproval. Then I remembered the orc slavers had killed his sister, and I was sort of enslaving the elf.

“I could have let her die,” I countered his disapproval.

He seemed to ponder this for a long time. “Sorry for being upset. You were enemies. You did nothing wrong. And now you plan to save her to make amends.” The tension in the room lessened greatly.

Soon, we were making our way to sleep. I held the amulet in my hand, needing to reference the books Castile had created in the dreamscape. “Maveith, the amulet is in this hand. If you need to wake me, just take it.”

Maveith’s eyes studied the amulet. “Can I?”

“Next time we sleep,” I confirmed. I entered the dreamscape.

Searching through Castile’s books proved extremely useful, as one of the books was on arcane scripts from dungeons. The other potion I received from the red bear was an aether restorative potion. I knew these potions were extremely rare and valuable since alchemists had trouble brewing stable versions of them. Even the simplest aether restorative required a tier-three alchemist.

It took time to find a reference table for essences. The book contained a whole section on the history of the collectors. The first collector was found in a dungeon thousands of years ago, and they were extremely rare. The First Legion saw the immense value in them and focused on recreating the devices with their artificers. They produced hundreds of them, but the master artificers capable of crafting them were assassinated in subsequent wars. Thus, the number of collectors became limited and rarely found in dungeons.

I matched up the essences with the chart to see what I had in my storage:

• Minor Essence—azure, blue with white swirls – air affinity
• Apex Essence—azure, blue with white swirls – air affinity
• 13 x Minor Essences—dark green – quickness attribute
• 2 x Apex Essences—rainbow swirling colors – illusion affinity
• 2 x Major Essences—rainbow swirling colors – illusion affinity
• Apex Essence—black with swirling red and orange – fire affinity
• Apex Essence—pale yellow – insight attribute

Based on the information found in the book, I could consume one physical, one mental, and one magical essence together without fear of harming myself. However, if I wanted to consume more in the same day, they would need to be the same types. If once again, if I consumed a strength essence the first time, I would need to stick with strength in the physical stats until I let a day pass to change the type. I was still a bit skeptical and would need to do my own testing. Maybe being an Other Worlder made me different somehow.

I had compiled quite a collection of essences in the dungeon in a short time. I was eyeing the minor air affinity essence. When I took the apex earth essence, I had zero affinity, and it was painful to add the new affinity to my aether core. Maybe the minor air essence would not be as horrific.

Castile left a lot of books, but I focused my time in the dreamscape on learning the runic script. It was a headache since it was essentially memorizing over seven hundred symbols and their rough meanings, which only became clear when you chained them together. The patterns were intricate as well. Fortunately, most potions required only a sequence of three symbols to identify the contents. Within the symbols, I could also see many geometric patterns in the spell forms I had imprinted on my core. Dungeon script was the language of magic.

I was not going to be able to draw the symbols, but I could at least study them to recognize them. I created flashcards and worked for almost eight hours. I cleaned up the dreamscape, moving everything to the scorpion room and sealing it away. Maveith was going to use the device next, and my level of trust with him was reaching a point where I would let him use it without my presence.

I left the dreamscape to find Maveith already awake. He seemed in a cheerful mood. “I used the reader. Can you read it to me?” he asked.

I moved the reader and tried to teach Maveith the elven numerical symbols as I read them off. Fortunately, they were in base ten as well. As expected, his magical affinities had not changed, and his potentials remained the same.

Physical	Mental	Magical
Strength (+3/+0)	80/107	Intellect (+0/+0)	20/38	Aether Pool (+0/+0)	9/10
Power (+4/+0)	64/90	Reasoning (+0/+0)	34/46	Channeling (+0/+0)	19/30
Quickness (+2/+0)	40/55	Perception (+0/+0)	29/40	Aether Shaping (+0/+0)	15/16
Dexterity (+0/+0)	23/40	Insight (+0/+0)	15/30	Aether Tolerance (+0/+0)	22/25
Endurance (+3/+0)	47/90	Resilience (+0/+0)	19/34	Aether Resistance (+0/+0)	9/21
Constitution (+1/+0)	40/101	Empathy (+0/+0)	48/67	Prime Aether Affinity	Earth
Coordination (+0/+0)	23/33	Fortitude (+0/+0)	30/50	Minor Aether Affinity

“This is great! It looks like your body is recovering after being starved for so long.” It had only been just over a day and a few meals, but Maveith’s physical stats were rising rapidly. I figured mine would be doing the same. He paid close attention to the numerical symbols, and I thought he would be able to read it on his own next time.

I stood and started to help with the cleanup. I was not going to use the reader as he might want to know what mine were, and my magic affinities needed to remain secret for now.

We had almost five gallons of jam! I just moved the entire cauldron to my dimensional space to store the apple-berry jam. I placed almost everything in my space, leaving us both with small packs of items we needed for quick access..

I felt the most well-rested and satiated I had been in weeks. It felt strange because I was trapped deep in an extremely dangerous dungeon. We walked to the chamber with the shapeshifters, and I felt great relief wash over me as they were nowhere in sight.

“How long has it been since we killed them?” I asked Maveith.

Maveith was still scanning the room. “Just over half a day. They are shapeshifters, though. They may be hiding as something else.”

“They can do that?” I also searched my memory, trying to identify anything that seemed out of place.

“I do not know. But anything seems possible after what you told me yesterday,” his voice echoed in the room.

We studied the area for fifteen minutes before stepping in, and nothing happened. The bodies of the shapeshifters had not vanished and were just over the rise in the moss, already desiccated. The bushes were full of tiny berries, replacing what we had harvested. We quickly refilled the water barrel and moved into the corridor toward the fire bear.

Oddly, I was disappointed not to have the chance to talk with the shapeshifters again. They had given us valuable information, and I hoped to tease out more knowledge, even if the dungeon did not want them to cooperate. We would see them again if we had to return to the safe room.

The fire bear was eating apples off the tree when we approached. Maveith was already excited. “Such a majestic creature. The fur would make a spectacular cloak. And that was some of the best bear meat I have ever eaten.”

The fire bear was eyeing us but not overly concerned. I studied it for a long time. “It looks smaller. Actually, I am sure. The last one was larger. Maybe it is not the same one? That would be different from when the dungeon revives the shapeshifters.”

“Do not damage the pelt. I want it in one piece,” Maveith’s eagerness was more focused on harvesting the bear than my suppositions about how the dungeon worked.

“Wait here.” I stepped into the room, immediately drawing the shimmering red bear’s attention. It cocked its head, its eyes becoming a deeper red as it charged. I removed most of its brain from fifteen feet away and sidestepped as the body slid forward on the soft earth.

Maveith stepped into the room, his jaw open. He walked to the bear that was spilling blood steadily onto the ground. Seeing he could not speak, I told him, “You can start harvesting the bear. I will check the reward chest.” I pointed to the stone chest atop the mound. A moment later, I was shattering the thin stone casing and was relieved to see the two familiar potions among the silver coins: the aether restorative and the greater healing potion.

Maveith found his voice after being stunned at my display. “Eryk, come over here, and I will show you the proper way to harvest a bear.”I sighed, gathering up the coins and potions to join Maveith. I would send them to my dimensional space when my aether sufficiently recovered. With the healing potion, releasing the griffin rider was a viable option now.