Auron, petrified in place, had no time to react as one of the approaching humanoid creatures plunged its hidden weapon into his thigh. In an instant, the laughing creatures surrounded Auron and his familiar. The knife evaporated and then reappeared in another goblin's waiting hand with a flash of pink-colored mana. The monsters then began a sick dance of stabs and slices.

As if awoken from the trance Auron was also under, his inspection activated, and he now could see what these creatures were.

lvl 3 Danger level: mid Colors: Red/White No abnormal status conditions found. Thin necks. These creatures live in communities underground hunting for their prey using a single weapon they all share.

As he took in the information, he noted that the creature's necks had a faint red glow showing the weak-spot. He continued to try and swipe or grab them in defense, but they were too quick, each either feinted attacks or were the actual aggressor with their shared weapon. Auron physically and mentally collapsed into himself. Arms raised to protect his ears and face from the onslaught of the tiny pink goblins. He needed time to figure out what was going on. That these creatures had initially seemed like they were friendly, made the situation even more difficult for Auron. They must-have used a skill similar to his stealth. All he wanted to do was find people and figure out what the hell was going on. Auron watched as his health bar whittled down slowly, as a deep depression wrapped its way around his mind.

Zander was shouting something, but it went unheard.

"I am so sick of being weak, Zander." Auron winced as the knife cuts a line into his forearm. The goblins were taking their time enjoying the defenseless prey. "My whole life, I have felt brittle mentally and physically. I thought I could be different here. I want to be different." Auron said through gritted teeth. "Even the cute looking things are trying to kill me. Damn, surprise Tonberry monsters." He said as he tried to find time to activate his wind magic. The creatures were too well-coordinated and stabbed at his palms when he attempts so. Throwing his arms out in an attempt to punch their alien-looking faces did little to stop their assault either. Even when he managed to make contact, another of the little monsters darted and reappeared in a new place.

[Then be different. You are stronger than you think you just need to reach deep and grab it!] Zander mentally shouted as he emitted a mighty glow. A frenzy of wind hit each of the goblins surrounding them. [The mental starvation you mentioned listed on your stat sheet. That is something you are inflicting on yourself. Stop believing you are so weak. Are you going to curl up into a ball and let these monsters bleed you to death, or are you going to change!?] Auron stared at his familiar's blurry visage through tear-filled eyes. His self-loathing reached its peak. He was beyond frustrated with his cowardice and lack of action. He couldn't help but be reminded of the words his mother left him before she died. He did not remember where they were or anything around them for some reason, but he would never forget the words.

You are stronger than you think you are, Auron. Losing me may seem like it is going to break you, but you are destined for so much. If the weight of the world ever feels like it is crushing you, just let it all go. It is not yours to hold. Take a breath. Close your eyes. Picture what you need to do at that moment. Every journey starts with one step; every goal can be broken up into little parts. You will always have the strength in you to take that step, and the courage to begin.

Auron stood slowly. He attempted to wipe the tears from his face, but only managed to smear more blood there. The goblins were thrown twenty feet away by Zander's spell. They regrouped swiftly and readied to rush forward and finish their prey. Closing his eyes, he took one slow breath and reached inward. Eight different feelings brushed against his consciousness, reinforcing him. Three of the power sources seemed more substantial than the others. Of those three, he could recognize one from a similar feeling to Zander's wind magic. Green. The other two he knew as related to his stealth skill, Purple, and the rush he felt when he uses inspection, Red. The blue mana stone on his hand seemed to pulse with life fueling the visions of his internal power sources. As if awake and alive for the first time Auron opened his eyes, a prism of colors exploded out of him wrapping around him and Zander.*Bing*

Full access to magic granted. R**** Aura activated. Skill interface activated. Mental starvation removed. Stat limit lifted.

"Zander, I am done being smacked around by these pink jerks. Keep them off of my back, but let me handle the rest." Auron laid out the order naturally to his familiar as something deep down in his body seemed to click into position. The limits he put on himself because of doubt and a lack of confidence would not be tolerated anymore. Auron felt whole for the first time in what felt like forever.

Smothering the remnants of fear creeping up his stomach Auron looked out at the group of enemies. Their pink skin stretching over bulbous heads held up by thin necks. Their sharp tiny teeth were showing as they let out their odd giggles. He hated them. He mentally took all of his fears and failures and attributed them to these creatures. He would kill them all along with his old self.

Auron clenched his fists and reached toward the more familiar feeling in his chest. As he was turning toward the wall, he began to run away from the creatures. Seeing this, they explode with a peal of laughter that only serves to fuel his determination. In this movement, he feels changes in his body. Every step forward seems to be faster than before, each step a leap. He reaches the cavern wall in half the time it would have taken him before his stats were restored. Doubly encouraged by his newfound power and the feeling of magic inside of him, he smiles as he reaches the wall. Crouching down in a sprinter's pose, and turning to face the imminent attack, he takes another breath and targets the one currently carrying the knife.

The creatures howl one more time and close in. A green glow begins to blanket Auron's hand as he released everything he can back into the wall. Like a rocket, he slams into his target and clumsily wraps his fingers around its thin neck, snapping it with a firm squeeze. Picking up the dagger from its corpse he hears the system ring out.*Bing*

Beginner dagger skills enabled. Back-stab ability is now available through the Rogue Class.

The kitchen-knife-sized dagger felt a little more familiar in his hands as the ability activated. Throwing it to his left hand with ease, and grabbing the corpse with his right, he then tossed it at two of the goblins, their hands sporadically firing off pink magic trying to retrieve their lost weapon. Their magic seemed not to affect an item if one of them was not holding it.

Whether from shock or fear, the remaining standing monster then turned attempting to run. Before it could take more than two steps, Auron was behind it, thrusting the dagger between its ribs activating Back-Stab. With a hard thrust toward its center, he then severed the monster's spine. As its blood mingled with his own, he felt the power of dungeon madness rear its ugly head. As much as he tried to fight it, with his current level of bloodlust and distracted mind paying attention to the battle, he had no prospect of overruling the status debuff.

Dungeon madness activated.

The madness sent pleasant chills down his back causing a grin on Auron's face. It felt different this time; there was less of an outside controlling force. Auron had more autonomy over his actions. He felt the presence of it mingle against his purple mana, and he did not wish to reject it.

Ripping the dagger out, he spun and swiped it toward the ground, pink blood and opaque spinal fluid flinging to the ground. Walking calmly back toward the wall, he watched the two final humanoid monsters struggle to lift the body of his first kill, their previous laughter changing into panicked whimpers. His eyes wildly searched toward the dagger in his hand and then back toward them as an idea came to his mind. *Bing*

Potential combination conceptualized. Lateral thinking skill possibility found. Wind palm activation+dagger slash. Activate?

"ACTIVATE." He said gruffly, surprising himself with the deep sound of his own madness-riddled voice. Something about losing his self-control felt wrong. He also reveled in it.

Activated. Thrust slash created. Familiar limitation lifted for this magic skill.

Auron chuckled. Then screamed at the creatures. Dark purple mana spread into his sclera, turned from white into deep violet.

Assuming the sprinter's position he took at the beginning of this battle, Auron then aimed his blade and patiently waited.

Zander watched the battle unfold. Shocked by what he was seeing, he forced himself to not react visibly to the carnage he was witnessing. In seconds his pacifist Originator turned into a killing machine. He knew the brutality was likely coming from that rogue Title; he watched Auron cackle as if he was enjoying the battle. Zander found humans to be odd. From the two berserkers he once knew, he hated one and was indifferent toward the other. Zander hoped that Auron did not choose that classpath. He would struggle indefinitely. His personality is not meant for losing one's mind to slaughter.

After Auron shredded through the first two creatures, Zander couldn't help but be impressed by the ingenuity of this amateur's use of limited magic. Hearing Auron as he said, "Activate," Zander cocked his head to the side in his confusion. Something had just changed. He shouldn't be able to activate his own magic-sourced abilities yet. He had no idea how to limit or control the flow by himself. Zander knew he had to stop the fight. As these thoughts passed through his mind, Auron once again took up that silly looking position near the wall.

[Auron wait!]

Unable to stop the flow of magic in time, unwilling to try in his madness afflicted state, Auron activated his new ability. The force was nothing compared to his earlier activation using wind blast. He accelerated through the air faster than any human could have moved unaided by technology on earth. Barely raising the blade in time, he tore through both of the Goblins' necks and continued forward to the other side of the cavern. Hurling up and over the stone huts, he slammed face-first into the wall.

The damage done was catastrophic. His bar flickered down to near nothing, and his dungeon madness state lifted. Once again, Auron heard the sounds of his bones shattering and blacked out.

Neither Auron nor Zander noticed a light purple goblin pop its head out and scramble into a hole that led down to depths below the dungeon.

After some time, Auron opened his eyes to a world of agony. His nose and jaw, utterly obliterated. Auron looked toward his familiar with pleading eyes, trying to send a message telepathically because words were not currently an option with the lower half of his face shattered. Turning to cough up a mouthful of blood, he noticed that Zander made no move to help, and looked furious.

[I am sorry, but I haven't healed you yet for two reasons. The first is so you remember how stupid it is to use magic carelessly. Whatever you just did was not something given through our bond, without me controlling the flow of mana, you could have blown your self apart.]

As he spoke through their bond, gusts of wind started to flow through the cave, matching his enraged state.

Auron merely looked to his familiar, cowed by the anger and worry in his friend's eyes.

Zander huffed in his frustration and whipped his tail to the side. As it came down, the movement caused a whirlwind to fling out of the room. Speeding back toward the entrance of the dungeon, it met the wall creating a great racket as it sliced deep into the stone with its unpredictable natural forces. Finally calming down, he looked at Auron and sighed.

[Second, I can not be healing you so frequently. Not until you can provide me with an adequate supply of mana. Luckily if we use healing magic together, that issue will be alleviated partially. So go on. Activate healing wind.]

Together they activated their shared healing spell. Feeling the pull of mana from its source in Auron's chest, he felt and saw the wind begin to whip up around them.

[Properly picture it in your mind. Match the speed of my wind. You do not have to force it out for this spell.] Zander said over their link.

Auron put his hands out and felt the wind. He pictured a cool breeze wrapping around him as he tried to match what Zander was putting out. *Bing*

Healing wind (Multiplied) activated. Heals 9 HP/s. Half mana cost.

Another bing rang out as the two used their magic to heal the damage all over Auron's body.

Combination casting now possible with your familiar. Your bond has grown to the point that you are able to cast spells together to increase their power. This only works when casting the same spell simultaneously.

In less than 15 seconds, Auron felt the bones move into their correct positions and mend back together. Though the process relieved his pain, the movement was severely unpleasant.

"I am sorry. I had no idea what I was doing, and you have had a pretty hands-off teaching style so far, man. How was I supposed to know that magic would be different? The healing spell I have didn't go crazy, and it worked the first time when I used a regular wind blast." Auron spoke the words quickly so that Zander could not interrupt. His voice, laced with regret, as he spoke to his familiar. Zander's mood seemed to lighten now that they had completed Auron's healing. The sight of his human broken almost beyond repair must have been what made him so upset.

"Man, that is itchy," He said as he scratched his jaw in an attempt to relieve the tension between them. When Zander does not respond, Auron looks at him. "I am sorry. I will try not to take risks like that. Are we good?" Auron said as he reached his hand down palm up.