Misty Oaks Point looked much the same to Ethan as it had the first time he’d been there, though at least this time there wasn’t a bleeding student slumped over on the bench. This time, the bench was empty, thankfully.

“What exactly are we looking for?” Bella asked.

“Anything that might be related to the dungeon,” Ethan replied reading over the plaque for the Point.

“Or anything that might give us a clue to who the Black is,” Alex added.

The problem was that there wasn’t a whole lot to inspect on the Point. It just wasn’t that big and with the setting sun blinding him Ethan wondered if this whole thing was just one big waste of time.

No, there had to be a reason that figure was coming out here, he just needed to find it. He chose the football game to come up to the Point, meaning he wanted privacy for whatever he was doing. Unfortunately for both him and James, James was already up on the Point praying.

The ocean was beautiful and Ethan found himself staring off at the reflecting red sun in the distant waves instead of searching over the small area with the rest of his ground.

“Is something out there?” Quin asked looking in the same direction as Ethan.

“What-oh no,” Ethan replied snapping out of his daydream. “Sorry I was just admiring the sunset.”

“I see, we’ll maybe we should focus on what’s up here while we still have a little bit of sunlight,” Quin chided him before she walked away to search the other side.

Irritated Ethan bent down and picked up a rock and then chucked it over the cliff and down towards the ocean below. Stupid Quin, he thought stomping around and staring at the dirt and the grass near his feet. There was nothing unusual about it and he was about to concede that this whole this was a waste of time.

Ouch.

“Did you say something?” Ethan asked snapping his head in the direction of Alex who was closest to him.

“Nope, I was to busy staring at all of these non-existent clues,” Alex replied.

“Yeah, sorry, this is starting to look like a waste of time,” Ethan said. “When I thought of it seemed like a good idea but now-”

Well aren’t you rude. First you hit me with a rock for no reason at then you ignore me.

Freezing Ethan started around looking for the source of the voice. He was certain that he heard it that time. It was clear as could be, but the problem was that there was no one around besides the four of them and the Point wasn’t exactly big enough to hide anyone.

“Ethan are you alright?” Alex asked looking concerned.

“Quiet,” Ethan instructed. “Someone is speaking to me I know it.”

“There’s no one else here,” Alex replied looking even more concerned, “and I haven’t heard anything. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Bella and Quin were now eyeing Ethan too with the same concerned expressions on their faces that Alex had.

I’m positive I heard that last one, Ethan thought frantically looking around for the source and still not finding it.

I’m down here.

Looking down at the ground he saw nothing but dirt and grass and snapped, “I can’t see you.”

In the water, idiot.

Scowling Ethan moved over to the edge of the cliff and looked down where instead of seeing the blue ocean waters like he suspected he found an enormous red octopus with a couple tentacles running up the cliff faces.

Involuntarily he jumped backwards and activated his dungeon mark causing his spirit armor and sword to materialize.

You’re really starting to irritate me, you know that?

The octopus, or kraken, or whatever it was actually starting to sound irritated and Ethan didn’t like the idea of this thing getting irritated. It had to be at least half the size of a football field if not larger. One thing was certain in his mind, he was never going in the ocean around here if he could avoid it.

“What is that?” Quin asked marveling out at the creature.

“I’m pretty sure it’s a kraken,” Alex said looking pale. “You know the whole mythical sea creature.”

I am not a Kraken, the voice boomed in Ethan’s head causing him to cringe.

He could see the other three cringle backwards too and guessed that it was now speaking to all of them.

If you’ve come here to insult me, I will drag you off of that cliff and drown you, the voice threatened. I’d eat you, but I found out long ago that human taste terrible.

“We didn’t come here to insult you,” Ethan said, holding his hands out in what he hoped was a placating gesture. “Your appearance has just startled us that’s all. Could we ask, what are you? Are you from the dungeon?”

Children, why must I deal with children, the voice muttered in their heads. I would have thought it was obvious what I am, I’m an octopus. Look at my eight tentacles. Count them, Idiots.

It flailed its tentacles around as if to emphasize this splashing large amounts of water around and knocking a small amount of rock off of the side of the cliff into the ocean.

“That’s the biggest octopus I’ve ever seen,” Alex muttered shaking his head. “Plus the fact that it can speak in our heads kind of doubles down on this not being a normal one.”

“Let’s just try not to offend it any further,” Ethan said not taking his eyes off of it.

“Maybe next time don’t throw rocks at it,” Quin suggested flatly and Ethan couldn’t tell if she was being serious or making a joke.

“Okay, you’re an octopus,” Ethan said. “Look I’m sorry for hitting you with that rock, I didn’t know you were there when I threw it. “I’m Ethan, this is Alex, Quin, and Bella. Do you have a name?”

I do, the octopus replied and Ethan waited for it to elaborate.

It didn’t. Instead they simply stood there in silence staring into it’s large eyes in silence as the red sun, which almost perfectly matched the shade of its body caused the creature to almost shimmer in the water.

“Would you mind telling us your name?” Ethan asked trying not to let the aggravation show in his voice. “You know, so we know what to call you.”

Your puny human minds would struggle with my name, but if you must have something to call me, you can call me Aki, the octopus answered after pausing for a moment.

Must this thing insult us everytime it speaks, Ethan thought getting more and more irritated.

“Okay, Aki,” Ethan said, “I assume you’re from the dungeon?”

Yes, like many others I am of that place, Aki replied, but I have no desire to return to it. I’ve grown fond of the open waters out here as well as the variety of food.

“Were you waiting out here a few nights ago in order to meet with a person wearing black spirit armor?” Ethan asked trying to get to the heart of why they’d come out here.

One of the chosen? Aki asked. No, I don’t wait on the whims of humans regardless of whether or not the dungeon has marked you. I have talked with a few over the years, like I am talking with you now, but they all come to me.

“Have you spoken with one wearing black spirit armor before?” Ethan asked excitedly.

Black? No, Aki answered.

Ugh, a dead end again, Ethan thought frustrated. And just when he thought he was finally getting somewhere.

“How old are you exactly?” Alex asked taking over for the silent Ethan.

I have been here many seasons, Aki answered.

“Very specific,” Alex muttered. “Well can you tell us what the dungeon is exactly?”

The dungeon is many things, Aki said. It is the Earth and of the Earth. It exists between the physical plane and the spiritual plane.

“I don’t quite understand,” Alex said looking like he was struggling to fit the pieces together.

He definitely wasn’t the only one as Ethan was completely lost. What did this octopus mean by it was the Earth and of the Earth and for that matter what was the difference between the physical plane and the spiritual plane.

You humans are all so stupid, Aki said annoyed. I’m told your ancestors were more knowledgeable about these things but from my interactions with your kind I doubt it. The dungeon is something like a bridge between the physical plane, the world all around us, and the spiritual plane which is where the soul exists.

“So, if I’ve got this right all of you creatures that are coming out of the dungeon are originally from the spiritual plane and you’re using the dungeon as a bridge to cross into this plane from that plane?” Alex asked.

No, Aki said sighing audibly in all of our minds. We are all of the dungeon and would not exist without it. Because we are of the dungeon we have both physical and spiritual characteristics.

“Okay, how did the dungeon create you then?” Alex asked looking and sounding just about as confused as I was.

Obviously by consuming and converting life energy, Aki answered matter-of-factly.

Oh of course, Ethan thought sarcastically. Now everything makes sense.

“And by life energy you mean?” Alex said nervously asking the question all of them were thinking.

I swear it’s like talking to a rock, Aki said. How does your species manage to feed itself? Life energy is pretty self explanatory. It’s an energy that all living things have. The young and healthy have a lot more of it than the old. Animals have a lot more of it than plants, and humans have more still. Everytime a dungeon creature, or the dungeon itself kills a living thing the energy is absorbed by the dungeon and the dungeon grows stronger allowing it to expand, produce more of us, and for us to reach a larger area.

“So the dungeon is kind of like a vampire just leeching off of other life in order to grow stronger and more powerful?” Bella asked.

The dungeon is like any other living thing, Aki said. You all consume life energy to grow and survive too or do you forgo eating plants and animals?

Probably a valid point, Ethan thought but he kept his mouth shut as he didn’t want to embarrass Bella any further. Besides letting Aki know that it made a decent argument would probably make the octopus more insufferable than it already was.

“So does that mean the who chosen or marked thing is like just a giant elaborate trap for us?” Alex asked bringing up something Ethan hadn’t thought of yet.

Yes and no, Aki said. By marking specific humans the dungeon is able to draw humans in with a high amount of life energy into itself where they sometimes die. However, the chosen are meant to seize the heart of the dungeon, so it is not just a trap for you.

“The dungeon brought that up before,” Alex said. “What exactly is the heart of the dungeon?”

That is a question I cannot answer, Aki said. I don’t know. What I’ve heard is that it was the first part of the dungeon that came into being and how the dungeon was created, but that is just what I have heard.

Oh my god, Ethan thought irritated. Why is it that every answer this stupid octopus gives just raises more questions? Can’t he just give a straightforward normal answer for once? Math was perhaps Ethan’s least favorite subject but after speaking with Aki for awhile he was beginning to appreciate it a little more. It was really nice how there was always a solid concrete answer in math as opposed to the general vagueness coming from Aki.

We’ll, I always appreciate talking with you chosen, mostly because the sealife around here is even more stupid than you are if you believe that, Aki said, but I am hungry and must eat so I will say goodbye now.

Not giving any of them a chance to speak Aki kicked off and then dove beneath the water’s surface disappearing from their line of sight.

“Well he’s a pleasant one,” Alex muttered.

“Yeah let’s get out of here and then we can chat about what a good friend he is,” Ethan replied.

Leaving the Point and returning to the main part of campus was actually easier than it had been on getting up to the Point, mostly because they’d already done it and it was downhill this time. The cops were still in the parking lot and still looking bored when Ethan and the rest snuck past them. This time luckily there were no falls and no struggles.

Upon reaching the quad Ethan said, “So I think we can safely assume that the Black was going up to the Point to speak with Aki.”

“Not necessarily,” Bella replied. “Aki said he’d never spoken with the Black before when Alex asked him.

“I can’t imagine that there was any other reason for going up to the Point,” Ethan retorted. “The Black probably just spoke to him without the armor so Aki didn’t realize he was the Black.”

“Maybe,” Bella said though she didn’t look convinced.

“That’s a possibility,” Alex said more to himself than the group, “or the Black was planning on speaking to Aki that night but failed on account of James being up there. The problem with this is, how would the Black have known about Aki in the first place? The only thing I can think of is that he was told about him by another person, which would mean that person is probably another chosen.”

Another chosen? Ethan thought. I sure hope not. One outside of our group is bad enough.

“Aki did say he’d spoken with other chosen before,” Quin stated.

“Yes, but from the sound of it those were in the past,” Bella said. “We can’t know that he was referencing anything recent. In fact his whole concept of time wasn’t exactly reliable.”

“Yeah,” Ethan replied smiling at Bella, “the only thing that I’m certain of after that is that is one arrogant octopus.”

Bella and Quin laughed while Alex scowled muttering to himself and clearly not listening to the others very well.

“Did any of you understand all the stuff about the dungeon consuming life energy?” Ethan asked.

“Yeah, it seems to eat it just like we eat to survive,” Bella said shrugging. “It makes the place sound more ominous than it already was, but if I’m being honest its always been pretty dangerous.”

“Yeah,” Ethan replied remembering Bella near fatal first time in the dungeon. “Nothing he said is going to keep me from trying to get to the bottom of this, because if we don’t we’ll probably see more people get hurt.”

“There’s got to be another person who is working with the Black,” Alex exclaimed talking quickly. “I’ve went over that conversation multiple times and taking into the fact that the Black was definitely headed up to the Point and didn’t know James was up there he had to be going to see Aki.”

“I think you’re presumming a lot,” Ethan said unconvinced.

“No listen,” Alex retorted. “Aki is the only thing in the vicinity connected with the dungeon, but is independent and not always there so when the Black jumped off the cliff the other night, Aki must have been off hunting or something. We also know that Aki has spoken with others like us, he said so, but didn’t remember ever speaking to a person with black spirit armor meaning that Aki must have spoken with a person who then told the Black about Aki.”

“I mean, maybe,” Ethan said shaking his head.

“Yeah, I just don’t know about that,” Quin said in agreement with Ethan. “I just don’t see it. Even presuming that the Black knew about Aki, I don’t know if he’d bother talking to it. The octopus is pretty annoying.”

“I’ll disagree with that one if you excuse me Quin,” Bella said looking a little embarrassed. “I think we can all agree that Aki isn’t the most pleasant thing we’ve ever met, but he knows a lot of information even if he’s not the best at explaining it in a way that is easy for us to understand. I’m not saying I agree with Alex’s whole theory about there being another chosen, but I can certainly see why anyone who was trying to find out more about the dungeon would go speak with Aki. The octopus is super talkative and more knowledgeable about the place than any of us.”

“If you say so,” Quin retorted.

“So what’s the plan now?” Bella asked. “We found out some new information, but it wasn’t exactly what we were looking for. We’re no closer to finding the Black or figuring out who he--”

“Or she,” Quin interjected.

“Or she,” Bella repeated, “is. Personally I don’t think we’ll find much else up at the Point so how would you all like to proceed?”

“Ethan did you get a good look at all the boys in gym class and on your soccer team?” Quin asked starting over at Ethan.

Blushing and feeling uncomfortable Ethan muttered, “yes.”

“Yes, and?” Quin asked.

“Yes and nothing,” Ethan spat. “None of them had any tattoos that I could see.”

“Perhaps you just didn’t look closely enough,” Quin said giving a meaningful look to him and causing Bella to laugh.

“I looked a little too closely for comfort,” Ethan said purposefully not making eye contact with Quin who was actually slightly smirking now.

“Are you?” Alex asked looking nervously over at Ethan.

“No,” Ethan said quickly. “We’re just trying to find people with dungeon marks or tattoos on them and Quin insisted I get a good look at the boys in gym class.”

“That makes sense,” Alex replied looking relieved. “I think keeping an eye out for the marks is a good idea but the only way forward right now is the dungeon. I think we put all of our effort into clearing the second floor.”

“You say that like we haven’t been trying with all of our effort already,” Ethan replied.

“Well now you have my brain power fully focused on it so we’re basically guaranteed to clear it this week,” Alex declared confidently.