Frost came crashing down as he lost consciousness. He had lost too much blood, and maybe I should not have pulled that dagger in that manner.
Immediately, his crash was followed by a series of notifications that I could now perceive inside his brain.
Alert:
Your host body is too weak to sustain your bond. You have two options.
Break the bond.
[...]
I stared at the second option with sudden surprise, followed by a grin.
Inside this cave, I was the only man standing. Well, not literally, but I was the only one conscious.
The master was already dead, and I could see that I had received 150 energy stones from his death. He was an E rank after all.
I had also received a few more from injuries and pain from the straggler, but nothing from Frost.
Not yet, but I was now in a position to get the maximum points ever since waking up as a core.
I could easily end Frost's life. I mean, he was already dying anyway. There was no way he was leaving here with that gushing injury.
And I could also kill the shorter guy.
All of them combined would give me over 200 points. That would be enough to correct the mistake I had made earlier of ignoring my security and expansion.
But I hesitated.
The main reason was the second option.
That would literally expand my horizon to new limits. That was if it was not perceived, and even if it was, I might find ways to work things to my favor.
Immediately, I accepted it and then turned my attention to the other option that followed right after.
The first option asked me to spend 50 energy stones to heal and revive Frost, which I accepted immediately. It had been part of the deal after all.
I decided it was completely necessary if the option I had triggered was going to work.
He came to with a groan as his eyes scanned his surroundings before awareness kicked in.
Slowly, he pushed himself off the ground and rushed toward his friend.
"He is still alive," he said.
That was another problem.
Frost's friend was not just alive. He would also regain consciousness a few moments later, and I did not want him conscious before I finished everything.
"Hey… can you hear me?" Frost called loudly, although all he really had to do was think, and I would hear him anyway.
"I can hear you all right. How was your sleep?"
Immediately, he lifted his clothes where the injury had been. The flesh was pristine, like it had never been scratched.
"You did this?" he asked, looking both frightened and excited at the same time.
"You sound almost sorry."
"No… no," he rushed to clarify, seemingly not getting that it was a jest. "Thank you. Thank you so much. But you have to end the bond now."
He said it hesitantly, as if he had suddenly realized that all the options were now in my hands.
I stayed quiet for a while.
It was not drama. Honestly, if I ended the bond right now, everything would depend on that second option.
And if it failed to work, my existence would fully be under Frost's mercy again. At that point, I would have no bargain.
"Can you hear me?" he asked. "I kept my side of the bargain, and I promise my friend and I will not retrieve you."
"And you will not tell anybody either about my presence here?"
"Nobody," he reiterated.
"How can you vouch for your friend?"
Frost was silent for a few seconds.
"But he does not need to know," he clarified. "I mean, he does not know most of the things already. He was unconscious."
"Maybe. But he does know that this dungeon has a core," I pointed out, a fact he was conveniently overlooking.
"I will make him understand. I promise."
"You do that. In any case, let them come. I will be more prepared this time around."
And with that, I accepted the prompt to break the bond.
I felt myself withdraw, like smoke being pushed out of a towering chimney.
Eventually, a mix of blue and greenish crystal fell beneath Frost's foot.
His eyes suddenly looked too excited, and for a moment I thought he would go back on his deal.
"You want to return me inside the pool, no?"
"Sure, sure," he said, bending down and scooping me up.
I was not really that big. I was almost twice the size of a normal chicken egg.
Frost carefully dropped me into the murky pond before standing upright and smiling.
"Our deal is done then. Thank you for saving my life."
"Well, thank you for saving mine. But I have one more favor to ask."
I could already see that the straggler had woken up and was now coming toward his friend on feeble feet.
"What happened? Frost, where is the master…"
Then he stopped upon seeing the bloody figure propped against one of the mine walls. His hands closed over his mouth as if muffling a scream.
"Oh no… what… what…"
"He was just standing near the pond," Frost said, turning away from me. "It happened so fast. One moment he was threatening me to retrieve the crystal, the next he had been blasted away."
"How?" the straggler asked, as if he had not heard anything Frost said.
But he seemed to realize that the bigger picture was that the master had become a traitor.
"I do not know. It must be some of the dungeon's powers."
'Fuck, it works,' I thought to myself.
I then quickly whispered inside Frost's mind. Somehow, the link was still there.
Now I believed that as long as Frost came near this dungeon, I might be able to communicate with him.
"You two might want to get out of the city before someone realizes this man is missing. But before you leave, drag the body and lay it closer to the pond, propped against the wall."
Frost was smart enough not to behave as if he was still conversing with me.
He did not speak out loud, but he had his friend help him drag the master's body.
Both of them were too scared to even check the master's belongings.
As soon as the task was done, Frost alerted me that he was ready to leave.
I had nothing against that. With 100 points, I would see what I could do to take care of the rest of the business.
I watched as the duo collected their things. The straggler rushed toward the exit, while Frost did most of the collecting.
I noticed one thing he had not left behind. The map the master had been carrying.
I did not speak to him any longer. I wanted him to believe the connection had disappeared.
A short while later, when he was outside the cave, he tried.
"Goodbye then," he said.
I knew it was a test to see if he could still connect with my mind.
I did not fall for it.
'See you in the city, Frost.'