James finally stopped because his body made the decision for him. There was no dramatic moment. No sudden collapse. Just a slow, creeping resistance in his limbs that turned each step heavier than the last.
The precision that had carried him through fight after fight had not disappeared, but it had dulled, like a blade worn down by too many strikes. His breathing had lost its controlled rhythm, coming deeper now, rougher, each inhale dragging against a chest that refused to fully recover.
He was not invincible.
And the maze made sure he remembered that.
His uniform was barely intact. Torn in multiple places, darkened with dried blood and fresh stains layered over one another. Cuts lined his arms and torso, some shallow, others deeper, hastily managed with pressure and movement rather than proper care.
One shoulder had taken a bite earlier that still throbbed with a dull, persistent ache. His leg, struck during the burrowing creatures' attack, protested with every step, forcing him to compensate in ways that only added strain elsewhere.
Still, he kept walking. Because Eli was still behind him. Still breathing.
Still depending on him.
The Curse was cruel and vicious. It did not choose whom to subject to the harrowing nightmare — the Dream Maze that is. Eli was just a boy, no more than ten years old, and yet he was expected to survive in a strange world, or dream, populated by countless gruesome abominations. Even James, a well-trained military personnel who managed to unlock his ability, was really struggling.
And he had had barely survived an encounter with no more than a dozen creatures, how was he supposed to kill a dozen more? How about a hundred? Tristan had told them that the trial was unpredictable, but the first one was mostly common.
Kill as many creatures as you can to gain strength, then kill more. Every time James defeated a creature, he heard the same voice in his head announce his kill. But that was not the only thing it announced. It also speaks about his kill count increasing, which somewhat assisted James in deducing what his trial was.
According to his suspicion, there was a specific number of creatures they had to kill. But beyond that, James had no idea what came next. Tristan had not been very clear as well. Come to think of it... Tristan himself had managed to escape the Dream Maze unscathed, how did he do it?
James had so many questions, but no answers. So he decided to let it go. He looked at the makeshift weapon in his hand with a frown. It was not much, but he did manage to kill a few small abominations with it. It resembled a dagger more than a blade, but it was longer than a mundane one too.
He fashioned the weapon — more or less torn it out — from the steel carapace of one strange abomination. The experience with that creature was so strange and harrowing, James preferred not to think about the creature too much...
Especially because it ended up escaping from his grasp.
It was short, barely reaching his waist, with four legs and two sharp pinchers that resembled war scythes more. They were sharp enough to cut through stone, but the creature was still relatively weak. So one of the sphincter from its delicate joint was no problem at all.
Something else happened during the battle, something he could explain, but was not sure how to feel about it. The infamous system finally revealed itself — in the form of a blue floating screen that is. He was busy battling monsters, so he had no time to ponder over the system, but now...
"…Mister,"
The boy's voice came quietly this time, no panic, no urgency, just concern.
"You should… rest."
James spared the little boy a short glance, and then said evenly.
"I will be fine. We should keep moving."
Eli retorted.
"Fine, that's good for you mister. But I am hungry and tired. I need to rest."
Jack did not respond immediately.
His eyes moved across the terrain ahead, scanning, evaluating out of habit more than necessity. A clearing, not wide, but open enough. One side bordered by a fractured section of stone wall that leaned inward slightly, creating a natural barrier. Sparse trees surrounded the area, their pale trunks offering minimal concealment but enough to break sightlines from a distance.
No movement.
No sound.
It would do, for now at least.
"…Here," he said simply.
Eli did not argue, he had no reason to. They moved into the space, and the moment James stepped into the partial shelter of the broken wall, something inside him finally loosened. He sat down, his back leaning against the wall.
Not carefully, not gracefully.
Just… sat.
His back hit the stone harder than intended, a quiet exhale escaping him as the tension bled out in a way he had not allowed until now. For a few seconds, he did not move at all, staring into the emptiness. He did not speak, did not think..
Just breathed.
Eli hovered nearby, uncertain, his small hands fidgeting as his eyes moved over James's injuries.
"You're… bleeding a lot,"
he said softly.
James glanced down at his battered body, then turned to the young boy looming above him and lied.
"…Not enough to matter," he replied.
It was not entirely true.
But it was enough.
They needed heat, food and water. Something to stabilize. James pushed himself forward again, slower this time, movements deliberate but heavy. He gathered what he could, dry fragments of wood from the pale trees, brittle bark, pieces of debris that looked like they might burn. Eli followed, helping where he could, carrying smaller pieces, glancing around nervously every few seconds.
They worked in silence.
Eventually, a small fire came to life. It started weak, flickering and uncertain, but with a bit of adjustment, a bit of patience, it steadied into something more reliable. The faint warmth it gave off felt… different in this place. Almost unnatural against the cold, ambient stillness of the maze.
James sat close to it, extending his hands briefly toward the heat before pulling them back, as if unsure whether he deserved the comfort. Eli sat across from him, watching with a peculiar expression on his face. He was torn between curiosity, concern and awe.
They did not have proper food, but they had something. James was a soldier so he was used to eating unappetising military rations, but young Eli was not. From one of the earlier fights, a creature smaller than the others, its body less grotesque, its flesh less corrupted, James had taken what he could.
It had not been a decision made lightly. But survival did not allow for hesitation. He cut into it with a sharpened fragment he had fashioned earlier, carving out pieces of meat that looked… edible.
At least enough.
They skewered it on broken lengths of bone and held it over the fire. The smell was unfamiliar, but not entirely unpleasant. Not comforting either. Eli hesitated before taking a bite.
James did not.
He ate without expression, chewing slowly, methodically. It was not about taste. It was fuel. Eli followed a moment later.
"…It's not that bad, just missing a pinch of salt for taste."
The boy said quietly, almost trying to convince himself, but James did not respond. For a while, the only sounds were the crackle of the fire and the distant, ever-present echoes of the maze.
Then—
"…Why are you helping me?"
Eli asked.
The question came out softly, and carefully.
James looked up slightly, his gaze settling on the boy for a moment.
"…Because you needed it."
"That's it?"
"…Yes."
Eli frowned slightly, as if that answer was not enough, as if he had been expecting something more, but he did not push further.
Silence returned. The fire burned steadily between them, casting flickering shadows against the broken stone and pale trees.
For the first time since entering the maze, there was a pause.
Not safety.
Not peace.
But something close enough to rest. James leaned his head back against the wall, eyes closing just slightly, not fully, never fully, but enough to let his body recover what little it could. The convergence was gone for now.
Leaving behind only exhaustion.
Pain.
And the quiet understanding that this moment would not last, but for now it was enough.
***
They enjoyed the rest of the meal in silence. James had a lot to think about and quite a lot of decisions to make as well. He took another bite of the tender meat and devoured what his body allowed. And his body currently demanded a lot...
The Convergence ha drained a lot from him. It gave him something more than just tyrannic strength and supernatural powers. It gave him focus and clarity. It gave him aspects of combat even battle masters train for decades in order to obtain. Some even die without obtaining it.
It gave him knowledge. During battles, he did not just predict the enemy's next move, he knew it. He even knew how to counter it as well. It gave him adaptability and so much more he could not explain, or understand for that matter. And with all that power, something vital was taken from him.
He did not know what, yet, but he could feel small fragments of his awareness slowly peeling away.
He was losing himself to the Convergence.
'There has to be another way...'
He suddenly realized that he did not have to think about everything himself. The system could just tell him everything he needed to know, according to what the young lord had told them at least.
"System..."
His voice was barely above a whisper.
No response came.
'Figures...'
Before he could finish that thought, the familiar cold and indifferent voice resounded in his head.
[System initializing...
...Initialization complete.]
[Welcome Host]
A blue screen hovered in front of him, and what he read made him pale.
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[ STATUS ]
Host: James Powell
Title: –
Rank: Dormant
Class: Hunter V
Slain enemies: 8/500
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