I slammed my fist into the wall of the cave, each strike harder than the last. The sharp pain in my hand finally dulled the frustration clawing at me. My breathing came in ragged bursts, chest rising and falling as I tried to calm down. Snire Dungeon… 125 meters below the surface.
The sheer distance felt suffocating.
I needed a distraction, something to take my mind off the frustration. I fiddled with the bracelet on my wrist, discovering that I could change its shape.
The forums I'd skimmed through said it was virtually indestructible, but I wasn't about to risk it. I altered the system's form, reshaping it into an earring that now dangled just below my left ear. It felt lighter, less obtrusive.
From the same forums, I'd learned that this dungeon was home to snake-like creatures called Snire. The thought of facing them brought a grin to my lips. If their venom was as deadly as rumored, I wouldn't need to worry.
Thanks to my bloodline's passive ability, I was likely immune to most poisons. I just had to get through this dungeon, find my parents, and get back to the surface.
But first, I needed light.
There was talk in the forums about mana crystals embedded in the walls of these caves. They were supposed to emit a glow in the dark—perfect for navigating. I approached a nearby wall and struck it with the short sword I'd taken from Simon. The impact sent a painful jolt through my hand, numbing it slightly.
"Tsk, too fragile," I muttered, stepping back from the wall.
Frustration prickled at me again. I needed something stronger. Something sharper. Without thinking, the tentacles emerged from my back, writhing like extensions of my body.
They felt like an itch just beneath my skin—unnerving, but also natural. I directed them towards the wall, willing them to dig into the rock.
But even with the tentacles, I realized brute strength wasn't what I needed. I needed precision. Piercing power.
A thought crossed my mind: What if I could change their structure?
I sat against the wall, focusing on the tentacles behind me. For what felt like ages, I tried to feel every inch of them, searching for a way to reshape them. They were connected to my spine, fused with my body in ways I hadn't fully grasped yet. I forced them to shift, imagining chains with dagger-like ends instead of their usual form.
Pain ripped through me. I could feel the sharp agony of my own blood seeping from my back. It was like tearing myself apart from the inside out. But when I looked again, the tentacles had changed. Sharp, chain-like tendrils hung from my back, swaying in the still air.
I didn't move for a while, trying to catch my breath, waiting for the pain to subside. Glancing down at the tear-shaped tattoo on the back of my hand, I noticed something disturbing—the blood reserves had dropped significantly.
My body was draining the reserves just to keep me functional. To fight off fatigue, hunger, and dehydration—it was all taking a toll.
I couldn't afford to waste time.
Determined, I stood up, summoning the tentacles again. This time, eight of them burst forth from my back, their sharp ends digging into the wall. Slowly but surely, they drilled through the stone, unearthing a mana crystal.
I wrapped the crystal in a large leaf, leaving only the front exposed so it could shine, and then tied it to my head with another leaf. I looked ridiculous, like an ancient miner with a glowing crystal strapped to my forehead, but it would have to do.
Clad in leaves and bathed in the dim glow of the crystal, I pressed on. No matter how absurd I looked, nothing mattered except one thing.
"Mom, Dad… wait for me."
The path ahead was dark, but I would make it out. I had no choice.
***
Alex's POV
I swung the great sword, feeling its weight like an extension of my own body. It was heavy, sure, but it had nothing on the burden I carried inside. The heat of the sun bore down on me, but the sweat running down my back was more from the memories I tried to drown out with every strike.
Then Irene came running.
The look on her face—it stopped me cold. I knew that look. It was the same one I saw four years ago, the night we lost Theo. My heart started pounding before she even spoke.
"Alex," she gasped, her voice shaky, "Theo's life crystal... it started blinking. He's alive. We were right, he's still out there!"
I dropped to my knees, the sword falling beside me with a dull thud. The guilt I'd buried so deep came rushing back, almost suffocating me. We had abandoned him. I had abandoned him.
Everyone thought of him as a burden, lost in that chaos. Every night I prayed for a sign, for anything to tell me we hadn't failed him completely. And now—this.
Irene's voice cracked as she kept talking, desperate. "We can't waste any more time. We have to find him, Alex. I don't know how long the crystal will last, it could go dark again..."
I scrambled for my system. Checking for news about him for years now, I hoped to find something about him. Every lead we'd had led to a dead end. But this time—I don't know why—I felt something was different. The air itself felt charged, like the universe had finally decided to give us a break.
As I searched, I held my breath. My hands shaking.
Then, I found it.
A bounty.
[Wanted]
Name: Caedes
Status: Dead or alive
Bounty Price: Noble status
Kill Count: 1
Image: Attached
I stared at the screen, my heart in my throat. The image was there, clear as day. A boy, around 13. His hair was different, his face sharper—roughened by time—but that was Theo. I would recognize my son anywhere.
Caedes.
What had he been through? How had he survived this long, alone? And why was there a bounty on his head?
My mind raced, piecing together the fragments of the past four years. I clenched my fists, anger and grief swirling in my chest. The system said he had killed someone—my Theo.
The boy who once clung to me, who couldn't even handle seeing a spider without running to me for comfort. What had happened to him to turn him into this...Caedes?
But none of that mattered now. None of the questions mattered. What mattered was that he was alive, and that meant we had a chance—a chance to bring him home. A chance for me to redeem myself.
For out of all the reasons we had abandoned the boy for, My sin was the greatest.
I stood up, my grip tightening around the hilt of my sword. "Irene," I said, my voice low and resolute, "we're going to find him. No matter what it takes. Our boy is still out there. And I swear on everything—I will bring him back."
The Volkov family would be whole again. Whatever it took.
***