Thera 1.03

“So… Dungeons,” Professor Albanus said as he clasped his hands together. “What are they?”

He scanned the classroom full of bored Elf students as they pointedly made an attempt at avoiding his gaze. Unlike her classmates, Luna was pretty sure she knew the answer to this simple question thanks to her mother’s extensive teachings. She considered raising her hand but hesitated for a moment, second guessing herself.

“Don’t be shy. Even if you don’t know the answer, there’s no shame in being wrong. It is a part of the learning process, after all.” He paced before the blackboard, twiddling with his wispy white stache until someone raised a hand. “Ah, Marcus. What do you have to say?”

The boy sitting next to Luna stood up. Marcus straightened, clearing his throat. “Dungeons are places of power, Sir.”

“That is true, and yet, that is not the truth of it all.” Professor Albanus fixed a gaze into him. “They are more than a simple place of power. Tell me, my boy, do you know what else they are supposed to be?”

“I…” Marcus evidently didn’t know. He shifted uncomfortably as Luna watched on, biting her lower lip.

“Well?” The entire class faced Marcus, waiting for his response.

“Dungeons are also sanctuaries,” Luna hurriedly whispered to Marcus.

The boy blinked at her. “What?”

“Just repeat after me!” she said, glancing between him and the rest of the expecting classroom.

“Uh— Dungeons are also sanctuaries,” Marcus finally repeated after the girl.

“Very good. You may have a seat.” Professor Albanus smiled, waiting for the boy to take a seat before continuing his lecture. “Marcus is correct. Dungeons are also sanctuaries. You see, this is because of the nature of Dungeons. They are formed when the mana density in an area is significantly higher or lower relative to the majority of its surroundings—”

Marcus sighed in relief and turned to Luna. “Hey, thanks for that.”

“Oh, it was nothing,” the girl replied as she shuffled in her seat.

“Luna, was it?” he asked.

“Yes. And you’re Marcus Sylla.”

“I am.”

The two remained quiet for a moment as Professor Albanus spoke in the background.

“...then, to acclimate to this environment, Dungeon monsters can take on special evolutions that they otherwise would not get if they had not been present during this process—”

“Why didn’t you speak up?” Marcus didn’t face her as he asked the question.

Luna pursed her lips, trying to come up with an excuse. Not any he’d be satisfied with. Eventually, she just shrugged. “I just… wasn’t sure if I knew the right answer.”

“I see,” he said.

The pair of Elves quietened, not facing each other. And Professor Albanus came to the end of his short speech.

“As such, Dungeons foster into their own ecosystems that are highly distinct from the rest of the outside world. Most outside monsters— maybe not the foolish ones— would not venture into the Dungeon for the same reason we Elves wouldn’t swim to the bottom of the sea. Well, most of us, at least. The same rule on foolishness applies there.”

His eyes twinkled as he got a chuckle from a handful of students, including Luna. Then, he finished.

“Thus, Dungeons are both places of power and, more importantly, sanctuaries.”

* * *

You have entered The Ruins of Brunnholl’s Fleet!

Thera’s eyes were held wide open as she cast her gaze around her sanctuary. She lay inside of a box room with hardwood floors and walls that shimmered faintly with a warm orange light. This was what she’d seen… no— it was what she’d sensed when she’d been lost and exhausted in the deep ocean.

A radiance in the dark cold water; the fireplace in a winter shack. Thera had been drawn to it like a curious child to a bee’s nest, although she hadn’t poked it with a stick yet. She felt safe here. The magic in the walls conveyed a sense of security to the baby Mystic Turtle, and the inscribed runes had stood against the test of time.

While this room was, ostensibly, safe and full of air, it wasn’t entirely a haven or place of refuge. At one point, it was the quarters of a paranoid captain, but the gaping hole torn through one end of the wall indicated that whoever he or she had been must not have been paranoid enough. The walls were overgrown with moss, the furniture had mostly rotted away, and the only doorway was dented and bent outwards. Thera spun around, taking in this room with both confusion and wonder… until she saw the skeleton.

The baby Mystic Turtle jolted back as a pair of lifeless eye sockets stared at her. Circling around it, she prepared for a fight— for it to stand and attack her with its fists. However, much to her surprise, the skeleton was very much dead. It lay there, jaw unhinged as Thera scooted closer and poked it once with her flippers. When it didn’t attack her, she apprehensively poked it a few more times just in case. Again, when the skeleton remained, well, dead, she finally turned away and faced the ocean.

She gazed into an abyss, and the abyss… didn’t gaze back at her.

It was an ocean of nothing. A dark void. It threatened to leak into the bright room— a monstrous deluge to consume the light and flood this sanctuary with death and darkness. Yet, somehow, it didn’t. Something held the water back. Only the occasional tiny water droplet dripped in, but that was it.

Thera stared through the hole, perplexed. She could see the seabed directly before her, littered with broken bits of drywood and a single rusty sword. This scene was directly illuminated by the faint light of the room for about ten feet until it faded to the same dark canvas. The baby Mystic Turtle looked up and saw nothing. No sun. No sky. Just a canopy of black.

“This path offers you no safety. All you will find is misery.”

Words echoed in her head— not the Voice of the World, rather it was the warning she’d been given by the large eye that saved her life. She remembered the things she saw lurking in the shadows. Some of them had given chase to her when she’d fled the destruction of her home. Creatures far larger than her. That, along with the fact that she hadn’t known where she was going must’ve led her down here— to The Ruins of the Brunnholl’s Fleet.

And where was this, exactly? Thera didn’t know. She also didn’t know why the Voice of the World announced her arrival here. It made her afraid. All she saw was a sea of black, and she stared at it for far too long. Her heart pounded in her chest as more questions hammered away at her.

Why was it so dark? Was it dangerous here? What was out there? How did she go back? How did she go to the surface? What did she do?

Thera was lost and confused and scared and terrified and she just wanted to go home. Maybe she should’ve stayed in the kelp forest— maybe her home would’ve somehow survived! Again, the warnings of the Tesserene Whale repeated in her mind.

“Begone, child of the sea.”

Leave, she told herself. I have to leave!

The baby Mystic Turtle charged through the hole. She splashed back into the water as she began swimming, up and up and up. She didn’t know if that was actually where the surface was— she wasn’t sure if that was where she’d find brighter waters. She just knew she couldn’t stay here.

She wiggled her flippers as she went up, swimming away from the ship that stood upright at the bottom of the ocean. There were hundreds of other shipwrecks scattered around it, but it was the only one that was… mostly intact. And it was held between two tall rocks that poked out like spikes, keeping it from toppling over.

Thera continued on as bubbles escaped from her shell, briefly filling her vision. But there was nothing to see. She just moved through instinct. Through fear.

You have left The Ruins of Brunnholl’s Fleet!

She barely registered the Voice of the World resounding in her head. She swam and swam and swam until a flicker caught her eye. A faded light shone just ahead of her, amidst the darkness. Was that the surface? She didn’t question it— she just swam for it. Even though it moved in the water. Even though it was a purple light that left a trail behind.

Safety! Thera cried for it as she crossed the final stretch. Then a giant shadow passed over her. Thera came to a sudden halt as something that was white and conical in shape swam next to the baby Mystic Turtle, reaching the source of light quickly and with ease.

Dark tendrils lashed out and struck the shimmering purple thing. It wobbed from the hit, before flashing with a brilliant crackle of lightning. Thera watched as the Goliath Squid battled with the Lux Jellyfish, not understanding what was unfolding.

She just saw the light change in both color and intensity into a dark crimson. The water grew hotter as a figure that was a hundred times her size loomed over the ball of light. Her survival instincts kicked in, and she fled.

Thera tried to swim around the fighting, but she felt something brush by her. Something she couldn’t see. She turned around and another thing swam by her. Or she thought another thing swam by her. She didn’t know. But she saw shadows all around, and she saw the fighting continue in the distance. Her world was spinning— she had made a bad decision to come here. She couldn’t leave. Her gaze stopped as she saw a golden light once again.

Far down below, at the seabed. A sanctuary from the darkness. She swam for it. She used [Hunting Dive] to swiftly wade through the waters. Back down as a final bright light flashed behind her before being snuffed out. She didn’t know the outcome of the battle, nor did she care to stop and look. A blanket of darkness settled back over Thera— the void threatened to devour her. And she dove past it all until—

You have entered The Ruins of Brunnholl’s Fleet!

—she was back breathing air.

The baby Mystic Turtle lay there on the enchanted hardwood floor, panting as she tried to take it all in. But no— it had been too much for her to comprehend. She’d just seen… a fight. Between two gigantic things. One was pretending to be the sun or the moon underwater, while the other was comprised of many, many tendrils.

There had been other things, too— lurking in the black water. She didn’t get a good view of the things that were creeping out there. She just escaped before they could get to her. Now she was back, well, here.

Taking in her surroundings— the empty room with magical walls covered in moss— she decided that this was far better than being out there where giant monsters lay. Safe here, she thought as she made it a point not to look outside of the ship. I… prefer.

Thera lay there, unmoving for what felt like an eternity. For as long as she could. After all, it was safer here than outside. There were no monsters trying to get her in this little air pocket. She wouldn’t move. She wouldn’t even look towards the abyss. She remained there for the rest of her life. Until, finally, her stomach grumbled.

In truth, it was only an hour. But she was in such a daze and it took a while for her to calm herself before she picked herself up. And when she did, it was because she needed to, not because she wanted to.

Food. She looked around the room. There weren’t very many things to eat— not like the kelp forest.

She settled into her new abode by treating herself to a delicious meal. The first thing she did was try biting into the skeleton. Crunch. She bit through the bone, but it wasn’t tasty. Next, she gnawed on the wooden walls, only to realize that whatever power it emanated stop her from eating through it. Lastly, the baby Mystic Turtle chewed on the green moss that carpeted the floors and the walls.

Delicious! She brightened, trying to drown the day’s events with food. Thera ate until she was full and happy. She ignored the dripping water in the background as she drew back from her meal. Then a strong sense of exhaustion suddenly washed over her. Her eyes fluttered, and she let out a squeaky yawn.

The baby Mystic Turtle was tired. Tired from all the events of the day. Especially since her previous night’s sleep was interrupted. It only accumulated and overwhelmed her at once when she’d finally gotten food in the belly.

Thera looked back once towards the dark waters, then at the dented door. Was it safe here? She hoped it was. But she was too exhausted to do a sweeping check. All she did was recede into her shell… and sleep.