Tarvinder looks a bit uncomfortable before he sighs. "I'm going to have to dumb this down again, aren't I." Without waiting for an answer he continues. "Let me first say, I know there are many worlds, not just this one and yours. I'm fairly certain magic is at least slightly different per world."

That sounds reasonable. Ara was using that glove and crystal thing while devils don't use any of that. I nod at him to go on.

"So, magic is a natural occurring energy in all matter: rocks, air, water. It's also in living things like you and me. There are, in order of complexity, phenomena, abilities, spells and rituals. Phenomena just happen. All the others are causing a phenomenon on purpose. Most intelligent creatures use rituals and spells, which you have to learn. Unintelligent creatures gain various abilities, while intelligent magical creatures like Mari and you too, I guess, can gain access to all of that." Tarvinder stares at a point above my head for a moment before looking at me again.

"I'm sure you want to know why I can't teach you magic, since I just said it's something you could actually learn." He doesn't wait for my nod and just goes on. "The way to access the magic in your body is tied to your home world. I'm confident to predict that no two worlds use the same runes or the exact same spells. The effect may be the same, but the way to cause it will be different. So whatever I teach you will be useless. Maybe you can find a teacher back home?"

It's silent for a while as I consider this. "No."

Tarvinder is already turning away from me before I can ask the next question. I think he considers the conversation over?

"What is magic of Mari." I ask of him.

He freezes for a moment before turning back. "I was worried you'd ask that. Very well. Mari, as a dungeon Fairy, has the ability to manipulate the mana of the dungeon in a limited fashion. Her strength is directly related to that."

It takes me a moment to think of a consequence of this. "The summon room?"

Tarvinder nods. "Blocks most of the dungeon mana, she's very weak there. She started healing the moment you took her out of there."

I shudder. With how strongly I could feel that energy flowing everywhere else makes for a scary thought. Another realization strikes me. "This room?"

This time Tarvinder grins. "Traps, stores and concentrates it. She is extra strong here, though at the moment the rush goes straight to her head like good whiskey."

I stare at Tarvinder for a long moment. From how he and Mari interact, I feel he is not welcome here to her. Yet here he is, in a room where Mari is very strong, confident he can stay here. If Mari is strong here and wants him gone, but he is confident he will be able to stay, then he must be stronger still. I think I'm getting the hang of this theory thing.

There was one more thing. "Mari not force me," I say. To my surprise, Tarvinder begins to laugh.

"And well she shouldn't! Hah! She is and always will be a fairy. Dominating an angry demon, even one like you, is simply beyond her mental prowess." At this he breaks down in a fit of giggles. "Just the idea. Honestly, if you wanted you could probably break that connection she put on you just like that," and he snaps his fingers.

It's a little suspicious, the way he is telling me all this. "Why you tell me?" I ask of him.

Tarvinder calms down, but keeps smiling. "I'm a terrible liar, it's easier to tell the truth. And in the end, nothing I tell you affects me directly, so why shouldn't I?"

I can't think of a suitable reply.

Tarvinder rudely interrupts me. "Now, a question of my own. How old are you?"

It takes a moment again before I answer. Two weeks with the swarm, almost two months underground. "Four months?" It could be more, but I don't really know how long I was transported in the wagon.

Tarvinder holds up one hand and says "one moment please", before walking off to some shelves. He takes one of those things, a scroll, off it and starts to unroll it at the bottom while rolling it up again at the top, eyes rushing along the space between. "There it is!"

He stares intently at the scroll, occasionally looking my way.

"You're quite undeveloped for your age, aren't you?" He shoots at me without giving me any real attention.

It's not like I can deny it, but I make up for it in other ways! I glare at him but he doesn't pay me any attention. Taking a few steps, he puts the scroll on the desk and picks up a feather. Now I can see some kind of symbols are drawn all over the scroll. Still not paying me any attention he draws some symbols on an empty spot. From another container he takes something which looks like dust and spreads some over the new symbols. After removing most of it again, he rolls up the scroll. Then he notices my attention and tenses. "You can't read, can you?"

I shake my head and he sighs and relaxes. "your mental capacity is advanced for your age, but that would have been too extreme."

As answer I hop off the desk and stroll out the door. Behind me I hear Tarvinder pick up the bowl again. As I step through the doorway I feel his barrier brush against me again. It feels lighter again in the corridor, but the constant feeling of something flowing past me is back. There is a little more spring in my step. I can admit to myself now that I had been afraid of this place. Everything worked out much better than I could have expected. A few corridors away I stumble upon some off the bugs I've been enjoying and stop for a light snack.

This time I only search for some delicacies, emptying out the shell in search for the glands that give them their unique taste. A familiar voice grabs my attention from a distance.

"Krak!" the voice calls out. "Krak, where are you!"

It's Mari, zooming through the air. I find a place where the rocky wall is a little more uneven and flatten myself behind one of the rougher bumps. It doesn't take long before I see her appear. She heads over to the upside-down shells of the bugs, but doesn't approach too close. I think she can't spot me, but she takes some extra distance.

"Krak! There is no time to play, There are intruders!" Mari shouts.

She sounds truly agitated, but intruders are her problem. First Harijia, now Mari. Trying to make it sound like I have a problem when it was never my problem until they made it mine. I suppose it would be a problem if the intruders are actually dangerous, so I suppose I could do something about her problem before it really becomes my problem. Reluctantly I stir in my hiding spot. I had hoped to get some kind of reaction from Mari, but she only smiles.

"You are already much better at hiding. Must be because I'm such a good teacher," she giggles before turning serious again. "Now come, there is a Drallith in the tunnels and we better take care of it together, before it gets any deeper."

Turning her back to me, Mari flies back the way she came. I allow myself to shrug before I follow. What would a Drallith be? It's a fairly long trek before I find out. The first indicator is a faint, strange quality to the flow of the dungeon around me. Shortly after, Mari wobbles slightly in the air. She rights herself and continues on with a hard whisper to me. "Almost there."

After a long, stretched out curve, I spot the quarry. My memory wants to call it a cow, but instead of hooves it has splayed claw-like appendages. It's also a bit smaller, but still much bigger than me. I glance at Mari. This Drallith doesn't look very dangerous at all. She catches my glance and speaks.

"It's as much a dungeon dweller as I am. My magic won't be very effective. If you want to take a swing at it, go on. I'll think of a suitable reward if you succeed."

Taking the careful approach I stalk towards it. To my surprise it ignores me even when it does see me. Taking that as an invitation I climb on its back. It is hard to tell if it is male or female, but it doesn't matter for this. I grab hold with my front claws and rake my rear claws along its back. The only response I get is a grunt, it doesn't even slow down. While it didn't feel like I penetrated as deeply as I expected, to only hear a grunt in response is not nice. Looking down, I can see the grooves I left barely bleeding. Even as I watch, the bleeding stops and the wound starts to close.

"They have an even more ridiculous regeneration than I do and fairly good defences, but not much offensive potential." I look at Mari from where speaks. She looks a bit pale and has landed on a big rock close to the ceiling further down the corridor. "They don't need it. They do something to the mana. Any other dungeon dwellers have to leave if they don't want to die, or kill it before it gets established."

That's a neat trick for such a slow and otherwise weak creature. "Can dungeon do any?" I ask of Mari.

For a moment she looks annoyed. "Says he won't interfere. Now, what I want you to do is dig your front claws as far into the Drallith as you can, high up its back!"

It sounds like a reasonable request. I position myself at about its middle and push my claws on one side as close together as I can and strike. It doesn't penetrate more than just the claws. With some effort and shredding I manage to gain a few more centimetres. The Drallith has stopped now and shakes itself to throw me off, but is unsuccessful. As it gathers itself to shake again I strike with my other claw and worm it a bit further in as well, eliciting a bellow from beneath me. I can feel it vibrating through its body. When the sound comes out it is almost a physical force and I'm assaulted by a strong headache. I lose my balance and start to fall.

It's impossible for me to fall. The wounds I made in its back have already healed, with my claws inside its body. One of my limbs is stretched to its limits with my body hanging on it, the other is held at an awkward angle, not allowing me to exert any force with it. With my hind legs I try to right myself, but the slightly rotund body doesn't allow me to gain a good purchase to push myself up.

"Great! Now, stretch out those spikes of yours towards me!" sounds a cheerful voice behind me.

Mari has come closer and is a few meters behind me. The Drallith has come to a complete standstill and is watching her warily as it snorts in her direction. If I could I would have jumped at the fairy, but I'm stuck. With my spikes I lash out at her and find her out of reach of those too.

"Stretch them out and hold them still, stupid demon! Unless you want to stay stuck there!"

As much as I try to ignore her she keeps pestering me and after a short while I give in. With my spikes stretched out behind me and hanging by one claw I feel ridiculous. I also don't know how long I can hold this position as my spikes are still fairly weak.

"Alright, this may hurt a bit," I hear Mari say, before a familiar crackle fills the air.

A split second later the lightning hits the spikes, travels through them and into the Drallith. Once I can hear again I hear a little voice in an excited shout behind me. "I knew it would work! I knew it! Alright, here comes the next!"

Again the crackle, and the shock. Even though it doesn't hurt as much as the first time, it's still not a pleasant sensation. It takes three shocks before the Drallith folds through its front legs, but it still tries to get up. Two more shocks see it fall over, luckily not on top of me. Mari finishes it off by sending three more shocks through me into its body. I'm in the perfect position to feel its heartbeat falter and stop, though it takes me a moment to realize it. "It-" I start too late and Mari shocks us again. "It dead!"

I wait for the next shock, but it doesn't come. I turn my head to look behind me and see Mari sitting on the ground with a silly grin on her face. Then she coughs and some blood splatters paint a picture on the ground in front of her. She waves at me.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine, just need to recover for a while." she speaks in a soft, trembling voice. "You should be able to dig yourself out now. Please don't kill me?"

I see her close her eyes and lean back until she's lying on the ground. Returning my attention to myself I push more or less to my feet. When the Drallith fell it may have wrenched my shoulder, though the pain is already receding. More of a problem are my front limbs that feel as if I've been exercising heavily, probably from all the shocks. At least with the Drallith on the ground I can use my rear limbs and I being the arduous task of piercing through the thick hide.

It takes a few minutes to release myself. The hide of a Drallith stiffens even more after death, making a hard task harder. I amble over to where Mari is still lying on the ground. She still looks paler than what I'm used to from her and she seems to be asleep. Automatically my claw moves for her neck.

It hurt a bit, but in a way this was fun? It felt good to beat a creature I couldn't have beaten on my own. If I can't hunt with a swarm, then maybe I can hunt here in the dungeon with a fairy. And hunt a fairy, too, because she should be wary of me.

I try a bite of Drallith, but it has a pervasive taste I can only attribute to the dungeon. I wonder if Mari tastes the same? I'm sure she won't miss an ear or something like that.

Instead, I grasp her in a front claw and hobble back towards the heart of the dungeon. I'm not even halfway when I notice a slight blurring at the edge of my vision. Last time that happened I only had a short time left in the summon, though that time it was because the summoner was gone. Perhaps now the time ran out? Thinking back, that is not something I experienced often yet, or at all.

With Mari in my hand I hobble on. I could just let her drop wherever, but I have a better idea. It's a bit harder to climb up, but I make my way to a smaller tunnel. I still fit well in this one. Up there I find what I was looking for, a little hollow with those bugs. I crush any I can find and drop Mari in the middle of the mess. It's a tight tunnel for most creatures and that smell she keeps complaining about should help keep her safe. I wish I could see her face when she wakes up.

As the world turns white, I sigh. This is the first time I'm not looking forward to going back, I think.