"Um, can we try going back for a moment?" I had to ask. "To see what happens?"

"Back." Bessie stared at me, then resumed staring into the abyss. I swallowed. The silence stretched... and then she shrugged. "Sure. Why not?"

She didn't move; neither did I. In a room with five adventurers, four avid, one deadly curious, no volunteer stepped forward to go first. One by one we looked at the yawning black void, which might as well have disappeared off into infinite nothingness, and...

"Is it just me," Hannah said, "Or does that look..."

"Seriously creepy?" Bessie filled in.

I was a bit glad I wasn't the only one to feel chills over the stark absence where moments ago had been a perfectly ordinary dungeon hallway. It was hard to explain how disturbing this was. I couldn't see or otherwise sense anything there; I'd never before felt such total emptiness. Even actively focusing [Advanced Appraisal] gave me nothing.

I would've loved to just observe longer, but I was moved to action by Duni. Their ongoing discomfort was such that they might've been unable to resist attacking us -- or rather, ordering us attacked -- if not for their current weakness due to low mana, even despite knowing we were trying to (ineptly) help. Like a flailing patient far from any legitimate Healer.

"Um," I said, "Maybe... try shining a light that way first?"

I was looking at the main source of lighting in the room, the glowing Core, but Bessie answered instead of Tom. "Oh, good idea! [Fireball]."

Despite my surprise and the sudden flash of light, I didn't so much as blink; I saw clearly how the spell flew forward, lighting up the familiar passageway, to explode against a stone wall. More importantly, I saw how the streak of light noticeably shifted, curving upward, beginning at the room's border.

Wait, hadn't I read about something like this before? I could have sworn... and considering the situation...

"Of course," I realized, "Mana refraction!"

Sensing puzzlement -- and curiosity; even Duni was gratifyingly, however briefly, diverted -- I explained further: "An observable phenomenon where two adjacent areas have a significant difference in mana levels. Like when light bends through water. Here we must be in the higher mana zone..."

"Rena," Bessie said, "What are you-- Rena!"

I looked up at the sound of her alarm. "It's perfectly safe," I reassured her. Having already waved my hand through the black hole that was really just an entranceway, this time I ducked my whole head through.

Instantly I was enclosed by darkness except for the faint bluish sheen of the glowing wall of mana from which my head emerged. Sounds across the divide were muffled, so I quickly pulled back. My friends stopped talking and stared at me.

"See?" I said. "Just sort of tickles."

"Have I ever hinted that you should be more brave?" Bessie said. "Because I take it back."

I blinked. "That's not bravery," I said. "It's simply logic. As I said, it is perfectly safe."

"Just creepy," Tom said.

I looked at him. "Just so. I would still appreciate if you went first, since you have the Core."

I could cast my own Light to hopefully improve the experience, but why waste the mana? Especially since I estimated there was even less natural mana on the other side of the Core than in our own world, meaning all magic would cost inversely more.

Happily, Tom forbore complaining. At a nod from Bessie he stepped gingerly forward, the Core slightly upraised. Then right before the edge he hesitated. I supposed from his trepidation that he also couldn't see anything but darkness; instead of plowing onwards he planted his feet and thrust the Core outwards, bracing as though something sinister just out of sight might lop off his hands.

Instantly, the hallway ahead became visible, like the soul-sucking infinite void had been a mere trick of the mind. We were left standing around in Duni as normal excepting the still-glowing Core. I felt myself relax and breathe a sigh of relief... and then realized I wasn't the only one.

Nor was I the first to reach the obvious conclusion. "Duni!" Bessie exclaimed.

"The dungeon is influencing us," Blake said grimly.

Tom was eyeing the Core in his grasp like it was a venomous snake. Hannah let her hand drop from reflexively reaching back to finger an arrow, though she hadn't unslung her bow.

"Not on purpose, I do not think," I said quickly. "I should have felt a drop in mana if they'd actively tried to dominate all of us. And [Mental Resistance] is much more effective against active malicious effects. Most likely, they do not like the reminder they have been cut off... so we can sense that."

I frowned down the restored hallway that almost seemed to welcome the Core's return like a self-reunion. Was a lesser part of Duni's consciousness still in the deactivated area, or was it more like a severed limb?

Unfortunately, Duni was in no fit state for academic discussion.

"All righty then," Bessie said. "Sooner we finish here, sooner they stop sharing their unease around?"

Taking the hint, Tom continued forward. Since I was right behind him, refusing to budge from the best position for more observations, I saw how darkness lurked around every corner only to be instantaneously chased off by the Core's light. In a way, it was beautiful, like we were spreading light and life around, sweeping away the ugly or unseen, restarting the universe.

The passageway ended abruptly in pitch black. It was as though a giant obsidian blade had descended to block and repel intruders. But to his credit, Tom didn't even hesitate, plunging forward...

Back into the boss room. "Wow," Tom said as we finished our procession, "I feel a little like a deity."

"Now don't go growing a big head," Bessie teased.

I was busy looking around, seeing everything was exactly the same sans boss. Nevertheless, I was surprised by how large the room really was; I supposed the boss normally took up most if not all of my attention. "Duni," I said, "Could you respawn Queen Rat?"

My friends startled. "Wait, what?" Hannah said.

"Not now," I added hurriedly, "But if you wanted to, could you?"

Unlike normally when their response oozed attitude, now their transmission was squeezed out with difficulty. Still, I felt relieved.

"Good," I said, "That's good. I am glad we didn't cause its... her true death."

I should ask if the bosses self-identified as their apparent genders. It hadn't seemed important before, but Duni had reminded me words like that could hurt, words like that mattered.

I could still hear that last, bone-chilling scream when the boss had known death was imminent. It would have been her first death. I thought she was a lot cleverer than King Rat, knowing both that she was beaten and that she'd wanted to go down fighting. She might have even realized she might never come back. (I tried not to think of all the many nameless, genderless rats who'd perished today, much less since the dungeon was formed.)

Bessie was looking at me with a slight smile, but when I glanced at her in question, she just shook her head. "So we done?"

"Yes, thank you," I said. "And um... we should probably hurry."

We returned to the hallway in reverse order and proceeded room by hallway by room, like returning from a standard dungeon raid. This might've taken a lot longer if we'd needed to continue pushing the seven surviving rats all the while, but Blake either lost his patience or decided to get in productive exercise of his own; he made a game of keeping ahead of us despite making multiple short trips with his dangerous cargo. I didn't hear him use his Skills, but he had to be. I refused to believe he could be that much faster otherwise.

My senses continued to insist the world behind me had simply ceased to exist. At least now I knew that was from the plunge in mana outside the Core's influence, similar to trying to hear a hushed whisper while surrounded by loud music. What made this case more unusual was the lack of dimensional rift as at the dungeon's entrance, but such effects had been produced artificially for research purposes or the creation of mana-free zones...

My mind had begun to wander, so it seemed a very short time before Blake reappeared to say, "Six rooms left."

I blinked and looked back, which was a mistake; I instantly turned back around. "How many rooms did we pass?"

There was a pause. "Was anyone counting?" Bessie asked.

"Were we supposed to?" Tom said.

"Uhh... I'm guessing thirty or forty," Hannah said. "But don't quote me on that."

"Wait, is that all?"

"That sounds about right," I said, thinking aloud. "Most Starting Dungeons create well over fifty rooms per floor before reaching Developing, but they need to because each room costs more but also raises the total mana cap. Duni, on the other hand, directly used CP... oh, sorry. Um, Tom, can you put the Core down?"

We all looked at the glowing Core, which at least to me was sending out pulses of irritation. "Put it down?" he said dubiously. "You sure?"

We'd already agreed to set up in the sixth room; the Scholars might notice Duni had barely grown since their visit, but that was better than Grimmark asking questions.

Then I realized that wasn't what he was asking. "Well... maybe against the wall?"

He did so before stepping away, and then we stared as the Core sat there.

Normally, when it was set into the wall, the Dungeon Core looked proud and regal as a crown jewel. Now, on the floor, it looked... pitiful.

As though in agreement, Tom hurried to pick the Core back up. He then placed it at head height against the wall as though hoping it would sink right in; it did not.

"A little lower," Bessie suggested, and he adjusted. No response. "I think it's normally nearer where the doorway to doom is. So... more to the right?"

What was this, interior decorating for dungeons?

Still, I didn't see that it hurt to let them try, so I kept quiet until Duni's agitation bubbled up again. With a sigh, I withdrew my remaining Scroll and said, "I should probably just cast Stone Shape."

"Wait!" Bessie said. "One more idea. Dungeon floors usually can't change while we're on them, right?"

I thought for sure Duni would complain at the renewed delay, but they seemed eager enough for us to leave. Accordingly, we trooped past injured rats and through otherwise empty rooms to the stairs and then up.

"You," King Rat snarled with fury on sight of us. "What have you done?"

Without waiting for a response, it... he launched himself at us. "[Mana Dome]!" I cast reflexively, thanks to our many, many previous spars. "[Magic Hand]. King Rat, please wait. We are trying to help your Great Creator!"

While I was distracted by attempting diplomacy, he dodged past Magic Hand too fast for me to react and slammed again into my Dome. "Lies!" He dodged around my other side, ignoring my friends. "Why would the Great Creator need your help?"

It seemed we were back to square one in hostile territory. I knew I'd only just met her two days ago, but I thought I already preferred Queen Rat.

"You have wounded my master greatly! Admit it, filth! Liar! Betrayer!"

My annoyance vanished in an instant.

"You can sense that?" I asked eagerly. "What exactly do you sense?"

The boss shrieked as though injured himself and battered my Dome some more. It nearly shattered before he had to dodge the Magic Hand I sent swooping down.

With a sigh, I started to cast quick Tier-0 and Tier-1 spells to keep him busy. It would just be embarrassing if I lost a duel now due to talking rather than a surprise Skill on his end.

After a lengthy one-minute battle, I cast, "Prestidigitation."

Surprisingly, where he'd shown preternatural agility and reflexes to this point, the cantrip was enough to send him tripping into my Magic Hand. Maybe because I couldn't remember using the spell before? I didn't relax when I had him caught, though; who knew, he might've gained some strength-based Skill to help him break free. I didn't feel any deceit from him and his futile struggling, but I wasn't taking any chances.

"Victory!" Bessie cheered, making at least an effort to not appear bored. "Do you think that's enough time to go back?"

"Wait just a moment," I said, and then to King Rat: "I have a question for you."

His impotent rage transformed into vindictive glee. "This one will answer nothing, loathsome intruder!"

Ignoring his dramatics, I asked, "Would you prefer to be addressed as a male?"

"You dare mock King Rat? Or do you not recognize such a peerless specimen of virile masculinity?"

I grimaced, but that was an answer. "Um... ready. Also, this boss is a male rat."

"Ye-es? He's called King Rat," Hannah said slowly.

"I was just checking!"

We tromped back downstairs, where the minions were thankfully not recovered enough to fight.

And at the sixth room, we found the Core set innocuously into the far wall. Duni seemed to be happy and healthy if still low on mana. Everything looked just as it should be...

Except right beside the Core was the gaping hole in reality. I hadn't thought it could look any more obvious, but the current placement maybe managed to achieve that impressive feat. Placed side by side, the expansive stretch of darkness looked so much larger and greater than the condensed sphere of brightness.

My dismay didn't seem to be shared. "That worked," Bessie said in wonder, gazing up at the Core.

I looked at her sidelong. "Wasn't it your idea?"

"Yes, but I can't believe it worked!"

"It was a good idea," Tom said. "But we still have a 'doorway to doom' to conceal."

"I've been thinking," Hannah said, "Can't we just cover it up? Like with Stone Shape?"

That was... another good idea? After receiving Duni's approval, I fetched the 'extra' Scroll forthwith.

Once more the casting was easy, and once more the doing was significantly more laborious. I felt like I was yanking on pieces of hardened taffy with my mind, trying to shift and stretch stone that was already comfortable as it was thanks ever so much. I could feel the spell unraveling even as I desperately poured my mana in to little avail, met with constant resistance.

The spell gave out before my mana did, leaving me gasping and staring at a barely shrunken void. Its stone frame resembled badly molded clay, neither smooth nor uniform. The little I had accomplished suggested I would need to cast the spell another few dozen times or use something with significantly more oomph to have any chance of patching the whole hole.

But I had barely begun fretting when Duni sent a warning. "Um... this one's more difficult to translate," I said. "It feels ready to sneeze. Like it's suffering from a slight congestion... oh." My heart sank even further. "Let's try entering and leaving again."

Sure enough, when we returned after an awkward face-off with King Rat, the amateurish changes I'd made were all gone as though I'd never used my Scroll. I was a teensy bit relieved, honestly... and a lot more disappointed.

Bessie gave a cry of horror along with the others and then looked at me sharply. "You don't seem surprised?"

"I already knew experiments with walling off dungeon areas, even partially, have all failed," I explained, "But I thought... I hoped things might be different with the dungeon's cooperation and their Core on this side."

"Wait, if blocking off hallways isn't supposed to work," she said, "How come we managed with Hannah's tent?"

"Um..." I trailed off, thinking furiously. "Intent? No... I don't know," I was forced to admit. "Maybe it takes longer to digest a magical artifact, but it was just a matter of time?"

Unfortunately, Hannah heard us. "Duni could have eaten my tent?"

Why did her shrill voice sound familiar?

Then as if to add further insult to insult and injury to injury, I felt something like an otherworldly wind sweep past. "Duni," I said, "Why is your mana flowing out through that hole?"

the dungeon sent, not sounding any more pleased than I felt.

Tom sighed. "What now?"

"I'm not sure," I said, "But if I had to guess... Stop me if I'm wrong, Duni. Remember how I said the number of rooms and floors affects the mana cap? I think Duni has reached the total amount of mana they can contain given they're on their second floor with six rooms. But they're still recovering mana like they have three floors... and the extra mana is spilling out into the extra space."

"Isn't that good?" Bessie said. "So then they'll fill up with mana like normal, right?"

"Possibly," I said. "Alternatively, the mana will keep disappearing outside and make this black hole even more conspicuous, at least to any decent mage... I mean, who is likely to check up on this dungeon. Duni, do you know which of the two it is?"

I nodded. "In that case, wait a moment."

I stepped through the doorway into darkness. Despite the creepiness factor, the otherwise empty chamber made it easy to see a stream of mana flowing in and dispersing... or rather, the lack thereof. Was the mana disappearing into the seam in between?

I waited, hoping I'd feel any change in the area's mana... and I was still waiting when the glowing blue border rippled just before somebody knocked into me. "Rena?"

That was Bessie's voice. "Yes?" I said and obligingly let her lead me back into the Core room. "What--"

"Can you please stop leaping ahead like a crazy person without warning anyone?"

I blinked. "It was perfectly safe," I repeated myself from earlier, and then since I could sense her real worry: "Sorry."

"That is it, we are buying comm-crystals next," she mumbled to herself before shaking her head. "So did you learn anything?"

"Unfortunately," I said, relating my observations.

"So the extra mana will just keep getting thrown out?" Hannah exclaimed. "But that's... such a waste!"

"I think it's safe to say Dungeon Cores aren't meant to be moved from the last room," Tom said dryly.

"Great," Bessie said, "So to summarize, we managed to move the Core successfully, yay. Only now we have a huge black hole we can't cover, the dungeon keeps leaking mana, any Gold-Ranked mage should be able to tell... Am I missing anything?"

"The mana leakage shouldn't be an issue if Duni keeps their mana low," I pointed out.

"Still leaves the big hole," Blake said, "And if we come up with a clever illusion or something to hide it, the Gold-Ranked rogue."

Bessie sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Should we just move it back for now?"

Duni did not immediately jump at the idea of reversing their crippling, which showed how very little they cared for the moving process. Since we also decidedly lacked enthusiasm for a repeat, we ended up... well, not doing anything. Tom called it procrastinating; Bessie said we were calling it a very productive day and look, we just agreed to help Duni yesterday.

Her pep talk did improve my spirits, and upon reflection I decided to get in a little rest and relaxation via reading before further brainstorming. We weren't set to reconvene until tomorrow, at which point I planned to bring up the demon thing (but I was sure we wouldn't need to resort to such drastic solutions).

I was feeling quite cheerful, actually, settled in at my usual desk with a book on illusion magic and its limitations, when Senior Rubrik approached. "Rowena, do you have a minute?"

"Of course." He was giving me an uneasy feeling; I asked, "Is something the matter?"

"I notice you have been busy lately," he said and paused expectantly.

"Um... I have." I looked at him awkwardly, hoping he wouldn't ask.

"May I ask with what?"

"Oh... just, I have been visiting Helulo National Park," I said, trying to steer the subject away from Duni, and then I remembered I was avoiding the park after breaking into the Breeders' facility just two days ago. Could this be about that? "Also, I've been reading in the Archives," I started babbling, "Why just yesterday I lost track of time and barely slept, ha... ha..." Suddenly, I recalled I'd been reading up on demons. Had a concerned Archivist talked to my mentor?

Great deities, what was wrong with me? What had my life turned into?

"Yes," Senior Rubrik said, nodding solemnly, "As I imagined. I believe I see the problem."

My heart froze in my chest. My guilty conscience brutally strangled my throat, so I just mutely awaited judgment.

"You are unfocused."

The pronouncement fell from on high. I blinked at my mentor, confused. "Pardon?"

"I know you enjoy a more scattered approach to learning, but you have a tendency to become distracted." Seeing my continued incomprehension, he sighed. "In particular, I hear you have been neglecting your lessons with Senior Grace and Learned Westwick."

"I... I haven't been skipping them or anything," I said, still thrown. "I asked each and received permission for a break."

"And how long have you been 'on break'?"

Since I needed to prepare for the undines' great escape, I didn't say. I wanted to tell him I was focused, I had been working lately on an amazing project, I'd learned so much from Duni already!

But of course I didn't. "I understand, Senior Rubrik," I said. "I will... I meant to resume my lessons anyway, and it slipped my mind."

He smiled gently. "I suggest attempting to schedule your time more deliberately. And you might consider calling me Andy someday."

When he had made the offer before, I hadn't given it much thought. He was Senior Rubrik to me, and so that was what I called him.

But I understood the weight of words better now. I thought... he was leaving it open as an offer, but in a way, his words were a request.

"I will try," I said. "Um... Andy. And thank you."

He was right again, despite not knowing all the facts. I had my job as Skill Advisor coming up, plus another appointment with Healer Bishop; I'd been neglecting my Skills, including Scribe, when I had the rare opportunity to study using Skill Books; I hadn't even thought to check up on the situation with the Breeders...

All because I'd become consumed with my renewed fascination with Duni. I really needed to learn to manage my time better.

But that was the trouble, wasn't it?

Even as we spoke, Duni's time might be running out.