For the entire day I was just keeping myself busy with anything I could. I did some small favors for the logistic group, helped the mechanics dismantle the ballista for transport (anyone can unscrew joints), and helped clean the dragon’s body of harvestable pieces. Then, at the end of the day, I came back to the field-hospital tent to check on a certain medic who had clearly overworked herself, again.

Poor thing, working with such dedication. She literally had a fever and was most likely having optical hallucinations. Her breath was ragged, cheeks reddened, and yet she kept on working. Admirable, truly, admirable.

As soon as I entered the tent I noticed her sweeping the floor.

“Seriously? I thought I was clear about you needing some rest!” I said with disappointment in my voice. “O-Oh, I couldn’t let Austin do everything alone - you came here straight after the battle, that’s our equivalent of rush hours for store clerks. And I have been doing only the simplest of tasks, I swear!” she said with a sad tone, lowering her head like a scolded puppy. “Just… please, take proper care of yourself.” I exhaled, giving up. “... so no tieing up, I presume…” I heard her mumble under her breath, her face taking on an even more rejected puppy look.

Tie up? Why would I even? Nah. I must have misheard because that didn’t make any sense, did it?

I spent a couple more minutes chatting with her, lecturing a few more times to not overdo anything, before leaving. Truly a wonderful woman. As I was leaving I accidentally kicked a bag on my way out, apparently full of her personal belongings. Damn it, I started relying on life-vision too much and ended being clumsier with anything non-life-related. I quickly lowered myself to clean the mess I made. Some personal items, some spare clothes, a few books. Oh? Books? Perhaps she’s a scholar. Out of curiosity I randomly selected one and was about to ask her about it when I heard a sudden flurry of words behind me, causing me to drop the said book.

“W-w-w-what are you doing?! STAHP!”

Lora bolted onward, dropping onto the pile of stuff.

“Sorry for my clumsiness. I wanted to fix it and…” “N-n-no need to! I will do it myself!” she kept on covering her belongings with her very body all while trying to haul it back into the bag I had knocked over.

… And at that moment she didn’t really look that tired anymore. Apparently, she managed to have at least a little bit of rest.

“V-very well. In that case, I will be going.” Yes! YES! I will take care of this from here.”

Slowly, I resumed my steps, eventually leaving the tent.

Well, everyone has secrets and things no one wants others to see. I still remember when Liz asked me to bring something from her bag from her room. Ended up checking the wrong bag and seeing her make-up kit. That did greatly upset her, as she disliked the very idea of letting others know that she had to ‘enhance her beauty’. Silly girl. I had grown up with her and known her beauty long before she ever thought of using such things. To me, she was gorgeous regardless of it all.

Still, I can safely say that in this case, I didn’t see anything that should put Lora to shame. Regular clothes. Regular gear. Regular books.

Ah, books, forgot to ask her about them. I am slowly running out of things to read. Maybe I will try buying some more later on. That one book that popped out from the bag could be a nice thing to try out later on.

‘Iron Maiden-Breaker’ I believe the book was called, with a knight on the cover holding a damsel in his arms. Looks like a good book about adventurers. I will definitely give it a try later.

For now though, I just resumed my “whatever-keeps-me-busy” routine all over the camp, and once I knew that there was nothing else I could do, I relieved one of the camp's guards of his duty.

I don't get tired. He could rest some more. Win-win situation.

Around twelve hours after the battle, we packed our things, moved to the room from which the flora dragon had crawled out, and then moved deeper into the dungeon.

The third (and according to previous reports - the last) floor once again surprised me with how very different it was from the previous one. Yes, it was filled with even more plants, and crystals protruding from everywhere - ceiling, walls, even the floor.

Bit different in structure - the crystals which until now were giving light in the dungeon were usually small, dispersed - ot, barely colorful small pebbles. These were formed into huge clusters. After looking closely, I could see that the ‘light’ within it was moving like a mist. Slowly, but still noticeable.

“Nice.” I heard one of the mages talk to each other “... great quality. These will fetch a decent price.” “What are these?” I asked, approaching the group. “Hm? Mana crystals? They grow in places filled with magic, usually in caves where the World’s Mana Veins are crossing, places cults or mage societies usually monopolize, or - dungeons as it were. They are basically crystalized mana. Used in experiments and artifact creation. Most magical devices are run on these.” His guild ID pendant popped out from beneath his robes as he leaned towards the crystal, allowing me to read his name. Sigmund. “Like Oath Stones? Or lie-detecting crystals?” I asked, keeping a respectful tone, like a student to a teacher. “Yes and no. Oath Stones are something completely else - but, lie detection crystals are indeed made up of small shards from mana veins with some principles ‘copied’ from the Oath Stones. Just part of it, the part which humans have been able to decipher, that is. Basically, all the spells are sets of words forming sentences, and these sentences form a principle of the spell. We managed to isolate one of the principles from the Oath Stone and cast it on the Mana Crystals. This creates a self-sustaining permanent active spell… that is, until the mana from crystal runs out. But, under normal usage, that usually takes years.” “So, all magical devices work with this as a base?” “Almost - yes. Name a device made by humans. Zeppelin - well, not dwarven made ones at least, they somehow managed it without crystals. But, magic turrets? Golems? Even water heaters at noble’s mansions. If you see magical devices in the middle of a human city operating despite the lack of any mage around - that’s because of these beauties.” “Fascinating, but how does it actually work?” I inquired while leaning closer to a small collection of crystals on the ground. “Do you know how a mage casts magic?” “Of course. Everyone has mana within themselves, mages can bend mana within them and transform it into an effect of their desire.” “But where does the mana IN the mage come from?” he waited a few moments, and not getting any response from me, he continued his little lecture “... mana is in the world. In the air, water - everywhere. And everything has the ability to store mana to some extent. The things that are alive, or with a soul, to a better extent, than regular stone or wood. But, basically, a mage absorbs ‘raw mana’ into his body. But, such mana is useless to him. It’s not, hmm… personalized, yes personalized! This is why we can't keep on casting spells after draining our inner mana supplies… I mean, you could, but… it is not advised. Unless you want to get sick, or go mad from mana poisoning. Or become possessed. Or have your body explode. The raw mana that enters your body is being ‘adapted’ by your body and soul, purifying it into mana you can use, then it fills your mana veins and lies dormant until the time you want to use it. That’s why it takes some time for you to replenish your mana sources. Usually, it is around twelve hours, depending on personal predispositions - sometimes more, sometimes less.”

The mage took a breath, leaning over the cluster of crystals, taking a sample.

“Now, mana crystals are a bit different. They come from places where… ‘Magical pressure’ lets call it, forced mana into such a shape.” “And as the mana now has a structure, but no ‘soul’ to command it, it can be used by anyone with even basic mana control?” I started joining threads on my own. “Bingo! Basically. If I have it…” he held a small shard in front of me “... I can either cast a spell directly on it, making it perform certain tasks over and over again - like, a lie detection spell. Or, use mana directly from it, so I won’t need to waste my own supplies. Or, I could draw a magic-circle on the ground, put crystals in specific places, and use them as a replacement for other mages while performing a multi-cast spell. This allows mages to perform spells beyond their mana-capacities. Also, they are used during great celebrations - usually religious ones.” “And how do they graded? I am speaking in terms of quality” “Usually you can classify them by color and density. Dull-green is weakest. If the ‘mist’ inside it is thin, then so in the mana density. If it is dense, it’s strong. More mana-packed. Blue, like this one I’m holding, are the most desirable - they have no affinity, which means that they can be used with any spell and construct. Colors can also indicate what spells they could be used for. For example, black and purple crystals are destroyed on the spot. They have the best affinity with the dark arts, but too much concentration of those can also have an effect on the environment - cause miasma, mutations, or even open rifts. Seeing how this whole dungeon is crazy - with mutated dragons and shit, I am more than happy to see that it was not caused by the crystals. Cause, otherwise, we would have to purge them. And that means no profit and days of priests singing their stupid prayers all over the place.”

He eventually stopped his rant lesson.

“Luckily, we found it, so we will be able to take 10 to 20% of all crystals with us, for our use, the rest will be claimed by the kingdom and guild, 50-50 from what would remain, and we would get compensation for this. In other words - a shitload of money. Great, right? If my sources are correct this dungeon had crystals before, but of green class. Still nice, but worlds apart compared to now. This is why we never broke this dungeon’s heart. Dungeons with destroyed hearts cease to exist - this is why we do it only in certain, extreme situations - with mad dungeons or the one that proves to be causing more harm to the surrounding area than good.” “Dungeons giving something else except for monsters?” “Come on! Look around! Monsters alone are great! Do you even know what can be done with dragon’s blood? Or scales? Even, a distant cousin of one! No? look at the plants! Some of these are not ‘native’ for these parts of the world. Here, for example, is elf root.” The mage pointed to a hardy looking plant with large leaves jutting from a nearby wall. “Normally we would have to travel to The Great Forest to harvest those! Not to mention crystals. So, yes. Basically, we come here every once in a while, kill monsters, harvest plants, take crystals, and leave. Then, the dungeon after some more or less specific amount of time - depending on size, rank, and so on, replenishes them - along with the monsters. Then, we come again. And again. And again. Also, frequent rides stop Dungeons from progressing too far, not letting it grow. This way we can keep a B rank dungeon as B rank, A rank as an A rank, and so on. This is why we all freaked out when we learned that this Dungeon’s rank was raised by several grades. That’s abnormal, and usually means that someone messed with the mana flow within the cave.” “Does this happen frequently?” “Well, no. One of the reasons for such an abnormality is when a Rogue Mage - an Apostate, takes shelter in the dungeon and experiments with magic. Another could be...” The mage began making an impassioned lecture on the intricacies of mana flow, sources of disturbances, and more.

Too much information. My head started hurting.

“Thank you a lot for sharing your wisdom, brother…” I bowed my head quickly, stopping him mid-lecture “... I don’t want to keep you away from your work, so I will take my leave now. Would you deem it to be impolite of me if I would try leeching on your wisdom some more, later perhaps?” “Hm? Oh, absolutely not! We, mages, are absolute nerds. Talking about our passions to someone willing to hear em’ out is truly a blessing. By any means, if I’m able to help you with anything else, don’t be a stranger and ask away!”

Such a nice fellow.

“Alabaster! Sigmund! The entire attack force is waiting for you, damn it! Back into formation, at once!” “S-sir, yes Sir!” I responded right away hearing the captain's order. “Whatever…” my new ‘teacher’ on magic answered after a few moments, getting up, putting the small crystal into his bag. I noticed the rest of the mages doing the same, breaking off small shards and putting them in their pouches, seeing my questioning gaze, Sigmund only smiled with the corner of his mouth “...these can be used during our next battle. Mana veins are indeed the kingdom’s property, but what we are taking is but dust compared to everything that can be harvested here. And, as long as we use it for the sake of clearing the dungeon, no one would care. Bah, it is even advised.”

He patted me on my shoulder.

“Now, back into formation, Mr. Shield-bearer. Be a good first liner and save us from all the troublesome stuff.” He mocked me slightly, not meaning any offense. “Sure. Leave it to me. I will perform my duty as a scapegoat admirably.” “That’s the spirit!” Sigmund said while giving a full-throated chuckle.

I quickly moved to the first line before the attack squad resumed their journey through the long, narrow corridors of the dungeon. As we advanced through, we were attacked by swarm after swarm of even more mutated creatures. Each of them looked less and less like actual reptiles, and more like scaled horrors that had evolved from monstrosity a long, long time ago.

And so, the bodies of beasts once again crashed against our shields, spearmen from behind our backs once again started pushing them back as arrows kept on flying over my head, decimating beasts.

Onward and onward, like an unstoppable force, the mud on our boots hid the bloodstain from dozens of trampled bodies.

“You are amazing, Alabaster, you know that?” as we were attacked and held the line from yet another clash with some monsters, shield by shield, the man to my right asked me with a smile.

He didn’t seem to be bothered by the cries of monsters in front of us, nor the fact that creatures kept on trying to crawl above our guards.

“Why do you think so?” I said in a terse voice, no inflection in my voice as I made sure to remain focused on both the enemy in front of me and the ones surrounding my comrades. “Usually people get more and more tired the longer they fight. The deeper the dungeon, the weaker a warrior becomes. But not you. You are the opposite! Look at you, a few days ago you struggled versus Ratptoxes, now, these fuckers are twice, if not thrice bigger and you don’t even flinch! How do you do that? What’s your secret?”

Ah, he was asking me if I was taking some drugs perhaps. They were absolutely legal for the sake of cleaning dungeons so this question was normal, expected even.

“I take none. And yes, I am getting stronger. Seeing all of you fight is such an…” I pushed my blade in the gap between the shields. My thrust met resistance, which meant that my attack had landed “... inspiration, that I can’t help but improve just watching the finesse of your swordsmanship!” “Ai, you sweet-talker you!” he burst into laughter while assisting me by poking his own blade through the shield gaps“... You think compliments will work on us? Then you are god damn right, they will! All right then, keep your secrets! On three?” “After you.” “One…” he started. “Two…” I followed. “THREE!” we yelled together, pushing with our shields onward, breaking the line of the attacker and creating a breach which we quickly used. In perfect unison of trained movements, we pierced with our blades, kicked off impaled bodies, rammed other monsters with our shields, once again forming a line, killing a few monsters in front of us and taking over another one or two meters of the battlefield. “So, Alabaster where do you come from?” He asked, having a brief moment of respite after our previous maneuver.

He had asked this with a huge smile plastered on his face as another wave of monsters took the place of the previous one, storming onto our shields. I saw him slowly being pushed away two steps back before he ran back in once again taking over the ground he once lost.

“For fuck sake, a big one took a liking to me…” he cursed an insult. “Need a hand?” “Nay, not our job… OI! YA CHEEKY WANKER, DO YOUR SHIT PROPERLY!” he twisted his head back, yelling at a spearman in the second line who was supposed to be the one dealing the actual damage while we provided the bulwark. “Zip it, Stan! Unlike you, we are actually fighting, not just standing tall and proud like an erection waiting to be beat!” “... Never heard that one before. Good one. Point taken.”

I sighed, getting back into position as Stan and the spearmen continued their back and forth banter as we made slow progress forward.

… Working with professionals was truly… one hell of an experience.

[1632/4250] ➝ [2911/4250] Skill proficiency increased Skills:

[Sword Usage - Advanced level 1 ➝ 2]

[Shield Usage - Journeyman level 15 ➝ 19]

[Bow Usage - Apprentice level 1]

[Nature Magic - Novice level 1]

[Mana Sense - Low - Passive]

[Life sense - Medium - Passive]

[Combat Maneuver/Team tactic - Apprentice level 8 ➝ 9]

[Heavy Armor Usage - Apprentice level 10]

[Hand-to-hand Combat - Novice level 4]

[Stealth - Apprentice level 2]

[Mind Magic Resistance - Low level 1]

[Dark Arts - Curse Words - Novice Level 10]

[Dark Arts - Necromancy - Novice Level 6]

[Tracking - Novice Level 2]