After returning from the Library, Jake immediately called out to inform Chul of what had happened. The Arachkin’s eyes seemed to narrow when Jake told him of his injury, but the Arachkin said nothing until Jake had finished. Chul’s gaze was hard and questioning, and he didn’t speak quickly after Jake brought up the need to visit the Dragon Vein. When asked if Chul could take Jake to it- the Arachkin hesitated. Only a short time had passed since Jake had been introduced to Magic and the boy had already caused such damage to himself. The fairy he mentioned did a good job at healing his physical body- as there were no scars or traces of the explosion. But Chul could see it.

Jake’s mana flow was not just damaged- it was like shattered glass. There was nothing consistent to it and the flow was the worst he had ever seen. Chul’s enchanted eyes could not see any sign of the mana flow recovering either. As if there was something blocking it. Truly, the flow had been ripped into bits. The Dragon Vein could certainly help- but it might cost Jake far more than he might be willing to give. It seemed the Fairy he spoke of either did not mention the downsides to the Vein, or they did not know of them. If the Fairy was from the Land of the Fae, then she likely never interacted with a Vein.

The Vein would certainly do as Jake thought and aid with his cultivation, but it wasn’t anything a mere human could tolerate.

Even so, if Jake was bold enough to enter the Ravine once, he would certainly not question doing it again. Especially now that there was no Guardian protecting the Shrine or the Vein. Chul had done a splendid job keeping the Ravine empty of monsters and beasts while he lived in it, as doing so made protecting the two locations easier. He could detect intruders far easier without a bunch of rats scurrying around.

Now that there was no Guardian, however- there was nothing keeping those creatures back. With the Vein constantly pumping mana into the Ravine, it wouldn’t take much for the place to become infested once again. And if Jake crawled down into the pit, he would practically jump right into the waiting mouth of one of those beasts. The foolish child.

“Fine. I will take you there, but on one condition. You must not leave my back. Understand?” Chul looked up at the young boy and searched the child’s expression for even a hint of foolery. But as Jake nodded and grinned, the Arachkin found none. Jake was certainly a fool, but so far- he was a boy of his word.

As long as Jake remained on his back, Chul could protect him from the rampant effects of being near the Vein. Moreso- if something were to go wrong, he could escape quickly. While the mana was a problem, the bigger issue was the monsters and beasts…

* * *

The next morning, Jake gathered enough food and water for two days and collected it all into a small sack. He brought extra, thicker clothes to wear once they reached the bottom, and also a small blanket in case he needed to rest. He had dealt with that perilous cold once- he wouldn’t be dumb enough to go unprepared again. He alerted his Auntie of going out to practice magic and left after breakfast. She was a bit upset with him for leaving so early, but he was determined to correct his error. She knew she would be able to talk him out of it so instead, she helped him prepare and sent him off with a hug. Jake hurried out of the village and made his way back in the direction of the Ravine.

After running for a short while, Chul crawled out of the sack and released the spell restricting his size. The massive Guardian retook his powerful and hulking form, the black carapace of his race blocking out the sun as Chul now loomed over Jake. Jake marveled at the Arachkin’s size when he had first met Chul in the Ravine, but it was still quite the sight to see Chul dominate a landscape that didn’t make him look tiny. A Guardian was more than just powerful- they were beautiful. Little markings seemed to be etched into the black armor of Chul’s body, along with scars and remnants of battle. The Arachkin was an old being and had been alive for quite some time now. His body not only had a strong presence, but it had the battle scars to back up the Arachkin’s bloody and proud history of surviving in a world out to kill him.

Chul’s fangs chittered, and the Arachin lowered his pitch-black body down to the golden sand so that Jake could climb onto his back. Saddled in and using some of Chul’s fuzz to steady himself, Jake held on tight as the Arachkin quickly made for the Ravine. Sand scattered with each light impact of the eight limbs, the dunes no match for the graceful stride of the Guardian. The distance from the village to the Ravine seemed almost laughable to Jake as Chul raced quickly towards the distant black gash. In mere minutes, Chul lunged off the large edge of a massive sandy drop-off and the Ravine’s black edges came into sight on the horizon.

Dead trees began to poke out of the hungry sands, totems to show that life had once thrived here. Holes in the glittering yellow landscape pocketed where the strong ground had grown brittle and given way. Three dried-up lakes acted like basins of mud and quicksand. Bones of the dead who found themselves trapped in those murky sands jutted skyward, now living as warning signs for those traveling by. The sun had hardly budged in the sky when the sand began to give way to rock and stone, and Jake was thankful. Chul’s pace was intense and Jake held on firmly while the Arachkin moved, which had tired him to some extent.

When they finally reached the Ravine’s edge, Jake called for a break. While Chul did not seem tired in the least, Jake certainly was. He had clung firmly the entire time and fought both the wind and the shaking of Chul’s body. If he had fallen from that height, there would have been consequences that he wasn’t fond of. His arms ached and his hips hurt from the hard shell. Sitting on the cold stone was quite relieving.

Though as Jake lay there on his back, relishing in the chill of the rock, he was introduced to one of Chul’s many worries. The sound of an angry war cry thundered upwards from the depths of the Ravine. The noise was swiftly followed by a high pitched screech, and then a deep billowing gurgling sound. All noises Jake hadn’t heard the first time he had come to the Ravine. When he looked to Chul, the Arachkin only huffed and stared towards the edge.

“It seems I was right to be careful.” He rumbled, his body crackling as it glowed a faint purple. The magical carvings across Chul’s body radiated with mana, and the hard carapace cracked and split as it seemed to thicken.

“What’s down there, Chul?” Jake rolled up onto his feet and made his way to the edge of the cliff. He didn’t really need to. He couldn’t see down that far into the pit anyways. While the sun could pierce fairly deep into the rocky gap, the bottom was well beyond where any sunlight could hope to reach.

“Your kind calls them Monsters, Beasts. But they are what we call Maedra. They are beings that feast off mana. They lack extensive intelligence and live only to consume mana, as much as they can. And the more they eat, the stronger they become. Gluttonous and desperate, but powerful in a horde or if left alone.” Chul’s upper two eyes glistened and changed color- flashing a bright red as the Arachkin glared into the Ravine. He hissed as the purple glow changed colors to a bloody red. Chul’s legs twitched, and then large spikes began to protrude from the hard shell.

“So many have returned in such a short period. It seems we have quite the trek ahead of us.” As Chul prepared himself for battle, Jake could only frown. If only he hadn’t caused the explosion, he might be able to help his companion with what was ahead.

“Maybe we shouldn’t. I could try another way.” Jake looked down into the Ravine and listened to the distant howls. The sounds of nightmares rang from the belly of the Ravine, and there were a lot of those sounds. All different kinds, and from every direction.

“Do you doubt me?” Chul chuckled and his eyes turned towards Jake. The boy didn’t meet the gaze- instead only thinking of the potential for more harm to come.

“No, but what if there’s something bigger than you?” Jake clenched his teeth and gripped his fists. Chul paused, staring at the young boy in silence.

Without a word, Chul lifted an arm and snagged Jake by the back of his shirt. Jake flailed for a moment as Chul dropped the boy onto his back. Chul then created a small purple bubble, covering Jake in a thick barrier. Two shackles emerged from Chul’s carapace, locking the boy’s legs in place to effectively bind Jake to his back. While it wasn’t the most comfortable, Jake didn’t have to worry about being thrown off.

“How dare you insult me.” With that, Chul jumped. The two plunged into the ravine, air whistling into Jake’s ears as the sun vanished from his eyes. His stomach flipped, weightlessness wrapped around him. He couldn’t even scream before there was the large thunderclap of Chul slamming into the bottom. Like a hammer meeting an anvil- the Arachkin returned to his den.

“Here, I am King.” Chul hissed, his fangs chittering excitedly as his eyes glowed in the veil of darkness. The cloud of dust began to disperse, and the shaking of the ground ceased. Moments later, Jake could feel the cold touch his skin. He felt a chill other than the low temperature touching his spine.

They were surrounded.

Bright red orbs flickered to life all around them. In every direction, there was red. Some were brighter than others, some were larger and some were smaller. The shapes varied, as did the numbers clustered together. But they all remained still, peering towards the massive black outline of Chul as the Arachkin rose from his crouched position. The Arachkin gathered mana into his body and the runes etched into his armored body lit up the space around him. The monsters closest were illuminated, and Jake’s eyes widened as the grotesque images filled his view.

Unlike the monsters above ground, these were far more sinister. There was no “natural flow” to their bodies. Globs of flesh and meat and bone were all clumped together to create creatures of various shapes and sizes, with differently numbered limbs. Some had massive heads atop scaly lower bodies, some had no head but only a pair of eyes on top of massive rolls of skin and sizzling meat. There were no “races” or “species” here. It was strictly a mangled mess of whatever these creatures could fit into the shape of a living body.

And it reeked of rot and decay.

“C-Chul…”

“Quiet, Child. It is time to enlighten you to the Realm of the Dark.”

Chul stomped forward, his sharp leg cutting through a blob of flesh, causing it to split and gush. Purple fluid spilled out of the body and it let out a gurgle before its body sizzled out of existence. The Arachkin followed its first step with a thunderous roar, the sound clapping off the walls and echoing outwards in both directions. The howl was followed by the screams of the Maedra, the horrifying cries scratching on Jake’s eardrums as the creatures collapsed onto Chul’s position. Jake clapped his hands over his ears, trying to drown out the noise as Chul began to move.

The Arachkin’s eight limbs roared to life, the tips flaring with power and light as Chul enchanted them with a mixture of a strengthening spell, a sharpening spell, and a hardening spell. The runes wrapped around his Carapace densely, and he cut through flesh and meat with ease as he met the wave of the Maedra without a single stutter. The bodies collided with the glowing Arachkin and his fangs rattled together with excitement as he let loose.

Sensing a gathering of Mana, Chul jumped upwards and spiraled around. In the distance, a number of Maedra collected into a singular mass of power and began to glow. Chul clung to the edge of the Ravine, dug his rear four legs into the stone, and rose up onto them. His other four gathered together, the tips touching as a mass of mana collected between them. The mass of Maedra flared a bright blue, and Chul’s tips spread, a large purple sphere exploding outwards to fill the space. Just as the Maedra was about to fire off its spell, Chul shot first- the massive purple ball cutting through the air, splattering all which dared get in its way. The ball illuminated the ravine as it soared through the space, giving Jake a view of every single body that was racing towards him and Chul.

A countless number.

The massive Maedra was struck, causing a massive explosion of Mana which filled the space and expanded outwards. Chul slammed his feet into the Ravine’s wall and cast a barrier around himself. He lowered his body to the wall and added several layers to the barrier before letting out an annoyed grunt.

“Hold firm, boy.”

Jake could only do as he was told, and he held on tight as the wave of mana hit them. The first few layers of the barrier cracked and shattered away, but Chul added to the inner layers and hardened them to withstand the pressure. The screeches of the Maedra rang out as the explosion scorched the Ravine. The barrier thumped and the wall quaked. Loose rocks and boulders fell from above and around them, hitting the barrier before dropping below. Jake could hear the howls of agony, along with the splattering of flesh as the rocks impacted the bodies below.

When the wave passed, the Maedra in the direct vicinity had evaporated. A number still clung to existence, but their meek cries only gave them away as Chul returned to the floor. He made swift work of the wounded and dying, but was even quicker to meet those of whom had survived to fight. The Arachkin’s bloody-tipped legs were like razors, slicing through the weak and undeveloped flesh of the small Maedra. Limbs were torn apart with ease, bodies split and pierced without effort. In a dance of genocide- the Guardian retook his place at the top.

But the Maedra would not be defeated so easily. While the cannon fodder were being made short work of, Chul remained alert. Jake noticed Chul had remained largely in one place- letting the Maedra come to him rather than moving to meet the horde. They came from both directions, and the edge of the Ravine was well beyond where Chul could reach in a short time, so moving would have been a waste of energy. There was also the threat of the Maudraga.

“They’ve come.” Chul hissed, planting his foot firmly into the body of another Maedra. The creature gushed and splattered, its moist interior exploding outward like a fresh grape.

As the smaller Maedra thinned, their weak bodies causing the walls to grow sticky and wet with their insides being splattered all over the place- the Maudraga began to make their presence felt. In the distance, large balls of mana began to collect and were quickly fired in Chul’s direction. The Arachkin expanded a barrier around himself, catching the balls of mana and deflecting them out of harm’s way. After either impacting the barrier or hitting the Ravine depending on their stability- the balls of mana exploded brightly.

“They can cast spells?!” Jake shouted, and Chul huffed.

“Only minor ones, but they are still dangerous.”

The Maudraga maintained a short distance from Chul and fired off their spells as the lower rank and file raced to their deaths at the Arachkin’s feet. Chul maintained a barrier around the air above him, blocking the rain of mana and protecting himself from their indirect fire. The shots which came low he deflected with his legs, slapping them out of the way. Or, he dodged them entirely- using the walls of the Ravine as a foothold to elevate himself out of the spell’s path. In the worst case, he used the Maedra as flesh shields, slapping them up into the air to take the impacts for him.

When the Maudraga ran out of mana, the glowing lights would dim and their bodies would collapse into nothing more than mounds of gore. Having spent their life essence, they had nothing left to keep them together. However, when one light would go out, another would fill its place. The air above Chul began to fill with blue lights and the Arachkin was finding it difficult to maintain the barrier overhead as the Maudraga began to adjust their spells. More and more, the spells would impact and explode rather than bounce off harmlessly.

They were learning.

Chul hissed and his carapace began to glow once more. Another set of runes flared to life and he sliced his feet into the ground. He carved out the stone floor and then slammed his body into the earth to elevate the fresh ammunition skyward. In a brilliant show of light, he cleared the space around him, firing the stone in every direction. The mixture of sharp and blunt objects splattered the mounds of flesh in either direction, cutting into the Maedra and Maudraga. Dozens of blue lights evaporated, giving Chul the opening he needed.

In a swift motion, he dashed in one direction, dragging the barrier behind him and adjusting it to cover his rear. However, before the Maudraga could recover their lines- Chul sliced into them. That was when Jake saw. The blue lights weren’t orbs of mana- they were the Maudraga’s “hands” glowing. The Maudraga had developed spherical arms that they used as staffs, and the mana they used to cast their spells was being collected in the large base of that arm. Chul used those glowing arms as beacons, and his reddened feet pulverized them.

The blue lights flickered and blinked out as Chul ran through the mass. They fired their spells at his body, but the Arachkin only snarled and covered his carapace in a hardening spell. Their desperate spells barely scratched his thick armor. Their rotting flesh was gouged open like putty, and once all of the lights on one side were dealt with, Chul turned around and dug in his rear legs.

His front two limbs extended outwards and then curled in together. A small red orb formed where they met, and then several large sigils spiraled to life in front of it. A range of red and orange lit up as Chul’s fangs chittered. When he finished casting in the tongue of his Kin, the red orb flared brightly like a sun. Then, it fired. A beam of blood-red shot through the sigils, strengthening with each sigil it passed. As the beam hit the last, the thick line scattered into multiple lines before carving through the blackness of the Ravine. The stone was cut through like butter, and the distant blue lights were sliced into pieces. The outer sigil spun, rotating slowly and the beams spun with it. The rotating beams eviscerated the Maedra and Maudraga at the other end of the Ravine.

Chul slowly lifted the beam, making sure to slaughter those attached to the walls, and then he focused once more on those on the ground. Once all of the blue lights were gone, his beam finally came to a stop. He cut the spell and lowered his feet to the ground.

Silence filled the ravine.

Only for a moment.

The wails of distant Maedra and Maudraga met Jake’s ears and he shivered as he heard them. Chul had just dealt with a large number, but he could only imagine how many more might be in the ravine. Chul didn’t seem bothered, though, and the hairs on the Arachkin’s back rose with excitement. However, rather than indulge in the feast of death- Chul turned and headed in the direction of the Shrine.

“You kept these things at bay for thousands of years, Chul?” Jake shouted over the whistling of the air. As Chul raced forward, the Arachkin made sure to slice through any Maedra or Maudraga he passed.

“When I first came, it was much worse. But over the years their numbers thinned. I sapped up much of the mana and this place became barren of rampant mana. It was hard for them to survive, then. But now that the mana is once more flowing freely, their numbers have returned. Somewhat.” Chul spoke with ease and confidence as he worked his way through the waving stone walls. Jake clenched his teeth and held on tightly to Chul’s back, terrified of what may happen if he were to fall off.

But after a short time, Chul once more came to a halt.

“Ah, so that much time has passed…” Chul mumbled. Jake looked ahead at what Chul might have seen, but all he could make out were two massive eyes. “And you’ve copied me? I’m flattered.” Chul let out a laugh before suddenly surging forward without a warning. The Arachkin let out another howl as it smashed into a mass of black.

The other mass was shoved backward, but it only stumbled for a couple of steps before it caught its balance. Chul fired a swift purple ball of mana, and it illuminated the mass for a brief moment before exploding against its pale body.

It was a six-limbed beast. Large in size, flesh hardly attached and gore dangling all over. But its shape was undeniable. The six limbs were thin, sharp, and armored. Its body was split into two pieces, one head and one abdomen. Its head bore a four-fanged mouth, and two massive red eyes glimmered atop the mouth. What looked to be a strange, sticky liquid dripped from the mouth and caused the ground to sizzle where it landed.

It was the shape of a spider. While it certainly lacked some aspects and details, it was hard to deny what Jake was looking at.

Chul hissed and leapt forward once more. The creature gurgled and spit, hurdling a mass of the acidic liquid towards Chul. The Arachkin jumped to the side and bounded off the edge of the Ravine. When he landed, he dug his limb into the head of the creature and smashed it into the ground. But the skull didn’t break. Instead, the red eyes twisted upwards and a ball of blue formed at its mouth. Chul’s fangs clicked before he jumped backward, avoiding the mana beam as it cut upwards. The creature regained its footing, and then spit at Chul once more.

As Chul went to step out of the way, the creature lunged and swung. Chul met the limb, and then sliced at the base of it. The armor deflected Chul’s own limb and the Arachkin recoiled from the impact.

“Interesting,” Chul reloaded for a second strike but was forced to move out of the way as another glob of acid was spit at him. He swiftly swung upwards, striking the creature at the base of its head, and knocked it back. Another blow kept it off balance, and then Chul swept out its front limbs. Using a projectile of his own, Chul stuffed a large glob of webbing at the creature’s mouth, sealing it shut. It began to drool heavily, but the acid failed to melt away the webbing. The stringy mass glowed a bright green, the resistance taking effect.

Chul used more webbing to trap the creature’s front two limbs and then spiraled his body to land onto the creature’s back. He used his weight to pin the creature in place and then sliced once more through the armored limbs. This time, his legs made easy work of them as he increased their sharpness with a higher level enchantment. The creature hissed and struggled, but it wasn’t going anywhere.

“This is a Maudrake, a higher level Maedra and it is quite the pest. They come in a multitude of shapes, much like their smaller kin, but they are somewhat intelligent and can be very dangerous. They tend to copy other large creatures that may be around in the area. This one just so happens to have tried to copy me. A poor choice.” As he finished, Chul plunged his front two legs into the base of the creature’s head, severing the head from the abdomen. It let out a final, quiet whimper before the body went limp.

“Gross…” Jake mumbled as he watched the body breakdown and slowly dissolve. Chul let out a little laugh before turning and continuing through the ravine. “Is the Ravine the only place these Maedra live?”

“Of course not. Wherever there is excess, uncapped, and unmanaged mana, there is Maedra. While Maudraga and Maudrakes are rare in most locations, it does not take a whole lot for Maedra to spawn. However, they are weak to fire and light.” Chul paused for a moment to scoop up and hurl a Maedra upwards- it did not come back down.

“Why can’t they live in the light?” Jake stared upwards for a moment, looking for any sign of the Maedra. When Chul began to rush forward again, he returned to his low posture.

“The light is like a purifier to mana. These creatures feed on mana which is unclean and raw. If they could live outside of these places, no other life could exist, as they would eat and destroy that as well.”

Indeed, they were creatures of the dark in every sense of the word. These deformed and hardly-living corpses weren’t anything like the majestic beings that lived on the surface. These things were like viruses, fungi sucking off the land and leeching off the essence of life like cancer. The Ravine was barren and black, and the Maedra ensured their haven remained so.

The number of Maedra and Maudraga thickened after a short time, but Chul wasted no time slicing through their numbers. No other Maudrake’s appeared. It seemed only a small number could exist in a space and they only grew so large after eating up hundreds of their kin. While the Ravine was rich in the Maedra resource- they had only recently returned to this place and hadn’t had enough time to grow any larger. The one Maudrake was either a fluke or a Maudraga that let its hunger get the best of it.

Reaching the Shrine of the Gods was a slow but methodical grind through the flesh. And when they finally reached it, Chul let out a huff of satisfaction. He slammed his feet into the ground, splitting the last two Maedra in half as he asserted his dominance over the Ravine once more. The rune at the base of the door, the two large statues guarding the path forward, and the massive door blocking the way, greeted the two in an eerie way. There was no trace of any mana in the air here anymore, and Jake doubted that door would open again.

“Is this it?” Jake asked, looking around for where they might go next.

“No, but the Vein is nearby.” Chul took one last sidelong glance towards the door, and then he slowly walked around it. The ravine continued beyond the door, but another cutaway in the stone wall was just a short bit past the Shrine. Chul cast a spell to shrink himself partly so that he could fit, but he maintained his looming size as he entered the cave. The floor angled downward and Jake could feel the air become heavy, thick.

Mana poured out of the depths of the cave and Jake coughed as he felt it flow into his body. Chul hesitated for a second at the sound of the cough, but Jake waved him off

“I’m okay. Just surprised.” He lied- the mana was squeezing him. It was hard to breathe here. Chul paused for another few breaths but then continued. A few Maedra met their descent. Chul swiftly dispatched them and crawled over their lifeless, vanishing bodies. The cave twisted and turned, but the angle downward continued. After a long walk, a faint glow appeared at the other end. The density of the mana had steadily increased as they went deeper and it became even worse as they neared the end of the tunnel.

The Maedra also came with more frequency, but they weren’t as large in number. However, their bodies were tougher and Chul needed to expend more time in killing them. Just a simple slash wouldn’t do the job anymore. He needed to cut off limbs and sever heads from their bodies. Their arms became more dangerous weapons and their bodies were far more put together. In some cases, they mimicked creatures from the surface. Some took bipedal forms with multiple arms or attacked on four limbs with large, fanged mouths. The number of Maedra that were composed of more random make-ups thinned. Not only that, but these Maedra were smarter. They dodged and evaded attacks, came in groups of three to five, and there was always at least one Maudraga at the rear.

Chul took more hits as they neared the distant exit of the tunnel and it was clear he was injured, but the Arachkin only paused to let his wounds stop bleeding before he carried on.

When they finally reached the end of the tunnel, the space in front of them opened up. A massive cavern filled their view, illuminated by a massive liquid pool of glowing green mana. Maedra were scattered all across the rocky space, and they all turned at once when Chul entered the area.

“Uh, Chul?” Jake swallowed, but the Arachkin didn’t answer. Chul’s entire body began to glow and he quickly put up a barrier as the Maudraga in the cavern fired off a barrage of spells. Chul retreated into the tunnel, covering the entrance to it in several layers of barriers to shield them from the incoming fire.

“How troublesome.” Chul anchored his rear legs and lowered his body. Maintaining the barriers, he stabbed his front legs into the ground and dumped mana into the stone. The Maedra which rushed the barrier found themselves speared from below as he caused the stone to jut upwards- creating dozens of sharp spikes to impale them all on. Those at the back jumped over the spikes and slammed into the outermost barrier. As they did, Chul triggered the barrier and sigils appeared all over it. In a flash, it exploded outwards, disintegrating the Maedra that had slammed into it.

The Maudraga at the back continued to fire off their spells. Two died as they ran out of mana, but their numbers were large. Chul adjusted his tactic and the color of the outer barrier switched from orange to a dark purple. The spells which slammed into it began to be sucked in. As if hitting a wall of mud- the bright blue balls slammed and sunk into the barrier. It thickened and its color brightened as more and more mana was sapped up from the Maudraga’s spells. They seemed to have caught on to the trick, as they stopped firing. However, Chul had gathered enough.

Large runes appeared on the barrier and spiraled into place. They began to spin and were aimed in every direction. In a flurry, Chul returned the mana they’d shot at him with mana blasts of his own. The Maudraga quickly tried to scatter and run, but the large balls of mana filled the air. Their numbers were decimated as they largely had nowhere to run and hide. Those that could shield themselves used the bodies of the dead or small rocky outcroppings.

As the mana pool ran out, Chul surged forward and quickly targeted the remaining Maudraga. A few were able to fire off a spell or two, but Chul could deal with the scattered force without much issue. Silence quickly returned to the cavern, and the last Maudraga was put to rest.

Chul took a moment to look around the cavern for any stragglers and then cast a Sensing spell to scan the room and the tunnel. It was empty and clear- they were safe. To ensure they would not be disturbed, he put up a thick barrier at the entrance of the cavern before he was satisfied.

“So, this is the Dragon Vein?” Jake asked, looking towards the large green pool.

Beneath the high stone ceiling, and stretching outwards like a small ocean, the mana was thick enough to look like water. It was as dense as jelly and clear as the sky. It was as deep as the sky, too. Jake couldn’t see the bottom as it grew dark. What made it more beautiful were the sprites which fluttered and glided around near the surface of the pool. The little orbs of light drifted around without a care in the world. They had no bodies and when they fizzled out of existence, they dropped down into the mana pool, only to be replaced by another sprite elsewhere.

“No. This is the excess mana from the Vein. The Vein is there.” Chul raised a limb and pointed off in the distance. There, just off-center and to the right, a small island of rock jutted from the mana pool. The floor was cracked, and what looked like green ooze spilled from the rock and into the pool. It pulsed faintly, glowing and dimming in its own steady rhythm. The number of sprites was higher near the Vein and Jake could make out very small glowing objects on the rock itself.

“Can we go there?” Jake questioned, but Chul slowly shook his head.

“It’s dangerous. The mana there is far too dense.” Chul stepped up to the very edge of the mana pool, but that was as far as he went. When Chul stopped, Jake noticed something- Chul was shaking.

“How close can you get?” Jake looked around for another place for them to stand, maybe another island or an outcropping, but the only next platform of some kind was the Vein’s itself.

“I would have to climb. Touching the mana pool would poison me.”

Now Jake knew why the Arachkin seemed uneasy, and why Chul was shaking. Mana was certainly an essence of life, but too much and it was poison. If they fell into that pool- they’d both die. At the worst, they might even become Maedra. Jake hadn’t considered that outcome. Though, he certainly understood the danger of getting so close to the Dragon Vein. Even here Jake could feel the pressure of the mana. He was practically straining to breathe here.

“Then, I guess this will have to do.” Jake nodded and lightly knocked on Chul’s carapace. “Let me down?” He asked. The Arachkin hesitated, not wanting to let Jake down. However, cultivating on his back wouldn’t be enough. Jake would have to get as close to the mana pool to cultivate as possible. Chul stepped away from the pool’s edge, moving a safe distance back. The barrier around Jake vanished as did the shackles holding him in place. Jake slowly rose to his feet, stretching a bit to work out the soreness from having being stuck in place for so long. He made his way over to one of Chul’s legs so he could climb off the Arachkin and clambered down slowly to the floor.

When he hit the stone, he felt the mana from the floor rush into his legs. Jake blinked at the realization and went to open his mouth, but nothing came out. The mana shot upwards, pouring into his body. When it reached his heart, he blacked out and collapsed.

Again.