The dungeon is just as weird and beautiful as ever, a wonderous sight that seems to simply defy physics. Unfortunately, my high school science classes never covered the topic of mana, a rather glaring oversight, but I can’t really blame the teachers.

The city of white stone sits on the horizon between forest and lake, tempting me yet again. A few shadows play in the waters of the port, and a few figures stalk along the walls, indicating that there are yet others that lay claim to it. My hands tremble a moment, with fear and excitement.

There is still much that needs to be done.

We still have a long way to go before that city is in my reach, and one of the biggest steps down that road is developing my mana form into its next stage. A surge of adrenaline runs through my veins, and I have to suppress the urge to rush into the forest to get back to training.

“I need to be stronger.” Eshya voices my own concerns, gazing at that city, then down at the shadow of the beast in the lake.

“We’ll get stronger.” I say. “That’s what this is all about, after all. Give me time and I’ll become strong enough that even Frey and Arduelle will have to tilt their necks to look up at me.”

Eshya snorts, taking her first cautious step down the stone slope.

“Figuratively, I mean. I currently have no plans to increase in height.”

“That’s a very interesting dream.” Eshya says. “Me? I just don’t want to be a burden anymore.”

“That’s all? What happened to my wonderous lover? I recall falling in love with a girl who had higher aspirations than that. Did she run off somewhere? Should I go find her and train with her instead?”

“Oh, shut it.” Eshya replies. “I want more than that. Of course, I do. It’s just… I was meant to be your soldier. I was meant to be the strongest, most reliable of us. Now you have Red. You have the twins, that dwarf, and how many others that will fight for you. All of them stronger than me. All of them more competent than me.

“The last time we came down here, it was all I could do to keep a few gremlins away.” She says, “I need to get stronger, before I get left behind.”

“Don’t stress about it too much.” I say, caressing her shoulder, “I can still keep you as a trophy wife.”

She chuckles at that, but the fire in her eyes doesn’t fade.

“No.” She replies, “That’s not enough.”

“I promise I’ll take good care of you. You’ll want for nothing.” I say, my lips betraying me as I try to force my smile down.

“No.” Eshya says firmly, “I haven’t pushed myself this far just to have a pleasant life. I’ve betrayed my family, my culture. I’m not sure I’ve ever said that out loud, but surely you’ve figured it out by now.

“There are no elven soldiers. No one from a first grade civilisation lets themselves become a soldier. No one but me.”

“How, aren’t our roles decided by that magic room thingy that measures our talents?” I ask, watching the forest closely as we approach it. There are hints of life, but nothing immediately threatening, most beasts don’t dare mess about this close to the lake.

“Sure, but those with talents like mine will train in something else from a young age. I was forced to learn a little of everything, all to try and pull me away from my talents. It didn’t work.

“No, I just never tried at anything else.

“Fighting just feels right to me, and I haven’t let myself come this far just to be dissuaded because others are stronger than me.” She lets out a breath, releasing some of the tension that’s been building inside.

“I’m a warrior, not because of my born talents, and not because I was forced down this path. It’s because it’s what I wanted to become. So, let’s train. I should be close to my liquid mana evolution by now.”

“Ah, the first step down the path of success.” I say. “Let’s keep pushing then. If it’s only one step, then it can’t be too difficult.”

“Oh? Isn’t that castle your first step?” Eshya prods back.

“Sure.” I shrug, “And I’m going to make that city mine, just as sure as the sun will shine tomorrow.”

She wordlessly looks up at the ceiling. The ceiling covered in a glowing lake, under the surface where the sun doesn’t shine.

“I mean up in the academy, not down here. The sun obviously doesn’t shine down here much. Forget it, that was a bad comparison.” She laughs at me as I feel my cheeks start to heat up in embarrassment.

“I just need to get everyone into shape and prepared first.” I say. “There’s far too much room in a city that big for just you and me.”

“Ah, so what are you doing down here with me instead of out there recruiting?” She asks.

“You think I can recruit total strangers to fight under me without a little muscle on my bones, or mana in my guts? I need to show them just how powerful I am, and that I’m worth serving. Most importantly, it’s so they can’t just stab me in the back and take over. Or worse, stab me in the front and take over.”

“Is that how it works?” Eshya asks, “Was I meant to test your strength before pledging my allegiance?”

“Too late. You’ve already pledged your body and soul to me, no take backsies.” I say, as we lose sight of the lake behind us.

A flash of mana so bright that it nearly blinds me strikes the earth just a few metres ahead of us. The spell is so powerful that should even a small fraction of that mana be used offensively, I would be melted, or shredded, even if it’s a near miss.

“Small-fish, you’ve returned.” Arduelle says, smiling down at me. “Are you prepared for your punishment?”

“Ack…” I cry out indignantly before I have a chance to stifle the sound. “Ah, punishment?”

“For your insolence? You don’t recall?” She asks a bright smile rising on her lips. She’s clearly enjoying herself and messing around with me, but I know that when a cat messes with a mouse, it never ends well for the mouse.

“If I say I don’t remember, can we forget about all this?” I ask, putting on a brave face and standing tall. When there’s no winning, and no running away, try your best to confound your enemy into surrender. I’m sure Sun-Tzu wrote that somewhere in his little notebook.

“Oh, no. Most definitely not.” She replies, acting so very dignified. “I’ve already designed… I mean, discovered… a problem that you can fix for me.”

“I would be delighted to assist you.” I reply, “But as you can surely tell, we’re both very busy at the moment. If you can tell me what the problem is, I’m sure I can find some time on my busy schedule for you.”

“Oh, why thank you dear. An older lady like me shouldn’t be working herself too hard, no?” She asks, her eyes glittering brightly.

“You see an acquaintance of mine has been rather troubled recently. She has a pest problem, and I’d like you to help clear them out for us.”

“Pests?” I ask, forcing my lips to form what should be a smile. “What kind?”

“Oh, I’m not too sure of the details. You’ll have to ask her about it when you get there. I can send you on your way whenever you’re ready.” She says.

“How many people can I bring with me?” I ask, already scripting out how I’m going to convince Red to come along with me.

“Oh no. No, no, no.” She smiles and my heart drops to the pit of my stomach. “You’ll be going alone. It isn’t much of a punishment for you if others complete the quest in your stead.”

“When?” I hiss. Pressing my thumb to the side of my head.

“I’ll give you some time to prepare.” She says, sounding far too light-hearted. “Three days should do. That should give you another three days to complete the tasks before you’re needed for those bothersome week-long camping trips that you students seem to adore.”

“I have classes that I need to show up for.” I say, grating my teeth.

“Oh? Well, I’m sure I can ferry you to class and back.” She says, “Or is it that you don’t want to assist me?”

“No, no.” I say, lifting up my hands in placation. “I’m just figuring out what my schedule is going to be like this week.”

“That’s good then, feel free to talk any time.” She says, waving goodbye as she bursts away with another bright teleportation spell.

“It seems you need to train even more than I do.” Eshya growls, glaring at the spot where the walking, talking dungeon disappeared. “What’s the point of getting stronger if I can’t even be where I’m needed?”

“It’s a one-off occasion.” I say. “I’m sure she isn’t trying to get me killed.”

“She doesn’t have to try, in order for her to succeed.” Eshya spits, before taking a moment to breath.

“There’s plenty of things actively trying to kill us, which we should be more immediately concerned with.” I say. “Let’s stay focused, shall we?”

“It’s not as if I let my focus slip.” Eshya replies, gazing into the strangely quiet forestry around us. “She frightened everything away.”

“That makes sense, powerful magic generally means there’s something around you shouldn’t mess with.” I say, as we start walking again.

“Do you know the way to our base?” I ask, stepping on a tall root, hoping that I can spot something familiar to guide myself with.

“You don’t?” She asks back.

“Sure, I do. I’m just testing you.” I say sarcastically. “Seriously, though. I have no idea where we’re going. Do you know the way?”

“I have tracking tags on the people there.” Eshya says, looking down at me and laughing at me as she realizes that I haven’t done the same.

“Well then, miss smartass, lead the way. Is there a path or something we should follow? We don’t want to fall into a trap or step into a beasts lair by mistake.” I say.

“What is it that we’re down here for?” She asks.

“Aside from checking in on my little basement dwellers, hunting beasts, and getting stronger… so it would be better for us to step into a dinosaur den.” I conclude with a sigh.

“Only if we can win the fight.” Eshya says, “Otherwise, we pop the cap on that stink bomb and we’ll find something else to fight.”

“Or…” I can’t supress a sly smile from forming on my lips. “Frey, oh, Frey. Most wonderful dungeon of all. Could you perhaps give us warning if we’re about to bother a beast that’s too dangerous for us to fight? Friends should look out for friends, right?” The ground shifts slightly beneath my feet, a small quake, as happens when she’s trying to speak.

“Give me a moment,” Arduelle sends via Chip. I have no idea what she means by that, and slowly a sinking feeling does develop in my guts as I realize too late how I might’ve just angered yet another dungeon. At least Arduelle is contained to her flesh, barely even counting as a dungeon at all, Frey is all around us.

A few more seconds pass before the ground shakes again, a little seriously this time compared to last. It settles, then builds up once more in an escalating cycle, and as I start planning an escape route, the ground fully settles.

A human-adjacent shape manifests before us; small, ethereal, and somewhat unclear. Her figure glows brightly with the mana of a complex spell, and I doubt I would have enough mana to construct something this complex even when I break through to the liquid stage of my development.

“Friends who only ask for favours, aren’t real friends.” The little alien figure says, her words cutting right into my heart.

“Oof.” I lean over in feigned injury, feeling genuinely a little guilty. I’ve been asking a whole bunch of people for things lately, and to be called out by the dungeon herself as she manifests… it hurts to be confronted with such truth bombs.

“I’m sorry.” I say, “Is there anything you’d like to do, then? I’m sure we can be real friends if you give me the chance to get to know you.”

“I don’t ‘do things’. I’m everywhere around you, this figure is only here to talk with you. Would it be any fun for you to play around inside of yourself?”

“Uh… it’s better with company…?”

Eshya snorts back a laugh, but the dungeon doesn’t say a word. I’m sure the little pervert has watched plenty enough people and beasts in their private moments, so she surely gets the joke. Perhaps she just doesn’t find it amusing.

“So, is there anything you do for fun?” I ask.

“I watch.” Says the little pervert.

“You can watch us in that form, can’t you?” I suggest. “You can even follow us along and we can go on an adventure. I know it’s not really your true form, but maybe we can enjoy playing pretend.”

“No.” She replies, disappearing right after.

“Thanks for talking with her.” Aduelle sends back to me in response, sounding like a mother trying to buy her daughter some friends. “She’s not really upset with you.”

“Well, it’s nice to be in your company.” I say with a shrug, deciding not to press on, lest I tread on another landmine. It’s not even as though Frey has left us, it’s just that she’s hiding her face.

“Let’s get back to training.” Eshya says, looking through the thick forest that’s once more deathly quiet. I try draining some mana from the leaves of the parasitic plants, but the mana just doesn’t move as I’d like it to. Perhaps I should try eating it, or maybe…

“Just a moment, we’ve got to head back to our base first. Also…” I say. “Frey, I’d like to try using my mana drain on you. It probably won’t work well, but do you mind if I try? I’ll stop if you tell me to.”

I decide to tread on a landmine.

I figure that if it doesn’t blow up, I might be able to find some gold underneath it. Or in this case, a practically inexhaustible source of mana so long as I’m in the dungeon.

She doesn’t reply even after about half a minute of waiting, so I push my hand against the stone wall of the cavern, which we’ve been following, and use my mana drain ability to try and pull the mana out of it.

Unlike with the parasitic plant, it’s actually rather easy to draw the mana out of the stone. I’ve tried it before with other inanimate things, but it was never particularly effective, though that didn’t stop me from sucking on a shard of broken metal before.

I think the reason it works now, is that this is a living being, if only in a mana form state. The mana in natural things is stagnant and difficult to move, or at least it moves so slowly that it’s still rather difficult to pull at, in living things it moves and cycles around, and in recently dead things it’s loose and leaking out, as the forces keeping it inside disappear.

The dungeon shudders, pulling me from my thoughts, and a bright mana light flashes bright enough to seer the front parts of my brain where my mana sense has developed. Frey’s figure stands before us again, clearly peeved.

“Stop it! I hate it!” Frey shouts, but I’ve already stopped by the time her words reach me. “You don’t really want to be friends at all, do you?!”

“I was just wanting to see what would happen.” I say, “Sorry, I didn’t think it would hurt you.”

Even using it on others it hurts only as bad as mana friction, unless I force them into mana shock. I hadn’t imagined that a super powerful being like a dungeon would be so bothered by it.

“Well, don’t do it again!” She insists before flashing away.

“Sorry!” I shout to her, but she’s already, figuratively, hidden her face behind her hands again, giving us the silent treatment.

“Let’s just finish what we came here for, then get to training.” Eshya urges me, “Before you pick a fight that we can’t win.”

“Sorry!” I shout again, feeling genuinely bad about messing with Frey so bad. I was almost sure that landmine was a dud.

Though I feel like sulking, I do not. I have a little more dignity than that, so I sulk on the inside while keeping a straight face and looking into the damp forest around me.

The thick mangroves make for a strange foundation on which a forest might grow. Yet, it’s easy to forget that here. The leaves block out much of the glowing lake above us, and the dirt that has built up over the years has formed a rather reliable ground on which to walk.

Bushes and shrubs aren’t uncommon, and some warped trees other than the mangroves weave themselves into the forest, spreading their leaves wide.

The air is damp, and the air cool and easy to breath, even if it doesn’t have as much mana as I’d like.

We tread carefully, watching for any beasts that might be waiting in ambush. This is their home, and was long before we got here, so there’s no way to know from where they might strike.

Thankfully, the magic that the two dungeons cast has been enough to quiet the forest, even now after a few minutes have passed. When we get to our base and feel around for the switch to open the door, I’m filled with uncertainty.

What the hell am I supposed to do here?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Skills & Stats

~Mana Form:

Current mana density: 820 units

~Mana distribution:

Catagory Current Max. Skin 0% 49% Muscle 55% 55% Mind 0% 72% Cardiovascular 0% 34% Misc. 0% 29% Efficiency 72% 82%

~Favourited Skills:

-Chip Shredder

-Multi-mind

-Tag

-Mana surge movement

-Mana surge punch

-Reactive mana skin

-Infused delayed Casting

-Fire burst punch