Part Forty-Six

“Settle down, settle down! This really isn’t that noteworthy! Mana crystals of this size are quite common. I was just surprised at the timing of it, that’s all.”

That was probably the first human reaction I’ve ever seen an NPC give. But common? Maybe he’s just trying to reign in the others.

Whatever the reason, he’d set the crystal in question onto the table while he attempted to calm everyone, so I took the opportunity to Analyze it.

Mana Shard (Tainted)

Rank: Key

Description: A shard of crystallized mana. Mana that has crystallized is far more potent then normal, granting the ability to use spells normally beyond reach. This crystal, on the other hand, is corrupted by something unwholesome. Maybe the Archmage could help?

Well that’s just weird. It really does say to talk to the Archmage. And what does it mean by tainted? Tainted by what? Miasma? Grudge? No, that’s too simple an explanation. Maybe there isn’t an explanation. It’s a key item, like the Nightmare Fragments from the Labyrinth.

I’d had one of them left over after entering the tower, but it hadn’t appeared in my reward chest with all the other items I’d gotten. I figured it was because they were a key item, something I hadn’t seen again until now. Key items in games are often consumed upon use and you can never get them again. I know applying video game logic to everything isn’t exactly a smart thing to do, but if it works, don’t fix it.

“This could be the answer to our dilemma. I can use this to reinforce our defenses. Young lady, would you be willing to exchange this?”

“Oh um, sure. I can’t really use it myself, so yeah. I’d be willing to trade it.”

“Excellent. I believe if you show this to someone at the armory, they’ll give you something of use to you in exchange.”

He slid a small silver coin across the table to her, which she hurriedly pocketed. I’m certain there were a few people who were jealous of her luck, but if someone tried to steal it from her and got caught, well it wouldn’t be pretty.

“If anyone else happens to find another of these, I’d be willing to trade for them as well. These will provide a great deal of aid in the coming days.”

With that cryptic statement and a final bow, the Archmage and the commander left the room. Everyone immediately burst back into chatter, except for a handful of people. Finnél left almost immediately while looking extremely disinterested. I had to admit, I did not like that guy.

Yaaaaaah, well I didn’t get any closer to discovering the culprit. Maybe I really should go for plan b. I’m gonna catch hell for it, but it would be a fail-safe way to figure it out. Though I shouldn’t do it right now. Everyone’s tired, so it wouldn’t go over very well. I should go take a quick nap while I have the chance. We’re going to have to fight again very soon.

[Sávos’s POV]

So he’s unaware. Good. He either hasn’t found the attractant or he found it and doesn’t know who planted it. Though it no longer matters very much. We’re ready to enact our plan.

He watched the boy walk back to his room, most likely for a nap. While it was infuriating that he’d survived the monster swarm, it wouldn’t impede their plans for much longer. Sávos fully intended on killing the boy tonight, when their plan to plunder the Earthlings would begin. One might be tempted to wonder why Sávos hadn’t merely tried to assassinate Michael. Well the simple answer was that he was scared.

Sávos had participated in numerous operations and cheated death more times than he could count. However, he was also nearing the end of his lifespan and could no longer fight like he used to. Add in that his skillset was geared towards extermination and assassination and he simply wasn’t confident in a head-on fight with the boy. While he would still be able to kill a Minotaur Soldier in a one-on-one fight, even escaping from an Orc General would be a challenge. Simply put, Michael was stronger than him.

Even if he tried to assassinate him, there was a chance, no matter how small, that the boy would wake up and stop him. If things devolved into a fight, there was a high likelihood that he would die, even if he succeeded. Which was why he was determined to settle things tonight, when he’d have the best odds.

Ever since Finnél learned what kind of Dungeon they were heading to, he’d planned to plunder everything of value he could. Under normal circumstances, they would have to do this with utmost care, as destabilizing the fort's defenses too much would jeopardize their own lives. But that no longer mattered. The item Finnél found earlier would be more than enough insurance even in the worst-case scenario. And so, the plan had been altered. A number of Earthlings would die tonight.

I’ll take a few extra precautions. That should ensure he’s as tired as possible. Yes, I’ll inform the pawns.

[Kalia’s POV]

Wakefulness came slowly. The usual dream she’d been having, clung to her waking mind like a spider web. And for a moment, she confused reality for that dream.

“NOOOOOOOOooooooo!”

She bolted upright in bed, soaked with a cold sweat.

This, this is my room in the fort. Haaah…haaaah, I’m tired of that dream. I can’t even get a full night’s sleep without seeing it. I just want to stop feeling so afraid all the time.

She saw those memories every single time she slept and it was starting to drive her crazy. The stress was even giving her an ulcer. She’d somehow prevented the others from finding out, but she was reaching the end of her rope. The others would eventually need to learn about that thing and the danger it would inevitably represent.

Okay, first thing’s first. I need to get changed. These clothes are soaked.

***

A few minutes later, and with a fresh change of clothes, she emerged from her room in search of someone to talk with. She had to discover what happened after she’d blacked out earlier.

However, she couldn’t find anyone at all. There weren’t even any NPCs running around. That was unusual, as there were usually a few of them running errands throughout the fort's various facilities. The utter silence filling the air was a clear distinction from the normal bustling atmosphere.

Where, where did they all go? All the rooms are empty and it looks like no one’s ever lived in them. The canteen, the infirmary, the walls, they’re all empty! What’s going on!?

“Is anyone here!? Can anyone hear me!?”

Her scream echoed throughout the empty fort, with nothing but the wind to answer her.

No, no, no! What’s going on!? Wait, what’s that sound?

*Whisper, whisper, whisper*

Faint whispers called out from at the limits of her consciousness, beckoning to her. They urged her to come to them, to give in, to accept the inevitable. The scenery began to warp, slowly changing into the ruins of a city. Vines had grown over the remains of all the buildings and the asphalt was cracked by plants pushing up through it.

What? What is going here!? Am I going insane!?

*Give in*

Something whispered to her from somewhere just outside of her awareness. It felt both familiar and unknown at the same time, like someone she used to know. The voice was sweet and comforting, a lullaby to guide her to sleep. And yet, she knew that if she did go to sleep, she would never wake up.

*Give in!*

The voice became insistent in its demand for her to sleep, and it caused an intense, crushing pain to spread through her mind. Whatever it was trying to do couldn’t be good. The pain only reinforced that notion. She had to get away from it, or there was no telling what would be left of her.

The only issue was that she didn’t know where the source of the whispers was at. It felt like they were coming from everywhere and nowhere all at the same time. They’d already given in to madness, and they wanted her to do the same.

She started running aimlessly, just trying to escape the whispers and the horrible voice. Every new street, every corner she turned, just showed how abandoned this city was. Everything humanity had strived to build was slowly eroding away before her very eyes.

And then she saw it, a mountain of bones and rubble fashioned into a massive throne. And upon it, was the same giant responsible for the trauma that caused her dreams. Dozens of mindless creatures, those who had given into its incessant whispers, surrounded it, acting as guards for the massive being.

And as it turned to face her, and her eyes met the terrible gaping voids in its face, she heard its voice one last time.

*GIVE IN TO ME!*

***

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!! I won’t, I’ll never give in! ”

“K-Kalia!? Calm down, it was just a dream! You’re in bed in your room at the fort.”

“E-Evelyn? I, I-? Are you real? Am I actually awake?”

“I, what? Yes you’re awake Kalia. But are you okay? You woke up screaming about not giving in or something.”

“Oh uh, yeah. It was just um, a very weird dream. Someone was trying to make me try a different kind of sandwich meat and I really didn’t want to switch deli products.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“Okay, we’ll just pretend that I believe that. So, do you remember what happened before you laid down?”

“I was Healing the injured from the special assignments. Me and Michael pushed ourselves to complete a Ritual to help them, and then I passed out? Wait, what happened to Braddock and the others!? And Michael? Is he okay? He passed out before I did and there were a lot of people who were in bad shape before I finished the Ritual and-.”

“Whoa Kalia. Take a deep breath. First, everyone’s fine. Most of the injured were healed by your spell and those who weren’t completely healed have stabilized since then. And Michael’s just fine. He was at the meeting we had awhile ago and he seemed his usual surly self.”

“Oh okay. So I’ve been sleeping since I was in the infirmary?”

“Yep. You were completely out of it. You kept mumbling about having to go water your ficuses or something. Then you nearly tripped over Michael, who was still laying on the ground, and apologized by hugging him. Then, when you tried to get back up, you tripped again and sat on him. It was really hard to get you out of there without further embarrassing yourself.”

“………..You’re, you’re joking, right?”

“Not at all. I kinda wish I had a camera with me so I could’ve recorded it. It was almost like you were drunk.”

Drunk!? I’ve never been drunk in my life! Why was I acting like that? I didn’t have any alcohol yesterday either. Wait, could it be?

An enormous book, larger than even an encyclopedia of dictionaries, appeared in her mind. This book was the mental manifestation of her Authority, Arcane Grimoire, and allowed her to search for any information relating to magic or mana. It was quite frankly better than Insight, which should be obvious as the unlock conditions were a lot harder to meet.

Um, it should be near the front. Hm, hm, here!

Mana Exhaustion – The phenomenon that occurs when a living being uses more mana in a short period of time than they’re capable of. Symptoms can include but are not limited to: headaches of all severities, dizziness, vomiting, muscle pain or fatigue, general fatigue, pseudo drunkenness, fainting, and mild hallucinations. Most individuals will only experience one or two symptoms, but said symptom will occur every time.

Well that explained that. Her odd behavior had been the result of Mana Exhaustion. And as it was the first time she’d experienced it, her behavior had been even more uninhibited than it would be otherwise.

Up until now, she’d been very careful to avoid Mana Exhaustion. She’d kept her mana usage down while training and had been overly careful when it came to actually casting spells. And the potency of her spells, combined with the overall excellency of their group, had meant she didn’t have to heal all that often or much. Add in that her large mana pool gave her a fairly large maximum output and it wasn’t hard to accept that this was the first time she’d experienced Mana Exhaustion.

Am I going to act drunk every time? This is going to cause me problems at some point, isn’t it?

“So, you should probably get changed. We’re expecting another attack in a few hours. If you’re up to it, we’d really like your help.”

“Ah yeah. I’ll be right there. Just give me time to change and get ready.”

“Alright, I’ll see you later.”

Evelyn left the room, giving her some time to herself while she changed. Time alone with just her thoughts.

What was that? I’ve been having those dreams for months, ever since World Decay started. But they’ve always been the same sequence of events. This was completely different. It should take more than a few months for nature to reclaim a city to that degree. And what was with those whispers? That thing, what is it? And what does it want with me?

[Alicia’s POV]

*Thud Thud Thud Thud thud*

It was getting easier. Michael had once made a joke that she could essentially turn into some sort of human turret, but her ability to rapid-fire arrows was steadily improving. If she could acquire some way to auto-load arrows, well….

It’s still not enough. I was useless against the Golems and if it hadn’t been for Imbuement, I wouldn’t have been able to deal with the Mivians either. Unlike Michael and Cameron, I have no way to make my attacks stronger. They both have one of those Aura Skills and Michael has magic he can use. Meanwhile, I’m stuck using a bow and arrows to fight.

Don’t get me wrong. I love archery, I have ever since I first held a bow. It’s just, I’m starting to see why the System doesn’t drop bows all that often. Magic is far superior as a long-distance attack. And a part of me is saying that I should focus on learning some, but what if it’s something that’s hard to use in combat?

It would depend on the specific type of Magic, but there are some that would be compatible with archery and some that aren’t. I just don’t know. Maybe it would be better to try and learn a new Skill. There might still be an Aura Skill for archery after all.

She broke off her thoughts before they continued to spiral further out of control. She’d come out to the deserted training grounds to get her thoughts in order, but the solitude was just making it worse. Both of her companions were off somewhere doing their own things. So she’d decided to train for a time, at least until the others were no longer preoccupied.

*Thud Thud Thud thud thud*

I just, is it weird that I feel inferior sometimes? Michael just tears through monsters like it’s nothing. He’s constantly focused on improving and he’s got the talent for it too. It wouldn’t surprise me if he got to the point where he doesn’t need us anymore. Maybe we’re just holding him back.

*Thwick!*

“Ah!”

She’d become so distracted that one of her arrows went wide, and shattered when it struck the stone wall behind the target. Getting more arrows wasn’t hard, but her pride kept her from being happy about making such a simple mistake. Wasting arrows like that was a rookie error she should’ve been far past.

Damn it! Maybe I should’ve just gone to sleep. This isn’t getting me anywhere.

“Well that’s certainly not like you. You’re usually a lot calmer then this.”

“Michael!? How long have you been watching!?”

“Oh, about five minutes. I couldn’t get to sleep, so I decided to take a walk and see if there was anything interesting happening.”

“Well you could’ve said something! I doubt watching me is all that interesting.”

“On the contrary, I find it highly entertaining. I’ve said it before, but you’re quite skilled.”

“Yeah, but it’s not like it was any good back in the tunnels. I couldn’t even hurt a single Golem. And without Imbuement, I wouldn’t have contributed anything.”

“So? Even if it was last minute, you were still able to help.”

“But what if next time I can’t do anything!? If all I can do is shoot a few arrows, then I’m limited in what I can contribute in battle.”

“Is that really a bad thing? Wouldn’t it be better to specialize in a few things than be a jack-of-all-trades? Personally, I think your ability to assassinate the leaders of monster groups is really helpful. Everyone’s got their strengths and weaknesses. Maybe in the future, one of us will be so strong that we can brute force everything by ourselves, but that’s a long way off.”

“…”

“All we can really do right now, is to try and figure out our weaknesses before they become fatal and compensate for them. In other words, we train. Training will prepare us for the future, even if we don’t realize it.”

“Huh. So that’s why you’re always training? So you’re prepared for anything and everything?”

“Pretty much. Like I said, we have no idea what kind of dangers we’ll encounter in the future. You said that you’re limited in what you can do? Then why don’t you try to learn something new? Maybe unlock your innate magic while you’re at it. Mixing in a new element to your normal fighting style could unlock something you never expected.”

“Do you really think it’ll be that easy?”

“Probably not. But what do you have to lose?”

With that, he shrugged and walked over to a training dummy. I wish I could have even half of his confidence. Does he never doubt himself? Or maybe, he’s always doubting himself, and that's why he continues to train.

Hm, I suddenly feel like I can keep going.

[Protag’s POV]

*Thud Thud Thud thud thud*

Heh, guess I can encourage someone on occasion. Still, I should try to remember that everyone, not just myself, has doubts about their own strength. Though I am glad that she’s at least trying to improve. It would be so easy for her to rest on her laurels or to give up and stop progressing. I don’t want to fight with someone who’s chosen to do that.

I’d only let those willing to improve themselves fight alongside me. I had to trust my companions, and I simply wouldn’t be able to do that if they weren’t going to keep trying. Whatever was waiting for us would only be harder than what we were currently experiencing. And I would be ready for it.