Damien Franklin

Breathing in deeply, he took in the raw primal Mana that was unique to the tenth floor. There was no way to know the rarity of such a variety, but it was his first time experiencing such a bold bouquet. The wild Mana surged through his veins with the remnants of chaotic purity. Closer to true, unrefined power. The original form.

A new clue to the truth of the new world.

Damien was thrilled, it was a fascinating irregularity.

Despite the appearance of a meticulous nature, the obsidian thaumaturgist adored the irregular. Nothing offered better avenues of understanding in his eyes. One can think they know all the rules, but then comes a surprise to shake things up. An out of place kernel, a snarl of an unmatchable error. Those threw everything in the air. New rules needed to be found, or old ones needed to be reviewed.

The pursuit of which moved one from knowing a thing to understanding the thing. It wasn’t enough for Damien to know everything, he wanted to before all else to understand everything, all things big and small. So when an irregularity appeared, the obsidian thaumaturgist got excited. Now was no different than in the Before. If anything, his appetite for mysteries to unravel had only grown. A whole new universe of them.

Concern over the floor’s puzzle fell to the wayside, completely. His thoughts turned over and studied the thick savage Mana that shuddered the air to his eyes. It felt like he had found an isolated vale that held fauna from a bygone age. Damien saw the past before his eyes, traced back from now to an ancient then. Wild visions of intuition.

He wasn’t sure the others had even noticed the difference to the ambient Mana. It wasn’t affecting their own, not much at least. A higher chance of erratic variables, but the Sixty had shown a preternatural instinct for casting control.

Their Will and Faith manifesting with a miraculous ease. Another ongoing case for Damien. Another wondrous irregularity needing to be solved.

Today though, his thoughts were only for the primal Mana. This was a Mana to conquer or worship. It did not respond to faint engagement nor responded to a call weakly. From his estimate, Damien was certain that using purely this ancient power would make large and terrible spells easier while making detailed work a laughable effort.

There was no way to say why Mana would differ through the ages, but listening to his Heartsong inspired insight. A reminder that the power he and the Sixty wielded was a responsive thing. It would present as expected.

Barbaric minds would cast barbaric spells, modern times would result in modern finesse.

Malleable, thought Damien. That’s the most fitting word for the nature of Mana. Its shape and form is entirely predicated on expectation. The magic we use may not, likely is not, the same as that which the humans used in creating The Pit. We are peoples of entirely different worlds. Bridging and interpretation can be made, but our vision of Mana would be separate as two languages with different origins.

What would be lost in translation due to the difference? Does it matter? Could it matter? Mana reflects the user and most of all their society. Expectation, a spell constantly being cast, ever changing with the shifts of civilization.

The hypothesis was relieving in some ways. It felt right and clarifying.

He had noticed the difference between lingering spells from The Pit makers and those cast by himself and the Sixty. A worry had been born that they might be on the wrong track, one that was a dead end or flawed. Instead, the tenth floor’s primal essence had revealed the undeniable truth that there was no wrong track. Mana is, of course, infinite and everyone finds their own unique path through.

Another soothing fact was that in time all magic beyond his understanding would someday be known. Time was the key, The Pit would provide the pressure to continue excelling. All mysteries would be solved as his nature demanded. Damien was ever patient when necessary, mostly.

When it was a matter of thought and study at least.

For now, there was a survey of the primal Mana to do. He had figured out the gist, but there were plenty of details to go over. New rules to discover.

While his party explored the capsulated past, Damien ran tests. Violet spheres, lines, and other shapes orbited him as he ran various experiments on the Mana. Digging into reactions and limitations. Seeing if he could transmute primal to refined and other such data points.

The experiments continued through fights as well. His orbiting laboratory continued while the obsidian thaumaturgist launched menacing stars into the monsters of the floor. The creatures proved informative as well. Their strength and hardiness were a byproduct of the savage power that was contained within each. The saber tooth tigers were living storms in his eyes, hearts of raging winter in each.

He spent a good deal of time studying the stone wolves of the glacial plains. Beasts that could command the earth and laid ambushes by phasing into the ground. It took tripping several successful traps before Damien caught on to the trick.

Incorporating the new concept was an immediate goal.

Most wonderful of all were the mammoths. Massive monsters that shook the land, threatening avalanches and rockslides with every step. Not that they could be threatened by such catastrophes. Too huge to be more than tripped by such a shifting. Greatest of all was their innate power. Damien was dazed by the beauty of it. There was nothing, only an overwhelming absence that stilled all power within a radius. Mana went silent before the great hairy elephants.

Another wondrous irregularity.

They were all awed by the earthquaking herd, but the obsidian thaumaturgist felt his eyes burn and water with strain. No blinking as he tried to capture every moment of that insane affinity. Mana seemed to disappear once crossing the border, rendered inert until the presence of null passed on. An ultimate defense against enemy power.

His only regret was that Russel was not there with him. Damien would have loved to see if thrown rocks or the momentum of a spell were distorted by the anti-magic. He made a note to ask the earth mage to run a few tests.

The application of the nullification was instructive. In many ways the opposite of the phasing that the stone wolves used. Instead of phasing themselves, the mammoths phased the world around them. Forcing the intersection of Mana to be pushed from the world. Or perhaps better to say, hide it from the world with new layers. Both were true, yet not quite right.

Damien would experiment further with the concept. He was confident that recreating the effect was possible. Especially after Anastasia entered the field and returned with the capability to recreate the spell. Statically, without understanding, but still useful. Together they would gain full comprehension.

Nullification would be his, another layer of knowledge to unveil all the secrets of the universe. The power of destruction was as important as the ability to create. Like stars, the obsidian thaumaturgist would hold both concepts within him.

Wonderful! Wonderful! Wonderful! praised Damien, almost giggling with his vision. Joy overflowed from within him at the prospect of the new elevations of understanding to come.

He dreamily followed the party as they trudged across the tundra.

Julia Sarcos

On the far side of the floor, where glacial till turned to tundra plains, she looked over a herd of mammoths. They lumbered and grazed at a constant pace. Steady as the workings of a clock, the trunk swung like a pendulum. Grabbing up shrubs, moss, or anything edible on the dip and placing them in the mouth on the upswing. One continuous movement. Never skipping a beat in their steps. One foot after the other, one swing of the trunk.

Cold humming fear mixed with awe before the natural beauty. The party had reasonably avoided the magic killing beasts, but the puzzle demanded otherwise. One death of the colossal pachyderm was required. One.

It seemed no less impossible. One or a herd changed nothing.

They weren’t aggressive towards humans, but closing with any mammoth was a nightmare. All strength and power lost in a blink. Remaining gone until fleeing the horrible deadening influence. Mana had already become essential to her. Same as breathing and blood pumping. Being instantly destitute was a nightmare. An invitation for death.

Julia took in a shuddering breath while running the plan through her head again. Getting close was going to be necessary. Perhaps just to the edge of the aura, maybe past that line, though probably not to approach touching distance. She just needed to scare one.

Not even Clarissa felt safe risking the nullification while battling a mammoth of the tenth floor. Her arrows would be splinters to the massive beast and likely that was optimistic in the face of absolute de-powerment. For everyone else, the peril was even worse. Facing a monster without the song of Mana was foolhardy beyond bravado.

Instead, Malachi had pulled out an ancient playbook. An old trick that humanity had used to great success against creatures of greater strength. She just had to get at least one mammoth running scared and everything would be taken care of.

There was a cliff.

Another deep breath and then Julia stood up from her hilltop perch. Below, the herd was crossing into the designated zone. She would need to signal the charge in the next few moments. They would race down the hill and somehow scare some beasts that dwarfed houses. Tiny her.

I hope elephants really are afraid of mice… whispered an embarrassing thought.

The shieldmaiden felt the moment come and signaled. Her feet moved in the next instant as there was no room or time to hesitate. The plan was set and she knew her part to play. Fear faded to the background, undiminished but lacking any significance for now.

Down the hill she charged, screaming to be bigger. To the left and right the rest of the party hollered and whooped with her. A kitten scampered behind Clarissa, adding a yowling to their cacophony. The mammoths slowed to a pause. Great knowing eyes turning up to them. Julia ignited her Mana into a display of wrath and the promise of harm. Trunk swung thoughtfully, no fear yet in their eyes.

More colors flared into the air as the others offered their own threatening displays, but the workings of Mana weren’t worth a reaction from the mammoths. It was unsurprising when all magic died before their power. All within expectations. As they passed the midpoint down the hill, it was time for phase two.

Julia shot off a blue flare into the air. The bolt brightened and then exploded like firecrackers. That little spell caused a needle-like headache, a step beyond her natural abilities.

Violet streaks, so thin they seemed transparent, flew across the sky until right above them. Roaring explosions without a drop of color. An angry sound that promised the end of the world. The thunder of doom. It blanked out all other sounds to the point that Julia couldn’t hear her own screaming.

The mammoths jumped, trumpeting their own terror at the unnatural sounds. A second wave came in time to speed the turning beasts into a full retreat.

A quick decision and the shieldmaiden picked out a smaller specimen that was definitely not a baby, but not quite full size either. This one the party surrounded to alter its path. Damien’s explosions followed to maintain the panic. The mammoth tried several times to rejoin the herd that was gradually splitting off. Not quite daring to bully through the yelling humans while the sky rumbled.

This was the dangerous part. They had their target running in the right direction, but that was no guarantee it was enough. The mammoth needed to be panicked enough to go running off the edge of the world. Everyone shifted so two guarded each side and Malachi ran at the rear.

Preparation for phase three complete, the battlemage summoned flames. The dry savanna grass they were running through ignited instantly. Soon the party was running from the spreading flames as much as corralling the mammoth. Smoke and heat urged the monster into a full panicked gallop that ate up ground with bewildering speed. The ground rumbled with desperate steps.

The shieldmaiden’s heart went out to the beast as the cliff revealed itself too late. One moment the land looked infinite and the next there was a broken edge. Momentum carried it through the air for terrible, hopeful seconds. Then the poor creature trumpeted with horrible final fear. She raced to the edge and looked down. Fire was still chasing them yet she needed to see. It was direly important.

Fifty feet below was a crippled monster. Julia wanted to cry. There was a boulder nearby collected and placed here just for this occasion. Before anyone was able to help, she was shifting the big rock into position.

Clarissa and Malachi joined first without looking and the others raced to join after one pale-inducing look. A heave and the boulder dropped with a silencing crunch. No more whimpering, no more movement. The party ran to the path downward, the fire on their heels. There was no regret for the delay.

The dusting process was in full swing by the time they climbed down to the lower plains. Still a long wait because of the size of the monster. Everyone fell to quiet contemplation, Julia saw the same reluctance in their eyes that was in her heart.

“We did what we had to get out of here,” said Julia to soothe herself. It helped a little to remember they hadn’t made the trials. Only completed them and there was no choice in that. Giving up the sky wasn’t an option.

So they waited for the core to form.

Smoke poured up into the sky above them, but there were few ways for the fire to spread down here. There was no need to hurry away. They were safe and further, the Gate was down here on the lower plains. It would be a straight shot once the core was ready.

“That was quite the run,” said Malachi as he took a seat beside her.

She had chosen to face away from the cliff, not wanting to watch the mammoth break down. Her heart still sore. Her voice was mild, disinterested. “Yeah, weird to think our ancestors did stuff like that all the time.”

“In a manner of speaking, once a season probably.”

A nod. Julia was watching a giant sloth feeding on a distant grove. The lackadaisical beasts proved to be incredibly aggressive once interrupted from their feasts. Showing a ferocious side that made the cave bear appear to be docile. Both beasts had been hunted down to open the Gate. Floor ten was like the first in that it had a kill list to unlock.

“What’s wrong?” asked Malachi. “The hunt went well…”

“It didn’t feel very honest,” Julia replied with a frown. “I feel dirty, as if we should have faced the mammoth, strength to strength instead of running it off a cliff. Such a strong feeling, but I don’t even understand why I feel that way. Just a monster. They’re all just monsters!”

Malachi smiled, it felt mean to her, yet there was only a touch of wonder in it. “Look at you, Julia Sarcos. I always knew you had a warrior’s heart, but now I see you have developed a warrior’s spirit. You crave fair fights now. Honorable duels.” He laughed a little at the idea.

Pouting. “I don’t know what that means either! It's not like I really wanted to actually fight something that big! Or any monster! I do what I need to do to keep everyone safe. This was the smart move. Absolutely safer.”

“Yet, the regret won’t go away,” murmured the battlemage. “I can see why you feel ridiculous.”

“I didn’t say ridiculous…”

“Pardon me, feeling off then,” Malachi shook his head, maybe hiding an internal laugh. “What I mean is that you didn’t expect to feel anything for the mammoth and certainly not regret about how we killed the beast. You’ve changed from Before, and you are surprised by that.”

“I shouldn’t be,” grimaced Julia. “I had this whole dream sequence with myself about how I needed to change and be more courageous. Shouldn’t be surprised that other things change when a coward acts brave.”

“I’ve never thought you a coward, only scared sometimes. Reasonable when one wakes up in such a strange place. You’ve changed for the better, more you, I swear.”

“More me? Hard to believe when this new me is battle-crazed and regrets not sword fighting a mammoth without all her magic.” Julia scoffed, but smiled some at the idea that this warrior, the shieldmaiden, was more than an act. That she really was this tough.

“You are nothing but genuine. Ask Clarissa, she’ll point-blank shoot you down if you aren’t. Truth and teeth come from the mouths of babies and fools.”

Julia laughed. “Don’t let that woman hear you call her a fool.”

“It would not end well for me,” agreed Malachi with a smile.

“So, I’m different, way different than before and it’s not a big deal, huh?”

“Do you want it to be a big deal? Do you think you’ve gone wrong?”

The shieldmaiden looked down at her hands, clenching and unclenching. Blue energy appeared for a moment as she cycled Mana. “No. I don’t want to undo anything. I like being powerful and being there for everyone. I guess I was just shocked at feeling sorry for a monster, especially for the impulse of wanting to give it a fair fight. Suddenly I felt like a different person.”

“Is that really any different than looking back at yourself from ten years ago? Hell, five sometimes. You, we, are always changing, though admittedly the Sixty is changing a might bit more than the usual. Our whole world changed.”

“Yeah. I think the worst part is that… I’m glad I changed. I wouldn’t change meeting everyone, you most of all. Clarissa too.”

“Understandable, completely,” assured Malachi. They shared a quiet moment, holding hands. Sharing thoughts without words until it was time to get back to work.