Dungeon at the End of the Universe

An unexpected boon of having a planet that hasn’t yet fully awakened to mana was exactly that, a lack of mana. Or rather, the ease of access of an area with some of it and with none of it.

“You have to control it tighter!” Faellen reminded for the umpteenth time.

“I. Am. Trying!” Ram shouted in reply as she once more attempted to use her Ability.

The two of them were just outside of the area of the Dungeon network. Faellen had lured a slightly mutated bear out of it where there was no mana. Now, Ram was trying her best to use her defensive Ability to defend against the bear, while doing her best to waster as little mana as she could.

The System was a great tool for learning and helped one build one a solid foundation. But it didn’t do everything for you. Such as making sure none of the mana used during an Ability activation goes to waste.

That was a skill that had to be learned. And what better way to do so than in an area starved of the resource, where every drop counts?

The bear roared, falling onto Ram. She lifted her shield between its giant clawed paws and activated Knight’s Bulwark. Her only active Ability rooted her to the ground and strengthened her arms and shield.

Once the bear fell onto her, she barely even moved. The bear, confused, pushed off of the shield. In that moment, Ram lifted her sword and swiftly cut the bear open. After that, its fate was sealed.

Clap, clap, clap. “Well? Did you feel something?” the fairy asked once the beast stopped moving.

“No. I was running low on mana. Need to recharge.”

Breathing heavily, Ram made her way further into the jungle. A few dozen meters in, she crossed an invisible threshold and mana began to flow into her.

“Alright then,” Faellen appeared out of seemingly nowhere, “While you recover we might as well proceed with the next part of training.”

Ram just groaned, but sat down regardless. It would take a while for her mana pool to recover, so she might as well use the time.

“Good. We’re going to try starting with some meditation. Warriors like yourself tend to find revelations during combat or strenuous activities rather than mindful moments, but it never hurts to try.”

“Is this really necessary?”

“Yes. You have a huge advantage in your blessing. Do you really want it to go to waste?” The ensuing silence was answer enough. “Now, close your eyes and focus.”

Ram did so, closing all 80 of her eyes.

Oh, did you forget about that? Did you think Sipalians were just normal humanoids but with three sets of arms? Well, here’s a reminder that they also have weird heads with 80 eyes.

Faellen itself also followed. After all, the little fae had the blessing too. And it too didn’t yet know what all it did.

So there they were. Giant Sipalian and tiny fairy, sitting in front of each other with closed eyes, trying to peer deep into themselves to figure out the secret of their blessings.

On the other hand, a different due was experiencing a much less peaceful situation.

On the outskirts of the forest jungle Ram and Faellen were inside of, Ditti and Prshky were trying to make their way through.

Unlike the former two, these ones did not have a big strong figure with a sword to cut a way through the dense underbrush. Sure, Ditti had their daggers, but those were not really suited to cutting down plants. And let nothing be said about Prshky’s idea of using a mana bolt to create a path. That had a greater chance of starting a forest fire than a proper pathway.

Still, even so they may steady, if slow, progress.

And lastly, there was also a new development.

Back inside the city the three Sipalians plus a fairy had escaped from not too long ago. The scheduled inspection time of the three people who were vanished by the pillars of light came.

Those selected for said duty were in for a rather unpleasant surprise.

When they opened the door to the trios room, they found it empty. Completely and utterly empty. There was no sign of them.

Soon, an alarm was raised. Agents began the scour the city for any trace of them, any sign at all. When nothing came of that they expanded beyond the walls of the inner city and searched both high and low in the outskirts.

And yet, nothing turned up. It was as if they had vanished without at trace.

A few people theorised that they must’ve been taken by the Light again, but the idea was quickly shot down. Nobody had seen the pillars of light descend.

It was actually on a complete coincidence that they finally found a trail.

One of the agents notified of the breakout had the habit of taking a walk around the city when thinking over a tough case. It also just so happened that when he was doing so, he stumbled across some footsteps.

That by itself wouldn’t have been anything noteworthy. Except that the footstep were not anywhere near the roads. And the direction they were heading in was also rather peculiar.

Others were quickly notified and a more organized search was launched.

A team of agents set out to follow the trail. They had supplies to last them almost a month and were determined to not return without their targets.

What they would actually find, none of them could’ve expected.