Master Of None

”Every time I answer a question I feel like I am left with even more to wonder about.” Walker sighed while Alice had started playing with Midnight. The two were trying to see who could roast a bit of meat on the fire better.

After the other forces had returned to the camp from scouting, Walker gave them the basic information about the dungeon and how it would not be accessible for a month. He also made it clear that it had various dangers and would not be a dungeon easily explored and mapped.

This alone was enough to make sure that no one would foolishly go investigating trying to get credit or merit of any sort. It also made it clear that the dungeon would be able to be mapped for people in the future. That put a lot of the guards at ease since they knew that dungeons so far had been very dangerous and were hard to manage in terms of time and resources to invest.

Knowing that one would be able to provide materials and everything else needed for building as long as it was respected sounded amazing. It put many at ease in their hopes to expand the strength of the exploration here and even building on the Sigil continent where materials were still in need.

”So, dungeons are larger than we realized, have multiple entrances, and could be manipulated by certain people in ancient times. Sounds like this will cause some waves.” Gil had come back over to Walker and was casually stretching his shoulders while looking at some of the guards already chatting about what might be necessary for defenses here. Their work was important to keep focus on, but Gil was more concerned about someone else gaining the ability to manipulate dungeons.

”It will be a class that will make that person a criminal or a blessing. If they don’t want to help others or work as an employee of a guild or Genesis, then they could go against the people using the dungeons to survive. It will be very hard to regulate. It will take a lot of deliberation to keep respect for them as a person without making them an enemy.”

As much as Walker wished to be positive entirely, he realized the potential failings. ”They can come to the cathedral too. We focus on healing and won’t profit from their abilities.” Alice overheard what Gil and Walker were starting to chat about and understood she could be an impartial place safe for those with unique skills and classes afraid of being taken advantage of.

”That would be wise. Alice already has some healers and dark mages who had been kicked from their village. Some people who don’t understand how certain forms of whaling work or how certain magic skills like dark magic work fear them. Especially the smaller villages that don’t communicate or work with the direct leadership in the kingdom they are part of.” With Su seeing them and joining, it made a lot more sense why Alice was so firm.

She had the confidence in knowing how the cathedral had reached out since she had taken more leadership. She knew that offering help to everyone was not only why she had a saintess title, but also what made the cathedral what it was.

Cutting the cathedral away from the old traditions of godly worship and manipulated belief was a major move that had given way to a lot more faith in the cathedral itself. It had radically enhanced the trust people had in healers, especially since they did not charge outrageous fees. The cathedral’s healers primarily healed for free and donations were plenty enough to ensure that everything was paid for in terms of education and training, let alone expansion.

”We will take it as it comes. For now, we can look in to areas we might be able to release the fairy dragons. I have a feeling that this will not be the safest place. There are plenty of dangerous monsters that will threaten the growth of a very small species.”

Taking a deep breath, Walker waved over a guard captain and put them in charge of what was happening here. Since the dungeon would not open for a month and there was another location to check in on, he was planning to take everyone in that direction.

”Since I have better control over space mana, everyone should hold a little tighter to me and one another. I am going to try a bit of teleportation toward the marked location found by the other scouts.” Everyone grabbed hands while Midnight nearly bear hugged Mela to force her in to it. The poor arcane puppeteer was being dragged around and had no idea what was going on anymore.

As the mana gathered around them, the world shifted around them and they were not where they had been before.

”I tried to get us much closer but judging from the mana and that lightning struck tree we are a bit of a walk away still. I need more control.” Everyone seemed fine but mela was struggling to remain walking forward. A normal reaction for someone who hadn’t ever used any form of teleportation, let alone Walker’s which was a little more chaotic compared to the tightly controlled elemental rune teleportation formations.

”This is just about different rocks you think are from a tower, right? Can’t we just go back and deal with the fairy dragons?” Everyone looked at Remey as they noticed she was holding a small ball of alchemy flames. She was making a potion right now and obviously wasn’t trying to hide that she would prefer to be experimenting with the herbs she had recently received than be exploring.

”If you want to just make potions then just make potions. When we find something you might use we will just give it to the herbalists or other alchemists directly. That old man would prefer to have something new to experiment with than share with you, right?” The fire covered fist that Gil dodged next was just enough to keep everyone else entertained.

”The stone remnants should start around here.” Walker belt down seeing that some larger clumps of grass were growing higher than others. A telltale sign that something had changed under the ground and the grass had grown around and over it.

”Why are the rocks so important?” Glancing at Mela, Walker smiled slightly, he could see the paleness in her face had retreated and she was much more alert now. It seemed this was an easier topic to handle than the complications of dungeons and their future.

”If these are from the ancient magic towers made to balance and use mana in nature rather than rune formations and unique materials, we might understand how to follow those forms of mana and learn magic similarly. The paths of these ancient mages appear to have been much more connected to the flow of nature than the magic we use now that focuses just on elemental mana and the understanding of it.”

He hummed slightly before pointing at the mana threads on Mela’s arm, ”Your mana threads have part of you in them so you can move your mana through them. I feel like the same was done by these ancient mages. They found places that naturally channeled the manas they used and since those manas were calmer and flowing differently, they learned more. Did more. Advanced enough to survive in lands where villages, cities, and kingdoms could not be built.”

With a firm grip, Walker pulled a clump of grass up and found a stone covered in dirt. After a little water magic to clean it, he pointed out the dulled carvings on it. ”Stones like this are evidence that their magic towers existed. Around here, I would say this stone was part of something that had to do with earth mana.”

As if to support him, Midnight bounded out of the nearby woods and brush with Onyx, the two were dragging along a larger rock with even more cravings on it. ”And there is even more proof.”

’Ancient alloy stone

This stone was made using arcane earthen crafting. It is a mix of stones melded together in a similar style to forging but using earth magic alone. While it allows for the stone to last much longer under the general environmental damage, it is still easily damaged by outward force.

It is able to absorb and even hold some earth mana within it due to the fact that it is multiple forms of stone brought together. The mages that created it were once known as the bastion of the moving magic towers. Even known to utilize this stone to trap the ravager ants…’

”Let’s go and look at where you two got this from. We have some detective work to do.”

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