Exploration- Chapter 32

Okay, I was at the gym and some inspiration for a slight shift in direction hit me. I came home, finished this chapter. Now, I need a shower, cause I reek, but I'll get one more chapter done tonight. I'm feeling energized.

Chapter 32- Step One

After rejoining Tad and the others, Samvek teleported all us and we reappeared right outside the warehouse with a soft displacement of air, the smell hitting me first. Old stone, damp wood, iron filings, and the copper tang drifting in from the slaughterhouse nearby layered together into something unmistakably industrial.

Mirren was already there, hands folded calmly in front of her as if she’d been waiting for us to arrive. She explained the arrangement without ceremony, saying the landlord had been more interested in being paid than knowing names or purposes. He’d made it clear he didn’t want guards, Lawkeepers, or city officials sniffing around his property, which suited us just fine. We all understood the unspoken truth that this bought us time, not safety, but time was exactly what we needed.

She opened the door and bowed to Tad, who the rest of us followed inside. Thick walls enclosed the space, their surfaces scarred by years of use, with heavy beams overhead that swallowed the light instead of reflecting it. It felt solid, private, and intentionally forgotten, the kind of place people stopped asking questions about a long time ago.

I walked the perimeter slowly, letting my senses stretch out and take stock of the space. The floor was uneven stone worn smooth in places, stained dark where heavy crates had been dragged or something unpleasant had leaked and never been cleaned. The air felt stale, but I figured we’d get it circulating soon enough.

Tad watched me with a thoughtful expression, then nodded once as if coming to the same conclusion. He said this would do, that Spot would prefer a place like this where the land wasn’t constantly shifting under water or traffic. Fara lingered near the door out of habit, eyes tracking every sound from outside, while Lexa stood near the center of the room like a living anchor. The rest of the group spread out naturally, each of them settling into the space in a way that made it feel occupied rather than crowded.

I stopped near the center and took a slow breath, feeling anticipation coil in my chest. This wasn’t a battlefield, but it carried the same sense of consequence as one. Whatever happened next would change this place and probably all of us along with it. I met Tad’s gaze and gave a small nod, ready for whatever came next.

Tad didn’t waste time once everyone had settled. He asked plainly who was willing to donate mana to Spot, his tone careful but hopeful, as if he already knew the answer and still felt the weight of asking.

Selena stepped forward first without hesitation, “We already discussed and all of us are willing. Silas seems to like you and that’s good enough for me, but this is a new procedure, so I’m going first. If it seems okay, then Samvek and Silas can join in as well.”

Tad nodded, “Honestly, I wasn’t sure if you’d be willing to. Everything about you three is different and to my senses you don’t quite fit.”

Samvek looked at Selena, “I can do it.”

“I’m not helpless either and you’re only worried that Silas will get upset if something happens to me, but the same would be true if anything hurt you.”

He couldn’t argue with her reasoning and soon, Tad had pulled out the dungeon core and set it down on the floor. Selena sat down cross legged in front of it and leaned forward enough to put her hand on it. “You did tell it that I’m an ally right.”

Tad nodded. “Spot can hear everything we’re saying. If he really wanted to, he could project a voice for everyone to hear but he prefers speaking to me telepathically.”

I wanted to balk but if I was going to truly treat Selena as an equal then that meant letting her take the risk sometimes. It was difficult for me, but it made sense. I was our healer, so I should be the last one to do something new like this.”

I felt the flow of mana start from her. At first it was just a trickle. Then it began to expand. It all her reality mana.

The change was immediate and unmistakable. Selena’s mana didn’t surge so much as assert itself, a steady pressure radiating outward from her hand into the core. She was so very skilled and possessed a finesse that I knew it would take me years if not decades to achieve. I couldn’t be too hard on myself though, she was simply that far ahead of me, so for now bull in a China shop was going to have to describe my style.  

It was all reality mana, dense and uncompromising, and as it flowed I could feel the air around us subtly reorient, like the world was adjusting its posture to accommodate her presence. Tad inhaled sharply and went very still, eyes unfocused as he tracked something only he could perceive. “That really does smell different from any of the magic I’ve experienced in this world. If I wasn’t convinced you three were from another universe that would do it for me.”

Spot responded with a soft pulse of light, slow and rhythmic, as if acknowledging her contribution and thanking her for it. The trickle became a river, and Selena’s shoulders tensed as she leaned into the flow, expression calm but intent. I watched her reserves dip and then stabilize as she shifted into feeding only what she regenerated, her control precise enough that not a scrap was wasted. Tad whispered something under his breath, awe bleeding into his voice as he said he’d never felt mana behave quite like that. I could feel how the potential for something amazing to happen with Spot kept increasing the more reality mana that he absorbed.

When Selena finally eased back, Samvek didn’t wait. He dropped to one knee beside her and placed his hand against the core, posture relaxed but focused. His mana hit differently, lightning crackling through spatial tension with a darker undertone that made my skin prickle. The Hell System’s influence was unmistakable, not corrupting but hungry, and Spot’s light flickered faster in response before settling into a new cadence.

There was a moment of dissonance where the order insisted on by Samvek’s hell mana contrasted with the freedom of the dungeon core. It was inherently part of the Fey System which unlike the Hell System was about chaos and growth. The balance came as Spot adapted to the flow finding a common point. Both systems were based on authority after all.

Samvek grunted softly as the flow deepened, jaw tightening as he pushed past his comfort point and into pure regeneration. Tad flinched this time and said he could smell it, the sharpness of lightning and the bite of something predatory layered beneath it. I could feel the strain through our bond, but Samvek never wavered, holding steady until the core pulsed once in quiet approval. I watched as both of them continued to poor mana in. Selena’s stream had slowed, and I knew she was probably keeping it just below the her mana regen rate.

In fact, I didn’t have to guess. I opened up the party interface and saw that her mana was sitting at 50%. Trust her to hedge her bets and not leave herself vulnerable even now. I needed to learn from her. I also felt that with Samvek and Selena both pouring mana into the dungeon core that the tension of something not quite yet increased.

That left me. I stepped forward and sat down cross legged between the two of them, completing the circle. They seemed to barely notice as they were so focused on the core although I felt a wave of welcoming come out of them as spiritual energy.

My mana flowed out in layered currents, spatial distortion folding around lightning, life warmth threading through it, and beneath everything a faint trace of time that made my pulse hitch. I didn’t start out nearly as slowly as they had. They’d both proven that it was safe enough, so I quickly dumped half of my mana supply, which was to say the least, fairly prodigious for my level and then following Selena’s example, I pushed with my

We fed Spot together for a long while after that, each of us settled into the rhythm of giving only what we regenerated. The core’s glow brightened and steadied, its internal light no longer flickering but holding firm. At last Tad lifted his hand and told us it was enough, voice quiet and certain, and the moment the flow stopped the warehouse seemed to exhale. Spot’s light remained, warm and alive, and Tad closed his eyes as he turned inward to listen, leaving us to wait in charged silence.

Selena and Samvek pulled back, but that sense of something that could be but which I couldn’t yet see was becoming over-powering. “I think there’s something more I’m supposed to try.”

The mage, Oliver asked what I was talking about at virtually the same time that Samvek did, but Tad stayed still for a long moment, eyes closed, one hand hovering just above Spot as if afraid to interrupt whatever conversation was happening. The glow within the core shifted subtly, not brighter or dimmer, but more complex, layered in a way that made my skin prickle. I couldn’t hear what was being said, but I could feel intent radiating outward, choices being weighed and accepted. When Tad finally opened his eyes, the tension had drained from his face and been replaced by something like resolve.

He placed his hand on my shoulder. “A moment of inspiration?”

I nodded. “Or potential.”

I felt a pulse from the core as my hand touched it and heard a voice in my mind. “You are touched by the primordial. That is ancient, as old as the ways, and you are a traveler. What are the risks with what you’ll try?”

Instinctively, I knew it was Spot speaking to me, but I felt Tad’s mind in the conversation.

“Nothing is ever sure, but every great thing I’ve ever done has started like this.”

“Tad trusts you. You may try.”

I heard Selena’s voice, but it felt distant. “Remember what we talked about. If you’re going to do something stupid, do it with intent.”

Someone else, I think Fara laughed, “He really is just like Tad.”

Then I opened myself up more the core. I felt the tremendous power inside of it. The power was ancient, and I could see how this little core was a piece of something much greater. Finally, the Ways made more sense to me. There was a second layer to his power, another connection that bound him to Tad. Even in that was power beyond Tad himself as I felt what must be the Void Court. Those connections and that power resonated with the primordial part of me. What would be a better combination that the Ways and a Trailblazer.

The seal on my aspect felt weaker, more distant, perhaps because the Heavens were further away. As tempting as it was to try and break the seal entirely, I didn’t doubt for a moment that the system thought it was helping me. Primordials were dangerous and I wouldn’t do something like that blindly.

The seal didn’t break, but it bent. That was good enough for a flow of primordial energy to pour out of my soul into the core. It created a suction and soon it was as though the core was dying of thirst and trying to suck everything out of me. The dungeon core needed more and more of it. At the last second, I had to pull my hand away.

The room seemed to spin around me and I felt woozy. Notifications populated, but I couldn’t focus enough to read them so they were shunted to the back of my mind. Selena’s hands were on my face, and Tad was mumbling something about Spot apologizing, but again, focus was evading me.

As I felt consciousness slipping away from me, I only knew two things. First, I was going to get a lecture from Selena for pushing myself too far. I hadn’t passed out for a while, but apparently old habits die hard. Second, it was going to be completely worth it. I didn’t know exactly what had happened, but I knew it was going to be spectacular.