Chapter 28

It’s a new day and time to look over my status again. The main difference in my status since I last checked is Novice Light Mage going up to level 5 and my drawing and ritual magic skills increasing in level. Since we’re about to head out on a real mission I think I’ll put my Black Cat class back on since it seems to be the most powerful class I have access to right now. I’m not sure if it’s really worth investing experience into but the luck minimum and 5 finesse per level really make it seem appealing.

[Status]Name: Lilith [Surname Undefined]Race: Succubus (Demon) [Race hidden - Displayed as Beastkin (Sheep)]Gender: FemaleClass: Black Cat Lv. 1Level: 23

Stat Spread:Strength: 50Vitality: 100Charisma: 10Luck: 20 (400)Finesse: 40 (45)Magic Control: 30Magic Force: 40

Unallocated Statpoints: 0

Karmic Energy: 1717

Skills:Haggling Lv. 1Swordsmanship Lv. 33Illusion Magic Lv. 3Light Magic Lv. 2Light Manipulation Lv. 1Uuna Riding Lv. 13Linguistics Lv. 10Ritual Magic Lv. 3Drawing Lv. 8

Innate AbilitiesKarmic BalanceKarma AwarenessKarmic Resonance Karmic Retribution Dominating Authority Karmic HypnotismSoultouched Connection Lv. 1

Racial Traits:Infernal Heat ResistanceInfernal Cold ResistanceDarksightSexual Appetite Lv. 3SoultouchMinor Physical Shapeshifting (Succubus)

Titles:[World Traveler - Hidden Title][Origin of Succubi - Hidden Title]

I’d like to equip Intermediate Swordswoman at some point soon so I can unlock the speed stat but it’s not like I have any unallocated points right now anyway. The base 10 speed would be nice but I only get to change my class once a day and it feels safer to go with Black Cat for what we’re doing. I’d like to level up Novice Light Mage more some time but it’s not really a critical priority for me.

I get out of bed and stretch. Bella had already gotten out of bed and let me sleep a little extra this morning. She seemed to be doing something in the bathroom right now so it’s probably best not to disturb her. I took a quick peek out of the window, it was just before dawn. I didn’t want to keep the twins waiting so I made sure everything was packed up and ready to go.

Less than fifteen minutes later Bella and I came to the front of the Adventurer's guild to find Torien and Morrigan waiting for us. Both girls looked chipper and had smiles on their faces.

“Hope we didn’t keep you waiting long,” Bella said when we walked up.

“Nah, we haven’t been here long. We half expected you two to come much later based on how late you guys showed up yesterday,” Torien replied while handling me the additional pack of surveying gear.

“We’d never get anything done if we waited that long,” I replied jovially. “Anyway, do you girls have everything ready? Any last minute stops before we leave?”

Both girls shook their heads, I looked over at Bella and she shook her head too.

“Alright then, In that case we had better get moving.”

We left out the west gate towards the wilds. Apparently the road goes on a little ways but just stops abruptly. There are only small frontier towns like Bella’s around here so a lot of the land in the area isn’t surveyed or mapped out yet. We’re meant to be just an initial probe to get an idea of the terrain and monsters before an adventuring group with a dedicated cartographer comes out and creates a proper map of the landscape.

It’s half a day’s walk to the area and the four of us spend most of the time getting to know each other a little bit more. The twins Torien and Morrigan don’t really like talking about their past much but I’m able to gather that they have been slaves since they were children, if not born into it. They’ve gone through all sorts of slave training for many different roles and are considered trustworthy enough to work for the guild. I remember they told me earlier they were trying to pay off a debt or something, I wonder if it’s the kind of situation where their room, board, and training is being added to a debt they were responsible for thus keeping them enslaved forever. Their situation seems pretty bleak to me.

Bella chats about life on a farm but I notice she doesn’t talk about her family situation at all, only the various chores and tasks she did growing up. Bella being a farmgirl surprises the twins a lot because according to them, she looks too pretty to have been a farm laborer growing up. That makes me laugh a bit to myself.

When asked about my past I told them I was a traveler from the Queendom of Arala but I was in an accident recently and lost most of my memory. I said that I only have some general knowledge and know a lot of languages but I don’t really have any memories about myself or my past. If I heard my own explanation I would have thought it was pretty suspicious but maybe weirder things have happened in this world with the influence of magic around.

Since we’re starting to get close to the survey marker Torien decides to scout up ahead a little bit so I decide to take the opportunity to ask a little about the situation surrounding the job. “Hey Morrigan, I heard the reason Traehall was formed was because there was a dungeon found nearby but I don’t really understand why that would suddenly make people want to survey the whole region.”

“Dungeons are usually found in groups or clusters. If no one captures them and tames or destroys the dungeon, they can grow into each other and form a great labyrinth dungeon and no one wants that.”

“What’s a great labyrinth dungeon?”

“It’s a giant dungeon with hundreds of floors or levels and each can have all sorts of weird effects. The main problem with leaving dungeons unchecked is they are one of the primary sources of wild monsters. Dungeons that aren’t managed usually don’t have anything to stop monsters from spilling out into the surrounding areas and an unchecked great labyrinth dungeon can lead to large monster migrations that can take out entire countries. One of the primary reasons adventurers exist is to track down and deal with these dungeons. If it wasn’t for the threat of dungeons many countries likely wouldn’t be so accepting of the presence of high level adventurers running around.”

Huh, so dungeons are responsible for monsters then. “Where do dungeons come from? Do they just pop up randomly?”

Morrigan looked up at the sky while tapping her lip before putting her reply into words, “Dungeons are created in areas of really high miasma concentrations. Monsters can be created outside of dungeons from miasma too but dungeons are like a closed off area that lets the monsters grow stronger and be safer while they become more powerful. It’s unclear what specific conditions are required for a dungeon to spawn but lots of miasma seems like the most important factor.”

Hmm, it seems like dungeons function somewhat like closed ecosystems for the most part. “What is miasma anyway?”

“Your memory loss seems to have left you with a lot of odd holes in your knowledge… Miasma is stagnant mana. Scholars think that mana can’t be created or destroyed, using spells or magical effects just change the aspect and move the mana from one place or another so to speak. Even without the use of magic, mana is constantly flowing everywhere through living things, plants, the wind, and through the ground. Everything takes in mana, transforms it for it’s own use and expels it back into the cycle. Miasma is stagnant mana, that is, mana that for some reason is too heavy or sticky and is having trouble re-entering the cycle.”

Morrigan takes a moment to collect her thoughts before continuing, “There are mana wells and mana sinks. Mana wells are areas flowing with very mobile magic, it infuses everything around it and super charges any magic that is used near one. The opposite, a mana sink is an area of very lethargic mana. Rather than infusing anything, it saps mana from anything around it and condenses it until the mana becomes heavy enough to turn into miasma. Once miasma has been formed it infuses things the same way that mana does, twisting and perverting anything that comes into contact with. It also saps and condenses the mana of anything affected by the miasma until they change into a monster. When we kill monsters, something happens to the mana and it’s released back into the cycle, at that time the mana released from killing a monster infuses us with some of its power and releases the rest to flow back into the ambient mana.”

The thing that really clashes with my own common sense is the idea that mana is a universal constant but matter isn’t. In my short time here I’ve overheard of all sorts of magical effects that create and destroy mass but apparently, the mana used to accomplish these things isn’t diminished, they’re just transformed into a different state. That’s just such a wild idea I don’t know what to make of it.

“You sure know a lot about this topic.”

“I am a wild mage after all, I probably wouldn’t be able to use magic at all if I didn’t know how the cycle of mana worked. My knowledge on the subject is actually pretty basic but it’s still probably more than mages who do nothing but use their magic as another blunt instrument to kill things with.”

“Well I find it pretty interesting all the same.”

Morrigan continued on, “One thing we should look out for are magic beasts, they’re different from monsters but can be just as dangerous. Magic beasts are animals and sometimes plants that are heavily infused with mana and can manipulate the magic in their bodies to do all kinds of things. Usually they’re pretty easy to spot because the magic concentration tends to make them glow in various ways, especially when they're evoking the magic to do something. That’s not always the case though so be wary.”

“Are magical beasts all unique or are there groups of the same kind of magic beast?”

“Both can happen, sometimes an individual animal can evolve into a magic beast somewhat spontaneously or an entire group of animals evolve into a group of magic beasts slowly over time.”

“That’s all pretty wild.”

Torien who had been leading this whole time slowed down a bit and let us catch up with her. “I know you guys are enjoying your boring magic theory talk but we’re almost there.”

She points forward towards a small unnaturally smooth stone monument looking thing on the side of the road. It must have been made with some kind of terra magic or something I guess.

She points to some writing I recognize as common. “This is the designation we were given so this is the start of the zone we’re supposed to survey.” She points further down the road. “A few miles down should be another marker like this, everything on this side of the road between these to markers are the areas we’re supposed to document.” She then points to the mountain range that runs parallel to the dirt road. “We need to go as far that way as we can, to the foot of the mountain.”

“That’s pretty far. The first thing we should do is set up a camp. Our plan is to stay here about three full days starting tomorrow so it would be best to get something together as soon as possible. What are the chances we’ll find a water source around here?”

“Ah! I can check!” Bella looked excited. “I can use my nature magic to see if there is any water nearby!” I was caught a little off guard by her enthusiasm but other than her healing there doesn’t seem to be a ton of opportunities for her to use her magic so that’s probably why she seems so excited.

She stepped away from us and started to quietly chant. At first I was just watching her casually but while she was chanting I started to feel an odd feeling from the area around her. Eventually she spoke in a voice that rippled the air around her, “[Detect Water Sources]” I squinted at the spot she was standing in for a little while before I heard a chime in my head.

[Mana Sense Lv. 1 unlocked - You have successfully observed mana being manipulated near yourself multiple times]

[Mana Sense - Uncommon Skill]Mana Sense governs the ability to recognize ambient and infused mana. Higher ranks improves the ability to sense more subtle mana flows and increases the range of the perception.

Neat!