The shacks are fully ablaze by the time we make it to the central building, the only building not on fire. It’s a small one-story building, maybe fifteen feet by fifteen feet, made entirely of wood, with one door right in the middle of one side. Getting closer, I push my spatial senses inside the building, scouting out the last bastion of their resistance.
Inside I find exactly what we are looking for: goblins. Six of them stand in the room, spears pointed at the door, clearly afraid of what’s to come. It’s the first time I’ve seen goblins afraid enough to actually start shaking from their fear. Several of them look like they might drop their weapons and bolt. After looking them over, I move my attention to the corner of the room, where a staircase leading to a basement lies. I am unable to push my spatial senses any further, not because of a range limitation, but because there is some sort of magical barrier or field blocking me from seeing the basement.
“Six spear goblins are inside. No sight of the shaman or any hobgoblin guards. There is a basement, but it has some kind of magic protection on it, blocking me from scouting it out.”
“Well, they've got to be down there then, unless this tribe has no shaman. Let’s clear out the small ones, and then we can make a plan for hitting the basement. Rift warfare, or just get in there?”
“Let’s just kill them the old-fashioned way. I need to save mana.”
Daniel nods and walks up to the wooden door with his hammer in hand. I follow, putting myself in position to follow right after him.
Daniel kicks in the door with what is probably the most powerful kick I have ever seen. He must be using his skill to boost metal in his boot or something. Not even with mana boosting could I replicate that amount of force. The door flies off its hinges and crashes into two goblins, throwing them both to the ground and sending splinters throughout the room. Daniel runs in right after and heads for the goblins on the right side of the room, his hammer swinging before they realize what’s happening.
I follow, deciding to take the goblins on the left, who are equally distracted by the flying door and its shrapnel. My sword quickly finds purchase in both of my targets, dispatching them before the first two goblins get off the floor. Within just a few seconds, the room is clear of any goblin activity.
I turn to the staircase in the corner, walking over to join Daniel in inspecting it. Just past the first step, a dense black fog fills the stairs, blocking any view we might have had down. I stick my hand down into it, hoping to create a gap that I can see through, but the fog is too thick. The only thing that happens is my hand gets cold.
“Well, that’s certainly strange.” Daniel says, reaching down to poke through it as well.
“Yeah, it doesn't hurt, so maybe it’s like some kind of magical privacy screen?”
“Maybe. We have to check it out. They probably keep the loot down there.”
“Yeah, but let’s rest for a bit first. I would like more mana before we get into a bigger fight.”
Daniel nods, taking up a spot next to the stairs. I sit down and check my notifications. I can feel my ‘inbox’ is overflowing with them.
[You have slain multiple creatures.]
[Level 8 Forest goblin]
[Level 6 Forest goblin]
…
[You have leveled up to level 15]
…
[You have leveled up to level 16]
…
[You have leveled up to level 17]
[You have leveled up an active skill]
[Space Control] lvl 11
I leveled up from fourteen to seventeen and even got a level in [Space Control] from our little excursion, and it’s not even over yet. I can already feel the difference in my body. My heart is producing more mana than before, and my body can withstand a greater strain from that mana.
We rest for about three hours, hoping that maybe the shaman and its guards will come out, but they never do. I spend the time working on my external mana constructs, pushing mana outside of my body, turning it into a solid material, and then reabsorbing it. I don’t gain any skill levels, but I get faster at creating objects, and the amount of mana I can reabsorb—I’m able to get more than ninety percent of it back.
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Eventually, Daniel stands up and walks over to me. I can see his gauntlet is back to nearly full capacity, based on how much the mana crystals on it are glowing.
“How’s your mana looking? Got enough to push on?”
“Yeah, my body is starting to strain under the pressure. Let’s go before I pop.”
I stand up and send my spatial senses to their new maximum, about one hundred twenty feet away from me, covering the entirety of the goblin camp. I wonder if having this amount and quality of information constantly entering my mind could cause damage, like memory issues or something, but I push those worries down. I’m sure the [System] is taking care of it, or maybe my mind is also getting buffed like my body is, as it doesn't cause any more nausea when I use it.
“I still can’t penetrate the black fog with my senses, so that just leaves us with who is going first.” I say, checking over my gear one last time before we venture into the unknown.
“Don’t worry, Ray, I’ll go first.” Daniel says with the look of excitement he’s had on his face this entire goblin-slaughtering excursion.
He gives me one last look, followed by a nod, before he takes the first step into the fog. I follow right behind him, watching as our bodies slowly delve deeper and deeper into the cold and dark nothingness that awaits.
It feels like I’m walking through a really thick fog or mist, but without any moisture sticking to me or my gear, just the feeling of cold against my skin. I watch Daniel stop for a second when the fog reaches his neck, then he pushes forward, completely consumed by the darkness. I follow swiftly after, my spatial senses completely cutting off after fully entering. After another few steps, I feel my foot break through, allowing me to use my spatial senses once again.
The room at the bottom is small. Like, really small. It's a perfect cube, made completely out of stone, with no other entrances or exits. I push my senses out to their maximum, searching for any tunnels or secret passageways that the shaman could have used to escape. There is nothing but stone in every direction. Then I notice my mana sense picking up on something on the floor.
I enter the room fully, finding Daniel already crouched, touching the floor with one hand while the other holds a light stone.
“Uhh, you should check this out.”
I walk over and examine the floor, finding a complex set of inscriptions carved into the floor, with some kind of metal wire filling the grooves. I can feel the mana flowing through them and even more inscriptions under the floor. Reaching down to put a hand to it, hoping to get some more info, a [System] message pops up, the first of its kind.
[You have found a dungeon]
[Forest Labyrinth]
[Minimum level: 15]
[Current occupancy: 7/10]
[Do you wish to enter? Y/N]
Huh, a dungeon, like a video game. It has level requirements and a limit on how many can enter, like something out of an MMO. Will it have rooms we need to clear? Rules that define how it can operate? It says it’s a labyrinth, so I imagine the layout is a maze of sorts.
“Well, that’s certainly something. And it looks like six people are currently inside. I’d be willing to bet on the shaman and its guards. Maybe they retreated down here after they saw the attack, realizing we would probably win.”
“Maybe. They could have also been down there the entire time, unaware that their whole tribe just got wiped out.” Daniel responds, standing up. “Let’s wait a bit longer before we enter. They might still come out.”
I agree and sit down, continuing to study the dungeon… entrance? It must teleport you inside or something, because there is no obvious doorway or path, unless it opens one up. I try to send my mana into the array, or whatever it is, with the intention of studying it, but it just feels like pushing against a brick wall. Probably some kind of defense mechanism to stop any tampering, and it’s far too solid for me to get through with mana, so I send my spatial senses instead. My spatial perception is also blocked by whatever protections are active. Whoever made this was prepared for the tampering of novice mages. I doubt I’ll be able to learn anything on my own.
I wonder if this world has libraries. They have to. Any civilization has a repository of knowledge. It’s in human nature to want to remember things and pass them down. I wonder if they have books or use mana crystals like the one Rayke made for me. I bet they're mana crystals. They are too convenient.
After a few minutes of waiting, a change happens in the dungeon ‘screen.’
[Forest Labyrinth]
[Minimum level: 15]
[Current occupancy: 6/10]
[Do you wish to enter? Y/N]
Someone inside left, or more realistically, they died. I doubt there are multiple entrances to this dungeon.
“The occupancy went down from seven to six just now,” I say to Daniel, breaking his attention away from the sword blade he just attached to the back of his mana gauntlet.
“Really? Think one died down there? We should go in before something else takes all of our fun.”
My mana levels are high, and I’m as ready as I’ll ever be, so I agree. They might also get any dungeon rewards if we dally too long, and I really want some more mana crystals.
“Okay, I’m in. It looks like it might just teleport us in there once we accept, so we might appear in a room with goblins already inside, so be ready for a fight right away.”
He nods his head, and after a few moments, we both touch the array on the floor. We both look at each other for a few seconds and then mentally accept the invitation at the same time.
Mana shoots up from the floor faster than I can react to, enveloping me and my gear from head to toe, leaving no gaps. I feel some kind of spell or maybe a skill activate right afterwards, pulling me towards somewhere. If it wasn’t for [Space Control], I’d have absolutely no idea what it’s trying to do to me, but with the skill I can feel it warp the space around me. It all happens in a flash, the briefest of seconds before the array finishes, and I am standing in a new room.
The room is pitch black, which works well for me. I don’t need light to perceive my surroundings. I push my spatial senses out to their max range but quickly encounter an issue. Whatever stone makes up the walls of this room is just as impassable as the black fog. But at least I can still sense the room around me.
It’s another small room, maybe fifteen by fifteen with a ten-foot roof. There is nothing in the room except for a doorway with more of that black fog blocking access to whatever lies beyond.
Then it hits me. Daniel is not here with me. I wait a few more moments. Maybe he just hit accept after me. But he doesn’t show up, and I have to face the reality of the situation. This dungeon has split us up.
I take out the communication amulet and speak into it, asking if Daniel is alright, but no response comes through.
I take stock of my situation, going through my supplies before deciding on a course of action. I have my sword and dagger as my only weapons, three small and low-quality mana crystals we looted from the undead city, and about 3 days of food and water. The rest of my backpack only has a few rags wrapped around the enchanting primer and a change of clothes.
I check the floor, just in case there is an exit, but once again I am disappointed. It looks like I have no choice but to push forward. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little excited. I’ve always wanted to run through a real labyrinth, like some kind of Greek hero.
I take a deep breath to steady myself and step into the black fog.