Well, not much else besides a ton of hand?prints on the back wall like those cave paintings. Some were obvious enough, being humanoid in appearance. Though quite varied. From a handprint that was so close to human as to not matter to prints that if you squint, look like they have a thumb or so, plus fingers maybe.

Then there were those I could not see as hands. Hoofprints of all sorts, odd blobs, and a few spots that looked like they just painted the wall except for hints that there might be points. So of course I tried to line my hand up with a print which matched my own. You know, humanoid lizard.

That didn’t do anything and neither did the most human print. Now, clearly this was here for a reason and since it didn’t smite me for my nerve to touch it, might as well go big. This time I went for the handprint that drew me in, a large lizard hand. Don't know why it drew me, maybe because I always liked dragons?

Anyway, this time? Nothing happened!

Well, nothing I could pinpoint. There was a vague feeling that something had changed. So, being a bit savvy I figured this would be a good time to head back to the door. If anything, I’d be able to get a good night’s sleep. But I can also do simple math and for some reason psionic illusion plus psionic illusion equals a connection.

Well, I was assuming they were psionic, but the way they affected the mind made it a decent bet. Anyway, I was still lost, so making it back to the door was more of an aspirational goal. Now, I knew what I was going to try first wasn’t anywhere near likely to work, but can you really say you’ve been lost in a maze of tunnels if you haven’t tried keeping your right or left hand on the wall? You might just get lucky!

I didn’t, but you might. However, after a few rowdy fights, I did find something else and it was about the opposite of what I wanted. That being a connection between the beetle and rous section of the caves and the wasps home turf.

So uh, I know I was being all gung-ho about fighting? Yeah, that didn’t last. I ran away from there like a scaredy cat. To be fair to myself, wasps.

After that experience and having to deal with around fifty or so smaller wasps that decided to chase me, I was a good bit more cautious. For instance, I’m pretty certain I found a connection to the undead section of the tunnels. Didn’t confirm the fact, though. There was just a point where the plants all began to look sickly and die. It might have been the territory of something dreadfully venomous.

Whatever the case, I eventually backtracked all the way to the tunnel out. From there, it was a simple matter of keeping towards the center. Still, it took me, by my best guess about a week and a half to find my way back to the door.

A door which looked exactly like how I left it. To be expected, but I must admit a small part of me was sad that the door wasn’t open, like in some sort of video game dungeon. That clearly isn’t how it would work in real life. Even if there is a level to unlock a door, you aren’t going to just open it for someone or something to wander through while you’re halfway across the world.

And since whatever may or may not have happened at the handprint wall started with my hand, I figured it was a good place to start with this as well. So, without a handy handprint to guide me, I just put my claw up against the midpoint of the door.

Then it swung open.

Just that simple. So uh, at this point I probably should have been a little more paranoid? But who has time for that? I walked right in through the door and into the area beyond.

Good thing this wasn’t a trap. Though what greeted me wasn’t some sort of futuristic magical fantasy land. No, instead it was a very basic camp, with the fanciest thing noticeable right off the bat being the brick floor. Also, there were permanent structures and the cavern wasn’t exactly small, covering enough area you could fit ten or twelve houses including a modest yard for each.

Though the structures were a good bit tighter together. Well, a lot tighter. And being underground, whoever built this place went for a more tent-based approach.

Now, many of the structures had fallen over time, being for the most part four wooden poles with some sort of canvas strung up on every side, including the top. I guess they didn’t want dust from the ceiling getting into their stuff.

But there were some exceptions that stood the test of time. A few random outliers that I’d guess simply had newer canvas. Then there were the structures built right up against the outer wall of the place. I stuck my head into the first couple on the left.

Yeah, they didn’t have a ceiling cloth for some reason? However, that did mean they stood the test of time better, likely because of the poles being driven into the ceiling and the floor. Oh, and a handful of buildings at the very back of the cavern, which were literally carved into the stone. They weren’t anything fancy, but the square windows gave it away.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

And did I mention the door closed behind me? Of course I didn’t! After all, it was only at this point that I noticed it myself. Gave me a right food fright. Though thankfully palming the door again opened it up just fine and so I went back to exploring the cave settlement.

I wouldn’t say it was empty, but there wasn’t much of worth to me. A few bars of metal and no way for me to identify them. Various pieces of jewelry and some uncut gems. Pretty certain some of them were magical, but I wasn’t going to touch that with a ten-foot pole. If it glowed, I left it alone!

Where’s my sense of adventure? I left back in my old world with the secret organization hell bent on hiding magic to the point of exiling you from reality itself and my roleplaying books full of cursed items with names like “necklace of strangulation”. Maybe if they had been left in a state that I would describe as abandoned.

But no, anything of value that was left in this encampment had a clear intent of the owner coming back for them. Lots of glass enclosures for some reason. Anyway, about the only thing that might have been of worth to me was the clothes all over the place, but they suffered even more than the canvas walls.

I guess it makes some sense for how barren the place was. You aren’t going to feel secure in keeping your valuables in a place with cloth walls. Then I was almost on to the most interesting part.

There were a couple more wall tents I could look through, but at this point I just skipped them. The buildings that were carved into the walls were too big of a draw and more details revealed themselves as I drew closer. What I had thought was simply a rough job at carving them out soon revealed itself to be so much more.

While still rough, basic shapes and creatures adorn the walls of the buildings. It meant nothing to me, but I’m pretty sure it was a display of the species that worked together to create this place. And once inside, I saw more of the same except with figures repeating.

It wasn’t until I went a couple of rooms in that things changed. From rough carvings, it transitioned to smooth engravings and what I assume is some sort of language. Being that I only knew one language at the time, I had no chance of gleaning any meaning. They didn’t even look like some languages I could at least identify, so it was probably some sort of language for the supernatural.

Thank goodness for murals and such or I would have been left scratching my head. Or not, those murals guided me to the deepest room with another wall of handprints. Though this time they were carved into the wall instead of painted on. As I said earlier, I am capable of basic math so I would have likely put my hand on the dragon print, anyway. Would have taken longer to find, though.

As for why I was willing to do this, but not loot the shiny jewelry? One part sunk cost fallacy and two parts the fact that the murals were literally inviting people to do this instead of having them behind glass. So I walked right up to the human print and placed my hand on it.

And unlike last time, something happened. The feeling of an electric shock going up my arm. A reverberation in my head that sounds like hymns. You know, all those classics, which I guess are classics for a reason?

Anyway, I sadly didn’t get a direct download of how to read the language. That would have been helpful! Though I can’t be too harsh as it did have some basic information and one really important exercise.

Information such as the fact that I was worried for nothing. The chimera guarding the way out is actually guarding the way in exclusively. Because of course it knew I was there the entire time. I’m not some stealth master. If I had wanted to, I could have walked out right then and there. Though I would have missed this chance.

Now, don’t get me wrong. This wasn’t some treasure trove. For instance, it informed me that there were other such gatherings for other types of powers. While interesting to know, I couldn’t access them. In fact, me finding the handprint wall and even the door is less me being special and more the fact I have a talent for psionics.

The prints and door wouldn’t have even worked if I wasn’t transformed as I am. They require you to channel your psionic power into them and I didn’t have a clue on that. I was just lucky abilities with a physical manifestation put out a bit of a charge.

Though it also explained why I got so little from the first wall. It was a passive thing that required more on the user’s end. So, since it just got the passive charge from my hand, I only got a small twinge.

Anyway, all that information is fun, but not too useful and seemed to be more of a primer in case something happened. Which it clearly did, seeing as this place was abandoned. So good on them for planning ahead, I guess?

But yeah, the most important information was a simple exercise to train core psionic strength. Not whatever talent a psionic might have, but the base psionic oomph. Oh, and the information made sure to very specifically note that this wasn’t connected to intelligence or wisdom. You wouldn’t get smarter unless that was your talent.

Now, it seemed this was important to a certain point, after which the talent you have will be strong enough that further training won’t give the same returns. That it would be smarter at that point to focus on training your talent instead of your core. It might even be true.

For most other people. In case you missed it, my body was now made of my psionic power. Sure, it was filtered through my talent, but going by the example it gives of a person capable of creating ectoplasm? Which is apparently what my body is made of. Well, a greater core psionic strength apparently makes the ectoplasm more.

Need a solid object? It will be sturdier. Need a rope to lower something? It will have a higher weight limit. Need a sword? The edge will be sharper. And more! So yeah, a higher core strength equals whatever you make with ectoplasm being better at what it is meant to do. Which when my entire body is ectoplasm, sounds like a pretty good deal!