The next day.
When Bear awoke from his slumber, he was greeted by the pleasant scent of syrup and waffles. Squinting his eyes, he propped himself up from his bed and saw a plate of waffles on his bedside table. There was also a cold glass of milk lying at the side, and a note, “I’ve had breakfast earlier. I used magic to keep the waffles fresh and the milk cold. I’ve also left cash in your storage ring. I’ll probably be back in the afternoon.”
Glancing at the time, Bear was quite surprised to find that it was already approaching noon, with only two hours left before the sun would reach its peak.
“Ror…” Bear yawned softly, gratified by his pleasant sleep, and went on to munch on his waffles in peace. He then activated his storage ring which was stored right deep inside his belly. With his nanite physiology, it was easy to warp his flesh in a surreal manner and employ unconventional methods.
Considering his paws were unsuited for human rings, he just tossed the ring inside his flesh and called it a day.
When the sun had reached its peak and Braun was still nowhere to be found, Bear swiftly took a shower and used magic to dry himself. If he were to use a towel, it would just damage his precious fur and frizzy up his hair follicles.
Instead, magic was the optimal way in quickly drying himself without having to worry about hair damage.
Done with the calming shower and his daily hygiene, Bear counted the handful of gold coins and plenty of silver coins in his storage ring, and nodded his head. With that amount of cash, he wouldn’t have to worry about indulging himself for quite a bit outside.
“Ror.” If he was desperate enough, he could even use his magical nanites to create products and sell them. While it would be a bit hard with his lacking communication capabilities, Bear could still find a workaround eventually, especially with his unique skills—adapt, evolve, and transcend.
The bear soon wandered the streets of Lakeview Town, visiting various scenes that he had researched the night prior before going to sleep. It was surprisingly easy to do research with plenty of fliers and brochures to be found across the town and even within the inn they stayed at.
He mainly focused on visiting food stalls, perusing vendors selling meaty goods and fresh fruits. He bought himself meat skewers from the same stall last night, mango shake to enjoy a refreshing drink, and imported goods from nearby towns.
As someone that had previously lived in the wilderness, Bear had a fondness for human delicacies and the variety of tastes they offered, unlike the bland taste of fish and unseasoned meat.
“Ror.” He sighed sentimentally as he remembered just how small his worldview was as a normal bear. Now that he had gained the spark of intelligence and was on par with the mind of humans, Bear realized that the world had so much more to offer, and he couldn’t help but yearn to experience the these lands had to offer.
Slaying monsters, enjoying delicacies from various kingdoms and empires, exploring the diverse cultures of different species and nations; he wanted to experience them all.
And none of this could be possible if he hadn’t met Braun back in that fated cave.
Was it destiny that brought the two together? Was it merely a coincidence, one that could have both happened and not? Was their encounter meant to be, or just a possibility that came to light?
Pushing those questions to the back of his mind, Bear finished his afternoon snack and wanted to return to their inn, with the intention of experimenting with nanites once more. While the gun still eluded him, he slowly garnered more knowledge about nanites, technology, and science in general.
Coincidentally, on his way back, he unexpectedly found Braun walking out of a bar, the faint scent of alcohol and booze linger on his body.
“Ror?” Bear called out, surprising Braun.
“Oh, you’re here!” Braun chuckled, approaching the bear with a tipsy smile. However, as a green light flashed in his eyes, the rosiness of his cheeks disappeared, and Braun once again appeared as calm and rational as ever. “Nice timing, Bear. We could buy the stuff I need now.”
“Ror?” Bear was puzzled.
“You thin I can just do research without proper equipment?” Braun chuckled, walking towarsd a certain direction. In the distance, Bear could see a tall building housing numerous floors.
The building was Lakeview Town’s biggest magical store, selling various equipment for different professions. There, one could buy magical weapons and armor for adventuring, pots and flasks for alchemy, and even tools for conducting research and powerful divination equipment.
“I suppose it’s time I also try and learn divination.” Braun chuckled, buying another piece of equipment to prepare his makeshift lab in their inn.
“Ror.” Bear winced at the prize.
“Don’t worry about money too much,” advised Braun with a wise grin. “What good would hoarding a million gold be if you’re dead, right? Besides, destiny itself is hinting that the lake houses a fortune. If I get my hands on it, it would all be worth it, trust me.”
While Bear wasn’t sure how Braun could say that with such confidence, he still decided to trust his friend in the end.
…
A couple of days later, Bear eventually found his friend entering a sort of routine. He would wake up to find breakfast on his bedside table, with Braun either outside, or in a trance in his messy corner of the room.
In that corner he called ‘The Lab,’ divination and lab equipment were strewn around, while a messy complex web of interconnected clues was pieced together on a board plastered to the wall.
Carefully sidestepping the scattered papers and clues on the ground, Bear curiously inspected some of the data Braun had scribbled down in an incomprehensible manner. It was as if a paragraph was incomplete, and its end was written on the other end of the baord or in a random piece of paper.
Perhaps only the one who had made this whole mess in the first place could understand, requiring a powerful mind to process these data all together and piece them into one cohesive truth.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Ror…” He mumbled, reading some of the phrases in his mind.
“Is it even an artifact in the first place? What if the source of the lake’s power actually stems from some magical object of potent divining aura?”
“Lunar cycles, lunar cycles! The change is minute, incredibly minute, but there is a difference. Damn it, I should have recorded the mana ambiance on the first day, but subsequent days had revealed that the more ‘complete’ the moon is, the more concentrated the mana is in the air.”
“The meat skewers Bear bought back then is pretty darn good. Side note, Bear should really consider eating more human flesh. Maybe if he’s still apprehensive about it, dwarves, elves, mermen, or even devils would do?”
“Note to self, construct an underwater sphere submarine to explore the lake’s depths. Also learn some more divination and master illusion magic.”
“Am I a piece of shit for being so annoyed at how much of a stupid motherfucker that old granny acting as the town’s librarian? I mean, yes, she’s old and I shouldn’t blame her for being so slow, but come on, she’s so… argh!”
As Bear read the notes, the door abruptly swung open and the furry mammal nearly tripped at how surprised he was.
“Bear? What are you doing with my notes?” Braun carried a basket full of bread, surprised to see his companion standing amidst his notes. “You’re not going to understand a thing there by the way. I have a rather messy way of doing detective work.”
Bear stepped away from the mess, and pointed at th basket of bread in Braun’s hands. “Ror?”
“Yeah. It’s morning snacks.” Braun placed the basket on a nearby table, grabbing one for himself as he returned to his lab, and sat down on a chair. Nanites sprouted out of his neck while he casually wrote strange runes in the air. “Anyways, I’ll be busy. If you need me, I’ll be right behind this wall of magic. It mutes everything outside so I can concentrate fully inside my little workshop.”
A barrier of light shimmered into existence, sealing the area between the rest of the room and the lab.
Bear nodded, grabbing a piece of bread for himself.
…
More time had passed, and Bear found his sleep interrupted by strange sounds.
When he woke up bright and early, with the sun not having even risen, he froze as his blurry vision cleared up.
For the past few days, Bear had remained mostly outside, exploring Lakeview Town to not disturb his friend’s research, and so haven’t seen Braun much. However, just as he awoke from his dream, he found Braun scribbling down notes in the air with magic, connecting lines on his chaotic board with manic eyes.
His hair was disheveled and numerous cups of coffee lied to his side. He gulped a fat load of caffeine and murmured incomprehensibly, “The source of mana is definitely nearer to the bottom, but where? The point is somehow constantly shifting, but my hypothesis that the closer we are to a full moon, the more dense the mana becomes.”
“Mana could either stem from the dissipating magic of a powerful mystical item, the corpse of a powerful creature sealed in a pocket space that’s affected by the lunar cycle… or a dungeon! Yes, dungeons… Dungeons are the most common source of mana proliferation in this world. That’s why the capitals of kingdoms and empires are usually located in areas filled to the brim with dungeons.”
“With more dungeons, there’s more mana. With more mana, more people could harness the power of magic, more magical herbs and minerals would form, and more resources could be harvested from the dungeons themselves. Dungeon is essentially money waiting to be earned and value to be extracted.”
“If that’s the case… Then yes… this could work!”
He abruptly turned around, staring right at Bear with his bloodshot eyes.
Bear felt his heart skip a beat and a chill crawled down his spine. He quickly closed his eyes and lied on his back, not daring to look for another moment at the madness that had consumed his dear friend.
“Sorry… Sorry.” Bear felt a cold hand caress his head. Normally, this would have been a sign of affection, but Bear only felt more fear in the process. “I forgot to set up a seal to mute out my ramblings. Sometimes, sharper senses lead us to hear things we don’t want to hear, right?”
“I’ll buy you a nice treat tomorrow once I return from the library. Sleep tight now, Bear.” Rhythmic footsteps echoed as Braun returned to his lab, and everything went into utter silence as the seal was set in place.
Bear silently lied still, his fur unknowingly standing on their ends.
…
Two weeks after Braun and Bear arrived in Lakeview Town.
Bear flapped his wings, his figure having transformed into a humanoid robotic dragon bear, with eight pair of draconian wings on his back, fearsome horns on his head forming a crown, and a dragon’s tail wildly swinging behind his back.
Flying through the sky, he was met by a sight that would leave one drooling from below. What were once grassy hills was replaced by meadows of pancake and fruits. A vast golden lake shimmered in the middle, with streams of syrup flooding out from it. Trees of candy and leaves of cotton casted a sweet scent to the rest of the magical world.
Around him, the clouds had transmuted into flying slabs of meat with white angel wings having sprouted from their sides.
Bear licked his lips as he roared loudly. He hastened his pace and caught up to a large chunk of meat, one the size of a rocket, and bit into it. Unexpectedly, he found his teeth unable to chew through the meat’s exterior, and he couldn’t even taste a single hint of the meat he longed for.
He growled in frustration, continuously nibbling on the meat in a vain attempt to eat it. In his anger, he didn’t notice the meat had turned towards the sky, flapping its wings at extreme speeds, rising higher and higher, passing through flying meat and cotton candy clouds.
The meat rocket eventually approached the limit of the skies, presenting a dark void of nothingness. Everything slowly turned dark, and the Bear finally noticed its strange predicament.
“Ror?” he called out in fear.
A strange voice then echoed across everywhere, causing the very void to tremble.
“Ror?!” Bear once again called out, anxious.
“Bear…” The voice was clearer this time, but it remained a heavenly rumble.
“ROR?!” Bear cried out.
“Bear!” The dark sky shattered. “Bear, wake the fuck up!”
The bear opened his eyes wide, shooting out of his bed. ‘Cold sweat’ dripped down his back, although as a furry mammal, he was physically unable to sweat. He panted heavily, his eyes darting to the area around him, making sure it was no bleak darkness devoid of light.
“Finally, you’re awake.” Braun wiped his hands and sighed. “What have you been doing to cause you to sleep so much? I’ve been trying to wake you up for five minutes straight!”
The bear took a while to regain its bearings and responded weakly with a grumble, “Ror.”
“Oh, wow, really?” Braun paused for a moment. “You’re still hung up on creating a gun? I’m… I’m surprised.”
“Ror.” Bear rolled his eyes and got out of bed, wondering what kind of madness his friend was up to this time. Then, he saw it, a dizzying mess of threads, pictures, and notes all attached to one single board.
Braun appeared far more disheveled than yesterday; his hair had grown messy and spiky, and his clothes were replaced with a naked body. Only his boxers and socks covered his bare skin, leaving nothing for the imagination.
“Anyways, look at what I have devised!” Braun returned to his board of clues, slicking back his hair. “I think I finally know how to access the artifact, and how the lake functions!”
The bear distanced himself a bit away from the chaos, resting his body on the edge of the bed.
“You see, the lake only gains its mystical properties under two conditions: it’s night, and the moon can be reflected in the lake.” Braun cleared his throat. “Whenever those two conditions are met, the ambient mana would surge to the lake, causing it to gain that dim blue glow, and magic would occur.”
“I kept track of every variable I could gather for the past two weeks, and then I noticed it.” Braun slammed his hand to the board and pointed at the different cycles of the moon. “As the days passed and the moon got fuller, from a tiny sliver to a crescent, half, and now almost full.” He pointed back at the image of the lake. “The glow became brighter, and the reflections more lifelike and accurate.”
“Ror?” Bear asked.
“Yes!” Braun laughed loudly, almost maddeningly. “It reacts to the moon itself! There’s this… It’s like a passage is opening whenever the moon is in the sky, maybe due to gravitational fields or some secret magic principle, but the point is, the source of the lake’s magic, or the seal keeping it hidden from the material plane, is reacting to the moon. The changes get stronger and stronger the more the moon is mooning, so when it’s a full moon…!”
It was clear what would happen.
“The passage to the artifact would be revealed!” Braun grinned.