“We haven’t been using the tank you filled because it's too big and requires too much mana to operate. It's one of the older ones too, so it’s not very efficient.”
I listen to Darren and then answer, “Yeah, I noticed. The inscriptions were quite bad.”
He keeps staring at me.
What? It’s getting creepy. Should I tell him I’m not into men or something? Does he want money from me?
“Nathaniel…”
“Yes, that's my name.”
“The tank you filled should be able to supply us with water for half a year, and if we use it for showers, watering plants, and other stuff, it will still last for months. Do you even realize how much help you’ve been?”
“If you have a few more tanks like that, I can fill them too. Maybe four or five?” As I say that, Darren just opens and closes his mouth like a goldfish. Yet out of all the people surrounding me, he seems to be the least surprised.
The annoying part is that this kind of help still hasn’t completed the quest, but I guess that much is to be expected. The reward is 1,000 shards, filling one tank with water won’t be enough.
“I will fill five more and then I will take all filtered water from the last one for myself,” I offer. That amount of water should be able to last quite some time.
Something tells me that using an epic item as a glorified water flask would make some people beyond shocked.
I take the opportunity to ask for more, “I also want to see the other facilities, the ones you guys were unable to activate.”
“W-why would you help us so much?” Darren’s voice sounds moved, and I notice that some other people are close to crying.
Huh?
“I feel bad for being so suspicious of you. I apologize…”
What? Why is he talking like that and why are they looking at me? It’s creeping me out. I just want to finish the quest and check out some cool facilities.
“Such a good man. So people like that still exist,” someone else whispers.
I can't understand. It's just a bit of water.
Well, whatever.
----------------------------------------
After filling five more big tanks and taking one for myself, I'm being led through the city by Nina once again. A few people already seem to know what's happening, so a crowd has gathered, cheering and trying to swarm me.
Vega doesn’t seem to like it either and moves closer to me, her body twitching at every loud noise and sudden movement. Nina seems to notice and guides us down roads with fewer people, and she even sends some orders into the transmitter.
After she puts the transmitter away, she looks at me, “You probably still don't realize how much this means to us. There are days when we barely drink water because groups sent to collect it had to avoid the monsters. There is also constant worry that some of the water collectors will die, and they do sometimes. I don’t think there’s a single family that doesn't know a water collector who died or isn't worried about someone they know.”
When she says it like that, it really gives me a new perspective.
Eventually, we come to a door embedded in the wall of the main cave. There are already a few men removing some sort of barricade.
Seeing what I'm looking at, Nina explains, “This door leads to one of the older parts of the Sanctuary, and we have long since blocked them. Once every few years we go in there to see if there’s anything we can do.”
Damn, is she some sort of hype woman? It’s looking more and more interesting by the second, and I’m starting to forget where we are.
“Master…” a small voice whispers next to me.
Oh. I come back to myself and start disrupting my disciple's mana again. Vega fights against it and, even though I'm limiting my output, she gets slightly hurt every time she tries to manipulate her mana too wildly. There are already dozens of small wounds all over her body, but she doesn't seem to mind at all. Every time she gets hurt, she only tries harder and rarely repeats the same mistake twice.
I thought she would hate me or treat me differently, I'm hurting her, am I not? I was prepared for that and even expected it. Part of me even wanted it to be that way, it would have made the end of the floor easier. Yet, the little half-demon weirdo doesn't seem to hold it against me, she even seems thankful.
Nina had long since noticed our activities, but this time she turns to me, “Isn't that sort of training cruel?”
Both me and Vega look at her, confused.
“There are other ways to do it. I don’t want to jump in between a master and their disciple, but this way seems to be painful.”
“Yes…?” I say carefully. I mean, sure, it is painful, but that much is fine, isn't it? When I look at Vega, she seems to agree and her expression matches my own.
Seeing that her men still aren’t done with removing the barricades, Nina turns back to me, “You could teach her more theory first and gradually work up to it. She is really young, there is no need to cause her so much pain.”
Vega answers in my stead, “Master is much stronger than you,” she says simply. As if that single sentence explains everything.
Something tells me that Vega isn't talking about levels or skills.
“Nina, we are done!” One of the men finally shouts, and Nina turns to him.
I notice as Vega shakes her head, seemingly disappointed that she must deal with such stupid people.
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Isn't my first disciple just lovable?
Nina uses a key to unlock another circular iron door; though this one is only twice my height. Even after years of disuse, it opens smoothly, and they send some glowing orbs made out of a glass-like material ahead of us. Entering, I notice the vents on the ceiling that, unlike the other vents in the bunker, are not so well hidden.
Even though this part hasn't been used for a long time, the air here doesn’t feel any different from the air in the main cave. The only big differences are the layers of dust and the slight drop in temperature. The lack of people also creates a different feeling.
We pass through a short tunnel and enter a big room. The room is big enough to fit an entire house inside, and that's it. There are no more tunnels, no doors or rooms. Just this perfect dome.
The floor is covered in inscriptions, and they span parts of the walls as well.
The room itself seems to be separated into multiple parts. One section is occupied by pillars made of mana crystals. Another section has a hole in the floor and the third section contains several tables and items made of iron and stone. Most of the things inside are connected with inscriptions.
Lastly, there is a mana stone in the ceiling, similar to the one in the main cave that mimics the sun.
It's quiet, there is dust. The technology, mana tech, inscriptions, whatever you might call it, are over a hundred years old. Left behind and hidden down in the darkness of this bunker they call the Sanctuary.
Nina says something, but I’m already ignoring her as I reach the part of the room with pillars made of mana crystals. They are light blue and partially transparent, six of them, each multiple times taller than me. They are lined up in a circle and in the middle of that circle is an iron panel with a brilliant mana stone embedded into it.
I grab a mana stone from my pocket and throw it to Vega, "Train on your own for a while."
Then I disrupt the annoying glass orbs the natives are using. The color of their light has an irritating quality and they flicker. The orbs fall to the ground. In their place, I create a dozen large thermal orbs that start releasing an even and cozy orange light. I add more thermal energy to them and then send them to float around the perimeter of the room.
I generate a tiny bit of kinetic energy and release it, blasting away dust in front of me.
Someone starts coughing and probably cursing, but I ignore them.
When I touch the panel, I activate my eyes and thermal energy to feed my healing passive. A few of my skills activate at the same moment and I start examining the inscriptions. There are so many more of them than I expected. All intertwined with each other and each has a different sort of function. Some lead to the floor, others towards the pillars, and still more to the ceiling.
"It's probably a control panel, but our theory is that it needs an immense amount of mana to jumpstart—all at once, not gradually. One of our enchanters said that it needs to clear out the circuits. Another one said….”
Nina continues to ramble, but I filter her out.
Well, her enchanters kind of suck. Even Elydor could figure it out, damn, I miss the man.
This facility isn't efficient at all and it's likely just as Nina said. It's one of the older ones they built quickly and left behind. Old technology. As if someone found a bunker from the World Wars.
The problem is that it needs a certain amount of mana to operate. That's because that mana is used to power all the functions of this facility at once, that's why you need that much of it. Even keeping it idle requires quite a bit and for people not even close to level 200, it's too much.
If you feed it mana gradually it will use it up before you can reactivate it and switch over to idle mode.
I start collecting mana inside my body and look around the room. I take a few deep breaths.
Am I childish to be excited by this kind of stuff? Probably a bit, but who cares? It's fun.
"Minion."
"I'm Vega."
"How is your progress?"
"There is a part that is really difficult, the one with a twist at the end."
Oh, I remember that one, "What's the problem with it?"
"It's hard to... twist mana that way? It's always slipping by."
“That's weird, minion, that twist is similar to the pathway you are using to strengthen your feet.”
“What?” Vega looks up at me, her red eyes full of surprise.
“The stone I gave you should help to improve the strengthening of your body through the Mana Circuit trait you got. Especially the legs and feet. I also noticed that you stopped sensing your surroundings when you got the stone.”
“I…”
“You?”
“It's my fault.”
I check the amount of mana I hold now and it seems to be enough, but before using it I turn to Vega, “It's fine if you are curious, but even though this feels safe, don't forget where we are. We don’t know these people and no matter how nice they are right now, they may turn against us. We are just strangers they’ve known for a few days. This place feels safe but this world is dangerous and can change anytime.”
I myself keep sending my senses as far as I can, no matter what I do and how much I concentrate on other tasks. This is Hell difficulty and even though there are times when it is safe, danger always lurks around the corner.
“You tend to rely on me at times and that's okay in moderation. But disciple, I won't be here all the time. Always expect the worst and danger right behind the corner. Try to be somewhat polite even to people weaker than you, but always expect them to stab you in the back.”
“But master, isn't it hard? Being nice to people?”
“Of course it is hard. It is very hard, but what isn’t? Not that long ago I was a lot meaner and cruel and it was easy, but at the same time, it felt… off. I try to be different now, not because I’m being forced to or because of the way I was raised. I do it because I want to.”
I grab her tiny horn and use it to shake her head gently, “I might regret this decision later, I might even change my mind. But if I do regret it, I will be the only person to blame, because it was my decision. Oh, and there is also an exception to acting nice. If someone betrays you or hurts you or people you care about, show no mercy. Fuck them up and stomp what remains into the ground.”
“Master is amazing.” Vega doesn’t even try to make me let go of her horn and her eyes are full of admiration.
Such a weird half-demon.
“I am, am I not? So, my first disciple Vega, do you want to make your master look bad?”
“No!” She shakes her head and kicks my shin. She strengthens her body to do so, yet there is still barely any damage.
When I let go of her she returns her focus to the stone as she keeps watch over the area and the stone. The strain on her is obvious and I know the pain she is feeling right now.
Ready, I turn my attention and channel my mana through the mana stone and into the circuits that feed it, and from there to one of the mana crystals.
I release some of my hold on my mana and it rushes out like a raging river, but only where I want it to. None of that mana touches my disciple, none reaches beyond this room. All of it powers the facility. The light on the ceiling blinks on, along with several mounted on the walls of the room. A hint of a change occurs as the vents activate and start to filter the air.
Gradually even the circuits on the floor start glowing faintly and start releasing a bit of heat, most of it seems to come from the hole in one of the other parts of the facility. In the end, even the tables, covered by an old drop cloth, light up.
Nina’s expression is fun to look at.
“I want to talk with Darren, I have an offer for him. This place is a mix of a forge and an enchanting workshop, I would like to play with it.”
I will try crafting some items and examine the other facilities. Three days. That's how long I will be staying here.
It's as much time as I’m willing to sacrifice. After that, I will take my disciple and head to Bastion and the Valley, and on our way there I will level her up.
But for now, let's try having some fun and creating items. I have some materials from the 4th floor.