They had spent the night inside the runic Safe Haven. Luna had tried to cast her version of the Skill, but it did not work. She could not activate it while inside the already active effect. As expected, another pulse of Mana happened in the evening while they preparing dinner. When Luna had felt it she looked up and saw a blue wave race down the road, leaving behind sizzling embers. All three of them awoke in the middle of the night for another pulse but settled back down to sleep quickly.
The next morning they all woke nearly at the same time, well-rested and ready to finally find out where the road would lead them. After a quick breakfast, they got moving again. Luna was still in the lead with her bow in hand, but they had not seen anything larger than a squirrel and a scared badger that bumbled out of the forest in front of them. Nonetheless, Luna did not stop being vigilant. The forest on both sides of the road was blocking her vision and anything could jump out at any moment.
The road had been running straight for a while, but the terrain changed and it started to swerve around to avoid unseen obstacles, which were hidden in the forest around them. The turns and twists created an impression of walking towards a solid wall of the forest until you reached the turn and the next stretch of road became visible. When the next pulse, which they had dubbed 'noon pulse' came around they were in the middle of the road and panicked for a second, but the pulse just rushed over them without any effect. After that experience, they had a quick lunch of fruits but decided to start moving again soon.
Only a short while later they came around another bend in the road and spotted a small stone building sitting at a crossroad. The road split up in three different directions here and once they got closer they could make out signs near the building pointing in each direction. This time even Luna was not able to make out what the signs said, although the language looked similar to the runic script she had been able to decipher the night before.
What looked like a small building from afar turned out to be bigger than expected. The six-sided structure rose at least 4 meters in front of them, with a big portal leading inside. Evelyn led the way but stopped on the threshold. When Luna caught up she understood why.
"This isn't possible," Evelyn said, clearly shaken. "This is an ancient wayshrine. There are some of them all over the human kingdoms. Every major city has one hidden somewhere. They can look differently, some like this one with a honeycomb layout with six walls and one grand portal, others are little crypts or grottos, or even delicate pavilions. Nobody ever found a use for them, but nobody was able to tear them down either."
Evelyn had summoned one of Luna's books on dungeons and flipped through the pages. She found what she was looking for and showed Luna and Fiona a drawing inside. It showed a perfect replica of the building they were now standing in.
Luna stepped forward and looked over the room. It wasn't that big, maybe 40 square meters in total, but the room was shining brightly in the light of several Mana lamps. Five walls were unadorned and empty, but the central one, opposite of the entrance, had a very lifelike mural of a tree standing alone on a field in the sun. The ground was smooth dark granite and Luna slowly walked over towards the mural.
Evelyn and Fiona were following behind Luna and when the three arrived in front of the mural they just stood there and watched. "I have seen this mural before. It is the same in every wayshrine. It is also in every single safe room in a dungeon." Evelyn whispered.
Luna stepped up close to the mural, entranced by the beauty of the scene. To her, it felt like there was actual sunlight pouring out of the picture. The longer she looked at it, the more lifelike it became. The grass glittering in the sun and the tree branches swaying in the wind. By some impulse, Luna reached out and laid her hand on the tree and flinched back a second later when letters appeared in her vision.
Greetings Emiluna
This is your first visit ...
When Luna had jumped back, Evelyn and Fiona had quickly come up to her side. "What is it, Luna?" Fiona asked her.
"Can you lay your hand on the tree in the mural please?" Luna asked her and Fiona did as requested, only to turn around and look at Luna questioningly. "Is something supposed to happen?"
"You don't see anything? Like when you touch a Class Tablet?" Luna suddenly realized that it had not been very clever of her to just talk about it, but how else was she supposed to test if the others could interact with it as well?
Luna shook her head and stepped up again, touching the tree.
Greetings Emiluna
This is your first visit to a Sylvan Wayshrine.
This Wayshrine is now unlocked.
Wayshrine Status: Active
Mana: 47283/50000
Mana regeneration per minute: 2%
Please select one of the following options.
1. View list of Wayshrines
2. Redeem Dungeon Shards
3. Class Library
4. Local Map
5. View your Status
Luna mentally selected option number one and the screen changed to another list.
1. Deepwood Crossing (Current Location)
2. Garden Pavilion #37 (inert)
Luna did not understand what 'inert' meant and tried selecting it, which prompted another message.
The Wayshrine Garden Pavilion #37 is inert due to insufficient mana density.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
Remote override with local Mana: Available (1/1 Charges left, 1-year cooldown)
Luna just followed the text where it led her and selected the override function, prompting another message.
Override Activated. Prepare for fast travel.
The message disappeared and Luna turned around to see Evelyn and Fiona staring at her. "What did you do? The portal just closed! We are shut in!" Evelyn demanded from her.
"I can see text when touching the tree, like when I used a Class Tablet. I had a list of options and I just checked what the list of wayshrines is and now..." Luna was interrupted by a blue flash that started circling the chamber. It reached from the floor up to the domed roof of the building and started speeding up.
Luna, Evelyn, and Fiona had retreated to the middle of the room, looking at what was happening around them anxiously. It only took a few couples of seconds until the wall was shining in white-blue light. A big flash forced them to close their eyes and when Luna opened them again she was looking into the disbelieving faces of Michelle and Peter.
"Luna? What? How?" That was all Michelle was able to get out before Evelyn and Fiona started puking all over the place.
Luna stood there disbelieving. Around here was the garden pavilion of the Pathfinder Guild in the Laven capital. She had slept here before she left for the voyage with Parrot. A few seconds ago she was on another continent, now she was back where she had started. She turned around until she found the one solid wall in the pavilion and stepped up to the mural.
Peter was helping Evelyn and Fiona with some water and Michelle stepped up beside Luna looking at the mural. "I could swear the mural never looked this good. It was always faded, the paint brittle, simply an old painting. What did you do?" He asked her.
"Don't ask me. Just a few seconds ago we were standing in another wayshrine on a continent six weeks travel by boat to the east. Let me check something." Luna replied and stepped forward, resting her hand on the tree in the mural again.
Greetings Emiluna
Wayshrine Status: Active
Mana: 40000/50000
Mana regeneration per minute: -0.1%
The structure was returned to peak condition.
No Mana regeneration, all passive and maintenance effects are on hold.
Please select one of the following options.
1. View list of Wayshrines
2. Redeem Dungeon Shards
3. Class Library
4. Local Map
5. View your Status
Luna dismissed the message and turned around to Michelle. "Did you know this is a wayshrine?"
Michelle just raised his eyebrows. "You mean those mysterious buildings that nobody knows what to do with? No, I had no idea. That still does not explain how you appeared out of nowhere. Care to introduce your friends?"
"Oh, right." Luna mumbled, she had completely forgotten about Evelyn and Fiona for the moment. She walked over to where they were sitting and found them in a much better state than just a short while ago.
"Let me introduce everyone. Evelyn and Fiona are two settlers who were on the expedition with me. This is Peter, the steward at the Pathfinder Guild in the capital of Laven and this is Michelle, the head of the Pathfinder Guild in the Laven kingdom."
Evelyn and Fiona had slowly gotten up when Luna made the introductions and had shaken hands with the two men. Michelle wanted a full report, but Peter insisted that they should retreat to the manor patio for some refreshments and food. Peter led the way with Fiona and Evelyn, while Luna and Michelle followed behind them. Luna took the chance to tell Michelle that the two women had no idea about her race and that she would like to keep it that way.
They settled on the patio at the table Luna had the first lunch with Michelle. It felt like that had happened ages ago and not just a few weeks. When Joan appeared from inside the manor Luna quickly jumped up and hugged the slightly bewildered-looking woman.
When they all settled around the table with drinks Evelyn started to tell her's and Fiona story. How they had joined the expedition to get away from the Zollan king. She stopped when they arrived on the new continent and prompted Luna to pick up the story from there.
Luna had mentally prepared herself and asked Peter for paper and a pen to write things down while Evelyn was talking. She had created a small list of things that she wanted to get out first and then explain the details. After Evelyn had finished she stood up and leaned on the table with both hands.
"Okay, do not interrupt me. I will say a few things and you will want to ask for details. Please wait until you heard them all, then consider the priorities of things you might have to do. So here it goes." Luna took a deep breath and then rattled off her list.
"First: Parts of the Pathfinder Guild are working with the Zollan king. The king placed spies with combat classes on the expedition and they had a full map of settlers, which only the Pathfinder Guild should have." Luna stalled Michelle, who wanted to ask questions right away, by raising her hand.
"Second: The whole continent is a Mana Dense Zone that grants ten times the experience gain for class actions and achievements. I saw animal monsters on my first day there."
"No questions!" She reminded them after seeing the looks she received from around the table, while Evelyn and Fiona were hard-pressed to not start laughing out loud.
"Third: I can travel from one wayshrine to another. We just skipped six weeks of travel and I was able to take Evelyn and Fiona with me, even if that was not exactly planned in the first place."
"Fourth: Parrot is traveling back, but there are more Zollan spies on the ships. They need to be intercepted, otherwise, news of the experience bonus will spread and we all know what will happen."
"Fifth: We killed a few of the Zollan collaborators and their corpses dissolved. Evelyn, show them the shard!"
When Evelyn held out her hand and the Dungeon Shard simply appeared on the table it caused another commotion. Joan and Michelle had hands on their weapons, clearly understanding what they had just seen.
"Luna, I will have a lot of questions for you. Right now what I want to know the most is, who are you exactly?" Michelle said while looking at Evelyn.
Evelyn smirked. "I guess you know what an Inventory is and what that means. You will be hard-pressed to find any information about me anywhere in your books, as my adventurer and dungeon days are long passed. Let's just say that I am older than I look and that my level is a bit deceiving."
Luna was still standing and bristled at the tone Michelle used on Evelyn. "Stop that. They are guests, they did not plan to appear here. If you want to know something you can ask nicely or don't bother asking at all." She told him.
Michelle, Peter, and Joan were looking at Luna incredulously. They were not used to her using that tone on them. Then Joan started to giggle, which broke the spell. Peter supported Luna. "She is right, they are guests. You can ask them to leave but you are not going to treat them like that."
"Alright alright. I am backing off!" Michelle told them. "Now Luna, care to explain those things you said?"
Luna spent the next half hour explaining what had happened since she left with Parrot. The discovery of the experience multiplier caused the biggest commotion. Joan instantly proclaiming that she would be joining the settlement. Evelyn, Fiona, and Luna shared a knowing look. That reaction was what they were afraid would happen with every single person that heard about it.
The Dungeon Shard was another interesting topic and Michelle pitched the idea of the whole continent being a dungeon, but Evelyn disagreed. She still could not put her finger on it, but she insisted that it did not feel right.
They kept discussing the various topics when Luna interrupted them. "This wayshrine is not regenerating mana, it is slowly losing it. I will use it to go back in an hour, if there are still questions left, ask them now."