Realizing the point of Sleek’s words, Cal reached out toward the source of the odd mana he had seen. As his fingers brushed across it, he felt a violent surge across his arm, causing him to jolt backward. “Uh, what the fuck?” He asked aloud. The source he could see before was gone, absorbed into his core, and he could feel it bouncing around, slowly breaking down and being absorbed into the rest of his energy.
“That felt weird,” Sleek’s voice sounded slightly off as she said this.
“Yeah, I’m not sure I liked it at all and what exactly is going on with you? Is everything okay?” Cal asked. He wasn’t sure if he should take the second source or not.
“Yeah, sorry, just the abyssal mana is doing something in your core. I don’t think it’s anything that will hurt us long-term, but it feels like bugs are crawling all over me, right? But yeah I do think you should still grab the second source. I’m pretty sure it will be safest with you,” She continued to shudder mildly, not giving Cal the greatest confidence in her words.
He decided against questioning her more and just reached down and grabbed the second source, letting the same pain hit him. It didn’t. The new mana just flowed into his core and started the same process the last bit had. “Okay, why didn’t that hurt?” He asked Sleek, not expecting her to really have an answer.
“Uh, I’m not…” She trailed off and then hiccuped loudly. “Sorry, I don’t feel so good.”
“Yeah, we aren’t absorbing any more abyssal mana until we talk to someone who knows far more about the effects,” Having said that, Cal realized he was feeling something different himself. There was a subtle pull toward one of the passageways in the large cavern. “Do you feel that too, Sleek?”
She gagged before answering. “Yeah, there’s an odd tugging sensation. Does anyone else feel like they are floating? Wait, am I floating?” She hiccuped several more times.
“Generally, yes. Sleek, can you get drunk because you sure seem like you are?” Cal was getting worried about the spirit. None of the others had ever acted like this. He hoped she wasn’t in any long-term trouble.
“Maybe? I don’t really know, but I don’t feel as sick anymore.” Some of her cheer was returning to her voice.
“Are you two done yet? I wish to find more battle,” Third Smasher interrupted.
“Alright, you want more battle? Then let’s just follow this pull and see where it takes us,” Cal said.
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Third Smasher said nothing else as he silently followed Cal down the winding tunnels that some unseen force was guiding him through. At every bend, he felt the tug increase ever so slightly through passage after passage until Sleek wasn’t sure where they were. The tunnels were getting warmer as they went, which was even stranger as everywhere they had gone so far had seemed to be stuck in an endless winter.
The tugging turned into one final yank as Cal was almost pulled off his feet around one last bend into a giant open cavern. In the center of it was a giant floating ball of abyssal mana. Dark red and black colors swirled around the center of it.
The passage they had emerged from was on a cliff far above the floor and Cal carefully made his way toward the edge to see what was below the mana source. “Shit,” he said quietly as he peered downward. Thousands of abyssal beasts and even more eggs were packed into the cavern. There were things bigger than any of the hellmoose they had fought so far.
“While I wished for more battle, the idea of a pointless suicide interests me little. I’m leaving,” Third Smasher’s voice cut through the fog that Cal hadn’t realized had gripped him during their trip.
“Wait, yeah, why am I even thinking otherwise? We’ve gotta go before they notice us,” Cal said pushing away the incessant tug towards assured death.
“Are you sure, Cal? I think we could get to the big ball in the center. It might be interesting,” Sleek’s suggestion sounded almost reasonable.
Cal shook his head to clear his thoughts further. “Yes, I’m sure. I think that is some kind of Abyssal gateway, and we need to get as far away from it as we can. Ignore the tugging you’re feeling, and come on,” he ordered his newest spirit.
“Oh, okay, I guess,” she said as they started their long backtrack, made easier thanks to Third Smasher’s nose.
“What do you plan to do about those creatures?” Third Smasher asked shortly after they were back on their original path.
“Not sure, why?” Cal was surprised at the tone of Third’s question. There was more caring in his voice than he usually heard.
“There are too many of them for myself and Second to handle, and there is no one else suited amongst our population to fight such creatures since the death of First and our leader. So that leaves your group, and while I do not wish to bow to your rule, I also do not wish to see the death of squirrelkind.” This was the most Third Smasher had ever spoken willingly in such a short time. Cal was glad to see the squirrel actually cared about his people.
“Look, I honestly don’t know that even if we combine forces, we can currently handle that many beasts, but I won’t leave the squirrels to die, either. There are a lot of things you don’t know yet that I’ll likely explain to you before this is all done if we can keep working together. Hopefully, when we return, my dad will have secured some of the pools, and we can see about getting you a mana core,” Cal answered honestly. He had been considering it since their trip had started. Third wasn’t loop-aware, so it would be another good test of how far he could trust the squirrel.
“Thank you,” Third Smasher replied.