Freezing cold water splashed across my face as the room around me swam back into view. Mel was floating in front of me, holding a bucket. I coughed and spluttered, having accidentally inhaled some of it before getting out some words. “What the fuck?” I asked, the profanity slipping out where it normally wouldn’t. Apparently unexpected ice water baths were still very much not a favorite thing of mine. A memory of a winter when my kids were young flashed into my brain, but I pushed it aside for the more important matters at hand. There would be time for reminiscence later.
“Sorry, something seemed wrong. You’ve been down there mumbling and shaking for nearly an hour. I ain’t never seen a fortification take that long. You all right?” Mel said, looking actually apologetic. Had I managed to permanently remove his glare finally? I thought that seemed unlikely, but anything was possible.
“I don’t think anything was wrong. I had something called an affinity evolution, but the ability it gave me seems pretty great,” I said, standing up and looking for a towel, still not happy to be soaking wet.
“Yer kidding, right?” Mel said. The glare was half back. I knew I hadn’t beaten it.
“Nope, how would I be? I didn’t even know what core fortification was before I started,” I said, not thinking Mel actually doubted me, just surprised at my revelation.
“What was it?” He asked.
“Mana Tinkering, here let me just read the exact description for you ‘Through the use of your engineering skills, your core has managed to evolve in a way that allows you more easily alter mana channels and flows. Further ranks allows for a greater control and understanding of how mana flows work.’ Like I said, it seems pretty useful,” I said, watching Mel’s jaw literally drop the more I talked.
“No one, and I mean no one, ever repeats what Dave just said! You two understand me?” Mel roared as his glare turned to the couch that the brothers had moved to at some point.
“I wasn’t really following what he said. I’m still pretty out of it, but I’m sure Cecile will agree,” Elicec said groggily.
“I guess. I don’t really see what the big deal is, though,” Cecile added, clearly not enthused with it. Which, honestly, was entirely fair. I had no idea just what Mel was worried about now. Was this due to how rare it was for people to really play around with their own mana channels and core? Then again, how rare was it really? I only had the archives books to go and Mel had made it clear there were gapingly large holes of knowledge within it.
“Dave, I know yer about to ask for yerself just why we need to shut up but don’t. We can discuss this later once we have a nice secure room somewhere, but for now, yer welcome to play with it all you want. Just do not say what exactly it is. If anyone ever asks, tell them you’ve got an affinity for raw mana manipulation or something. That should be similar enough for now,” Mel said, and I could tell this was more of an order than a request.
“Good, because I’ve got some ideas I want to try out. So what’s next on our agenda anyway?” I asked.
“The three of you are gonna spend the rest of the day resting. Timon should have the bus ready tomorrow. Then he’s gonna take yer asses to the persistent desert dungon. I want you in yer simulator on the trip, don’t push anything, but make sure yer mostly back where you were, if not at least a little higher. I’m gonna stick around here and prepare for our trips outta here. The moment y’all get back, we’re leaving. I know I ain’t the best at saying it, but y’all’ve done pretty great, and I’m proud of ya, so I swear if ya manage to die now, I will pay someone to resurrect yer asses just to yell at ya even more,” Mel said, surprising me with a smile.
“Good, because I really need some more sleep. Between everything I’ve been through in the last two days, I’m surprised I’m even able to think. I guess that says something about how I’m progressing, I suppose, but it doesn’t stop my brain from trying to force its way out of my skull,” I said. The headache had returned, not nearly as bad as it had been before the fortification, but it was back nonetheless, and I was sure a nice nap would help.
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“Yeah, go get some rest, you two too,” Mel said, looking from me to the Twinogs. I didn’t wait to see if they argued; my bed was calling, so I made my escape, and soon my head was on my pillow.
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“Hello again, Dave. How are you doing?” a voice said. I bolted awake at the sudden sound and quickly spotted who it belonged to. In the chair on the other side of the room was a man dressed as a circus clown. I was reasonably sure it was a clown I had once met as a child, and with that realization, the memory of the last dream meeting returned to my brain. How had I forgotten it? Was I going to forget this one as well?
“Hey, thank you for taking a different form it’s appreciated, but why couldn’t I remember our meeting until just now?” I said, worried that whatever this creature actually was was about to be a problem, and I really had enough of those to last several lifetimes at this point.
“I don’t know, but I came to you with a warning. In my journey to discover myself, I traced the path your mind took when I encountered you the first time, and I found the world of your origin, frozen under the power of the magic I saw within your memory. In the deep darkness far out from your home, I felt other presences that had also become aware of it. I cannot tell you for sure what their intentions are, but I believe I experienced what you know as fear when I tried to observe them,” The clown said. So there was a new problem, just not from it.
“Do you have any idea what the presences are?” I asked, not sure that it even mattered. If I forgot this conversation when I woke up again there wasn’t anything I could even do about them.
“They swam across the blackness, their teeth tearing and rending at the blackness itself, and when one of them saw me, I fled as I said. That is all I know. What their teeth were attached to or how they swam is unknown to me,” They said.
“Well, great, so there's a new mystery monster out to devour the Earth that sounds like something of a Cthulian horror. Maybe it’s best I won’t be able to remember this, as I don’t think there’s anything I can do about it,” I said, entirely understanding why this being fled. I was sure I’d have done the same. Hell, I’m not even sure I’d have approached them at all to begin with.
“There is one more thing, as my awareness grows, the faintest memories belonging to neither of us have started to stir somewhere deep inside me. I do not understand where they came from or what they mean, but there are flashes of things. Dave, what am I?” They asked as though I had any idea. Wait, did I have no idea? I mean, I certainly didn’t know who they were, but perhaps I knew what they were.
“Wait, you became aware of me during a very bad mana backlash event I suffered that nearly killed me. Is it possible you are the consciousness remaining from another extreme mana backlash? It’s possible you are someone from the Spiral who suffered the fate I managed to recover from. It might explain why you are so drawn to me,” I said. As far as I understood it mana backlash wasn’t particularly rare, so the possibility did nothing towards identifying who they may have been previously, but it was a start at least.
“That is a reasonable idea. I will need to dwell more on these flashes and see if I can piece anything together. Will you assist me the next time I visit?” they asked.
“Yes, and for now, stay away from whatever the monsters are. Hopefully, they aren’t an immediate problem with how far away they are, but even if they are, I don’t think there is anything you can do about it, so don’t risk it,” I said, preferring that this person stay alive for a future meeting, especially if I still couldn’t remember this dream when I woke up. How does one plan for something they can’t remember? I felt myself start to stir with that thought and tried desperately to hold onto the slippery dream as my eyes opened.
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The headache had mostly vanished after my nap, and I was glad for it. If I had to spend the trip in and out of the simulator, I needed to keep my brain as functional as I could. I also had another plan I wanted to work on, and I was going to need Corey’s help for that one.
I was tired of fighting up close with my mallet. I wanted to be able to easily cast spells and fight at the same time. With my new ability, was it possible to place the dungeon core into the mallet and, perhaps, even give him the imbuing mana orb? Would he be able to fight alongside me? I had a feeling I’d have to find a way to extend my own mana channels into the mallet, but for some reason, this all seemed more possible since I had gained mana tinkering. It was refreshing to feel some confidence in the idea of engineering something again. It felt like it had been forever since that simple joy had entered my brain.
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The giants, it turned out, were only the beginning, and now that I’ve learned of what they call the System’s path, I am forever changed. The fantasies of youth have returned at the simple idea that I could be someone who could wield magic like the wizards of folklore. I’ve made a new friend who has promised to help me form what he calls a core. I am honestly not sure I’d have made it this far without the help of Grom. He was one of the first people who didn’t treat me with utter disregard.
Ronald Tammen’s Personal Diary