I let go of the ledge, creating several steps until I landed on the ground. I was in a massive cavern about thirty meters high and perhaps two hundred meters long. There was a natural running river through it, not made of miasma, although it felt rich enough in mana that it felt like the beginning of a Waters of Life. This was truly a rich place full of potentially valuable things if the first thing I ran into was the primordial fairy spring. Well, without fairies, such a spring would never form, but it was interesting.

“Beautiful.” Alysia breathed.

With the algae giving off light, the entire room did have a gentle glow that reflected off the water. Other than the mirror labyrinth, this was probably the second most interesting place I had seen when it came to lighting. I’d consider noting this place for some kind of date night, but it seemed like it might be a bit dangerous.

Either way, I pulled up my Map, which was now centered deep in the earth. After making sure I could find it again, I pulled out and brought Chalm back into my vision. I then lifted my hand and summoned a portal. After a few moments, nothing happened.

“I thought this might be the case.”

The girls had been left with the ability to cast Portal. I wouldn’t have put it past them that something happened that kept them from using it. Maybe they had used up their portal earlier to escape a smaller threat, or maybe they had used it to get past an area. Maybe they had even wandered into a dungeon and couldn’t escape as I did.

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However, it seemed like the truth wasn’t so simple. If I couldn’t use the portal here, then the girls definitely couldn’t have escaped with a portal. There was simply too much earth between here and the surface, and it blocked whatever allowed me to cut through space. It could also be the thickness of the mana that caused the problem. The only other time I had experienced an inability to teleport was when I was on the other side of the planet. The same reason I could portal from here might be why I couldn’t portal from there.

The only way I could do it was to build a massive transmitter and dump a bunch of mana into it. That was easier said than done. Either way, it was a problem I’d worry about later. I had come down with the expectation that returning wouldn’t be so easy, so really nothing had changed.

“Pait, you have any ideas,” I asked.

“How could I? If you wanted a dwarf to guide you through the Deep, you should have kidnapped a dwarf! I may have seen a map or two of the Deep once or twice in my life, but that doesn’t mean I can tell you anything about where we are or where we might go.”

“Ah…”

“Master, do you feel Terra or Garnet’s bond remnants? At all?”

“Not yet… However, it’s not like before. Before it was like it was too far away to tell. Now, it’s more like a compass that is spinning around wildly. Something is blocking my ability.” I explained.

There was a moment of silence, and then Pait spoke up. “Travel downriver.”

“Hmm?”

“What would flow down, right? So, if you travel downriver, you’d be heading more into the Deep.”

“I see… thank you.”

“Ehh… just find your girl.” Pait responded grumpily, but once we’re back on the surface, you’re going to owe me more than just a few good meals!”

“Deal.”