Past the door they had just forced open, Regina and the others found themselves in some kind of complex. She supposed it could be called a bunker, although it looked more like a hi-tech facility that just happened to lack windows. For a moment, she almost felt like she was in some VR game.

Of course, the sensation of the twisted mana in the place countered that impression rather quickly. It might have something to do with why everything seemed to be very well preserved, though. At least considering that a thousand years had passed. It didn’t help that the place had clearly been abandoned in a hurry, and she could still see tablets, books and various other accessories like coffee cups lying around.

“Can you see anything?” Owin asked quietly. “It’s too dark for us.”

“Here, maybe this can help.” Via smiled and hit one of the panels beside the door. A light-switch.

Regina had the urge to close her eyes in exasperation. Her drones didn’t usually act like children, but they had their moments. However, before she could say anything, a LED light on the ceiling sputtered to life.

Regina squinted against the sudden brightness. “Via, we wanted to keep our presence quiet! That means not hitting random light switches. That said, how did this one still work?”

“Is this an actual Progenitor facility that is still functioning?” Gwen asked. Regina didn’t miss the awe in her voice.

“Obviously. I’m just not sure how it can still have power. Clearly, the power lines won’t work anymore.” Regina frowned. “I suppose it could have relied on its own power sources, but it has been a thousand years. It’s hard to believe they’re still in working order.”

“You mean the electricity the Progenitors harnessed to work as their magic?” Owin asked. He was looking around, but kept glancing at her as well, a small frown on his face.

“Close enough.” At this point, Regina was past trying to hide that she knew about the ‘Progenitors’. It would be obvious anyway, and she couldn’t let their presence tie her hands too much. The idea of trying to pretend to study this like some alien archaeologist made her cringe, and she’d probably slip up pretty soon, anyway.

If they made a fuss about it, then too bad. She was still pretty sure she could arrange for the Delvers to meet a tragic accident if it was really necessary. Especially considering a large part of her hive was very close by, probably just past the tunnels on the other side of this facility. Regina was already reaching out to them, using their minds to get a better idea of their position, as well as relaying the gist of what was happening so they were prepared.

“Let’s look around, but don’t touch anything,” she ordered.

They had arrived in a central part of the facility that seemed to be dedicated to research. There were a lot of offices and computers, as well as some conference rooms, all with very high-quality equipment. It could have been built for administrative purposes, too, but the decorations, posters, whiteboards and post-its seemed to indicate differently. Although most of them were, of course, illegible. She randomly tried a few computers, but they clearly hadn’t weathered the time that had passed - or maybe the mana waves after all - quite as well as the lights, and were just dead bricks.

Beneath that part, the facility had a lower layer, which seemed to be largely used for maintenance, but also security. Regina actually found what seemed like a guard post with several locked weapons cabinets. That didn’t exactly help the ‘sci-fi movie facility’ feel she got. However, another large portion of the lower part of the complex was clearly used for power generation, which answered her previous question.

“I think these are geothermal generators,” Regina stated, glancing at the large pipes descending into the ground. “At least one of them still works. I can feel some magic in them, though more in the outer parts and housing of the actual generator part.”

“Do you think that is what preserved them?” Owin asked, taking a step closer before he stopped. They’d split up to scout the place, but he’d followed her, along with Max, Tim and Ira.

“Presumably.” She shrugged. “This facility was really lucky. I’m not sure if this quite works the same way it did back in the day, but mana surges can be chaotic. And it doesn’t look like they used many electronics for this system, either. Maybe they wanted to secure it against hackers or sabotage.”

“Hackers?” Gwen asked from the doorway. “These look a little too sturdy to be easily hacked apart, but wouldn’t someone have to make it in here in the first place?”

“Never mind.” Regina sighed. “I’d rather not mess with any of this. Let’s join up with the others and take stock.”

They rendezvoused in the main part of the facility, reporting what they’d found. The others didn’t have much to tell, as they’d mostly just seen more of the same.

“There is a rather large and heavily secured door further down the corridor.” Tim pointed out. “If I had to guess, that’s the main entrance, or the way to it.” He hesitated, then continued quietly enough that even Regina had trouble hearing, and the humans definitely wouldn’t. “I’m not sure about Galatea’s position, but there might be another section of this complex, which is probably also accessible from there.”

Regina nodded. So far, they hadn’t found anything that would explain why this whole thing was in a secured underground bunker instead of some normal, above-ground institute. Granted, they didn’t know what data might have been stored or worked with here, but she still felt like a normal military base would’ve worked just as well. Unless the government had been worried about this place being bombed or something. She wasn’t an expert in national security or whatever.

She decided to call for a short rest, to allow them to catch their breath and regenerate some of their mana. Then Regina led the others to the doorway Tim had mentioned. Apparently, the Delvers were content to go along with her for now. Perhaps because it was apparent that she knew what she was doing more than they did, or that she at least knew her surroundings better. She was glad they seemed to have decided to push off questioning her for now.

The door was only secured with an old-fashioned lock, not any electronic safety measures. Regina suspected that was on purpose. Still, the Delver rogue proved his worth and managed to pick the lock after half an hour of trying.

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They pushed the door open carefully and Owin went through first, his shield raised. After a moment, he called “Clear.”

As she passed through the doorway, Regina noticed they were in a corridor that seemed to have been reinforced with metal coverings, and had several security cameras. One of them lay broken on the floor, the others were clearly dark. After only a few meters, the corridor emerged into a wider room.

Before Regina realized what was going on, the room was plunged into darkness. She’d only gotten a glimpse of bare concrete and what might have been computer terminals on one side. But while she couldn’t see anything, her mana senses screamed at her, warning of a danger close by.

Almost on instinct, she cast Spark and directed the source of light to fly further into the room. It illuminated the enemy waiting for them, and Regina took a precious moment to read its System description.

Twisted Mana Spirit — Level ?

Well, that clears things up. She shoved the thought to the back of her head and ducked as the spirit shot some kind of glowing ball of mana at her. It splashed against the wall beside the door and she heard a sizzling sound.

“Damned, a spirit!” Owin cursed. “Physical attacks won’t have an effect, use magic or Skills. Gwen, can you give us an enhancement?”

“I barely have any mana left!” Gwen called, jumping to the side to dodge.

The spirit suddenly accelerated towards them, barreling at her. Max tried to stop it, but it went right through his extended shield, barely missing his body. Gwen dropped to the ground.

Then Janis shot a Firebolt at the spirit, which made it hiss, causing it to draw back. Regina ignored Gwen’s curse - she’d been pretty close to that - and studied the spirit. It looked a little like an elongated ball of light itself, but made of gray light that seemed to occasionally flash with other colors and still dissipate into shadows at the edges. It was about a meter long and floated above the ground, clearly not subject to the pull of gravity.

“Do you have any Spells which would let us damage an incorporeal enemy?” Owin asked.

“No, I don’t think so,” Regina replied, watching while Via lobbed a Magic Missile at the spirit. Those Spells had to be pretty rare, but for adventurers, the effect would probably be nice to have. She frowned. Well, if this was a game, then there would probably be a ‘holy spell’ for that, and she did apparently have a bit of divine magic access. “Well, possibly, but probably not and I don’t exactly have the time to figure it out.”

Via and Ira coordinated their next attacks, two Magic Missiles curving to the left and right at the spirit. It had just started to advance on the group again, but that forced it back. Unfortunately, it now started throwing more of those magic balls. They might not be its only attacks, either.

Regina could tell that the spirit was annoyed by their own attacks, perhaps, but they didn’t seem to do major damage. Still, they had to have some effect, if only a small one, and they didn’t have any other options.

While she hunkered down behind Max, Regina gathered her mana and fired another Firebolt at the spirit. She waited and timed her attack until it moved to the side to dodge one of Ira’s Magic Missiles, so her own Spell hit. The spirit’s form seemed to flicker for a moment, although it could just have been a trick of the light.

“Owin,” she called, “if someone hits it while having Magic Armor active, is that going to do damage to it?”

Owin paused and glanced at her. “Most likely,” he said. “That has to be the most inefficient method I’ve heard of, but it should work.”

“Good. Janis, Magic Armor on Owin and Tim,” she ordered.

Janis complied, casting the Spell on both of them. Regina knew she couldn’t have a lot of mana left and that they didn’t have much time, but it had to be enough.

Owin put down his sword and approached the spirit, fists swinging. Tim used that chance to approach it from the side, using his blade-arm to strike. Magic Armor was a basic defensive Spell that covered the mage or their target in a faintly visible envelope of defensive magic. From watching Janis use it a few times, Regina knew that the armor extended over the entire body. Which, in Tim’s case, also meant his blade-arm.

The spirit hissed and shuddered as his blade almost cleaved through its form. It looked like he’d struck a ball of jelly or tar, his movement slowing down noticeably until it was stopped.

Regina, Janis and Via used that opportunity to send more Magic Missiles. They curved their Spells around their two allies to hit their target from above and behind. The spirit made another hissing sound, like air escaping from a balloon. Its form threw out more glowing light attacks, throwing Owin and Tim back. Owin slid two meters but remained standing, while Tim slammed into the wall. His armor vanished, but it appeared to have protected him from the worst of it.

That seemed to have been the last of the spirit’s strength, though. Another Firebolt slammed into it, and what remained of the entity’s form dissolved, sending glowing splotches through the air, which lost their shine and quickly disappeared. Regina checked and its System notification vanished.

At the same time, another System message caught her by surprise.

You have leveled up

Regina blinked, then pushed the following messages away. She couldn’t spare them any attention right now. Something else needed all of it.

Now that the spirit was defeated, the unnatural darkness had receded and allowed her to get a better look at the room. It had several entrances. They had come through one, but there was another one with a door that stood slightly open. The feeling of ‘twisted’ mana was as strong as ever. Stronger, really.

As Regina took a step forward, her knee almost buckled. She panted, trying to regain her focus. There was some change after I crossed the threshold into the second Tier, too, she remembered. This is probably more of the same. But I can’t afford the distraction right now, and this feels like if I’m not careful, I’ll fall into a coma!

She gritted her teeth and pushed on, but after a moment, Gwen called out, “Stop!”

Regina stopped and looked back. What she saw made her start in surprise. Owin was a few meters away and on his knees, looking slightly green. The other Delvers didn’t seem to fare much better, and even her own drones were clearly uncomfortable at best. Now that she focused on it, she could sense as much clearly.

“We shouldn’t go any further,” Gwen said. She tentatively took a step forward and grimaced. “The mana in this place is … corrupted, or something. It is clearly getting worse there. I fear this may do serious damage if we are exposed to it.”

Regina glanced at her mana.

Mana: 10324/15000

It had clearly increased a lot recently. As she watched, it dropped to 10322, then suddenly shot up by ten points. It kept fluctuating slightly.

Regina frowned. “Should we just let the non-magic-users press on?” she asked reluctantly.

Gwen shook her head. “They will likely fare worse, if anything. At least we have our mana pools, our own mana in our bodies. It can push against this.”

Regina nodded slowly, considering it, then sighed. “You stay here,” she told them. “I’m going in.”

“Lady Regina, I’m not sure that’s wise.”

“I have a very large mana pool.” And a psychic link that clearly had something to do with it, and could offer her some defense. “I’ll withdraw if it’s truly unbearable.”

“My Queen, your safety,” Max spoke up.

“I know.” She gave him a small smile. “But if this is as bad as I’m suspecting, and as bad as Leian’s warning, then we wouldn’t be safe even if we run and hide. Besides, I need to help … you know who I mean.” Galatea was here, and Regina wouldn’t leave her friend alone without at least trying to help her.

She glanced at Janis, who seemed to cope pretty well, then at the others. Shaking her head, Regina turned to the door.

She took another deep breath. The twisted mana was very noticeable, but she didn’t feel like it inhibited her too much. It clearly increased as she went. She kept an eye on her mana level, but it seemed to be okay so far. Regina pressed on.