It’s been a little over a month since I made this little cave for myself to hide in, and I’ve been able to reign in my boredom quite well over this time, due to being in an unfamiliar hostile environment. However, even after all of my years of experience resisting boredom, I haven’t ever fully overcome the problem. Which was why today I had decided to enter The Archives and do something productive.

I had put it off until now since it would leave my body somewhat vulnerable, but I figured that if nothing had happened to me thus far, after a month hiding in this cave, then it would be fine for me to visit The Archives for a while and get some much needed information.

And so, here I was, within the grand hall of The Archives taking in the magnificent celestial view of the stars above me. As always I entered with a new outfit along with a red eye covering that hid my facial features. The eye covering was even more important now, because I wasn’t sure if my prison escape had been publicized or not, and since I hadn’t yet changed my Skill to allow me to permanently change my appearance, I still had to hide my identity.

Today I came here to look for the answer to the question of where I had ended up after coming through that portal, and maybe find Genesis and have a chat while I was at it. It had been a little over two months since I had last talked to her, and I hoped she might be able to help me with my question.

Looking around the grand hall, I tried to find one of Genesis’ clones that were usually roaming around gathering information. It wasn’t long before I spotted one of them talking to a man in a yellow robe, which meant that he had at least a level 3 pass (I’m not jealous). I didn’t want to interfere in her conversation with someone so important, so I casually wandered over and stood within her line of sight while waiting for her to finish her conversation.

She didn’t look like she would be done any time soon, so I got a tablet and tried to search through The Archives to find what I had come here for. However it wasn’t easy to narrow down the information I was looking through, due to the nature of my search.

I wanted to find out where I currently was, and I didn’t have much information to go off of. All I really knew was that there was a metallic forest of trees that made my magic decay, and a few of the creatures I had encountered, along with the fact that I was in a regional dungeon. With such little information I was only able to narrow down the possible locations I could be at to less than 1,000. That went to show just how large the major continent of Waroth was, since that was where I assumed the regional dungeon was.

As I was somewhat frustrated in my search, I failed to detect the person sneaking up behind me. Suddenly a hand grabbed my shoulder and made me jump a little. I heard a little giggle from behind me and turned my head to find another Genesis that had snuck up behind me.

The Genesis that was talking to the man in the yellow robe was still conversing and must’ve informed this Genesis and came to find me. I lowered my tablet and said, “Hi Genesis. Long time no see.” I turned my body to face her, “What’s got a nice girl like you going around scaring people? Someone must’ve given you a hard time, just tell me where they’re at and I’ll take care of it.”

Her smile didn’t falter as she shook her head and responded, “Hello Radiant. It’s funny you should say that, as I’m pretty sure he’s standing right in front of me.”

“What?” I turned to look over at the Genesis talking to the man in a yellow robe, “What is that man doing to you? Why I oughta go over there and teach him a lesson.”

Genesis couldn’t help but laugh, “Oh stop it, you know who I’m talking about. I’ve been worried about you for over two months now.”

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I waved my hand in the air, “You worry too much Genesis. Though I do have to say that maybe your worry isn’t misplaced this time.”

She raised her eyebrows in question, “What do you mean, did something bad happen?”

I shook my head, “Well I’m not currently in danger or anything, but I do find myself in a bit of a tricky situation.” I held my chin in my left hand, “I guess you could say that my path forward just isn’t so clear at the moment?”

“Oh? I always thought you knew exactly what to do in every situation.”

“No, no I just like to be prepared for things I know about, but there’s not much I can do to prepare for an unexpected situation, now is there?” I nodded my head and let my hand fall from my chin, “In any case, I went through a dungeon portal about a month ago and found myself in a dangerous location, and I find myself with no idea where I’m at. I was actually hoping that you might be able to help me in this regard.”

“You need me to tell you where you’re at? If you went into a dungeon portal then wouldn’t you be in a dungeon?” She made an isn’t that obvious? face.

“Well yes, but actually no. It’s a regional dungeon, so I assume that I’m still somewhere in Waroth. I tried looking for it myself just now, but there are too many places that fit the description I put in.”

“Hmm, I don’t know about all of Waroth, but I might be able to help you out if it’s somewhere in Tallen. Why don’t you describe it for me?”

“Sure.”

I started to describe the forest I ended up in, and all of the things I had observed so far. When I got done explaining everything, Genesis quietly took it all in and became silent as she thought. Then, after a few minutes, she started nodding to herself and said, “Actually, there is one place that I can think of in Tallen that has something similar to what you described.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, but I’m not certain that it’s where you're at. There just isn’t enough information.”

“It’s better than what I’ve been able to find out at least. So what did you have in mind?”

“Well, there’s a prominent city in the South-West of Tallen with three dungeons near it, called Tri-Heart City, and one of the dungeons near it is a regional dungeon that I think has something similar to what you’ve described.” She paused for a second as her eyes moved absently in thought, “However I think that the negative conditions in that regional dungeon are much harsher than what you’ve described. The forest there is supposed to make magic basically impossible to sustain since the network of trees works together to disrupt magic. In fact I’m pretty sure the wood is a pretty valuable resource. Maybe the forest’s effects are weaker during this season or something?”

“Hmm… it’s possible. Since The Darkest Day was a couple months ago, it would still be in the low season right about now.”

“Yeah, but not for long. The Rising Dawn is only a few days away, and after that it won’t be long before everything starts to grow again.” She revealed a bit of a worried expression, “If that’s really the location you’re in, then it would be best if you got out of there as soon as possible.”

“Well I wasn’t planning on staying for much longer anyways. I was mostly trying to find out where I was so that I would know which direction to travel to get to civilization.”

“Oh, then I think I remember the regional dungeon being towards the South of Tri-Heart City, but you would have to look it up to know for sure.”

“I’ll look into it then, but it sounds like it’s a perfect match so far. Thanks for the help Genesis.”

“Hey, it’s no big deal. What are friends for?” She smiled at the thanks despite what she said, “I’m sorry to say this, but I have some other business to attend to right now, so I’ll have to catch up with your adventures later, Radiant.”

“Oh, yeah, no problem. See you later, Genesis.”

I was already pulling up searches on Tri-Heart City as I spoke. If what we had talked about was true, then I would have to get out of this forest as soon as possible, before it became impossible.

-Break-

After a few hours of research, I was almost certain of the fact that I was in a place called the Bronze Heart Dungeon, and just like Genesis had said, this dungeon was located to the South of Tri-Heart City. I would have to wait for night time before I could check the stars and see if they matched up with the star charts of Tri-Heart City, but that would be more of a confirmation than anything. If this forest didn’t make my magic disappear, then I would have other, simpler, ways to determine my location, but as it stood I would have to rely on celestial navigation methods. So, after my mana cell Stats reached Tier 12 and I got my focus bonus, I figured I would be setting off North.