A loud buzzing filled the camp outside the Dungeon as the translocation rune flared to life. Violet light burst out from the rune carved onto the stone slab, and when the light faded, ten adventurers staggered off of the plate, disoriented from the stomach-churning shift.

The moment the last man stumbled off the large, engraved stone, the rune flared back to life, heralding the arrival of another group.

Pert counted the adventurers coming out of the rune, knowing they wouldn't have returned this quickly unless they encountered difficulty progressing through the Dungeon. His final count came up with forty-three people who had successfully come back, and that told him the Dungeon probably wasn't going to be easy for them to assess.

Pert made his way towards Thail, who had been the last one to use his translocation orb so that no one would be left behind.

He could see that Thail seemed lost in his thoughts as he walked with long strides towards the camp. Thail's short, black hair and armor were soaked and partially covered in what Pert guessed was algae and mud.

He cursed his short stature as he hastened after Thail who was quickly making his way through the group of adventurers that were taking off their soaked, muddied, and algae-covered armor. He could smell the scent of something burnt as he passed several people laying on the ground, looking worse for wear than the rest of the group.

Finally catching up to Thail, Pert panted, "It's bad?"

Thail exasperatedly sighed at Pert's sudden and straightforward question, "The first floor's entrance is floating in the air inside the Dungeon, and three drowned due to theirs and everyone else's fall out of it. The last four were lost to some tiny, red monster that moved exceptionally fast, at least,... faster than I could see." Pert could tell that Thail was distraught at his failure to spot and kill the monster that had attacked them.

"I didn't even have the time to see any detail about what killed them, except for the fact that it uses lightning magic or an ability related to lightning." Pert furrowed his long, greying eyebrows at the mention of a creature that could use lighting, as monsters that could use it were always a headache in battle.

The challenge in combating them was due to either the extreme speed or sudden explosive power they could release, and Pert didn't like the fact that Thail wasn't able to identify what had attacked them.

"How was the floor's condition?" Thail rubbed his forehead with his right hand as he recalled what he witnessed moments ago. "Horrible, that's how I would describe it. The entrance's position makes no effort to help either. It isn't totally dark, and we get about five to six meters of visibility. However, navigating the floor will still be incredibly difficult as we won't be able to orient ourselves using landmarks, and monsters will be able to easily stalk us from distant shadows. Torches won't light far enough to make much of a difference over what's already visible, so Setting Stones will be what we'll need to use to see farther, but that will eat even more into the payoff at the end of the assessment."

Pert was certain the other teams weren't going to appreciate this news in the slightest, but he knew everyone would cede to the decision.

"How many do you plan to send back to retrieve the stones?"

Thail briefly thought over how many stones will likely be needed before answering, "Twelve, that's how many people will return to Ot'e Nill and get as many stones as possible, which should be around thirty-six." Pert gave a short nod at the amount as Thail turned around before his tent and looked towards Pert, who nearly walked into him due to his abrupt stop.

"I'm also thinking of having Curn and twenty others go back as well to get any more supplies we might need." Pert wriggled his eyebrows, and scratched his short scruffy goatee with his left hand in hesitation.

"Thail, the crossing's going to be soon. The monsters and beasts living on the upper slopes of Cloud-Burst mountain will undoubtedly venture downwards, so I suggest we all pack up and return to Ot'e Nill."

Thail groaned at being reminded of the crossing, but ultimately agreed with Pert about returning to Ot'e Nill for the crossing's duration. "Alright, we'll return to Ot'e Nill, and keep watch with the town's guards for the crossing." Pert was all too happy to return just to rest in a proper bed. Now that they knew more about the Dungeon, they would be able to bring more suitable supplies from the carriages in Ot'e Nill, which couldn't follow them up the steep slopes of the mountain.

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Arriving at the entrance, the Core could see the sapients were dismantling their tents, and the sight made it begin to worry that its difficulty had scared off the adventurers. Cie, however, had different thoughts. "Master, this group came without any carriages, and that was probably because they could not bring them up the steep mountainside, which limited the supplies they could bring."

The Core was relieved that Cie didn't think it had scared the adventurers away, but it did have a question about the explanation, "What are carriages, and why couldn't the sapients bring them?" Cie seemed to bob in pride at its knowledge over the Core.

"Master, carriages are essentially hollow squares, but can be other shapes, made of wood or other light materials, and use circles called wheels that can rotate as they are pulled. Carriages can be loaded with either sapients or supplies, and easily be pulled by horses or some other creature sapients have tamed." The Core was almost certain that carriages would be useless to it, but it was happy to learn of them no matter how basic Cie's explanation likely was.

"How come they can't bring these carriages here then, if they can be easily be pulled?" Cie's bobbing lessened slightly, but still continued. "Master, I should tell you that Cloud-Burst mountain is the tallest mountain ever found so far by the Nifilim and even the sapients." The Core was growing more curious about the surrounding region, but continued listening to Cie, instead of interrupting.

"Much of the nearby Kalnor Empire sits upon a plateau at the foot of the mountain, and the land becomes much steeper the higher up the mountain you go. This makes it impossible for carriages to reach where we are without something incredibly strong pulling them up the mountainside, but even that isn't enough. To bring carriages here, the sapients would need to stabilize them constantly with magic or else they would fall over due to the uneven terrain. Moreover, rocks wear down the carriages' wheels incredibly quickly, so they would need to change them out often." The Core was surprised to learn it was in such a difficult location to reach, but it wasn't overly concerned as the sapients seemed to have no trouble reaching it.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Before the Core could question Cie further, an excruciating thrumming began filling the Core's mind, reminding it of its ongoing Mana Overburdening. This was something that Cie didn't miss, "Master, although your overburdening is not severe enough to completely burn you out, you should be careful as not to worsen it." Worry was evident in Cie's thoughts and its beady eyes.

"Cie, is there any way I can fix my overburdening myself?" At the Core's question, Cie wobbled its arms left-to-right and inflated slightly.

"Master, I can try to inspect your Mana paths. However, I would not hold much hope, as Dungeons have incredibly powerful seals placed upon them at birth, which has blocked any attempts to peer into the secrets of Dungeons by anyone or anything. But you should not lose all hope as the simple fact that you lack a Pixie will make it much easier for me to possibly view your paths. It might also help if you return your awareness to your core." Promptly following Cie to its room, the Core felt uneasy knowing that its Mana Overburdening was affecting it in more ways than it could perceive.

Upon entering its core room, the Core was immediately unsettled by the changes that had occurred to itself in the brief time since the agonizing pulsating began.

The runic circles and diagrams blurred as they revolved around it, the blood wrapped around it was no longer calm, but instead rippled violently. The mist billowing off of its surface was darker, almost black, instead of the old charcoal-grey color, it had been before. Lastly, the blood red streaks moving across its indigo purple surface were now zig-zagging rather than traveling in a straight line.

It quickly returned to its physical body, hoping that Cie would be able to find a way to fix its overburdening.

The Core watched anxiously as Cie placed several protection spells on itself, flashing brightly with each cast. Cie knew that the backlash incurred by trying to see the insides of a core would be unforgiving from previous attempts by the Nifilim.

"Master, your overburdening should go away on its own in approximately thirteen months. Are you sure you want to proceed?"

Thirteen times its current age?! The Core was already impatient and tired of resting, so it could barely imagine idling for that long. It was also eager to continue expanding the Mana Spring and Spine-root's cave so that it could find more caves and things to assimilate. Additionally, it feared the changes that had happened to its core, and worried its overburdening might cause permanent sub-surface damage.

"Yes... I'm sure." With the apprehensive affirmation, Cie reached towards the Core with its slim, long arms.

Cie winced as its fingers entered the blistering blood bubble enveloping the Core. However, Cie's excitement towards learning something new made it press on, even as the blood was singeing the fur covering its hands.

On both of Cie's palms three interlinked white circles shone into existence as it cupped the small core in both hands.

The Core felt the painful beating in its mind melt away from the blissful feeling of Cie hands. Despite the intense sensation, the Core was still shocked by how hot the bubble around it was, and the fact that Cie was able to endure it anyway. The Core attributed Cie's endurance to the faint green glow radiating from its fur, which was likely one of the protection spells Cie had cast earlier.

"Master! Ready yourself; This will be far from pleasant!"

In both of Cie's palms the circles burned brightly, and the Core felt a broiling pain even greater than when it had evolved itself sweeping away the euphoric sensation of Cie's hands.

While the Core was in pain, Cie, on the other hand, was in pure ecstasy at the feeling of its mental projection penetrating the Core's surface and the sight of the Core's Mana paths. It was probably the first being in history to have seen the Mana paths of a Dungeon Core, and the sheer number of them left Cie stunned.

Crisscrossing like a spider's web within a seemingly endless void inside the Core were trillions of magenta Mana paths that luminesced true indigo, indicating the presence of the purest Mana known to the Nifilim. However, all but one thousand five hundred and seventy-four were blocked by tiny black runes. The number of paths that weren't blocked was impressive, but compared to the trillions that were, the amount was insignificant to say the least.

The overwhelming amount of Mana paths, the Mana they contained, and the runes that blocked them, all served to kindle Cie's interest. However, it had no time to indulge in its insatiable curiosity, and immediately imprinted the layout of the open Mana paths, and the flow of Mana within them, to its mind so that it would have no way of ever forgetting this sight.

Having gotten what it needed, Cie swiftly cut the link to the mental projection within the Core's insides. It was just in time to spot a wave of pure Mana the runic circles revolving around the Core had released to thwart the unwanted intruder.

The Core had been in immense pain throughout the entire duration of Cie's check, but had still been able to notice that the runic circles were pulling on a power source that it couldn't see. The immense draw of power was causing the circles to oscillate to such a degree that it could feel pulses of pure Mana coming from them. However, the intense effort it was exerting to keep itself conscious left it with no way to warn Cie of the impending danger.

The dark blue wave of pure Mana collided with Cie, and for but a moment, Cie's protection spells clashed with the tide, causing the entire room to light up with a bright green shine. But the spells could not stop the tremendous force that had been unleashed, and they shattered. With nothing protecting Cie, the wave smashed into it, blasting it out of the Core's sight and into the Mana spring room.

Upon the wave's collision with Cie, the runic circles had dimmed as their glow turned from just black to a blend of both black and grey.

The Core was astounded by the power the circles had unleashed. However, it overcame its shock and swiftly left its core to look for Cie while ignoring the throbbing pain in its mind.

It quickly found Cie, who was laying, unmoving, near the center of the cave. The Core was worried that Cie might have died, but a look at its status window showed that Cie was still listed as its servant, and certainly not dead.

Gazing at the unconscious Cie, the Core was left unsure of what to do, but decided to move Cie into the Titan core's hidden cave.

After moving Cie and returning to its core, the Core could feel the throbbing increasing in intensity, and now dearly regretted its impatience.

It felt stupid for not having asked Cie about the possible effects the inspection of its Mana paths might cause, but it was already done, so the Core didn't mull over the thought for long. Instead, it turned its attention to the runic circles, wondering from where they drew the power they had used and whether it could do the same. However, the Core lacked any understanding of what they were, so it couldn't even begin to comprehend them, let alone use the power they had.

It also looked at the diagrams, wondering what they could do compared to the runic circles. But it hastily tore its sight away from them, as it could feel the pounding continuously growing stronger and felt like its core would burst if it continued for much longer.

Much to the Core's dismay, its vision began slowly fading into black as its anguish grew. On the edge of its remaining vision, it could see symbols like the ones within the runic circles. These were not contained within the circles, however, and floated around the Core, who was fighting with every inch of its mental power to stay awake and observe this strange occurrence.

It could see that each of the symbols were different except for four of them, and that they were trying to arrange themselves in a specific order as if they were being guided or were alive. They rapidly organized themselves in a straight line and began floating towards the Core who was watching this display with burning curiosity, enough even to overcome the pain in its mind.

It didn't take long for the symbols to reach the Core, and once they did, they disappeared into the Core's surface without leaving so much as a trace of their existence.

Seconds after their disappearance, however, the Core's pain redoubled and slammed it with a mind-piercing agony, instantly plunging it into the darkness of unconsciousness.