And would you trust a dungeon?

-Common saying meaning “Are you a fool?”

When Tam came back, he no longer bore his staff or rings, though the new spells were still swirling around him. I refined my copied statue, but they were very intricate. Doubt I will have enough time to correct all the details. Too little mana.

Tam entered my aura, and I could immediately sense the, now so familiar, chalk and metal. Tam stepped up to the beam array, where his magic twisted, interacting with it. The threads lifted, leaving the floor alone, scraping over the top by a scant few millimeters. No idea he could do that. Wonder how it works? Tam knelt, slowly drawing a perfect circle to encompass most of the room. A much smaller second circle followed, centered on my stand. Runes scribed precisely onto the floor under his guidance, placed following both the outside perimeter of the smaller circle, and the inside of the larger.

Yep, still nonsense. Few of them are familiar though, yep, those ones were in the other arrays. Oh, that one too, no… looks a bit different, some of the squiggly serifs are different.

At Tam’s direction chalk, burned with light cutting into the stone. The resulting circles and runic etchings were soon lined with silver metal. Tam brought a significantly larger chunk this time, ready to cover the increased area. He scowled down at the tiny piece left in his hand.

Huh. Is this stuff expensive? I hope so. Maybe just hard to acquire… though to be fair, those two properties tend to go hand in hand. Anything expensive that is easy to get does usually remain so. It… would explain some things, if it is a pain to get more.

Tam had only been applying the contingencies that were absolutely necessary. Originally. I thought he chose not to have a whole series of them in place because he didn’t want them to interfere with studying me. Now, I knew he could have arranged protections that he could turn on and off.

But he didn’t do that...

His choice had been to only apply precautions as needed. It was less safe, but it allowed for greater adaptability, and a lower cost. If Tam had planned out, and put down all the precautions he thought might be prudent, it would no doubt have required far more material. Plus, there would have been no guarantee many of them would be necessary, wasting resources.

This was good for me. Even though Tam responded to what he had seen me do, he was trying to conserve resources, and I hadn’t shown him everything. He was running into the fundamental problem with conserving resources, sometimes you didn’t apply them, when you really should have. Not that completely spending all of a restrained resource is a good option, either, if you do that you run into not having resources when you need them. Catch-22. Honestly, I had wondered why Tam wasn’t more proactive with his protections. Now I know. Hopefully the new ones aren’t too much of beast.

Tam began the ritual, infusing the runes with power; his hands made arcane gestures. Afterwards, as the runes subsided into an enchantment, I tried to determine what they actually did.

I tried extending stone from various places, finding the floor impenetrable. The stone would not grow, move, disappear… nothing worked. I could still manipulate the walls, and after a distance of several inches outside the larger circle, the floor. The ceiling could still be manipulated… wait, scratch that. A circle matching, and directly above, the inner circle of the enchantment was like the floor. I tried extending a tendril of stone into the circle from the ceiling outside it and the tendril stopped as it hit a barrier. The beam array cleaned it up a moment later. Pushing at the barrier. from the stone above and below, hit another barrier.

Hmm. I might still be able to get out. It would all depend on whether I could get out of the area. If it stopped me too, then I would need to rethink things.

Mutters of discontent about being even more trapped rumbled deep inside.

Oh shut up, Exsan.

Pretty sure he’s quieter now… Eh, no need to look a gift horse in the mouth.

For the moment I tried to stay calm. Hours passed as I did what Tam expected of me. Small tendrils of stone protruded, repeatedly testing the barrier and walls.

At least one good thing, he stuck around long enough for me to finish copying his battle spells.

Tam was patient, waiting for hours, but eventually his eyes drooped little by little. He finally sighed, cast a new, slightly different, analysis spell, packed full of far more mana. Makes it last longer? At the door, he stopped, and cast a new spell. Spiked and smooth bands embedded into the doorway on each side and stretched across in layers. Damn. The spells were not in my aura and I couldn’t make out the backside, and the details embedded into the stone were completely concealed. I copied what I could see, but the copies were incomplete.

What the new spells were for, I didn’t know, but I could guess. Probably some kind of defensive spell. Almost certainly contain alarms, too. I did not want to test what they did. Well, know, I really do, but I know better. It didn’t matter, anyway, they weren’t in my aura or in the room at all, and I wasn’t planning to escape that direction. Best to ignore them.

Tam probably wasn’t going to come back tonight, he looked pretty tired, but I had no way to be sure. For tonight, I just sat tight, not making any assumptions. In the meantime I kept up my practice, extruding stone into the room at semi-random intervals. Hopefully, this would desensitize Tam to the beam array.

That’s right, just more stimulus to ignore.

Morning came with the brightening magical lights, faint shadows cast onto the stone. Still not sure what those are. Magic. Thanks, brain, so helpful. Magic, sure, but that doesn’t do me any good. It was like saying a light-bulb was scientific. If I told someone that, they wouldn't know anything more about how it actually worked. The lights might be some kind of spell, but if they were, they were like no other spell I had seen. The lights were wisps of magic, gossamer and curled into themselves. They hadn’t even become much clearer when my vision improved. Aura not good at sensing that type of magic, or just more refined than anything else I’ve seen, or something else? Trying to move concentrated mana around the lights had not revealed enchantments. Oh well, nice to have something pretty, I guess. I had larger priorities.

Tam came late that morning, canceled the analysis spell, and cast another one immediately. I had, fortunately, anticipated this would happen. When I absorbed the mana, I didn’t let it flow into me, instead redirecting through my aura and into my external mana storage.

Best he never sees me gaining mana from his spells.

After thinking through the night, I had figured out a way to escape, hopefully, but everything could still be ruined by Tam keeping an analysis spell on me overnight. Which he absolutely will. So, I needed to figure out a way to deal with this new impediment.

I watched that spell like a hawk, all day. When I had mana available, I concentrated a portion of it around the spell, trying to see if I could glean anything new. Eventually, I did. I had studied his analysis spells passively for quite a while now, but there was still more to learn. With concentrated mana around it, I started to feel, then see, pulses of mana flowing through it. The pulses were subtle, a slight change in the brightness that was usually not noticeable, and only noticed as the mana created a tiny pressure against the mana I was using to explore it. Not surprised I didn’t notice before.

I had gradually gained a sense of how the spell worked. Most of it focused on different parts of myself, not too much surprise there. A strand of the spell connected to my mana reservoir. If that one isn’t keeping track of my mana I will eat a hat, even if I have to make one out of mana first. Others connected to various parts of my inner web, and could presumably do anything, but they were probably replicating some version of my status. These strands wove together, then connected to the main spell. And, from the main body of the spell, a strand of mana connected to Tam.

Those intense hours of study today had finally let me learn more, detecting the occasional pulse of mana. The mana flowed upwards and into the spell, then out to Tam. As far as I could tell, this only happened when my mana changed. Presumably, the other strands would send signals of their own if something else changed, like a skill, but the rest of my status was not in constant flux, so I couldn’t verify that. Despite my best efforts, I never saw any mana flow my direction from the spell, which was the key.

When night came, and Tam renewed his spell on me, I examined it carefully. Looks almost identical. I would have to take a chance. Based on the way it functioned, I was fairly sure the spell only reported when changes happened, and nothing monitored the spell’s connection to me. If I disconnected the threads leading into me, it should appear to still be functioning. Simply the status quo with no updates. I curled the hooked parts of my aura around the threads, grinding away at it. It took some time, but eventually the connection sheared and the threads of the spell disconnected, dissolving into mana that I habitually sucked up.

Good, the whole spell didn’t break.

I waited nervously. Long minutes passed, but there was no sign of Tam. Oh thank god, success!

I carefully moved the beam array threads away from the feeder. Drawing on the small bit of mana now in my storage, I created stone out of thin air. I had never shown Tam that I could create stone from nothing, without even touching other stone. In this case, my new stone was attached to the feeder where it quickly pushed the activation button. I relaxed, a little, when it turned on. Not just keyed to Tam then. I relaxed my control; a beam quickly destroyed the stone on the feeder. The stone had done its job, the feeder was on, and I was not currently being monitored.

I was not planning to escape tonight, I had tests to do, and Tam could not be allowed to see. When the mana from the feeder dispersed into the air, I created stone, inside the circle, by my core. I carefully kept the beam from destroying it. I tried to use the stone to push through the barrier from the inside, but had no success. I lifted myself, very carefully, don’t let the beam slip through, don’t let beam slip through, using multiple tendrils, just in case, only to discover that I, also, could not go through the barrier. No luck.

Tam goes through just fine. Attuned to him specifically, or do I just count as stone, so I can’t pass? Doesn’t matter, I accounted for this.

I started other tests. My aura expanded from behind each aura anchor, until it covered each of them, through I kept it flush with the wall. Good. Next, I covered the beam anchor in the same way, careful not to extend my aura even the barest fraction above the array. I did not want to risk Tam sensing anything, or risk setting off some kind of alarm by extending my aura farther into the complex. It would be foolish to be this close and then fail by being rash. Still tempting, but no. I will not be impatient. A part of me wanted to escape tonight, but I wanted to have more mana, just in case. I might need it. I only gave myself a single extra day, resisting the temptation to keep preparing.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The lights began to brighten and I shut down the feeder, waiting.

The entire day was torture. I kept expecting Tam to notice something wrong. If I had a body I would have been sweating with nervousness all day. Regardless, time revealed its perverse propensity to slow down when I waited. However, eventually, finally, the day managed to pass.

The lights dimmed. I waited a few minutes, making sure. Tam was gone.

I started.

I sawed away the spell’s connection as quickly as possible, before reactivating the feeder. If nothing else, extra mana could only be useful at this point. I was slightly divided about what to do next. I had two plans that were equally viable. I could use the captured mana to effect my escape immediately or I could level up and then escape.

Even without leveling up, I was reasonable confident my current abilities were enough to escape, so leveling up could be an extra risk that lowered my mana. However, if I gained some kind of additional control over earth, an ability to move, or something else useful, it might significantly improve my chances. However, I might need that extra mana during the escape.

I eventually decided on a compromise. I would enact the first stage of my plan. If that worked then everything else should work out. The first part of my plan was the least certain. If it failed to work, it probably wouldn’t leave any evidence. Though it definitely will if it works.

I gingerly captured a single beam array thread, then guided it down, until it touched one of the runes on the floor. A beam lanced out, a faint ping sounded, and the metal rune popped into the air as it was forced out of place by regrowing stone. I felt a faint wave of something flicker. The runic array on the floor still shimmered with light. Hopefully that’s enough to turn it off. With continued caution, I extended a tendril of stone out towards the barrier around me. It was still there.

I quickly tested the other restriction. The floor grew stone at my command, once again. Oh thank you God, or whomever listens here. There was no way Tam would fail to notice this. From here, it was either escape, or communicate. Under my own power, I lifted other runes gently from the floor, each time testing the barrier. Three runes later, the barrier was gone, though I felt that strange wave two more times.

I sank the stand into the floor, as quickly as possible, until stone finally covered me and I detached myself from the damnable stand. Hate that fucking thing. I was free of mana drain for the first time ever in this new life, well... other than the brief moment I tested the barrier yesterday. Minor details, savor the moment… quickly. Hopefully, I would be completely free soon, and I could celebrate properly.

The feeder released mana into the air, where I consumed it. Immediately after, I drained mana out of my storage area, pulling it through my aura as fast as it would go. Mana flowed into me, finally stopping with an unfamiliar feeling. There is still mana available, so what… wait. I looked at my status to clarify. Ha, I’m full!

The mana trap was still about half full. I had expected to gain far less than what I stored into it. I didn’t completely drain an area I focused on, leaving behind plenty of ambient mana. Not to mention all the fine details and mana I’m sure I miss. The mana wastage was not my biggest concern for the moment though, because, though I had in fact gained far less mana than half of what went into the storage, I gained far more than I feared. I could level, and still have mana to spare, which made my decision for me. I leveled.

Your status has changed!

Status

Name: N/A / Exsan

Type: Dungeon Core – Soul Hybrid

Level: 3

Crystal Status: 100% – Undamaged

Status Effects: None

Available Mana: 20/100

Passive Mana Generation: 31.5/Day (+5% from Mana Specialist)

Cost for next level: 60 Mana (15)*(2^(Level-1)

Subsections Available: 1

Ability Points: 900

Skills:

Directed Mana Absorption II,

Limited Omniscience (Dungeon)

Soul Mana I

Dungeon Aura Expansion I

Manipulate Earth II

Learning I

Enhanced Aura Perception I

Ambient Mana Manipulation I

Meditation I

Interdimensional Repository I

Titles:

Reborn Soul

First of its Kind

Skill Evolution

Mana Specialist I

I immediately pulled up the new skill

Interdimensional Repository I

Store and retrieve objects within your aura into and out of a personal storage space.

Huh, no ability points this time. At least my mana regen went up again. How does that work, ten per level? Not important right now.

My minor disappointment was mostly covered by a sudden surge of greed. Pretty sure that was both Exsan and me. There were things I wanted to take, now that I had the option. However, for a moment I held off the greed. Don’t know how much it costs. Well… there was nothing to do but try it.

I extended my focus out toward one of the runes that had popped out of the ground. With a tiny focus of will, it disappeared. I examined the level of my mana. As far as I could tell, it cost nothing at all. I grabbed the three other loose runes from the ground; again, there was no change.

With an inner grin I grabbed something larger, the feeder. It disappeared but this time I felt a faint thrumming through the threads of my aura. I looked at my status again. Nope, still no sign of mana loss. Perfect. With glee, I grabbed the four arrays holding my mana in place, the beam array, and all the remains of the array on the floor. When I was done, it had cost only a single point of mana. Storage costs minimal, check. With a mental shrug I grabbed what remained, my stand, Tam’s chair, the wooden tree, the box and coins, and all the rest. I even grabbed all the statues, except for one. The recursive statue where Tam examined himself, even as his smaller statue examined me. I couldn’t resist adding one more detail. I created a copy of myself larger than life and behind and above Tam, watching him.

I drained everything that remained within my improvised mana storage and brought my mana up to forty-six. I tried to take the lights on the ceiling, too, but nothing happened. Oh well. I would have liked to use the feeder to get more mana for a while, but I knew better. I needed to keep going.

I moved away through the stone, pushing myself backwards and away from the hallway. I quickly approached the current limit of my aura, extended more ahead of me even as I kept moving. There was a slight feeling of strain that built as I expanded my aura, but I ignored it until I was brought to an abrupt halt.

Wait, what... why?

I strained to move farther forward, but was unable. I quickly tried moving up and down. It was possible, but I started to curve back towards my former room. This… could be bad. I experimented a bit. I reached backwards to the farthest extent of my aura, pushing my aura toward the hallway; I was dragged backward. Shit! It seemed I could only go so far from the edge of my aura.

I tried extending aura farther in front of me. Maybe, if my aura was larger, I would be able to move farther. My aura extended just fine, but I was not able to move forward any more. Eventually, even my aura refused to extend forward any farther and I found myself unable to move all, hung suspended in the stone, as if tied to two taut ropes.

Damn it! Are you kidding me? I have to stay where I put my fucking aura before?

I pulled on my aura, trying to draw it back into myself. No luck. Ordering my aura to disperse, disconnect, unhook, or bunch up towards me did no better. I felt like something happened as I tried, but I don’t have time to learn a new skill right now.

I did my best to calm down. Do I have any other options for escape? I could only think of one, and it would likely be a horrible idea even if it worked out perfectly. Maybe the store? I quickly checked for anything I could buy. Useless, either too expensive or not relevant.

I considered for a moment. I might, might, be able to go back and put everything back into place, but there was absolutely no way to conceal that I had gained a new level and a new ability. That meant the only real option, if I went back, was to communicate with Tam and hope for the best. The other option… well, if it didn’t work… hopefully I’ll still be healthy enough to go back. Oh god, this is going to suck so much. I really hoped this wasn’t a terrible mistake.

Guess I’ll find out.

A dozen feet behind me, I gathered the waving threads of my aura. I condensed them down into a circle, compressing them as much as I could, before twisting them so they formed a tight spiral. The strain started to vibrate through me. I pushed harder, even as it started to feel like an overextended muscle.

Stop.

Looked like my alter ego Exsan was not happy with what I was doing. I could feel an instinctual caution, a warning. That warning faded away once the threads would not condense any further. I paused for a moment, making sure the threads stayed contained, then tried to pull my aura back into me, again. Nothing. Great… well here goes nothing. I directed the hooks in the spiral to start grinding against the other threads.

Pain, and the instincts urging STOP!

I had not felt pain in weeks. It was shocking, brutal, and Exsan howled in my head, mixing with my own instinctual human need to try to stop the pain. I kept going, pushed to the edge of my limits, pressing on against two sets of instincts.

Blood should be spraying, my aura sawed against itself savagely. Snap! Threads ruptured under the continued sawing. The outer threads went first, lashing away like whips and hemorrhaging mana. Crack! I could feel something inside me, cracking. Crack! Finally, the last of the threads snapped apart leaving ragged edges of aura trailing behind me like a tattered lace veil. I felt a wave of something pass through me again, even as I could feel my disconnected aura for a moment longer, slowly drifting down and away. After a moment, the mana stopped gushing from the cut threads. A few notifications interrupted me.

Warning – Negative Status Change!

Crystal Status: 62% - Structure Compromised

You have forcibly activated a new skill!

Aura Mobility I

You may freely move within your aura. You may also direct areas of your aura to dissipate. Attempting to move outside your aura’s established boundaries will automatically dissipate excess aura, except for a limited mobile sphere of aura centered on you.

Well… I can’t say that the pain wasn’t worth it. Still worried about my core damage.

Just like the ability said, my aura had reshaped itself into a sphere fifteen feet across. Not huge, but more than sufficient for my need to get away. Since I now had the means, I continued on, moving raw stone around myself like a ship parting the sea.

Shortly after that I ran into a problem.

There was a wall.

Not made of something as insubstantial as stone. I’m not that lucky. Nope, it was a wall of mana threads which shimmered with the glimmer of enchantment. My aura extended far enough to notice the faint curvature to the wall. Has to be a sphere. Tam, had laid down a final defense. Hope it’s final. The threads of the wall crisscrossed across each other in different directions. It was not a perfectly uniform structure, but no gap was large enough for me to simply slip through.

Great. Resigned, I followed the wall in a few different directions, looking for the largest gap. Eventually, found a gap that was larger, by a reasonable degree, but still too small for me. Gingerly, I hooked the threads, pulling them apart. These threads were unlike the beam enchantment. They were stiff, obviously meant to stay in place. It was a constant strain to pull them apart.

Gradually, the stubborn threads moved farther apart. Just another inch! A bright thread of mana, an active spell, passed no more than a few feet from me. Shit! He’s awake and searching for me. More threads of spellwork trailed along the interior of the wall. At first, it was only a few, but they quickly grew into a multitude. I frantically guided the many threads around me, still trying to open up the wall. The strain was mounting, and my crystal cracked further. A few interminable minutes passed amid the cracking as I heaved at the threads. Finally, I slipped through the barrier.

Free.