To finally appease the wizards’ curiosity, Violet had to bring out several of the visual scanners with views of the different vine mutations, show the wizards the map he had made of the dungeon, and explain as much history of the dungeon expansion as he could piece together. He managed to avoid explaining that he had been unconscious for two months or so. When he showed the wizards the void artifact in the sauna worldlet, he only said he had been “indisposed” at the time, but the dungeon had built an adequate defense around the artifact. Violet pointed out that the water spray was infused with mana, protecting the dungeon from the artifact, and protecting the artifact from the void infection, even before the avatar evolved to “greater mana vine”. The wizards shrugged and admitted it was a better defense than some they had seen.
When Violet finished recounting the history of the dungeon, the wizards shared a meaningful glance. Crataz spoke up. “I must now apologize, Master fairy. It is evident to me that this is your first dungeon assignment. I thought you were negligent earlier, but I understand now that you are merely inexperienced. I apologize for our hash words earlier and, in fact, I must commend you—You have experienced a greater hardship and performed better than anyone could expect from a first-time dungeon fairy.”
Violet had mixed feelings about Crataz’s words. It was nice to be praised, but the fairy had been a helpless passenger for pretty much everything that had happened in the dungeon. The only important thing he felt he had done was boost the pyre for the infected man who had died to stop the dungeon people from spreading the infection. The wizards, however, moved on to a different topic.
“Well, Ivira? Shall we investigate the mysterious and no-doubt ancient space that this fascinating dungeon has fished out of the void?” Crataz grinned and resumed rubbing his hands with excitement.
Ivira looked like she was about to agree, but she hesitated. Her face fell a bit and she reluctantly said, “No. We must first be certain that no infection remains on this side of the captured space. They can be subtle and hide for long periods of time. I do not want the death of that cute toddler on my conscience.”
“Oh all right.” Crataz said, equally reluctant. “What approach do you suggest we use?”
The wizards fell into a technical discussion that Violet could not bring himself to care about in the slightest. He floated over to the dungeon vine and relaxed on a leaf for a while, thinking about what favor he might choose. After half an hour of ignoring the wizards, Violet decided that they wouldn’t miss him, and blinked back to the dungeon core.
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Violet had to interrupt the pair of wizards to claim Ivira’s offered favor. The wizards had been casting spells for three days. The first day had apparently determined that there was no void infection remaining within the dungeon on this side of the captured space. The next half day was a series of small spells to measure various somethings in the portal to the captured space. The next day and a half, the wizards set up and cast multiple ritual spells that would keep them alive and safe in the blizzard-infested, mana-less space.
“Excuse me.” Violet said during a conversational lull. “I’ve come about the favor.”
Ivira stood up straight and held her staff firmly. “Speak the favor.”
Violet cleared his throat. “I think-I’m pretty sure the dungeon is unable to speak to me, not unwilling. I have no aptitude for telepathy or external mental magics, so, is there a prosthetic that you know of that would allow a mute person to speak?” Violet had to clasp his hands behind his back to hide his nervous fidgeting.
Ivira tapped her chin and looked down, clearly concentrating. She stood in thought for a long time before answering. “I know of no such prosthetic. Mental magic is not my area of focus, and I do not know an expert who I think could accomplish such a thing. For a reasonable price.” Violet’s heart sank, but Ivira continued speaking. “Here is what I can do for you: I have a general idea of how such a thing might be built, so I will purchase and send to you some materials and copies of a few texts. This should be enough for you to learn to build a simple prototype. This way, if you are correct, the dungeon will communicate more freely and probably be able to fabricate a better version. If you are incorrect, then you will have built a valuable device and lost nothing but time.” Ivira looked expectantly at Violet.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Violet swallowed against a lump in his throat. “That-“ He cleared his throat. “That is reasonable. Thank you.”
Ivira nodded to Violet. “It will be my pleasure. Now, back to work!” She and Crataz resumed their work on the latest ritual spell.
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Two weeks later, the System informed Violet and the dungeon core that the quarantine was removed.
_ Captured Space Has Been Sufficiently Investigated and Deemed Safe By Qualified Persons. Quarantine Protocol Complete _
Later that day, the wizards returned from the captured space. Snow clung to their cold-adapted mage armor, melting as they descended the dark worldlet to reach the main vine body. The green wizard went directly to the human camp, and the blue wizard send a flicker of mana toward the vine.
*ding-dong*
Violet looked up from sorting through the letters he had written. Seeing Ivira on one of the visual scanners, he set the stack of paper down and blinked outside to talk with the wizard. “Hello again, wizard Ivira.”
“Greetings, Master fairy. There is a complication to the quarantine situation that you need to know about. The dungeon vine has grown a significant distance across the captured space and claimed an additional space on the far side.” Ivira paused. “A worldlet, as you called them.”
“Oh!” Violet remarked. He hadn’t even considered that worldlets could form separately from the main group.
Ivira nodded. “Unexpected, indeed. The more concerning feature is a portal connection from the dungeon to my world.” Ivira gave the fairy a meaningful look, which he did not understand at first.
After a few heartbeats, Violet remembered part of a lecture about inter-world connections. They were extremely violent and deadly. His face paled. “That’s bad.” He said. His heartrate increased as he began to internally panic. He frowned in confusion. “Why are we not all dead?”
Ivira nodded emphatically. “Exactly the question. Unfortunately, I must first explain how the quarantine dropped. On our way back through the captured space, we noticed the remains of a smaller set of vines. We followed those vines to a perfectly flat patch of ground. It was clear that something had previously sat on the patch of ground because the vines grew around some sort of box that has since moved. We did not intend to examine the patch thoroughly, but the System was apparently satistfied by our investigation and dropped the quarantine. The mana levels in my world are significantly higher than the mana levels in Crataz’s world, and slightly higher than the ambient mana in this dungeon. If the captured space were not blocking the flow of mana, I believe the dungeon would have already been destroyed.” Ivira gestured for Violet to wait while she took a couple breaths. She had been speaking rather quickly. “We are not safe, however. There exists a path through the captured space through which the mana is attempting to flow.”
Violet, feeling like a slower than average student, asked, “What path?”
“The mana vine itself.” Ivira and Violet were distracted for a second by a human entering the main worldlet from the delta worldlet. The human ran to the exit portal and dove through. A few more humans trickled in, all running for the exit. Ivira continued. “Before we left the captured space, we detected an increasing flow of mana through the vine into this part of the dungeon. Crataz has gone to evacuate the humans and I stayed to inform you and advise you to evacuate as well.”
Violet blinked slowly. His heart hammered in his chest, but Violet couldn’t feel his body. He seemed to be watching the dungeon around him on a visual scanner. He didn’t feel any need to hide from the humans who rushed across the worldlet space, because it didn’t seem possible for them to see him. A wizard stared at him, or at the scanner he was using. No wait, she couldn’t see a scanner. What does she want? He thought to himself. She said something about ‘evacuate’. I should leave the dungeon. I haven’t left the dungeon in years. I can’t leave.
Ivira frowned with concern. “Master fairy?”
Oh she want’s me to say something. I can’t leave. What do I say? Violet opened his mouth to speak, but it took a moment before anything came out. “How much time do we have?”
Ivira shrugged. “It depends on how long the vine can can resist the pressure of an entire world’s worth of mana. At a certain point, the vine will deteriorate and allow the mana through unimpeded. Master fairy, we must leave now, the formation of a vortex happens too quickly for us to react.”