In the dungeon mind space, the sensory rain turned red. The sensation of the evergreen vine swelling, burning, and splitting open fell on the mental entities. The ghostly raven tried to hide under the growing vine, but the sensory rain fell thickly and began to flood. The raven cawed in pain and terror, then vanished. The information bundles writhed in pain and fear. The sensory rain was so thick that the mirror star light could not penetrate it. The vine roots absorbed the floodwater and grew quickly. The new flesh growing on the ends of the vine branches was dark red.
Bits of mana flowed chaotically through the mushroom network, activating and deactivating various instincts. An instinct to grow fruit triggered and sucked down a large amount of sensory rain, trying to use it as mental energy. The vine’s new growth paused, then surged. The growth paused and surged again and again. With each surge of growth, a wave of mana flowed across the mushroom network. The wave of mana crashed through instincts and information bundles, breaking some of the mushroom network fibers.
The jellyfish bundle, pushed low by the sensory rain, bumped into a red vine branch and became entangled with the leaves. The jellyfish instincts activated, trying to dissolve whatever entered its bell. When the vine growth surged forward again, a new branch speared through the jellyfish. Red energy from the vine flowed into the jellyfish bundle, carrying the sensations from the sensory rain. The jellyfish bundle absorbed the red and pushed pure energy out through its tentacles, back into the vine. On the next growth surge, a ghostly vine appeared above the jellyfish. The ghostly vine formed a circle, like a snake eating its tail. With each growth surge, the jellyfish pushed more pure energy into the vine branch, and the ghostly vine grew more solid. The jellyfish bell dissolved the branch that had pierced through the information bundle. The jellyfish, now dark red, drifted away from the vine, and the severed branch fell toward the ground.
When the severed branch hit the floodwater below, the ghostly circle branch flared brighter than ever. It radiated the concepts, “pain, absorb, grow”. As the branch briefly sunk under the sensory floodwater, the ghostly branch melted, spreading streams of white through the water in every direction. The roots of the vine absorbed some of the white as it drained the floodwaters to fuel the next growth surge. Mushroom network fibers absorbed and spread the white throughout the mind space. Soon, ghostly branches of “pain, absorb, grow” appeared over all the new growth of the vine, shining brightly through the falling sensory rain.
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The evergreen vine could not resist the mana wave that crashed into the dungeon worldlet when the quarantine seal disappeared. The vine mutation was tailored to reduce mana and water loss, and this also slowed the absorption of external mana, but the mana pressure was too high. Mana pushed on the sap within the vine branch, forcing its way through. Soon, the sap ran hot and liquid through the mana vine in the captured space. The vine’s needles in the newest worldlet blackened from the heat. Sap boiled out of cracks along the vine where the heat and pressure became too much for the vine to handle.
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pain, absorb, grow
The evergreen vine funneled mana into reinforcing the vine flesh.
pain, absorb, grow
New vines shot out from the evergreen vine, draining mana to fuel their growth.
pain, absorb, grow
The evergreen vine dug roots deep into the hard sandy ground. The roots quickly met resistance, but the mana pressure behind the growth allowed the roots to burst violently through the obstacle.
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The underworld snake felt the familiar vertigo that meant a new set of tunnels had appeared. The snake raised its head in eager anticipation of a new dungeon music joining the rest. Instead of new music, the snake heard the howling of wind tearing through tight spaces. The wind, along with a crashing wave of mana, slammed into the snake, tossing it back. The snake’s skull shattered as it hit the wall of a tunnel intersection. The wind held the snake against the wall as it died.
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Mana flowed around the dungeon underworld, along miles of interconnected tunnels. The flow slowed and lost some momentum as it split and rejoined. The composition of the new mana was slightly different from the original mana in the dungeon, so as the mana in the tunnels was replaced, an opposing flow of mana appeared. A portion of the original dungeon mana flowed backwards through the tunnels, filling in missing mana aspects. The pressure in the tunnels rose, and mana began to boil up through the ground in the dungeon worldlets.
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“Too late!” Crataz screamed in terror. The last few humans had not yet reached the dungeon exit. The family with the toddler had taken extra convincing that they needed to leave behind the child’s clothes, toys, and nap time, and now they would be obliterated by a mana vortex. Crataz threw out a spatial shield spell to surround himself and the family as a pathetic last effort to survive the transition into the void. If he could stay alive for a few moments, he might find a way to get them to safety.
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Ivira screamed as mana shot up from below her feet. The magical armor she and Crataz had created was still active, and the mana caught her up like a kite in the wind. As she was thrown high, she felt Crataz’s spatial shield activate. She tried to cast the same shield spell, but her casting was thrown off as silver wings and violet hair filled her vision. The fairy was screaming something at her, but she couldn’t understand it at first.
“HOW DO YOU STOP A VORTEX?” The fairy screamed again.
Ivira’s stomach dropped as she reached the zenith of her trajectory and began to fall. “SLOW IT DOWN!” Her armor struck the top of the rising bubble of mana. The sudden slap against the mana caused her to black out, and she sank through the mana as though she was drowning in a rushing river.