This time, I pictured a scroll of simple velum, the parchment tan in color but flexible instead of old and dry. For fun, I envisioned the words to be written out of ink that varied in color with each new word. To round it off, I had it rolled up inside a hollow tusk of a boar.

"Hmmm. The colors are tacky, but I appreciate the attention to detail. In the future, you should think about becoming a dungeon core.

"Thanks for the compliment? I think?"

Like before, Xena used the energy swirling around and concentrated it into a weave of magic too brilliant for my brain to comprehend. Her careful control slipped and opened the floodgates. My mind crumpled under the sensory overload, but thankfully, it ended once Xena reclaimed control.

I swam through the memories of what just happened and tried to internalize them in the back of my mind. Barely anything stuck, but I saw snippets of runic patterns meshed together to form a weave.

That's insane how much is going into this. Is this what Erebus does every time he loots?

In the obelisk chamber, Sereza and Isaac froze as they stared at the boar tusk rolling on the ground. Carefully, Isaac extended a tendril out of his clone, and the clone removed the scroll from its case.

They both squeezed together to read the scroll as the clone held it out for them to examine. Isaac's face scrunched within seconds while Sereza raised an eyebrow.

"So... let me get this straight. You can hear. You are maybe okay. And no, you can't really tell us what's going on. Besides the lowering our guards and allowing you to teleport us thing. Is this right?"

Isaac growled. "How do we know it's you?"

"Xena? I'm making another scroll. Smaller this time."

"Go for it. I'm getting adjusted to your mana signature.

This time, another scroll appeared, but it had no casing and unraveled as it hit the ground.

My mind reeled from the mental assault, but true to her word, it was less than before—the throbbing subsiding a whole thirty seconds quicker.

Isaac looked at the new scroll and promptly stabbed it with a tendril, ripping it to shreds before Sereza could get a good peek.

"What it say?" she asked.

"Nothing," he grumbled. He looked to the ceiling and glared. "Fine, it's you. Haa haa, at least Brelten is a tier three using his ultimate form. How many times have Eodyne or Igas whooped your ass?"

Sereza looked at him weirdly but shook her head. "Cyrus. If you're safe, then I'm ready. But I have a million questions."

There was a long pause followed by Sereza staring at Isaac, who glared at the ceiling.

"Isaac?"

"I don't like this. Why are we getting put somewhere safe and you're not? And what about the others? Can you guarantee their safety?"

"Xena?" I asked as I turned my attention away from the chamber.

"We'll search for them once these two are out of the chamber room."

This time, I created another object, one small enough that the sensory assault lasted less than a dozen seconds.

It plopped with a clink on the tile and rolled to a stop next to Isaac's boot. He bent down and picked it up. This time, he pocketed it without a word and held his arms akimbo.

"Fine. If they get hurt, I swear I'll beat you blue. Don't fuck up."

Xena nudged me in the physical sense, and I extended the energy around their legs; Sereza didn't seem to react much, but Isaac did, and one of his tendrils spasmed as he clenched his fists.

With a faint pop, they disappeared, leaving me recoiling as the pain throbbed along my skull.

"That one hurt."

"They are ascenders, not like the man in the crystal. And they were conscious. Even with their guard lowered, it's difficult to truly lower one's defense. Adventurers are always alert in the dungeon, even in safe zones."

That made sense, and judging from how Isaac reacted to the energy encasing him, he fought his instincts to let the teleport go through.

As I refocused on the chamber, I noticed the scroll and its horn casing were gone. I didn't see one of the others take it, but they must have. So, at least we had something to remember this ordeal by.

"Hey. We're making dungeon loot. Is this draining a reserve of some sort?"

"Yes, but what you made is so small it's not much. If we created something more complex, you might see a dip in the ether pool."

"Could I create a skill stone then? Or something enchanted?"

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"Do you want your brain to melt?"

I winced. "That bad?"

"My entire being is modified for this task. The knowledge of creating skill stones is both instinctual and something earned after countless centuries. You can try, but you'll experience soul damage so severe you would die a true death within moments."

That... doesn't sound good.

"And enchanted items?"

"Less difficult, but you need to understand enchantments well enough to apply them."

"So no to both. Fine. Next step?"

"Disconnect from the node," Xena said as she tapped my cheek.

I did, and clutched my head as the headache I had been pushing back hit me full force.

"Oww."

Xena shook her head. "Flesh prison."

I massaged my temples and ignored Xena as I watched Chomperz. He stumbled on my shoulder before grasping a strand of my hair.

"You okay?"

He nodded, so I shrugged and stretched. It didn't help, but the act was soothing.

"There are more people in the crystal chamber. We'll need to get them out, right?"

"Yes. Would be faster if you let me erase them," Xena grumbled. "We can do that before finding your friends. After we safely remove the brain farms the creature should show itself once it gets cut off."

"Do you not know where it is?"

Xena sent another spike of pure rage that mellowed as she punched the air. A wave of energy burst from her hand like a shockwave that crashed into the void wall before dispersing.

"No. It has its own pocket inside the dungeon. And I can't search for it until everyone is gone. Don't want to risk it bonding with a host."

"And if it already did?"

Xena hopped into the air and pushed a finger against my nose. "Then we purge them and free their soul."

I shook my head. "We have cleansers of some kind on their way for Helio. I'm not going to kill any of my friends if they can be saved."

Her rage bled into mine, and the beastie inside finally snapped a few bars free. What I sent through the link floored the fairy, and Xena sank to the ground.

Before she fell, I caught her and held her up, letting the anger consume my thoughts until my fingers started to tighten around her.

I cut it off like a switch and pushed it back into its containment, resealing the mental prison.

It was only after Chomperz bit my ear that I realized I was still squeezing Xena. She didn't seem to care about the physical pressure and merely pushed my fingers free.

"You... are unstable."

A dry chuckle escaped my lips, and Chomperz let go of my earlobe. "Maybe. Not the first time I've been told that."

She resumed her spot on my shoulder and turned her head away. "Fine. We don't purge them. But I won't be held responsible if something goes wrong. I only want our dungeon back. Everything else matters little."

I nodded. "Fair enough. Let's get on with it then?"

She got into position, and I closed my eyes and let the node pull me in.

Once more the obelisk chamber came into view and I switched us over to the crystal chamber. One by one, each crystal embedded into the wall was freed of its prisoner.

By the time we finished, the pain had ramped up and yet hurt less. Eventually Xena tugged on my hair and I returned to my body before collapsing to the floor.

Pressure squeezed my chest, and restricted my lungs. My heart pumped a million miles a minute, and my brain felt like mush.

Chomperz landed in front of me and poked my eyelids. I batted him away, but he did it again. The red ring inside his eyes had a new addition, a single chromatic speck rotating slowly along the circle.

"What's... that?"

He pointed to the node and then Xena, who was observing me from afar.

I frowned. "Is the connection doing something to us?"

He nodded.

"Is it bad?"

There was a long pause, but he eventually shook his head.

"So not good, but not bad?"

Another headshake. What does he mean?

Chomperz raised a paw and held out a thumb. He turned it to the side and lightly wiggled it upward.

"Oh. So kinda good, but it's nearly borderline?"

His nod confirmed it, and he flew to join Xena in the air. The dungeon fairy observed him before floating toward me after I stood up.

"I'm keeping a tight control on our bond. But we don't want to stay like this for longer than needed, or he's right. You're body will change and it might not be for the better."

Again, I shrugged. "It really can't be any crazier than what I'm already doing. Eldritch abyss thingy, crystal bones, divine essence. What's another to the list?"

Xena paused and slowly turned her head. I stuck out my tongue, and she jerked her head away. "Right. Maybe you are not as boring as I thought."

I tapped the crown spinning above her head. "Yeah. Boring. I wish that was the case."

"Just focus," she sighed. "If it hasn't noticed the mortals missing, it will soon. We better find your friends while you can!"

Why is she excited all of a sudden?

She already had her arm out and looked dead ahead, furiously focusing on the node and nothing else.

Oh, I bet she wants to see what her dungeon looks like.

I closed my eyes and sank into the node. This time, Xena shifted the energy into a complex pattern that pulled me upward. It felt like swimming in the void, a vast nothingness that was broken up by bits of light in the distance.

"Here we go!"

The new room came into view, and I sorted through the blurry lines.

We were in a hallway, an unfamiliar one with blue crystal lights jutting out of the walls at odd angles.

Xena tisked, and disgust dripped through the link. "Sloppy design. This is awful!"

"Hey, focus on that later. How do we find people?"

"Fine. Let me adjust the output; you should feel a pulse of essence separate from the rest of the dungeon."

The taste of dust and magenta hit me at the same time.

"Oops. There we go!"

I felt a beacon of mana several rooms away. The mana signature felt familiar, the taste of ice and the feeling of deep chill brushing my thoughts. Accompanying the mana, blanketed beneath it; the slick clink of chains and the taste of iron crept in.

Chomp!

I smiled and started moving.

Through the hall and past several rooms, a lone man stood atop a block of ice, his massive greatsword mere inches away from a very frozen and completely encased guard captain.

Igas dripped blood onto the tile, while his right arm looked mangled. Heavy bruises and lacerations crisscrossed the exposed skin beneath the broken remnants of his ice armour.

With a twist, he pulled his blade free and collapsed to the floor, where he groaned and sucked in deep breaths through his teeth.

Found you.

I asked Xena a question, and she took a minute to listen to my explanation.

"That'll work. But it won't be very good."

Fine by me.

Even as another raging migraine built, I shut the pain out and focused on creating the mixture as well as the glass vial.

Finally, the creation process was completed, and Xena removed the extra senses as the potion landed just above the ice block.

Igas' sword was up, and he started pulling more ice across his body before he stopped and frowned at the health potion.

"What the fuck?" he muttered.

He slowly reached for it, and the connection with the node shattered as I collapsed to the floor for the third time.