There's no pup in the bed when I wake, which doesn't really surprise me. When I finally returned home last night, Aster was passed out in the living room with his nose on a picture of the King of the Celestials in the tome. I put the tome and my old phone away before giving him a pillow and blanket, then went to bed.

Either he slept through the night there or he's out doing something. Hopefully it's not indulging in his love of sticky sweets via theft but I wouldn't be surprised if he is.

As I start to get out of bed, however, I realize the shower is running. I really hope it's not been on for too long because there's only one thing I can think of which would be in there right now and it's not a person.

Upon checking my bathroom, I find Aster running in circles under the water while letting out whisper-like woofs and barks, his tail swishing around in his excitement.

"Aster," I turn off the water and the pup gives me an unhappy look. "The water here isn't free. I have to pay for it."

The pup tilts his head and I can feel his confusion at the concept of paying for water. To a creature which no doubt plays in natural water all the time, it's unlikely he's ever been charged for the water he plays in.

Unfortunately for him, I'm not interested in my water bill going from around $30-$45 a month to several hundred just so he can play in the shower whenever he wants. The small increase it's going to have with my increased showers to clean off after working in the forest isn't going to be much but the pup will probably play in there all night many times if I don't stop him now.

Just because I can afford it thanks to my ability to earn more now, that doesn't mean I want to.

"Water in a city like this," I explain. "Has to be transported by pipes and other systems, but also cleansed of impurities and stored. That takes up space and resources, so the companies charge for it to cover their costs. The water purification center that covers the sector this district is in doesn't charge too much, but some cities have insanely high costs. I do still have to pay some, though. If you want to play with water… it's better to do it somewhere that won't trouble people."

Aster lets out a sad whine at that.

"You're not in trouble," I give him a light rub on the head. "Let's get you dried off, then it's time for breakfast and more work at the Mythic Forest."

Aster vanishes before I'm even finished speaking. He wishes to avoid work so much that he'll not even eat breakfast with me if I mention it now, apparently.

Once I eat and dress, I head to the Mythic Forest. I enter through the Great Napping Spot rather than somewhere else as my intention is to go to the lake at the hills and it's easier for me to enter a spot I haven't been to if I'm already in the forest.

"Arf!" Aster barks the moment he appears.

"I thought you wanted to avoid work?" I smile at the pup, just a little. "I'm going to the lake at the hills so I can get the big river started up again."

The pup lets out several barks and a randomly-placed woof as he sends me a message. He wants me to fix another area first for some reason.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," I tell him. "While the King of the Celestials probably assigned me the river to keep me busy for a few days while he worked on untangling energy flows, opening up the big river probably won't be a problem as it should help with the water issue. Working on zones I don't already have unlocked won't be too efficient until after their energy flows start to untangle."

Aster tries telling me something but since he's not using his words, it's hard for me to understand. Eventually, he gives up and teleports me to the zone.

The fog only allows me to see around fifteen feet in each direction so I can't tell too well what's here by looking around, other than that the soil is dead and dry at my feet. At least the Special Quest notifications give me information.

There are more of them this time than I've ever received at once for a zone I haven't been in.

Special Quest initiated! Slay all of the starseeker wolves in the special zone. Slay: 0/53 starseeker wolves Time Limit: None

Special Quest initiated! Slay all of the goblin cosmic mages. Slay: 0/183 goblin cosmic mages Time Limit: None

Special Quest initiated! Eliminate the startusk boars! Slay: 0/92 startusk boars Time Limit: None

Special Quest initiated! Eliminate the drought salamanders. Slay: 0/37 drought salamanders Time Limit: None

Special Quest initiated! Eliminate the dark bramble. Time Limit: None

Special Quest initiated! Destroy the Water-Void Crystal Pillars Destroy: 0/17 Water-Void Crystal Pillars Time Limit: None

Special Quest initiated! Clear the blockage preventing the spring from flowing. Time Limit: None

Those first three monsters are quite concerning for me considering I'm only Level 10. Cosmic-type monsters don't show up until at least Category 5-2 Dungeons and normally, Category 5-4 or higher. This very likely isn't a place I could have a hope of cleaning up yet so I promptly access my gate to take to me to the Great Napping Spot.

Aster appears a moment later with a very disappointed look on his face.

"Aster," I crouch and rub his head. "I'm not strong enough to handle those. It would be better to wait until I'm Level 30 or higher at a minimum to take on those beasts."

The pup lets out a confused whine with a slight tilt of his head, followed by an exclamation and a window appearing in my vision.

Goblin Cosmic Mage HP: 3,300/3,300 MP: 7,100/7,300 Strength: 217 Constitution: 231 Agility: 210 Dexterity: 226 Magic: 401 Mind: 327 HP Regen: 5% MP Regen: 5%

Aster can access monsters' Statuses? This one indicates a beast I'm technically strong enough to take on.

"Is this the Status of one of those monsters?" I ask.

"Woof!" Aster nods, tail wagging enthusiastically.

"Is this typical for the beasts there?" I ask, and he woofs in confirmation again, his head bobbing up and down more vigorously. "So you were waiting for me to reach Level 10 because I'd be strong enough to handle them?"

Aster confirms that as well.

It might be better for me to gain two more Levels first, to make slaying the beasts there easier, but also because my physical stats are pretty low. The wolves will have higher physical stats than magical ones, as will the boars. That Mind stat makes it clear that I can't use a mental attack to my advantage there.

On top of all of that, it's not just a few monsters that I can target and take out. There's a variety of monsters there in what might be a large zone. I'd have to constantly adjust and adapt my strategy and while Rank 5s are known for being ridiculously strong, I'm not that good quit yet. The fog which is present when I'm somewhere early makes visibility quite low as well so I'll struggle to deal with beasts coming toward me or casting spells.

What are the odds that Aster's only really looking at the goblins' stats, too? If the zone has that degree of monster variety in it, it's probably a merger of several zones and the wolves or boars may be even stronger while Aster only checked the goblins? Aster may have somehow removed the boundaries between different zones, allowing for different strengths to mingle together.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Even two Levels probably won't be enough to guarantee full safety for me.

"Sorry, bud," I tell Aster. "That's just a little too much for me right now. It'll be better to wait until I'm Level 15 at a minimum, and 20 for a better guarantee of my safety. I doubt even you could distract them that much, not here."

Aster whines as his ears and tail droop, the pup looking at the ground. His sadness is so deep I can feel it without him projecting it to me. There's something special about that pond to the pup.

While it would only take a few more days to reach that if I continued in the river… there's something else I can do right now. I didn't want to, but I guess there's no real reason for me to not.

If it works.

"Let's go back to the river," I tell Aster. "I should be able to gain another Level or two before lunch, and that'll give me a better chance, alright?"

Aster perks up a little, then teleports us to where I left off in the river. The pup turns into a snake and wraps himself around my left wrist for some reason, but that makes it easier to not have to deal with him running around and potentially tanking one of my spells by accident.

By the time my phone goes off, alerting me that it's time for lunch, I've barely finished my Level 12 Awakening Quest. Both of the Awakening Quests for the morning required me to kill monsters in undefined zones which opened up nothing for me.

"Let's return home," I tell Aster, then return to my house.

Aster jumps off my wrist as he returns to his wolf pup form, then I open up my door and step outside just as Ryan ascends the steps of the deck. He's dressed in black shorts and a light grey sleeveless which hugs his body nicely, his skin lightly flushed as if he was working out not long before now. The lack of sweat and slightly dampness to his hair suggests he took a shower before coming, and those beautiful orange eyes of his light up when he sees me.

"Hello, Evan!" He greets me with a big smile, drawing closer and pulling me in for a hug and a light kiss. "How was your morning?"

"Not bad," I answer. "Aster got a little bit needy, but other than that, things were okay. I'd definitely enjoy things more if I had my shop open, it'd give me something to do that's not constant work."

"Of course," he chuckles. "I brought lunch, if you want."

We move to the table and he puts a plate on the ground for Aster, then drops some meat on it. More mithriltusk boar chunks for the pup, and subs with chips, pretzels, and fruit for us people.

"What did you do for the morning?" I ask as I take a bite of my sub.

"Some training," he answers. "Just came from it, actually. Pushed myself a little harder today since I don't have anything else to do. The group going on that trip left today."

"Yeah," I say. "Kelsey asked me about scrolls, but mine are too weak for where they're going. I wasn't able to get materials which work well for taking on an area with Category 5-2 beasts. She did text me later and let me know she found some, though."

"That's good," he says. "I know they were struggling to find fire-based scroll magics but hadn't heard an update on that."

"I wasn't told the actual purpose of the mission," I say. "Was that classified, or can I know?"

"They're heading up to White River," he answers. "Earth magic crystals are all you need to fertilize soil for crops as their magics simply provide whatever the plants need. Our haul the other day will guarantee our food supply is fine for months.

"However," he says. "That's not the only thing which needs taking care of. We only have about a month's supply of the magic crystals used for purifying water. Our water purification systems don't use them exclusively, but they're a heavy part of it and without more, we won't be able to maintain the water usage of the city."

Tens of millions of people living in one place needs a heavy amount of water purification. Systems without magic involved can't keep up so water magic crystals are pretty important.

"So they're going to White River to look?" I ask. "What are the chances of them getting enough?"

"There's a little-known cave network mined out by monsters up there," he tells me. "Part of it goes under the river and contains water magic crystals. We've known about it for a long time, but you need a pretty strong team to get there and to deal with the monsters outside of it and within. Plant-based monsters can be rather troublesome and it's not like we can just burn down the forest."

A slow and gradual clearing is better and even that comes with its risks. Nature tends to recover quickly because of the magic in the soil and if you don't put up efficient defenses for your camps or whatever while clearing an area, they'll get overrun by agitated monsters. The constructions of the cities were gradual processes as a result.

Gradual processes with a lot of deaths.

"They'll be gathering other materials while they're there as well," he says. "Plant magic crystals, which will help with some of the more specialized or nuanced crops, wood, fibers, and reagents that can't be found easily. But the main one is water magic crystals. Dungeons provide a decent amount, but not enough to build up a massive amount of extra."

That's another change I noticed during my research. The cities naturally used more because they were growing in size and so needed more resources, but Dungeons seemed to always keep up with that.

Until around the last four centuries. It could just be that Dungeons weren't able to provide too much more than they were once populations hit a certain point. They could keep up a little bit but not allow for a significant excess. That affected things when their supplies dropped.

This Dungeon Drought is affecting our supply a lot more heavily because the cities weren't able to build up a decent stock of water magic crystals already so they were tapping into their reserves a little while gathered resources were lower.

"That face makes me think you just had an idea," Ryan says.

"Yeah," I frown. "Dungeons are no danger to people, right?"

"Right," he says. "Either you clear a Dungeon before it expires or you don't. You either get its materials and some EXP inside, or they're gone. No one really knows what causes them."

"I do," I tell him. "Sort of. The reason they're 'offline' right now is because the energy used to create them comes from the Mythic Forests. I've heard the theory before, but thinking about it now, after the things I've learned this past week and a half or so, has me thinking it's real. I think Dungeons and maybe even the System exist specifically to help people. It's known that we can grow stronger without it, but it's very difficult."

"The System's basically a boost, yeah," he says. "What do you mean, the Dungeons are created from energy from the Mythic Forests?"

"Dungeons," I say. "And the System as a whole. It's the Mythic Forests which provide their energy. With the King of the Celestials missing these past five centuries, the energy flows within the Mythic Forests have gotten tangled up and aren't flowing properly, so they aren't able to properly feed the System or go into the creation of Dungeons."

"And you know this… how?" He asks.

"Remember how I said the King of the Celestials was having me do some stuff?" I ask.

"Yeah."

"It's cleaning up monsters in one of the Mythic Forests," I tell him. "And doing some gardening as well. I can sense all forms of energy in the environment if I want to and I used it yesterday and discovered the tangled and weakened flows. I think that's what causes Monster Eggs – energy flows tangling too much."

Ryan thinks on that for several minutes as we eat.

"So when you said you met Aster in a Mythic Forest," he says. "You were in there doing a job?"

"I was checking on one of the zones I'm tending," I say. "Found him playing in there. That's also where I met Mrow and the azulvitt wolves and foxes from my pictures."

Ryan goes quiet again, deep in thought about something.

"So the System was made to help mankind," he eventually says. "And the Mythic Forests as a power source. We could handle monsters in the wild on our own in smaller groups, but society would never develop to its current state without help. The King of the Celestials decided to make the System to benefit people and allow us to get stronger. But since he's been gone and not regulating the energy flows in the Mythic Forests, the energy powering the System isn't strong enough to maintain things. That's what you're thinking?"

"I am."

"I'd suspected it might be something like that," he admits. "After seeing the dead state of the Mythic Forests, I'd originally thought maybe it was affected by the same thing that was affecting the System. Then I realized that maybe it was that it was the thing affecting the System."

He leans back in his chair a little.

"So until he fixes the energy flows," Ryan says. "The System is going to keep shutting down?"

"He's working on it," I say. "I can tell that work's being done in some of the zones I've been in. The whole reason I thought to read the natural energy flows was because of a nap yesterday-"

Ryan snorts.

"When I woke from it," I say. "Something felt different about the area. I couldn't figure out what, but suspected it was the natural magics and decided to check on that. When I returned from lunch, the plant growth had spread immensely there. Well, immensely compared to how it had been spreading before."

"So he's working on it, it's just taking time," Ryan says.

"Right," I say. "And I think he's only focusing on a few areas right now because of that."

I tell him about the zones of the Mythic Forest and their expansions, as well as a little about the work I've done.

"Damn," he says. "And you're really wanting to skip the work on the river?"

"It's work and just drowning everything will be faster."

"You really are a bit lazy, aren't you?" He snorts. "You want to skip out on what's essentially free EXP because it takes too long."

I shrug.

"Still," he sighs. "Wish I could see it, even if it's still in the early stages."

"That's why I brought this up," I tell him. "Aster's really insistent on me clearing a zone with cosmic-type monsters and while I could manage it if their numbers were much fewer, I don't think I have the power to handle it on my own until I'm at least Level 20, possibly higher. It seems to be really important to him, though. The gate which I access seems to be capable of bringing others through it, though I haven't fully tested it yet."

"You're asking me if I want to come?" Ryan's eyes widen a little. "Would the King of the Celestials allow it?"

"Woof! Woof!" Aster nods vigorously as we look at him. "Woof!"

The pup looks at me and sends me a message which is hard to interpret even with him doing it in a way which [Animal Communication] can interpret more easily.

"You've already gotten confirmation from him?" I ask, and he nods. "Wait, when did you speak with him about this?"

Aster thinks for a few moments, then a jar of jam appears in front of him and he pops the lid off and starts eating rather than answering. That better just be from storage he has and isn't something he just stole.

"Okay, then," I chuckle a little, then look at Ryan. "I don't think they'd be beyond your abilities for sure. If you're really able to go with me, would you like to come and help? This isn't me asking as a friend, or boyfriend, or scavenger, or shop owner and alchemist. This is me asking for help from one Awakened to another."

I've known Ryan for about eight years now and know his abilities and trustworthiness. I did always plan on taking him there eventually, just not before it was restored enough for it to be beautiful.

"Help from one Awakened to another," Ryan says. "But also one friend to another. And as one friend and Awakened to another, of course I'll help. Remember what I said Saturday? I love fighting monsters. If these ones put up a decent fight, then it'll be even better. It'll let me see a new environment as well… eventually."

I let out a laugh at that last statement. A small part of me knew he'd probably want to help just because it would probably eventually let him see the Mythic Forest in a better state and it seems I was right.

"Alright," I say. "Let's finish lunch, then."