Sarah awoke once more with a terrible headache. With a slight groan, she managed to open her eyes and sit up. The surroundings are dark. Sarah attempts to cast a simple light spell, but the spell fails, and Sarah recoils in pain. The hit from the ape has thrown her internal mana out of balance. Typically, external factors like a healer or potion are required to recover. Luckily, while dark, the surroundings are not pitch black and her eyes slowly adjust to the darkness. A single luminescent rock on the ceiling provides a small amount of light.
Sarah spots a torch on the wall besides her and gingerly walks towards it. Touching the torch, she infuses it with a small amount of mana. Relief settles across her face as she is still able to do this much. The torch, proven to be of a magical variety, lights up. And then another. And another. Soon a series of torches light up the entire room.
Now lit, Sarah can survey the room. There are no doors or entranceways of any kind. Circular in shape, four fifths of the room is enclosed by solid rock. The last portion of the room is sealed off by a clear barrier. In the middle is the pedestal where Sarah initially teleported in. Besides that there is a bed, a desk, and a series of cabinets. Walking the room to investigate further, Sarah finds a note on the desk written in Elven.
“To my potential successors and comrades who wish to follow in my footsteps. I applaud you for reaching this far. However, the outside world is a mighty dangerous place. If you want to survive, you will at least need to be able to escape from whatever dangers may arise. And to escape, you must be able to teleport under pressure in tense, difficult situations. Not only that, you must also be able to properly teleport to your destination. I have seen too many foolish elves kill themselves by teleporting into solid objects, into the ground, or high up in the air just crash into the ground.
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With this in mind, I leave you with two options. One, you may leave by hitting the button on the wall. I have imbued a spell that will be activated to teleport you out into a relatively safe area of the mountains. From there, you may return back to Elven civilization. Or two, you may follow in my footsteps. Teleport through the clear antimagic barrier in front of you into the room beyond, and I promise, a whole new world awaits you.
Within your room, when I last left, there is enough food and water to last a long time. You may stay here and make as many attempts as you like. Just know, once you leave, you will not be able to return for a second time.
Do not be fooled, attempting to teleport through my barrier is a dangerous endeavor not to be taken lightly. Most will not succeed. Some will even perish making the attempt. You have been warned.
Ah, I can’t end my note with something so ominous as you have been warned. I wish you the best of luck! There, that is a better sign off.
-- Elizabeth Markus”
Sarah is taken aback by the note. Many mixed emotions flood through her. This is everything she dreamed about when she set off down this path of teleportation research. Everything would be perfect. Perfect! If not for this damn injury. Sitting down, she attempts to circulate her mana only to cough up a small amount of blood.
Sufficiently dissuaded for the time being, Sarah continues investigating the room. Contrary to her initial inspection, there is a single door opening into a small bathroom. Leaving the bathroom, she peruses the cabinets and grabs a bite to eat. Exhaustion hits her as she finishes her meal.
Lying down on the bed Sarah contemplates her near future. At this point, she has ascertained her only injuries besides the magical one are a few bruised ribs along with some cuts and other bruises that will heal on their own. She resolves herself to rest and allow her physical injuries to heal. At the same time, she will attempt to circulate her mana every day until her mana equilibrium is hopefully restored.