Soul of the Warrior

Reivyn stood near the entrance to the Dungeon as he watched every Party that came out, looking to see if they were his companions. He fidgeted back and forth on his feet, eager to get moving.

I don't know the exact extent of the changes the ambient mana has gone through, but this Dungeon was discovered months before the Count sent his men to conscript us. And who knows how long it existed before then?

I knew that the mana density could feel like an increase in humidity, but I had been so focused on it being paired with the heat, that I let myself think my way out of the right answer, Reivyn silently berated himself. I know everything seems fine on the surface, and there's no impending doom or anything, but ever since I noticed what was going on, I have a bad feeling in my gut.

Standing here waiting isn't doing any good. It's not like they're going to run off or anything. I should go ahead and make a trip to the Adventurer's Guild Branch to see about supplying the information on the Dungeon.

With his mind made up, Reivyn walked over to the Guild building. It was located nearby, so it didn't take any time to get there. Everything in the small town was still running exactly the same as it always had, and only Reivyn had a sense of impatience.

There had been a steady stream of additional Adventurers and Lifestyle Class holders over the several weeks Reivyn and his friends had been here, so the level of activity in the guild branch was considerably higher than when they had arrived.

Reivyn weaved his way through the crowd of people milling about, talking to each other or looking at the notice board, and got in line to wait for one of the receptionists. This was the first time he had to actually wait for his turn, as he hadn't had to interact with a member of the guild officially since they had rented their small house. Putting up a notice for private tutoring didn't require one to go through the official channels, and it had its own sub-space on the board.

Reivyn tapped his foot as he waited. The line wasn't actually moving that slowly, but with his impatience, every second felt like a minute.

"Oh, hey, Reivyn," a voice brought Reivyn out of his brooding, and he looked up to see Lorin approaching him. "Fancy meeting you here, what're you up to?" Lorin walked up with a smile and joined Reivyn. He had come from the front of the line, so Reivyn surmised he had actually already finished his business and wasn't trying to cut the line.

Reivyn nodded his head to his acquaintance and motioned for him to lean close.

"I got information on the second floor boss room, so I'm seeing about selling it or something, but," Reivyn held his finger up, pointedly, "my Party and I are going to leave as soon as possible. I would suggest you do the same." Reivyn kept his voice low so as not to cause a panic, but he was also going to express the same sentiments to the receptionist, and hopefully, the Guild Branch would take his warning seriously and handle it in an appropriate manner.

"If you're leaving soon and think there's a problem, why take the time to sell information on the Dungeon?" Lorin asked with a puzzled expression.

"Well, a couple of reasons," Reivyn said with a shrug. "I don't know that anything bad is going to happen; I just have a feeling. And the information I sell here will get recorded on my badge and submitted to the headquarters, so I might as well take care of it sooner than later while I wait for my Party who's still in the Dungeon on their own dive."

"Ok, what exactly do you think the problem is, though?" Lorin continued to question.

"I don't know. I figured out what's causing the heat and humidity feeling for most of us that can use mana Skills and Spells: The demonic mana is leaking out of the Dungeon, and when it mixes with the ambient mana, it causes some heat and increases the mana density. And the sum is greater than the whole. When one demonic mote mixes with one ambient mote, it creates four total mote's worth of mana."

"That doesn't seem like such a bad thing, honestly," Lorin had a skeptical look on his face. "That would explain why we all have seen an increase in our Mana Manipulation Skills without a drastic increase in Skill Level. Shouldn't a higher density be a good thing? I mean, if this keeps going unabated, maybe it will spread over the entire Region one day, and this won't be a Tier 1 Region any longer."

Reivyn nodded his head. "I agree it is a good thing, but I made a promise to my dad. I promised that if anything unusual happened, I would leave and reassess. I don't know that anything bad is going to happen, but this is definitely unusual, and I'm just spreading the word so that people can keep it in the back of their minds. It would be irresponsible of me to run away but say, 'nah, everything is fine.'"

"Hmm... now that you mention it, it is very unusual," Lorin rubbed his chin. "I personally haven't been to any other Dungeons, but I've met others who have, and I have some knowledge of them. They don't typically passively increase the mana density around them. I'll tell my own Party about it, but they'll probably want to wait and see before making a decision."

The line kept moving as they had their quiet conversation, and it was quickly Reivyn's turn.

"Alright, well good luck to you guys. Just keep it in mind," Reivyn bid farewell.

"Sure, sure," Lorin clapped Reivyn on the shoulder. "Good luck to you, too. I'll see you around one day. Maybe at another Dungeon. Who knows?"

Lorin walked off as Reivyn stepped up to the desk. "I have information on the second floor boss room I would like to sell. How do I go about doing that?"

"Certainly," the young lady behind the desk responded. "You can use a private room to write the details down. You can choose to sell it in a couple of ways: You can have your own packet that we will sell for you, and you'll get all of the proceeds - minus a small fee, of course - but that runs the risk of nobody paying attention to it if you don't have a reputation among the other Adventurers.

"Or, you can let us handle it for you. One of the managers will review the contents and determine whether or not it's relevant enough to include in the regular packet of information we sell, or if it's valuable enough to have a VIP portion included. This method cuts out the need for a reputation for others to get the information, but the amount of money you get will be a lot less per packet as it will be bundled with the information provided by other Adventurers. It also helps build your reputation, if you include your name or Party name on it, if it is valuable information and a lot of people benefit from it."

"That makes a lot of sense," Reivyn said.

He thought about it for a moment as he took the paperwork to a back room. We're not hurting on funds from our trip out here. We've pretty much broken even just from the ores, and we have a lot of Experience Crystals we can sell for a lot more in the Capital. Building a foundation as a reputable Adventuring team makes the most long-term sense. Teilon and Kimberly will go with whatever I choose.

After coming to a decision, Reivyn wrote down the information he had previously told Josn. He put his name down as the Party Leader and filled in the names. I should include Melissa, Larissa, and Erik. They were vital in helping us get this information. But it asks for a Party Name. We never came up with one. What would be a good Party Name? Reivyn twirled the pen in his fingers as he thought about it.

I'll just go with The Ravens for now, Reivyn chuckled to himself. He rang the bell to notify the attendant he was ready, and after waiting a few minutes, a middle-aged man came into the room.

"Ahh, Adventurer Reivyn, I presume," the man smiled as he shook Reivyn's hand. "You understand that I'll have to read the contents of the information you wish to sell, yes?"

"Mhm," Reivyn nodded. "I've also decided to have the guild handle how to distribute it."

"I see," the man said as he turned his attention to the paper. He read through the contents, and his eyebrows raised in appreciation. He read it a couple of times to ensure that he fully understood and hadn't missed anything.

"Well, this is definitely new information," the man said as he looked at Reivyn. Reivyn could see new respect in his eyes. "While we already have the information on what the second boss room entails, and we even had one group also encounter the ritual that you explained, this is the first time anyone has said anything about a Hard Mode. The other group to meet The Ritual also didn't successfully provide a sample or learn anything about the alchemic substance.

"I think the appropriate way to handle this is to include the warning about the cauldron and the existence of a Hard Mode with the regular packet, and provide the information on how to activate the Hard Mode and the information on the more powerful Dullahan in a VIP packet. Does this sound reasonable to you?"

Reivyn was momentarily surprised. I didn't think I would get any input on the matter from what the receptionist said.

Reivyn nodded his head. "That sounds fine to me."

"Excellent! That's what we'll do, then," the man folded the paper up and stuck it in an inner breast pocket. "As to the method of receiving payment, we put the funds that go to you in an account that you, or anyone in your Party that you as the Party Leader designate, can access with your Guild Badge at any time, at any Guild Branch. You'll need your Party members to come with you to 'officially' be recognized as Party Members, though."

"Sure thing," Reivyn said.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" The manager asked.

"One final point," Reivyn said. "I don't know if it's anything serious, but I've figured out the cause of the heat and feeling of humidity..." Reivyn explained the situation once again.

"I see," the man frowned at the information. "I'll send it up the chain to the Guild Branch Master, but he'll ultimately decide what to do with this knowledge. Thank you for considering spreading the news, though. Is there anything else?"

Reivyn shook his head. "That's it."

"Well, then, have a nice day, Adventurer Reivyn." The man gave a short bow and exited the room. Reivyn followed him out and headed towards the exit.

Now back to waiting for the others.

Reivyn didn't have to wait too much longer, as the rest of his friends came out of the Dungeon around the same time they usually did: near dusk. It had been late afternoon when Reivyn had left the church compound, so it only felt like an eternity due to his impatience.

"...bet he cleared the second floor boss," Teilon's voice, mid-sentence, reached his ears before he spotted the group walking out of the Dungeon. Reivyn held back from running up to them, and he let them make their way to an inspection team before walking up.

"There he is, already out and waiting for us," Teilon said as he stood and had a priest cleanse any corrupt mana that had latched onto him. "How long have you been waiting for us?"

Reivyn looked at his System clock for a second before answering, "A little over an hour, total." Teilon shared a look with Kimberly and the others.

"Yeah, he definitely cleared the second boss," Teilon said with a smirk. "Did you get the three spectres and Big Boy this time?" Reivyn nodded to the question.

"Did you have any problems?" Kimberly asked with concern.

"Nah, business as usual," Reivyn replied nonchalantly. "Hey!" Reivyn turned as he felt his shield get lifted off of his back where he had it secured, and he found Melissa inspecting it in her hands. She looked up at Reivyn with a level gaze before turning it around to show everyone else the giant rent that was now adorning the shield from top to bottom.

"That was already there," Reivyn said with a straight face. Melissa snorted as she handed it to Erik. Erik took the shield in his hands, and after applying some pressure on either side, it snapped in half. "I should get my money back for such faulty equipment," Reivyn frowned.

"Uh-huh. 'Business as usual,' you say," Melissa raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, the wound was on the shield, not me," Reivyn defended himself. "Anyway, I have something important to say once the inspection is over."

"Alright, go ahead and deflect," Melissa said as she resumed her position in line, waiting for cleansing.

"I already did, you saw," Reivyn smirked. Melissa rolled her eyes. They waited for the all-clear, also taking the opportunity to cleanse their Experience Crystals for the fee after hearing the explanation from the sword-priest.

The group gathered their belongings and walked away from the congested area before Reivyn pulled everyone up short.

"Ok, we're leaving," Reivyn just threw it out there. Larissa tilted her head at the statement.

"Didn't you have something important to say first?" She asked.

"That was the important thing," Reivyn said. "I'm saying we're leaving the Dungeon Town. Right now. You three should come with us."

Teilon looked at the setting sun and then back at Reivyn. "The sun's going down."

"Uh-huh, I see that. Let's go," Reivyn said.

"You want to go right now?" Larissa narrowed her eyes. Melissa nudged her with her elbow.

"Let's hear him out," she said. Reivyn took a deep breath and then explained what he had found regarding the mana and his promise to his dad.

"And so I think we should leave and re-evaluate the situation," Reivyn concluded. "If nothing happens, you took a little break. If something does happen, though, you're safe."

"I agree, we should leave now," Erik said.

"Well, hold on a minute..." Larissa began.

"Silence!" Reivyn waved his hands about as he looked at Erik with wide eyes. "Erik has spoken. It's time to go." Melissa rolled her eyes once again, but she didn't argue.

"We'll get our things and load up the saddlebags on our horses," Melissa said.

"You have horses?" Teilon asked.

"Yup!" Larissa nodded her head enthusiastically. "You guys don't? Did you walk all the way here?"

"Hardly," Teilon said dramatically. "We Force Marched under immense strain all the way here." He gave an accusatory look toward Reivyn as Larissa giggled behind her hand.

"You got a valuable Skill out of it," Reivyn pointed out. "Plus, you don't know how to ride a horse." Larissa stopped giggling as she looked at Reivyn with an open mouth.

"Wait, you were serious? You guys not only walked all the way here, but you even made it harder on yourselves, on purpose?"

Teilon shrugged. "That's life. Welcome to the Party."

"We'll dump the rocks out of those packs, but we shouldn't leave them here. Those are valuable pieces of equipment." Larissa gave Melissa an incredulous look as she mouthed, "Rocks?!"

"I noticed nobody said anything about your or Kimberly not knowing how to ride a horse," Melissa brought them back to the main topic.

"I have the Skill, Kimberly does not," Reivyn answered.

"Ok, instead of trying to buy new horses, we'll double up," Melissa said. "You and Teilon on one, Larissa and Kimberly on one, and I'll take the last one with Erik."

"Alright, let's make it happen," Reivyn said. "We'll go get our gear, turn in the key to the house, and meet up with you outside the stables to the tavern."

Reivyn, Teilon, and Kimberly separated from the other three, and they quickly made their way to the house. They emptied the house of all of their belongings and threw the perishables away as they tidied the place up. No reason to leave a mess behind us.

Reivyn ran the key back to the Adventurer's Guild Branch while Teilon and Kimberly went ahead and met up with the others. Reivyn wasn't expecting it, but he still got a small refund back for not spending the entire time they had rented the house out for.

"Alright, is everything in order?" Reivyn said as he finally reached the stables. The other members of his Party were already mounted. Melissa nodded down at him from her seat atop her steed. Erik looked a bit uncomfortable in his position behind her.

Larissa had an excited expression on her face as she turned in her seat and conversed with Kimberly, and Teilon tried to hide it, but he appeared to be a bit nervous. Reivyn smirked as he remembered how the Knight-Lieutenant had initially taught him the Riding Skill.

"You're lucky this time," Reivyn said as he walked up to the horse they would be sharing as a mount. "Remember what the Adjutant did with me? You get to skip that."

"Yeah, not sure I could handle that," Teilon said as Reivyn assumed his position on the horse. He looked around at everyone, and seeing that they were ready, he turned the horse to start down the main road to the exit. Since they were leaving at such a late time, the road was practically deserted.

Reivyn grinned as he suddenly drew his sword. He smacked the flat of the blade on the horse's thigh and yelled, "Yah!" The horse took off at a gallop.

"You son of a... Aaahhhhh!" Teilon screamed as he held on for dear life. Reivyn could hear the laughter of the girls coming from behind as they sped out of the town.

"Looks like it's just going to be an extended break, after all," Reivyn said from his position behind Teilon on the back of the horse. He had given up his position in charge of directing the horse to let Teilon work on his Skill, and Larissa had done a similar thing with Kimberly.

The Party had traveled for several hours into the night on the evening they left before Reivyn felt they were far enough away to stop and camp. Now that the Party had expanded, they were able to break up the watch better so everyone could get some decent sleep out in the open.

They moved a lot quicker since they were on horseback and not over-encumbered with the heavy load of rocks, but the trip was still most of a week's time. They weren't in a hurry to get anywhere, as the main purpose had simply been to get away from the Dungeon Town and not to Magron, so they had decided it was appropriate to let Teilon and Kimberly work on their Skill.

"We don't mind," Melissa replied. "It's kind of nice, actually."

"My parents have already moved to the Capital to enroll my sisters in the supplemental school attached to the Academy," Reivyn said, "so we'll have to get a place to stay for a few days. I can introduce you to my friends from the Lord's Retinue while we're there, and you, Larissa, and Erik can decide to stick with us on our way to the Capital or go back to the Dungeon Town at that time."

"Oh, you've mentioned your sisters showing promise in mana Skills before, do you think they're talented enough to get into the Magic Academy?" Melissa asked.

Reivyn rummaged through the saddlebags and pulled out the Flower Crown his sisters had made for him. He handed it over to Melissa, and she exclaimed in surprise after Inspecting it.

"My sisters made that for me on the road from Haluville to Magron. They made a couple for Teilon and Kimberly, too."

"And you said they're only six years old, almost seven? Yeah, I would say they're definitely talented enough to get into the Magic Academy. I wouldn't be surprised if they get recommended to move to the Tier 2 Region's Academy before they reach the age of ten. I don't know of any other students who were capable of making something like this before they entered the Academy, much less at the age of six!"

"Yup, apparently my parents decided to move ahead of time because they show a complete lack of interest in studying or training," Reivyn said with a chuckle.

"Well, you can't expect your sisters to be exactly like you," Melissa stuck her tongue out.

The group rode in silence for several minutes, but Reivyn suddenly held his hand up and gestured for Teilon to stop the horse. The others also pulled their horses to a stop and looked at him with questioning gazes.

"Do any of you hear that?" Reivyn said. He thought he had heard a faint rumbling sound.

"I don't hear anything," Teilon said. Melissa and the others each shook their head. Reivyn looked at Erik who had his eyes narrowed.

The faint rumbling increased, and Erik nodded his head in confirmation. Reivyn frowned as he looked back down the road in the direction they had come from. The trees obscured most of what could be seen, so he didn't see anything out of the ordinary right away.

The faint rumbling sound suddenly turned into a tremendous roar, drowning out all other sounds, and the horses went crazy. The earth began to shake, and it quickly escalated until it was heaving violently.

Reivyn was tossed into the air from the back of his horse, and he was slightly disoriented at first as he tumbled through the air. He quickly oriented himself, though, and he launched out lassos made of pure mana to each of the members to keep them from getting flung too far apart. Melissa picked up on the mana Skill being used, and she cast some Ice Walls to protect everyone from the trees that were being uprooted and tossed about.

The party hunkered down in their little bunker made of ice and waited for the earthquake to pass. The walls occasionally shook as it was hit by a falling tree, but the shelter held. Larissa supplied a small spark to light up the interior, and Reivyn saw fear on everyone's faces.

The loud roaring sound eventually faded out, and the earth quit shaking. Melissa removed the Ice Walls, and Reivyn stood up to survey the damage. One of the horses had moved too far away to be included in the protection from Melissa, and Reivyn spotted it crushed beneath a tree, dead.

Flashes of devastated countryside flitted through Reivyn's mind as the surroundings evoked some of the memories from his dreams. It looked like someone had bombarded the entire forest with powerful spells. Most of the trees still stood, but they were almost all damaged, and a good portion of them was down and splintered completely.

Reivyn looked over at Melissa, and she shook her head. He frowned as he looked back down the road in the direction they had come, but this time, he saw something different.

A giant, blood-red pillar of light shot up into the sky from the direction of the Dungeon Town. Even this far away, Reivyn could feel the rolling tide of mana as the density continued to climb.

"Looks like it's not going to be an extended break, after all," Reivyn said as he turned back to his Party. They looked back at him in confusion. "I guess you guys can't see it, but there's a giant pillar of light that I'm guessing is from the corrupt mana in the Dungeon shooting up to the sky. I had a very big increase in my Perception Skill recently, so that's probably why I can just barely make it out.

"We need to get to Magron, but now we're down to two horses. We'll load up the saddlebags on the other two, and Erik and I will have to run. Teilon can switch out with him when he gets tired, but we can't take our time any longer."

"Won't you get tired, too," Melissa asked.

"It wasn't just my Perception that got a big boost. I should be fine. Let's get going; we don't have any time to waste."

"What's the hurry? It looks like the damage is already done," Teilon asked, but he got to work digging the saddlebags out from under the tree pinning the dead horse to the ground.

"My mother mentioned something like this to me once, and I think that's what's going on here," Reivyn said with a serious expression. "I think this is a Dungeon Break."

Melissa, Larissa, and even Erik's faces all turned pale. Teilon and Kimberly looked at each other in confusion.

"What's a Dungeon Break?" Kimberly asked.

"The monsters in the Dungeon break free," Melissa said. She gulped at the implication. "This is an infinitely instanced Dungeon, so no telling how many instances are involved. And the mana density is quickly rising." She looked at everyone in turn. "Those Revenants, and other powerful undead, won't have their strength restricted for much longer."

"Yeah, I would say that's a good reason to hurry," Teilon said as he finally managed to get the saddlebags. "I'll feel a lot safer with the walls of Magron between us and them."

"Yeah, so let's get going," Reivyn helped load up the other two horses, and then the group continued their retreat to Magron.

We still have a couple of days to go to make it to Magron. I hope there's enough time to make it and warn them of the impending danger. I don't know how far out this earthquake reached, or if they know what's about to come.