The inside of the dungeon was a bit more like what I had expected. Rock tunnels extended into the ground, and while areas had been cleaned up over the lifetime of the dungeon, with torches installed in sconces for lighting and areas of the ground evened out for walking, it was still closer to spelunking than walking through an industrial operation.

  As soon as I stepped inside, I could feel the difference in the mana concentration in the air. I took a deep breath, flooding my circuit with fresh mana, but allowed it to cycle out with my exhale for now. It wasn’t so dense that it would cause me any discomfort; my Will was more than high enough to handle it. A year prior, though, it would have floored me.

  At the first split in the tunnel, there was an actual signpost, obviously installed by people.

  “Down this way are the Dread Moth breeding grounds, where we harvest the larva, and the larva growth chambers, where they’re cultivated until they can be collected for silk production. The Dread Moths are a bit too dangerous to show you, but I can show you where the larva are fed.”

  I wasn’t sure I wanted to watch a bunch of monster silkworms chowing down, but I was curious. Silkworms ate leaves, as far as I recalled, but there wouldn’t be much greenery growing underground. “What do the larva eat?”

  “A mushroom that grows in the dungeon. So the larva are relatively safe to handle, so long as they’re kept separate from their parents.”

  “...and what does the mushroom grow on?”

  “The corpses of other monstrous insects, naturally. We process some of the waste back into a substrate for the growth chambers.”

  “Right. Uh, pass,” I said, glancing away from the presumably foul-smelling farm. “What’s the other way?”

  Our group continued down the other path. “This way leads deeper into the dungeon,” Rikton explained as we walked. He pointed as we passed by another branch. “Down that path is where we collect comb from Corpse Bees. Unfortunately, the honey is… undesirable, given the source of their nutrition.” Rikton went on to describe how they were smoked out to collect the comb, but the area was tightly closed off to prevent them from escaping, since a swarm of Corpse Bees could turn a man into nothing but bone in short order.

  Much of the honey was destroyed to keep the numbers down to a bare minimum, because allowing the swarm to grow was way too dangerous. Without magic, they could become a serious threat, especially if they left the dungeon. The wax they produced was high enough quality to risk keeping the hives alive, but only just.

  “Gloomscale farm,” he pointed as we went past another tunnel.

  I glanced at Felton. “That’s the source of the red dye,” he whispered, and I nodded.

  We came upon a small cavern with a solid set of iron doors. “This is where Felton and Felris camped to gain Will,” Rikton explained. “It’s deep enough that the mana concentration can force stat growth for those with an underdeveloped Will. We’ve cleared out and have control over everything above, so it’s safe up to these doors.

  “Deeper in, we’ve got Deathknight Beetles, Shadestalker Spiders, Beheader Mantises, and other such monsters,” he continued, my eyes growing larger as he casually described what were no doubt absolute horrors.

  I had kind of wanted to kill something in the dungeon, but I wasn’t so sure anymore. I gripped my sword hilt to assure myself I had a means of defending myself, just in case. “They, uh, don’t come up here?”

  Rikton gave me a look. “If they did, do you think I’d bring you here? Don’t worry, we do regular dives to keep them in check.”

  “Haven’t seen one in months,” one of the guards whispered to me, giving me a wink.

  That’s probably for the best, I thought, but Rikton’s brows furrowed.

  “Come again?”

  The guard straightened, clearing his throat. “Uh, I said I haven’t seen one in months, sir.”

  “How often do you dive?”

  “Monthly, sir. I’m on the third rotation,” he answered.

  “Why wasn’t this reported?”

  “Sir? There wasn’t a sighting to report.”

  Rikton shook his head. “The lack of a sighting should be reported as well. Who’s your superior?” The two men exchanged some words, and Rikton glanced down into the dark of the dungeon before turning back to us. “I should look into this. Did you kids want to spend some time here, or head back up?”

  I glanced at Felton and Felris, who deferred to me. “Uh, I wouldn’t mind staying for a bit,” I answered. I probably wasn’t going to get a chance to fight any monsters, and no longer really wanted to, but if I could meditate and do some breathing exercises I might be able to add a point to my Will, at least.

  “We’ll stay,” Felris said to their father, and Felton nodded.

  “Right. You five, guard the rest area, and you’re with me,” Rikton said, peeling off with the one guard who had spoken and leaving us with the rest. “Make sure to seal the doors while we’re gone.”

  “Yes, sir,” the five chorused. They motioned to us to enter the chamber, sealing up the large, heavy doors behind Rikton as he left.

  I looked around the chamber we were left in. “So you camped in here to get your Will?” I asked the siblings.

  “Yeah,” Felton said, glancing up at the rocky ceiling. He made a face. “Didn’t think I’d be back here so soon.”

  “It’s so boring,” Felris complained. “Why did you want to stay?”

  I shrugged. “I’ve never felt mana concentration like this before. It’s neat.”

  Felton groaned, then sat down. “Well, I brought cards,” he said, pulling a deck from a pocket. “You guys want to play?”

  “I’ll play,” Felris said with a shrug.

  “You two have fun,” I said. “I want to feel the mana a bit longer.”

  “Suit yourself,” Felton replied.

  I left the siblings to play cards and put some distance between me and the rest of the group, not that it helped. The chamber echoed their voices around, and the guards were chatting as well. I was practiced enough at meditation that I could tune them out, but I would have preferred silence. Well, it’s good to train with distractions, too.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Sitting down against the far wall, I focused my mind to my breathing and set to the task of absorbing the abundant mana in the dungeon. Long, slow inhales drew it in, and with [Mana Manipulation] I could more easily keep it in my circuit, allowing me to breath out a bit more naturally than back when I first started with this technique. I churned the mana through my circuit, applying just the right amount of stress and pressure to promote growth.

  Sweat beaded on my forehead as I held the mana in. Pumping up my circuit with extra mana was a bit like holding a flexed muscle as hard as I could, except across my entire body. Speeding up the flow, on the other hand, was a bit like doing a sprint. I did a bit of both, occasionally easing off the flow and pressure to rest, before ramping it back up.

  Building up my Will didn’t actually require continued mindfulness, now that I was tuned in to my body. At this point, I was doing dedicated Will training, which didn’t require my Mind. In order to hold my strained circuit longer, I distracted myself by listening to Felton and Felris playing cards, and the guards idle chit-chat, both of which were easy to hear in the hollowed stone.

  There was a small scratching sound that was a bit grating, though. I relaxed my mana circuit, glancing around the cavern to see which guard was scraping his boot or weapon against the stony ground or wall, but didn’t see anything.

  I cocked my head. Am I just imagining that? My eyes did a second pass over the room, trying to account for all the sounds.

  “Do you hear that?” I asked. Felton and Felris glanced up at me.

  “Hear what?” Felton asked.

  Turning my head, I tried to pin down the sound, but the echoing room made it difficult. “I think I hear a scratching sound.”

  Felton stood, leaving the cards and his sister to walk over to where I was sitting.

  “Hey, I was just about to—“ Felris started to say, but Felton shushed her. She grumbled and followed him over, and I stood up as well.

  Scratch, scratch, scratch.

  “Huh,” Felton muttered. “Yeah, I do think I hear something.”

  “Is it coming from the walls?” I asked, turning around and putting my hand on the stone. Felton and I stared at the wall, actively listening for any hint of a sound.

  “It’s probably just your imagination,” Felris grumbled from behind us.

  “Better safe than sorry,” Felton said, turning back towards the guards. “Hey, y—“

  I felt a tremor from the ground, and heard a sharp crack. On instinct, I shoved Felton forward, then took a step to shove Felris out of the way, but was too slow.

  The ground collapsed out from under us just as Felton stumbled clear of it. Felris shrieked, and we fell through the floor, loose stone crashing over us.

  A chunk nailed me in the side of the head, and everything fell dark.

  * * *

  I awoke to a splitting headache, and let out a groan of pain. I opened my eyes, blinking, but saw nothing.

  Shit, am I blind? I squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them again. No, I think it’s just pitch black. What happened?

  Through the pain in my head, I tried to recall the last thing I could remember. The ground collapsed. A cave in? I fell, with...

  Felris.

  I tried to speak, but ended up having a coughing fit. I must have inhaled some dust during the cave in. Damn it, she better be okay.

  “Felris? Are you there?” I asked the darkness, but got no response.

  I closed my eyes—changing nothing, since I couldn’t see anyway—and focused on my hearing. I barely made out a tiny voice coming from somewhere above.

  “Tovar! Felris!” Felton cried faintly. I breathed a small sigh of relief. At least Felton’s fine.

  “Felton?” I called back up.

  “Tovar, are you alive? Is Felris with you?” his faint voice replied after a moment.

  I reached my hands out, feeling around in the dark, until I landed on some fabric. Navigating blindly, I gently found my way to her face, and felt for her breath.

  Good, she’s breathing. “Hey, Felris, wake up,” I whispered, gently tapping her cheek.

  Felris groaned, then she sucked in a breath. “What happened?” she asked weakly.

  My heart, which had been racing, finally started to settle down. “We fell. The ground collapsed, I think.” I tilted my head up, raising my voice. “Felton? Felris is here, we’re both alive!”

  “I can’t see anything,” she murmured, and her breathing picked up. “Oh, Guardians protect us, how deep in the dungeon are we?”

  “I’m going to get dad!” Felton’s faint voice cried from wherever he was above us. “Hold tight!”

  “We’re going to be all right,” I tried to reassure the young girl, who was working herself up into a panic. That did not convince her, and she started to cry.

  I reached for my sword hilt to reassure myself, and found it absent from my belt. Damn, I would be a lot more comfortable if I had that in hand. We need some light.

  Once Felris’s crying started to slow down, I asked her if she was hurt. Aside from some cuts and painful bruises, she was intact, as was I.

  “Right. Your father’s going to come for us, so we’re going to be fine, but we could use some light. What spells do you know?”

  “Spells? Um. [Create Water], [Create Fire], [Create Wind], [Create Ice], and [Create Stone],” Felris listed, through some sniffles.

  “That’s…” I stopped myself from saying what I was thinking. That’s it? She’s in third year. And no [Create Light]… is that not in the curriculum? “That’s perfect. Could you cast [Create Fire] for some light?”

  Felris sniffled a yes, then began to chant. Motes of light began to emerge as she spoke, then sputtered out. She didn’t get very far, before her spell was interrupted by a hiccup.

  “That’s all right, try again,” I coached her.

  On her second attempt, she stuttered and stumbled when her throat caught on a cough.

  I restrained myself from clicking my tongue, reminding myself that she was only a thirteen year old kid. “It’s fine,” I said, when she started to whimper slightly. I wanted to learn this properly, in class, but… “Felris, can you tell me what you learned about infusion?”

  I already knew the invocation for [Create Light], but not the mechanism for actually using my mana to cast it. I had ideas, but I had purposefully avoided learning it on my own. I was concerned about using [Mana Manipulation] and doing something that would out me for using demonic skills, or learning in such a way that I stymied my growth regarding the human systems of spell-casting. I had more than enough to work on memorizing spells and directly training my Will, and as a class we were going to start learning infusion right after the summer break. There had been no reason to rush. Now, though…

  Through her sniffles and tears, Felris explained to me what she remembered from the first year of her education.

  Casting, versus simply speaking, was a bit like giving a speech. Recitation was a simple matter of saying the planned words, but giving a speech also required enunciation and vocal projection, not unlike performing a song versus simply speaking the lyrics, although spells didn’t have a required melody.

  I had already performed the invocation for Somnial to get his seal of approval on my memorization, though, and I had been loud and clear then, too, so I asked for more clarification.

  As Felris began describing the physicality of it, and mentioned her tongue, I started to develop a different picture.

  Most people could bend their arm, bringing their hands up to their shoulders. It was easy, since hands aren’t that heavy. When holding a weight in hand, though, curling the arm becomes work, which required actively engaging the bicep.

  Even when holding nothing in hand, it was still possible to engage the bicep. The simple act of lifting one’s hand to one’s shoulder could be made to fully engage the bicep with no weight simply through an active mind-muscle connection.

  I had learned a lot about the mind-body connection with my sword practice. Practice swings were worthless if I simply went through the motions. I had to intentionally engage my muscles to make them have value.

  When talking, most people didn’t think about their tongue. Even when projecting my voice and enunciating, my focus would be on clarity, not the mind-tongue connection. I experimented with really using my tongue while talking, and my tongue started to tire, but no magic came out.

  No, that’s not it. I didn’t need a mind-muscle connection. I needed a mind-mana connection.

  Most of my Will training involved trying to absorb mana, but what I needed to do now was expend it during my invocation. I channeled my mana into my mouth and tongue as I spoke, focusing on the flow of it as I recited my words.

  This time, as I spoke, I could feel the difference.

  Motes of mana emerged as I spoke, and I stopped myself from getting excited and focused on my task at hand. It was a bit of active breathing, intentional speaking, and something very much like using [Mana Manipulation] to speed up my circuit all at once. My words carried the mana out of my body, infusing the invocation with my intent to dispel the darkness.

  An orb of light appeared in front of me, solid and lasting, unlike the ones I had created after my revelation. I had cast [Create Light].

  Felris’s gasp drew my attention away from my success. The orb of light lit up the darkness around us, illuminating a pile of collapsed rocks all around, as well as the corpse of a dog-sized red ant that was partially crushed.

  “Oh no,” Felris whispered, looking back up at me in horror. “We’re going to die down here.”