Dungeon at the End of the Universe

Mana-Cycle detected.
Determining status…

Status: Rudimentary internal self-isolated Mana-Cycle
Result: Generating Ability

New Ability gained!

Oh, wow! That is not at all what I would have expected. Maybe some kind of achievement, or maybe a title (if either of those is a thing), but not a whole new ability. This is awesome!

“Hey Faellen! That just gave me an entirely new Ability!” I tell the fairy excitedly.

“You did?” a slight pause, “Oh, wait, yes. I suppose that would make sense.”

“That does raise the question, why haven’t I gained an Ability for my enchanting?”

Faellen sighs, but I can tell it isn’t disappointed in me but itself. Or rather, its self from the previous loop. “Because what you’re doing is barely called enchanting. That’s like wanting to call someone who blows up mountains until they happen to vaguely resemble some shape a sculptor.”

I mean… wouldn’t they be a sculptor? Sure, it’s a bit of a non-traditional approach, but. Eh, whatever, I’ll just wait until the System admits I’m great at enchanting.

Unfortunately the new Ability isn’t all that interesting. The name is literally just Mana-Cycle and the description doesn’t tell me anything new either. Oh well, you win some you lose some.

Be that all as it may, it as time for some more esoteric shit. Truth be told, I had no idea what I was supposed to do, nor what to expect and do once we’ve succeeded. I even tried asking my ‘assistant’, but all I got in response was, “Just keep repeating your Truth once I give the signal until I say stop.”

Which wasn’t very helpful, since I didn’t even know what the signal was.

Meanwhile, Faellen was preparing what looked to be some kind of ritual. Maybe. I couldn’t know, but if it was one it must have been exceedingly singly.

All it was doing was carving little pictures of what may have, under careful scrutinization and with half-closed eyes, been mushrooms into the shape of a circle. Then it sat in the middle of them and started meditating.

I watched closely, and the minutes started to pass. Minute after minute, but nothing still.

This went on for quite some while and I eventually got bored. There’s only so much time you can spend at attention, even if it’s literally the only thing you have to do. Of course, the moment I turned my focus away from the strange scene was the moment Faellen called out to me.

I began to repeat, over and over, the phrase, “I refuse names.” I even tried to send it over our telepathic bond, but Faellen seemed to have shut that off again. I really should learn how to do that.

Despite my brief distraction I continued on with my task. Which, let’s be honest, wasn’t all that difficult. Not counting my own thoughts, the only thing that even theoretically posed any kind of threat to my focus was the ripples of… something, that me saying my Truth caused.

Let’s call it ripple of the Wyld for now, since that’s as much as I know about this. That the Wyld is something intricately connected to the Truths. Not that I know what either of those two things is, so a fat load a bull that is for me.

Whatever the Truth-Wyld-ripples were rippling over must have done the trick though, as the little fairy suddenly opened it’s eyes and fluttered off of the ground (well, wall technically). Still, no signal was given, so I continued my mantra.

A second passed, then two. And then, out of nowhere, the inscribed circle of ‘mushroom’ wasn’t so empty any more. A portal, no too unlike the one Faellen originally flew through (but without the electricity and with constantly changing colours), appeared where the fairy was just sitting.

“Is that it?” I asked, all the while still repeating my mantra.

“Shh, it’s still forming,” was all I got in reply. I took it at its word, even though I couldn’t tell if anything was changing with the portal. Maybe it was gaining a darker hue? I don’t know, couldn’t tell ya.

It’s only when it stabilised that I could tell the difference. In the very middle of the portal, barely visible, was a pinprick-wide hole. One spot through which I could vaguely see to the other side. I doubt anyone with regular vision could have spotted that one.

Still, my resident expert concerning all things fae and Wyld didn’t move from its spot, so neither did I. Not that I could, I still had no idea how we’d get me through into there.

At some unknown signal, Faellen gave me assent to stop saying my Truth and began moving. First, it stuck just the tip of it’s pinky into the portal, then the whole hand. Only when both of those seemed to have caused no harm did it put its whole face through, but still not the whole body.

“Alright, we seem to be good. Got lucky there,” I heard while the fairy’s head was still elsewhere, “We landed in some forest, hopefully not too deep, but otherwise a good location. Now then, let’s go!”

Just before it vanishes completely inside, I manage to shout out, “Wait! How do I move!” Phew, who knows if our bond connection would extend into the Wyld.

I needn’t have worried, as I got the response. “Oh, right,” I can’t believe it forgot about that, “uh, try to rip out the chunk of wall with the portal and move it over to your Core?”

With a sigh, I got to work on that. Now that I had some mana, my Abilities defaulted to using it. Which meant two things. One, I’d have to learn how to consciously invoke Ignore That. And two, my enchantments were interfering with my attempts to Control the wall.

Fortunately, with a slight application of will, I was able to push through the resistance. The wall shifted a bit and I was hit with a sense of wrongness. Still, I pushed through, since I was afraid of the portal closing on me.

Which is also exactly the moment when my world became pain and I passed out.