^^ Wizard: Thayma Pentameres ^^

— Alice —

Surprisingly, (or perhaps not, if I'd given her any thought,) the Wizard Girl proved useful, in the first few floors of the dungeon. Cursed objects ruled this dungeon, created in an amusing facsimile of a Factory; each floor seemed to have a small workshop, where the spirits of monsters that were naturally drawn to the dungeon were shoved into monster-shaped vessels of Mithril, using the incredibly rare material as if it were disposable to create ultra-strong variations of weak monsters, and even animals.

It was a casual stroll for Zara and myself, as one swipe of her tail would crush most of them, and draining their mana meant I could continuously supply Cala with Mana without even touching my reserves... which she sorely needed, for her sword to work properly and slice through Mithril. Only one of the seven Runes was glowing, no matter how hard she tried, but it was better than nothing.

Two hours into the exam, we'd gotten through four floors, and I had a rapidly growing collection of Mithril in my Pocket, as well as a full Mana Reserve, even though Cala and the Wizard both looked exhausted.

"I thought Northern Women didn't get tired, Cala? What's wrong?" I frowned, realizing there had to be some sort of outside interference, for her body to run out of energy so quickly. Perhaps a Drain effect I hadn't noticed, coming from the Dungeon Itself.

"It's nothing, I just need to catch my breath!" She shook her head and breathed deeply, standing up and straightening her back with a grimace.

"Do I look stupid, my dear?" I raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to realize I wasn't going to let us continue.

"It's the Mana. She's not used to using so much. And neither am I." The wizard sighed, cracking her neck. "It has a deteriorating effect on-... well, on normal people's muscles and nerves." She eyed me and my completely calm face with mild annoyance.

"Ah... right." I tapped my forehead, irritated I forgot something so simple, then gripped Cala's shoulder, giving her a simpler form of my Mana Circuits, with Barriers around her bones only, just like Buri and the others. "That should handle that, in the future. For now, we rest. I'll make some restorative tea..." I hummed, pulling out some of my Elixir Leaves and a Teapot, looking around for a place to start a fire and brew it.

"Seriously? You brought a Teapot into a Dungeon?" The Wizard asked exasperatedly.

"... Yes? When else would I need to carry around a teapot?" I asked, confused by her tone.

Cala laughed softly, rolling her shoulders as she got used to the new flexibility and springiness of her joints. "Don't try to figure her out, we'd hate for your head to explode... and yes, a cup of your tea would do my muscles some good, thank you."

"Coming right up." I nodded, then simply lit my hand on fire, placing the teapot onto my hand and heating it to boiling in seconds. "That solves that..." I nodded, and added the leaves, smelling the mixture as it steeped to a full brew over the next three minutes or so.

"So... what about you? How are you still going after giving her Mana all this time?" The Wizard asked slowly, accepting the teacup I handed her.

"I haven't even scratched the surface of my Mana, my dear... I'm a Twice-Reincarnated Hero, my Mana Reserve is literally bottomless, as far as this dungeon is concerned, because it recovers just as fast as I can use it." I smiled, and handed the pot to Zara to toss back like a shot-glass. The dragoness's claws were delicate, holding the steel pot without scratching or denting it, and I added an afterthought as the Wizard looked at me disbelievingly. "Also, take into account my Dragon Companion being an Ancient Dragon, and with her Mana Reserve, which I also have access to... together, I have enough Raw Mana to level a small country, just like my mentors, Adrian and Victor. (Though much less skill and learnedness, of course)."

She nodded slowly, looking at the dragon, then sipped the Elixir and paused, frozen solid.

"It's an Elixir of my own creation, my dear, just drink it. Unless you're allergic to White-Dragon-Lance or Bamboo, it's safe." I shook my head dismissively at her shock, before drinking my tea with the proper poise. When Cala went to drink hers, my clawed fingers gently gripped her thigh, as a warning against slurping the tea like a Neanderthal, and she thankfully took the hint.

After a few moments of peaceful tea drinking, I looked up in casual curiosity as one of the porcelain teacups shattered against the ground, and then frowned at the silver-colored ape that was now holding the Wizard in a bear hug. "Rude."

It glanced at me, the lifeless metallic eyes locking with my own Draconic pale blue gaze, and then it flinched, rearing back as Cala's Sword nearly took its head off. "Leave the Wizard be!!!" She snapped angrily, readying her sword to try again.

The Wizard surprised both of us by saving herself, though, pressing a hand to the metal and casting a quick verbal spell; for a moment, nothing, and then the spell took effect, making the metal turn to slag as it heated to its melting point in an instant. Cala caught the Wizard before she was covered in too much of the molten metal, and I healed her burns with a wave while taking the molten metal into my pocket, freezing it in time at peak-temperature.

"That was well done... though, a ward against Flame would've been useful beforehand." I hummed, and she threw me a rude gesture silently, dusting herself off in a huff. "Hm. Did you use all your mana for that attack?" I asked, smelling almost no magic on her at all.

She turned away, not answering. She was still shaking a bit from the sudden and unexpected attack, I noticed; the Adrenaline had yet to fade. I casually turned the fear and adrenaline into Emotional Energy and thus Mana, then fed it back to her, instead of eating it; because it was her own mana, it actually stuck to her mana core, to my surprise, and she whipped around towards me looking like I'd bitten her.

"What-how-What did you just do?!?" She demanded, pointing her staff at me.

I grimaced as the staff again made my eyes hurt without explanation, then finally read the tunes along the orb at the top, understanding. "You're a Cleric, then? I thought you were a Wizard?" I changed the subject, now curious about why she had a Holy Staff.

"I am a Wizard! Now answer me!!!" She snapped, the end glowing softly as it came closer to me.

"I simply gave you some of your own mana before it was wasted. It's relatively rudimentary, to be fair, I didn't expect you to be confused by it..." I noticed her anger, and redirected it as well, refilling her mana almost to full by that emotion alone. "There, now you're topped off, and we can continue... I'll have to do some research into that later, I didn't even consider it... growing Cala's Core isn't all that crazy an idea, now..." I made a note, and Zara nodded seriously, agreeing.

"Indeed... the ramifications of so easily growing someone's mana core are many. Perhaps we should not speak of it in mixed company... the Wizard will be Silent on these matters." She leaned down and snorted at the Wizard, who to her credit didn't flinch at the dragon's closeness.

"I have a name, you know!!!" She snapped at the dragon, who raised a single bony crest above her eye at the girl's tone.

"As do I. Names are personal things, given only by choice. Until you choose to share it, we will not request it. It is Taboo, amongst Dragons." Zara shrugged, firmly redirecting the girl's indignant attitude and energy towards her curiosity.

"Oh... well, my name is Thayma Pentemeres, Wizard-Lord and Beholder of The Muse!" She introduces herself with gusto, her face a little red with a blush, then belatedly stuck her staff to the grand next to her, trying for a valiant pose.

"Mm... try to sync those movements, next time, Fifth-Day Miracle, Beholder of The Muse. When did you become a Wizard-Lord, may I ask? Sometime in the past year, I presume, but not the beginning of the year, when you claimed to be a War-Wizard in the Beginner's Magic Course..." Zara laid down slowly, examining the Wizard Girl.

"W-well!!! That-That's none of your business!!!" She frowned at her own stutter, and turned towards the stairway leading down. "Let's continue!!!"

"Drink your tea, dear, then we'll continue." I shook my head and fixed her cup, pouring a small crystal bottle of Elixir into it as substitute. The liquid steamed, as the interior of the bottle was perfectly insulated, keeping it at the perfect temperature indefinitely.

"Can I ask how you kept the tea hot?" She asked hesitantly, accepting the teacup.

"Sure. The bottles are perfectly insulated; any heat that tries to leave simply doesn't. It gets captured by the crystal and then redirected inwards, keeping the interior the exact same temperature as when it was sealed." I shrugged, stowing the bottle.

"What's about heat that comes from the outside?" She asked, sipping the restorative brew.

"It gets gathered and turned into mana, powering the other spells, or is redirected into the drink itself, empowering it and aging it slowly; the longer it sits in a fire or furnace, the more potent it is."

Her eyes widened slowly. "So... your potions... are infinitely aging and getting more powerful?"

"Well, nothing is infinite; at some point, the bottle becomes too packed with Mana, and has a chance of becoming a Mana Core, which I've been hoping for so I can study the natural occurrence of a Mana Core. Drinking an activated Mana Core... probably wouldn't be wise, though I'm only speculating. So there is a 'Drink By' date, in a way." I explained as easily as I could.

"I see... Incredible... to think I thought you were just an overpowered Slacker who inherited your powers and had no respect for authority..." she mumbled under her breath, staring into her cup.

"Overpowered? Debatable. Slacker? No. No respect for Authority... Perhaps." I shrugged at her panicked gaze, tapping my ears. "I have the senses of a Dragon, my dear. Don't say anything out loud if you don't want me to hear it."

"Speaking of Dragons... I sense one, below us. Ancient... OLD." Zara frowned, looking down at the ground.

"Hmm?" I connected with her senses, sharing mine, and together we gazed at the Soul of a Dragon, several thousand feet below us, and staring right back at us. He was at least triple Amoj's Size, almost a Hundred fest tall and 200 long, curled up in a bubble of space that was only connected to this Plane by a thread that was leeching his Mana away in a River as wide as the Nile, powering the whole Dungeon. "Huh... looks like we found the creature who was sealed here to power the dungeon... God, he's Big."

"We don't have to fight him... right?" Cala asked slowly, her voice like a cannon in my ears with my senses heightened this way.

"No, he's the Battery, is all. But he's created a Dragon out of Mithril as the Boss, a few more floors below us. There's only 6 floors to this dungeon, then the Boss Chamber, below that. We've finished four, so let's get to work; objectively, we're over halfway finished." I removed myself from Zara mostly, leaving the ropes that always connected our minds and senses, then pet her nose calmingly as she nuzzled my side. She hated when we separated our minds, the lovable little bugger.

"Yes, let's go... I don't imagine we're being timed, but I'd still like this exam to be over quickly." The Wizard girl -I suppose I should call her Thayma,- sighed.

"Agreed." Zara stood and stretched carefully, avoiding the sharp stalactites on the ceiling, then waited for us to continue forward while she protected the rear.

I packed up my tea kettle and the cups with a snap, and nudged Cala to take the lead again. "Let's go, dove, unless you're in need of a little more rest? I can take point if you'd like?"

She seemed thoughtful for a moment, before nodding. "I'll be support for a bit, I guess. This is an Exam, after all, and the professors are probably watching. You haven't used your sword yet, only magic."

"True." I nodded, then paused when she muttered under her breath.

"And I'm bone-tired, still... tea or no."

I smiled and kissed her cheek. "Awww, don't worry, dove, I'll fight for you so you can rest!" I laughed happily at her blush and grumbled comments about me being rude, then decided to take the test more seriously, moving forward. She'd been right, after all; I hadn't displayed any of my skills except those of a mage, yet, and even that was debatable, considering I'd only been draining mana from the enemies and giving it to Cala. With that in mind, I drew my Rapier and began descending the steps, vaguely noticing Zara shrink so that she could fit down the narrow passageway.

It descended for several dozen meters, a long and spiraling stair, before opening into a vast, vaulted cavern that was teeming with life. Real life, not Mithril fakes. A forest ecosystem, kept healthy by a series of crystals on the ceiling that emitted sunlight, much like the ones I used for my crops in The Holding. Fruit trees fed herbivores, herbivores fed carnivores, carnivores fed... the Mithril Monsters? I witnessed a curious event, as a panther was eaten by a Mithril Wolf, and the wolf grew in size, apparently extracting Mithril from the creature... but from where?

"Where is the Mithril coming from, in the cycle?" Thayma voiced my thoughts, frowning.

"It's either the fruit or the grass." Cala said simply, looking at us like we were stupid. At our disapproving glares, she shrugged. "There's only two options, and you two are overthinking things. My money is on the fruit; mother always said that certain fruits had Iron in them, making them more healthy than others. What difference is it if the metal is Mithril?"

"... a very big difference, considering Mithril is poisonous to the human body if ingested, whereas Iron is necessary for life... but I agree that the Fruit is likely the answer, and the grass is the antidote to the poison." I answered dryly, and watched her grin shamelessly; she hadn't cared about being wrong that it was harmless, she was still happy about figuring it out before us.

"And the carnivores are being eaten to make sure the population remains stable, but also because the Mithril has already been digested properly, and distributed to their muscles... I don't think we should discount the animals' fighting-strength, either." Thayma frowned.

"We won't be fighting them at all." I shook my head, then walked forward, releasing my aura and using wind to push my scent into the entire forest; once everything could smell me, I released the Beast-Queen piece of my Demon-Queen Class, dominating all the beast-creatures and Monsters that were weaker than me.

The animals congregated swiftly, then rolled over and showed their bellies, or bowed, as was each of their ways, and Thayma, as predicted, panicked. "What did you just do?!? What spell was that?!?" She asked immediately, standing up and sprinting to stand next to me.

"There wasn't one, except to spread my scent. It's simple force of personality, my dear. They can feel that I'm stronger than them, and so they submit. It's just the way they are." I nodded casually at her confused face, then captured all of the Mithril creatures with a touch, -as well as a few of each type of the 'normal' animals,- then some of each plant in the forest, even the grass and dirt, for later study. "Now let's continue." I clapped, and all the creatures scattered back into the forest, avoiding us religiously as we walked across to the stairwell.

I sensed a few Mithril Ore outcroppings on the floor below us, the metal traveling by some currently-unknown method between the floors, and I smiled knowingly at the concept clearly being used here; purifying metals, and especially Mithril, a dense, yet light metal that is incredibly complex in composition, was difficult work that required a Legendary Blacksmith. Yet, the ore here was being purified with an easier system than that, a natural one. By eating foods infused with the ore of the Mithril, the biological processes of these animals was purifying the metal, then being distributed throughout their bodies for the carnivores to absorb; the carnivores further refined this, and when they died, the smaller scavengers, fungi, and plants started the process over again. Once it was fully purified, the holder was eaten by the Mithril Beasts, who grew in size and strength as a result.

A soft sound below me made me pause, cocking my head to her it better. "Digging?... no... too sharp... and there's a clean rhythm to it..." I hummed, and whistled softly to Cala and Thayma, behind me. (Zara already heard everything I thought.) "Be on your guard, Ladies... there's something below us."

Thayma squealed shrilly, suddenly, making my heightened senses cringe painfully, and I whipped around to tell her to shut up, only to find her wrapped in a metallic vice, shaped like a massive, 20 meter millipede; there's been no sound of it emerging, but there was a hole behind her, where it had apparently come from.

"Hm... it blocked my senses? Did you hear it, Zara?" I asked curiously, ignoring the screams of the Wizard as she cried for help; she was fine. Her barrier was dealing with the stabbing claws, and would hold out for a few more moments, so I had time.

"I did not." She shook her head, and then wove a quick sigil with her claws, throwing a Hellfire Swarm at all three of us, full-force, before I could register her intent through the bond.

"Well, Fuck..."