There are a variety of smaller seas that exist. But don’t let them fool you; they are some of the deepest. For example, the Sea of Imus, also known as the Bottom Sea, is not only called so because it lies at the bottom of Eryth. No, its depths are also known to be some of the deepest; this is known because they provide nesting grounds for lesser leviathans and krakens. –Oceans and Land Masses by [Geographical Researcher] Keanu Silvertongue.

They made it out alive. While the dungeon went to the fantasy equivalent of a factory reset and system update, they had a speed run…out of the dungeon before the traps were sprung anew.

For the members of the party who had come with mounts however, their feathered companions had tailed it out of the vicinity when the dungeon quaked.

Livierre was crestfallen that she’d have to walk the way back; she didn’t trust another ride on the hoverboard after their recent escapade left her queasy.

Hopefully they would find their mounts back at the settlement, they were tame enough to know their way back to the Clan’s camp.

While the others trudged the way back, Arthur carried Nora along

“Why did you wait until the day we were close to the last floor to tell me that the dungeon core was controlling the weather enchantments? Would it have cost you anything to be truthful?,” Arthur asked Nora, over the howling wind as they glided towards the camp.

“I’m sorry. I didn't even know of this until the day before.”

“Why didn’t they tell us?”

“I think they considered tinkering with dungeon cores as things that were beyond your ken. Many mages and enchanters with weak wills have been known to lose their minds tampering with them.”

“Huh, that happens?”

“More of a superstition or rumors I think. I would think they were afraid you’d be superstitious to refuse if you knew it was a dungeon core that controlled the oasis’ weather .”

“ Good thing I was not weak willed then.” He shivered. Though he didn’t think it would stop him from tinkering with the shard he had in his knapsack.

“You are not cross with me then are you?” her eyes darted to the side, as she held on to Arthur’s torso aboard the Azure Surfer.

“Why would I be? For not knowing what to tell me about the dungeon core?”

“Yes,” she muttered as the words were carried away with the drag winds. Arthur heard her though.

“I am not so callous Miss Nora. If you are worried whether it’ll be a reason for me to rescind your offer to follow me out of the desert, then I am a fool. Which I’m not. The point is, it was not your fault.”

“My thanks,” she exhaled as they made their way over the dusty road.

The clan was in a merry mood that night. After the rest of the party had arrived, Livierre had been the one making the report to the clan head concerning the success of the operation. While it was a gamble purging the core and resetting its operations, the results were visible for all to see.

By night, there were mana waves pulsing across the oasis which was, according to the journal Livierre toted around, a normal response for a revamped dungeon core.

Likewise, the incorporeal barrier that kept the climate in and the desert out was now more pronounced and visible; instead of a shimmering bubble, it was a dome made of hexagonal panels, that could be seen by those who had a bit of magical aptitude. And that meant all the tieflings in clan Nightcrawler.

While the festivities were in full swing, Arthur was having some time to himself on the fortress' roof. The lone human watched as the barrier and the mana waves rippled through the oasis like breakers on the shore.

He also wanted to have some time alone to tinker with the shard he’d gotten from the dungeon. That and the tertherite crystal from the sand golem wasn’t a bad haul by any means. Arthur had some designs about unearthing the workings of the shard that he had

‘There is a lot of mana in the air today, let’s see if a little can wake you.’

So thinking to himself, he reached for that familiar vessel within and infused raw mana into the little shard. While doing so, he activated [Diagnostics].

There seemed to be some resistance to his invasive technique of mana infusion. Perhaps because it had sat without mana for so long, much like a starving person could not be force fed a lot of food.

Instead of brute forcing it, Arthur slowed the mana to a trickle and allowed the shard to soak up mana between his hands.

Whatever he’d done seemed to stimulate a response from the dungeon shard. The littel artifact of unknown material vibrated with some sort of haptic feedback and then the runes lit up with the hum of magic. It nearly blinded him from its abrupt flare up which later settled into a steady glow.

//Iᚾᛁᛏᛁᚨᛚᛁᛉᛁᚾᚷ..

//sᛃᛋ.ᛋᛖᛚᚠ.ᛞᛁᚨᚷ.ᛋᛏᚨᚱᛏ

//cᛟᚱᛖ ᛁᚾᛏᛖᚷᚱᛁᛏᛃ...ᛟᛈᛏᛁᛗᚨᛚ

//cᛟᚱᛖ ᛈᛟᚹᛖᚱ ᛋᛏᚨᛏᚢᛋ...ᚢᛈᛞᚨᛏᛁᚾᚷ

//dᛖᚲᛁᛋᛁᛟᚾᛋ ᛈᚨᚱᚨᛗᛖᛏᛖᚱᛋ...ᚢᚾᚲᚾᛟᚹᚾ

//cᛟᚱᛖ ᛞᚨᛏᛖ...ᚢᚾᚲᚾᛟᚹᚾ

//sᛃᛋ.ᛋᛖᛚᚠ.ᛞᛁᚨᚷ.ᛖᚾᛞ

“Well, mud on a stick. I didn’t go to coding school and I’m sure as hell won't start now,” he fumed. “ Guess I’m gonna have to do thisto do this the hard way then. Thank Thea for [Eidetic Memory]; I’d copied down the words earlier.”

//Pᚱᛟᚲᛋ ᛁᛗᛁᛏᛃ aᛚᛖᚱᛏ!

//mᚨᛁᚾ cᛟᚱᛖ dᛖᛏᛖᚲᛏᛖᛞ

“Mmh?” Arthur stared at the object that had taken to flashing repeatedly. It was a sign that the shard was doing something but not what. There was no tell as to the regularity of the patterns or what the color of the flashes meant.

“Who were you talking to?” slurred an inebriated Nora, materializing from Arthur’s shadow.

“Gah! Don’t do that,” he jerked, almost dropping the thing. Then noticing her droopy eyes and flushed cheeks “Wait, Miss Nora are you drunk?” On the other hand, the unwilling conversation partner decided to pipe in.

//uᛈᛞᚨᛏᛁᚾᚷ...

//sᛃᛋ.Cᛟᚱᛖ.Uᛈᛞᚨᛏᛖ.Sᛏᚨᚱᛏ

//lᛁᚾᚷᚢᛁᛋᛏᛁᚲᛋ mᛟᛞᚢᛚᛖ...Oᛒᛏᚨᛁᚾᛖᛞ

//aᛋᛋᛁᛗᛁᛚᚨᛏᛁᛟᚾ aᛏᛏᛖᛗᛈᛏ...Sᚢᚲᚲᛖᛋᛋ

//sᛃᛋ.Cᛟᚱᛖ.Uᛈᛞᚨᛏᛖ.Eᚾᛞ

//cᚢᚱᚱᛖᚾᛏ sᛏᚨᛏᚢᛋ:

//eᚱᛃᛏᚺEAN cᛟᛗᛗON OBTAINED!

//DATE PARAMETERS PENDING!

//INTERVENTION DISCRETIONARY.

“Whoa, didn’t know they had language patches and stuff.”

“What’s a language patch? And no, I am not drunk thank you.”

“Mmh, are you sure? Who are you and what did you do to the reclusive Miss Nora.” He smirked.

“Vespers pits, It's me!,” Nora smacked him on the shoulder as she sat down beside him.

“Ow! What gives Miss Nora.”

“Always miss this, miss that. You don’t have to treat me like some flowery maiden.”

“Yet your last name is a type of flower.”

“Hrrmgh! do I look like a flower to you?” she growled at him, her crimson eyes glinting dangerously. “Never mind. What are you doing up here anyway? I thought you’d be down there celebrating.”

“Unfortunately, I am not a fan of parties.Then again they’re not my people you see.”

“I understand,” Nora stared at him obtusely. She did not understand. “ and the shard?”

“I was trying to see what this baby could do. And a language patch is like a missing piece of a word puzzle that makes the whole thing make sense.” He said, eyeing the shard which had reverted to its steady glow. “Speaking of which—Key prompt”

//KEY.PROMPT…

//…I

“Yes! It works,” crowed Arthur, also mentally fist pumping.

“Did you expect it not to?”

“Not really, it was a hit or miss kind of thing. This is my second interaction. Alright let’s see… key prompt; list core functions.” He said and waited with bated breaths.

//PARSING…

//PARSE POSSIBLE

//CORE.FUN.LIST

//SCAN…PASSIVE

//IDENTIFY…PASSIVE

//FARSPEAK…UNAVAILABLE

//MAPPING…UNAVAILABLE

//CHANNELLING…PASSIVE

//CORE.FUN.LISTEND

//INTERVENTION DISCRETIONARY

//APPEND CHANGES?

“Whoa, that’s really something. Are you seeing this?”

“Of course. Though I have no idea what I am looking at,” Nora leaned over to observe. There was no visual feedback of anything kind. The only thing that showed they were even interacting with the shard were the words being transmitted into their minds, almost the same way the World announced its bestowments. “Is that how you fixed the enchantments in the dungeon?”

“You bet I did. Isn’t [Farspeak] like some sort of message spell or something?”

“It’s an old communication magic, ”Nora shook her head,” people would've given anything to learn its spell matrix.”;

“How’d you know that?” Arthur turned to Nora, raising a brow interestedly.

“I read a lot of history,” Nora ducked her head. “Sometimes scouting parties find old parchments and tomes in the desert and I buy some books from the merchant caravans. Why? Are you going to tell me I’m too booksy too?”

“Booksy isn’t even a word…huh, I won’t tell you off for wanting to read. I like to read myself too,” Arthur scratched at his temple. “So, why are you Nora Angustifolia? Don’t clan members carry the clan name?”

“It’s a long tale, “Nora replied, pulling her knees against her chest.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”

“There is no harm done…are you still fiddling with that thing or would you mind talking about how or when we’ll leave the oasis?”

“Your clan hasn’t picked a name for your settlement yet?” asked Arthur, as he looked over the function list in his mind’s eye. Thinking about it, the process was rather invasive, perhaps he could work on a display unit.

Having his mind probed by a sentient rock was disconcerting and could be fatal if he was in a hairy situation. “Anyway, why the hurry? I would think you were too attached to the clan to delay your departure somewhat.”

Nora averted her gaze and bit her lips with her vampiric fangs. It was a hard choice for her and Arthur could tell she was struggling with it.

“I think we should leave as soon as possible. Otherwise, the longer I dither, the more my resolve wanes.” Nora lied. ” Little Nyke won’t be happy about it either. So we must leave while everyone is still happy from the festivities.”

“Oh, will tomorrow be good enough for you?” Arthur’s head shot up from tinkering with the shard, “I hope it’s not abrupt, I’d hate to feel like stealing away into the desert like a thief”

“Not at all,” Nora stood up as she made to leave. “I put together our supplies and bid the clan head farewell on our behalf. We leave tomorrow, while everyone is nursing their hangovers.”

“Right, where and when should I meet you?” Arthur said, also standing up. He dusted off his pants with his free hand and walked towards the bailey where the noise from the feast below was pouring over the crenelations.

“Just be ready with your things, I’ll fetch you from the keep by the morrow.” She said before disappearing into the shadows.

“Mmh, If I didn’t know any better, I’d think she’s making a run for it.” He said, touching his nape. Thinking of his supplies, he grimaced, “I still have wyvern jerky and water in [Inventory] enough to get me through weeks…”. Shifting his attention to the shard, “Well, no matter. There’s one more test I have to do before I got to sleep…key prompt”

//KEY.PROMPT.

//…I

“Append changes; activate core function, scan.”

//PARSING…

//PARSE POSSIBLE

//CORE.FUN.LIST

//APPEND SCAN FUNCTION

//PASSIVE➠ACTIVE

//PARSE REVERSIBLE

//APPEND CHANGES?

“No.”

//PARSING…

//INVOKE CHANGES?

“Yes”

//CHANGES INVOKED…

//SCAN COMMENCING…

It did take a while to do whatever it did. There was no technical manual for the thing and Arthur was just flailing around with fantasy technology. It was fun discovering what things did this way though.

//SCAN RESULTS

// 40423 ENTITIES DETECTED!

“Huh? Must've scanned the whole oasis. Animals and people. I guess the plants don’t count.” Arthur said half-yawning. “Best be getting some sleep then.”

Tremors wracked him from head to toe as he wiped a sleepy tear from his eye. He grabbed his knapsack off the ground, shoving the active shard into it and went down the stairs to his quarters.

Arthur felt like he’d only slept for a blink when he felt someone shake him in his cot. He awoke with a start to find his room shrouded in shadows, he was going to ask what was going on when someone shushed his lips with a finger.

“Sshh Arthur. It's me; I’ll explain on the way. Grab your things and let’s go.” Nora whispered.

“How am I supposed to see where my things are though?”

“Sorry about that, there…”

Like a veil lifting from his eyes, the shadows peeled away to reveal the nearest extremities of his room. Hurriedly, he put on his boots because he was travel ready; he picked up his knapsack as well as his hoverboard and faced his elusive visitor.

“Can you put those ways in your storage? I am going to be burning mana just carrying you alone…hurry.”

Though Arthur expected that the use of his skill had visibly slipped, he was still surprised, but he didn’t hesitate to stow away his things in [Inventory].

As soon as the items had disappeared from his hands, he was grabbed around his waist. Then the shadows around him twisted, his stomach lurched and he found himself stumbling into a frosty morning outside the oasis.

“What the?!”

“No time,” Nora breathed heavily, “We have to go, now!”

“Aye aye, get on.”

He retrieved his hoverboard. Since they were in for a long haul, he also took out the mana sail for the first time since he’d stayed at the oasis. Without further ado, the two got on and the Azure Surfer started levitating.

“Where to?”

“North,” Nora gasped as wisps of chilled mist wafted from her lips. “Do you know where to go?”

“I think so, hold on to me and don’t let go.”

Arthur heeled the mana engine into overdrive, kicking off sand and blowing back mana exhaust as he orientated the hoverboard towards the north. His navigation skill,[Veres’ North] came to the forefront of his mind and pointed the way.

Arthur flew into fog where the morning mist was clinging to the dunes, caressing the desert grass and cacti and leaving dew on them. He dodged them with Nora clinging tightly with her head against his back. From time to time he could feel the tremble of her body perhaps from mana exhaustion or emotion, he couldn’t tell.

Now was not the time to talk, she didn’t seem like she was in the state anyway. That visibility was poor because of the day not having broken and the fog pervading the vicinity did not hinder him.

With [Wind Shield] staving off the cold, he used mana sight and dwarven goggles to see his way over dunes, desert plants and the episodic rock on his route.

By the time the first shafts of the sun peeked over the eastern horizon, chasing away the brumous murk of early dawn, Arthur’s eyes were watering from over-using his mana sight.

He blinked away the tears welling in his eyes and exhaled a misty breath. Visibility unveiled the looming mounts of the Hunchback ranges; they’d travelled long, perhaps hours even. Nora was quietly snoring behind him as they approached the first ascent of the mountain.

“Psst, Miss Nora. Wakey wakey… you’re going to have to be alert for this part of the journey.” whispered Arthur, coming to a stop at the foot of the mountain range.

“Hmm, whuh?” Mumbled the groggy Nora.

“You must have burnt through a lot of mana.” Arthur said, observing the girl who was paler than usual,” I thought [Shadow Port] could not carry one other person” he added as he turned to the smooth slope ahead of them.

The leeward slopes were less scraggly than he expected to find them. They were notably smooth from scouring by sand blasting winds and dust storms, easily navigable without weaving around outcrops. He was grateful for that because he could feel the ache in his sore limbs; especially his elbow joints.

“ Can we stop for breakfast?”

“ No, not yet.”she murmured half- asleep. “ We have to keep going until we pass over the mountain. Please trust me,” Nora begged pleadingly, while her eyes darted around the landscape as if she was expecting someone to emerge out of thin air. Arthur noticed this but kept mum, there would be time to talk it over later.

“Fine then, come to the front, we’re going to go into a steep climb. We need to get enough lift to fly over.”

“Can it fly over?!” Nora’s eyes lit up beneath her hood.

“Yes, did you think that my hoverboard is a land bound vehicle? Recall we used it to get over the sand wurm’s lair?” He winked.

“ Let’s do as you say.” She added, fumbling with her pack. It wasn’t big by any means, but he could see that she’d tried to carry the bare essentials. He offered to stow away her luggage which she assented and then beckoned her to come to the front, between his arms.

Arthur showed her how to hold onto the boom so that she could maintain her stability. That she was a head and a half shorter made it easy to see where they would go.

Gradually, Arthur navigated the gentle acclivity as the Azure Surfer picked up speed. They were on the shortest incline of the Hunchback ranges; vertically though, it was about a league from the bottom to the top of the shortest peak.

The higher they got to the peak, the more humid the downslope winds buffeting their little bubble became. Were it to have been made of glass, Arthur would have been in need of wipers. Eventually, they arrived at the peak of the range they’d climbed when the sun had finally risen.

Ahead, rolled the verdure of the windward side, lush with flora that looked well-watered. In the horizon was a forest with its gargantuan sylvan sentinels towering over the rest of the greenery. From far, they both could see the low hanging mist-like clouds clinging to the upper canopies giving the picture of a vast rain forest.

“The Great Vale,” both travelers whispered to one another.