The next morning, Liliei woke up early, stretched for a second before remembering it hadn’t any effect, and started dressing. She made new clothes, having let the others dissipate before sleeping, and tried to make them smoother than the last, without much success. She had tried different things to make her construct better but she had to be missing something, since she couldn’t get them to take more difficult properties. She could make them solid or flexible, up to a certain point, give them the shape she wanted, but that was about all she could manage.

After a moment passed vainly trying to improve, she gave up. Nalaine was supposed to come soon, so she placed herself in the middle of the room and activated her first Ability. She looked at herself while doing so, trying to get a better grasp of how it worked. Her mana first covered her whole body with a very thin layer, before starting to pulse, sending nearly invisible waves in the ambient mana. The movement had a slightly hypnotic quality to it and Liliei spent the rest of the time waiting for Nalaine looking at it.

When the Demon girl arrived, she didn’t announce herself and just went in, before stopping when she was inside the room. Her gaze first fell on Liliei’s bed that was empty, then started searching the room, passing right over the girl in front of her. She frowned for a second before a slight smile spread on her face and she started looking over the room, more slowly. This time, when her gaze fell on Liliei, she paused.

“Lei! Nice trick, but it’s detectable if you really pay attention. Do you have any idea how to improve it?”

It was the first time she had activated her first Ability since gaining her increased mana perception and now that she had observed it, she had a hunch on what to do.

“Okay, look somewhere else, I don’t think it’ll work if you’re already looking at me.”

Once Nalaine had gone in another room, Liliei moved to place herself somewhere else and concentrated on the pulses sent by her Ability. They were sent around two every second, and were very weak. Thus she tried to accelerate a little the rate and strength of the pulses. It wasn’t easy since it was initially done by her Ability, and it took her a few minutes to get it. She had to change it by acting on the small stream of mana that powered her ability, by applying a vibration to it and increasing the size of the flow.

Nalaine would come in the room at frequent intervals, telling her how it worked. While doing so, Liliei discovered that if she didn’t send enough mana while increasing the vibration, it would tear apart the membrane created around her, and that sending too much mana would make the waves noticeable, or even ineffective. The problem was that the larger the flow she sent, the harder it was to keep it vibrating, and getting it to the point where Nalaine wouldn’t see her at all, even if she moved required so much concentration that she effectively couldn’t move.

The other thing was that using mana actively required Intent, which meant that to activate it with a high output, she had to free a part of her Intent, so reduce the density – and control – of her body. And even when she deactivated it, she would need a moment to bring her body back to its previous state. The good news of the exercise was that she found her capacity of taking in mana and infusing it with Intent was high enough that she could effectively keep her first Ability active at all time without running out, with the previous defect of weakening her. The best moment, however, was when a message appeared in her mind.

[Mastery of Ability 1 has been judged sufficient, Level 2 granted]

[Liliei Sil

Race: Mana Spirit

Level: 4

Abilities:

-Main Ability 1:

1) Tendency to be harder to notice. Ability to use mana to reinforce concealment and reduce the chance of being seen.

2) Reduce the chance of being noticed when moving. Ability to use mana to hide a movement done for a short time.

-Secondary Ability 1:

1) Burst of movement tends to be faster and more precise.

2) Increase smoothness and flow of movements.

-Main Ability 2:

1) Increase efficiency at manipulating own mana, and allow faster reconstruction.

2) Increase ability at external mana manipulation, and allow creation of external constructs.

-Secondary Ability 2:

1) Increase perception of mana.

2) Increase the size of the mana pool.

Stats:

Own Mana Manipulation:

-Speed: 7

-Precision: 5

-Intent Potency: 2

-Perception: 2

-Mana Pool: 3

Skills: None]

It was surprising that it had taken that much time for her to get her second Level in this Ability, since usually the first Level could be obtained just by repeating the action enough time, but the usefulness of the new Ability Level was great, even if the passive part wasn’t enough to make moving while completely hidden realistic. Her Secondary Ability did make her movements more efficient and more graceful, but it wasn’t that useful, however she guessed it would have it’s importance when she was going to move faster.

The true sticking point of this new Ability was its active part. It seemed to allow her to hide her movements for a short time when making them. It would probably have a strong synergy with her first Secondary Ability if used correctly. She demonstrated it to Nalaine by taking her in a surprise hug as a revenge for when she had got her first second Ability Level. The Demon girl was unable to react due to the first part of the movement being totally overlooked, giving the impression that Liliei had suddenly teleported on a few centimeters. The lapse of time she could hide was quite short, barely a split second, but it would still give her a nice advantage if she was seen and had to escape.

Finally, she tried to see see how it was done, but no matter how hard she concentrated on it, she couldn’t grasp the specifics. It seemed to send a small wave, like her first Ability, but in one burst, and with something different that she couldn’t understand.

In the end, they had spent a large part of the morning working on her Abilities and it was nearly noon when they finally set off to the Guild.

They slowly walked to the transport pads in the center of the city – they had already used quite a lot of time and decided that the faster way was better.

“It never interested me that much before, so what do we have to do to go Dungeon diving?”

There were loads of stories about high Leveled Adventurers that became rich by going in the Dungeons, but the fact was that if you were not very determined, it was just not worth it. Going to the first few floors would allow you to gain some Levels, but no money as the costs would get around as high as the gains. It would only be around the fifth floor that the you could obtain interesting things, and by then the monsters would get quite dangerous already. As such she had never considered Dungeon diving too much.

“It’s quite easy, you just have to be registered at the Guild. Then the rest is all about preparation, but since we’ll only go to the first floor, we don’t need much. What we’re doing now is just going to the Guild to get acknowledged as a Party. It will make it so that we can both get a part of the Experience when we kill a monster. Oh and since it’s your first time in a dungeon, I’ve got to make you ‘The Speech’.” Nalaine had said the last sentence like an afterthought, and took a large breath before speaking in a teaching voice.

“Today is the first day you go into a Dungeon, as such we will not go deeper than the first floor. However there is a set of rules that you must never ever forget, even on the first floor. First, you do not separate from your Party. Going alone is the best way to die an unmemorable death in the darkest corners of the floor, and the first objective after getting separated is to regroup. Second, you stay attentive at anytime. Danger is everywhere and anywhere and inattention is the second highest cause of mortality, the first being stupid recklessness. If you are an Adventurer, the first is a given so at least do not fall to the second. Third, trust your Party and make sure your Party can trust you. There is enough danger everywhere not to add anymore. Fourth, and final, communicate with your Party. If you get a bad feeling do tell. If something is amiss, same. If you are not okay with a decision, say it.

And listen to the guide. I’ve been at it more than you, so on the first three floors, I am right.”

Liliei had listened to the whole speech with a serious expression, but the last rule brought her a smile to her face.

“That’s your standardized speech for every party you take into the Dungeon?” asked Liliei, before continuing when Nalaine nodded. “Well, it’s quite nice, but I’ve got a hunch that your final ‘and’ is often forgotten isn’t it?”

When she answered, Nalaine’s voice was filled with resignation.

“You have no idea. And it’s always my fault then when they complain the nearly got wiped out after jumping right in the middle of a trap that I had called out. Still, I manage, usually.”

The two girls stopped walking in front of the transport pads. The things were twenty huge circles, placed around the column that went up the center of the city. Each circle was identical, a large magic formation that was created out of Temenium, a very resistant golden metal that could hold a large amount and store it very fast, but couldn’t store it long as it would quickly start dispersing in the air. It was one of the only magical implement that still worked on the floor, due to it not being tied to the rest of the enchantments, and the metal being solid enough not to break during the Mana Wave.

They walked in the center of one of the circle, and it soon started glowing – the sign the metal was charged with mana. Nalaine then went and pressed with her foot on one of the symbol on the outer ridge of the circle starting the transport. The world around the two girls seemed to distort, before snapping back, but on a different place. They were now on the first floor, just between two of the circles. They immediately left the place to allow the next people to transport there, and went to the Guild Hall.

The building was really close to the center, only one street from where they appeared, and they got there quickly. The inside was the same a before, except the larger amount of Adventurers at the tables, and Reig being behind the counter.

Liliei immediately went in front of the human-like Receptionist, who gave her a relieved look.

“I’m sorry Reig, about two days ago, I overreacted.”

“I’m sorry too, I shouldn’t have been this blunt about it, nor should I have used my abilities on you. Still I’m glad to see that you seem decided to do your best.”

Liliei could see that the girl seemed genuinely happy. Which surprised her – she hadn’t had that much interactions with Reig – but still made her smile.

“So, what can I do for you?”

The professional tone brought out another smile on Liliei’s face as she explained she wanted to create a Party with Nalaine. The process was extremely simple, the Receptionist simply checked with the Demon if she agreed, and asked both Guild Card, taking them for a second before giving them back, a new line written at the bottom specifying that they were in a Party with each other. Finally, she wished them good luck for their dive as they left the counter.

The two went back to the pads, Liliei asking a few other questions about the Party. It had a few other effects, but they wouldn’t impact them much as they were mainly about preventing them from getting separated when going against Bosses – none appearing until the fifth floor – and what the generated items would be after beating it.

Finally after a little wait, the two got on one of the circle, and this time Nalain touched another of the symbols. When the world snapped back this time, they were in the middle of a large cave which was illuminated despite no source being visible for the light Twenty-one circles were on the ground, the pads and a large circle laying in the middle. It was five times a large as the others, and made of a completely different material – a red metal that Liliei had never seen.

“This is the main teleportation array of the Dungeon.” Said Nalaine as she indicated the red circle. “There’s a similar one on every floor and you can use them to navigate to floors you have already gone to. They’re one of the things that make deep diving possible. The monsters should never come close to them, so they’re as safe as can be in the Dungeon. Where we go however is there.”

Nalaine was this time pointing to a large fissure in the wall of the cavern, a blue membrane covering the entrance. As they started walking toward the entrance, a group appeared in the large circle, half of the adventurers laying down and the other half panting heavily, and by the time they got to the fissure, two other groups had appeared, both in better shape than the first one.

Finally, they were in front of the entrance, and Liliei felt some excitement and anticipation, with a twinge of anxiety bubble up in her. The two girl sent each other a glance and, without a word, both went through the membrane, getting into the Dungeon.