Chương 30: Ch. 28 - Mana Run

The King had taken leave of the room, hurriedly moving somewhere else, leaving Skrythia and Static. With the King gone, they couldn't hide their distaste. At least, what I assumed to be distaste. They didn't say anything for a long time. I tapped Caddie to make sure he was still working from the long stretch of silence.

"Soo… What now?" I asked, breaking the silence. Luna was still wearing her helmet, refusing to trust the augmentation itself.

"I suppose we are to escort you to your machines. There is an exit portal that may be used so as to allow for your exit," said Skrythia.

"We can't shop first?" Luna pouted.

"It is only by the grace of his excellency that I do not take your skulls!" yelled Static.

"Easy, [shh]. Calm. Do not question the wisdom of the excellency," said Skrythia. Static's four eyes beamed over before relaxing.

"You are right. Forgive me."

"It's cool," I said.

"I wasn't talking to you," said Static, grabbing hold of Skrythia's arm and they exchanged a long look. Luna approached, floating with her hands together. She cleared her throat as she broke the up the intimacy.

"I have a question," said Luna. They sighed and turned to her. I guess that is universal whether you breathed water or didn't.

"So are you guys like seahorses. I read about them and found them fascinating. Are there traditional gender roles here or something more exploratory?" I pulled her away, my cheeks burning red.

"I'm sorry about her," I said.

"She's very inquisitive."

"Don't act like you weren't curious!" she yelled.

"They are fish people, no offense."

"We are not 'fish' people," said Skrythia.

"We are Mur. Our home, what you see before you, it is the last remnant of a dying planet. Our home alone survived and it was here that a new home was made. This was before my time though, so I am no sure of the specifics."

"And to answer a question that is not any of your business," said Static.

"It's none of your business."

"But I'm so curious!" yelped Luna.

"Some of the human works I read were so risqué! In my mind I was hoping this was a yuri kind of thing. Or maybe even better, a yaoi." I had no idea what she was talking about.

"I hazard to inquire further. Leave it alone, human," said Skrythia.

"Now, follow ME. [Shh] stay so their ideas don't contaminate us all."

"This is totally a Yaoi," muttered Luna.

"I will have to educate myself more on Earth customs, it seems," said Caddie.

"This was not a section I was familiar with." Luna beamed at Caddie who was still in his bot form.

"Stick with me padawan. Much will I teach," said Luna, deepening her voice.

"Please no," I said.

"Oh yes. He is the chosen one," mummed Luna.

"And I will be the one who teaches him everything I know. EV-ER-Y-THING." Skrythia returned with five ceramic containers that Caddie took into its inventory before waiting for us outside. In my HUD it read: [MANA-IONIZED WATER] Infused water with mana properties. Can refill mana bar on Frame. Optimally used for biological mana refill.

"Are you two quite done?!" yelled Static.

"By the King's holy aura, shoo." We passed through the narrow openings, pushing and pulling ourselves through the passageways again. It didn't take long for us to reach our Frames. Smaller Murs, children probably were ogling the mechs. Swimming close and placing a hand on the metal.

"Shoo!" yelled Skrythia. The children darted away as we got closer.

"So, just so I have this right," I said. Skrythia rolled their eyes, all four of them and turned them towards me.

"By the King's aura. Go ahead," said Skrythia.

"To deliver the sulfur, we have to come back the same way this time. Or have Stefano arrive alone because he has a companion?"

"That is correct." This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

"But every other time, we can come in by teleporting with the gem?"

"Also correct."

"In other words, if we are delivering something, come on foot. Or send him. But if we're buying something, teleport in?"

"What is it that your confused about?"

"It's just… How were you getting deliveries before?"

"His excellency can detect anything entering the lake. The contracted was supposed to throw the sulfur barrels into the lake. If that wasn't possible, he was supposed to extend an invitation to others. He had mentioned finding a singular human. But now it's you two."

"Three," said Caddie. Skrythia didn't address the correction.

"Are there others that know about this place?"

"You are the only two allowed passage. Does it matter if others know?"

"Three," said Caddie. Again Skrythia ignored it.

"I think my partner wants you to say three," I said.

"It has no blood, and thus it shouldn't count," said Skrythia. Luna and Caddie were about to interject when I put a hand up.

"No see, here's the thing," I said.

"He's my partner. He has a name. Can he be a pain, of course. But he is a part of my team. So I would greatly appreciate if you corrected your thinking and addressed the three of us. As it is the three of us that are going to have to take back the sulfur. It's going to be the three of us that deliver it. And it's going to be the three of us that show up."

"Very well, the three of you," scowled Skrythia.

"Great, with that, we can be on our way," I said. The cockpit opened and I took my place on my seat, checking all the safeties and fastening the harness. Caddie got to the top the mech and re-formed into it's much larger version, while Luna also did some preliminary checks on her system. The cockpit closed and the water was pushed out. When the air hit my lungs, I couldn't stop coughing. It felt like my brain was turning off with how violently I was forcing water out of my lungs.

"Are you alright?" asked Luna.

"He is fine," said Caddie.

"He is expelling the water from his lungs."

"I- didn't- " I coughed. I couldn't form words. My eyes were hurting with how much water I kept spitting out.

"That's why I didn't take off my helmet," said Luna.

"You- knew?" I coughed.

"Where else would the water go?"

"Crap- This- Sucks."

"If it was denser water," said Caddie.

"You would've died from suffocation. The mana is causing the water to third space in a cellular level. It is effectively a gas in liquid form." I finally stopped coughing. I wheezed as I took fresh air.

"Is this whole place?" I said, gasping.

"If by whole place you mean the immediate area. Then yes, it is quite likely the ceramic containers you received were filled with the ambient liquid." The exit portal was on the outskirts of the dome. The darkness was cut through with the head mounted flashlight. The familiar blue hue spun with it's intricate markings. We stepped in, not bothering to check for a trap. If they wanted us dead, it wouldn't be through a hidden boss.

[Third Floor] [Bosses: 0] As we fell towards the drink, I pulled the map on my HUD and zoomed out. Another section I had never been to. Hours away from Et'ium. And the further away we were, the more likely it was to get ambushed. Still, we didn't have a choice. We flew straight towards Et'ium. Thankfully, Luna's mech was more useful than it had any right to be. We were the ones doing the ambushing, and before long, I had leveled up the dagger and the mount. I was sitting pretty at level 12.

A third item would put me over the top and could finally leave the third floor with a rank E Frame. Luna was level 14, with her mech's ability to sense hostiles leveling up the fastest. She still had it in her mind that she had a plan to turn the weakest, most DPS mech into a vanguard. She too needed the right equipment. I didn't see it, but she didn't let it go. Regardless, we would have to train once we left. Caddie was playing music, changing genre once it "sampled" enough songs.

It meant ten songs of the same genre would play, sometimes by the same artist, before he changed it to something else. It started with smooth jazz. It ended with people screaming and Luna singing along. Et'ium came into view, its hangar bay open and clear. Inside there were two mechs. I recognized them as the mechs from SunEater squad. We warily docked, keeping an eye out in all directions. When the cockpit hissed open, I stepped out first. Caddie scouted ahead and gave the all clear.

Luna followed close behind as we beelined it to Ilonar. Her shop was closed and I couldn't help but feel a pit in my stomach. If Hernando got here first with his actual squad, then we were walking into a trap. I peeked around the corner from a low angle into the alleyway that led upstairs to Ilonar's home. With no one there, I slowly led us to the front door. It was closed. I felt sweat bead down my brow as I formed a fist. Knock. Knock. The door squeaked open as Ilonar greeted us.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I motioned Luna to follow.

"How is he?" I asked.

"He's stable. Yula needed to rest. She ran out. Were you successful?" asked Ilonar.

"Yup," I said.

"We got the water." I reached into Caddie's inventory and placed the ceramic vases onto the ground. Ilonar's eyes went wide as she inspected the contents when all five were placed on the ground.

"That is so much!" she exclaimed.

"I'm glad," I said.

"You didn't tell me how much you needed." There was a shift in her, like a weight had been lifted ever so slightly.

"Is it all for us?"

"Of course. We can't use it. Or at least not yet. And saving Jeromy takes precedence."

"Yula!" A moment later, her daughter appeared, the red sweat dripping from her head. She eyed the containers and her eyes went just as wide as her mother's.

"Holy Nexus," said Yula.

"Who did they kill?"

"We got it from some guy called the Mur King," I said.

"Well, wherever you got it from, it's magnificent." Yula uncorked the top and felt the water in her finger. It glimmered as it rippled.

"This is more than enough."

"Enough to build a defense as well," said Ilonar.

"I'll fetch the girls. Yula, fix their friend. Another gun would be most welcome."

"What defense?" I asked. But she was gone before she ever answered. Yula got straight to work. She poured the water into a bowl and drank it. Then again. On the third time, she rinsed the water on the parts of her bare skin. She walked to Jeromy's unconscious body and her hands glowed with renewed flourish.

"How long?" I asked.

"It shouldn't be long. The water you brought has no impurities. I feel the surge in mana in my cells. This is still a delicate operation, but it shouldn't take long now."

"Thank you," I said. I turned to Luna who was looking at the containers and at Yula work.

"What do you think they meant?"

"Obviously, Hernando's squad is going to attack," said Luna.

"The question is why they hadn't already." A voice echoed outside. Like it was amplified, much in the same way Caddie does it. A male voice that I didn't recognize.

"To those that stole my quest! I will turn this settlement into dust! Give me the invitation and I'll kill you fast!"

"I think we figured it out," I said.

"They were waiting for us."