Chương 81: (B2.17)

17) Theodore Spring was still young, and the morning breeze was chilly at the altitude Theodore hovered. He unfortunately did not have a flight spell that could be prepared quickly. Such magics were reserved for specialists or lengthy ritual preparation. He did have this pseudo-flight that lifted him into the air, and that was enough for now… especially as he could wrap himself in an invisibility spell at the same time.

It was a horrific waste of mana, but there was extra mana in abundance here, and he didn't expect to need his own any time soon.

"Concerning," Theodore mumbled to himself, staring toward the mountain. The mana flow was very strange, as Gaspar had claimed. Here, close to the source, Theodore's specialized mage sight could see more of the motion. He could see the dungeon drawing in the excess, a vortex of spiraling power sinking into the mountain.

One thick thread was being pulled in from the direction of Merriweather, siphoning off the extra power that had surged in the nearby city, hidden from his sight by the hills and mountains of the terrain. Very few people understood the paradox of dungeon operation. A good number of the educated in Thallis grasped that a dungeon consumed excess mana from the area and processed it. They understood that on a basic level, and that the dungeon grew as long as the excess mana continued to be present.

Afterward, the dungeon sustained itself and grew more slowly, until it finally started to "run dry" and die off. All that made sense to everyone. Theodore was a Grand Mage, the second-highest rank of Mage in the world. He understood how this worked much more clearly. Paradoxically, dungeons did not form in areas where magic was not being used and had build up. They did not form because someone broke too many mana crystals. They formed in places where too much mana was used up.

Draining the mana from an area too swiftly provoked an immediate response from the world, bringing a surge of mana in to fill the gap. That surge was imprecise, and it could be triggered repeatedly if the drain continued. It was as if a servant had been told to dump a bucket of water into the trough every time a horse drank deeply… the servant would have no way of knowing how much water the horse drank, so would use one bucket each time, overfilling the trough.

Someone had been using some extremely expensive magic here, and done so repeatedly. Just as Gaspar had said. The bearded mage scratched at his chin, rubbing underneath the bristled whiskers. The sheer amount of mana that was flooding in was concern enough, but what he saw now was even more strange—something Gaspar's long-range detection had failed to see. Something Theodore had never seen before, nor heard of. The mana was contained. Not perfectly, of course.

Mana was a dynamic resource, constantly in motion and whipping about like stormy waters. It would lap at any container and "splash" around it, though more precise and powerful barriers could hold it for a while. But unless it was crystallized, it would inevitably leak out over time. This is why the area had fuzzy edges… but there was a clear boundary. Theodore could see the irregular polygon marking out the region of higher mana, and everything within was dramatically greater than the area without.

Some areas within the polygon were higher concentration than others, but the entire region was elevated in magical power. The polygon precisely matched the shape of the parcel of land that had been purchased. Somehow, the world or the System or both were aware of the property lines determined by human politics and had shaped the mana surges to guide themselves into that area. It was preposterous, of course.

No single being could control mana that much, and the System did not usually care about such arbitrary definitions. It would "glob" the mana in a blob with the dungeon at the center. Theodore's frown deepened as he looked more closely at the region. It was hard to see through the glare of the high mana density, but there were definitely structures at work. The complex ward on the inn wasn't the only thing with a strange magical pattern at work. The subtle traces were there, barely made out even with his vision.

Another ward, this one inlaid with the earth itself, and much less powerful. He wasn't sure what it was for, but he could tell it didn't cover the entire area, and wasn't entirely stable. The unraveling nature combined with the complexity of the ward told him with certainty this was some kind of Ability or other System-derived ward… but its concentration to certain areas was one thing he could track. He could also see the buildings further in the forest, and the couple of figures that had emerged in the morning.

Most were cloaked, but the glimpse of bright red hair told him more than enough. That girl from the inn had more relatives here, it was almost certain. He just couldn't figure out the motive, or how they'd managed to use enough power to trigger a dungeon spawn after all these years. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Theodore sighed to himself and eased down toward the ground, cancelling the invisibility spell just before he landed.

He'd burned through a surprising amount of his personal mana with that scouting, thanks to staying aloft and invisible for so long, but now he had much more context. He'd need to sit down with Leona later to talk about the way the mana had stayed within borders… she was an upstart and clueless in many ways, but her understanding of spatial magic was truly phenomenal. He nodded casually to the villager who passed by him on his way back to the inn. The commoner gawked briefly, but that was to be expected.

Theodore was sure that very soon, the village would be getting used to far more adventurers… he'd seen one group come in late last night, after all. Over the next week he was certain more would be arriving, now that the Guild was spreading the location. The village rose early, so even at this hour the place was a little bustling. Most were doing chores and daily life, so Theodore ignored them and stepped into the inn.

The locals wouldn't be gathering at the inn until midday meal, and the adventurers had doubtless gone on to the dungeon early, so he knew they'd have the common room to themselves for a while.

"Grand Mage Theodore, it's good to meet you." Theodore halted and stared, then shook his head as he took a better look at the speaker. The redheaded girl was at the table with Leona already, and she really did look identical to Bea. He'd needed to stare to see how she was more lean and smiled less than the waitress girl.

His mage sight was still on as well, and while this girl had thin filaments of mana vanishing into the air to connect her to something distant, she lacked the strong connection to the wards of the inn.

"Speaking already?" he muttered warily, taking a seat.

"How much have you two covered?" He glanced to Leona, but the younger mage seemed calm and unhurried.

"Nothing yet," Leona chuckled.

"This is Trisha, also known as Ellen, the owner of this land. I've just been making small talk with her so far, but she's aware that we have a concern with the dungeon and the surrounding area. We were waiting for you to return." Ellen nodded and placed both hands on the table.

"I'm betting it's about the dungeon's growth, because it's getting big so quickly. I know it's probably adding a seventh and eighth floor, but I don't know how developed they are. Nobody has been down that far."

"Do you have any idea what is causing the growth surges, then?" Leona asked with a lean forward.

"If it continues, the dungeon could become too dangerous for newer adventurers, which would be a problem since it would mean one less training ground. All the existing dungeons are so old that they don't work well for new adventurers." The girl glanced at Theodore, but since Leona was speaking, she turned back and addressed the younger mage.

"I don't think it's good to just guess at what's causing it, but I'm worried as well. So far, the dungeon has left the first floor and most of the second floor alone… but that could change. I'm guessing you want to study it?" Theodore just folded his hands atop one another and spoke before Leona could reply.

"There are several anomalies with the mana in this area, even aside from the dungeon itself." Internally, he cursed that he hadn't yet gotten a chance to speak to Leona about what he'd seen. He could only hope she'd pick up on his meaning and consider the need he'd discovered. Fortunately, Leona was already on the case.

"The village is still a little small for it, but the Academy would like to station someone here in an outpost for research purposes. We, of course, would need your permission to open a branch here." Ellen's expression didn't change, and Theodore was sure she was thinking through the statement. He sighed, as she was almost certainly using a Perk to hide her real feelings on the matter. That would make it much more difficult.

"We don't have any spare buildings," she finally admitted.

"We could try to prepare one for you, but we'd need to know your needs and it would take time to prepare. Until then you would need to rent a room in the inn, of course. And even without considering a place to stay, I don't think we'd want a monitor here without something in return." Leona hesitated, which is the only reason Theodore bit back his own angry reply. Such an important matter shouldn't be met with mere monetary reward! He forced himself to stay calm.

The Academy had some funding, though any real demand would require a request from both Gaspar and the crown. With any luck, Leona would know how to negotiate.

"We are an academic institution," Leona said carefully.

"Most of us do not profit directly from our research, so I do hope you are not expecting any sort of windfall from this. We simply cannot afford anything too extravagant, and even a place to stay will need to be modest." Ellen smiled as if this were expected, but she didn't argue with it.

"Just provide us… me with a list of what you'd desire, and I will talk to my builders. We'll cut it down to what we can do, and handle everything. Don't worry about direct monetary compensation, though. I had something else in mind." The young woman moved her hands to her lap, taking a deep breath.

"Academy tuition costs a lot of money. I would like any mage who stays here to be qualified to teach, and to take up to four students at no charge. If any of them should graduate, it would be an acknowledged degree. Also, they must be sworn to secrecy that they will not reveal any personal details they should learn while here without permission from me. My family is very sensitive to public attention. Any results of research would not count, of course." Leona tilted her head, while Theodore frowned to himself.

Those weren't unreasonable requests, and weren't even as valuable as most would even think. Secrecy was understandable and common, and free lessons were… not that strange, but had a downside. Did this girl even know what she was asking?

"That seems reasonable, so long as you are aware it can take years to earn a degree," Leona said hesitantly. Theodore fought down an urge to scowl at almost offering a better deal, but he was cut off by Ellen's actual reply.

"Oh, I understand that," the redhead laughed.

"Don't worry. I don't even know if you'll have a student right away, this is just convenient for me. You will of course need to provide your own food and living expenses outside the lodging itself. It sounds like we have a deal?" The sudden laugh was so carefree, Leona just nodded.

"That… yes. I will arrange for someone…" It was a cheap agreement for them. Not even monetary, really, if the normal living stipend was enough. The Academy would have to pay that anyway, so if anything this was almost free for them. Yet Theodore couldn't help but think they'd just been had.