A Demon's Core

What are you doing here? I send to Johnathan and Jenna. Not the most polite way to greet people, but I do not feel like they deserve much courtesy from me. Judging from Jenna's pained cry, I may have used a little too much mana. She is doubled over clutching her temples with her eyes shut tight. Johnathan, however, barely even flinches. Higher pain tolerance perhaps? Or maybe a higher mana tolerance.

Mark and Bow guy jump off the couch, machete raised and bow drawn. Mark rushes over to Jenna and puts a hand on her shoulder.

“Are you alright? What’s wrong? Are we under attack?” He asks, a look of concern etched on his face.

“No, it-it’s fine, I think. I’m pretty sure it’s Magentam. William explained that they use telepathy. I just didn’t expect it to hurt so much.” She explains, waiving him off.

“I didn’t hear anything.” Mark says. He casts a questioning look to Bow Guy who just shrugs in response. “They’re only talking to you?” He asks Jenna.

“No, I heard it too.” Johnathan replies.

I do not like talking to multiple humans at once and those other two do not seem particularly bright so I am choosing not to expend mana on them. I adjust my mana usage to a level that should be more comfortable for the humans. Jenna snorts, then chuckles.

“What is it? What’s funny?” Mark demands.

“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it. Apparently it takes mana to talk to us like this, so I guess that’s why they are only talking to me and John.” She explains.

“Well then, why don’t they come down here and talk to us in person instead of using magic?” Mark grumbles as he sits back down on the couch.

“That’s...a good question actually.” Jenna says.

I have my reasons and I am not going to explain them to you.

“Oh,” was Jenna’s only response.

You still have not answered my question. Why are you here?

“We came to apologize for the part we played in the attacks that have occurred here and the lives lost as a result.” Johnathan declares.

“Even though it wasn't our fault.” Mark mumbles and Jenna stares daggers at him.

Yes, I heard you mention that before. But why? What do you hope to gain from this?

“Wait, you heard us? How long were you listening?” Jenna asks, her face paling a little.

Since you entered the room.

“So you heard me talking about Mark ogling at your little demon friends like a pervert?” Her face starts to turn red from embarrassment as she buries it in her hands.

“Hey! I’m not a pervert.” Mark objects.

“And please don’t take his or Seth’s crazy theories seriously. They’re both kind of idiots.” She pleads. I assume ‘Seth’ is Bow guy’s name.

“That mana surge Jenna felt when we arrived was you wasn’t it? Was it some kind of magic to observe us?” Johnathan asks.

I suppose it could be interpreted that way. Johnathan quirks an eyebrow, but does not ask for further explanation.

“Is that something all dungeon controllers can do?” He inquires.

I do not know anything about what other dungeon controllers can or cannot do.

“I see. Well, back to the matter at hand. We can gain paid work from the DMO escorting people here, as we did before, and we would also like the opportunity to learn more about dungeons ourselves. Both would be easier if we don’t need to worry about whether or not you’ll want to kill us when we enter. That’s why we want to apologize.” Johnathan explains.

“Did you really have to make it sound so self-serving?” Jenna chides. Johnathan shrugs in response.

“I think it’s better to be honest about our motives rather than risk seeming disingenuous” He states.

“I suppose so,” she says with an exasperated sigh, “but you could try being a little more tactful.”

I appreciate the straight forward honesty.

“Well, we are truly sorry about what happened to your friends. At least, some of us are.” She says, casting a glance towards Mark and Seth. Mark rolls his eyes while Seth looks down at his feet.

“We’d like the chance to make it up to you...If that’s possible.” She continues.

This is a little surprising. Even knowing they wanted to apologize, I did not expect more than words. But even if she is being genuine, what could they actually offer? Do I even want to accept their apology, even if they can provide something of value in recompense?

Honestly, I would rather not. However, we are in a rather precarious situation. I do not think we are in a position to be rejecting any serious offers of aid. There might be some useful knowledge they could share at least. It is not much, but it is a start.

Do any of you know how to drive?

Jenna is taken aback by the question and Johnathan raises a quizzical eyebrow. Eventually Jenna speaks again.

“Drive? You mean, like, a car?” She asks.

Yes, ‘like a car’. Was that an unusual question?

“I guess not, it just felt a little out of left field is all.” She says, then looks to Johnathan, who shakes his head slightly. She turns to Mark and Seth.

“Either of you guys know how to drive?” She inquires.

“Hah! As if any of us could ever afford a car.” Mark replies.

“That’s a ‘no’ on the driving then.” Jenna confirms.

Is there anything else you can tell me about dungeon guardians?

“If you were listening before, then you’ve already heard everything I know. But you’re a dungeon controller, don’t you already know about them?” She asks. Perhaps I overestimated their usefulness.

You use magic, right?

“Yeah…?”

Does that mean you know everything there is to know about it?

“Well, no, I mean… Ah, okay, I see your point.” She nods in understanding.

Speaking of magic, could you tell me everything you do know about it?

“Oh, yeah, I can do that.” She says, her face lighting up at the suggestion of something she can actually do.

“I’m not an expert or anything, so I don’t know how helpful it will be, but I’m happy to share whatever I can.”

Everything I know about magic is entirely self taught, so any additional perspectives, no matter how limited, could still be useful.

“Great! Do you want to start now or...” She looks to Johnathan. “What are you guys gonna do?”

“I don’t know. We can’t contribute much to a discussion about magic. Unless Magentam can suggest something else?” He asks.

I do have an idea actually. I would like you and the idiots on the couch to spar with my imps. They could benefit from more experience in fighting humans.

“Imps? Is that what you call the little demons? I like it. It’s cute.” Jenna says, then she frowns. “Unless you are referring to those spiky, black furred monsters whose eyes are on fire. They’re less cute.”

Yes, I mean the little demons. I am appalled that she does not find the hellhounds to be cute. I think they are adorable. Maybe not as much as the imps, but still, just because they are ferocious, fire-breathing monsters does not mean they are not cute. But I do not wish to argue with the human about it so I do not say anything more.

“I’m not opposed to sparring with your imps, but how will these matches be conducted?” Johnathan inquires.

You will fight them one on one. Each fight will continue until one side either forfeits or can no longer fight. I will make sure the imps understand that they are not to maim or kill you.

“Very well, where will we be fighting?” He asks.

That is a good question actually. It might be a bit distracting to have everyone crowding in here while I am trying to have a conversation about magic. Out in the hallway might be better, but I would like to be able to keep an eye on things.

The hallway on the fifth floor could work, but I do not really want to let the humans up there. But these humans are not much of a threat and they do seem to have come with peaceful intentions. I suppose it should be fine for now as long as they do not go snooping around.

I will have one of the imps escort you up to the next floor, you can fight in the hallway. Do not enter any of the rooms on the right side. Those are the living spaces for my imps and other creatures. I will not stop them from killing you if you do.

“Understood.” Johnathan nods. He turns to Mark and Seth on the couch. “Get up, we’ll be going upstairs soon where we will spar against the imps.” He commands.

“It’s not going to be, like, a fight to the death or anything is it?” Seth asks nervously as he stands.

“No, Magentam has assured me that no one is to die.” Johnathan confirms.

“Yeah, but can we trust them? How do we know it’s not a trick?” Mark asks.

“Seriously Mark, if they were going to kill us, I’m sure they could have done so already without resorting to trickery.” Jenna rebukes.

“Well excuse me for being skeptical, but we are in a dungeon dealing with literal demons, who we already know don’t like us, by the way. Even if they’re little ones, they’re still demons. I think some caution is warranted.” He retorts. Jenna lets out an exasperated sigh.

“Whatever, just trust me alright. Everything’s going to be fine, so stop worrying.”

I reach out to Violet and ask her to come up to the meeting room and if there are any others with her, to bring them too. I also ask Rose to come down, if we are going to discuss magic, she may want to be a part of that. Rose arrives first and she scowls when she see the humans.

“Oh, it’s them.” She growls. She stands by the door and glowers, not wanting to come any closer to the humans.

When Violet enters the room, she has Coal and the recently summoned sibling pair, Willow and Birch, in tow. I expected River and Aster as well since I cannot sense them anywhere within the dungeon. If they are not here then they are probably down at the river again.

These three male humans have agreed to participate in today’s combat training.

Violet smiles hearing that, but it is not a kind smile. It is a grin full of malice and mischief.

“Well that’s encouraging. Doesn’t she look so friendly. Like an evil child who’s just been given a new toy.” Mark says sarcastically.

Coal growls when he speaks. The two siblings look on curiously. This is the first time they have seen humans.

I do not want them killed or maimed. This is just to practice fighting humans. Treat it like your normal combat training. I do not want to see any injuries beyond what Rose is capable of healing. Her smile falters.

“Not even a little bit of maiming?” She asks.

No. I already gave them my word on that. This causes her to deflate a little.

“Why should I have to heal them? Why are you even allowing them to be here?” Rose demands, glaring at the humans.

Because they wanted to apologize and are offering to help us.

“So you intend to forgive them?” She asks. She crosses her arms and pouts.

No, but I am not going to reject their aid, limited though it may be.

“What about the female? What will she be doing?”

She has agreed to share what she knows about magic. That is why I called you down here. I can translate for you if you want be here for her explanation, or I can relay it to you later if you would rather beat up the other humans.

Rose glances at Jenna and bares her teeth.

“Fine. I’ll listen to what she has to say. I shouldn’t ignore an opportunity to learn more about magic just because I don’t like the source.” She concedes.

After I instruct Violet to lead the three male humans upstairs, I reach out to all the imps and let them know what is happening. I tell them that I would like them all to try fighting the humans at least once to get some practice at battling larger opponents, though it is not mandatory if they really do not want to. Normal sparring rules apply.

Make sure Coal especially understands that he is not to kill them. I tell Violet as she heads out the door.

As the others leave, Rose fixes her glare onto Jenna.

“Yep, everything’s going to be totally fine.” Jenna assures herself with a nervous chuckle. “Not that I don’t trust you, but are you sure no one’s going to get hurt?”

No need to worry. One on one sparring is a normal part of my imp’s combat training. They know how to hold back and when to stop.

“It’s the imps I’m more worried about actually. They’re so small; are they really going to be okay?”

Do not underestimate them; they are tougher than they look. Rose can heal them if anything does happen though.

“Heal them? Like, with magic?” She asks, eyes wide in surprise.

Yes, is that so unusual?

“Kinda, yeah. I’ve heard that healing people with magic is really hard, not to mention potentially dangerous if it’s done wrong.” She explains.

Really? It was one of the first magic abilities that she ever displayed and it has never seemed to cause any problems.

“That’s pretty impressive. I’d love to learn more about that if I could...wait. Isn’t this one Rose?” She gestures to the only imp left in the room who is still silently staring daggers at her.

Yes, given her aptitude for magic, she also wanted to learn what you know of it.

“Right, but if she’s the one who is supposed to heal the injuries, wouldn’t it be better for her to be near where the fighting is actually happening?”

She does make a good point, one that I should have thought of. While I do not expect any serious injuries, accidents can still happen, especially if Coal is involved. I was planning to stay down here, but perhaps it would be better for us to go up to the fifth floor as well.

We are going up a floor so you can be close by in case anyone gets hurt. We will continue this meeting in Room 1. I tell Rose. Only one of the bedrooms in Room 1 is occupied so it is mostly empty.

I tell Jenna to follow Rose. When they get to the fifth floor, the first of the sparring matches is about to begin, with most of the other imps gathered around to watch, so they stop to observe as well. It is between Mark and Birch; both are unarmed. Mark’s machete is leaning against the wall nearby as it is too dangerous to use for this kind of sparring. I really should try to get some proper training weapons. Then again, I doubt we will often have the opportunity to train against humans so it may not be worth the effort.

The two are standing a few meters apart facing each other. Mark looks to have adopted some kind of combat stance with one foot in front of the other and his body turned to the side. His hands are up in front of him and he has a confident smirk on his face as he looks down at his diminutive opponent.

Violet is acting as the referee. When she signals the start of the fight, Birch charges forward. Mark is surprised, but not unprepared. He lashes out with a kick that sends the imp hurtling into the wall with a thud.

Birch steadies himself and hisses at the human. He quickly climbs half way up the wall and then kicks off to launch himself at his opponent. This does catch Mark off guard and though he tries to dodge to the side, Birch manages to grab a hold of his sleeve.

As the imp scrambles to get a better grip on his arm, Mark frantically reaches for Birch’s leg to pull him off and throw him down the hall, the imp’s claws leaving bloody scratches on Mark’s upper arm where he tried to hold on.

Mark does not press the attack, but instead returns to his initial combat ready stance and waits for the next assault from the imp. Birch, on the other hand, landed pretty hard when he hit the ground. While he does stand, he is a bit slow, but he is not ready to give up yet.

Birch charges forward again. When Mark kicks at his side once more, he deftly jumps over the oncoming kick, but stumbles on landing. This allows Mark to get some distance from the imp before he can recover. He attacks with a forward facing kick. Birch manages to dodge to the side, but is unprepared for the followup as Mark steps forwards and immediately kicks again with his other foot.

The impact lifts Birch off the ground a little and sends him falling back. When he hits the ground again, some of the observing imps growl at Mark, who just smirks in response as he waits for Birch to stand back up. This time the imp has had enough and chooses not to continue, raising both hands to indicate surrender.

Are you okay? I ask Birch.

“I okay, but not beat human.” He replies.

That is alright. You did well; I did not expect it to be easy. Do you need Rose to heal you?

“No. Only hurt a little. I fine.” He assures.

Mark is inspecting the scratches on his arm, but decides it is not a big deal. He looks to the other imps with a cocky grin.

“Well, who’s next?” He asks. Some of the imps glare at him. Even if they cannot understand his words, his condescending attitude is impossible to miss.

He seems to be experienced in combat. I mention to Jenna.

“He trains in some kind of martial arts or something. I don’t remember exactly what sort, but he’s pretty good at it.” She explains.

Perhaps he could benefit from learning a bit of humility.

“Yeah, he does tend to get a bit insufferable when he wins.” She agrees.

Someone is going to teach him a lesson if he is not careful. But perhaps we could move on to the reason we are here? We will be going into Room 1.

“Right, yeah, let’s go.” She turns to the door and pauses when she sees the damage left over from the Honey Badgers. “This wasn’t like that the last time we were here.” She points out as she pushes the door open.

No, but we have been attacked again since then. She flinches hearing that.

“Di-did anyone else die?” She asks hesitantly.

We did lose a couple.

“I’m sorry.”

Lets just get on with this.

Rose enters the room last and closes the door behind her. Not that the door actually closes properly anymore, but it still reduces some of the noise from the hallway.

“So how should we begin?” Jenna asks.

Just start with the basics I suppose.

“Right, well like I said before, I’m not an expert, so I’ll try to explain it the same way it was explained to me in school.”

Humans have a school for learning magic?

“Not really, no. Children that are identified as mages just have to take extra classes in addition to the normal curriculum. Kinda lame actually. I guess that’s just the price of being awesome.” She laments.

“Is she talking about magic yet?” Rose asks.

Not yet.

“Can she hurry up so we can get this over with.” She demands, becoming agitated due to impatience.

Can we move this along please?

“Right, sorry. So, the first thing to know is that magic is still pretty new to humans. It’s only been, like thirty years or something since it became a thing. So there’s still a lot we don’t know.” Jenna begins and I translate for Rose. Despite her dissatisfaction with the situation, she is paying close attention to the human as she explains.

“But luckily, mana is pretty intuitive so people are always figuring out new stuff.”

Intuitive how?

“Well, there’s three main aspects to using magic. Intent, visualization and understanding. With intent, mana moves according to the users will, so there’s no need for complicated spells, incantations or rituals like in a lot of old stories.” She demonstrates by holding out her hands and causing mana to start rotating around her. Not actually doing anything constructive with the it, merely making it spin slowly.

“But magic can't just do anything simply because you want it to. You need to be able to properly visualize it. Not just the end result you want, but also the process. That’s where understanding is important. The better you understand the process, like, from a scientific perspective, the easier it is to do things with magic.”

Can you elaborate on what you mean by ‘understanding the process’?

“Oh, uh...it’s like, there are various different forms of energy; understanding their properties and how to convert them from one form to another can help with accomplishing some tasks. Also knowing the molecular properties of various substances can make it easier to manipulate certain materials in more complex ways.” She explains. Rose frowns in confusion as I translate.

“Energy conversion? Molecular properties? I don’t know what any of that means.” She complains.

Those are complicated topics. It would take too long to sufficiently explain them right now, but I can teach you what I know of them later.

“I’d appreciate that.”

“Is something wrong?” Jenna asks.

Rose has not had the same educational opportunities that you have, so she is not familiar with all the concepts you are describing.

“Oh, I see. I’m pretty sure I still have some of my old text books somewhere and maybe even some old notebooks from school. I could bring them next time if you think that’d help.” I relay the offer to Rose, but she shrugs.

“Even if she did, I wouldn’t be able to read them.” She states.

I can read them and I am willing to help you with this as much as is needed.

“You don’t need to spend that much of your time on me. Just basic explanations will suffice. I’m sure I can figure out the rest on my own.” Rose insists.

I disagree. I would consider this a valuable use of my time.

“Is it really alright for me to monopolize your attention like that?”

I do not see why not. We have been helping each other to learn magic up to this point, why change that now?

“Well, if you’re sure.” She concedes. She even smiles a little and I turn my attention back to Jenna.

Any materials you could bring that you think might help would be appreciated.

“Does that mean we can come back again after today?” Jenna asks hopefully.

I suppose so.

“Great!” She beams at Rose who rolls her eyes in response. “But back on topic. There are actually some exceptions to the normal process. Some people have shown an ability to do things with magic, despite absolutely no understanding of the process.”

Is that common?

“No, it’s quite rare actually. And the people who can do it can usually only do one specific thing like that, often in a limited capacity. It’s not really known how they do it, but it’s assumed there are other factors involved in magic that we don’t know yet.”

“Like my healing magic?” Rose interjects.

That does seem likely.

“Do you think she has anything that could help me with it?” She inquires.

Is there any information that you could provide which could help Rose improve her healing?

“Oh, is she one of the people who can do something without learning about it first?” She eyes Rose with fascination. She tries to move closer to the imp, but Rose steps back to keep the distance while glaring at her.

Yes and while it has been extraordinarily helpful many times, it is, as you said, limited. Anything that could help to increase her proficiency would be invaluable.

“I see. I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can help much with that. Like I mentioned before, healing with magic is hard. Under normal circumstances it would take a rather in depth knowledge of biology, anatomy, chemistry and probably even more stuff that I can’t think of. To be able to heal people without just making things worse, despite not knowing any of that is incredible.” She says in awe.

Do you not learn about those things in school?

“Well, yeah, of course we do, but if a high school level of knowledge was enough, then healing would be easy. I’m still studying chemistry since it is useful for a lot of things, so I could bring some more advanced information on that, but I can’t help much with the other stuff.”

Rose is a little disappointed by that, so I suggest we could try asking William. He would likely have access to better information than Jenna can provide. As another human who uses magic, he should hopefully also have some idea of what would be relevant.

Can you tell me about what things you know how to do?

“Gladly. The first practical skill we learn is a basic mana shield. It’s one of the easiest things to do with mana. There’s no other forms of energy involved and no actual physical matter. It’s just forming mana into a wall, so anyone who can control mana should be able to do it pretty easily.”

That is what I have seen from humans most often so far.

“We learn it for defensive purposes, but with a little creativity, it can be used in all sorts of interesting ways.” She demonstrates this by stepping up onto a solid platform of mana in front of her.

Rose stares, wide eyed, as Jenna now appears to be floating above the ground, like standing on thin air. An interesting application that I had not considered. From the looks of it, neither had Rose. Though I am sure one of us would have thought of it eventually. Probably Rose as I imagine the ability to walk on air would likely be more useful to her than to me.

I remember how I essentially pictured a gun barrel to fire a rock and start thinking about other possibilities.

Are there any limits on what kind of shapes can be created with mana?

“I guess technically you could make any kind of shape as long as you can properly visualize it and maintain focus. Obviously more complex shapes require more-.” Her explanation is cut off by an eruption of yelling coming from the hallway. The suddenness of it causing her own focus to falter and she drops the short distance to the ground as the mana platform she was standing on dissipates.

I will go check on that.

When I appear in the hallway I see Mark on the ground cursing unintelligibly as he punches desperately at Coal who is latched onto his leg and is biting deeply into his thigh just above the knee.

Most of the imps are cheering. Seth looks pale and frightened. Johnathan, curiously, has a smirk on his face as he observes the scene.

“Alright, I surrender! Now please get this thing off me.” Mark begs.

That is enough Coal. You won. Please let go now. He does not respond, so I repeat myself a bit more firmly, hoping that he actually understands. Coal, let go. Now.

He reluctantly complies and as he stands he flashes a malicious grin towards Mark, showing off his blood stained teeth while Mark groans in pain.

Rose, you are needed out here.

Rose emerges into the hallway with Jenna trailing behind her. Jenna gasps when she sees Mark on the ground with a bloody wound on his leg. Rose frowns at him.

“Do I really have to?” She asks.

Yes. Please.

“Fine.” Mark tries to move away from her as she approaches.

“What do you want? Stay Back.” He commands.

“Relax idiot. She’s going to heal you.” Jenna chastises. He eyes Rose suspiciously, but stops moving away from her.

“What’s that thing’s problem anyway. Wasn’t this just supposed to be training? Shouldn’t they be holding back or something?” He whines. He winces as Rose puts her hands on the wound, none too gently, but his expression relaxes as the bleeding slows and eventually stops.

He was holding back. I say, speaking directly to Mark for the first time. He looks around wildly, eliciting a hiss from Rose as the sudden movement interrupts her work.

“Who said that? Where are you?” He demands.

You really are not very bright are you? This is Magentam. I am speaking to you with telepathy.

“Yeah, well, telepathy is weird and I don’t like it. And what do you mean he was holding back? Do you see what he did to me?” He is starting to raise his voice now, but Rose digs her claws into his leg causing him to cry out in pain. He goes silent when he sees her glare.

You have seen their teeth. They also have enough jaw strength to crush bone. If he had wanted to, he easily could have bitten right through your leg and taken out a sizable piece of flesh. The fact that he did not do that means he was holding back.

Mark goes a little pale at that, but does not have anything more to say. I turn my attention to Violet.

Would you please explain to me what happened?

“I’m sorry. I know he went a bit too far. I should’ve stopped him, but I was also frustrated with that human.” She says, glancing towards Mark nervously.

Do not worry. I am not angry, merely curious.

“After he beat Birch, his attitude was irritating. He only got worse after he won against a couple of others as well. Even if we didn’t know what he was saying, it was obvious he was looking down on us, just like vukra. When Coal stepped up to challenge him next, I knew it might end badly, but I felt he deserved whatever Coal would do to him.” She explains, looking down at her feet in shame.

Rose is tending to the human now so I am sure he will be fine. I did see how he was acting earlier so I understand your irritation. Can you tell me how the fight went?

“It was over really quickly. He charged at the human head on and when the human tried to kick him, like he had the others, Coal teleported behind him, grabbed his leg and bit him. The human gave up when he couldn’t make him let go.” Nearby the other imps are still cheering and celebrating Coal’s victory while he basks in their praise.

Sounds like it was entertaining, if a little anticlimactic. I wish I had been watching. I am a little surprised he did not take things further. It seems like he showed a lot of restraint… for him.

“It was a bit funny.” She titters.

Do you intend to fight Johnathan? He looks like he would be the biggest challenge among them.

“Yes, I’m looking forward to fighting him.”

Let me know before you start so I can watch.

“Really? You’re not going to be too busy with magic stuff?” She asks, her face lighting up with glee.

Magic stuff can be put on hold for a while. I would rather see how well you fare against that human.

“I’ll definitely win. I won’t let you down.” she declares.

You do not have to win. That is not the point, you just need to do your best.

“I will win.” She repeats.

Alright, I will look forward to it. In the meantime, send a couple of the ones who have already fought up to the roof to ask the two up there if they want to have a turn.

Violet nods and heads over to where the other imps are gathered. I wait for Rose to finish healing Mark. When she is done, the wound has stopped bleeding and is partially closed over, but not fully healed.

“Is that it? She’s not even going to heal it all the way?” Mark complains.

“Hey, healing magic is hard. You should feel lucky that she could even do that much.” Jenna rebukes.

“I wouldn’t even need it if that grey thing hadn’t cheated. No one told me it could teleport.” He grumbles.

“That’s what you get for being cocky and underestimating your opponent just because they’re small.” Johnathan chastises.

“Well how was I supposed to know they could do that?” Mark whinges.

“You weren’t. We had no idea what they were capable of. All the more reason to be cautious.” Johnathan states.

“Stop being such a sore loser. You’re already a bad winner and it’s super annoying.” Jenna chides.

“You should also probably consider how your rude and cocky attitude may have directly contributed to your current situation.” Johnathan says. Mark mumbles quietly to himself but does not argue further.

Now that that issue is dealt with. Can we get back to our business please? I tell Jenna.

“Right, of course, let’s go.” As she heads back to Room 1, I let Rose know and she follows.

“Before we get back to it, I want to say, the way you healed Mark was awesome. Was it just accelerating the normal healing process or was there more to it?” She asks Rose. I relay the question and she shrugs.

“I don’t know how it works, it just does. That’s why I want to learn more.” She replies.

“Oh, yeah, that makes sense. So where were we?” Jenna asks.

You were explaining the things you can actually do.

“Right, so I already talked about the basic mana shield and some of the other ways it can be used. There’s also something like telekinesis, but that’s basically the same concept as the mana shield, just using the mana in a different way.

“Another common thing people like to do is control the elements. Like earth, fire, air and water. But I think that’s more just because it’s cool than for any practical reasons. Not that they don’t have their uses though.” She says with a grin.

Can you also do this?

“A little bit. Air is pretty easy since it’s all around and its loose gaseous form makes it easy to move.” To demonstrate, she closes her eyes and holds her hands out to the side. Soon a stiff breeze is circulating the room despite the door and windows still being closed. I can not actually feel the air moving myself, but I can see the effect it has on Rose and Jenna; their clothes flapping a little and their hair flicking around in the wind.

“It takes either a lot of mana or precise control to make anything dangerous out of it though.” Jenna continues.

A lot of mana is something I do have access to and I will learn precision in time.

“Water is also pretty simple. Liquids generally move easily and the way water molecules cling to each other helps. My water canteen is downstairs in my pack so I don’t have anything to show off with right now though.”

Can you not gather water vapor from the air?

“Like a dehumidifier? I mean, it’s possible, though it depends a lot on the environment. I can do it, but I’m not good at it. It would take me quite a while and a lot of concentration to get more than a single droplet.”

That is understandable, even if one were to coalesce all the water in this room, it would not likely be a useful quantity.

“Fire is harder. Unlike the others, fire needs constant fuel to exist. It can be fueled with mana, but will burn through it pretty quickly if that’s the only thing fueling it. You gotta be careful with it too. Even with magic, it still has all the expected danger that goes along with fire.” With her hands cupped in front of her, she gathers her mana. With a sudden spark it ignites into a small flame. The fire flickers out after a moment and she conjures another. When it too flickers out, she sighs and drops her hands to her side.

“As I said, fire is hard, but not so much as earth. I’ve tried, but earth’s a little beyond my capability so I’ve given up on it for now.” She complains.

What makes earth so difficult?

“Well it’s a solid for starters. So of course it’s harder to manipulate than liquids or gasses. But more importantly, it’s not like some of those old stories about magic that people used to enjoy before it was real. ‘Earth’ isn’t just one thing. It’s made up of countless different substances. Dirt, stone, minerals, organic and inorganic matter alike, all with vastly different properties and molecular structures.”

So to be able to properly manipulate ‘earth’ like that, you would need to understand everything that it is made up of and control all of it.

“Exactly, yeah. So basically people who want to do that generally have to specialize in manipulating specific minerals and stuff.”

“That wouldn’t always be effective though would it? It would limit their combat effectiveness if they end up in a place that lacks whatever they specialize in right?” Rose asks.

“Well that’s not wrong, but magic is useful for other things besides just combat. Some people have different priorities.” Jenna replies.

“Unfortunately that’s pretty much all I know how to do personally. Like I said, I’m not an expert. Other people can do much cooler things than I can. Like all sorts of things can be done by manipulating different kinds of energy.” She states.

Even if her knowledge is limited, she has given me much to think about and a lot of valuable information that I am sure will be useful to both me and Rose.

Do you have anything more to share? She thinks for a moment before continuing.

“I guess a warning about potential dangers. I mean, I don’t know if things would affect imps...or whatever you are, the same as humans, but it could still be relevant.” She says.

What kind of dangers?

“Mana depletion primarily. It’s a major concern for magic users. A person’s mana isn’t limitless. While it does regenerate over time, it can run out if overused and that can be quite harmful.”

How harmful, exactly?

“I’ve heard it’s possible to die in extreme cases, but most people would pass out before reaching that point. Though depending on what they’re doing at the time, that’s obviously also dangerous.”

I wonder if that also applies to me. I have lost consciousness before from overusing mana. But can I actually die from it? Since my ‘body’ is not biological, it could work differently to theirs. Can I even die at all? Probably if my core was broken. But it did survive falling from the sky and crashing through multiple floors of this building so I cannot imagine it breaking easily.

“I’ve felt that before. I didn’t get to the point of passing out obviously, but healing takes a lot out of me and it’s really exhausting when I have to do it too much without enough time to rest in between.” Rose says.

What if someone had a means of replenishing their mana?

“Oh, like with dungeon crystals? Of course, it makes sense that you would have access to them, this being a dungeon and all. So I guess you don’t have to worry about it as long as you’re careful.” Jenna suggests.

“I’m not so sure about that. Even when I use my mana crystal to get mana back, it doesn’t clear up all the exhaustion.” Rose counters.

That has not been my experience. I have never felt any lingering effects when I have used the crystals to supplement my mana. That is evidence that it does work differently for me I suppose.

I have some questions about a few other things if-

‘Magentam, I’m going to fight now.’ Violet informs me through our connection.

Violet is about to fight Johnathan and I wish to witness that so I am going to watch.

“So you can see what’s going on in multiple rooms at the same time?” Jenna inquires. I do not answer before I head back to the hallway.

The hellhounds are out in the hallway this time, whereas they had been waiting in their room previously. I guess everyone wanted to be here to watch this fight or they were just bored. The only ones not present are Birch and Willow, who went up to the roof to relieve the ones on watch, and the two who were out since before the humans arrived.

Seth is sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall. There is a green plastic pole next to him. It looks like the shaft of one of Violet’s brooms, threaded at one end where the head was screwed off. Was he using it as a weapon? I am surprised Violet would allow that after what happened last time, but I guess this one did not have to be damaged.

He has shallow scratches on the side of his neck, barely deep enough to bleed. His face looks a bit pale, though he does not appear to have any serious injuries, so it is not from blood loss. He did look pretty scared earlier, so maybe he just did not enjoy his fight.

Rose and Jenna come back into the hallway. As they approach the others, Jenna squeals when she spots Calla standing next to Noctis, one hand holding onto the hellhound's leg, drawing everyone's attention.

“Oh my god! It’s so tiny. It’s like an adorable creepy little doll.” As she tries to approach my littlest imp, Noctis steps froward and growls menacingly, the other three hellhounds quickly at her sides and similarly growling as Calla hides behind them. Jenna falls back and scrambles to distance herself from them.

“I’m sorry. I-I didn’t mean to...um, sorry.” She stammers.

Johnathan gives a stern, disapproving look and Jenna bows her head. Mark snorts as he struggles, and ultimately fails, to contain his laughter.

“Shut up Mark! Don’t act like you’re any better than me.” She retorts as he cackles.

“Well, at least I wasn’t dumb enough to try and get close. What were you thinking?” He scoffs. Jenna doesn’t respond.

“I was starting to think that she might be a little smart, but that was unbelievably stupid.” Rose comments.

Once that commotion dies down, attention turns back to Violet and Johnathan facing each other in the middle of the hallway. Johnathan has his shield raised and his spear pointed towards Violet, though he has turned it around so it is the blunt end that is actually facing her.

Violet also has her shield raised with her knife in her other hand. The combat knife she got from the Honey Badgers has a sheath that comes with a clip to keep the knife secured. I am concerned about whether that will be enough to keep the sheath attached during this mock battle. But I trust Violet to know what she is doing and to stop if it becomes a problem.

Johnathan makes the first move, lunging forwards and thrusting his spear towards Violet. She steps to the side and the spear glances off her shield. Rushing forwards, Violet tries to slash at him with her knife. He lowers his shield and crouches slightly to block the attack.

Violet jumps away as Johnathan pushes her back with his shield. When he swings his spear around, she managed to block it with her own shield, but the force of the impact is enough to unbalance her. He steps forward with a kick and she manages to block it with her shield again. The kick still sends her to the ground though.

Johnathan thrusts his spear at her and she rolls to the side to avoid it, the spear barely missing her as it strikes the floor. He pulls his spear back and stabs down again. This time Violet rolls backwards and comes up to her feet.

She charges straight forward at Johnathan. He swings his shield out to bash her aside as she gets close, a tactic she often utilizes herself when fighting other imps. Perhaps for that reason, she expected it and was prepared for it. She leaps off the ground and positions herself to collide with the shield feet first. Using it as a platform, she kicks off the shield, vaulting up onto the wall.

She scrambles up the wall a little higher before launching herself off at Johnathan again. He raises his shield to block her, but this time she grabs onto it and attempts to climb over the shield and stab down at him with her knife.

His response is to rush forward to slam his shield, with Violet, into the wall. She jumps off to the left a moment before impact but before even landing, she is hit with a solid kick to the side that sends her sliding across the floor. Before she can recover, Johnathan’s spear is pressing down on her chest.

Violet knows when she is beaten and immediately surrenders, letting go of her knife and laying back limply. Johnathan lifts his spear and steps back. He leans it against the wall then crouches down beside Violet and holds a hand out for her.

“You fought well.” He says, though I am sure he is aware that she cannot understand his words.

Violet turns away from him rather than allowing him to help her up. He nods, then stands and heads over to Mark and Jenna. When she sits up, there are tears welling in her eyes.

That was a good fight.

“I’m sorry I didn’t win.” She laments.

You have no reason to apologize. You did extremely well.

“But I didn’t beat him.”

Did anyone else fight him?

“Yes.” She confirms.

Were they able to beat him? She hesitates before answering.

“No, but I’m supposed to be the strongest.”

You are. I was thoroughly impressed by the way you fought. Your reflexes, flexibility and acrobatic skill are quite remarkable. I have never seen any of the others move the way you do.

“But it still wasn’t enough.”

I told you, you did not need to win, just do your best and you did. I am proud of you. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Besides, from what I have observed of humans so far, I suspect that Johnathan is an above average example.

“If you say so.” She replies, though she is clearly not reassured. With her head hung low, she wanders over to hug Fuzzy, pressing herself as much as she can into the hellhound’s fur. Fuzzy bends down to lick her a few times but Violet does not respond. She seems to be taking this loss rather hard.

Is anyone else still waiting to fight?

“No, I was the last one.” She mumbles into Fuzzy’s fur.

I meant what I said. You did well and I am proud of you.

She does not respond and I do not know what else I can say. The others are gathering around to commiserate with her, so I leave her to them. Hopefully they can cheer her up.

I return to Rose, who is healing some of the others. No one else suffered any major injuries like Mark so it is mostly just scrapes and bruises.

Do you want to challenge one of the humans? Perhaps a magic duel against Jenna?

Rose glances towards Jenna and narrows her eyes. After a moments consideration she shakes her head.

“Maybe next time, when I’m not worn down from healing others and after I’ve had some time to practice the things we’ve learned about today. It sounds like she’s had a lot more experience than me; I don’t think I’m ready yet.” She says.

Thank you for sparring with the imps. I am sure it has been a valuable experience for them. I say to Johnathan.

“A valuable experience for us as well.” He replies with a hint of a smirk towards Mark. “Is there anything else you need from us?”

There are a couple more questions I would like to ask Jenna. The rest of you can relax, though I would prefer you do so downstairs.

“Fair enough. Mark, Seth, we’re going back down a floor.” Johnathan instructs the other two.

“Good. I’m getting hungry. We should’ve brought our packs up with us.” Mark complains.

Seth looks relived as he stands. He reaches out for the green broom pole, but looking around, he is unsure what to do with it, so he leans it back against the wall.

“What about me?” Jenna asks.

There is a little more I wish to ask you, but we can continue our discussion downstairs, so please guide them down.

“Sure, I can do that.” She says cheerily.

As the humans head to the stairs I can see Mark has a slight limp. I should see if Rose can do anything more for him before they leave.

When they get back down to the meeting room, Mark and Seth plop themselves back down on the couch and dig through their backpacks for snacks. Jenna and Johnathan also take a seat this time in the chairs provided, sitting on opposite sides of the table.

“So what else did you want to know?” Jenna inquires.

What do you know about dungeon controllers and the process of becoming one?

“Wouldn’t you know more about that than us? You’ve already done it yourself.” She questions.

Perhaps. I would still like to hear what you know about it though.

“Huh, okay, well I don’t know much. I’ve heard that only someone who can use magic can do it. If they find an unclaimed dungeon core they can connect their mana to it or something like that. And then they can control it, I guess.” She explains.

Well that is certainly different from my situation. It also raises more questions. Could a human ‘claim’ my core if they got close enough to it? And what would happen to me if they did? I need to learn more about other dungeons and how they function. These humans do not seem particularly knowledgeable about the subject though.

What do you know about dungeons in general?

“Not a whole lot. They have monsters and make dungeon crystals. That’s pretty much it. This is the only dungeon I’ve ever actually seen. Do you know anything else?” She asks Johnathan.

“Just that they extract energy from people who enter.” He replies.

Nothing I did not already know, as expected. I will likely need to ask William if I want to learn more.

On your first visit, you mentioned ‘mana poisoning’. Can you explain what that is?

“Really? You must have amazing memory to remember something like that. As for mana poisoning, I guess it’s like the opposite of mana depletion. There are some places where mana density is unusually high. Being exposed to such high density mana, most creatures will start to absorb it. Absorbing too much can be dangerous, lethal even.” She explains.

Is it always lethal?

“No. People can recover from mild cases. But for people who can’t sense mana, I’ve heard they usually won’t even know anything’s wrong until they are already beyond recovery.”

I wonder if that is something I would need to be concerned about for my imps. All of them can feel the difference in mana inside the dungeon compared to outside, but it is possible that could be because of their connection to me. Would they be able to sense if they walked into an area of dangerously high mana? Just more questions and another thing to be worried about beyond my borders.

Thank you Jenna. I do not have anymore questions for now, but what you have shared with me today has been illuminating. I am certain it will be helpful to both me and Rose.

Jenna’s face lights up with a bright smile.

“I’m really glad I could help. Does this mean you’ve forgiven us?” She asks hopefully.

No, but I am willing to tolerate you coming back in the future and will make sure my imps know not to kill you.

“Oh, that’s...something, I guess.” She replies, a little dejected.

“It’s a start.” Johnathan adds.

Rose, the humans will be leaving soon. Would you mind taking another look at Mark; see if you can heal him any further before they go.

“If I must. I’m not sure how much more I can do for him right now, but I’ll try.” She agrees.

I have asked Rose to come down and see what more she can do for Mark. After that, if you have no further business here, I suggest you be on your way.

When Rose enters the room she glowers at the humans, but does not say anything as she approaches Mark. He tenses up as she gets close but does not move. She places her hands over the wound and closes her eyes. Though she tries her best, she can only heal it a little further before she exhausts herself. She wobbles a little as she steps back and grabs the couch with one hand to steady herself.

“That’s the best I can do.” She says. I send her some mana to replenish what she has lost. She stands a little straighter, no longer unsteady, but still looks a little weary.

The injury on Mark’s leg is still red and the shape of the bite can still clearly be seen. He gets up from the couch and raises his leg a few times, then jumps on the spot. He even tries standing on just the injured leg.

“How is it?” Johnathan asks.

“Still hurts, but I’ll be alright.” Mark replies. He turns to Rose and stares at her for a while as she glares back. “Thank you.” He says eventually. She huffs in response.

“Well then, I think it’s time we take our leave.” Johnathan declares. Seth gets up from the couch as well as they all get ready to go.

“Thanks for giving us the opportunity to apologize.” Jenna says. “And also, sorry for what I did up there. I didn’t mean to scare anyone. That tiny imp was just so cute and I wasn’t thinking. But that’s no excuse. My behavior was inappropriate and I’m sorry.”

As long as you learn from that mistake and do not repeat it in the future.

“Of course, absolutely.” She replies.

After that, the humans left. Rose never stopped glaring at them until they had all exited the room.

“Do you really intend to keep interacting with humans?” She asks once they are gone.

For now. Until I believe that it is no longer an option.

“I still think it’s a mistake. But if you insist on dealing with them, will you teach me their language? I think it will make things easier if I can understand them.” She requests.

I agree. That is a good idea. It might help to have Violet learn as well.