The next day, the situation seemed only to insist on being more awkward for me. Mostly because Kay continued to watch me as I was fucked. My own depravity only seemed to sink to new depths as I moved from moaning to begging them more. As much as I wanted to hate them for what they had done to Kay, my anger just couldn’t register over my more carnal impulses.

So it was that my days remained mostly unchanged besides Kay speaking again. The whole of our dynamic had shifted. Whereas before she seemed to be the older sister with how she kept trying to teach me things, now I felt like I’d taken that place. Not that I was trying to teach her to be like me, I wasn’t I swear! But she seemed to be looking up to me a little, letting me comfort her and she was slowly getting stronger. I could tell that inside she was picking up the pieces, and while I had no idea where she was putting them, each moment she spent talking was a moment she wasn’t staring into the dark hole that had been carved into her heart.

I was pretty sure it had been over a week now. They had forgotten a few meals here or there, and when we did eat I would give Kay half of what I got. It wasn’t simply out of selflessness, it was hard to explain it, but I just wasn’t as hungry as I should have been. I swear it wasn’t cause I kept drinking semen! Even if I did…

I had spent so much time pacing around the room now that I could keep it up almost non-stop without feeling tired. I just hated sitting for any length of time. My blood quite literally refused to stop boiling, I felt hot constantly the cold stone couldn’t even detour me as I was pressed against it, or when I slept. At some point, the entire room must have smelled like sex because Kay stopped worrying about how I smelled and started using me as some kind of space heater.

Still, it was nice to have someone looking to and relying on me for a change. Even if deep down I still knew I couldn’t escape it bolstered me in a way I needed, even if I couldn’t explain why.

“How can you keep pacing like that?” Kay asked me.

“Hmm? What do you mean?” I asked.

“You’ve been doing that… for days. You practically never stop unless you’re sleeping… or those men are here.” She offered.

“I just need to move…” I replied.

“But… aren't you tired?”

I shook my head, “No… I honestly don’t know why either.”

She frowned slightly at my words.

“If I figure it out I’ll explain it?” I offered.

She gave me a momentary smile before it was gone.

I walked over and ruffled her orange hair, “It’s alright Kay.”

She nodded slightly.

The day drifted onward and night came again, or at least it seemed like it. I hated the sense of time down here, having to try to keep track of days by how many times I’d been fucked was frustrating and inconstant. Still, I needed to lay down and sleep at some point, so I made my way over to Kay and laid down next to her. As she had taken to doing she curled up in my grasp, and I felt the coolness melt away from her as my body radiated its unusual heat.

I closed my eyes and tried to get some rest.

“Finally…” A voice reached me, and my eyes opened wide in shock.

“Dungeon?” I asked back across the distance.

“Yes. You’ve completed your corruption.” The dungeon said.

“I thought so… but nothing had happened.” I explained.

“Curious…”

I let it consider rather than get in its way. I had put my own thought into this, and gotten nowhere.

“After some consideration, I believe I may need to intervene.”

“In what sense?” I asked a bit confused.

“If you were inside my dungeon I would be able to sense things more accurately, and if you were to touch me, then I’d be able to make certain changes.” It explained.

“I guess I’ll trust you on that. But there's no way you’ll get to me in here. I’m nearly in the center of a city.” I offered.

“I am aware.”

“Wait.. where are you anyway? Did Scout sneak into the city?” I asked.

“No. I deemed overt infiltration on the surface too risky. Especially since the soldiers that attacked the fort have mostly returned.”

“Mostly?” I asked.

“They did suffer considerable losses. But the battle itself was inconclusive from what I was able to gather. Not that I’ve put much effort into confirming such things. It has been days since I began working my way towards you underground.”

“Underground? In caves?” I asked surprised by that.

“Initially yes. The scout helped me get as far in as he could manage, since then however I’ve been working my way towards you alone.”

“How?” I asked somewhat baffled by the idea that a gemstone could somehow dig its way to me.

“I am a dungeon. Carving stone is within my capabilities. Had I had more mana I’d have arrived by now, but that situation remains limited, so I’ve been cautious and slow.”

I couldn’t help but feel a rush of hope at that. Yet I felt the need to dash it all the same, so I asked, “I assume you didn’t find Devin?”

“He is with us.”

“What?!” I asked shocked to my very core, the tiny ember in my heart brightened into a flame as if it push back the darkness.

“I’ve trusted your judgment with him and freed him from his restraint. He seemed intent on helping you, for now, he’s waiting with the goblins. Now that I’ve confirmed your location and situation, I should focus all my strength on your recovery.”

I couldn’t help but feel a bit fuzzy, “Thanks…”

“No thanks are required. From the very beginning, this was my goal, though it's proven far more troublesome a process than I would have preferred.”

I smiled even though he couldn’t see it. Same old dungeon. “I can still be grateful can’t I?”

“If you wish.”

“I found my sister again.” I explained, before briefly conveying the changes and situation including the possibility of an imminent deadline.

“I’ve wasted too much time as it is. However, knowing the details… I should be more wasteful.”

“What do you mean?” I asked puzzled by that, it was always overly reserved. Why would it want to be wasteful?

“If your body continues to absorb mana at this rate you’ll explode.”

I blinked, “What?” I almost said it aloud.

“Your body simply isn’t designed to contain the amount of magical power you’re housing in it. It’s no doubt leaking out of you as well.”

The heat… My urge to move… This was mana? “I guess I sort of understand that…” I briefly explained the symptoms I was experiencing.

“Curious…”

“I don’t know that the possibility of exploding is that curious… But it's certainly alarming if I had to say…” I offered.

“Alarming yes. However, it presents us with a unique situation.”

“I’m listening.” I offered.

“Rather than waste time, I’m going to try and reach you as fast as I can. If something changes alert me, otherwise await my arrival.”

“Just… one last thing before…” I asked.

“Yes?”

“How did you know I was in this city? To find me here?” I asked, I had feared that it would be the end being trapped so far into this city.

“I can sense you. I think it's the amount of mana in you, originally I wasn’t certain because the other being that was in that camp was similar and close. However, now that you and it are further apart it is obvious, that I know which direction you are in with that sense alone.”

“Other being? You mean the one you said concerned you before?”

“Yes. I tried to mention it when last we spoke, but even then I wasn’t as certain as I am now.”

I wasn’t sure what to make of that, but I couldn’t help but ask, “But why would mana do that? Doesn't everything have mana?”

“Yes. However, density is the important part. For instance, A blade of grass is barely any different from the air. If I were to compare this to light, they would bare barely visible, almost dark. The goblins, and or the tiger kin you know might be something like those mushrooms you are fond of. The elves in this city might be a small flame. Your body is like the sun. It's practically shining in the manasphere. So bright that I can sense it well beyond my normal sensory range.”

I glanced down at myself feeling a little radioactive… Wait, what was that? Still, I guess I could understand, the brighter light was the further away you could see it.

“Is there anything else?” the Dungeon pressed.

“No…” I said trying to not worry myself.

“Then I will focus on my task.”

I relaxed some and feeling hopeful again I gave him my reply, “Alright… I’ll wait for you.” I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I glanced down at Kay and hoped that things would work out.