I woke up confused.

I felt fresh, exceedingly so, as if every bit of exhaustion of the day before had all been a dream. My mind, however, was a mess; I felt like I’d dreamed of something crucial, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t quite put the finger on it.

Well, tonight — I got back up on my feet — was weird.

As I clothed myself, I realized that more than just feeling fresh; I was totally healed.

What? I looked at my hands. The hands that had been fraught with tears, blisters and gunk were now pristine. Really?

I knew it hadn’t been a dream. After all, the mysterious white snake was still resting on my shoulders.

“Thanks, I guess?” I forced out.

The only reason I could think to explain this mysterious healing was the snake on my shoulders, but it seemed fast asleep and I had a hard time picturing that; this little snake was a Pseudo-beast, it had to be... nothing else made sense otherwise.

And this thought sent a jolt down my spine.

Having already lost a day, I hurried deeper into the abyss. In a hurry to find this damned metal and return to the cart. Maybe it was luck, but after the Hardlett, I ventured without any problems for the whole day and the day after. Sometimes I’d see creatures up ahead, but I could stave off any confrontation by hiding.

Still, it wasn’t all roses and sunshine.

The food I had at my disposition — live bugs — made me avoid eating as much as possible.

Two days passed just like that.

In the time that had elapsed, one thing had become obvious; the deeper I followed the map, the stronger the concentration of shiny particles was.

“What are these glowy things?”

[Mana particles]

“Mana par—”

“Hey, you woke up!?”

I lowered my head to look for theirs; little sparkling rubies returned my gaze.

“Anyway, what did you say? And wait first who.. no, what are you?”

[Before asking for one’s name, isn’t it common courtesy to introduce yourself? Still, thanks for saving us without the mana from the tunnel, we would have died in that thing.]

“Ah, I see, good for you,” I said, holding back a yawn.

[Uh?]

“Can you answer me now?”

“A favor to your savior, so to speak.” I smiled.

[Uh did yo-] It jerked a few times in what looked like a cough, [We suppose… we don’t know how you humans call us, but our kin calls themselves the Azthras, as for our name you can call this queen, Ega.]

Why do you speak like that?

[How can I call you?]

“I guess you can call me Helmet, considering that thing on my head.” I said with a forced laugh.

[I see, Helmet,] they said, not seeming to care a bit.

[Well, we wish to know how we could repay you.]

“Ah yeah, I am looking for this weird metal. Do you know where I could find it?”

[Metal… That’s all?]

“Uh ye—wait”

This was all I really needed. Once I had found the mineral, I could go back on my tracks, and the quicker that happened, the better. However, I had a map; was it really necessary to waste a favor like that? So I changed the subject.

“Can you elaborate what you meant by mana particles”

[Umm mana particles are particles, but of mana... Are you perhaps stupid?] Her tone seemed to be genuinely questioning, which made her words even more insulting.

“Well, this stupid human saved you, so be respectful.”

[You got a point stupid human. Thanks again for your help.]

“Hey!”

[Helmet... how come you can see mana particles?]

“I don’t know, I just can,” I answered, a bit annoyed, as Gregoire’s face flashed in my mind.

[Interesting...]

“Anyhow, besides telling me where I can find that metal, what can you do for me?”

The creature stayed quiet for a while. I kept walking as I assumed it was just thinking, and it would give me an answer soon enough. 30 seconds later, it was still silent.

“Hey? You there?”

[Uh- We were… What were you saying?]

“What can you do for me?” I asked after a heavy sigh.

[It all depends on your desire]

“Desire?”

[Yes desire, I can grant you power, I can grant you wealth, I can grant you a longer life, just ask.

“Wow, something so powerful got eaten by a Hardlett, uh?”

“Looks like I really wasted my time.”

[Hey, put some respect on this queen’s name. This wolf attacked us after... anyway, we can do that. You already saved this queen’s life, so you don’t have to pay anything this once.]

“Ah well, give me power then,” I said matter-of-factedly. While I was young, I could reckon that without mana, a long life would be simply useless. As for wealth, no amount of wealth would make this expedition safer, not that I would even have the power to defend it.

[Um well that’s boring.. still.]

We were getting closer to the area in which the map was getting less specific. Where the map shifted from displaying a line that showed the path to follow, to a circle. Until now, the path had been pretty straightforward, choose a path and advance. However, now it wouldn’t be that easy.

‘Any increase in power will help.’

I was wondering how the snake would manage that. Before I could even wonder, the snake slithered down my shirt and slithered towards my left wrist.

“H-hey what are you doing?”

[Granting your wish.]

Bite.

“Ouch,” I said as I thrashed my wrist.

As she bit my wrist, the localized pain spread through my body. I could feel a huge amount of mana surging inside me. This pain was familiar.

“ARGH!”.

[What th-this.. you are draining us!?] She said in my mind, while seeming totally unfazed by my wrist movements.

As my legs buckled, I fell.

“This — wasn’t it — gift?”

Soon enough, she stopped biting and as she did; the pain disappeared. [What a greedy human.]

I hugged the ground for longer than I wanted to admit, but as I stood up, I was swarmed by disappointment.

“Uh.. that’s all? I don’t feel any different”

[Stop your jokes, with all the mana you siphoned from, there’s no way you’d feel—]

She momentarily stopped in her tracks. While hanging from my left wrist, she looked at my eyes as if to confirm wasn’t joking and then looked at my chest. A thunderous roar erupted in my mind.

[HAHAHAHAHAHA..! Prepost — hahahahahaha... there’s no way. That saved us? How can someone like you even exist?]

[No mana... really? You drained my mana and just wasted it. I would have killed you if this wasn’t so funny.]

“Ah, looks like you aren’t as mighty as expected”

[Well, you are right, even this queen can’t turn a zero into a hero.]

Ouch.

[Thanks for the laugh. Is this why you want that metal?]

“Ah yea”

[Then you’re probably looking for coprolithium… If you are the one who thought of that, it means you are not too stupid. Still this won’t fix your core.]

[Ah, for entertaining this queen, I will give you a bonus. Use those eyes of yours. They might be more potent than you think; Now we shall sleep.]

Ega went back to wrap around my head, and sleep. I was left utterly flabbergasted. How was I supposed to take this? I stared at the bite mark of this rather rude snake. Well, this was worth a try…

While I had expected little from this snake, I still was disappointed... and sullen.

With a lot less amicableness towards the snake, I continued forward.

With a lot on my mind, and a lot less motivation about this whole endeavor, I wandered. Even though the map wasn’t specific after a certain point, navigating and choosing paths was relatively easy; I just had to choose the path where the concentration in mana was the highest. It seemed to have been true of all the paths I had taken until now, and I chose to bet on that. It wasn’t like I had anything better.

With the snake that was sleeping, and the time spent in this darkness, I was feeling lonely.

This was as I thought that, chewing on today’s rations of worms, I saw a light from afar.

The outside? But how?

As I got closer, walking ever so slowly to not be ambushed, my first assumption proved wrong.

A light that was very reminiscent of the mana particles that were floating around, but that actually lit its surroundings. From this new perspective, I could also see a shadow being cast on the wall.

A shadow so black it stained the rock.

Tch my eyes.

I winced as I looked away, letting my eyes adapt to the new lighting. Albert had told me I had to find a metal, but had been vague about what it was; still, somehow, I felt I had found it… the coprolithium?

I looked at the prying eye — necklace — that hung to my neck, wondering if he would somehow confirm it; obviously, he didn’t.

Back to reality.

There was no way I’d fight that thing. I’d hide and wait for it to disappear. I started backtracking but as if to cause me problems, Ega woke up.

[Who dares steal what belongs to this que—]

“Go to sleep!” I urged in a low whisper.

She didn’t answer, focused on finding out what was stealing the resource she was trying to harvest.

She jumped from my shoulders and went forward to enter the cave.

With silent urgency, I breathed, “Hey, knock it off!”

She ignored me and just continued forward. “Hey, hey, hey” I said, still whispering. I followed her until i couldn’t anymore, hiding right behind the corner so that I could see without being seen.

In this dazzling room. An ant and a boulder were facing each other.

Ega who, while a snake, wasn’t much longer than my elbow, was looking arrogantly at a snake thousands of times bigger.

To my surprise tho, while they were looking at each other, nothing happened.

No sounds could be heard in that room, and no movement was perceived.

They seemed perfectly immobile.