MAZE - The Endless Quest

They walked slowly across the lab. It was a strange place that, in many ways, looked more like a wildlife sanctuary than an actual lab. Flowers and oddly placed windows showed a view of the area where the Strength Spirits would live. Even if right now those tunnels and passages only had dirt and small pieces of vegetation. But that was only to a certain point. Every now and then they would cross over an open door, revealing a harrowing experiment room that still had marks of dried blood and tools made to harm and dissect, while keeping the subject alive.

The walls were mostly a calming green, but the red strength mana illuminated more than the lights themselves. That display created an environment where everybody looked like they were covered in blood, or as if they were part of a cult horror movie.

It didn’t take long for Vulcan to start walking while gripping his forging hammer with as much strength as he had. He was clearly being affected by the environment. And not in a good way.

Hera noticed his rising emotions and took his free hand in her own, making sure to comfort the Titled Blade as much as she could.

‘Thank you,’ Forge smiled.

Despite having someone to protect him, he still felt everything he felt when he was captured by the humans. The fear, the pain, the helplessness. Everything came flooding back, which started to raise his Daemonic Influence.

As they continued to walk, Bolgo explained what they had found out about the place.

“There’s too much that we don’t completely understand. For instance, the way they are connecting people through the tattoos is still a mystery to us. We have found the actual spell circle to use and all the equipment they used, but something is missing. And I don’t mean in a physical sense.”

The group passed by another corridor. This one led to an area with an even more oppressive red light. Several pipes were coming from a massive tank of mana. Inside it, they could see a shape moving around wildly.

Forge instantly tensed. Without even seeing whatever was inside, he could tell there was a demon in there. His anger flared up, and the demonic influence grew by 10% in a moment. Hera’s hand was a comforting presence, but it wasn’t enough for the blade bound to a Strength Spirit to calm down completely. The scars on his face and body started to grow red, emanating an even more sinister light than the one coming from the pipes.

“Vulcan, close your eyes. We are stepping away from that area,” the Empress gently asked.

At the same time, Daskka turned into her purple mist form and started using a healing spell that Neria taught her. The actual healing effect was minimal, but the main purpose of the spell was to numb the emotions of those affected by it. Forge was already aware of this particular effect, so he wasn’t fazed when he felt the external impulse pushing his anger deeper into himself. It would work for now, allowing him to focus on the situation at hand instead of lashing out. But that rage was still there, bubbling inside a locked box that could only hold so much.

“Is everything okay?” Bolgo asked, as they quickly moved away.

“Could be better. Can we just leave this area? It’s not good for him to be so close to a demon,” Hera quickly explained.

“Is he going to go berserk?” an elf who was with the group asked.

“Not right now. And we are making sure to pay attention to when he’s getting close to that,” Hera said, trying to calm the man down, but it didn’t seem to work.

“Don’t worry. If anything were to happen, we can stop him,” Crimson announced.

“And even if we can’t stop him, we can at least delay him long enough so you all can get out of the way,” Viper added.

“But you don’t have to worry all that much. He ended up going berserk a couple of times near me and still was able to direct his focus somewhere else,” Helena said, remembering a specific moment when Vulcan triggered his [Daemonic Form] near her. Hera simply ordered him to stop and go attack something else, which worked perfectly.

Bolgo nodded, but still had something to say. “Do try to warn us if he’s going to start attacking things. If we get a heads up with enough time, we can at least take him out of the facility. Like I said, there are a lot of things here we don’t fully understand and for now, the greenhouse is the only thing keeping the Strength Spirits alive.”

Vulcan frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

“Exactly what it sounds like. If we try to remove the greenhouse to set them all free, they start to lose their strength. It seems like the humans destroyed their habitat to the point where they can’t live here without assistance,” Bolgo explained.

“Is there anything we can do to fix that?” Helena turned to the dwarf. She hadn’t said much ever since they arrived at the lab, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t paying attention. In fact, from this group, the mage was the one better suited to understand the intricacies of the facility.

“We are trying, but we’ve had no luck so far,” the Triton that showed Bolgo the pictures said. “Hi, I’m Marion, the one in charge of the protection of spirits.”

“Have you tried flooding the area with strength mana?” Vulcan asked as they made a turn, now crossing a large warehouse-like structure with heavy machinery producing sheets of glass.

“We have, but the environment doesn’t take. It lasts for a few minutes, but then it disperses. The problem is that whatever was creating the strength mana in the area was removed. Or more likely, destroyed,” Marion explained.

“Why would they do that?” Crimson frowned.

“They probably wanted to lure the Strength Spirits here. And the best way was to create a better home for them and then destroy the old one. Spirits would be attracted to this location and then be trapped here,” Viper turned to Marion. “Did I get anything wrong?”

The Triton gave an impressed smile. “Just one thing. It’s likely that they did not destroy the old habitat all at once, but instead did it through a slow process. We even found some signs that they created a line of strength mana for the Spirits to follow. Destroying the source of the mana was likely a way to make sure the Spirits had no other options.”

“But then how are we supposed to help the Spirits?” Vulcan gasped.

“That’s what we are here to figure out. With your help, we might be able to craft something that creates Strength Mana,” Hera said with a smile. Her voice had no doubt that Forge would be able to produce something like this.

“Hera, you can also try that question thing, can’t you?” Helena asked.

“Question thing?” the elf who yelped at the sight of Crimotra asked.

“Yeah, my Relic can do a thing that allows me to ask a question, and it will give me a proper answer. But I can only do that once per room,” Hera explained.

At the mention of questions once per room, the elf’s eyes changed to understanding, “Oh? I can do something similar, but it’s not with my Relic, it’s a different skill. Explorer exclusive. We can talk a little bit before you use yours. That way our information won’t overlap.”

Hera nodded with a smile. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had found another Explorer who had the guide skill.

“That can actually help a lot. What’s your name?”

“Villia, it’s a pleasure,” the elf replied.

They continued walking across the lab, passing by a couple more strange rooms. One of them looked very much like an operating theater, with a large stretcher in the center, various surgical tools around it, and a balcony where people could watch. Directly after it came one that could only be described as a tattoo studio.

Eventually, they arrived at the entrance of the greenhouse. It was a massive glass wall made out of several glass sheets, each of them enchanted in a way to increase the potency of the Strength Mana.

“Now, here is the Strength Spirit territory. The entire structure is made of two layers of glass installed back to back. It has to be like that because the spell circles carved on each sheet degrade over time, which means we have to keep replacing them every few days. Otherwise, the Strength Mana is not concentrated enough for the Spirits to live,” Bolgo gestured to a group on the left, replacing one of the panels high up on the wall.

“This doesn’t seem very sustainable. We passed by the machinery that was making those pieces of glass. How much more can they make?” Helena asked.

“The supply should last us another month or so. We have found most of the materials required to produce this glass in the nearby dungeons. But there are a couple of specific gems and solutions that need to be brought from the outside. We are trying to figure out a way to do that, but we still don’t have a good plan for that,” Bolgo sighed.

“Even then, those materials will be expensive. As much as it hurts to say this, there were talks about simply breaking everything down and letting the Spirits perish. After all, the odds of them appearing in another human controlled room are ridiculously small. The MAZE is endless,” Marion added.

“What?!” Forge snarled, the influence jumping another 10%.

The people who were giving the tour jumped back, all of them ready to fight or run, whatever was necessary.

“Vulcan. Stop and think. Do you think anyone here wants to hurt the Spirits?” Hera gently said, using one of the techniques they had learned during his therapy sessions.

“No,” the kangaroo huffed.

“Then why would you say that we might need to give up the Spirits?”

Forge took a deep breath. “I can think of two reasons. First, because we might not be able to protect the lab from the humans, which means that letting the territory be destroyed would protect the new generation of Strength Spirits, wherever they may appear. The second is because it’s too expensive, and they think it’s a waste of money to save my kind.”

Hera just nodded. “And what’s the more likely answer?”

“Both. And the ones saying to abandon the Spirits are just being pragmatic.”

Viper and Crimson patted Forge on his back, trying to support his comments. Even if Vulcan felt being treated like that was somewhat demeaning, he had to admit, it was an effective way of calming him down. There was something about asking questions, as if he were a child who couldn’t understand things that forced him to prove otherwise.

“I don’t know why you’re getting angry,” Helena rolled her eyes, getting a confused look from pretty much everyone. “All of this is happening because the Strength Spirits don’t have a home anymore. Not a permanent one, at least. All we have to do is craft something that’s going to make Mana for them.”

“That is true. But it doesn’t solve the problem of humans taking over this room again,” Viper said.

“We have a solution for that,” Marion spoke up again. “There are enough people here who will be willing to stay and study the Spirits while locking the room after the actual warriors leave.”

“See, big guy? All we have to do is figure out a way to let the Spirits stay here permanently. After that, we can leave and be sure that they will be safe,” Crimson frowned. “Unless we end up losing the war. But then it won’t really matter anyway.”

Forge let out a long sigh. “You really know how to cheer someone up. But fine. Making something that is going to either create Strength Mana or convert ambient Mana into Strength Mana? Sure, I can figure something out. Never mind that we barely started figuring out how to make specific types of Mana. All I have to do is complete the work that no one has ever completed before to save my kind. No pressure.”

“Hey!” Helena protested. “We’re not telling you to do this all by yourself. In fact, you’re going to have not only the first person who conceived the idea of producing specific types of elemental Mana, but also the help of the first person to ever be able to identify affinities with her Observe. Or at least the first confirmed case of that.”

“And have you forgotten about our title? Mana-Touched. We are better at handling Mana by default,” Hera added.

“Not to mention you have an entire laboratory and a full staff dedicated to studying the Strength Spirits,” Bolgo smiled.

“See, Vulcan? If we can’t save the Spirits, no one can,” Viper playfully pushed the kangaroo.

Forge took a deep breath and slapped both his cheeks at once. “Okay then. There’s no time like the present to start. I need all the information you have about those glass panels and anything else that might talk about creating Mana. Hera, save the question for a bit. For now, I need help to control the Mana. Helena, can you try to figure out how to make Strength Mana? I don’t mean just with what we have but all the ways that are possible to make that.”

Everyone said in unison, “Yes, sir,” and they started working.

Vulcan was directly in front of his kind, and a large part of him wanted to go inside and say hello, but that would have to wait. Once they were safe, truly safe, he would have the chance to greet them.