Chapter 296 Just barely (1/2)

Holy mother of all that is good and gracious in this world, puh-lease let me make it alive! I'm burning up! The light is fading! My soul is running before the light! Is that you mum? What is that you say? You wish I'd never been born? Get the h.e.l.l out of my death vision, human mum! Bring out my real mother, the Queen!

Gawd, I'm delirious. Which is interesting since I've actually not quite run out of mana in my core yet. I'm down to vapour, make no mistake, but not quite out of gas just yet.

No, wait. Check that, just ran out.

Oh my word, it hurts! I feel like my soul is suffocating!

[How much further Crinis?!]

[I don't know master, I can't see!]

DAMMIT.

[Tiny! Do you know how much further we need to go?!]

[Hurts]

[I KNOW that! More than anything in this world I know it! Do you have any idea how much further we have to run?!]

[… No]

I swear by all that is sacred and loved in this world Tiny, if I survive this, I'm going to shrink your muscles until your arms are limp noodles and you have the brain power of two young Einstein's. You won't be able to fight and will have to sit around sipping tea, discussing the latest in particle physics. Only then will my wrath be sated!

It can't be that far away. I feel as if we've been running for ten hours but that can be attributed to my panic and anxiety. If I were to try and guess now it would have to have been closer to two hours.

Argh! Holy smokes! That tickled me right in the pain zone. How do describe the pain of having an empty core? It's as if my magic lungs are empty and I'm in a vacuum. No matter how hard my core tries to pull mana in it just isn't getting anything like enough from the air above ground. My monster body consumes far more mana to operate than can be replaced outside of the Dungeon.

I need to get down below, fast!

I shoved the pain into the back of my awareness and focused on pus.h.i.+ng my little legs until they were on the edge of snapping. I don't care if they break, as long as I get below ground and away from this agony!

As he so elegantly communicated, Tiny is suffering also. Crinis isn't quite at the point where this is going to be an issue for her but soon enough it will be. Wait, is that sign pillar Morrelia told us about?!

I ran closer for a look. Ten feet tall, the stone column stood to one side of the cobbled road, words and arrows carved onto its surface. Fantastic! We're close! I circled around the edifice and found an arrow that pointed away from the road, into the surrounding woods. That'd better be it. If I could read the native language it would help.

[Quick, Tiny! This way!] I hollered at him before I sprinted away. Trees and branches flew past my face as I motored with all of my might. I'm not willing to dash in case the drain on my core is increased but I'm sure as heck going to run as fast as possible!

How's my HP looking? GAH! Already down 10%?! This is ridiculous!

GOGOGOGOGOGO.

Is that it?! Up ahead a stone structure rose before us. A small fort in the middle of a forest. A ludicrous thing in normal times, but now, a lifesaving fortress of blessed mana.

I ran straight at the fort and then straight up the wall. Once I crested the moss covered stone I beheld the most glorious sight of my life. Inside the walls, cut straight through the earth is a wonderful crack, dim blue light leaking out of it. Precious mana! Without a shred of hesitation I leapt from the wall and scrambled toward the crack, Tiny not far behind.

Too much to describe this place as a 'fort', more of a guard post, maintained to keep an eye on this particular crack in the ground. Not wide enough to be considered a 'Dungeon Entrance' and not worth the cost of excavation the Kingdom must have decided to leave well enough alone and not worry about it.

But I will!

The pain is excruciating but I grit my mandibles and bear it. It's time to dig!

The entrance to do the Dungeon here is only a foot wide, not enough for me to slither into and certainly not enough for Tiny to back his commercial barge into. There is only one choice!

DIG!

Embrace the zen of ant living and dig you mana-less insect!